Here are my final thoughts on All Elite Wrestling’s Revolution 2021!
Riho and Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Maki Itoh (with Rebel)
Reactions: MAKI ITOH! Everyone’s favorite middle finger-waving, simp-calling Joshi pro replaced Rebel (thank God!) and gave the crowd their first major surprise of the night. And thanks to her inclusion, this Buy-In match came off a lot better than I expected going in.
This tag team bout delivered some fun spots and a decent runtime, which fits in nicely with the nice change in pace for the AEW Women’s Division. There was a slew of sloppy moments littered throughout this bout that stuck out like a sore thumb, sadly. But I still enjoyed the majority of this bout. Nice showing from everyone involved and here’s hoping Miss Itoh is going to stay in the States for a little while longer.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) (c) vs. The Inner Circle (MJF and Chris Jericho) (with Wardlow) (AEW World Tag Team Championship)
Reactions: One of the main things I appreciate about The Young Bucks’ PPV matches is how they change up their signature spots when it comes to whoever they’re facing. That was the case here once again as Matt and Nick Jackson exchanged some unique counters and exchanges with each other during this fiery opening contest.
There was definitely a bunch of outside shenanigans involved, but it didn’t annoy me as much as I thought they would (watching Wardlow get clocked by a Judas Effect got a little giggle out of me). MJF and Chris Jericho looked great together and heeled it up whenever appropriate, plus they did a good job of throwing wrinkles into the Bucks’ usual gameplan. The near falls here were off the charts and the action remained smooth from start to finish. Fine work from both teams here. The winners were never in question, but I still got a kick out of both duos making it look as if a possible title change was on the horizon.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Bear Country (Bear Boulder and Bear Bronson) vs. The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver) vs. The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) vs. The Inner Circle (Santana and Ortiz) vs. The Butcher and The Blade vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) vs. Gunn Club (Austin Gunn and Coltin Gunn) vs. Death Triangle (Pac and Rey Fenix) vs. Varsity Blondes (Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr.) vs. Matt Sydal and Mike Sydal vs. SCU (Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels) vs. The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall) vs. The Dark Order (Alan “5” Angels and Preston “10” Vance) vs. The Pretty Picture (“Pretty” Peter Avalon and Cezar Bononi) vs. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) (Casino Tag Team Royale for a Future AEW World Tag Team Championship Match)
Reactions: Three cheers for the Death Triangle! I was rooting for them to emerge from this wild battle royale victorious and that’s exactly what happened. That satisfying end result came after a hot closing stretch that took place between Jungle Boy, John Silver, Pac, and Rey Fenix. All four men turned the intensity level up a notch as they furiously fought for their respective teams.
And once Jungle Boy and Fenix locked up, things got even crazier and ended this battle royale on a high note. The mayhem that occurred before those final few minutes featured some noteworthy moments as well – QT Marshall finally turned his back on The Nightmare Family, Bear Country & The Butcher and The Blade went to war, and The Dark Order’s three-team contingent each put in solid performances. This was honestly a pretty good multi-man affair.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Ryo Mizunami (AEW Women’s World Championship)
Reactions: Ever since the big tournament to determine Hikaru Shida’s next challenger kicked off, AEW’s Women Division has gotten a bigger spotlight and produced some quality bouts. This title matchup certainly kept that trend going and had its moments. But what hurt it was a few awkward near falls and a feeling of this match going a lot longer than it actually should have.
Kudos to both women still, however – they provided everyone with another good showcase for Joshi pro wrestling. The post-run-in from the ladies that competed during the Buy-in was obviously used to set something up for the next episode of Dynamite, which was cool I guess. This one was decent overall.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Miro and Kip Sabian (with Penelope Ford) vs. Best Friends (Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor)
Reactions: For a match I didn’t give two hoots about coming in, this was a bit better than it had any right to be. While not amazing by any stretch of the imagination, this tag team grudge match still provided a hotly contested brawl. The backstage skirmish that kicked this bout off did a good job of setting up the brutal assault Chuck Taylor was treated to and the hot return that brought in a hot Orange Cassidy. The main story of this match was Miro’s dominance and a moment that looks like it’ll finally cause him to move on from his partnership with Kip Sabian. This was short, sweet, and straight to the point.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Adam Page vs. Matt Hardy (Big Money Match, Winner Receives All of Loser’s 2021 First-Quarter Earnings)
Reactions: Matt Hardy provided Adam Page with the perfect veteran needed to make him look like money in the ring here. That’s not that hard to do since Page has already shown everyone he’s worth all the hype and more. Both men fought hard and produced a matchup that played to their strengths – Matt took on the role of the wily veteran that focused on a weakened body part, while Page battled through all the pain and remained vigilant throughout. Matt didn’t look all that sluggish out there, which was a nice surprise considering his current physical state and age. The incorporation of Private Party and The Dark Order offered a nice wrap-up to this better-than-expected contest.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Cody Rhodes (with Arn Anderson) vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Lance Archer (with Jake Roberts) vs. Max Caster vs. Ethan Page (Face of the Revolution Ladder Match for a Future AEW TNT Championship Match)
Reactions: And our second surprise appearance of the evening came here when former Impact Wrestling star Ethan Page hit the stage to reveal himself as the sixth entrant in this wild ladder match. Once the bell rang, madness ensued as this car crash-style matchup got underway. We got our usual ladder match moments here. And thankfully, the majority of them were eye-popping and brought the crowd to their feet. Cody Rhodes did his best to power through his severe shoulder injury, which the other match competitors picked up on. He took quite the beating from everyone else involved, but he did a commendable job of trying to claim victory against all odds.
The rest of the pack pulled off some crazy ladder-assisted spots – that big superplex from Lancer Archer to Cody that led to a sick elbow drop from Max Caster was pretty cool. And I definitely popped for that Flip Piledriver to Cody on the ladder from Penta El Zero Miedo, Scorpio Sky’s super Frog Splash, and Lancer Archer planting Ethan Page on a ladder via a brutal Blackout. That springboard cutter from Cody to Penta didn’t come off too well, however. But overall, this ladder match kept me invested and gave Sky the biggest win of his AEW career.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Team Taz (Brian Cage and Ricky Starks) (with Taz) vs. Darby Allin and Sting (Street Fight)
Reactions: Well damn! AEW made the smart decision by going the cinematic match route for this highly anticipated street fight. It’s quite evident that the powers that be at AEW spared no expense when it came to making this match look and sound like a big-budget production. Everything from the intricate entrances right on down to the industrial setting matched the intense mood of one of AEW’s hottest feuds in recent months.
There were a lot of moving parts to this match and several bodies involved – all four men used every weapon and section of the facility they could find to deal big damage. Brian Cage got to look like a machine, Ricky Starks got his licks in on a bonafide legend, Darby Allin took & delivered some incredibly painful bumps, and Sting put in a hell of a performance. This was one of the better cinematic matches I’ve seen thus far since the whole trend made its way to the bigger wrestling feds. Plus it matched the high expectations I had for it as soon as it was announced. This was a hell of a street fight that all four men should be proud of.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Jon Moxley (Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch for the AEW World Championship)
Reactions: I’m one of those ancient wrestling fans that watched these types of matches when FMW was going strong. So I had a feeling that this main event would match the same levels of brutality that men like Atsushi Onita, Cactus Jack, and Terry Funk were responsible for back in the day. Thankfully, Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley raised the stakes on their ongoing feud and put on a hellish main event. This one was a bloody brawl that involved the usage of barbed wire, ring rope explosions, and the usual in-ring excellence that Omega & Moxley are known for.
This one started with some smart back and forth moments where both men did their best to avoid the barbed wire ropes. And as it wore on, the gore levels intensified as both men bloodied each other with everything around the ring. Moxley came out like a bat out of hell and Omega did his best to match his insane levels of intensity. Everything was going great…until that horrendous ending to the show as a whole. What could have been one of the greatest finishes to a wrestling PPV ended up being one of the most disappointing “explosions” I’ve ever seen. This main event was strong, but the lackluster outcome of its main gimmick did it no favors. If that was a botch, then Omega, Moxley, and Eddie Kingston must be fuming right now…
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Match of the Night
Team Taz vs. Darby Allin and Sting!
Final Verdict
AEW Revolution 2021 was a show that was pretty damned good when you consider the actual match quality. But there were two major disappointments that kept it from hitting the same levels of awesomeness that we got from last year’s installment. The Street Fight ended up being the best match of the night, while the comparatively weaker bouts were still solid.
However, the overhyping tied to Christan Cage’s signing ended up being a bit underwhelming. Now don’t get me wrong – I’m a huge fan of “Captain Charisma,” but AEW did him no favors by getting fans overly excited about the moment as a whole. And the less said about that show closing explosion, the better. Good show overall, but the two biggest knocks on this show brought it down a few notches.
Final Score: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
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