AEW Revolution 2023

AEW Revolution 2023
San Fracisco, CA
Chase Center
March 5

AEW once again delivered another outstanding pay-per-view, presenting a tremendous variety of matches for the first major event of 2023. Coming out of a tumultuous fall, AEW has been focused on tighter booking and feuds, making the last couple months of TV really exciting.

It still seems like a bit of a challenge for AEW to carry momentum all the way into a pay-per-view, as they set up some of these feuds well in advance and others came together very quickly. It’s definitely a side effect of having only four major PPVs a year, but it sure leads to a lot of exciting episodes of Dynamite. Overall, I’ve really been enjoying the past few months, and this PPV was a super way to set the tone for the year, which feels wide open for possibilities.

The Chase Center in San Francisco was packed and the crowd was hot for the entire show. I’ve fallen into a weird rabbit hole of following AEW’s attendance numbers, as the company seemed to be struggling to fill buildings in the late months of 2022, but the arena was packed and the crowd was nuts for Revolution. AEW is still a very young company that experienced a lot of growth very fast, so no doubt these kinds of growing pains were expected. No other wrestling company has filled buildings to this level since WCW, so it truly is remarkable, even if there are some down weeks for attendance.

Zero Hour) Mark Briscoe and The Lucha Brothers (with Alex Abrahantes) defeated Ari Daivari and The Varsity Athletes (with “Smart” Mark Sterling) by pinfall 12:50

The shocking and sudden death of Jay Briscoe was a tough way to start the year. Even though I’m not super familiar with the vast body of the Briscoe’s work, I’ve slowly become a fan thanks to watching the AEW ROH shows and other related ROH events. The saddest part was the family losing their husband and father, with his two young daughters thankfully surviving the crash. By all accounts, Jay was a tremendous family man and member of the wrestling fraternity. Lots of touching tributes have been written and done for him. Sadly it took his death for the execs at Warner to finally agree to Tony Khan hiring Mark Briscoe and being allowed to openly talk about the team on AEW shows, despite a past mistake made by Jay. I suppose it’s the one silver lining in his untimely death, as we now get to enjoy the wild and crazy antics of Mark Briscoe, who’s been featured regularly since. I loved seeing Mark being featured in this exciting pre-show match, teaming with the ever fantastic Lucha Bros against low card heel trio the Varsity Athletes. Really fun pre-show match, with Mark getting a ton of spotlight. AEW fans have wholly embraced him, and were solidly behind him and the Luchas as they picked up the clean win. Very fun match to get the crowd pumped for Revolution!

1) Ricky Starks defeated Chris Jericho by pinfall 13:35

The blow-off to this long-running feud kicked off Revolution proper. This is a perfect example of a feud that peaked weeks prior to the event and was stuck in kind of a holding pattern. I love the push they’ve given Ricky Starks and the fans have been solidly behind him. One criticism that I and a lot of fans share is that AEW does not have a stellar track record on following up with wrestlers who suddenly get hot, causing a lot of organic heat to cool off fast. I fear that Starks may be the next victim of that, much like Wardlow and others before him. Regardless, this was an excellent opening match, with Jericho doing exactly what he’s supposed to be doing at this stage of his career and putting over Ricky strong. This was a real spirited battle and I loved the effort. There were some heart-stopping near falls, as it looked like Jericho might just eke out a win, but Starks kept fighting back. In a super cool moment, Starks blocked the Judas Effect, something we have yet to see, and soon scores the clean pin. Real good opening match and a huge showcase singles win for Ricky.

2) Final Burial match: “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry defeated Christian Cage 14:50

Jack Perry scored the HUGE steel cage win at Full Gear over Luchasaurus back in November, but he’s also been stuck waiting for Christian to get healthy in order to wrap up this long running blood feud. I don’t get this stubborn instance on staying the course when you can easily transition guys into meaningful short-term new feuds. I definitely love long term feuds and storytelling when warranted, but AEW routinely backs themselves into a corner by being too staunch about it. This match was worth the wait however, and the quick re-heat of this feud was really well done, as Christian came back slimier than ever. The Final Burial match was pretty much a casket match, but with the casket over on the entrance stage. This certainly had the feeling of an old school NWA fight, with Perry and Christian laying in stiff shots while brawling around ringside and into the crowd. Loved seeing the level of intensity, given how personal this feud has been. Lots of good in-ring action too, which saw Christian tormenting Perry at every turn. The brawl eventually winds up at the entrance way, where Perry is really taking it to Christian. The long running story is that Jungle Boy lacks true killer instinct and couldn’t bring himself to down to Christian’s seedy level. Finally, after much deliberation, he crushes Christian’s head with the con-chair-to in an epic piece of business. He tosses Christian into the coffin, takes a long pause, then slams the lid. Man, I hugely enjoyed this match and end to the feud. Felt like an epic match and an epic moment, and the red hot fans in San Francisco really bought in Jungle Boy’s epic victory.

3) AEW World Trios Championship: The House of Black (with Julia Hart) defeated The Elite (c) by pinfall 18:00

Yes! This was probably the match I was most excited for and holy fuck it delivered! I love both of these groups, and still would love to see an Omega-Malakai singles match and feud eventually. This was bell to bell explosive excitement with everyone busting out completely batshit insane strikes, moves, and aerial offence – exactly what I was hoping for. I don’t care if the rules are completely loose for trios matches – these deliver on epic excitement, adrenaline, and heart-stopping near falls. The House of Black fucking rule and have looked incredible in the months they have been back. I do wish they’d be featured on Dynamite more, and perhaps that will be the case after their epic title victory. This match was fucking awesome and I can’t wait for more from these teams! Like I always used to say, this description simply won’t do this match justice. I just loved it.

4) AEW Women’s World Championship: Jamie Hayter (c) (with Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.) defeated Saraya (with Toni Storm) and Ruby Soho by pinfall 10:00

I’m totally onboard with the outcasts storyline, of now heel Saraya and Toni Storm waging war on the AEW “originals” – a pretty loose term considering this company is just a few years old. But there certainly is merit in a storyline pitting the ladies who have made their name in AEW against those who have earned their rep in the WWE. It’s been a longstanding point of contention among internet fans, as there was a growing backlash – especially last year – about Tony Khan signing just about anybody released from the WWE, causing there to be less room and time for the wrestlers who had been with the company all along. I really like that they’ve given this storyline to the women’s division, which badly needs something more interesting. It’s funny, I’ve been re-reading through a lot of my early AEW reviews, and there’s been so many issues with the booking of the ladies since the very beginning. That being said, Jamie Hayter is fucking tremendous and I’ve been a huge fan of hers since her arrival. Hayter’s matches have been tremendous – so hard hitting and exciting. This triple threat was okay, but I’d rather have had a Hayter-Saraya solo match. Saraya continues to look pretty rusty and I don’t remember if she was all that great in the ring to begin with. But she’s a great character and is fun as a heel. Hayter picks up the win over Ruby in the end, and in a pretty good swerve, Ruby unexpectedly turns on Hayter and Baker post match. Ruby’s been great as a heel since, and this is a real shot in the arm for her.

5) Texas Death match: “Hangman” Adam Page defeated Jon Moxley by submission 24:45

Definitely the most divisive match of the night, very polarizing among fans. People have been critical of Mox just bleeding buckets in every match lately, leading up to this batshit insane spectacle of violence. Others are all in on his glorified indie death match antics and fully embrace this side of Mox’s insanity. While I’m not a huge fan of death matches and the overuse of blood, I am a huge fan of Moxley and at least it fits with his off-the-rails persona. His character motivations back this all up, matched by his constant intensity. Moxley is one of the heaviest hitters on the roster, so blood doesn’t ever feel out of place in his matches, though I do wish he’d scale it back. I’m also a massive fan of Hangman Adam Page, and this feud with Moxley, stemming back to the legit concussion he suffered in their match last fall, has been one of the best feuds in the company. I loved the levels of insanity this match reached, though I definitely agree that the back half of the match was far better than the first. They went nuts with hardcore violence, utilizing chairs, barbed wire, a chain – even a fucking BRICK! It was a real hard-hitting war. The beginning was a bit of a mess, as they mainly wandered between weapons spots, and maybe they should have just cut 10 minutes and went for broke for 15 straight minutes. Once the blood started flowing and the pace picked up, this was fucking tremendous. The whole story centered around Hangman surviving the hardcore depravity of Jon Moxley. Hangman goes down to Mox’s level and starts unloading with sick shit of his own. There’s some absolutely brutal spots, including Mox using the brick as a weapon and even curb stomping Hangman’s face on it. The ending sees Hangman using Mox’s own tactics against him and ends up literally hanging him over the ropes with a chain and Mox shockingly taps out quick. Just a huge win for the Hangman.

6) AEW TNT Championship: Wardlow defeated Samoa Joe (c) by technical submission 10:40

The one dull match on this show, but it wasn’t that bad. I really liked the pace of this event, as it was structured well and moved along so effortlessly. Every match offered something different, and here we had a big man power battle, which centred around mat-based submissions. It was a cool off from the epic violence in the prior match, and despite the crappy build for this, Joe and Wardlow managed to bring the crowd more into it as it moved along. Wardlow has cooled off so much over the past few months and even though he won the title here, he lost it just days later, as he continues to look like a chump. Kind of disappointing that they couldn’t capitalize on his original awesomeness.

7) AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Gunns (c) defeated The Acclaimed (with Billy Gunn), Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett (with Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh), and Orange Cassidy and Danhausen by pinfall 13:35

Myself, and so many fans, just HATED Jeff Jarrett’s arrival in AEW, but fuck I was wrong – he’s been fantastic! He’s been playing the perfect Memphis-style shit heel. His matches and promos are always goofy fun and he’s totally invested in this wily and delusional veteran character. It’s been surprisingly great! For some bizarre reason, the Gunns won the titles from the Acclaimed on Dynamite, in a title switch NO ONE wanted to see. The Gunns suck. They’re a pretty good mid-card heel team, but should not be champions, as they lack the heat or ability to be on top of this division – at least not at this point. I’d rather have seen Jarrett and Lethal win the titles, not the Gunns, and they would have been HILARIOUS as champs. All that being said, this was an outright fun and ridiculous match, filled with goofy, classic pro wrestling antics and excitement. Orange Cassidy is one of the best things going in AEW right now, and I loved him teaming with Danhausen. This was a perfectly fine and fun match, something more lightheared on a card full of serious feuds and battles. The Gunns winning was disappointing, but in a huge surprise FTR returns to confront them post match.

8) 60-minute Iron man match for the AEW World Championship: MJF (c) defeated Bryan Danielson 4–3 in sudden death overtime 1:05:20

I’ve never been a huge fan of iron man matches, but hot damn, this was fucking incredible! I couldn’t believe how fast it went by and how I weirdly wished it was longer when it was done! The feud between Maxwell and Danielson has swayed between being clunky and awesome. It circled back around to being awesome right before this show, and the expectations for this were sky high. Danielson is incredible, and so many fans were hoping to seen him finally win the title here, despite his preference for losing every match possible. Maxwell has been primarily a promo guy and I really wish he’d wrestle more, because he can be damn great. He definitely brought the best version of himself to this match. The first 20 plus minutes are a hard-fought regular match, before the exciting first few falls come in. Max intentionally gets himself DQ’d with a vicious low blow, but then pins Danielson twice in quick succession to tie it up. Damn! I love that classic bit of heeling! The match really picks up over the last 40 minutes, as they start throwing everything at each other and taking some crazy moves and bumps. Both guys are bleeding and hurt and you FEEL every blow in this battle. MJF targeting Bryan’s head leads to some sick shots, including tombstoning Bryan on the remnants of a broken table, which soon lead to MJF being up 3-2. But Bryan kept fighting back and, man, you just wanted him to claw back and win the title. The drama was off the charts as Danielson tied it up at 3 and the clock continued to tick down. Both wrestlers were destroyed, yet continued the hard face and destroying each other. The near falls somehow became even more dramatic and it looked like Max was about to go ahead with just minutes left, but he hurt his knee and Danielson finally locked him in a submission hold as it looked like we were about to get a new champion. Finally the bell rang and it was disappointingly declared a draw. BUT WAIT! There had to be a winner and it headed to sudden death! This was GREAT! I was on the edge of my seat after an hour of hard-fought action. Even more drama followed with roll-ups and Max looking to cheat with the diamond ring. MJF finally putting Danielson away by clocking him with an oxygen tank and locking him into his own Labell lock was the icing on the cake. Max winning was a surprise at the end, and holy fucking shit, WHAT A MATCH! I loved this! It was super match and full credit to both wrestlers for delivering such an epic. Such great wrestling and storytelling, and I’m totally fine with Maxwell leaving as the champ.

Revolution 2023 was an incredible show and definitely is now in the top tier of all-time great AEW pay-per-views. I loved it and loved the variety of great matches!