00:00An all-time awesome feud ender, an all-time awesome cage match, and an all-time awful
00:07main event. I'm Luke Owen, your forever Jam That Jampion, and this is my review of
00:12AEW Revolution 2025… in about 10 or so minutes.
00:19The show kicked off in a massive way as MJF took on Hangman Page in a Sorry About That
00:23Jeff Jarrett feud match. It is wild to me that these two have only had one singles match
00:28in the history of AEW, and it was right at the start when MJF won his first diamond ring.
00:34It shows how restrained this company can be with match-ups like this, which makes them
00:38feel all the more special. And these characters are far more interesting now than they were
00:43when they faced off the first time.
00:45And those interesting characters came into focus at the end of the match, as MJF grabbed
00:49Hangman by the hair and asked two simple questions. Why you and not me? What's so special about
00:56you?
00:57It's those insecurities of Max that led to his downfall as Hangman reversed the Heatseeker
01:02into a Deadeye and hit a wicked Angel's Wings and Buckshot for the win. A superb match
01:08and a great way to open Revolution. You know, maybe this should be the main event scene.
01:14Mercedes Monet retained her TBS Championship over Momo Watanabe in a wonderfully hard-hitting
01:19match. At one point, Momo got her foe in the Tree of Woe and used her toes to strike Mercedes
01:23Mo-no, and it looked like she knocked out some of her teeth with one of her other stiff
01:27kicks, but Mercedes managed to hit the Monet Maker and Statement Maker for the win. A very
01:32good match, but I am looking forward to a bigger challenge for Monet that doesn't
01:36feel like a foregone conclusion.
01:39Speaking of awesome things, Swerve Strickland next took on Ricochet for the number one contendership
01:43to the AEW World Championship. Swerve was unhinged at the start of this one, unloading
01:48on Ricochet so much that Prince Nana tried to get Swerve off of him, but Swerve shoved
01:53Nana away. It's not like he did it on purpose or with malice, but it was enough for Nana
01:58to think it was enough and he walked out of the match. These two really laid it into each
02:03other and the action was awesome. Swerve's deadlift powerbomb into a powerslam was incredible,
02:08Ricochet's 630 was picture perfect, and what felt like a variation of Homicide's
02:12Cop Killer on the Spanish announce table was awe-inspiring. Nana came back down to get
02:17his rope, but Ricochet grabbed them and put them on. Swerve tried to dive, but Ricochet
02:21caught him with a Death Valley Driver and got in the face of Ken Yong of all people.
02:25But it was Swerve who picked up the win after a series of nearfalls. Awesome stuff, and
02:30it's a good job that Swerve is the number one contender, because it really feels like
02:34maybe this should be the main event scene.
02:37Kazuchika Okada retained his Continental Championship over local boy Brodie King in a match that
02:41was just as tremendous as we figured it would be when you see the two names written down
02:46on paper. Okada's skin was read almost immediately from the chops and strikes from King, who
02:51is a beautiful brute of a beast. Okada resorted to his cheating ways as he got a steel chair
02:56to distract the referee so he could crack Brodie with the belt, but it wasn't enough
03:00and Brodie reversed the Rainmaker with a lariat of his own. But Okada hit his gorgeous dropkick
03:06as King went for the cannonball and hit the Rainmaker for the win.
03:10This was exactly what it needed to be, but man, maybe Okada should be the main event
03:17scene.
03:18The highs of the PPV were brought down a peg or two as the Hurt Syndicate defended the
03:21Tag Team Championships against the Outrunners. It's nothing against Turbo Floyd or Truth
03:26Magnum, but it feels like we're about, I don't know, three or four months late to
03:30be capitalising on their momentum. Like, this wasn't dreadful, but it was also a bit pointless.
03:37We had our fun early with the Outrunners, but then it was time for business as the Hurt
03:41Syndicate dominated and killed the Outrunners dead to retain. This tag division needs a
03:46shot in the arm, but I've been saying that since this time last year when Sting retired
03:51holding the titles.
03:52There was a lot of discussion in the week leading up to the event and over the weekend
03:56of what should close out Revolution, with many feeling it should be Tony Storm vs. Mariah
04:00May given that it's one of AEW's best stories of the last year and this was the
04:05final chapter. So it felt odd that it came so early in the night, which both shows the
04:10depths of big stars the company has, but also exposes that women in All Elite Wrestling
04:15will always have a ceiling.
04:17The match itself was as brutal as it was beautiful. Luther got taken out early and Storm hit a
04:22sky high off the stage through a table, May hit Storm zero on the steps which gave Tony
04:27some colour and boy howdy did she ever get some colour, and then the pair of mad lads
04:33got a bucket of broken champagne bottles to do a smegging Taipei Deathmatch spot. That
04:39was so awesome. Storm stabbed May with a shard of the bottle, but Mariah responded by stabbing
04:44Storm in the… well, there's no better way to put this than to do this instead.
04:50At this point both women, but Tony Storm in particular, were a bloody mess, and then they
05:02got the thing that started all of this. The shoe. Storm stabbed May in the head at the
05:08top of the ramp and then hit a Storm Zero through a table. This was a feud ender alright,
05:14they even had The End on the big screens.
05:17Legit, I don't know what both of these women do after this, but I hope that AEW capitalises
05:23on what this feud has done for both of them. Give me a big title program for Tony Storm
05:28and another heated rivalry for Mariah May. Maybe this should have been the main event,
05:35because lesser wrestlers would struggle to get the crowd back after such an epic brawl.
05:40Thankfully, Kenny Omega and Konosuke Takeshita are not lesser wrestlers. Kenny is just perfect,
05:47isn't he? Like, he's just perfect. I've loved the matches these two have had in the
05:51past, and this one was right up there with their previous outings. The crowd did start
05:56slow but really got into it once they hit the halfway point, and were with them until
06:00the very end, going nuts when Kenny Omega kicked out at one following a series of knee
06:05strikes by Takeshita. Omega's selling of his recovery from diverticulitis was just
06:09incredible, and Takeshita working over his midsection led to great drama of Omega struggling
06:15to hit the One Winged Angel. Don Callis was superb in this match, constantly jumping up
06:21from the desk to check that Takeshita was ok, or to cheat on his behalf. And he even
06:25blocked Omega setting up for his second One Winged Angel attempt, but after a series of
06:30roll-up nearfalls, Omega got the win and is the new International Champion. Like Kenny
06:36himself, this was perfect. It also sets up Okada vs. Omega at All In in July, hopefully
06:43to merge these two midcard titles together. Because, you know, maybe this should be the
06:48main event scene.
06:50And bruv, then came Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher in a Salad Steel Cage. Will is
06:55really bloody good at showing, not telling. Or maybe telling by showing. Right off the
07:01bat, he did three spots that got over the steel cage stipulation and what it means for
07:05him as a wrestler. First, he couldn't do a springboard because the cage is too tight
07:09to the ring, then he couldn't do a handspring because he hit the sides of the cage while
07:13trying to do a flip, and then Fletcher rammed his head into the cage and he came up bleeding.
07:18He was now going to have to change up his entire game plan and meet Fletcher at his
07:23level of violence. And Fletcher is no slout for the record, wearing the same boots and
07:28kick pads that he did when he turned on Will Ospreay, so his dried blood was still on there.
07:34With Kaliseng and commentary, they want to add more blood to the collection. And boy,
07:39did they get the blood they wanted. These two kicked the crap out of each other, using
07:43barbed wire, did the cinema drama of Fletcher slowing Will's intensity down by showing
07:48him the United Empire armband, and then they did a Spanish Fly off the top of the cage.
07:56Absolutely insane. Hidden Blade by Will and a Tiger Driver 91 the movie only pulls out
08:01in dire scenarios to get the win. A superb match, and capped off a perfect three match
08:08run for this PPV.
08:11But if I may, AEW have been very good at protecting the cage stipulation and make it mean something
08:16after WWE under Vince McMahon made the cage mean sweet f***ing nothing in North American
08:22wrestling for about three decades. And I feel some of that was undermined when this cage
08:27match, a stipulation designed to not have interference, had a lot of blatant interference
08:31from Mark Davis. I get that he's a big part of the story and part of the group, but like,
08:37it did take me out of the match a bit. But that aside, maybe this should have been the
08:42main event scene. And you know what? Why isn't it? Why aren't MJF, Hangman Page,
08:48Swerve, Strickland, Ricochet, Okada, Kenny Omega, Kunasuke Takeshi, Will Ospreay and
08:51Karl Fletcher the main event scene? Oh, because these lads are.
08:57Hindsight is a wonderful thing. It can reveal that something you thought was the right move
09:01was actually the wrong one. And maybe with the benefit of hindsight, Tony Khan will see
09:05the closing out this show with Adam Copeland vs. Jon Moxley in a heatless match with TNA
09:09levels of overbooking schmoz. But here's the thing. You didn't need the benefit of
09:14hindsight to see that was going to happen.
09:17So they had a boring match. Then there was a ref bump and a visual pin on Mox. Then Wheelie
09:21Uta ran down and he chose to side with Mox rather than Cope. Then J White ran down and
09:25he took out Uta but then accidentally clocked Cope with the briefcase. Then Cope had the
09:28match won for a second time with a series of spears. Then Christian Cage pulled out
09:32the referee and then he cashed in his title shot. Then he hit Cope with a spear and Cope
09:37kicked out. Then he hit the Unprettier. But then Mox locked in the Bulldog Choke. And
09:41then Christian Cage tried to pin Cope while he was in the Bulldog Choke. And then he tapped
09:45out or passed out due to that submission and Mox retained. I promised myself I would do
09:49that in one take and I did.
09:51Thankfully the actual closing of the show was Swerve Strickland standing tall as he
09:54dove off a balcony onto Jon Moxley. I woke up in a tremendous mood to watch this show.
10:00The sun was shining in the UK for the first time this year, which means I had my first
10:04barbecue of 2025. I went for my first 5K run in about 3 years and I did it in 36 minutes
10:10which I'm super proud of. I was in a good mood.
10:14And then the majority of this pay-per-view put me in an even better mood. Outrunners
10:19vs. Hurt Syndicate aside, this was a stellar show and among the best AEW has ever put on.
10:25But man, that main event was a dud. And sometimes it is how you leave them folks. If you check
10:31online this is all people are talking about, how bad this main event was. My worry is this
10:36will be the lasting memories of AEW Revolution 2025, that match, and that's a shame. It
10:42won't be mine, and I hope it won't be yours either.
10:45Now go and watch myself, Tempest and special guest SP3 count down the best WrestleMania
10:50matches of all time. And yes, I didn't have Shawn and Taker on my list, but I literally
10:54explain why in the video.
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