AEW Revolution Review - March 9, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zero Hour: Hologram and ROH World Television Champion Komander def. Blake Christian and Lee Johnson

For as unnecessary as it is to feature anything from Ring of Honor on an AEW pay-per-view pre-show, I give these guys credit because they had a hot opener that the crowd was into. Komander is the ultimate utility player in AEW and can never win when it matters most, but Hologram is clearly getting over as an act. I'm sure this is leading to Hologram and Komander facing La Faccion Ingobernable one of these days on Dynamite or Collision (probably the latter).

Zero Hour: AEW TNT Champion Daniel Garcia and The Undisputed Kingdom (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong) def. Shane Taylor Promotions (ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty, The Infantry and Shane Taylor)

Undisputed Kingdom, Garcia and Shane Taylor Promotions have all been tied up with each other for the last month or two, so this was a logical addition for the pre-show (and yes, it is sad to see how far Cole has fallen from where he once was on the card). This was solid and accomplished its goal of further building toward the Garcia vs. Cole rematch for the AEW TNT Championship.

Zero Hour: ROH World Champion Chris Jericho vs. Gravity Never Got Underway

This stemmed from Jericho and his crew attacking Gravity and Bandido recently, though I forget whether it was on Collision or ROH TV. For those unaware, Gravity is the real-life brother of Bandido. It didn't make sense for Gravity to be automatically awarded a shot at the ROH World Championship in the first place, so I didn't have an issue with this turning into an angle instead with Jericho, Big Bill and Bryan Keith laying out Gravity and Bandido.

Zero Hour: Big Boom! A.J. and The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy and Mark Briscoe) def. MxM Collection and Johnny TV

Cassidy feels a lot less important than he did just a few short months ago, but perhaps this is the best role for him right now. Meanwhile, A.J. continues to exceed expectations with his in-ring work. He won't/shouldn't be competing for the AEW World Championship or anything like that, but he does an effective job of getting the crowd behind him and he's perfect for the pre-shows. This was perfectly fine for what it was.

"Hangman" Adam Page def. MJF

I feel like these two have a better track record than most when it comes to having show-stealers in AEW's pay-per-view openers, so putting these two on first was a smart call. MJF was wasted for a while in his feuds with Cole and Jeff Jarrett, but he's back to prominence and this served as yet another reminder of what he can do (for those who seem to constantly forget). This was a terrific first installment in what should be a series of matches between them, though I am surprised Page won clean.

AEW TBS/NJPW Strong Women's/RevPro Undisputed British Women's Champion Mercedes Mone def. Momo Watanabe (NJPW Strong Women's Championship and RevPro Undisputed British Women's Championship Were Not Defended)

As expected, this was a very well-wrestled match, but I genuinely don't understand why it needed as much time as it got. It had no story and I can't imagine a single soul in the building legitimately thought Watanabe would win. Yes, they made the most of the time they had, but I would've much rather seen some of that time devoted to Toni Storm vs. Mariah May later on instead. I enjoyed Mone's recent rivalries with Kris Statlander and Harley Cameron, so hopefully she has another actual story soon.

Swerve Strickland def. Ricochet in an AEW World Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

The fact these two had a hell of match and that it wasn't in the top three matches of the night is a testament to how amazing the wrestling on this card was on the whole. Ricochet has settled into his heel role nicely and Strickland is consistently a show-stealer. I could've seen Ricochet winning with an assist from Prince Nana (who'd turn heel on Strickland), but Strickland avenging his loss to Ricochet made more sense. Strickland is back in the world title mix where he belongs.

AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada def. Brody King

I know Okada is a tremendous talent, but he continues to feel ice-cold. It made sense for him to defend against Buddy Matthews at Grand Slam: Australia, but I have no idea why this needed to make the main card of Revolution, especially if the outcome was never in doubt. Don't get me wrong, they had a quality contest, but having The Hounds of Hell lose back-to-back singles matches on big shows doesn't do a whole lot to boost their credibility.

AEW World Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin) def. The Outunners

I feel like this would've worked a little better later in the show as a buffer match in between the bigger matches. It was too similar to Okada vs. King in that it was way too predictable and the crowd sounded super quiet as a result. Of course, it wasn't as competitive, but it didn't overstay its welcome. This could've easily happened on an  average edition of Dynamite.

AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm def. Mariah May in a Hollywood Ending Match

When it was reported that Jon Moxley vs. Cope was going to be the main event of Revolution, I wanted to think that Storm vs. May wasn't getting the spot because it was getting the cinematic treatment (or something along the lines of Roddy Piper vs. Goldust from WWE WrestleMania 12 considering this was Falls Count Anywhere). In retrospect, I have no clue why this didn't close the show. They made excellent use of the stipulation, bloodied each other up and maximized their minutes (why wasn't it longer?!). This was a phenomenal payoff to their program as it lived up to the Hollywood Ending billing. Storm vs. May will go down as one of the best feuds in AEW history.

Kenny Omega def. Konosuke Takeshita to Win the AEW International Championship

We've been waiting a year and a half for this one-on-one rematch and it was worth the wait. Omega hasn't lost a step and Takeshita is just tremendous. This was a wonderful wrestling match from start to finish. Omega taking the title was the right result as it sets up him and Okada in what should be a championship unification match at All In this summer. Okada can really elevate that title in the meantime.

Will Ospreay def. Kyle Fletcher in a Steel Cage Match

It's difficult to have a cage match that stands out these days because we've so many of them across every promotion over the years, but this was one of the wildest in recent memory. It was gory, there were some crazy spots, and the final few moments with Fletcher screaming at Ospreay before Ospreay put him away was exceptionally executed. The only thing that was not needed was the interference from Mark Davis. I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for both guys.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley def. Christian Cage and Cope in a Three-Way Match (Cage Cashed In His AEW World Championship Opportunity)

Of all the incredible matches on this show, it blows my mind that Tony Khan thought this was the correct choice for the main event spot. The match itself was dreadfully boring and it wasn't as if they had something super shocking planned for the finish. Rather, we got the usual interference from Wheeler Yuta and then Christian cashed in his title shot unsuccessfully. The goal should have been to get the belt off of Moxley and they failed. Everything about this was terrible. The Death Riders nonsense can't end soon enough.

Overall Show

AEW's pay-per-views are unmatched and Revolution was well on its way to being a stellar show from top to bottom up until that abysmal main event. The AEW World Championship picture desperately needs an overhaul. Otherwise, Revolution was a strong show and the matches that mattered were must-see. AEW has had some momentum as of late and I want to say that Revolution kept it going, but it's unfortunate that the main event will be what a lot of people will be talking about more than anything else because it was indeed that bad.

SEE MORE: AEW PPV Reviews