AEW Revolution 2020

AEW Revolution 2020
Chicago, IL
Wintrust Arena
February 29

What a FUCKING GREAT pay per view tonight’s show was! I honestly have not been this excited about current wrestling since about 1997-98. I look forward to Dynamite every Wednesday night and feel that same rush and excitement from over 20 years ago. There’s just so much I love and enjoy about AEW and its roster, and as such, have been counting down the days for this event. Dynamite has been outstanding since the start of the calendar year and the last three weeks in particular have been the best episodes yet.

When first announced, I was a little disappointed that it would be taking place in Chicago, as this is now the second PPV held in the city in the company’s short existence. There’s always so much wrestling in Chicago that the crowd never seems as hot as it does in some other markets. Recent crowds in cities like Austin and Kansas City have been on fire, making for a great atmosphere. The crowd tonight was pretty great, but certainly felt more subdued. They probably should have booked this in Atlanta, which was just bonkers a few weeks back. I’m hoping they take a break from Chicago for a while.

Pre-Show) The Dark Order defeated SoCal Uncensored

Man does the internet ever hate the Dark Order, who I’ve been critical of in the past as well. Overall the group has been improving, despite having a real jobber feel. All the buzz is around the impending debut of the mysterious Exalted One, who’s been rumored to be someone recently released from the WWE like Matt Hardy or Luke Harper. SCU have cooled off greatly since losing the tag titles on the Jericho Cruise and have dropped far down the tag team ranks which is too bad. This was a good, basic match, with the story centering around the possibility of Christopher Daniels as the Exalted One. Shockingly, Dark Order wins relatively clean and continue to beat on SCU after the match. That geek Colt Cabana makes a surprise run-in save, but gets beaten down. Then a cloaked figure emerges but it’s really Daniels in disguise and SCU cleans house of the Dark Order minions. Good to keep this goofy nonsense in the pre-show.

1) Jake Hager defeated Dustin Rhodes

The in-ring debut of Jake Hager kicks off the PPV. This feud has been going on since last October when Hager broke Rhodes’ arm in a parking lot attack. Hager was sweating like a madman out there, and this was a solid, hard-worked seesaw battle. It was really hard hitting, with Hager really laying into Rhodes. Great heel heat at the beginning by having Hager make out with his wife at ringside. Late in the match in a classic old school moment, Rhodes blocks a shot from Hager’s wife, then smothers her with a kiss of his own lol. After a lengthy battle, Hager wins with a standing submission. Good solid debut for Hager, and I like to see these different styles represented throughout the card.

2) Darby Allin defeated Sammy Guevara

Another explosive feud-based match, stemming from the Inner Circle destroying Allin’s throat by ramming him on to the edge of skateboard in a sick attack. They brawl all around ringside, but the ref refuses to officially start the match. Just insanity and chaos early on, like Guevara landing an insane 630 splash through a table on the floor. Man Darby can take a beating! Eventually things get into the ring and the match officially begins. More insane stuff follows with Darby soon grabbing the quick pin. So awesome to finally see Darby grab a victory after so many close matches.

3) AEW World Tag Team Championship Kenny Omega and Adam Page (c) defeated The Young Bucks

Holy fuck…. WHAT A MATCH! This was INSANE! This storyline has been so great over the past couple months, with the brewing dissension and growing animosity among Hangman Page and his former friends in the Elite. This all boils to a head in this amazing match. Unbelievable storytelling, drama, and insane wrestling as these guys held nothing back and kept taking it to another level for the whole thirty minutes. Omega has been unreal since the calendar flipped to 2020. His matches have been a weekly highlight and this team with Page has been off the charts awesome. This match went in every direction and kept teasing us with so many insanely close near falls before finally the champions retain. And then more drama after the match! My brother-in-law and I were convinced the Bucks would turn heel, then they teased very subtly that Page was about to turn on Omega. But neither played out Phenomenal on every level, easily one of my favorite matches of the last 20 years.

4) AEW Women’s World Championship Nyla Rose (c) defeated Kris Statlander

I will agree with the critics, the AEW women’s division has been a complete mess since the inception. However, they do have some really great wrestlers like Kris Statlander in the company. I love Statlander’s build and her wacky alien gimmick is fun and unique. Nyla only recently defeated Riho for the title about three weeks ago so you pretty much knew the title wouldn’t be changing here. This match was in an impossible spot, following the insanely great tag team match, but the ladies did a great job, working a solid battle. Lots of hard impact moves, with Nyla scoring the pin after a crushing top rope powerbomb.

5) MJF (with Wardlow) defeated Cody (with Arn Anderson and Brandi Rhodes)

This feud has been off the charts tremendous since MJF turned on Rhodes at the last PPV months ago. There’s so much bad blood and hatred in this one, and you knew it would be full of blood and violence and gimmicks. Cody went through three weeks of MJF’s crazy stipulations to even get to this match in the first place. This was another match that was so storyline driven, and the battle went all over the place. So much happened in and out of the ring. The finish was amazing, with MJF seemingly crying at Cody’s feet, saying he had enough, only to spit in his face and cheap shot him with a punch to the face wearing the Dynamite ring to score an upset pin. Exactly how I felt this match and storyline needed to go. Can’t wait to see where they go from here.

6) Pac defeated Orange Cassidy (with Chuck Taylor and Trent)

I’ll admit it, I was very cynical of the Orange Cassidy character and gimmick at first. But man have I ever come around to him. This was his singles debut in AEW and it was fucking great! This was the surprise match of the night, as the crowd was so nuts for Cassidy and this match was filled with unbelievable moves and craziness. Pac needed the huge singles win here, but damn did Cassidy give him a run for his money. What a surprisingly great and fun match!

7) AEW World Championship Jon Moxley defeated Chris Jericho (c) (with Santana and Ortiz)

We have a NEWWWWWW AEW champion – Jon Moxley! A phenomenal hard fought war of a main event! Moxley is unreal in AEW and him and Jericho tore down the house with a stiff brawl. This was a real old-school Stone Cold style main event in the best possible way, with tons of brawling and blood and interference. It was definitely the right time to switch the title to Mox who has been nothing but white hot lightning since his debut. Loved everything about this match, loved how hard fought it was. An awesome way to cap off an absolutely awesome night of true professional wrestling. Damn do I ever love this company!