SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW is coming off a great PPV in Revolution. It feels like they have their first real surge of positive momentum in some time. That’s a good thing because March looks to be a huge month for them between the potential debut of Kazuchika Okada tonight and the expected arrival of Mercedes Moné next week in Boston. They have also have a big show in Toronto as well as an new April PPV to build to. Here’s hoping Tony Khan can harness this momentum and keep it going into the foreseeable future. With the new-look new set coming tonight and the positive energy coming out of Sunday, in the words of the great Nina Simone, “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, and I’m feeling good” about All Elite Wrestling.
Sting & Darby Allin vs. The Young Bucks
After 38 glorious years, the legendary career of Sting came to a close Sunday night – and what a way to go out. I don’t use this word very often, but everything about Sting’s final match – The Final Showtime, as it were – was perfect. I started to get choked up with Sting as he sat alone in a theater watching a montage of images from his iconic career in the pre-match video package. Seeing his sons dressed as Surfer Sting and Wolfpac Sting was awesome. Hearing Justin Roberts bellow “This is Sting,” the best intro in wrestling history, for the last time hit me right in the feels.
The match started off hot with the Borden boys getting their revenge for The Bucks bat-assisted assault a few weeks ago by joining with their dad for a Stinger Splash Party. From there it rolled into a thrill ride of broken wood and shattered glass. Sting took a suplex off the stage through two tables. In the spot of the night, Darby Allin dove from near the top of a really tall ladder intending to hit Nicholas Jackson but instead crashed through a pane of glass in brutal fashion. His back, an immediate sea of cuts and blood, was a gruesome sight. J.R., who returned to AEW to call this match, brought back his classic snarky “but they know how to fall, right?” line and Tony Schiavone hyperbolically suggested Darby might bleed out.
From there Sting, on his own while Darby was tended to by medical, morphed into the living embodiment of the phrase “you cannot kill that which will not die.” Powebomb off a ladder through a table? No sell. Superkick Party? No sell. A second of two EVP Triggers. A kick out at one followed by laughing in the Bucks’ faces. Sting got to be every bit the superhero he’s always been and then some.
In the end, Darby returned to toss Nicholas off the top turnbuckle through a table and hit a Coffin Drop on Matthew which allowed Sting to lock in the Scorpion Deathlock for the last time and get the tapout victory. Sting goes out on top as champion and undefeated in AEW. On a personal note, watching maybe my favorite wrestler of all time retire Sunday night was special and emotional and I couldn’t have asked for a better ending. In the words of Bob Hope (or Fall Out Boy, depending on your generation), thanks for the memories, Sting. Godspeed and enjoy your well earned retirement.
As far as the fallout of this match, I have to give a shout out to the Bucks. They played the perfect jackass foils to Sting. They even turned babyface in the match briefly with a Superkick Party to Ric Flair. (Side note: With Sting retired, hopefully the Cryptkeeper can return to the coffin in his haunted mansion never to darken our TV again.) With the titles officially vacated, expect the Bucks, as well as BCC, FTR, and maybe The Undisputed Kingdom to make deep runs in the ensuing tournament. When it comes to Darby’s immediate future, he’s got a match against Jay White next week in Boston and then he’s off to climb Mt. Everest to which I say best of luck. It’ll be interesting to see what he does upon his return without Sting by his side.
Final Grade: A+
Samoa Joe vs. Swerve Strickland vs Hangman Page
Well, my prediction for this one was wrong. Samoa Joe emerged victorious after forcing “Hangman” Page to tap out in the Coquina Clutch. While he didn’t emerge as champion on this occasion, Sserve is clearly next in line having cemented himself as a babyface. Hangman, on the other hand, allowed his obsession with ensuring Swerve never wins the title drive him to assaulting multiple referees. Those actions will get him suspended (a way to write him off TV for some time off for undisclosed personal issues) and effectively prevent him from further encumbering Swerve’s journey.
With Hangman gone, Swerve should get a one-on-one match against Joe at Dynasty and be crowned the new champion. In the meantime, Joe has a date with Wardlow because – much like Jake Gyllenhaal couldn’t quit Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain” – Tony Khan can’t quit Wardlow. He’s not beating Joe for the title, but I do wonder what happens to him within the Undisputed Kingdom when he inevitably fails.
Final Grade: A-
Toni Storm vs. Deonna Purrazzo
There were some really nice technical wrestling exchanges in the match at Revolution. Ultimately, though, the match just okay. They both worked hard and neither woman was downright bad. The finish, however, was not good. Deonna had Toni in the Venus de Milo and got the visual tap, but Luther had the ref distracted. That allowed Mariah May to distract Deonna, which allowed Toni to hit the Storm Zero piledriver for the win.
Deonna has a clear and obvious claim to a rematch with the visual tap. Toni Storm is magnificent in this persona. Case in point: The post-PPV media scrum where she suggested she and Tony Khan go get “f’d up.” I just think her zaniness would be better placed against a heel who’s flummoxed as to how to handle her. Her being the heel is a struggle. Perhaps in this next chapter in a feud with Deonna, that absolutely should continue; they could seamlessly switch places. I think it would suit them better. Either way, Deonna, much like Swerve, should win the title at Dynasty.
Grade: B+
Daniel Garcia vs. Christian Cage
In the most curious decision of the night, Daniel Garcia failed to defeat Christian Cage for the TNT title. The crowd was there for every Garcia near fall just waiting to erupt for the win. Even though Daddy Magic came out and neutralized Killswitch, Garcia was still outnumbered and Nick Wayne was able to intervene, hanging Garcia on the rope and causing him to walk into a Killswitch from Christian.
It was equally surprising that there was no sign of Adam Copeland. It seems like the plan must be to put the belt on Copeland. Why else delay a Garcia victory? I don’t think Copeland needs the title, but there is a story to tell between him and Garcia given their one match ended in a no-contest. We’ll see what happens.
Final Grade: A-
Orange Cassidy vs. Roderick Strong
Orange Cassidy came into the match so bandaged up he looked like he’d had a Swamp Thing-like accident that turned him into a half-human/half-Kinesio tape hybrid. He then proceeded to get his ass kicked by Roddy. There’s really no other way to describe it. Roddy dominated the match, hitting OC with 87 different backbreaker variations (only a slight exaggeration) including one onto the top turnbuckle that looked particularly painful.
OC did fire up and almost win, but in the end Roddy won clean with End of Heartache. Kyle O’Reilly returned after the match, looking like he spent the entirety of his 18 month layoff due to neck surgery in a tent in the woods. He wasn’t immediately receptive to joining his friends in the Undisputed Kingdom, so there’s a story to tell there. As for Orange, it’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here.
Final Grade: B
Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston
These two long-time rivals beat each other senseless on Sunday night. Eddie wasn’t just looking to retain his Continental Crown, he wanted to earn Danielson’s respect. The crowd was pretty firmly behind Eddie and, in the end, the Mad King slayed the American Dragon with the Kawada Bomb.
After the match, Danielson, despite being initially hesitant, shook Eddie’s hand. The two men then cut the most real promo I’ve seen in a long time from the trainer’s room in a video posted to Twitter. Bryan admitted that his issues with Eddie were about him then Eddie. In that way, he seemed to turn a corner.
Hopefully, he’s now booked against more straightforward heels. He doesn’t need to change one single thing about the way he carries himself – well, except for spitting at people; he just needs to be slotted as the face. Maybe he can take Daniel Garcia back under his wing and train a Dragon for a new generation?
Final Grade: A+
Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita
These two men had one hell of a match at Revolution. They absolutely wore each other out. Osperay survived a brutal top rope brainbuster that didn’t quite land right and left him with a nasty bruise on his back. He felled Takeshita with a wicked Hidden Blade and got the victory.
His first match as an official member of the AEW roster couldn’t have gone any better. Now comes the hard part.
Ospreay has to get away from the Callis Family. Our esteemed editor-in-chief Wade Keller made the point on last week’s Dynamite post-show that Ospreay needs to separate himself from the group rather than get jumped out of it; I agree. Ospreay needs to quickly choose to separate himself, something Callis will not take well and that can lead to Ospreay vs The Callis Family for a few months. Whatever the case, Ospreay is 1A to Swerve in terms of babyfaces and he needs to be on his own ASAP.
Grade: A+
FTR vs. Blackpool Combat Club
As expected, FTR vs Blackpool Combat Club had a super-physical match. Even though they were playing a home game as North Carolina natives, FTR came up a little short after Dax was forced to tap out in the rear naked choke. The win firmly establishes Mox and Claudio as a legit tag team and a real threat in the upcoming tag title tournament.
FTR is still the best team in the world and this loss doesn’t hurt them. The nod of respect between the two teams at the end of the match seems to indicate that the feud is over, but these two teams could have rubber match at some point in the tourney.
Final Grade: A-
Willow Nightingale & Kris Statlander vs. Skye Blue & Julia Hart
The match was fine. Julia hit a perfect moonsault on Stat for a two. Willow hit a fantastic Pounce on Skye which she followed up with her version of the Doctor Bomb for the win. Willow getting the pin would seem to set her up as Julia’s next opponent.
With Stokely’s repeated references to the likes of Rick James, Nicki Minaj, and Gorrilaz, and their new t-shirt which is take off of a classic Isley Brothers album cover this group is “For the Culture” and I’m here for it. They have a weird sitcom-y energy to them and I kind of hope we’re not headed for a Statlander heel turn even though she did seem to be tempted to use the chain offered to take the chain Stokely offered her on last week’s Dynamite before Willow stopped her.
Grade: B+
Mark Briscoe vs. House of Black
Tony Khan should probably invest in mental health services for his talent. Toni Storm is so far gone she thinks she’s living in the 1940s. “Hangman” Page has become unhinged to the point of assaulting refs. And then there’s Mark Briscoe. Briscoe tried to incinerate another man’s head on Collision. Scheduled for a match against Buddy Matthews, Brisicoe struck before the bell, driving Matthews through a table at ringside.
The rest of the HOB attempted to intervene, but Briscoe was ready for them. He kicked Brody low and blocked a Malakai kick with a chair. Buddy prevented him from driving a spike into Malakai’s head and the two fought up to the side of the stage area where Briscoe got his hands on the pyro controls. He put Buddy’s head right over the cannon that shoots fire pyro and, were it not for multiple officials swarming, he would have burned Matthews head to a crisp. The HOB have clearly pushed Mark Briscoe too far. Who knows what he might do next.
Grade: A-
Ruby Soho vs. Saraya
I have to give AEW credit twice over on this one. First of all, they didn’t get hokey and have Saraya interrupt Ruby and Ang’s date at an obviously staged location. Instead, Saraya and her brother Zak Zodiac struck before Ruby and Ang had a chance to leave the building. Zak clipped Angelo in the back of the knee with some kind of weapon and then Harley and Saraya held Ruby and forced her to watch as Zak struck Angelo across the face with the same weapon knocking him out.
The other thing I have to give credit for is not overstuffing the pre-show with the mixed tag match I predicted. I still think that match is coming and I’m excited. Pissed off Ruby Soho is my favorite Ruby Soho. Saraya better watch herself.
Grade: B
CMLL vs. AEW
A bit of a mixed bag overall for the week. Chris Jericho defeated Atlantis Jr. and Claudio defeated Rudigo. Magnus got a win over the designated fall guy Matt Sydal to qualify for the All Star Scramble at Revolution which he has in but didn’t win obviously.
The best news, though, came out of the post-PPV scrum when Tony Khan confirmed that CMLL women would be participating in the inter-promotional competition. I’m going to keep saying it til it happens. CMLL guys need to start picking up some real wins or else the novelty is going to start to wear off.
Grade: B-
RECOMMENDED NEXT: AEW REVOLUTION RESULTS (3/3): LeClair’s alt-perspective detailed coverage of Sting & Darby vs. Young Bucks, Joe vs. Swerve vs. Hangman, Storm vs. Purrazzo, more
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s AEW Revolution Hit List: Sting and Darby Allin vs. The Young Bucks for the AEW Tag Titles, Samoa Joe vs. Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page for the AEW World Championship, Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita
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