10-03-2025
AEW Revolution showed it once again: Tony Khan's fixation with WWE retreads is doing a disservice to his roster
It's become a bit of a cliché that AEW delivers the goods when it comes to its big shows, and Sunday night's Revolution pay-per-view was no exception — at least in terms of in-ring action.
It might come as a relief to read that, given the rocky ride Tony Khan's promotion has had in recent months. Do five-star matches make up for some questionable booking? Your mileage may vary, but Khan has hinted in the past that his crowds prioritize bangers over backstories.
Why not have both? In which case, Toni Storm and Mariah May had quite the match for you — capping off an already sensational feud with an audacious combination of Broadway theatrics and deathmatch nastiness. In truth, I could have skipped that vicious bottle spot, but it was made up for by that superb closing shot.
They weren't the only ones who went above and beyond. Swerve Strickland and Ricochet capped off their feud with a solid grudge match, MJF reminded us just how good he really is, and Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher put their chemistry to truly demonic use in a cage match that rivaled CM Punk and Drew McIntyre's infamous Hell in a Cell match for sheer brutality.
But then came the main event. Would the 11,000-strong audience in Los Angeles feel any differently from February's Grand Slam crowd in Brisbane — the ones who'd loudly expressed their dissatisfaction (to put it mildly) at watching Jon Moxley choke out Cope? Another rousing rendition of "Metalingus" left no doubt as to where their sympathies lay.
In any event, I figured, it was a hypothetical — surely Khan wasn't going to tempt fate by letting Moxley leave as champion, given how bad the feedback was from Brisbane. Yet in the end, the leader of the Death Riders left the Arena with his title run — and that ridiculous briefcase — intact.
As someone who admired Moxley's post-rehab return, I've tried to keep an open mind about his latest title run. But when we've had paying fans jeering him in two different continents over a three-week span, it would be a journalistic disservice not to ask exactly how long AEW plans to sustain this scenario.
Not much longer, you might think, given that Revolution saw the elevation of Strickland — perhaps the only AEW talent to rival Cope for babyface status — crowned as the number-one contender. Does that mean we're heading for a title change at Double or Nothing in May? We can only hope so.
The former AEW champion has put in the work — and then some — since his title run ended at Wembley Stadium last year. But he's also a rarity among AEW's world champion contenders, in that Strickland has built a name for himself in the promotion, rather than arriving with one already in tow.
When I look at the list of names who have held the men's world championship in AEW, I'm still astounded by how few could be described as homegrown. For almost half of its existence, the promotion's biggest belt has been held by Moxley, Chris Jericho, CM Punk or Bryan Danielson — all of whom arrived as legacy stars from WWE.
It isn't like AEW is short on talent. Konosuke Takeshita, Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, Powerhouse Hobbs, Jay White, Orange Cassidy, Brody King, and others have all shown they are capable of a run in the main event. But only a couple have enjoyed a world title shot, and, even then, usually as massive underdogs.
That's the big paradox at the heart of AEW: Why does a promotion that has always defined itself in contrast to WWE reserve its biggest opportunities for those who made their name under the old regime? (For another example of this phenomenon, ask yourself why Christian Cage was holding the title shot contract in the first place…)
Perhaps that will prove to be the silver lining from last night. I wouldn't have begrudged Cope enjoying one last title run for history's sake, but if it means clearing the path for some of AEW's more exciting, younger talents to get a shot at the big prize, then so be it. Bring on Strickland vs. Okada or Strickland vs. Ospreay when we get to AEW All In: Texas later this July.
Because while Sunday's Revolution pay-per-view was a great show in-ring, it was also another reminder of why AEW needs to rethink its world title scene. Khan says that his promotion is where the best wrestle. Well, how about letting one of them win the world title next time?
