TJRWrestling AEW Revolution 2024 Preview
A preview of AEW Revolution featuring Sting & Darby Allin against The Young Bucks, Samoa Joe defending the World Title against Swerve Strickland & Adam Page, and more.
John: This is the first AEW PPV of the year taking place over two months since Worlds End when Samoa Joe beat MJF to become the AEW World Champion. While I do miss MJF from the show, I think AEW did a great job of building this card and putting on some incredible matches for the show. Fans of AEW are watching for the amazing matches. I think there are going to be several of those at Revolution. The storylines are solid, but I wouldn’t say that AEW has any truly compelling stories right now, which is probably why attendance is down at a lot of their television tapings. The sagging attendance numbers won’t be an issue here because this one sold out easily and it will be one of the biggest AEW arena crowds ever thanks in part to Sting’s retirement match.
I think AEW has done a nice job of building this show around Sting and his legacy in pro wrestling as he heads into his final match. At 64 years old, it is the right time for him to retire and I’m sure he’s going to have a lot of fun while it will also be an emotional night for him, as well as the entire company. Putting the Sting & Darby Allin tag team match against The Young Bucks on last is the right call because it would be difficult for anything else to follow that.
Joining me for the preview is our AEW Collision reviewer Gino Lewis. If you need info on how to order AEW Revolution on PPV, check out AEW’s website for info on how to watch it in your country. There are different options depending on where you live.
Gino: AEW’s first PPV of 2024 is Sunday at Revolution. It is possibly the best job AEW has done building up a big show. The only other PPV that even comes to mind is All In last year. It will be far and away the biggest crowd of the year for AEW. The arena in Greensboro should be on fire. AEW started forming the card on the second Dynamite of the year back on January 10th when they started the rivalry for the three-way World Championship match between Samoa Joe, “Hangman” Adam Page and Swerve Strickland. Bouts were added to the lineup at a steady pace with each contest getting a chance to resonate with the audience.
Sting’s final match will take place at the show. That alone may have been enough to draw a sellout crowd. AEW backed it up with an excellent storyline along with Darby Allin and EVP’s The Young Bucks. There really isn’t anything on the show that is just thrown together other than the All-Star Scramble and Will Ospreay facing Konosuke Takeshita which could be the match of the night. A lot of matches do not have obvious winners which is a rare thing in AEW these days. There is no denying that AEW has lost some of the cool factor it had when it was new. It’s still special for me when it’s at its best. Sunday should be one of those nights!
There are two “Zero Hour” Pre-Show matches that we won’t be previewing because they were announced late.
* Kris Statlander & Willow Nightingale vs. Julia Hart & Skye Blue
* The Bang Bang Scissor Gang – Jay White, Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, Max Caster, Anthony Bowens & Billy Gunn vs. Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh, Isiah Kassidy, Marq Quen & Willie Mack
Here’s the main show.
All-Star Scramble Match: Chris Jericho vs. Wardlow vs. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Lance Archer vs. Hook vs. Brian Cage vs. Magnus vs. Dante Martin
The winner will receive an AEW World Title match.
Gino: I would have liked this better if it were the original “Meat Madness” concept. I’m actually not sure exactly how this will work. It has been a while since I’ve seen a Scramble match. I believe it was the monumental Raw GM Mike Adamle who came up with it. An “Adamle Original” if you will. There isn’t any storyline going in. This is the one thrown together match on the card. It’s okay to have one random spot fest on a show like this to get a lot of people on the card. I’ll go with Wardlow to win since he had a promo recently saying he’s going after the World Title.
Winner: Wardlow
John: They removed Meat Madness and replaced it with this, which is an eight-man match where the winner gets an AEW World Title match that they will probably lose. I’m not sure what else they would have had for Chris Jericho if they did Meat Madness instead of this. I know Wardlow is a guy who has talked about getting the AEW World Title and there are times when they book him well, but generally speaking, he is one of the worst booked wrestlers in the company since he rarely has a meaningful feud. I’ll go with Powerhouse Hobbs as the winner. This match could be a bit of a trainwreck with eight guys involved, but there will likely be some fun moments too.
Winner: Powerhouse Hobbs
FTR – Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler vs. Blackpool Combat Club – Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli
Gino: A simple buildup is all it took to get this rivalry going. Simple but effective. Blackpool said they’d stomp out any tag team in AEW. FTR didn’t like that. They’ve been brawling every chance they get since then. Both teams have shown excellent intensity. It’s very clear they don’t like each other. I didn’t love the 20-minute time limit draw that created the necessity for this match on PPV. It was AEW’s third draw in a few months so I think it’s becoming a little too common. FTR getting a win would have added to the program. It wouldn’t have hurt Claudio to take a pin. Although, that may happen in this match. Jon Moxley almost never loses so I’ll pick his team to win. Mox actually could use a win on PPV. Moxley and Claudio becoming Tag Team Champions would work well for both men. That said, I think FTR should win since they are the regular team. It could certainly go either way.
Winners:Blackpool Combat Club – Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli
John: There have been a few variations of this match recently with a six-man tag and Moxley-Harwood facing off in singles. They are going to get time, they are going to hit hard and have a very entertaining tag team match. I really like these guys, so this will be one of my favorite matches on the show. You go into this one knowing what you are getting and I like what we’re going to see in this match. Picking a winner is tough because I don’t know if it matters that much. I’ll go with FTR finding a way to win.
Winners: FTR – Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler
AEW Women’s World Championship: “Timeless” Toni Storm (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo
Gino: AEW has possibly put as much effort into this feud as any in the history of their women’s division. It started out pretty good but has fizzled out a bit in recent weeks. I’m not sure if Deonna is a great fit in AEW’s six minutes with a commercial break formula for the women. I remember her having a lot better matches in TNA/Impact where she got more runway to work over a body part and tell a story. Toni Storm’s character has been brilliant as always. The story between them does make sense. I give AEW credit for trying to set up a compelling women’s match even if they came up a little short. I hope they get 12-15 minutes to really put on a good show. If not these women, then who? With Mercedes Mone’s debut in less than two weeks a title change doesn’t make sense here. Toni vs Mercedes would be a bigger match.
Winner And Still AEW Women’s Champion: Toni Storm
John: They gave Purrazzo this title shot after winning just three easy matches, which shows how poorly booked the women’s division is in general. They try to tell us the rankings matter yet she didn’t beat a top contender, but because Purrazzo is a friend of Storm in the past, she gets a title shot. At least it is a story, which is better than some things AEW books. They are good workers who should have a competitive match.
We know Mercedes Mone is joining AEW in a few weeks and I’m assuming she’ll win this title sooner or later because she’s probably making way more money than any other woman in the company. It might be Storm who she beats, so I’ll go with Storm retaining here.
Winner: “Timeless” Toni Storm
Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita
Gino: Besides the Scramble, this is the only other match that doesn’t have a story. There was a stare down between the combatants on Dynamite. Both are members of the Don Callis family. Other than that, there isn’t anything going on. It doesn’t really matter in this case. This should be incredible and possibly steal the show. Ospreay might not be with the Callis family long. I think the story between these two is starting with this match. That’s fine with me. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Will’s friends Aussie Open join him to go against the Callis family. Ospreay winning is the biggest lock in the lineup. It would be a travesty if he lost his first match as a full-time member of the AEW roster.
Winner: Will Ospreay
John: The appearance from Will Ospreay on Dynamite this week showed that the fans love the guy. I doubt that Ospreay is going to continue being a heel in the Don Callis Family group for much longer. This could certainly be the match of the night because they are awesome wrestlers who are crazy athletic and able to make difficult moves look easy. I’m going with an Ospreay win and I think on the next Dynamite, the rest of the Don Callis Family will turn on him, which will lead to Ospreay being a face.
Winner: Will Ospreay
International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Roderick Strong
Gino: Like most matches on this card, there is a storyline. This one just isn’t very strong. If you look at it in a vacuum it’s a decent story that makes sense. Adam Cole proclaimed Strong was going after the International Championship a couple months ago. Undisputed Kingdom has beaten up all of Cassidy’s friends. It’s just not who they should be feuding with. Roddy calling out Orange six weeks in advance was clunky. Undisputed should obviously be going against the Bang Bang Scissor Gang who only formed to go against them. It was bad booking for AEW to shelve that rivalry. It still should be a really good match. A title change seems likely. There isn’t anything left for Orange to do with this title. Maybe the Bang Bang guys can chase Strong for the belt.
Winner and NEW International Champion: Roderick Strong
John: This match was announced for Revolution before anything else, so there has been a long build to it. I think AEW wants to try to make the Undisputed Kingdom group into a strong heel group, so they need a singles title to go with the ROH Tag Team Titles held by Mike Bennett and Matt Taven. Since Wardlow probably won’t win a title very soon and Adam Cole is out still with the ankle injury, a win by Strong here makes a lot of sense. With that said, Tony Khan loves having this International Title on Cassidy for a long time, so maybe he’ll find a way to retain again. I just think Strong winning would be a fresh change for the title.
Winner AND NEW International Champion: Roderick Strong
TNT Championship: Christian Cage (c) vs. Daniel Garcia
Gino: Another match with a solid storyline that could go either way. Those are the kind of matches most wrestling fans want to see that we aren’t getting enough of on weekly AEW television. I think a title change could happen here as well. The money storyline for Christian Cage is with Adam Copeland who he will probably team up with again down the line. It might be the right time to for Christian to drop the belt. Daniel Garcia is the perfect wrestler to hold the TNT Title. Christian and Copeland’s next match doesn’t really need to have a title involved. Cope showing up and stopping Christian’s “family” from cheating and helping Garcia win makes a lot of sense. I’m leaning the other way, though. I think Cage retains.
Winner And Still TNT Champion: Christian Cage
John: It’s a big spot for Garcia, who is probably going to hold one of the many male singles titles in AEW, but I don’t know if this is the right time and title for him. They have done a decent job of building up this match while the fans are behind Garcia, who is showing some personality with the dance moves. I don’t know about his promos as a babyface. However, it’s easy to like Garcia as a younger guy as a bright future. I’m going to go with Christian finding a way to retain the title in controversial fashion thanks to his allies outside the ring and perhaps even a ref bump as well.
Winner: Christian Cage
AEW Continental Crown Championship: Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Bryan Danielson
Gino: Of all the matchups on the show this one may have had the best build. These fighters have never liked each other but the rivalry really picked up during the Continental Classic where each wrestler scored a win over the other. Danielson has been stealing the spotlight and disrespecting Eddie almost every week on Collision. Kingston has been on commentary for a lot of Bryan’s matches. He’s done a great job fanning the flames. The heat here seems very real. I believe these guys actually hate each other and want to beat the other’s brains in. I think this is the most 50/50 match on the card. Danielson doesn’t need this Championship and Kingston does. However, I don’t think Bryan is going to lose to Eddie again. Although Bryan beating Eddie decisively on Dynamite does cast more doubt on the result. I’m sure Bryan would enjoy working small indy style crowds at ROH and New Japan Strong shows.
Winner And NEW Continental Crown Champion: Bryan Danielson
John: They have told a good story with Bryan acting like a jerk toward Kingston and Kingston constantly wanting to prove himself. It’s a simple story of respect. Bryan and the BCC guys act like heels a lot of the time, yet they are cheered a lot because in AEW a lot of people get cheered even when they act like jerks. It doesn’t really matter that much. What matters is that the fans are totally behind Kingston and always are. With that said, I don’t know if Eddie needs this title for that much longer or if it’s a big deal if he loses it. Winning the initial tournament for it was great, but it’s not like he needs the title for six months or a year or something like that.
As Gino mentioned, Bryan beat Kingston in the tag team match on Dynamite so that makes me think Kingston wins here. To this point in his AEW career, Bryan Danielson has yet to hold a championship. I’m not sure if he wants to hold a title because I think he’s content with just having great matches with a variety of different people. I’ll go with Eddie winning, but if Bryan wins that’s certainly fine with me.
Winner: Eddie Kingston
AEW World Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland
Gino: I’ve really enjoyed the build for this contest. Like I mentioned earlier, AEW started down this path right after their last PPV World’s End. It has had a steady pace. All three wrestlers are entering Revolution with positive momentum. While I didn’t think the time limit draw between FTR and BCC worked that well, I did like the draw between Hangman and Swerve on the February 7th episode of Dynamite. The outcome was obvious but that’s because it made sense to set up the triple threat match which was always the plan for Revolution. Swerve against Hangman has been the best thing going in AEW for a long time. It’s still a hot feud so putting them in the World Title picture made a lot of sense. Samoa Joe has remained strong and had some really good promos along the way.
Until Dynamite on Wednesday, I thought Hangman was mainly in this match to take the pin. That changed a bit with the angle on Dynamite where he fully turned heel by faking an injury and attacking Strickland from behind. I still wouldn’t say this is a match where all three men have an equal chance of winning. However, I could certainly make a case for any of them walking out as AEW World Champion. There could still be plenty of life in the Swerve/Hangman rivalry especially now with Hangman firmly positioned as a heel and Swerve as the babyface. Having Page win and Swerve chase him for the title and win it at Double or Nothing or All In would be a great direction to go. Strickland could just win here as well as no one is more over with the AEW audience right now. I’m going to stick with what I’ve thought all along that Samoa Joe will retain. It just seems too early for him to drop the belt.
Winner And Still AEW World Champion: Samoa Joe
John: This one is interesting for a number of reasons. I think they have built it up well with Hangman going heelish in the weeks leading up to the match, especially this past Wednesday on Dynamite. That has also positioned Swerve Strickland as a babyface that the fans want to see win in part because Swerve has never been a World Champion before. I think the fans are going to be strongly behind Swerve in this match. As for Joe, he is technically a heel in the traditional sense, but the AEW fanbase likes him quite a bit and cheers him enough that I would label him as a tweener at this point.
It will be interesting to see how this one is booked. If you think about AEW’s history, most of their World Champions have had lengthy title reigns that go at least six months or longer as long as they were able to stay healthy. I have a hard time predicting Joe to lose the title in his first PPV title defense. That’s why I think they booked a triple threat match to do a finish where Joe gets the win by stealing the pin after Swerve hits a Swerve Stomp and Joe is right there to pin Hangman to keep the title. If Joe wins in a dominant manner I’d be surprised. I think Joe retaining is the right call, but if Joe were to lose, I’d have no problem with that because I like Swerve and Hangman a lot too.
Winner: Samoa Joe
AEW Tag Team Championships in a Tornado Tag Team Match: Sting & Darby Allin (c) vs. The Young Bucks – Matthew & Nicholas Jackson
Gino: Without a doubt the most significant match on the card. Really one of the more historic matches in AEW’s short history. A lot of people weren’t happy when The Young Bucks were positioned as Sting’s final opponents. Many were clamoring for a singles match. I’m not sure if Sting has that in him. In the ring The Bucks should be a nearly perfect selection. Love them or hate them, they can carry almost anyone to a terrific bout. The problem was they had become rather bland in AEW. Well, that has completely changed in the past several weeks. Leaning into their asshole personas Matthew and Nicholas have reclaimed their roles as EVPs to abuse their power any chance they get. They are so annoying. In a good heelish way. Most of the crowd truly despises them. The face/heel dynamic is as clear as it gets in this one. That isn’t always the case in AEW.
The rivalry became as personal as it can get after Sting and Darby won the Tag Team Championships from Ricky Starks and Big Bill on Dynamite on February 7th. While that alone would have been a memorable moment, it paled in comparison to the post-match angle. The Bucks beat down Sting and Darby with bats getting their blood all over their new white suits. Sting’s sons who I don’t remember ever seeing on TV were collateral damage in the beatdown. It was one of the best show-ending angles in AEW history. Sting and Darby have both had amazing promo work to add fuel to the fire. Sting mentioning the unfortunate passing of this father adds yet another layer to it. I hope Christian Cage doesn’t get wind of that.
When the match was first announced I was adamant The Young Bucks should win thinking Sting needs to put someone over on his way out. I’ve had a 180 on that. While the heat The Bucks would get for winning could be legendary, it’s not really what AEW does and this isn’t the right time to start. Sting has gotten a very nice swan song to his career in AEW. He should get to go out on top and it wouldn’t be good business to send the only large crowd you’ve had in 2024 home angry. The Bucks can get a ton of heat even in defeat by lying and saying they ended Sting’s career. I’m curious to see what AEW does with the Tag Titles assuming Sting and Darby win. Whatever it is, I think The Young Bucks should be the next champs. I’ve come around to thinking this is one of the most obvious results of the show.
Winners And Still AEW Tag Team Champions: Sting and Darby Allin
John: It is obviously the right call to make this the main event since Sting’s retirement match is the main reason a lot of fans are going to be watching. It’s why this will be such a big crowd too. Sting has earned the love and respect of the fans who have watched him wrestle for nearly 40 years whether it was in NWA, WCW, TNA, the handful of WWE matches and of course this AEW run over the last three years that has seen Sting amass a record of 28-0 in the company. What’s interesting about that record also is that every Sting match has been a tag team match that’s either been 2-on-2 or with multiple partners, which has led to this match with Sting & Allin as the Tag Team Champions since they were finally given a title shot. Darby Allin has been a perfect partner for Sting as a guy willing to do crazy things during matches, but also benefitting a lot by teaming with a legend like Sting.
I admit to not being a huge fan of The Young Bucks especially when they are babyfaces, but as heels I think they’re much better performers. The babyface act is annoying and cheeky. As heels in this EVP role, they are playing characters the right way. I give credit to Matthew & Nicholas for embracing the role. They are doing a nice job.
As for this match, I don’t think there is any reason why Sting & Allin should lose this match. I get the thinking that somebody retiring should go out by doing the job in the middle of the ring, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I think Sting & Allin absolutely should win and will win. I also think since it’s a Tornado Tag Team Match that we might see Sting’s two sons get involved by using weapons to beat up The Young Bucks a bit since the Bucks beat up Sting’s sons a few weeks ago. Payback is a bitch, as they say. Sting’s team should win and will win. As for what happens to the titles after the match, hold a tournament or say Allin can keep the titles if he picks a partner. Something like that. I think a tournament would be the right thing to do.
I’m a Sting fan so I look forward to watching and writing about his final match. Have a great night, Stinger. You deserve it.
Winners: Sting & Darby Allin
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BONUS TOPICS!
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most
Gino: Sting and Darby Allin vs. The Young Bucks
John: Sting and Darby Allin vs. The Young Bucks
The Match I Care About The Least
Gino: Orange Cassidy vs. Roderick Strong
John: All-Star Random 8-Person Match Extravaganza Whatever It’s Called
Longest Match
Gino: AEW World Championship Joe-Swerve-Hangman at about 26 minutes.
John: FTR vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli going 25 minutes.
Shortest Match
Gino: AEW Women’s Championship at about 9 minutes.
John: Toni Storm vs. Deonna Purrazzo around 11 minutes.
Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high)
Gino: 8.75/10. This should be one of the best AEW PPV’s of all time! As I’ve written about all preview, the storylines are very strong which hasn’t been a strength for AEW. I’d be surprised and disappointed if there aren’t at least 3 four-star level matches or higher. There could easily be five of six. Sadly, AEW keeping the momentum after the show and avoiding another scandal that overshadows it might be more important than the show itself.
John: I’m right around an 8 out of 10, which is probably one of the highest levels I’ve ever been for an AEW PPV. I think it’s going to be an outstanding show and a really fun celebration of Sting at the end of the night. It will probably be emotional too. As I said earlier, Sting deserves it. I’m looking forward to it because of him.
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In Closing
I’ll be back with a review of AEW Revolution on TJRWrestling.net on Sunday night.
You can also tweet me @johnreport. If you want to send an email, send it to me at mrjohncanton@gmail.com as well. Thanks for reading.