AEW Revolution: Preview and Predictions

AEW’s sites are set on their second pay-per-view since launching their weekly show in October. I originally wanted to do week recaps, but it’s too much during football season so I haven’t talked very much about AEW on the blog.

Before diving into the matches and predictions, I gave up on WWE the second AEW announced it was coming a little over a year ago. I don’t watch WWE programming anymore. I can count on less than five fingers the amount of WWE I have tuned in to. I am all in on AEW.

Thus far, they have obliterated NXT in the Wednesday Night ratings. To be fair, I would love to see AEW compete against Monday Night Raw. However, that is still premature and relatively far from fruition.

That being said, AEW has given me life and thirst again for wrestling. I always say there is no industry better at it’s peak than professional wrestling, at least for me. AEW has given me that nearly every single week. The storytelling resembles that of the 90s and early 2000s where rivals don’t touch each other until pay-per-views and teasing you to want more. The matches are all high quality and entertaining. The character development across the board has been brilliant.

My love for the industry is back to what it used to be some 7-8 years ago. I have AEW to thank for that. This PPV has an amazing card so I can’t wait for Saturday night…

• SCU v Dark Order (Tag Team Match)
• PAC v Orange Cassidy
• Nyla Rose (c) v Kris Statlander (AEW Women’s Championship)
• Darby Allin v Sammy Guevara
• Jake Hager v Dustin Rhodes
• Kenny Omega & Adam Page (c) v The Young Bucks (AEW Tag Team Championship)
• Cody (w/ Arn Anderson) v MJF (w/ Wardlow)
• Chris Jericho (c) v Jon Moxley (AEW World Championship)

AEW Revolution goes down on Saturday, Feb. 29, with the main show beginning at 8 p.m. ET. The show will air on traditional PPV ($59.99) as well as being available for purchase from B/R Live ($49.99). For those outside the United States, you can purchase AEW Revolution via Fite.tv ($19.99).

• Will the Exalted One be Revealed?

The Dark Order originally thought to be led by Evil Uno and Stu Grayson have been teasing the arrival of the Exalted One, their true leader. Whoever the Exaulted One is, his arrival means he has the two aforementioned guys plus Alex Reynolds, Josh Silver and a bunch of creepers at his disposal. The big question is will he be revealed at Revolution? It feels like a big deal so with the next PPV not until May, I feel like revealing Saturday would make sense if they can. A couple of big names have been thrown around as the exalted one including but not limited to Matt Hardy, Brodie Lee aka Luke Harper, Dustin Rhodes and Christopher Daniels. An interesting name that was thrown into the mix after an appearance in the crowd was Raven. All of those names make sense for various reasons.

• Matt Hardy

Broken Matt Hardy is arguably the best gimmick to come out of wrestling in the last decade. Broken Matt is such an odd character, why not lead an odd stable? His contract expires Sunday with WWE apparently. In order for a reveal with Hardy, he would need to be able to breach his current contract. I would love to see this because he was always the red-headed stepchild of WWE next to his brother Jeff unfortunately. Thanks Vince. It appears Dark Order is on the horizon for a large push. Let it be Matt.

• Brodie Lee

He is an odd looking and powerful dude. He has already been part of a dark faction with the Wyatt Family. I always thought he was another case of an underutilized in ring performer in WWE. That being said, I don’t love this as much as some of the others unless he is more of a silent leader. I am not sure about his mic skills honestly.

• Dustin Rhodes

This was the most interesting one I have read. Dustin is not really part of “The Elite” despite being Cody’s real life brother. He worked as a heel in his debut five star match with Cody. He is obviously someone who is familiar with darker roles with Goldust. The Dark Order has been attacking The Elite led by Cody (as well as SCU of course) so it could be the classic disgruntled brother scenario. He is a good in ring performer and great on the mic so this one would be another great and possibly surprising angle.

• Christopher Daniels

This was the first name thrown as the Exalted One because of Dark Order’s infatuation with him. Of course, SCU found the mask in his bag. He has gone missing at times during matches. It makes sense. He got lost in the shuffle with Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky as the odd man out after getting hurt at the hands of the Lucha Bros. That being said, it would be anti-climatic if he was the Exalted One honestly.

• Raven

By far the most far-fetched name I have seen. He was seen at ringside for AEW a few weeks ago as the Exalted One has been teased a bunch. I believe something was said on the show that “The Exalted One is always watching.” Despite being old and far-fetched, it would be interesting. Raven was one of my favorites in WCW and I loved Raven’s Flock. I am not sure how well he can perform in the ring at this point so that is obviously a big question mark. One thing he was always great at was on mic work.

• SCU v The Dark Order (Tag Team Match)

The intrigue around this match is more about the Exalted One. If you read Christopher Daniels synopsis, that explains why this match is happening.

Hotard Huddle Pick: The Dark Order Wins, Christopher Daniels reveals he’s with Dark Order, but not the Exalted One. Hardy shows up to reveal himself as that. (Optimism here)

• PAC v Orange Cassidy

This match was totally random when it was made on Wednesday, but I am intrigued by it. PAC is one of the best heels going up against Orange Cassidy who is one of the most over baby faces. AEW has done an amazing job teasing the shit out of Orange Cassidy and using him sparingly thanks to being the third member of Best Friends. His gimmick is ridiculously awesome as The King of Sloth Style.

His character is slow and lazy. He appears nonchalant and like he doesn’t give a shit about anything that he does.

He taunts adversaries with a thumbs up that barely stands up. He wears a denim jacket, glasses and a t-shirt with his face on it. He has yet to complete his signature move because it starts with multiple slow kicks to the shin before he gears back for what appears to be a Super Kick maybe? Because it is so slow, someone always interrupts teasing the fans even more. Once his hands go into his pockets, the world transforms to another dimension.

He has yet to be in singles actions so I can’t wait. Hopefully he will complete the move this weekend.

Hotard Huddle Pick: PAC Wins because he needs to, but Cassidy looks strong with some typical freshly squeezed offense

• Nyla Rose (c) v Kris Statlander (AEW Women’s Championship)

The women’s division leaves much to be desired most nights, but Nyla and Statlander are both powerful women so I am curious to see how much I like this match. Nyla is a freaking beast as well as Statlander. They are the two most physical that the women’s division has to offer. Nyla just won the title from Riho so I don’t see her losing yet. However, the best character in the women’s division is not billed for the match, Dr. Britt Baker. Her character development as this evil bitchy dentist who’s obsessed with cleansing people’s dirty mouths has been hilarious. Her obsession with roasting Tony Schiavone in every promo is equally great. That being said, I feel like the winner of this is on a war path to some verbal beat downs from Baker. I could see her getting involved at some point during this match.

Hotard Huddle Pick: Nyla Rose 

• Darby Allin v Sammy Guevara

I love both competitors in this match. Everything about Darby is fucking awesome. The skater punk who wears a half skull for face paint, what’s not to love? The Coffin Drop is a dope finisher and when his entrance theme hits, waves of excitement fill my bones. When he returned from injury, the pop he got was glorious. Then you have another young stud with Guevara who has honestly been jobbing and taking the pin falls but staying relevant thanks to his alignment with the inner circle. Perks of being a heel is charisma matters more than wins sometimes and the Spanish God has it in spades. After crushing Allin’s throat with his own skateboard, this match should be ruthless.

Hotard Huddle Pick: Darby Allin 

• Jake Hager v Dustin Rhodes

Dustin goes after Hager, who hasn’t done anything but be the muscle for Inner Circle thus far. They have kept him out of matches since his debut. Another case of AEW playing the long game and slow build. Who better to put him in the ring with than the veteran older brother of Cody? These are two of the bigger stars in terms of size that AEW has. It is also two guys who were WWE cast offs. I am excited to see the match they put on for us. Hopefully their match is great which means a major middle finger to WWE.

Hotard Huddle Pick: Hager by a mile, there is no way he loses his debut because it completely breaks the idea he is the muscle of the Inner Circle

• Kenny Omega & Adam Page (c) v The Young Bucks (AEW Tag Team Championship)

The Young Bucks are the best tag team in wrestling, period. They haven’t found AEW gold yet. Now they get their chance facing fellow elite members Kenny Omega and Hangman Adam Page. Most believe Page was fairly boring so he began teaming with Omega thus we came across the gem that is angry drunk cowboy. The gimmick is fucking hilarious. It gave new life to Page. He clearly isn’t fond of The Young Bucks anymore so it seems a heel turn is imminent.

Hotard Huddle Pick: The Young Bucks win and Page loses his shit and turns heel. Now we get heel angry drunk cowboy…I’m in. 

• Cody (w/ Arn Anderson) v MJF (w/ Wardlow)

Cody and MJF has been one of the single best builds to a PPV in wrestling I have seen in the last 10 years honestly. This is the classic heel v face where the heel forces absurd conditions before having the match. After MJF threw in the towel in Cody’s quest to win the title causing Cody to not be able to challenge again, he delivered a low blow to his “best friend.” Since then, Cody has been on the path to destroy MJF. MJF gave his 3 stipulations for it to happen…

• He can’t touch MJF until the match
• Receive 10 Lashes with a belt (that was painful to watch, compelling storytelling)

• Defeat Wardlow in a cage match

Cody completed all 3 thus gaining the match. So will the hero triumph over the villain?

Hotard Huddle Pick: MJF…I want Cody to win so bad because MJF is a piece of shit you love to hate. Watching him get bullied would be glorious. If wrestling has taught me anything, heartbreak is inevitable. Someone is getting involved that will help elevate MJF here whether it is Dustin or Arn, something is happening to screw Cody thus making him a more lovable babyface. 

• Chris Jericho (c) v Jon Moxley (AEW World Championship)

Let’s call it what it is, Moxley is the modern day Stone Cold Steve Austin. He is THE perfect anti-hero. He doesn’t care who he has to beat up to get where he wants. God forbid you are the one standing in his way. Moxley is the best in AEW currently and anyone with ears and eyes can notice that. I love that he has basically run the gauntlet with some quality matches against everyone in Inner Circle minus Hager and Jericho. I love that he joined Inner Circle for about 5 minutes to basically screw them over. He is such a loose cannon and I love it.

Hotard Huddle Pick: Moxley. The match itself will be great and I think every member of the Inner Circle gets involved at some point or another. Moxley kicks the crap out of everyone to become the second AEW World Champion. The best part of putting the belt on Moxley is he can work as a face or heel because he is an anti-hero. That being said, I will never be mad with Jericho keeping the title. No matter the outcome, it is win win in my eyes. 

AEW Revolution goes down on Saturday, Feb. 29, with the main show beginning at 8 p.m. ET. The show will air on traditional PPV ($59.99) as well as being available for purchase from B/R Live ($49.99). For those outside the United States, you can purchase AEW Revolution via Fite.tv ($19.99).