Chair Shots With Killem Faulkner: Revolution Qualifier Dynamite

Revolution is nearly upon us, and several competitors were looking to make a statement and punch their ticket to the big show as Dynamite emanated from Phoenix, AZ. The world champion and his top competitor came face to face, the third tag team that will compete for the belts was decided, and multiple other matches were either confirmed or at least heated up for the March 5th show. Who put in a solid effort to finish the pay-per-view build strong, and which matches and segments left the viewer wondering how they could be salvaged in just over a week?

Best Match of the Night

I could understand if some fans looked at the announced matches for this show’s card and decided this was a skippable episode, but I feel like everything in-ring was actually pretty good. We had a tag squash match that did not really need to happen but was okay for what it was, a women’s match that was more competitive than one might have expected, and the main event was good for as long as it lasted, which was not long. The Acclaimed continue to be as over as ever and the “SAWFT” line in reference to Big Bill (FKA Colin Cassady AKA Big Cass, who used that catchphrase when teaming with Enzo Amore) in Caster’s rap was incredible. Skye Blue is not a featured performer by any means, but you can tell how much she has improved during her time in the company. As a member of the Dark Order, I always like to see Evil Uno in the ring, and he put on an impressively fiery performance despite the obvious loss that he had coming to him.

With that said, that only leaves one match that really stood out in my opinion on this evening, and if you know anything about me, you know the tag team battle royal isn’t going to be it. In fact, if I ever include a battle royal in one of my “best of the night” segments, I may have been kidnapped and I’m trying to signal to anyone reading that something is very wrong. That leaves the opening match between Orange Cassidy and Wheeler Yuta for the All-Atlantic Championship as the best match of the night. Their history as Best Friend-adjacent bros was played up here, as both Yuta and Cassidy seemed to know what to expect at each significant moment and used each other’s own signature moves in an attempt to catch the other off-guard. Yuta brought the intensity, especially after Claudio Castagnoli emerged from the back to deliver some motivation. By which, of course, I mean he slapped him right in the face. It’s like the Blackpool Combat Club can only express affection through violence. I wonder where they got that from…oh right. On the other hand, Orange Cassidy and his Best Friends have never shied away from a shirtless man-sandwich hug, so there was a clear tension between the two competitors’ approaches – Cassidy hugged Yuta and Yuta responded with a slap. After the match, Cassidy offered a hug to his opponent, while grumpy dad Claudio insisted Yuta get in the car so they wouldn’t be late for soccer practice. I also love that the normally laconic Cassidy had to step up the intensity to put Yuta away – the Ring of Honor Pure Champion wasn’t about to be put away with mind games and shin taps, nor would a simple Orange Punch get the job done. OC had to uncork an extra vicious finishing blow to get the job done, an appropriate capper to an excellent match between two young performers with a ton of potential just waiting for more showcases like this.

Best Moment of the Night

While the matches this week may not have been pay-per-view-worthy, AEW delivered several segments that helped to keep the fires hot ahead of Revolution. The segment between Ricky Starks and Chris Jericho dragged on a little, but it accomplished two major things: first, it confirmed that we will see the Absolute face the Ocho at Revolution. Second, it showed that Ricky is capable of getting under his opponent’s skin and manipulating him into doing something he didn’t want to do. Starks came out with an open contract to face him at Revolution, stating that he knows a second bout against Jericho isn’t happening so he’s ready to move on, which of course drew out Jericho to say he’s the one who will decide when things are over between them. From there, Starks goaded the Ayatollah of Rock and Roll-ah by saying he knows Jericho could beat him if given the chance and could even do it without the assistance of the Jericho Appreciation Society, but what a shame it just isn’t going to happen no matter what…even though there’s this open contract that Jericho could just sign and make it official…but only if he had a pen, which Starks just so happened to bring with him. I wonder if AEW will reveal that Starks had planned to have Pretty Peter Avalon try to rush the ring to get a pay-per-view opportunity for himself just to make Jericho panic at the thought of being usurped. Then again, he ate a Judas Effect from Jericho’s spiky jacket elbow, so maybe he wouldn’t knowingly volunteer for that just to help out Starks, with whom he has no affiliation or history. Anyway, this segment worked for what it needed to accomplish, and although it is another rematch for a Revolution card that is already somewhat heavy on them (Wardlow vs. Samoa Joe, The Acclaimed vs. Gunn Club – albeit with two other teams in the mix – and Jon Moxley vs. Adam Page) it’s still easy to look forward to these two facing off again with promo segments like this, especially with the promise of JAS being banned from ringside. I also loved the throwback to the List of Jericho era when Y2J used his signature pen click to make the contract signing official. I’m a simple man with simple needs, and one of those simple needs is to see Chris Jericho click a pen with flair.

Runner-up for moment of the night was Adam Cole‘s announcement that he will be making his in-ring return next month. This is obviously welcome news but only misses out on moment of the night for two major reasons: A. it was overhyped – this was apparently Tony Khan’s “big announcement” (along with the less exciting news that there will be a behind-the-scenes show that will premiere after Dynamite also in March) that, let’s face it, was not on the level of the Forbidden Door announcement or a big free agent signing, and B. it was maddeningly non-specific – Cole’s debut will be the same night as AEW All Access, which will be…sometime in March. Granted, there are only 5 Wednesdays in March, so there’s only so many options, but it would’ve been nice to know exactly when we should expect to see the Panama City Playboy back in action. For whatever reason, AEW has decided to drag out Cole’s return rather than just have him make a surprise appearance or make a straightforward announcement about when, where, and against whom we should expect to see him wrestle next, but it is always good to have Cole on television, and it’s exciting to know he is nearly ready to return for good.

Best moment of the night has to go to the segment between MJF and Bryan Danielson – this rivalry is already red-hot, and this promo battle took the intensity to another level. Danielson pointed out something that I think has been underrated but incredibly important in this rivalry so far – MJF has been entirely on the offensive in this feud, despite being the champion with seemingly nothing to prove. At every turn, MJF has tried to make this rivalry personal, putting a bounty out on Danielson, hospitalizing his mentor William Regal, and attacking his former RoH compatriot Christopher Daniels. MJF interrupted and ran down all the reasons he has for hating the American Dragon – while Danielson has the love of the fans, his wife, and his kids, MJF only has the AEW World Championship to keep him going in life. The champ even revealed that his real-life fiancée left him, which appears to be legit. (Which might also mean his parents have finally deserted him for good too, if they follow through on the threat made when the engagement was announced.) MJF ran down his challenger for taking his good life for granted, which of course was just a mask for his jealousy towards a man who manages to be successful while apparently still being a decent guy, something Maxwell himself has never quite figured out. When Friedman turned his attention to Danielson’s kids, sending a message directly through the camera about what he planned to do to their dad at Revolution, the Dragon had finally had enough, cutting off the champ mid-threat and instigating a pull-apart brawl that spilled to the outside and ended with a wicked forearm that laid out the champ. Again, Danielson and Friedman really don’t have to do much to keep this rivalry hot as Revolution closes in, but they have over-delivered with segments like this. It will be fascinating to see how MJF manages to keep his claws on the Big Burberry Belt at the pay-per-view, but until that inevitably occurs, at least we get to enjoy some excellent exchanges from two of the biggest stars in the industry today.

Worst Matches/Moments of the Night

In a tag team division that includes the Young Bucks, FTR, the Lucha Brothers, Top Flight, and Best Friends (among others) I am utterly baffled as to why Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett are getting a title shot at Revolution. Not only is this team ridiculous and unnecessary, the fact that Jarrett was the one who picked up the win (albeit with a couple of hefty assists from Satnam Singh to stave off elimination) was just the turd cherry on the crap sundae. I mentioned a couple of weeks back that I thought the Gunn Club winning the titles was one of the biggest creative mistakes AEW has made so far, but a pay-per-view title match involving Lethal and Jarrett in the year 2023 is another significant misstep. I know the idea was likely to balance out the face/heel dynamic in a four-way match that will likely feature two babyface teams, but if that was the only requirement, why not the Butcher and the Blade? Both men have looked great lately, and after a dominant performance by Butcher late in this week’s battle royal, it would have been cool to see them pull off a surprise win. Instead, we got Lethal and Jarrett who belong nowhere near the tag titles, and it will be up to next week’s Casino Battle Royale to give us an exciting team to root for alongside The Acclaimed. Otherwise, the tag title match at Revolution may well become a designated bathroom break despite the magnetic appeal of the former champs.

Parting Shots

• We kind of figured Ruby Soho was in line for a title shot after her win in the triple threat last week, but with Saraya defeating Skye Blue this week, she apparently has done enough to work her way into the match as well, at least according to champion Jamie Hayter. I don’t hate the idea of putting Soho in a situation between an AEW original and an established “I don’t need this company to be a big deal” star, but I feel like I’d rather see her face Hayter one-on-one with the storyline of Saraya and Toni Storm trying to recruit the challenger into their mean girls club being the driving force behind the conflict. Still, it will be interesting to see where AEW goes with this storyline – I expect Hayter will likely retain, but they will have to find a way to do that while not sacrificing the Runaway’s momentum.
• I am unreasonably hyped for The Elite vs. House of Black for the trios titles – considering we have seen basically no interaction between them so far, I’m really hoping we get a segment, brawl, or at least a stare-down on next week’s show to confirm we’ll see them face off at Revolution. I really think a long-term feud between the two factions makes all the sense in the world and should hopefully turn around the HoB’s fortunes after a somewhat underwhelming run so far.
• Jungle Boy Jack Perry hesitating to deliver a con-chair-to on his longtime rival Christian Cage was an interesting development, but I’m guessing the company is holding off on giving the babyface his moment of triumph until Revolution. Then again, we haven’t seen Luchasaurus in a while, so it’s possible he gets involved at some point to prolong this feud even further. Here’s hoping that we’ll get a definitive end at the pay-per-view so Perry can move on to bigger and better things – Cage has done his job of making the young star feel more legitimate, and the feud does deserve an actual ending rather than just sputtering out due to injury, but both parties are ready for something new.

That’s it for another week – decent show that was fairly promo-heavy rather than delivering any real mat classics, but with the primary focus on setting up (or making official) matches for the pay-per-view, it was still a decently successful night for AEW’s flagship show. Thanks for joining me once again, and I hope to see you all back again next week for the go-home edition of Chair Shots!