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I don’t like Cody’s neck tattoo.
AEW Revolution was the fourth pay-per-view event of All Elite Wrestling. AEW had three full months of AEW Dynamite Television to hype the biggest matches and did an excellent job. Did the show itself live up to the hype? Thanks to one match in particular, it certainly did.
Revolution was full of many nice surprises. We had a new champion, some star-making performances, a well-deserved heel turn, and a truly amazing tag team classic. All Elite Wrestling has set itself up very nicely for the spring months of 2020.
While I try to figure out how Orange Cassidy became the most popular wrestler in AEW, I present my list of the top five most surprising moments of AEW Full Revolution.
#5 Darby Allin is a future World Champion
A criticism that some have had so far for All Elite Wrestling is its reliance on their main event players just being stars that were established in New Japan and WWE. Where would the next wave of fresh AEW stars come from? Enter Darby Allin.
It is amazing to think Darby is only 27 years old with just over four years of professional wrestling experience. He is a natural in the ring and his look is unlike any other character on the roster. The fans have quickly gotten behind the former professional skateboarder.
The match was surprising in how short it officially was. It was only six minutes with some dangerous table spots and dives occurring before the match even started. Darby Allin is not the biggest wrestler but moves with risk-taking abandon in fast-paced matches. It is fun to see how over he has gotten so quickly, and if AEW ever wanted a secondary title, I think Darby should be the first winner.
#4 Orange Cassidy is impressive in defeat
If you had said Orange Cassidy would go twelve minutes with PAC in a back and forth match, I would believe you were lying.
Orange Cassidy has become popular with the AEW fans due to his amazing comedic timing, but he has been controversial to professional fans that just don’t get his brand of comedy wrestling. That surely changed on Saturday night.
PAC is a great wrestler and Orange Cassidy went toe to toe with him. I (and it seems the Chicago crowd) enjoyed the idea that Cassidy can do any wrestling move in the world but he chooses not to. That changed in this pay-per-view match as he produced some truly amazing offense that led to many believable near falls.
The extra element of surprise was that Cassidy was protected in defeat. He was distracted by the outside interference by the Lucha Bros. It is a hard job to make a serious wrestler like PAC work with a comedy wrestler like Cassidy, but it happened at Revolution. Orange Cassidy is one of the best things going in AEW. Who saw that coming?
#3 Hangman Page and Kenny Omega retain
What a match!
The match of the night was the Tag Team Championship match. It was thirty minutes of non-stop action filled with many thrilling near falls and unbelievable athletic ability. All four men should be proud to have put on the best tag team match of AEW so far, and that is no small feat.
One of the biggest surprises is how over Hangman Page has quickly become. His cowboy persona paired with some heel-like tactics and disrespect from the Young Bucks seems to have finally made him popular with the AEW fans.
They had teased so heavily the idea that Kenny Omega and Hangman Page couldn’t work together, so it was surprising to see them win. While Hangman Page teased turning on Kenny post-match, he didn’t do so. Not yet it seems.
The other big question is where do the Young Bucks go from here? The frustration of falling short of the AEW Tag Team Championship yet again should lead to some interesting places. What will Matt and Nick Jackson do to finally win the Championship?
#2 MJF Defeats Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes has quickly become the most sympathetic babyface in all of professional wrestling. It is a master class in long-term booking to have him work so hard just to get MJF in the middle of the ring. Who else would go through ten lashes and a brutal cage match to just get one pay-per-view match? It is why the American Nightmare is so loved by all AEW crowds.
The match is the master class in AEW storytelling you would expect. MJF did everything in his power to avoid Cody, but the American Nightmare played by the rules and worked so hard to get his revenge against the evil Maxwell Jacob Friedman. He even hit his finisher twice but couldn’t pull out the victory.
The ending of the match was a true surprise. When the ref wasn’t looking, MJF used the Diamond Ring. The problem was it was hard to see the ring from the crowd so everyone was truly shocked. MJF had defeated Cody Rhodes.
Cody, having lost his last two pay-per-view matches in a row, has shown a lot of unselfishness to push some excellent storytelling and put over young talent. I cannot wait to see what comes next.
#1 Jon Moxley wins the AEW World Championship
Jon Moxley pulled off the oldest trick in the book - it's the famous fake eye patch trick. How did Chris Jericho not see that coming?
The AEW World Championship match had been expertly built over the last few months. Jon Moxley has been building sympathy, fighting through injury and frequent attacks by members of Inner Circle. But would AEW pull the trigger and let the most over babyface end Jericho’s 182-day championship reign? It was surprising to see the company finally pull the trigger.
Jericho attempted what any good heel champion would try. He mocked Moxley and tried to use outside interference to cheat, but he failed and Moxley hit his finisher twice to defeat him clean.
Jon Moxley is Champion and has already had more success in his one year in AEW than as a top talent in his time at WWE. That is what truly excellent booking will do for any star. Who else is ready to see Moxley shine?
Bayley gives us a HUGE update on a top Superstar's upcoming return RIGHT HERE.
