-Tony Khan took a page out of the recent WWE playbook this week on Dynamite and filmed top stars like Adam Page and Swerve Strickland as they walked backstage before their entrances ahead of their number one contender match to kickoff the show. This was brilliant production. It gave the show a fresh coat of paint in terms of presentation, but allowed for commentary to talk about the backstory of each guy in a way that helped drive home the importance of the match. This along with a hot crowd, made for a sizzling start to the night and set a very fun tone early.
Yeah, the triple threat makes sense
-The Page vs. Strickland match was excellent. Top level pro wrestling and storytelling that included a special intensity that seeps out of these two when they’re in the ring together. The finish will roll some eyes, but not if you’ve been paying attention. Triple threats aren’t ideal, but AEW has done a nice job weaving Page and Strickland in with champion Samoa Joe. Yeah, you may not like it, but this makes sense. Plus, this title match isn’t the main hook for the Revolution PPV anyway.
-Is Adam Page a heel now? Just a babyface that hates Swerve? It’s undefined at this time, but because Page denied the five extra minutes that Swerve proposed, he came across as very heelish and cowardly. Swerve looked like a bad ass and if the full babyface turn for him is on, I’m all for it.
-Samoa Joe acted like you’d imagine Samoa Joe would when hearing about the triple threat. As I said, I’m not a fan of triple threat storylines, but there is an interesting dynamic between him, Page, and Swerve that will be intriguing to see play out in the lead up to the PPV.
-Toni Storm and Deonna Purrazzo continue to deliver a strong build to their Revolution match. Storm sniffing Purrazzo during their face-off was amazingly bizarre.
Orange Cassidy Awkwardness
-Ultimate awkwardness during Orange Cassidy’s backstage promo this week. He’s brilliant at taking the gimmick and giving it more range with a promo style that perfectly matches his lackadaisical nature. Still, he’s underutilized. The promo this week with Best Friends was funny, but he’s positioned way below where he should be given the audience reaction to him on a regular basis.
-Wait, is Undisputed Kingdom going to be feuding with Best Friends now? Look, I like the backstage attack on Taylor. It’s an attempt to try and define UK as dangerous and threatening, but they needed a Bucks-like attack on Sting and Darby. This barely constituted an attack, so “A” for effort, but the group continues to flounder.
-Man, when you watch Blackpool Combat Club enter the ring through the crowd together, you wonder why in the hell anyone in AEW decided (or allowed) the group to try and present themselves as heels. Those guys looked like absolute rockstars coming out this week.
-As for the match with CMLL guys, it was fine. I’ll go so far to say that it was good. Kind of pointless, though. BCC winning definitively extinguishes any heat the new group had and now it’s onto the next thing it seems.
Big Business
-Was that a big announcement from Tony Khan? I’d say so. Well, honestly, it wasn’t, but compared to some of the other big announcements he’s made it certainly was. The announcement of the Big Business event was littered with hints at Mercedes Mone joining AEW. This is the CM Punk approach all over again and a smart one. Leave the opportunity available for a surprise, but build anticipation at the same time.
-Is Chris Jericho going to be ok after that Blue Thunder Bomb from the top rope courtesy of Konosuke Takeshita? His neck and head snapped into the mat like a damn crash test dummy. Ouch. In the end, Takeshita got a big win, but he’s had lots of those. There has to be follow-up with him if the win is going to mean anything.
-A really good main event that saw Sting & Darby Allin defeat Big Bill & Ricky Starks for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. The Tornado Tag rules allowed for the style to be a brawl and that fits Sting better at his age. It was action packed with the audience obviously on the side of Sting. I’m not sure Darby’s body will ever be fully intact after it, but the win got a big pop. Thumbs up.
Angle of the year?
-The Young Bucks attacking Sting & Darby before they could really get into the celebration with the audience was near perfect and the best overall angle that AEW has executed in years. The Bucks were vicious in beating up not only Darby and Sting, but Sting’s own sons as well. They got strong heat for this and now the match at Revolution has deep personal stakes on top of Sting retiring and the tag titles being on the line.