My Take on Revolution (And AEW Going Forward)
Mar 8, 2021 9:12:45 GMT -5
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Post by Viking Hall on Mar 8, 2021 9:12:45 GMT -5
Creating a post might seem somewhat self indulgent but the alternative was posting in the Live Thread and tempers seemed way too frayed to add to the flames in there, so here we are. Now before I begin, anyone who wants to write me off as an AEW hateposter or whatever need only to look over my post history to see that I am a day one viewer of the product who has absolutely loved 90% of what this company has done. I credit them for reigniting my love of pro-wrestling and for giving me the joy of following along with a wrestling show on a week to week basis for the first time in nearly 20 years and I have pulled all nighters to watch every PPV they've put out without an ounce of regret (up until last night). In other words, I am an AEW diehard and an avid defender of virtually everything they're trying to do in this industry and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. However, last night will go down for me as the most disappointing night in the companies history so far.
I have three main issues essentially, which probably line up with what most of the complaints that people have had. Those are Scorpio Sky, Christians signing and the main event. I'll come to the them one by one.
So, Scorpio Sky. In the live thread I described Scorpio as being 'the wrestling equivalent of dry bread'. Dry bread is perfectly good sustenance, it does everything a food source is required to do but in a world of Cheeseburgers, who's going to pick the dry bread? To put it bluntly, Scorpio Sky is bland and this was exposed even more last night by being in there with some of the companies bigger personalities.
Honestly, I would have taken anyone in that match over Scorpio (yes, even Cody) and in all honesty was baffled by the fact that he was even included, let alone went on to win it. In fairness, it didn't help that this was a pretty weak Ladder Match in general, if he'd come out on top of a 5 star war filled with thrills and spills then maybe he'd have gained a bit more shine. But it wasn't, it was the wrong combination of people and that's not on him.
However, this isn't solely a problem with the match it's a problem with Scorpio's presentation in general. What has he done or brought to the table since his arrival that means I should care about him more? He hasn't had any stand out matches that I can think of, in terms of his character work he is quite frankly at the bottom of the pile and the last attempt to make him something more with his Tag title run fizzled out like a damp squib to the sound of crickets when the company were at their hottest. In other words he isn't a guy the fans are clamouring to see and when you have a roster bursting with wrestlers waiting for a stand out moment I'm struggling to see the reasoning behind his win. It's a shame, because he's clearly a great athlete, but as I say, he's a slice of bread in a world of Cheeseburgers.
So, second issue. Christian. Again, in the live thread I said I was underwhelmed. Other's said they delivered exactly what they said they would and to be honest there's a case for both sides that could probably go back and forth until the end of time and never find a resolution. But that isn't really my issue anyway, my bigger issue is why did they need him in the first place? As I said with Scorpio, you already a roster filled to the brim with talent that fans are desperate to see who are spinning their wheels and I just struggle to believe that Christian is someone people want over a Hangman, a Penta, a Cassidy (the list continues) but now he's signed, that's exactly what they're going to get. Now, you can scoff at that if you like, but let's face it, at nearly 50 and the best part of a decade into a retirement, he's not emerging to work his way up on Dark is he? He's been brought in as a feature guy and I'm not sure in 2021 if he is that guy anymore.
This is the first signing that feels like it's jumping the shark in terms of signing someone simply because they were available rather than because they were needed. People complained about the likes of Sting and Paul Wight, but I could absolutely get behind the fact that both brought something to the table as brand ambassadors and both felt like they made sense with their historical links to TNT and the like. Whether you're a fan or not, Christian just doesn't have that. Stick Stings face on a load of merch, it'll sell like hot cakes. Have Paul Wight do promotional appearances, people will flock to see 'the largest athlete in the world'. That's not something Christian is going to do.
People were speculating that Vince would be crying into his steak wraps over this. Personally I saw it more as Christian had been told 'no thank you, but good luck' after his Rumble appearance and had to make alternative plans, because I can't see that given the choice he would have wanted his final run to have been anywhere other than in the WWE, especially with Edge returning too. Quite frankly, whether intentional or not, this makes AEW look second tier, which would be fine for just about any promotion compared with the WWE, but is actively what AEW were trying to avoid when they first started. And people can say well what about [insert former WWE name here] but there's a big difference in signing someone who was underutilised and in their prime than there is someone WWE didn't see the value in bringing back long term. I hate to invoke the WCW/TNA trope of signing anyone with name value, but if AEW have made one signing that deserves it, it's this one.
I don't begrudge Christian getting a job, and having been around when he was the man in TNA, I'm aware of what he can do when when he's given the ball, but this has left a sour taste in my mouth for a variety of reasons and is going to be something they really need to hit out of the park for me to change my mind on it. So let's hope that they do just that so I can eat my words.
Finally, we come to the main event. When they announced the Exploding Deathmatch I was as hyped as anyone. I felt it had the potential to be a real spectacle and a stand out moment for AEW in the same way that the early Hell in a Cell's were for WWE in the nineties. However, the nearer it got, the more I started to get doubts about it. I know Deathmatch wrestling isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I certainly wouldn't argue against that, it's an acquired taste by anyone's standards, but the one thing you can't do with Deathmatch wrestling is try to sanitise it and by AEW's very nature and positioning in the world of wrestling, that's something they're forced to do when they attempt them. It was the same with the original Mox vs Omega match, it was the same with Kingston vs Mox, they were good matches but they just didn't work on a visceral level like real (for want of a better word) Deathmatches do. Which begs the question, why bother?
Unfortunately all my fears were manifested and then some with it. The match itself was okay, but the explosions weren't particularly convincing or spectacular, which was partly the fault of poor camera work as much as anything and at no point did I get that heart in my mouth feeling I get when watching a top level Deathmatch. This of course is all totally irrelevant because what would have been a passable main event was rendered indefensible by the finish. I don't know if the timing was off but right from the Good Brothers coming out it all felt wrong. It was a convoluted clusterf*** and nobody from the commentary team to the talent in the ring seemed to know what was going on, it just wasn't a good look.
Then we got the final 'explosion'. I'm going to go ahead and assume that something went wrong, because if that was it going right that was inexcusable. However, with the talent involved, when it did go wrong someone should have come up with something on the fly to save the ending somewhat. Have Kenny go mad that his plan failed, have Eddie be relieved that they got away with one and help Mox from the ring, do anything other than have two of your biggest badasses play dead like a couple of idiots in the ring with the commentary team acting like the world just ended after a couple of sparklers had gone off. It was just embarrassing for everyone and is possibly the worst ending to any PPV I've seen and even as a diehard fan, I can't look past that.
All in all, it's made me think that AEW perhaps needs to take a step back and take stock of what it was that made people so excited about them as a promotion in the first place. Looking back at last year's Revolution, the match everyone was talking about was just a standard Tag match. A standard Tag match, with good solid story telling and fresh talent that people were excited to see on their screens. About as basic a formula as you can get, but why fix what isn't broken? And once the dust settles this year, the most exciting parts for me were Maki Itoh making her debut and the final few minutes of the Tag Team Rumble with Jungle Boy, Silver, PAC and Fenix which proves to me that this is exactly the sort of thing they need to focus on.
The good thing is that they have already established a reputation for putting things right which means I certainly won't be hesitating to tune in this week and it's not like they haven't got the talent they should be pushing anymore either so the problems are very much surface level. It just feels like they need to recognise what brought them to the dance in the first place and also put trust in what they have at their disposal to deliver because I for one totally believe in them.
As fans I think we need to recognise the difference between the idiots that will just shit on everything good or bad for the sake of it and genuine fans with genuine concerns for a a product that they love. The way I approach it is would I shit on this if it was a company I didn't care for. If the answer is yes then brand loyalty (or whatever you want to call it) goes out of the window and it's time to call a spade a spade and Revolution (for me) felt like a spade moment.
I have three main issues essentially, which probably line up with what most of the complaints that people have had. Those are Scorpio Sky, Christians signing and the main event. I'll come to the them one by one.
So, Scorpio Sky. In the live thread I described Scorpio as being 'the wrestling equivalent of dry bread'. Dry bread is perfectly good sustenance, it does everything a food source is required to do but in a world of Cheeseburgers, who's going to pick the dry bread? To put it bluntly, Scorpio Sky is bland and this was exposed even more last night by being in there with some of the companies bigger personalities.
Honestly, I would have taken anyone in that match over Scorpio (yes, even Cody) and in all honesty was baffled by the fact that he was even included, let alone went on to win it. In fairness, it didn't help that this was a pretty weak Ladder Match in general, if he'd come out on top of a 5 star war filled with thrills and spills then maybe he'd have gained a bit more shine. But it wasn't, it was the wrong combination of people and that's not on him.
However, this isn't solely a problem with the match it's a problem with Scorpio's presentation in general. What has he done or brought to the table since his arrival that means I should care about him more? He hasn't had any stand out matches that I can think of, in terms of his character work he is quite frankly at the bottom of the pile and the last attempt to make him something more with his Tag title run fizzled out like a damp squib to the sound of crickets when the company were at their hottest. In other words he isn't a guy the fans are clamouring to see and when you have a roster bursting with wrestlers waiting for a stand out moment I'm struggling to see the reasoning behind his win. It's a shame, because he's clearly a great athlete, but as I say, he's a slice of bread in a world of Cheeseburgers.
So, second issue. Christian. Again, in the live thread I said I was underwhelmed. Other's said they delivered exactly what they said they would and to be honest there's a case for both sides that could probably go back and forth until the end of time and never find a resolution. But that isn't really my issue anyway, my bigger issue is why did they need him in the first place? As I said with Scorpio, you already a roster filled to the brim with talent that fans are desperate to see who are spinning their wheels and I just struggle to believe that Christian is someone people want over a Hangman, a Penta, a Cassidy (the list continues) but now he's signed, that's exactly what they're going to get. Now, you can scoff at that if you like, but let's face it, at nearly 50 and the best part of a decade into a retirement, he's not emerging to work his way up on Dark is he? He's been brought in as a feature guy and I'm not sure in 2021 if he is that guy anymore.
This is the first signing that feels like it's jumping the shark in terms of signing someone simply because they were available rather than because they were needed. People complained about the likes of Sting and Paul Wight, but I could absolutely get behind the fact that both brought something to the table as brand ambassadors and both felt like they made sense with their historical links to TNT and the like. Whether you're a fan or not, Christian just doesn't have that. Stick Stings face on a load of merch, it'll sell like hot cakes. Have Paul Wight do promotional appearances, people will flock to see 'the largest athlete in the world'. That's not something Christian is going to do.
People were speculating that Vince would be crying into his steak wraps over this. Personally I saw it more as Christian had been told 'no thank you, but good luck' after his Rumble appearance and had to make alternative plans, because I can't see that given the choice he would have wanted his final run to have been anywhere other than in the WWE, especially with Edge returning too. Quite frankly, whether intentional or not, this makes AEW look second tier, which would be fine for just about any promotion compared with the WWE, but is actively what AEW were trying to avoid when they first started. And people can say well what about [insert former WWE name here] but there's a big difference in signing someone who was underutilised and in their prime than there is someone WWE didn't see the value in bringing back long term. I hate to invoke the WCW/TNA trope of signing anyone with name value, but if AEW have made one signing that deserves it, it's this one.
I don't begrudge Christian getting a job, and having been around when he was the man in TNA, I'm aware of what he can do when when he's given the ball, but this has left a sour taste in my mouth for a variety of reasons and is going to be something they really need to hit out of the park for me to change my mind on it. So let's hope that they do just that so I can eat my words.
Finally, we come to the main event. When they announced the Exploding Deathmatch I was as hyped as anyone. I felt it had the potential to be a real spectacle and a stand out moment for AEW in the same way that the early Hell in a Cell's were for WWE in the nineties. However, the nearer it got, the more I started to get doubts about it. I know Deathmatch wrestling isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I certainly wouldn't argue against that, it's an acquired taste by anyone's standards, but the one thing you can't do with Deathmatch wrestling is try to sanitise it and by AEW's very nature and positioning in the world of wrestling, that's something they're forced to do when they attempt them. It was the same with the original Mox vs Omega match, it was the same with Kingston vs Mox, they were good matches but they just didn't work on a visceral level like real (for want of a better word) Deathmatches do. Which begs the question, why bother?
Unfortunately all my fears were manifested and then some with it. The match itself was okay, but the explosions weren't particularly convincing or spectacular, which was partly the fault of poor camera work as much as anything and at no point did I get that heart in my mouth feeling I get when watching a top level Deathmatch. This of course is all totally irrelevant because what would have been a passable main event was rendered indefensible by the finish. I don't know if the timing was off but right from the Good Brothers coming out it all felt wrong. It was a convoluted clusterf*** and nobody from the commentary team to the talent in the ring seemed to know what was going on, it just wasn't a good look.
Then we got the final 'explosion'. I'm going to go ahead and assume that something went wrong, because if that was it going right that was inexcusable. However, with the talent involved, when it did go wrong someone should have come up with something on the fly to save the ending somewhat. Have Kenny go mad that his plan failed, have Eddie be relieved that they got away with one and help Mox from the ring, do anything other than have two of your biggest badasses play dead like a couple of idiots in the ring with the commentary team acting like the world just ended after a couple of sparklers had gone off. It was just embarrassing for everyone and is possibly the worst ending to any PPV I've seen and even as a diehard fan, I can't look past that.
All in all, it's made me think that AEW perhaps needs to take a step back and take stock of what it was that made people so excited about them as a promotion in the first place. Looking back at last year's Revolution, the match everyone was talking about was just a standard Tag match. A standard Tag match, with good solid story telling and fresh talent that people were excited to see on their screens. About as basic a formula as you can get, but why fix what isn't broken? And once the dust settles this year, the most exciting parts for me were Maki Itoh making her debut and the final few minutes of the Tag Team Rumble with Jungle Boy, Silver, PAC and Fenix which proves to me that this is exactly the sort of thing they need to focus on.
The good thing is that they have already established a reputation for putting things right which means I certainly won't be hesitating to tune in this week and it's not like they haven't got the talent they should be pushing anymore either so the problems are very much surface level. It just feels like they need to recognise what brought them to the dance in the first place and also put trust in what they have at their disposal to deliver because I for one totally believe in them.
As fans I think we need to recognise the difference between the idiots that will just shit on everything good or bad for the sake of it and genuine fans with genuine concerns for a a product that they love. The way I approach it is would I shit on this if it was a company I didn't care for. If the answer is yes then brand loyalty (or whatever you want to call it) goes out of the window and it's time to call a spade a spade and Revolution (for me) felt like a spade moment.
