R-Evolution III - 3/6/2022

[LoneWolf&Subs]

I was at the show live. It was a hell of an event, but I can confirm that it did indeed go too long. I agree with posters saying AEW needs an intermission, and to open the doors early. I didn’t need to use the restroom, but around Punk Vs. MJF I had a hankering for a hotdog. So as soon as it ended I bolted for the concessions without knowing what the next match was. 
 

So open the doors at 5:45. Buy-in needs to begin at 6:30. 6:45 is when you give us the first match of the evening. Main PPV card should start at 7:30. After Punk Vs. MJF headlines the first-half, then you go into intermission. 20 minutes should be given to live promos, legend interviews, and maybe last minute angles from the participants of the second-half of the PPV. 
 

Top 3 matches for me at the show were…

1. Darby, Sting, & Sammy Vs. The AHFO’s

This was insane to watch live. It was my most anticipated match on the show. Even more so knowing it was following the tag title, and ladder match. You got three of the craziest bumpers in the company(Darby, Sammy, and Isaiah), an ace athlete(Andrade), and two wiley veterans(Hardy, and Sting). It was a formula that guarantees a spectacle. 
 

2. Triangle Tag Team Title Match

Sometimes I come into Bucks matches expecting disappointment. This was one of them. I thought both heel teams would just completely dazzle, and turn the crowd on the faces. I was dead wrong, they instead dazzled, but gave Jungle Boy all the best spots in the match. I completely jumped out of my seat after JB hit the Frankensteiner German Suplex Counter. Luchasaurus was the only weak link in the match, just repeating similar spots. If that last part weren’t the case, I might’ve given it a top grade. Also I did not know this would have Triangle rules. Happy that style wasn’t forgotten after seeing some excellent ones recently from WCW’s peak. The only problem with doing them in AEW is that the ring is too big. The reason they worked so well for tags in WCW was because the ring was so small you had big men surrounding the ring, where they would be able to make extremely quick blind tags that would keep the pace of the match from slowing down even when the combined weight in the ring was over 2000 lbs.

3. Face of The Revolution Ladder Match

Outside of the six man, this was my second most anticipated match of the show. The main ingredient was beef, but thankfully they had a comedy worker(OC), and a ladder match veteran(Christian) to guide them all through the match. By the end they were able to put Hobbs on the same level as the beefy men of the company, further showed off Lee, and placed Wardlow into an area of star status to then shoot the first bullet for what will hopefully lead to one of the biggest headlining matches in DoN(Wardlow Vs. MJF TNT Title Matches).

All in all I had a great time. No trouble getting to the building whatsoever. The arena was located on a well designed campus, that had plenty of places to eat, and a simple, but easy to enter, and exit parking garage. Which is something I’ve never personally witnessed as I am from South Florida, and the top school basically has one of the smallest campuses for a major school in the state.

Edited March 8, 2022 by LoneWolf&Subs

[The Natural]

 

[Shartnado]

I watched Buy In and the hype show yesterday. I finally get PAC vs Buddy in segments of that 6 man, which was awesome as a whole. This is a pretty back and forth feud here!

Statlander vs Hirsch was also good. Leyla proved she is the #1 contender, although that won't be for long.

The PPV itself was insane, although maybe not quite what Full Gear was. Still, one of the best overall PPV's I've seen in ages.

Obviously Punk vs MJF was the thing, but the opener was aces, I loved the 3 way tag title match as well as the Tornado trios match. Both women's matches delivered and Rosa will have her day on St. Patrick's.

Mox and Danielson was what they promised and Regal added a whole new aspect to it.

The ladder match was definitely good enough and I think the guy they want as the face of the revolution went over.

The main event was not the best match on the card but holy shit was it still a great damn match! I was definitely worried that Cole would steal it as no other titles changed hands prior to it, but Hangman fortunately prevailed.

Awesome stuff! And yeah Punk vs MJF was cathartic af and it is so GOOD to see someone who's been pulling this bullshit for a few years now, finally get punched in the face with his own damn ring! If only in real life...

[SirFozzie]

One thing I wish they had, that RAW in the early days (before they went full on superhero mode), is that "Day-after" show, where you could see/feel the impacts of the craziness. CM Punk coming out and showing off his stitches (or tack wounds or..) really would put over the physicality of the match. Perhaps a 30 minute "reaction" show the next day on youtube.

[LoneWolf&Subs]

3 minutes ago, SirFozzie said:

One thing I wish they had, that RAW in the early days (before they went full on superhero mode), is that "Day-after" show, where you could see/feel the impacts of the craziness. CM Punk coming out and showing off his stitches (or tack wounds or..) really would put over the physicality of the match. Perhaps a 30 minute "reaction" show the next day on youtube.

Maybe whenever they get the streaming deal, and they can push for much more in-dept content. 

[For Great Justice]

Feels like this is the part of MJF’s arc where the character would normally enter the DDP bingo winnings-esk fall from grace period, but I’d rather just skip that whole chapter and keep him on top. Have him screw Wardlow out of his title shot in two weeks by contractual means and then he wins the TNT title from Sammy (in SA…oh man, the heat). Maybe by debuting a new monster bodyguard (Brian Cage?) that would then give Wardlow something to sink his teeth into for his first babyface fued. 

Still have him learn something from the loss, because that’s important, but in this case the thing the character learned was “I had a shitty bodyguard this whole time.” Because he’s a heel.

Edited March 8, 2022 by For Great Justice

[Matt D]

22 minutes ago, SirFozzie said:

One thing I wish they had, that RAW in the early days (before they went full on superhero mode), is that "Day-after" show, where you could see/feel the impacts of the craziness. CM Punk coming out and showing off his stitches (or tack wounds or..) really would put over the physicality of the match. Perhaps a 30 minute "reaction" show the next day on youtube.

Even Elevation was more disconnected than usual since it didn’t have Tony or Excalibur to read copy. 

[Shartnado]

18 hours ago, AxB said:

When Punk did the Won’t you be my Valentine promo, the collars he had with him were studded black leather. The collars on the PPV were plain brown leather. So if we assume that they wanted to have the PPV collars on TV but they weren’t ready yet, who do you think they borrowed the BDSM ones off?

TBH, I was a tad disappointed that they didn't have the studs on them, but that didn't last for too long, though.

[LoneWolf&Subs]

Studs probably would get in the way of taking safe bumps. Maybe that’s why they ultimately didn’t go with those.

[The Natural]

My MOTN was one from: Kingston/Jericho (I didn't expect that even though Kingston delivers on PPV), Punk/MJF or Moxley/Danielson.

Edited March 8, 2022 by The Natural

[HarryArchieGus]

14 hours ago, chriskbrown50 said:

Too much content for your money? That's a new one to complain about. 

Film editors are far more important to the process of your favorite movies than you might think.  Sustaining the crowd's energy at home, and more importantly in the building, is worth considering.  Leaving an audience wanting more rather than having to recover is a worthwhile goal.

 

 

[The Natural]

[NoFistsJustFlips]

6 hours ago, MoeCristyV.1.6 said:

95% of the audience were clueless.

What in the actual fuck?

NINETY FIVE PERCENT? No. Just no. I'll give you ten percent, and that's being generous.

[JLowe]

6 minutes ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:

What in the actual fuck?

NINETY FIVE PERCENT? No. Just no. I'll give you ten percent, and that's being generous.

I had no idea, ROH was really getting going around the time I stopped following wrestling.

[NoFistsJustFlips]

1 minute ago, JLowe said:

I had no idea, ROH was really getting going around the time I stopped following wrestling.

Right, you're part of that 10%.

Let's take this thread as a barometer. How many people in here were confused by it? Almost nobody. Certainly not 95% of us. Like I am aware not everyone who watches now watched then. But the current audience is not made up of NINETY FIVE PERCENT new viewers that have no awareness of Punk's independent theme music.

[(BP)]

I wasn’t tuned into ROH at the time, but that entrance gave me chills and I’ve watched it a lot the past two days.

I haven’t read every post in here, but I’m getting the sense that I’m higher on the Dog Collar match than just about everyone else. I’m not going to try to figure out a place for it on an all-timer list right now, but it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had watching wrestling, and the older I get the more precious something like that is to me.

[eikerir]

9 minutes ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:

Right, you're part of that 10%.

Let's take this thread as a barometer. How many people in here were confused by it? Almost nobody. Certainly not 95% of us. Like I am aware not everyone who watches now watched then. But the current audience is not made up of NINETY FIVE PERCENT new viewers that have no awareness of Punk's independent theme music.

 

Let's say 50-50 to be fair. Punk's ROH run using that music was around 20 years ago which means lots of fans might not have even been born yet. And content from that era it's not easy to find/stream with original music so I can forgive someone for not knowing right away.

It was a great treat for anyone that lived it at the time tho.

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by eikerir

[Matt D]

The whole package me back to being 20 in the National Guard Armory in Cambridge, MA awkwardly making an X with my arms in the crowd.

But I'm not entirely sure I want to be back there. Just saying.

[AxB]

9 minutes ago, (BP) said:

 

I haven’t read every post in here, but I’m getting the sense that I’m higher on the Dog Collar match than just about everyone else. I’m not going to try to figure out a place for it on an all-timer list right now, but it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had watching wrestling, and the older I get the more precious something like that is to me.

I thought it was the best Dog Collar match in history. Every move, every moment made perfect sense within the context of who Punk is (and who he used to be), who MJF is, and everything that has happened between them up to this point. It was genius.

[Matt D]

1 minute ago, AxB said:

I thought it was the best Dog Collar match in history. Every move, every moment made perfect sense within the context of who Punk is (and who he used to be), who MJF is, and everything that has happened between them up to this point. It was genius.

Could be that dog collar matches should be checkers and not chess, maybe?

[NoFistsJustFlips]

8 minutes ago, eikerir said:

 

Let's say 50-50 to be fair. Punk's ROH run using that music was around 20 years ago which means lots of fans might not have even been born yet. And content from that era it's not easy to find/stream with original music so I can forgive someone for not knowing right away.

It was a great treat for anyone that lived it at the time tho.

 

25% final offer lol.

You Tube is a thing. Message Boards are a thing. A lot of people who didn't see his run there live have at least seen clips or have an understanding that he had different music. Before Punk officially debuted there were people here wondering and hoping he might use that as his theme. Even if you're only 15 and weren't alive for it, you would have learned through just coming to this message board.

That's all I'm saying. The original post cited 95% and that's impossible.

[(BP)]

The fan cams of it are distinctive in that it’s pretty evenly between people who are confused and people losing their shit the second the song came on. I’d say this is a lot like the Suzuki debut where the enthusiasm from those in the know is so infectious that it wins over the folks who are in the dark.  

[AxB]

4 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Could be that dog collar matches should be checkers and not chess, maybe?

Would you tell David Lynch his movies would be better if they he were more like Michael Bay movies?

I would argue that, if you wanted something that worked on the level of being nothing more than an empty spectacle, a violent spot fest, that Punk vs MJF succeeded on those terms too. Not enough run ins or low blows, perhaps. Too much letting the moment breathe and not enough bang bang bang pacing maybe. But the depth of story is there for those who appreciate the art.

[(BP)]

I don’t think I’ll agree with the Segunda Caida review, but I look forward to reading it. 

[Matt D]

Hey, I'm playing devil's advocate still. I don't have to commit until tomorrow. We've got Mammoth Siki vs L'Homme Masque and Gilbet LeDuc vs Der Henker tonight.

However, I will say this: I'm pretty sure I saw the strings.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Matt D