Welcome to After 48 on GrapPro where we discuss an All Elite Wrestling pay per view two days after it aired. That way the hot takes cool down and we can think about it with a clear perspective. At least that’s the idea.
You can read the Revolution 2025 Preview and Predictions Here.
Revolution 2025 was pretty similar to Revolution 2024 when it comes to the level of quality pro wrestling we got. The difference is that 2024 ended with an incredible main event ending the career of Sting and the first gold worn by Darby Allin since his last TNT Championship run. 2025 ended with… well, the true “ending of the show” was actually really good with Prince Nana and Swerve! But the match prior was exactly what we feared.
I know Darby Allin plans to climb Mt. Everest (he should be doing it now?) and he plans to do this no matter what. I’m all for him accomplishing this. I’m not like those weirdos acting like Mt. Everest (especially when you’re rich) is somehow more dangerous than being a pro wrestler. Darby risks his life every time he wrestles and now you want to admonish him for risking his life climbing a mountain? Sigh.
It’s not about that. It’s the timing. I get he was supposed to do this last year. But this whole Death Rider storyline? It made perfect sense to end here. One year since Darby held the World Tag Team Championship with Sting on Sting’s retirement. One year later he climbs the metaphorical mountain and stops Jon Moxley’s reign of terror.
Instead we get COPE wrestling an absolutely dreadful boring match in Mountain Dew elbow pads essentially making me look like an idiot for thinking the match would end up “very good” and you know what? We can talk about all that in More Thoughts. I’m doing the same thing a lot of people do in focusing on the bad instead of the more than three hours of great.
The Hollywood Ending was everything I could have asked for. Kenny Omega winning the AEW International Championship was wonderful. Hangman Adam Page and MJF had the match I knew they could, and I bet there’s still tons left in the tank. Brody King absolutely ravaged Kazuchika Okada despite not coming out with the win. Mercedes and Momo went hard. Ricochet and Swerve was exactly what you want from a number one contenders match for the AEW Men’s World Championship, and honestly made the belt feel more important than the champ does. The steel cage match was also crazy. This was an absolutely phenomenal pay per view. Worth every buck.
It’s difficult not to focus on the negative when it’s the main event, but there’s good to be found even in the bad. It feels like the frost has ended and AEW is ready to let the sunshine in.
Favourite Wrestling Match
The Hollywood Ending
Mariah May versus Timeless Toni Storm
13 minutes.
13 minutes is all it takes to deliver one of the best wrestling experiences you will see all year.
The Hollywood Ending should have been the ending to the show, and the fact we had to continue after is a silly choice in card slotting. It doesn’t matter. They still delivered a performance for the ages.
I was really worried when Mariah slipped hitting Luther with a dropkick that she fell bad on her back, but based on the match it didn’t look like it hurt her mobility at all. There was a feeling all match that Mariah May wasn’t actually ready to go to the same lengths Timeless Toni was to win this match. When Toni went full TAIPEI DEATH MATCH IAN ROTTEN STYLE by wrapping her knuckles in tape and smashing glass into them, Mariah followed but you could tell on her face she didn’t want to at all.
“Look what you made me do” goes both ways.
The glass, the tables, the steel chairs, and don’t you forget about the shoe.
The betrayal happened at the 2024 Owen final when on stage, Mariah May hit Toni Storm with the Owen Foundation championship, smashed her with the shoe, and let her bleed crying in her arms. At Revolution, at the centre of the stage, Toni Storm smashed Mariah with the belt, smashed her with the shoe, hit her with a Storm Zero, and pinned her. In the end, it was again Toni Storm crying covered in blood; not at the betrayal, but at what it took to defeat her muse.
Give it up to both of them. A performance for the ages.
Best Wrestling Match
Hangman Adam Page versus Maxwell Jacob Friedman
This one was really difficult. Swerve Strickland versus Ricochet and Kenny Omega versus Konosuke Takeshita were both just as good, and if you argue they were better I’m not going to fight you on it.
I’m sure someone is rolling their eyes I once again went with the Hangman match, but I didn’t do it for Hangman. He was great in this match, don’t get me wrong, but MJF was the star of the show.
The work MJF put in making everything Hangman did to him mean more? The way MJF tried to work it in that he had Hangman perfectly scouted and wouldn’t be fooled by his Buckshot attempts or Deadeyes, only to get hit by both. Hangman could not outsmart Maxwell. He just had to outlast him.
MJF did absolutely everything he could to take Hangman down. Every reversal, every step planned. He even tried to match him in violence with the tombstone on the chair to the outside. MJF didn’t do that just because. He did it because he had survived Hangman’s Buckshot with feet on the ropes and Hangman survived Salt of the Earth to get to the ropes. It was about finding that other way to win.
MJF was trying to go for a shortcut again.
Yes, winning by countout is a legitimate way to win, but MJF was out of options because he couldn’t make the Cowboy tap and he couldn’t get his shoulders down. Hangman was surviving everything he could do, and now he just survived a 10 count after getting spiked on a steel chair. When Hangman got back in, Max went for the Heatseeker, and Hangman just overpowered him, pulled him up, and dropped him with a Dead Eye.
Hangman then did something I’ve already seen others catch. He hit the Devil with the Angel’s Wing. Gotta love religious iconography. More importantly, it was Christopher Daniels move being used on MJF. It was a way for Page to get revenge on Max for bringing Daniels into this and brutalizing him just to make Adam Page angry. For good measure, Hangman then connected with another Buckshot to win clean in the middle of the ring.
I said going in this match was a statement to All Elite Wrestling that these two need to be at the top fighting for the richest prize in the sport. Putting it on the opener makes that even louder. This whole show now had a reminder of what AEW excels best at. No shenanigans, no gaga, just straight up pro wrestling. This is the business Christopher Daniels died (retired) on his shield for. This is the business Bryan Danielson gave his final (full time wrestling) breath to. Kudos to Max and Adam.
More Thoughts After 48
Instashot: In Grand Slam After 48 I said we needed Cope losing, Christian cashing in, and Christian losing. So I got what I wanted! I changed that in my Revolution Predictions to saying we just needed a straight up match with no ga ga or BS, and instead the ga ga and BS was the most exciting part of the match. Anyway. Hopefully that’s the end of the Instashot in AEW.
Jon Moxley: There are people who will tell you that AEW did not pivot because Jon Moxley is still AEW Men’s World Champion. That’s wrong. When we screamed pivot, it was about the insufferable heat that the company was pushing down our throats week after week. That suffocating heat is why the crowd didn’t care about the match. AEW did listen, and the past few weeks has been anything but suffocating heat. It was instead about building up the babyface. It’s just unfortunate the babyface was COPE and not someone more deserving. I’m sure he gets his Death Riders back, but what’s important is that he’s now in his final laps as champion. At the latest we get Darby Allin returning to beat him at Y’All In Texas. At the earliest? Well, did you hear that crowd for Swerve Strickland? We may still get that pivot they want at Dynasty.
COPE: I was really hoping that Cope would bring some of the magic he did in his TNT Championship run. I don’t think we have that Cope anymore. What we have is a rapidly aging man in great shape trying his best to give a good performance and just missing the mark. The push back on this match was because here was Cope getting a shot when MJF, Adam Page, Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay, Jay White, Kyle Fletcher, Ricochet, Kenny Omega, Konosuke Takeshita, and Orange Cassidy work underneath. OC was on the pre-show. Jay White was there just to run in and bonk Cope accidentally. Cope should never be ahead of these guys on the card and here he was. I don’t dislike him. I honestly don’t. I hate how much this feels like a CM Punk redux. I don’t want Cope leaving in anger. I want Cope and Christian to realize they need to stop fighting and have that one last hurrah as a tag team.
Christian Cage: Speaking of Christian Cage, I can love him again now that he no longer has the Instashot. Was it embarrassing he came in fresh to the match and got tapped out? It is, but it was almost Christian Cage sacrificing himself to make AEW better. He’s been this looming spectre in cashing in and winning the world title in the worst possible way. He’s basically another old man expecting a higher spot than he deserves. And yet here? Christian cashed in, didn’t win, got choked out despite being the fresh man, and effectively killed the Instashot in AEW and killed the “Old Man Title Shot” because now both him and Cope look out of their league against the likes of Jon Moxley.
Jay White: It would have been nice for Jay to do something else other than a useless run in as it’s a waste of his talents, but I’m at least glad it wasn’t a hokey Vince Russo style swerve heel turn. Jay White wasn’t being some gremlin pretending to be Cope’s friend. He just made a mistake. It’s time for him to re-unite with his Bullet Club Gold members and look at going after the Trios Championship with the Gunns. I really wish Juice was back.
The Opps: Why did the camera keep cutting to them looking bored? Let the old men sleep. And HOOK.
Mercedes Moné: It’s pretty clear that Athena and Mercedes are about to have a confrontation due to the cut to Billie Starkz doing “homework” on the match between Moné and Watanabe. Can they carry it to Y’All in Texas? I think they can.
The Rizzler: He’s now All Elite. Rejoice.
Ricochet: What an incredible heel performance. Ricochet has been so great in his heel turn and I’m hoping they keep it going with him. Whether he goes after Daniel Garcia’s TNT Championship, Kenny Omega’s International Championship, or tries someone like Adam Page? Ricochet has a lot of options to keep being one of the most annoying men alive. He’s having a hell of a 2025.
The Outrunners: I love those guys but that match was pretty much evidence that the top of the tag division just isn’t for them. They are a good midcard team to get the crowd going like a Too Cool but treating them any more than that is a mistake. This division misses the Young Bucks.
Bandido: It feels like they are going to run Jericho versus Bandido again and oh god please don’t! You got something with Bandido and Powerhouse Hobbs! Give them more tag matches!
FTR: Remember how they were the reason Cope got involved with Death Riders? Remember Rated FTR? They closed out World’s End! Guess it was better to stay home. Then again so did the other Death Riders.
The Elite: Jack Perry is gone. The Bucks are still gone. Kazu still defending the Continental Championship alone just fine, but when are we seeing these guys back? I do hope when Jack comes back it’s with his dinosaur.
Konosuke Takeshita: I got the feeling we see him more in New Japan Pro Wrestling going forward than in All Elite Wrestling.
Mark Briscoe and Orange Cassidy: Please give them something to do on the main card next month.
Mariah May: I really want AEW to throw her quickly into something with Kris Statlander and have those two build up a program for Dynasty.
Timeless Toni Storm: Who is the potential number one contender for the AEW Women’s World Championship? Statlander? Willow? Queen Aminata? Thunder Rosa? Serena Deeb? Anyone got a clue? Is Megan Bayne ready for the responsibility?
Stokely Hathaway: I miss Stoke. That’s all.
Kyle Fletcher: He really should be facing Daniel Garcia soon for the TNT Championship. He should have been doing that here, but I’m sure him and Will wanted this big blowoff.
Eddie Kingston: Imagine Eddie Kingston versus Kyle Fletcher
Will Ospreay: Tag teaming with Kenny is probably out with Omega now International Champion. Ricochet might be available but should they really run that back? Or MJF? I don’t think so. I would consider building either Ospreay or Adam Page for the Double or Nothing title shot. If Ospreay doesn’t win the shot for DON, do you run Ospreay versus Okada just to give him something to do? Darkhorse suggestion: AEW can run some sort of challenge series to decide the number one contender and it leads to Ospreay and Jay White getting in each other’s way. They never had a proper feud in NJPW. It’s fresh in AEW.
The Hurt Syndicate: I gotta be honest. MVP getting into the ring in a trios match really killed my excitement for these guys. Now they just feel like former WWE guys taking up a spot in AEW doing their old WWE act and beating every AEW guy in front of them. They feel like a repeat of Malakai Black and it’s souring me on the whole act. Might be time to wrap it up and put better tag teams at the top of the division. Get interesting, do something different, and start feeling less like a WWE act imported and more like an original AEW product.
Road to Dynasty
Dynasty will be April 6, meaning we have less than a month before the next AEW pay per view.
We know the main event, and I’ll get into that later.
Only eight shows before the pay per view. I’m not sure how much we get in rematches. May/Storm was already a rematch from Grand Slam: Australia. Fletcher/Ospreay was a rematch from World’s End.
Do we see the Murder Machines versus Hurt Syndicate match we originally thought we were getting before they gave the win to Outrunners? Do we see MJF and Adam Page go at it again? What do Cope and Christian do after being left for dead unable to win the World Championship and getting in each other’s way? Do they do a match again, or do they do what we all want them to do and just become a tag team one last time?
There’s rumours of a return of the Young Bucks since they were backstage at the shows in California and we got another in Fresno tomorrow night. Where does Speedball Mike Bailey fit once he debuts?
I’m sure the card will end up good, but the one advantage it will have over Revolution is that Swerve Strickland is in the main event.
One year ago, Swerve Strickland defeated Samoa Joe to become AEW Men’s World Champion at Dynasty. He has a chance to make it two time champ against Jon Moxley.
This is Moxley finally facing the top of the babyfaces. Orange Cassidy was near the top and that was his first program. Swerve is the top. People believe in Swerve Strickland, and there would be absolutely no problem if he won the championship and changed the vibes of the company again.
It would ruin the plan with Darby, but sometimes you can’t wait for someone forever. You need to react now, and AEW now has a chance to get the championship on a babyface everyone believes in and carry the company to a better position than they had been in. No more promotion wide takeover story. It’s just the top babyface against the champion heel and it’s about making a decision everyone would agree with instead of the long drawn out story that led to that quiet reaction in the main event at Revolution.
It’s also an opportunity for Jon Moxley to prove he still has this in him. Mox is in phenomenal shape, but we haven’t seen the Jon Moxley we come to expect in the ring since he made his return against Darby, Danielson, and OC. That was last summer. It’s about to be spring. Main event, great match, make you feel something Jon Moxley has been hibernating, and we need someone like Swerve to get it out of him.
I don’t want people to get too excited for a title change. It’s still logical for a top babyface to take on a heel champion and not win. Next contender up. That’s fine. But in AEW’s current climate, it might be best to cut bait on this storyline and make it Darby’s return personal versus Mox instead of some company story about Darby having to beat Mox to save AEW. Have Darby return to face Moxley at Y’All In Texas in a knock out drag out spectacle of violence that Darby finally gets his big win on Mox, and Darby can use that momentum to get a title shot down the road against either Swerve Strickland himself or whatever heel beats Swerve for the title.
AEW can essentially still accomplish what they wanted to do, but it’s just going to scratch some egos. Tony Khan isn’t always willing to do that, and putting Mox and Cope in the main is proof he’d rather just give them what they want than do the right thing.
That’s the thing though. One bad main event on a show full of gold and it’s hard not to talk about the bad instead of the hours of good. Dynasty? We don’t know if the card will be good. But we know with Swerve Strickland in the main event? That guarantees a great main event. Maybe the rest of the card doesn’t matter when you got a guarantee like that at the top.
Jon Moxley used to be the guy AEW could rely on to have a great match with anyone, and to make him the Ace star when trouble made things uncertain. I think that guy is now Swerve Strickland, and it might be time for All Elite Wrestling to treat him exactly like that.
