AEW Revolution 2023 discussion thread

[Accident Prone]

Paging @Merzbowto the thread:

 

 

[SuperBacon]

56 minutes ago, Louch said:

What a fantastic carry job this is by MJF 

I know you don't like Danielson but you've got to be on the wind up with this.

FWIW I think MJF is dreadful, but he was fantastic in that main event, and that was a superb match. 

Not a fan of 60 minute iron man matches but that was one of the best ones I've ever seen.

 

[Guest]

Just now, SuperBacon said:

I know you don't like Danielson but you've got to be on the wind up with this.

FWIW I think MJF is dreadful, but he was fantastic in that main event, and that was a superb match. 

Not a fan of 60 minute iron man matches but that was one of the best ones I've ever seen.

 

Without MJF and his antics it’s a boring tech fest. He kept it entertaining in a way I’ve only seen done before in the rock Vs triple h one as was full of bells and whistles and less about the wrestling. If you think MJF is dreadful then I dunno what to say, he’s not had a bad Ppv match in his entire aew run I don’t think. Not liking him I can understand, but to say he’s dreadful makes no sense at all with his track record of matches. One of few who gets the main event wrestling style naturally. 

[Merzbow]

14 minutes ago, Accident Prone said:

Paging @Merzbowto the thread:

 

 

Ha yeah I retweeted that after she posted!

[SuperBacon]

26 minutes ago, Louch said:

If you think MJF is dreadful then I dunno what to say

It's my opinion. Everytime I've seen him, I've thought he was dreadful. I think hes a cheap heel who goes for cheap heat, but like I said, I thought he was excellent here, so I'm happy to be proved wrong.

He obviously didn't carry Danielson at all, they worked really well together, but I guess we all can have an opinion eh?

[Kamran]

I loved it!

There was nothing on the card I was especially looking forward to...and I don't like Iron Man matches but I bought the PPV anyway. They've not let me down yet and maybe it was my low expectations but I enjoyed the whole show. I even watched the Iron Man match without skipping any of it. Hot crowd all night and it didn't feel like a slog (like some AEW PPVs).

[Kamaras-Tash]

4 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

It's my opinion. Everytime I've seen him, I've thought he was dreadful. I think hes a cheap heel who goes for cheap heat, but like I said, I thought he was excellent here, so I'm happy to be proved wrong.

He obviously didn't carry Danielson at all, they worked really well together, but I guess we all can have an opinion eh?

Yours is just as shit as his tbf

[LaGoosh]

12 hours ago, Loki said:

Sooo... I really didn't like the Deathmatch.  It was everything I don't like about Moxley and this AEW style in one match.  Blood has a place in wrestling (see the main event) but if every match you as a performer take part in is a bloodbath from the first minute, it means... nothing.  And it meant nothing here because when ISN'T Moxley pissing blood from his face?  There was very little story here, it was a procession of pre-planned hardcore spots and violence that I personally struggled to watch because (and I know this is just me) I really find the amount of bleeding uncomfortable.   I've mentioned the trading punches elsewhere on the forum, but there were just so many spots that didn't make sense besides being a spot.  How many times was Hangman being put in a bloody submission and his hand was one inch away from a brick but he didn't pick it up to clock Moxley!  Why?  Because that spot was planned for later, so rather than have a weapons match that flowed with hatred and violence it was just spot, spot, spot.

I enjoyed the match for what it was but think this is pretty spot on. I'm ok with nasty spots but there needs to be that proper nasty scrapping and brawling inbetween to connect them up otherwise you can't really feel the hate between the wrestlers needed to actually justify all the big spots. Watch some Terry Funk, lads! I actually felt like Christian/Jungle Boy came across as more violent in a way because it had that nasty brawling and emotion Hangman/Mox lacked. 

Plus if Mox bleeds against Sammy Guevara, Preston Vance, Evil Uno, Wheeler Yuta (the list goes on) where's the impact of Hangman doing it? Hopefully he's done with bleeding for the next year or so.

And anytime you introduce something like a brick in a match it never works because it breaks wrestling logic because why wouldn't you just repeatedly smash your opponent in the face with it for the quick win?

[Hannibal Scorch]

 

[Accident Prone]

There's wrestlers you watch in the moment and think, "I am watching the best pro wrestler of all time at the top of their fucking game". I've gotten that with Tanahashi, Okada, HBK, Omega, Danielson, and now every single time I get that with MJF. He's just head, shoulders, cock and balls above mostly everyone else. He walks the walk, talks the talk, and he gets better each and every time.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Accident Prone

[BomberPat]

19 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

Christian vs Jungle Boy was really good, especially as I'm not sure if Christian even took any bumps in it. Thinking this might be it for him. He was a top notch heel in this.

I noticed he wasn't bumping relatively early on, and maybe counted three bumps in total, and all relatively safe ones where he was in control - bumping off a dive or a strike rather than getting slammed - so I assume he was working hurt or something, but whether he was or not, it was a masterclass in making a match feel intense and violent without having to wreck your body doing it. 

[LaGoosh]

10 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I noticed he wasn't bumping relatively early on, and maybe counted three bumps in total, and all relatively safe ones where he was in control - bumping off a dive or a strike rather than getting slammed - so I assume he was working hurt or something, but whether he was or not, it was a masterclass in making a match feel intense and violent without having to wreck your body doing it. 

Also, that turtleneck with cut off sleeves *chefs kiss*. Christian is so good. That he's basically been doing the same gimmick as MJF but he comes across as genuinely despicable rather than a try hard like MJF speaks volumes to his talent.

[RedRooster]

17 hours ago, Accident Prone said:

It seems like once or twice per year, AEW has a PPV that's in the "Greatest PPV of all time" conversation, and this is one of them. When was the last time WWE were hitting those plaudits? 2014? 2005? 2002? 2001? They may make the most money but they aren't making the most compelling all-round professional fucking wrestling product, that's for sure.

In terms of matches perhaps; but in terms of stories and feuds, unfortunately not. AEW has already shown that it is capable of top level storytelling - the Page/Omega/Bucks story, Punk/MJF and Moxley/Kingston being good examples of that - I really hope they manage to fix things on Dynamite this week, and pull together some compelling programmes. A good start to that would be by permanently disbanding the Jericho Appreciation Society. 

[Accident Prone]

Every match on Revolution either blew off a long-term story or elevated a long-term story, and in no less than two cases they did so with a genuine match of the year contender/decade contender. This rhetoric that AEW doesn't tell compelling stories or build feuds anymore, and is just some match-making promotion as some would suggest, is asinine. The company is built around feuds and characters, but they also make sure that the actual in-ring isn't ignored or suffers as a result. They aren't perfect at striking that balance every week but they're doing a better job at creating weekly TV that culminates in PPVs than any wrestling company in the past twenty years.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Accident Prone

[RedRooster]

6 minutes ago, Accident Prone said:

Every match on Revolution either blew off a long-term story or elevated a long-term story, and in no less than two cases they did so with a genuine match of the year contender/decade contender. This rhetoric that AEW doesn't tell compelling stories or build feuds anymore, and is just some match-making promotion as some would suggest, is asinine. 

Perhaps what is "asinine" is dismissing the issues people have with the promotion right now in regards to storytelling. A good number of people on this forum who were previously big champions of AEW all have similar complaints. That would suggest to me that something is going wrong. 

Quote

 

The company is built around feuds and characters, but they also make sure that the actual in-ring isn't ignored or suffers as a result. They aren't perfect at striking that balance every week but they're doing a better job at creating weekly TV that culminates in PPVs than any wrestling company in the past twenty years.

 

This, obviously, is subjective; but over the last year, I'd suggest it's stretching the definition of subjectivity (much like your suggestion that MJF is the best wrestler on the planet, with comparisons to Okada, HBK and Omega). The pay-per-views have been packed with great wrestling, but I think it would be really hard to argue that this is a red-hot product right now. Sometimes all you need is one compelling storyline to make everything else feel exciting - I hate to make this AEW vs. WWE, but take The Bloodline as an example. Heck, take the Kenny Omega/Hangman Page saga as an example - that works just as well. You're right in suggesting that some of the stories have been going on for a while, but long-term in itself doesn't necessarily equate to "good". Outside of Hangman/Moxley, I think the stories told in the run-up to this PPV were either unmemorable, badly told or threadbare.