The packed final AEW Dynamite before AEW Revolution offered the Revolution Ladder Match, an Orange Cassidy title defense against Big Bill, the return of Hook, the Tag Team Casino Battle Royal, and several notable moments leading into the Pay-Per-View with appearances by Wardlow, the House of Black, The Elite, Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage, Jamie Hayter, and MJF.
Highlights:
- In the opening match, Orange Cassidy defended the AEW All Atlantic Championship against Big Bill in a match playing on Bill’s size, Cassidy’s antics, and Stokley Hathaway‘s interference from ringside. Tired of the interference, Danhausen eventually made his way to the ring to even the odds. Follow up segment featured Danhausen and a beat-up Orange Cassidy agreeing to take the place of the not medically cleared Best Friends in the Battle Royal later that night in an interview with Renee Paquette.
- We got a pre-taped Jon Moxley backstage interview from last week immediately after his victory over Evil Uno to further set up his match with “Hangman” Adam Page at Revolution. We got a separate pre-taped interview from Page later in the evening as well.
- The House of Black jumped The Elite on the ramp to hold up the AEW Trios Championship just days before their match at Revolution. Followed up by a quick promo from the House still holding the titles later in the night.
- Powerhouse Hobbs won the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match which also featured AR Fox, Action Andretti, Sammy Guevara, Konosuke Takeshita, Komander, Ortiz, and Eddie Kingston. Some great moments between Hobbs and Takeshita, a pair of vicious spots involving Andretti and Guevara, and interference from Daniel Garcia.
- Surprise with Danhausen and Orange Cassidy winning the Tag Team Casino Battle Royal which started with the Blackpool Combat Club jumping the Dark Order. Dark Order was eliminated first in a match that also featured The Kingdom, JAS, Top Flight, Lucha Brothers, Aussie Open, and The Butcher and the Blade (who were eliminated last by Danhausen). Multiple commercial breaks broke some of the momentum here, but still plenty of spots that furthered multiple storylines and I love the possibility (although unlikely) of Danhausen having a shot at a title at the PPV.
- Riho got the upset win over Toni Storm with the help of some distraction by Dr. Britt Baker at ringside. Post match devolved into a scrum with Baker and Storm outside and in the ring Saraya, Jamie Hayter, and Ruby Soho fighting until they had to be separated by security.
- Promo package for the Revolution main event prior to the final commercial break of the night leading into Renee Paquette’s in-ring interview with Bryan Danielson which was quickly interrupted by MJF (who couldn’t get a word in and left speechless). Great job by Danielson selling the match, AEW over WWE, and the animosity between the pair. Beautiful segment that was completely sold without MJF having to utter a single word.
Lows:
- None
Less Notable:
- Playing off events from last week, Chris Jericho beat Peter Avalon. Ricky Starks came in after the match to stop the beatdown of Avalon, only to get attacked by both Garcia and Jake Hager.
- Hook returned for a quick win over Matt Hardy setting up a match with Stokley.
- Renee Paquette’s in-ring interview with Christian Cage was interrupted by a graveyard video from Jungle Boy. The Christian segment, earning heavy heat from the crowd, worked better than the video which had good production value but seemed to confuse the crowd.
- Another backstage segment with Paquette interviewing Jamie Hayter and Dr. Britt Baker.
- Another backstage segment with Keith Lee and Dustin Rhodes.
