One thing you can say about All Elite Wrestling is that it always delivers exceptional pay-per-views, and Sunday’s Revolution from the Chase Center in San Francisco was no exception.
I attended Revolution live, and it was a very interesting thing walking into the building for the show and walking out. On the way in, I couldn’t escape the feeling that this was arguably the least-anticipated AEW PPV that I could remember. On Friday night I attended the Rampage show at the legendary Cow Palace, and, while it was a fun show with some entertaining matches, if we are being truthful, it was a horrible go-home show for the PPV. Literally, nobody who wrestled on Rampage had a match at the PPV. There was no big go-home angle. The only match AEW set up was a dark match for the Revolution preshow. None of the biggest stars made an appearance, with the exception of Chris Jericho, who is usually there doing commentary. Purely as a wrestling fan, I enjoyed myself, and some of the matches, including Konosuke Takeshita vs. Jack Cartwheel, were really good, but as I was leaving I heard from fans who said, point blank, “I’ll never go to a Rampage again.” The show has been struggling in the ratings on Friday night, and this certainly was not an event that would lead one to speculate that this was about to change.
The company also didn’t feel like it was clicking in terms of story lines. A ton of time was devoted to the main event, MJF defending the AEW title against Bryan Danielson in a 60-minute Iron Man match, but outside of that the build for the rest of the matches ranged from either very good to totally lackluster. Both the fan base and various wrestlers within the company complained that the storytelling during this PPV cycle was weaker than usual, and that wrestlers weren’t being given the opportunity to go out there and really build interest in their matches, either because they weren’t being given the time or because the angles themselves weren’t all that special.
Then Revolution happened.
Three of the matches were absolutely fantastic. House of Black beat The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega in an outstanding match to win the trios titles. It was a match filled with great wrestling, daring dives and high spots, presented to a very raucous crowd that really wanted to see both a title change and House of Black get an opportunity that they felt they’d deserved for way too long. “Hangman” Adam Page beat Jon Moxley in the fourth and final match of their series, a preposterously bloody and violent Texas Death Match filled with puncturing barbed wire, tables, chairs and even fork-assisted Brazilian jiu-jitsu (this is not taught in BJJ class, in case your child is interested in learning). The ultraviolent style is not everyone’s cup of tea, but quite frankly, when you bill a match as TEXAS DEATH, one should know in advance whether they should choose to walk away for a while. And finally, MJF beat Danielson in what was pretty much assuredly the greatest Iron Man match in wrestling history.
Courtesy of AEW
Iron Man matches are hard, not just physically for the wrestlers (although, to be honest, as hard as Danielson and MJF trained, if you asked them afterward whether they could have done that same match without training as hard as they legitimately did, because pro wrestling is worked and you can control the pace, they would both answer yes), but also for the fans, who know that they aren’t going to see the finish until 60 minutes have elapsed. Historically, this can lead to quiet crowds during the middle and latter portions of the match. But that did not happen here. This crowd was hot from start to finish, and, even better, they managed to pace the match in such a way that the crowd actually peaked for the last five minutes in overtime.
The story of the match was that Bryan Danielson had done multiple 60-minute matches throughout his career, and MJF had never done one. Danielson vowed that he would break him in the match, that Max would never be able to survive the 60 minutes. Ultimately, it was tied at 2 at the 59-minute mark, and MJF, stuck in a half crab, managed to hold out until just after the time limit expired, at which point he tapped out. The crowd furiously chanted profanities as doctors hit the ring to give poor Maxwell Jacob Friedman oxygen after such a grueling battle. But then it was ruled that Tony Khan would not allow this match to end in a draw, so it went into sudden-death overtime. After an awesome four-minute sequence, the referee went to toss Max’s Dynamite Diamond Ring outside, and, as his back was turned, MJF hit Danielson with the oxygen tank, then applied Danielson’s own hold, the LeBell lock. Danielson fought to escape, but then faded, and—instead of going unconscious—in the ultimate act of putting someone over, he actually tapped out to his own hold. It was incredible.
The rest of the show ranged from good to great (Christian vs. Jungle Boy wasn’t quite to the level of the top three matches, but for what it was, a casket match to end their year-long feud, it was perfect), and man, leaving the building felt completely different than walking in. Tony Khan at the postshow press conference said his company had set a San Francisco gate record and estimated the PPV to have done between 130,000 and 140,000 buys, both excellent numbers for AEW. The company felt like it had regained some of the momentum it had lost, and between MJF’s historic win as heel champion, new trios champions, Ricky Starks getting a big clean victory over inaugural AEW champion Chris Jericho, Jungle Boy getting a decisive victory over Christian, Jamie Hayter retaining her title as beloved women’s champion with an upcoming feud against a group of former WWE “outsiders,” the return of FTR and the imminent return of Adam Cole, it felt like the pieces were being put in place for a strong spring and summer. Of course, this is pro wrestling, and as 2022 taught us, no matter what you predict for a calendar year, the reality will always be much nuttier. The key for AEW, and really for any wrestling company including WWE, which will run WrestleMania next month, is always the follow-up. A great show is a great show, but capitalizing on momentum is the key to success.
