-Adam Page and Claudio Castagnoli had a very strong match to open the show this week. Some great action and an Adam Page that seemed invested in being a serious top star character on the show. That said, it was shocking to see Page not get time on the microphone in that moment to declare what his next steps were. The plan obviously was for him to come out later and we’ll get to that, but after being put on the shelf by Adam Cole, you’d think he’d want to seriously address that?
-I liked the Brodie Lee tribute a lot. That tragic story is synonymous with AEW’s time in Daily’s Place and Tony Khan always does right by Lee in terms of acknowledging his memory and impact on AEW during those days. Great stuff here.
Adam?
-The eight-man tag match was what it was. Lots of action and good match that the crowd was into the entire time, but no context whatsoever other than it being a tribute match to Brodie Lee. Very bizarre seeing Adam Copeland in this and defined with this lower caliber talent. Not a good sign.
-I loved the presentation of Samoa Joe this week. Just loved it. He not only owned his time in the ring, but took on the personality of a champion in an intense, serious, confident “Joe” way. Joe has only been world champion for a couple weeks, but he just may be the champion the promotion needs right now in order to right the upper part of the card.
-Swerve Strickland, Adam Page, and Hook walking out to declare their intention for Joe’s world championship is a bit of a trope in pro wrestling, but it worked in the moment due to how Joe redefined how title shots would be given out. The visual of challengers walking out fit how Joe wants challengers to engage with him.
A parade of challengers
-Swerve has an amazing amount of confidence and charisma right now. He’s a hot act and he knows it. As long as the booking keeps him relevant and moving forward, we’re looking at future world champion sooner than later. Page had a nice night on the microphone too. He ditched the sad cowboy schtick and acted like the top star that he is. Very refreshing to see. As for Hook, he held his own and I was surprised. He didn’t try to do too much out there, but confronted Joe face to face and demanded his match next week. In doing so, he didn’t lose and of his electricity as a babyface star even if he looked like Joe’s child when standing next to him.
-What was with the Hook Batman signal? Strange, but I didn’t hate it either.
-Umm, during the parade of challengers, where was Wardlow and Adam Cole? They made their declaration on going after the world title last week and including them in this would have not only tied the top story to the top title in a meta sense, but it would have given the new Undisputed Kingdom group face time around the other top stars in the company and therefore boosting their flailing perception.
Uh oh, Ricky
-That’s two clean jobs by Ricky Starks in a matter of a few weeks. For whatever reason he’s clearly not a priority and that’s disappointing. Sammy Guevara continues to meander around. Is there a wrestler more lost than he is?
-Interest in the women’s eight person tag match hinged on the will she or won’t she storyline regarding the possibly debuting Mercedes Mone. Mone didn’t debut and the match was what it was. The most important note coming out of this was the star power of Julia Hart. She was the most over act in the ring and is one of AEW’s finest homegrown projects since the company came into existence in 2019.
-Adam Cole said a lot of the same stuff this week after Roderick Strong defeated Bryan Keith, but it was delivered better and with more serious undertones. When Undisputed Kingdom made their entrance, the audience reaction was less than ideal with AEW cameras accidentally showing a big portion of the audience sitting on their hands. Once Cole began his in-ring promo, he got them engaged. The audience booed Cole, who then ran with it and encouraged it with his cadence. Not a ton of depth here, but a fine follow-up to last week. Still, the group doesn’t have the momentum it should coming out of a months long mystery and angle.
Where’s your brain Tony Khan?
-The main event was fun, but Sting is stupid. Tony Khan is stupid too. There is no damn reason why Sting should be jumping off balconies through tables. Ever. But especially with a major PPV match upcoming in March. The entire Revolution show is rooted in Sting’s retirement match and he’s getting the green light on these stunt spots? Where is the adult in the room?
Sting missed one of the two tables and crashed hard onto the floor, looked injured, and had a hard time completing the angle with the Young Bucks. It’s nuts and needs to stop.
-Dumb Sting bumps aside, I liked the match and I liked the angle with The Young Bucks. Say what you will about The Bucks — and I do. They can work matches, though, and are perfect last opponents for Sting. They are the biggest star tag team that AEW has, so they feel like worthy PPV and final match opponents. They can also bump around and generate movement, which is something that will help the match itself once it gets in the ring on March 3.