LIVE on TNT
Kansas City, Missouri
February 26th, 2020
Commentators - Jim Ross, Excalibur, & Tazz
1) Kenny Omega vs. PAC - 30 Min Iron Man Match
The Young Bucks are at ringside with Omega, but no Hangman Page. Very weird and interested how that plays into their PPV match for the tag titles on Saturday. None the less - WOW. Insane offering from these two live on free television. I wasn't blown away by their first singles match despite highly anticipating it as a mark for both guys. However they really knocked it out of the park here and damn near killed each other on a number of occasions. Plus they called back to those matches several times here so without those meetings, this wouldn't have been as great as it was. Omega and PAC were two of the first people to take my breath away when I got into watching Indies & Japanese wrestling in the mid 2000's so seeing them tearing it up like this on national television was so cool. PAC hit a god damn falcon arrow on Omega from the apron to the floor for fucksake. Watch this match. Compelling from start to finish and through the duration of a sudden death stipulation. Plus the first fall was a DQ and was done SO well. Everything about this was ace. Omega wins after a slew of manuevers in sudden death. This was so good that my dad even called me to talk about it and that's rare!
Match rating - ****1/2
First 35-40 minutes gave us the best TV match of the year followed by a PAC interview with Tony Schiavone. Orange Cassidy comes out and gets laid out by the bastard.
2) Sammy Guevara & LAX vs. Jurassic Express (Luchasarus, Jungle Boy, & Marko Stunt)
Tough spot for this match after the Omega/PAC barn burner but they kill it. Jurassic Express has some insane trios offense and this made me want to see more of them in six person tag team action. Guevara looked great in this also. Things broke down near the end and everyone got their shit in. Guevara tried to cheat only for his Revolution PPV opponent Darby Allin to come down and stop it (to a huge pop) which allows Jungle Boy to get the win over Guevara and his Inner Circle team mates.
Match rating - ***1/4
After the match, Darby backbody drops Sammy G after he charges him. Guevara lands on LAX and they back away from the ring. Darby's promo cards read that on Saturday night - "the coffin will drop" that is sick. So excited for their match, think it could be a lowkey show stealer with how much hype Darby has and how much heat Sammy has.
3) Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?) (w/ Orange Cassidy) vs. The Butcher & The Blade (w/ The Bunny)
Butcher & Blade work over the smaller men in the Best Friends here. They particularly isolate Chuck and build to the Trent hot tag. Was sort of expecting Butcher & Blade to win bc in WWE/typical TV wrestling fashion - the bigger, scarier looking new guys have to win to be believable right? Well .. no. Best Friends win and the crowd is hot and happy. And I highly doubt this kills any of the legitimacy of Butcher & Blade.
Match rating - **3/4
Tony Schiavone post match interview with Best Friends and Orange Cassidy. Announcement time and at Revolution, Orange Cassidy faces PAC... WHAT THE FUCKKKKKK. Crowd loved this whole interview though! Fun stuff from these guys as always.
4) Hikaru Shida vs. Big Swole vs. Shanna vs. Yuka Sakazaki
Decent little women's exhibition here. Interesting choice with a PPV Title match coming up that doesn't have a ton of build. I'd much preferred some sort of promo/altercation between champion & challenger in place of this because this felt like nothing more than a match that would be on Dark, but everyone did have a nice showing here! I also love Sakazaki and she was a lot of fun here and no one looked bad at all. Shida gets the win and it seems as if they're building her as a potential next title challenger.
Match rating - **1/2
Sit down pre-taped interview with Page, Omega, and The Young Bucks hosted by Jim Ross. This was needed and explained where everyone's head is. Page feels under-appreciated and like the Bucks are trying to take his momentum and the titles. Omega is the mediator. Bucks want the titles to prove they are the best team in AEW and the world.
The commentators run down the Revolution PPV card and hype the debut of Lance Archer next week!
The Weigh In
I was curious how this segment would go going into it. Weigh In's in wrestling are always iffy but from the start this felt like a win. The vibe was super hype and felt important. The introductions were big. Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle sporting track suits was excellent. Moxley weighs in first, Jericho piddles around and insults the crowd and announcer only to receive a jolting headbutt from Mox that busts him open. All hell breaks loose. We get a Hager/Dustin Rhodes brawl. A Sammy Guevara/Darby Allin interaction. All of which are nailed. Jericho hits Mox with his own move - the paradigm shift - to end the segment. Heels stand tall and give you a reason to buy the Revolution PPV to see them get their asses beat. Simple, but fantastic stuff. This seriously felt like the old pre-PPV championship match build segments we used to get in peak WWE/F.
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