All Elite Wrestling presents Revolution tonight on March 3rd from Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina for the final match of Sting’s illustrious career.
I shouldn’t be the person to talk about the career of Sting. I didn’t love Sting the way others loved him. I didn’t grow up with him the same way others did. When I saw Sting wearing a Sgt. Pepper’s jacket and doing a Scorpion Deathlock it just reminded me of Bret “The Hitman” Hart wearing a Sgt. Pepper’s jacket and doing a Sharpshooter. I saw the face paint and thought about the Ultimate Warrior. When he dressed like The Crow with the leather jacket I thought it looked cool but it felt like a poser to me as a kid. Here was this surfer dude now trying to look goth and carrying a baseball bat. I didn’t get it. It wasn’t my vibe.
Crazy enough, I didn’t like Sting until he started teaming up with Vampiro as the Brothers in Paint. That angle wasn’t very good in retrospect and it didn’t last long either (thank you Vince Russo booking) but it was the first time I “dug” Sting. I wouldn’t really “dig” Sting again (ignoring Ready to Rumble which he’s good in and of course the Sprite commercial I posted on Twitter) until in TNA Wrestling when he lost his mind during the Hulk Hogan regime and became Joker Sting. Heath Ledger’s Joker was popular and so Sting was kind of doing his way of it, but he couldn’t help but be a boomer and instead act more like Cesar Romero. He had a crow. He was silly. I loved it. Sting says in the United Kingdom they only ever ask him about Joker Sting. It’s the only time I really relate to the Brits.
When discussions came up about if Sting belongs in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame, I was always on the side that he wasn’t good enough. It’s the Hall of Fame not the Hall of Good Enough. He wasn’t a long term major draw. He wasn’t an elite pro wrestler. He wasn’t an elite talker. He’s an important guy in talking about pro wrestling in America in the 1990s but was he really one of the best? I just never saw it. And then he had his AEW run.
Sting’s run in All Elite Wrestling is what puts him over the top for me in all time great discussions. Here’s this 60-year-old getting one last chance to rewrite his final chapter after a terrible run in the WWE that he always knew would be a bad idea. Here’s his chance to end it on his term. He doesn’t do it by winning the World Title and embarrassing the top guys in the company like other older wrestlers tend to do when they see the sun setting. Sting instead became friends with Darby Allin and exclusively worked tag matches. He would win those tag matches, but every one of them felt special. He would do things he never really did earlier in his career, taking crazy stunt risks that would scare you for his personal health. Sting felt special not in a nostalgic way but in a modern way. An exciting way. This wasn’t the Hulk Still Rules tour. This was the Sting Rules Now tour. Enjoy it while it lasts. And tonight is the end.
Sting doesn’t mean as much to me as he might to you, but Sting in AEW has absolutely been one of the best experiences as a wrestling fan. I appreciate how it has unfolded, and I’m sure by the end of the night, whether he ends his AEW career undefeated or goes out on his shield in his final moment? I will be glad I was there for it. Maybe for one night I’ll finally be a Stinger.
AEW Revolution 2024
Zero Hour
It really is starting to feel like once again AEW is building a women’s tag team division, and these are two main teams for that. It’s nice that Stokely has finally found a good role for himself, and I think that role is eventually going to come out when he presents the true apple of his eye, which isn’t Willow or Kris Statlander. I think it will be a debuting Megan Bayne, possibly even Kamille from NWA. It would be great to see those two debut as almost the AEW version of the Road Warriors and annihilate the women’s division competition. I figure if that’s the case, Julia and Skye get a win from the betrayal of Stokely.
Winners: Julia Hart and Skye Blue
I will keep this short because I already said many words about Jay White yesterday:
https://aaron.wrotkowski.ca/sports/wrestling/03/02/2024/jay-white-year-one/
Look, Tony Khan knows me. No really he does. That’s why Satnam Singh and Willie Mack are in this match to keep me happy. The two trios champion teams on the same side are likely going to win, but with seeds planted on the breakup of the Bang Bang Scissor Gang. I still think the breakup should have already happened but that’s me. Bang Bang Scissor Gang win.
Winners: The Bang Bang Scissor Gang
AEW Revolution 2024
I was so excited for MEAT MADNESS and there is still a lot of MEAT in this but it had to adjust for whatever reason. Clearly some meaty mad men couldn’t be involved when planned to be.
I’ve actually heard some really stupid people try to create a conspiracy that Chris Jericho had politicked himself into the match to change it from Meat Madness into the All-Star Scramble. Do you know how low stakes this is to be a Chris Jericho evil politician conspiracy? Sigh. Stupid people be stupid. It’s almost like Chris Jericho doesn’t have the spot in the company he used to and is now just a guy in a scramble match instead of one of the top stars. And maybe it’s not the best way to use Jericho since with Sting leaving they could use him in the legend role that Sting will be leaving open. Just maybe.
Anyway, I really liked Magnus match with Matt Sydal on Rampage and I’m glad to see him here. Brian Cage and Lance Archer are always great in scramble matches and I’ve loved the development of Powerhouse Hobbs and Wardlow as of late. Dante Martin and Hook… I’ll call them wildcards for this. This is a good place for Jericho as well to not have to do too much. Be a base, catch some guys, eat some big man moves.
It feels very obvious this is all about Wardlow getting a title shot, but my theory is that Wardlow isn’t long for Undisputed Kingdom. He might get his shot, but Adam Cole isn’t going to let him win. I think the long term plan is actually for Wardlow and Maxwell Jacob Friedman to become friends again, aligned against the Undisputed Kingdom. But as friends of mine like to say, this is just me trying to get Pinnacle back together. Is it? Yeah probably. Whatever. Next match.
Winner: Wardlow
Blackpool Combat Club for weeks now have been feuding with CMLL in an interpromotional feud but with talk of there being VISA issues, it likely stopped the CMLL vs. Blackpool Combat Club match they wanted to happen from occurring until those VISA issues are resolved. Get your shit together Joe Biden. Stop eating ice cream with the lesser Meyer brother and let me see Hechicero again in an AEW ring. Anyway.
I have no clue what FTR was supposed to do if they weren’t in this. Were they maybe supposed to face the Bang Bang Scissor Gang? I don’t know. This ends up being an excellent kind of happy accident for them. Moxley and Claudio vs. FTR should be an absolutely fantastic match. All of these guys know how to work and how to make it full of snot and vinegar.
I could see FTR winning to set them up for that feud with the Young Bucks which was supposed to happen months ago, but I could also see Moxley and Claudio winning to keep them strong for their feud with CMLL which should still be ongoing. I think I’ll lean to an FTR win with someone in CMLL costing the Blackpool Combat Club.
Winners: FTR
There hasn’t been much talk on how interesting it was that Adam Copeland bowed out of what felt like his destined rematch against Christian Cage after his Cope Open weekly series didn’t lead to the TNT Championship match but instead opened the door for Daniel Garcia to get the match instead.
It makes me really curious to what the plan is. I’m still convinced we get Copeland and Christian coming back together to face the Young Bucks down the road in the highest of stakes potential tag match you could see those four happening. I don’t know if that starts yet, but I absolutely see this being Christian Cage losing the TNT Championship to Daniel Garcia with Adam Copeland costing Christian.
Making Garcia champion will bring the TNT Championship back to being a midcard title and allow Garcia to defend it against guys on his level, instead of its current status as sort of a “upper card/main event when the world champ isn’t around” status it currently is. Bring it back to where it was when Darby Allin was TNT Champion is good to me. Or maybe this is a speed bump for Christian to overcome and retain and face Adam Copeland in Canada. Oh well, I committed to Garcia. Do the dance.
Winner and new TNT Champion: Daniel Garcia
Will Ospreay is going to make his official AEW roster debut in an absolutely banger of a dream match. And he’s going to lose.
Yup. You read that. I bet Konosuke Takeshita wins this match. That’s where the real drama is. If Ospreay wins then Takeshita is just a stepping stone. Ospreay maybe does a bad feud with Callis Family with Aussie Open not sure which side to join. But if Ospreay loses? His big moment snatched from him? He can’t beat Takeshita? He isn’t the Ace of Callis Family and maybe wasn’t ready to be the ace of AEW like he thought he should be? Now you have adversity. Now you have a program. Now you have a stor… god I hate that word right now. You have a feud now.
I want Takeshita to win and for Ospreay to want his rematch at AEW Dynasty in April. This could be match of the night. Match of the week. Match of the month. Match of the year. Keep an eye on it.
Winner: Konosuke Takeshita
I have been a fan of Deonna for a long time now after her work in Impact Wrestling and had to argue with people who hated hearing how much better the Knockouts were to the AEW Women’s division. The reason they were better had a lot to do with Purrazzo, who is now in AEW. And people are seeing everything I was talking about. In Impact she was mostly a heel, but in AEW she’s played the babyface against Timeless Toni Storm extremely well. This has been a great feud and makes the belt feel important.
Toni Storm has been doing great work, and I love the long term build to one day make it about her and Mariah May. You don’t even have to end the Deonna vs. Toni program yet either. I think Toni wins but you can go another month or two longer with this. Deonna has been a great addition on the AEW roster, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens when Britt Baker returns to confront her good friend.
Winner and still AEW Women’s World Champion: Timeless Toni Storm
I’ve heard people are fatigued by Orange Cassidy and it annoys me.
You are not tired of Orange Cassidy. You are tired of how Tony Khan books him. And it’s how he books a lot of people. Orange Cassidy just goes and has random matches with unranked guys and we’re supposed to care because the title is on the line and it’s Orange Cassidy. We need more than that.
The program against Undisputed Kingdom has been okay, and even produced some surprising good matches (the Matt Taven match went above expectations) but fatigue already set in from how OC has been champion since 2023.
Ever since Roderick Strong “called his shot” it feels like he’s going to be winning this match, and it makes sense to put more gold in the Undisputed Kingdom. Roddy as International Champion is also what I think will be a transition to the next AEW International Champion, who is a faction mate with Orange Cassidy. Or was in Japan. Do you hear a coin drop? I do.
Winner and new AEW International Champion: Roderick Strong
This is one of the hardest matches for me to decide how it goes.
On one hand, I could see Bryan Danielson feeling like with this being his final year it’s time to finally give Eddie Kingston his respect. Shake his hand. Admit he’s a great wrestler. Admit he isn’t a bum. Do the right thing.
But I can also see this being Bryan Danielson winning his first championship in All Elite Wrestling by defeating that bum Eddie Kingston and taking what means most to him in this world. This would make Bryan a champion in New Japan Pro Wrestling, a champion in Ring of Honor, and a champion in All Elite Wrestling. Danielson as Continental Crown Champion feels like a good place to keep him until he has his final full time match in pro wrestling. It protects him from losses and lets him build up suspense for that final match and who he eventually puts over. Imagine a healthy Kenny Omega versus Bryan Danielson for the Continental Crown Championship at All In 2024 in Wembley. Goosebumps.
I can see both, and I love Eddie as Continental Crown Champion, but Danielson winning just feels right here.
Winner and new AEW Continental Crown Champion: Bryan Danielson
The program between Swerve Strickland and Hangman Adam Page is my favourite in pro wrestling right now. It’s my favourite since, well, Hangman and Kenny Omega. I am absolutely there for Swerve Strickland to become the AEW World Champion, but I am also there for the slow unraveling of Hangman Page. The Liar Adam Page. The Hanged Man Adam Page.
As elder millennial wrestling fans our brains always go back to the double turn of Steve Austin and Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13, but this is honestly better. There are parallels to Swerve Strickland and Stone Cold Steve Austin, but Bret Hart didn’t have the same personal affliction that Hangman has had. Hangman’s personal family was violated by Swerve stalking into his home, and yet the fans still love Swerve. He’s been the protagonist of AEW and yet they turn their back because Swerve is just… cool.
It’s breaking Page, but it’s also fuelling him in a way he hasn’t been since 2021. Breaking him is motivating him, and he’s back in the World Championship picture. Of course, neither of these men are champion. Samoa Joe is.
A lot of people can already feel it. Samoa Joe having the clutch on Adam Page. Page not wanting to tap out. But Page seeing Swerve maybe with a clear shot to hit Samoa Joe with a steel chair or spike him or whatever your twisted heart desires. And if Joe gets clocked, with Page getting choked out, Swerve has every advantage in his grasp to win the championship. And instead of letting that happen, Page intentionally taps out when he still had fight in him. Not because the AEW World Championship means nothing to him. It means everything. But it means more to ensure it never gets in Swerve’s hands. He already faked an injury to trick Swerve once. Maybe this time he has to give up to ensure Swerve is never World Champ.
Does this hurt Samoa Joe as World Champ? A little. He isn’t the star of this show. But he isn’t the star of this pay per view either. This is about Sting tonight, not the AEW World Championship. We will likely get AEW Dynasty announced for late April tonight, and when we do? That’s where we might get a title change.
The only other result I could see is actually Adam Page winning the title to ensure it’s in his hands and not Swerve Strickland’s. This is ideal to me, but I don’t think it happens.
Winner and still AEW Men’s World Champion: Samoa Joe
I spent some time talking about Sting already.
Let me talk about the Bucks.
First of all, I love the new theme song. It’s their best theme song. Succession is perfect for a WBD aligned property like All Elite Wrestling. I would love it if they could get some of the actors to appear with the Bucks in backstage segments. Just have Tom hang out with them one week instead of Brandon Cutler. Please!
Second, the workshooty stuff? It’s not great. I get it. We all get it. Brawl Out. CM Punk. The Starbucks cards CM Punk would give out to the women on the roster and to the Pinnacle which the Bucks can hide behind as actually a part of their Being the Elite Starbucks second job jokes they did before Punk showed up. But we all know what it really is. It’s not important.
What is important? The Bucks have been great heels ASIDE from the workshooty crap. Bullying Tony Schiavone. Ruining Sting and Darby Allin’s Tag Team Championship celebration. The passive aggressive promos. That stuff I like. AEW needs more true heels and the Bucks are providing it.
Now, as for this match? I’ve already said I don’t know how it goes. I’ve already had a lot of titles change tonight, but it just feels right to happen here too. Darby and Sting will drop the titles to the Bucks. Sting goes down with the greatest fight of his life but he eventually falls. Bucks are new Tag Team Champions but the moment ends up about Sting and Darby Allin in the end. And then Sting gets to retire on his terms. That will matter more than who is champion.
Oh yeah, and I think quality wise it will be one of the greatest tag matches in AEW history.
Winners and new AEW Men’s World Tag Team Champions: The Young Bucks
On paper this might be one of the best pay per views I’ve ever seen just in terms of the potential quality of most matches on the main card. I have no doubt in my mind that some matches tonight will end up on my match of the year lists. Farewell to Sting, you’ve earned it.
Happy Wrestling everyone!
