AEW Revolution 2022: Results, Full Recap, News and Analysis

"Hangman" Adam Page is King of the Adams. He defeated Adam Cole in the main event of Revolution, pinning Cole after two Buckshot Lariats. 

The crowd had fun in the opening minutes, chanting things like "Let's go Adam!" and "We want Adam!" Midway through the match, they chanted "This is Adam!" instead of "This is awesome!" That was my personal favorite. 

Some great action here. The first impressive spot was Page lifting Cole up in a Fireman's Carry position and Cole somehow countering it into a Backstabber. Later on the outside, Page powerbombed Cole onto the ring apron and then followed up with a huge moonsault. Most spectacular of all, Page attempted a moonsault in the ring and Cole countered with a terrific in-air Superkick.

As good as the action was, there was really no storytelling here. It was a series of explosive, exciting moves until the very end, when Page hit his big move for a second time to win.

It wasn't a one-on-one affair, as eventually reDRagon ran interference. Page was preparing to hit a Buckshot Lariat, but was distracted by O'Reilly and Fish. Cole then hit a Superkick to Page, and then a Panama Sunrise on the outside -- creating a nasty sounding thud. That got a two count in the ring.

Cole went for another Panama Sunrise, but Page countered it into a Deadeye attempt. Cole escaped and, with reDRagon distracting the ref, hit Page with a low blow. Cole then hit a combo of a Panama Sunrise and a Boom knee strike -- but only got a two count. Page attempted another Buckshot Lariat, but Cole countered with a flurry of Superkicks.

On the outside, O'Reilly and Fish set up a table. On the apron Cole set up Cole for a slam, but Page countered and crashed through the table with a Deadeye. The Dark Order ran down to fend off reDRagon, and after Cole rolled inside Page landed a huge Buckshot Lariat. Cole was able to get his hand on the rope to avert defeat. 

In a reverse of what Cole did to Page on Dynamite, Page tied Cole to the ropes using his cowboy belt and then barraged him with Superkicks. After Cole came loose, he was slumped in the middle of the ring. Page hit Cole's own Boom knee on Cole, then finished him off with another Buckshot Lariat for the win.

Afterwards, as Cole was lying unconscious, Page knelt down and shook Cole's hand to end the show. 

Rating: 3.5 stars. Excellent athleticism and exciting spots, but little in the way of storytelling. The action made for a better highlight reel than for a match, and it bordered on ridiculous at times in terms of how devastating moves looked compared with how little they were sold. Still, the action was impressive. 

This Tornado Tag pitting Andrade El Ídolo, Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy (AMFO) against against Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara and Sting was pure chaos. In all honesty, I found it hard to register all the madness after seeing so many wild things on the show already. 

Highlights include Darby Allin hitting his incredible Suicide Dive on AHFO lackey Jose when Jose's torso was stuffed into a trash can. Sammy Guevara did a Spanish Fly to Isiah Kassidy off the stage onto two tables. Sting, at 62 years old, jumped off the bleachers onto Andrade, crashing through four tables.

Like I said. Chaos.

The finish came when Matt Hardy and Darby Allin found themselves in the ring together. Hardy bashed Allin over the back with a chair, then set it up to slam Allin onto. Allin wriggled out of Hardy's grip and planted Hardy with a Scorpion Death Drop onto the chair. He then landed a Coffin Drop (which barely touched Hardy) to get the pinfall victory.

Rating: 3 stars. A large part of me dislikes how insane the stunts were here, because the show didn't need it. After the tag title bout, the ladder match and the Dog Collar encounter, I felt desensitized to the stunts. I assume a part of the audience was too. These men put their bodies on the line -- especially Sting -- to put together a crazy match. The problem is that we'd already seen so many crazy matches by this point that, in a way, it didn't stand out. But if you take away the concern for their health, this was a fun collection of wild moments. 

After hard-hitting and bloody match, Jon Moxley managed to sneak a win on Bryan Danielson with a lucky roll-up. Danielson had Moxley tied up in a Triangle Choke, blistering him with punches. Moxley rolled backwards so that the Triangle Choke was still on, but Danielson's shoulders were on the floor. With Danielson unaware he was being pinned, the ref counted to three and Moxley got the win.

After the match, Danielson argued with the ref and then started brawling with Moxley. Security tried and failed to break them apart -- which led to a surprise debut of William Regal! Regal separated them, as the announcers explained that Regal is a mentor to both, and slapped Moxley. He then slapped Danielson. Regal barked orders, and Danielson and Moxley shook each other's hands as Jim Ross wondered if we're seeing a tag team being formed. 

This was another intense affair, and like the Dog Collar match is not for the squeemish. Danielson and Moxley beat the crap out of each other. The match began with some mat wrestling, but quickly escalated into an exchange of intense strikes. These two kicked each other to hell, with a few gnarly suplexes thrown in. It was intense, and awesome.

Then came the blood. The fight went to the outside, where headbutts and elbows were thrown. Once Moxley came into the ring, he was bleeding profusely. 

Danielson got the advantage towards the end, landing a Busaiku Knee on a crimson red Moxley. That only got a two count though, which led Danielson to try to stomp his way to victory. After repeated stomps on Moxley's head, Danielson rolled into the Triangle Choke that would ultimately be his undoing. 

Rating: 4.25 stars. Some of the impact of this violent encounter was lost due to the even more brutal match between MJF and Punk, but it was still must-see pro wrestling. 

Britt Baker's 281-day streak as AEW Women's Champion continues after Baker pinned Thunder Rosa at Revolution. After a bunch of interference, Baker managed to land a Curbstomp on Rosa for the pin. 

In March of 2021, Baker and Rosa had the most memorable women's match in company history, an unsanctioned bout that was hailed as one of the best of the year. At Revolution, they had the misfortune of following a similarly bloody match in Punk versus MJF. 

The crowd would occassionally break out in duelling "Thunder Rosa/D.M.D." chants, but in large part they wer tired out by the previous bout. The women started slow to allow the crowd to recharge, which ultimately did work as the final few minutes were significantly heated. But the downside is that much of the bout was just there. Parts of it were sloppy too, particularly spots driven by Rosa.

In the closing moments, Rosa hit a Tombstone Piledriver on Baker (after one botched attempt), but Rebel distracted the ref. Rosa took out Rebel and, while the ref was tending to Rebel on the apron, Baker brought the championship belt in and Curbstomped Rosa onto it. That got a two count, and the crowd popped big when Rosa kicked out. 

Baker went for the Lockjaw, but Rosa countered it into a Lockjaw of her own. Rosa then transitioned into a Straightjacket Choke, and Baker tapped out -- but Rebel was once again distracting the ref. Rosa speared Rebel to the outside and then took out Jaimie Hayter. As she slid into the ring, Baker got another Curbstomp for the win.

Rating: 3 stars.

This was a bloody mess -- but a beautiful mess too. CM Punk defeated MJF in a graphic dog collar match, pinning him after Wardlow passed Punk the Dynamite Diamond Ring. It featured lots of blood, creative wrestling, thumbtacks and a crowd that loved every moment. 

The match felt special before it even began. Punk's Cult of Personality began playing, only for the music to switch to MJF's theme. Maxwell came out to huge boos. Punk then entered not to Cult of Personality, but to his old Ring of Honor song Miseria Cantare. Punk dressed in his old ROH fight shorts. 

Punk was the first to get busted open after MJF, having the thick dog collar chain wrapped around his hand, laid Punk out with a series of punches. With Punk bloodied up, MJF grabbed the mic and told Punk to quit -- just like he quit 8 years ago. Punk told MJF to "eat s***" which led to "eat s*** woop woop" chants. Incredible.

After some more heat on Punk, the former WWE Champion started getting in some of his own offence. Punk wrapped the chain around MJF's hand and crushed the hand with a bunch of knee strikes. That played into the match later, when MJF tried a piledriver but wouldn't grip onto Punk without hurting his hand, allowing Punk to counter out. Punk attempted a Go To Sleep, but MJF countered that into a Fujiwara Armbar, which Punk transitioned into a Anacaonda Vice. MJF managed to get out by pulling on Punk's hair. 

Punk was very creative with his chain spots. In a great move, he wrapped the dog collar chain around his knee and cracked MJF open with a Shining Wizard. As Punk was punishing MJF on the outside, the crowd chanted "You deserve it" at MJF.

Punk's fortunes reversed on the outside. MJF was slumped against the ring steps, and Punk went for another knee strike with the chain wrapped around his leg. MJF moved, meaning Punk's knee crunched into the steps. When Punk attempted a Go To Sleep in the ring, his knee gave out, allowing MJF to get the upper hand. He wouldn't keep the upper hand for long though. MJF tried a tombstone on the apron, but Punk countered into a tombstone of his own. Gnarly.

It was around this time that MJF brought out some thumbtacks -- as if the match wasn't bloody enough. There was a great spot where Punk tried to suplex MJF into the tacks, but couldn't because his knee failed. MJF then tried to suplex Punk into the tacks, but his hand failed him. Excellent story telling here. Ultimately it would be Punk who would eat the thumbtacks, afer MJF suplexed Punk into them from the top rope. 

The superlex got MJF a two count. An overwhelmed MJF then called out for Wardlow, asking for Wardlow to hand him the Dynamite Diamond Ring MJF had used to beat Punk on Dynamite. Wardlow pretended he couldn't find it, which allowed Punk to pull MJF into a Go To Sleep -- after which MJF fell into the tacks. Wardlow then smiled at Punk, found the ring in his pocket and left it on the apron, which allowed Punk to put it on. 

Punk clobbered MJF with the Dynamite Diamond Ring and pinned him for the three count.

Rating: 4.75 stars. If you're squeemish about blood, this will be way, way too much for you. If you're not, this was an outstanding pro wrestling grudge match. It was graphic and a little grotesque, but it was all believeable and felt real. The element of Wardlow took away from the match a little, but its inclusion was understandable as it sets up a feud between MJF and Wardlow. 

For the second pay-per-view in a row, Punk was involved in the best match of the show.

Jade Cargill is still TBS Champion, defeating Tay Conti with Jaded.

The match opened with Cargill planting a big kiss on Conti -- illegal tactics! After some nice grappling, Conti attempted an armbar but Cargill rolled out. Cargill barraged Conti with kicks, and mocked her "karate s****", which led Conti to come back with judo throws and some great pump kicks.

Despite both women performing well, they were in a tough spot following the three previous matches, which the crowd was super into and which involved some insane action. 

There was a nice nearfall that involved the interference of Anna Jay. Conti took out Cargilll's manager Smart Mark Sterling, which led Cargill to get payback by hitting Jay with a pump kick. Back on the inside, with the ref not looking, Jay clocked Cargill with a steel chair. Conti then rolled her up for a nice two count.

Later, Conti tried some top-rope offense, but Cargill bumped her and planted her with Jaded for the three count.

Rating: 3 stars. Short and sweet. Nothing wrong with it.

Wardlow won a shot at the TNT Championship by defeating Keith Lee, Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricky Starks, Orange Cassidy and Christian in the Face of the Revolution ladder match. 

Though Keith Lee is AEW's big new signee, this match was designed to make a star of Wardlow. It's not just that he won the match -- he also took out Lee and Powerhouse Hobbs by the announcer's table, and got various other spots to shine. Before grabbing the brass ring, Wardlow hit a gnarly powerbomb on Ricky Starks onto a ladder.

Not to say the other men didn't get to shine too. Lee looked like a monster as he catapult threw Orange Cassidy over the top rope onto the outside. Ricky Starks hit a sweet spear on Christian through the middle of a ladder. Orange Cassidy got a great moment where, hanging off a ladder lifted up by Hobbs and Lee, he pulled himself up atop and almost grabbed the ring.

Still, Wardlow was definitely the star here. After a brief appearance by Danhausen, Starks was on the ladder nearly touching the ring. Wardlow leapt atop a ladder which was wedged atop the ropes and in between the standing ladder, where he planted Starks with a powerbomb and won the contest.

Rating: 3.5 stars. It lost some of its luster by being a spotfest that followed the mega spotfest that was the tag title match, but it was still good -- and let Wardlow shine. 

In a spectacular match, Jurassic Express retained their AEW Tag Team Championships by defeating The Young Bucks and reDRagon. Like every Young Bucks pay-per-view match, it was a dizzying array of wild offense that made practically no sense -- but was fun to watch.

The initial story surrounded the working agreement the heel Young Bucks and reDRagon had. Prior to the match, the two teams agreed to take out Jurassic Express and then duke it out between them. Of course, that plan disintigrated early, as the Bucks and later Kyle O'Reilly attempted to pin Jungle Boy for the win. That led to a breakdown in relations, turning the match into more of a tornado affair. 

From there, it was essentially just a series of spots. Please enjoy some of them. 

Among the crazier spots were a set of Shooting Star Press moves. O'Reilly had Luchasaurus locked in a standing Guillotine, which Jungle Boy broke up by hitting a Shooting Star on O'Reilly. Jungle Boy then tried to pin O'Reilly, but Nick Jackson broke it up -- with a Shooting Star Press. 

O'Reilly and Fish nearly won by crook, with O'Reilly clocking Jungle Boy with one of the Tag Team Championship belts. Jungle Boy kicked out though, and when reDRagon dropped Jungle Boy with their High-Low tandem finish, Luchasaurus broke it up.

It was thenthe Bucks' turn to hit a flurry of incredible moves on everyone, culminating with a BTE Trigger on Jungle Boy. That nearly led to a loss for Jurassic Express, but O'Reilly broke up the pin attempt. Jungle Boy then mounted a comeback and, after Luchasaurus took out reDRagon and Matt Jackson on the outside, Jurassic Express hit a sick combination powerbomb for the win.

Rating: 4 stars. It set up a tag team feud between the Young Bucks and reDRagon (which I'm excited to see), but other than that this was just a progression of big moves with limited storytelling. That said, it was a lot of fun -- and not as silly as some of the Bucks' other PPV matches.

AEW Revolution's main show started with the clash between Sports Entertainment and Professional Wrestling. In an excellent opener, Eddie Kingston tapped out Chris Jericho to get his biggest win in AEW yet. 

Jericho is 51 years old, but he sure wasn't wrestling like it. He hit a top-rope hurricanrana at one point, and later did a vertical suplex on Kingston from the apron down to the floor. That couldn't have been great for his back, but it lit the crowd up.

After an initial flurry by Kingston, Jericho took most of the match. Despite the fact that  he's veering into heel terrotory, much of the Orlando audience was still very pro-Jericho. After Jericho landed a Lionsault, the crowd was split between chanting "Let's go Eddie" and "Jer-i-cho". There was a huge pop when Jericho locked in the Walls of Jericho, and an even bigger pop when Eddie managed to grab the ropes. Electric crowd.

Jericho busied himself arguing with the referee, which gave Kingston a chance to recover. Kingston came back with two suplexes, and then blitzed Jericho with a spinning back fist for a two count. Following that, Kingston attempted a Northern Lights Suplex but Jericho countered and managed to catch Kingston with a Codebreaker for another two count. That got huge "Eddie!" chants.

After landing a second Codebreaker, Jericho went for a Judas Effect. Kingston ducked, and hit Jericho with two spinning back fists. He then got a Stretch Plum submission hold -- essentially a neck wrench -- which made Jericho tap out.

After the match, Eddie extended his hand, which Jericho had promised to shake if Kingston could beat him. Jericho refused to shake Kingston's hand -- which means the feud is likely to continue. I'm happy with that. 

Rating: 4 stars. Great opener.

AEW Revolution's Buy-In preshow had three matches.

• Leyla Hirsch defeated Kris Statlander.
• Hook tapped out QT Marshall.
• House of Black defeated Death Triangle.