BRM Reviews AEW Revolution 2022 (excellent wrestling, suspect booking)

[Big Red Machine]

AEW Revolution 2022 (3/6/2022)- Orlando, FL


CHRIS JERICHO vs. EDDIE KINGSTON- 7.5/10
So the bell rings… and Jericho takes a Full Nelson Suplex right on his head. Jericho rolled to the outside, but Eddie followed him right out, got him back into the ring, and went to work on his neck. There was a lot of throwing each other on their heads in this one. Jericho eventually got the Walls of Jericho in but Eddie made it to the ropes. Then Jericho squandered the advantage by deciding to pick a fight with referee Aubrey Edwards over something that there was no possible way he could have actually believed he was in the right about (leaving the hold in when Kingston got to the ropes), allowing Kingston to recover and take over with a Backdrop Driver. I absolutely HATE spots like that. If the babyface is going to make a comeback, let him or her make the comeback due to his or her own toughness, not the opponent being a cartoon character.
Other than that spot and Kingston wiggling into the way of Jericho’s Lionsault, this was really great, with tons of emotion. Kingston’s eventual victory really did feel like a big moment (much bigger than it felt like it should have going into the match, as I really didn’t care for the build), and they did a great job of wrestling a match that played into the idea of the feud (Kingston lacking a sort of killer instinct in big matches), with him doing things like not letting up on Jericho even when Jericho appeared to be seriously hurt, and matching Jericho eye poke for eye poke.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- we’ll see where it goes
Chris Jericho did not fulfill his promise to shake Kingston’s hand if Kingston beat him.

AEW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: A Boy & His Dinosaur (c) vs. reDRagon vs. the Young Bucks (w/Brandon Cutler)- 9.5/10
Wow. Okay. The full creative juices were flowing in this one, as they came up with a lot of cool stuff to do using three or four people, and pretty much all of it looked plausible, which is often not the case in these matches. In these matches you also often see them just stop caring about who the legal wrestler is, but they didn’t fall into that trap here, either. Throw in a story about Jungle Boy being the babyface in peril as a result of an alliance between the two heel teams, and then that alliance inevitably breaking down, and you have yourself one hell of a match. This is the best match I’ve seen so far in 2022 (though I have yet to see Ospreay vs. Oku).

FACE OF THE REVOLUTION LADDER MATCH FOR A SHOT AT THE AEW TNT TITLE: Wardlow vs. Keith Lee vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Will Hobbs vs. Ricky Starks vs. Christian Cage- 8/10
This match is so important that Orange Cassidy is climbing the ladder slowly, with his hands in his pockets. Is it really that hard to just not use this clown? Is there anyone who is going to stop watching AEW because f*cking Orange Cassidy isn’t on the show?
Ladder match stuff happened. Much of it was exciting and creative, but there wasn’t much of a story other than just stuff happening. Danhausen got involved at one point, yanking Ricky Starks off of a ladder because reasons. It has been a month and Danhausen has made at least for or five appearances, and not one of them has done anything to justify his hiring. He seems to exist just to do comedy spots and help babyfaces cheat. The powerbomb on the finish was utterly terrifying, especially when the guy taking it has had neck surgery recently. Wardlow got the win, pulling down a large golden life preserver. Just use a contract like everyone else, Tony. No one cares about your stupid “it’s a big brass ring!” imagery.

SHANE STRICKLAND SIGNS HIS AEW CONTRACT- Tony Schiavone said that Swerve was “in his formative years.” He’s thirty-one years old and has been wrestling for over a decade!
I love the guy and think he’s an amazing talent… but as I’ve said many times over the past few months, where is there room for him in AEW?

AEW TBS TITLE MATCH: Jade Cargill(c)(w/Mark Sterling) vs. Tay Conti (w/Anna Jay)- 4.5/10
They focused on a sign in the crowd that said “woman” instead of “women.” I laughed my ass off.
Jade got her entrance music performed live.
The match started off with them getting face-to-face (well… metaphorically. Jade is a good head taller than Tay)…and then Jade grabbed Tay and kissed her on the mouth. HAH! And they all said I was crazy when I put two thousand dollars down on that happening with AEW’s new sponsor, Draft Kings, but now I’ve got enough money to buy ROH from Tony Khan!
They started off hot, and there were some great moments with Jade mocking Conti’s martial arts and getting herself into trouble, culminating in Jade trying to the most stereotypical “Karate chop” ever, and Tay blocking it and turning it into an arm submission.
Some idiot decided that in the middle of Tay trying to pin Jade to win a championship, we should cut away to Dan Lambert, the Men of the Year, and Paige VanZant in a skybox.
I HATED Anna Jay hitting Jade with a chair. Yeah, she kicked you unprovoked, but she hasn’t actually cheated yet. Interfering like that was WAY too heelish. Jade overcame that chairshot to win clean in a match that started off well but went downhill from there. Some of their stuff looked quite good, but there were other things that looked way too slow. Tay hitting manager Mark Sterling with a dive and then staying down forever so Jade could attack Anna Jay felt ridiculous because it’s so counter to how dives usually work, and the chairshot really bothered me, to the point where I started rooting for Jade.

DOG COLLAR MATCH: CM Punk vs. MJF- 8.75/10
I popped so huge for Punk coming out to Miseria Cantare, and wearing his more indy zip-up hoodie and baggy shorts, symbolizing the return of the “old” CM Punk as he said in his promo.
This was an awesome, violent, bloody match that was everything a match of this type is supposed to be… but I absolutely DESPISED the finish.
When he needed help, MJF summoned the stablemate of his who is not only the least likely to help him at the moment, but also is the only one who just wrestled a match, and thus will be the weakest. Wardlow came out, and instead of just having Wardlow attack Punk, MJF’s plan was for Wardlow to give him the ring, which the weakened MJF with the injured hand was going to use on Punk. This gets even stupider when you realize that it’s a f*cking Dog Collar match and there are no disqualifications! If MJF wanted to use the ring, why didn’t he just wear it at the beginning?
Anyway, Wardlow, purposely couldn’t find the ring, allowing Punk time to recover and hit a GTS which sent MJF into the tacks. Wardlow then left the ring for Punk to use. Punk wasted time grabbing the ring even though there was a f*cking CHAIN handy, punched MJF with the ring, and got the pin. Sure, MJF got his comeuppance for trying to cheat, but Punk didn’t actually win cleanly, either, as MJF was distracted by Wardlow, allowing him to recover.
I can actually make a case for why that’s fine booking (MJF has something to complain about to claim the win was invalid, setting up for a rubber match down the line). The real issue here is the logic. MJF’s plan is just plain stupid, especially when you consider the other options available to him (Spears, FTR, Tully… all of whom are nowhere to be found, even after Wardlow betrayed their leader. You’d think accountabili-buddy Shawn Spears would have even come out with Wardlow, but not even that happened). This plan was so clearly developed from the need to create a dramatic moment for Wardlow to turn on MJF, with any other logical considerations ignored, that it feels like something created by the booker rather than a plan someone as smart as MJF would come up with, thus ruining this moment for me.
Then again, I probably shouldn’t have expected anything else because that has been pretty much par for the course with this whole storyline, hasn’t it?

AEW WORLD WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Dr. Britt Baker, DMD(c) (w/Jamie Hayter & Rebel) vs. Thunder Rosa- 7.5/10
Hey, remember two nights ago on Rampage where they just decided to bar everyone from ringside to prevent interference in all of the matches? How about we do that here in the match where the heel’s lackeys have been interfering to help her keep her title for months? No?
And there’s the interference. And Thunder Rosa’s new friend Mercedes Martinez is nowhere to be found, either. She’ll back her up in a brawl, but in a match where a title is on the line?
They had a really good match, other than the fact that the obvious problem of the heel interference wasn’t dealt with by any logical party. Thunder Rosa got several visual victories, but the ref was distracted by Dr. Baker’s lackeys. Thunder Rosa took the lackeys out… and then got back into the ring, ate a Curb Stomp, and got pinned.
That was a mistake. The title absolutely needed to change hands here. This feud was already much colder than if they had gone back to it six months ago, and there are no other babyfaces who feel like they are anywhere near deserving a title shot (because anyone they have tried to build up has been fed to Jade to get her title over), and Britt has pretty much emptied the division out. Hell, there aren’t even any heels you could turn to feud with Britt. Deeb is involved with Shida, The Bunny got fed to Jade, Nyla Rose and Penelope Ford are ice cold… I guess there is Leyla Hirsch, but even she would need some pushing, but even if there were someone else ready, there was pretty much universal agreement that this felt like the moment to have Thunder Rosa win the title. She’s really the only babyface female star AEW has. The last thing they need is to turn her into Tyler Black.

BRYAN DANIELSON vs. JON MOXLEY- 8.75/10
An excellent match with all of the promised violence and blood and so forth. It was intense and just tremendous. The finish saw Moxley catch Dragon in a pin when Dragon had a submission hold locked on.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- awesome, but…
Dragon attacked Moxley, and they went right back to fighting, which made the finish feel irrelevant (although I guess it was going to be mostly irrelevant anyway if the idea was that Dragon was trying to convince Moxley that he is tough enough that Moxley should team with him). Security came out to stop them, but they beat up the security guards and went right back to fighting.
William Regal came out to make them stop. Moxley didn’t want to, so Regal slapped him. Dragon thought this mean that Regal was on his side and wanted to hug him, but Regal slapped him, too, because Dragon was the one who started it. Regal ordered them to shake hands, and they did. This was an awesome segment, but at the same time, it felt like the only reason the fight started was to create a situation where Regal could debut.

SIX-MAN TORNADO TAG TEAM MATCH: Darby Allin, Sting, & Sammy Guevara vs. AHFO (Matt Hardy, Isiah Kassidy, & Andrade el Idolo) (w/Jose the Assistant)- 7/10
A very wacky video played for Sting and Darby’s entrance.
The story here was that the AHFO finally brought their full strength to bear. Well… not their full strength, because The Bunn didn’t come out, because that would have resulted in one of the babyfaces having to hit her, and we can’t have a man hit a woman, so because of that, the heels have to act illogically. Also, Jack Evans and Angelico were missing, but I’m not even sure they’re still employed by AEW. I can’t even remember the last time I saw them.
Despite all of these interlopers, none of Sammy Guevara’s Inner Circle buddies came out to help him. Yes, I know, he over-dramatically “left” the group a few weeks ago, but his leaving was conditional on them not being able to get on the same page, and as we saw on Dynamite, they were able to do so, so shouldn’t Sammy be back? It makes LAX in particular look quite bad to not have Sammy’s back when they were upset at Jericho for supposedly not having theirs, and it doesn’t make Jericho look good, either, to not actually illustrate that he has his friend’s back at the first opportunity after he reaffirmed such a thing to LAX on Dynamite.
Sammy Guevara is a dumbf*ck who did a Spanish Fly off of a high place instead of just pushing the opponent off. He has apparently learned nothing in the four or five years since I first wrote that in a review of a late episode of Lucha Underground.
Sting did a big dive onto Andrade through several tables. Almost the entire match took place outside of the ring, but you could only win the match in the ring, so despite the people hitting each other with stuff, there was rarely any sense of importance to things because there was no chance someone could win the match. The three babyfaces overcame about six heels, Darby and Matt got into the ring and did one quick spot, and then we got the finish.
The AHFO feel completely dead as a threat at this point. I assume that the purpose of this match was to set up Andrade turning on Matt for losing this match, but whether that will involve the group splitting into sides or it’s just going to be everyone turning on Matt, there was no reason to neuter the entire group like this.

AEW WORLD TITLE MATCH: Adam Page(c) vs. Adam Cole- 8.25/10
Cole had some very goofy entrance gear. The match started off quite well, but then it just turned into ten minutes of Adam Page kicking out of everything under the sun. reDRagon came out to help Cole, but Page’s Dark Order friends were nowhere to be found. Some “friends” they are. Cole eventually decided to risk a DQ by going for a table bump. Page countered and hit a Dead-Eye through the table but hurt his knee. This brought the Dark Order men out to check on him, because I guess Page isn’t friends with Tay-Jay. Page was an ungrateful jerk and shoved one of them into reDRagon, starting a brawl.
That got rid of reDRagon, leaving just the two wrestlers in the ring for more big moves and superkicks until Page won with a big combination of moves. This would have been better if it was seven or eight minutes shorter, or they didn’t go so damn overboard with the stuff Cole did to Page earlier in the match (like a f*cking Panama Sunrise on the floor).


In the ring, this was another great show from AEW, but the booking continues to be suspect. No one seems to be in line for Page, the Thunder Rosa booking was terrible (and could, in the long run, prove disastrous), Jericho continues to waver back and forth ridiculously, the MJF/Wardlow stuff feels completely inorganic, with it’s happenings dictated by the wants and timing of the booker rather than any discernible intelligent motivations of the characters, the AHFO feels pretty much dead after tonight, and they couldn’t even keep basic babyface/heel stuff right in a storyline as simple as Jade vs. Conti. It’s so frustrating. AEW has the talent, the financial resources, and the connections, but not the right people in charge.

[NWK2000]

When he needed help, MJF summoned the stablemate of his who is not only the least likely to help him at the moment, but also is the only one who just wrestled a match, and thus will be the weakest. Wardlow came out, and instead of just having Wardlow attack Punk, MJF’s plan was for Wardlow to give him the ring, which the weakened MJF with the injured hand was going to use on Punk. This gets even stupider when you realize that it’s a f*cking Dog Collar match and there are no disqualifications! If MJF wanted to use the ring, why didn’t he just wear it at the beginning?
Anyway, Wardlow, purposely couldn’t find the ring, allowing Punk time to recover and hit a GTS which sent MJF into the tacks. Wardlow then left the ring for Punk to use. Punk wasted time grabbing the ring even though there was a f*cking CHAIN handy, punched MJF with the ring, and got the pin. Sure, MJF got his comeuppance for trying to cheat, but Punk didn’t actually win cleanly, either, as MJF was distracted by Wardlow, allowing him to recover.
I can actually make a case for why that’s fine booking (MJF has something to complain about to claim the win was invalid, setting up for a rubber match down the line). The real issue here is the logic. MJF’s plan is just plain stupid, especially when you consider the other options available to him (Spears, FTR, Tully… all of whom are nowhere to be found, even after Wardlow betrayed their leader. You’d think accountabili-buddy Shawn Spears would have even come out with Wardlow, but not even that happened). This plan was so clearly developed from the need to create a dramatic moment for Wardlow to turn on MJF, with any other logical considerations ignored, that it feels like something created by the booker rather than a plan someone as smart as MJF would come up with, thus ruining this moment for me.
Then again, I probably shouldn’t have expected anything else because that has been pretty much par for the course with this whole storyline, hasn’t it?

You're right, but have Spears or FTR or Blanchard ever been entrusted with the Ring? If not, that just means that MJF is an idiot, entrusting items to a less than reliable bodyguard, which while dumb is consistent

In the ring, this was another great show from AEW, but the booking continues to be suspect. No one seems to be in line for Page, the Thunder Rosa booking was terrible (and could, in the long run, prove disastrous), charge.

The PPV was in the first weekend of March, Double or Nothing 2022 is in last weekend of May. They have two whole months plus a little more. to announce a challenger for Page or to build Rosa back up.

[Big Red Machine]

When he needed help, MJF summoned the stablemate of his who is not only the least likely to help him at the moment, but also is the only one who just wrestled a match, and thus will be the weakest. Wardlow came out, and instead of just having Wardlow attack Punk, MJF’s plan was for Wardlow to give him the ring, which the weakened MJF with the injured hand was going to use on Punk. This gets even stupider when you realize that it’s a f*cking Dog Collar match and there are no disqualifications! If MJF wanted to use the ring, why didn’t he just wear it at the beginning?
Anyway, Wardlow, purposely couldn’t find the ring, allowing Punk time to recover and hit a GTS which sent MJF into the tacks. Wardlow then left the ring for Punk to use. Punk wasted time grabbing the ring even though there was a f*cking CHAIN handy, punched MJF with the ring, and got the pin. Sure, MJF got his comeuppance for trying to cheat, but Punk didn’t actually win cleanly, either, as MJF was distracted by Wardlow, allowing him to recover.
I can actually make a case for why that’s fine booking (MJF has something to complain about to claim the win was invalid, setting up for a rubber match down the line). The real issue here is the logic. MJF’s plan is just plain stupid, especially when you consider the other options available to him (Spears, FTR, Tully… all of whom are nowhere to be found, even after Wardlow betrayed their leader. You’d think accountabili-buddy Shawn Spears would have even come out with Wardlow, but not even that happened). This plan was so clearly developed from the need to create a dramatic moment for Wardlow to turn on MJF, with any other logical considerations ignored, that it feels like something created by the booker rather than a plan someone as smart as MJF would come up with, thus ruining this moment for me.
Then again, I probably shouldn’t have expected anything else because that has been pretty much par for the course with this whole storyline, hasn’t it?

You're right, but have Spears or FTR or Blanchard ever been entrusted with the Ring? If not, that just means that MJF is an idiot, entrusting items to a less than reliable bodyguard, which while dumb is consistent

The ring itself was completely pointless here. Spears' chair would have been more helpful because it does more damage. It's a f*cking no DQs match. Have someone just run in and attack Punk.

MJF being an idiot is my issue, as we have seen him not be an idiot many times before, and he is only an idiot when the plot needs him to be one.

In the ring, this was another great show from AEW, but the booking continues to be suspect. No one seems to be in line for Page, the Thunder Rosa booking was terrible (and could, in the long run, prove disastrous), charge.

The PPV was in the first weekend of March, Double or Nothing 2022 is in last weekend of May. They have two whole months plus a little more. to announce a challenger for Page or to build Rosa back up.

They had even more time than that between this show and the previous one, and they didn't do a very good job of building up either Adam Cole or Thunder Rosa (or, to be frank, the Bucks,or reDRagon or Tay Conti, or f*cking anyone).

But even if that weren't an issue, Britt and Page need something to do while you're building up challengers. They could theoretically do Punk vs. Page, but they won't waste that on free TV. What are the champions going to do for those two and a half months?
Britt has already cleaned out the division. Sure, there is Mercedes Martinez, but has she even won a match yet? And say they rebuild Thunder Rosa and put her against Britt. Either the story is going to be the exact same issue as this time (Britt's friends will be able to help her) or go in the direction that Tony will do something to stop them from being able to help her (cage match, threaten to fire them, etc.)... which, at best makes him look slow because Britt's friends have been helping her for MONTHS and he hasn't taken any steps to deal with that yet, so what took him so long, especially when he went out of his way to bar interference from COMPLETELY RANDOM MATCHES on Rampage TWO DAYS BEFORE.