Tag: wrestling

AEW Revolution Recap

AEW’s TV product may be inconsistent at times, but their pay-per-views rarely disappoint. With their first PPV of the year being at Staples Center (I refuse to call it anything else) and a last-minute extra ticket in hand thanks to a friend, I made the trip to LA for some live wrestling. Was it worth a late Sunday night? Let’s find out—onto the results and my thoughts!

MJF vs. Hangman Adam Page

A heated grudge match between two AEW originals kicked off the show in style. After a back-and-forth battle—including MJF hitting a Tombstone Piledriver on a steel chair—Hangman secured the win with a Buckshot Lariat. Given their intense buildup, this rivalry feels far from over, and I’m all for it. These two have been AEW cornerstones, and title or not, there’s plenty left to explore in future clashes.

Momo Watanabe vs. Mercedes Mone (TBS Championship)

The first of six title matches on the card saw Mercedes Mone (fka Sasha Banks) defend her TBS Championship against Stardom’s Momo Watanabe. I’m not too familiar with Stardom and its product, but Momo’s performance made me want to find a way to see more of it. The result was never really in doubt, but it was a fun, fast-paced match where Mone was pushed to the limit before forcing Watanabe to tap. Who will dethrone Mone? Only time will tell!

Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet

One of AEW’s hottest new rivalries took center stage in a high-stakes battle to determine the next AEW Title contender. This was a brutal war of attrition, with both men pulling out all the stops—not just to win, but to inflict as much damage as possible. In the end, Swerve had the last laugh, securing the victory and a title shot against either Jon Moxley or Adam Copeland. A strong match, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this feud continues into Dynasty or is revisited down the line.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Brody King (AEW Continental Championship)

Next up was the Continental Championship, with Okada aiming to extend his reign against the powerhouse that is Brody King. Though the outcome seemed fairly inevitable, both men delivered a hard-hitting, entertaining battle. King’s brutal offense, highlighted by thunderous chops that could probably be heard in San Francisco, pushed Okada to his limit. But after weathering the storm, Okada sealed the win with a perfectly timed Rainmaker, keeping his championship run alive.

Hurt Syndicate vs. The Outrunners (AEW Tag Team Championship)

No offense to the talent involved, but with such a stacked card, this match became a strategic bathroom break—I didn’t want to miss what came next (hence the pre-show photo). It’s a shame because I was excited to see Lashley and Shelton Benjamin in action, but judging by the restroom lines, I wasn’t the only one with that mindset. As expected, this was the most predictable title match of the night, with the Hurt Syndicate retaining in what amounted to a slightly competitive squash.

Mariah May vs. ‘Timeless’ Toni Storm (AEW Women’s World Championship)

Holy crap, this match was absolutely brutal, cramming an insane amount of violence into less than 15 minutes while delivering a bloody, definitive end to one of AEW’s best women’s rivalries—if not one of its best rivalries, period. The bad blood between these two was literal, with chairs, tables, and broken glass leaving both women drenched in crimson. In the end, Toni Storm sealed the win and retained her title with a Storm Zero through a table at the top of the stage. One of AEW’s best women’s matches to date, and with “The End” flashing on the screens afterward, this easily could’ve been the main event—and probably should’ve closed the show given what we got at the end.

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kenny Omega (AEW International Championship)

The match quality kept escalating as Takeshita and Omega clashed for the third time in singles competition, this time with the International Title on the line. With Don Callis on commentary, interference for Takeshita was expected, but thankfully, it didn’t decide the outcome. Like their previous encounters, this was an instant classic—a nearly 30-minute war where Takeshita ruthlessly targeted Omega’s midsection, exploiting his recovery from a year-long battle with diverticulitis. Despite the punishment, Omega secured the win with a roll-up, reclaiming championship gold. With this victory, a showdown with Okada at All In to potentially unify their titles feels inevitable—and given their legendary battles in Japan, I’m all for it.

Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher (Steel Cage match)

Former friends turned bitter enemies, Fletcher and Ospreay met for the third time to settle this rivalry which was tied at one match a piece once and for all, and what a brutal and bloody war it was. The steel cage was used to full effect and it didn’t take long for Ospreay to be busted open, but Fletcher would soon be sporting a crimson mask himself. A match that saw barbed wire, a screwdriver and thumbtacks also used to great effect produced a few spots that elicited a ‘you sick fuck’ and ‘holy shit’ chants from the audience, including a brutal Styles Clash to Fletcher on thumbtacks and a Spanish Fly from the top of the cage. In the end, Ospreay hit the Tiger Driver to get the pinfall victory and even though he lost, Fletcher still comes out of this looking insanely strong. What a brutal match, the main event has a tough act to follow!

Adam Copeland vs. Jon Moxley (AEW World Championship)

To say this match fell flat would be an understatement. Even with low expectations, it still underdelivered. No knock on Moxley—who has carried AEW on his back more than once—but his fourth world title reign has been lackluster, especially with the Death Riders faction failing to gain momentum as AEW’s version of The Bloodline. The decision to keep the AEW Title locked in a briefcase hasn’t helped either, making the championship feel devalued.

Unsurprisingly, the crowd was dead for most of the match, only waking up near the end when Wheeler Yuta ran interference for Moxley, only to be chased off by Jay White. Cope looked set to win after a trio of spears, but Christian Cage pulled the ref out and cashed in his contract, turning it into a triple threat. A spear and a Killswitch nearly made him champion, but Moxley choked him out to retain—much to the frustration of the 12,000 in attendance.

Final Grade: B+

Even though I hated the finish to the main event, it wasn’t enough to truly drag this PPV down as it was yet again, another solid event made better by being there in person and totally worth being tired the next day. For the love of God Tony Khan, please end the Death Riders angle and give someone else a run with the AEW Title!

WWE Elimination Chamber – Recap

The road to WrestleMania is in full gear and now that we’ve just had the last main roster PLE before the ‘Showcase of the Immortals’ set to take place in Las Vegas in April, it’s time to go over what happened in Toronto.

Women’s Elimination Chamber: Bianca Belair defeats Liv Morgan

Bianca Belair secured the win by countering ObLIVion into the KOD, pinning Liv Morgan to earn a WrestleMania shot against either Rhea Ripley or Iyo Sky. The match was fast-paced, giving all five women standout moments—including one of the loudest chops ever when Belair whipped Liv with her braid, causing her to start bleeding from her midsection. However, the biggest shock came before the bell even rang: Jade Cargill returned with vengeance, blindsiding Naomi in retaliation for a backstage attack that sidelined her for weeks. Props to Liv for selling the moment so perfectly when everyone suspected her involvement. Bianca vs. Rhea or Iyo will be fantastic, but a triple threat? Yes, please. And Jade’s involvement? I am eager to see where this story involving Jade goes and how it factors into WrestleMania though!

Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus defeated Nia Jax and Candice LeRae

This was a solid match, but I’ll admit I used the time to make dinner and do the dishes—it just didn’t hold my full attention. No fault of the women involved, but being sandwiched between a great Chamber match and an unsanctioned brawl didn’t help. With Tiffany defending against Charlotte at WrestleMania, this mostly served to further her feud with Nia and Candice while giving Hall of Famer Trish Stratus a hometown spotlight. The effort was there, and they made it as fun as possible, but let’s be real—this won’t be cracking anyone’s top five matches of the year.

Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn (unsanctioned match)

How the hell are Kevin and Sami still standing after that absolute war? And how many years did they shave off their careers in the process? Their incredible chemistry—built from countless battles across the indies, NXT, and the main roster—was on full display as they brutalized each other with chairs (including one wrapped in barbed wire), tables, and even hockey sticks. Owens finally ended the carnage with a couple of apron powerbombs, but just when it seemed he’d add a package piledriver onto exposed concrete, Randy Orton made his shocking return, saving Sami and dropping Owens with an RKO. This is a match of the year contender for me and while I was hoping for a little bit of blood given the match stipulation, it was plenty violent without it

Men’s Elimination Chamber: John Cena defeats CM Punk

A solid match that gave all six men their moments, though I found the women’s match stronger in terms of pure quality. What this bout lacked in execution, it made up for with storytelling—most notably Drew McIntyre’s seething hatred for everyone and the ever-intensifying Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk feud. The finish saw Rollins get payback after his elimination, nailing Punk with a curb stomp, allowing Cena to lock in the STF for the submission win. With that, Cena punches his ticket to WrestleMania for a shot at Cody Rhodes and the chance to claim his record-breaking 17th world title before closing the book on his legendary WWE career.

After the match, Cody Rhodes came out to congratulate Cena and set the stage for their WrestleMania showdown—until The Rock made his presence known. Having previously offered Cody the role of his Corporate Champion, Rock was here for an answer. Cody’s response? A defiant “Go F yourself,” which got a big pop. Cena, still in the ring, celebrated Cody’s decision and embraced him…only to shock the world by delivering a low blow and viciously beat him down! A full-blown heel turn—for the first time in over a decade? It seems like Cena has always been a face. Either way, WWE just pulled off an absolute stunner, and Cena’s farewell tour just took a wild detour. WrestleMania season has officially been kicked into overdrive now!

2025 Royal Rumble Recap

Perhaps the most exciting time of the year for wrestling fans is Wrestlemania season, when WWE not only begins the build to the ‘Showcase of the Immortals’, but it seems like wrestling as a whole ups their game. Regardless of whether your loyalty is solely to AEW or WWE; or if you are a fan of wrestling as a whole and are happy we have so many different choices and styles of wrestling to choose from, you can’t deny that there is something different about this time of year on the wrestling calendar. Having said that, the road to Wrestlemania is now in full swing with the Royal Rumble in the books. This year’s edition of the annual spectacle emanated from Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts and for the most part, it was a fun show; there were parts of the show that didn’t stick, but no show will ever be perfect. That said, here are my thoughts about the show as a whole:

Women’s Royal Rumble
Winner: Charlotte Flair

I’m probably not alone in thinking that Charlotte was winning as soon as it was announced that she was returning from a year-long injury absence. Predictable? Of course it is, but love or hate her, there’s no denying she is a solid worker and is capable of some classic matches (see Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte at Wrestlemania 39 which I was in attendance for). The fear among many fans is that because of her name and star power that either Rhea or Tiffany Stratton is going to see their title reigns cut shorter they should be, but that remains to be seen since we don’t know who Charlotte will challenge as of this writing. Overall, aside from a couple of lulls, this was a fun match that had a strong showing from the NXT Women’s division and the fact WWE didn’t need to lean on legends from the past beyond Trish Status is a testament to how loaded the women’s roster is across all three brands. I was disappointed that AJ Lee wasn’t a surprise entrant, but that’s not the end of the world; can we take a second to appreciate the huge pop that accompanied the returning Alexa Bliss? Easily the biggest pop of the night!

WWE Tag Team 2 out of 3 Falls Match
DIY defeated Motor City Machine Guns

I’m going to be honest, I really didn’t sit down to watch much of this match as it was a chance to make dinner before the Ladder Match and Men’s Rumble match. I still had it on as background noise and from what I’ve read, this match didn’t really live up to the hype considering the talent involved. This was through no fault of their own; the match placement between an exciting Women’s Rumble and the ladder match did them no favors. Short of a five star classic, the fans in attendance were probably not going to be fully invested either way. Going back and watching the match after the fact, I can see that the effort was there, but again, this unfortunately was the ‘cooldown match’. The big story from this match was the Street Profits showing up to cost MCMG a chance to regain the titles before attacking DIY post match, but unfortunately, WWE still doesn’t seem to treat the tag team division as any sort of priority so it’s really hard for me to be excited about any of the tag titles.

Ladder Match for the WWE Title
Cody Rhodes defeated Kevin Owens to retain

Wow, this was a brutal match which both men seemed to want to end the others’ career; in the buildup to this match, we’ve seen subtle shifts in Cody Rhodes and this match bought a more aggressive side out of him. To be fair, you kind of have to lean into your more aggressive side when you’re going against someone like Kevin Owens who thrives on getting into people’s heads when he’s not beating them in. How both men are able to walk after this war of attrition is beyond me, but wrestlers are just built different. Though it goes without saying they are going to be feeling the affects of this match for a while, especially Kevin Owens after taking a vicious Alabama Slam through the ladder at the end of the match. While at ringside towards the end, Sami Zayn surprisingly did not get involved like many thought he might, but this I would imagine plants the seeds for his match with Owens at Wrestlemania (the post match beatdown after Zayn’s loss to CM Punk on this week’s episode of RAW confirms as much).

Men’s Royal Rumble Match
Winner: Jey Uso

Where the women’s match had the predictable winner, this one had the surprise winner, especially considering John Cena was the last one eliminated. Whether Jey Uso actually wins the world title remains to be seen (one would assume he seeks out another match with Gunther), there is no denying how over he is with the fans. While this match didn’t have any involvement from the NXT roster (unless I blanked out), it did have its fair share of moments. Starting off with Rey Mysterio and Penta was inspired and I want to see these two have a proper match before Rey hangs up the boots for good. As someone who watched countless Penta matches in AEW, I am happy to see him being presented as the star he is by WWE early in his run. The appearance from TNA World Champion Joe Hendry (say his name and he appears) produced probably the second biggest pop of the night and it was quite the sight to have 70K+ singing along with his theme; he was never going to win, but he looked good in his time in this match. Aside from a surprise return from AJ Styles (thank god they gave him his old music back), the part of this match that stood out the most is the sequence in which CM Punk eliminated both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins before being eliminated by Logan Paul, setting off a brawl outside the ring which saw Rollins snap on both men. That’s likely the Wrestlemania program unless the long promised Rock/Reigns match is able to happen. There is enough history and bad blood among those three to sell a match on its own, to say nothing of the accolades they have amassed between them. One can only wait and wonder what exactly the favor is that Paul Heyman owes CM Punk and how that plays into WrestleMania plans, guess we’ll have to wait and see.

All in all, a solid Royal Rumble that has only just begun to lead us on the path to Wrestlemania and I can’t wait to see which storylines develop along the way!