Well… here we are.
Sting’s career began in 1985, but we have reached his final match. He is a four-time Hall Of Fame inductee (WWE, TNA, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Professional Wrestling), and I would venture a guess that he will be inducted more before all is said and done.
This is one of the biggest pay-per-view events in AEW history, with one of the biggest gates the company has ever had, most of which came when there weren’t any matches officially made. Whether we’re watching on pay-per-view, or in the Greensboro Coliseum, we’re all here for one reason, and that reason is Sting.
People have asked me if I think he really will retire after this, and I think he will. For one, he’s going to be 65 years old in two weeks. We’re not talking about someone retiring in the late-30’s or early-40’s. He has nothing left to prove, and nothing left to do. It would also be difficult to top the way he has been used in AEW for the last three-plus years. Coming back from all this, in AEW or elsewhere, would cheapen things so much. I would be shocked if we ever saw Sting wrestle again after tonight.
Let’s not waste any more time. Revolution is here.
Christian Cage vs Daniel Garcia – AEW TNT Title Match
Our first Sting tribute of the show takes place during Garcia’s entrance. He was wearing a Sting leather jacket that was gifted to him by Westside Gunn, who is sitting in the front row like he does for numerous big events (for AEW and WWE) every year.
Christian is so good at being bad. It’s so easy to hate him. Let’s not forget that he’s also the reason that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin created the “What?” chants. Rat bastard.
This was a great “2024 Christian Cage” match. He’s obviously not in his physical prime, but he’s such a smart wrestler, and that great wrestling mind allows him to work within his means, so to speak. He knows what to do and when to do it, but more importantly, he knows what not to do.
We got a little bit of everything here. A lot of interference, as you would expect from a Christian Cage match. Matt Menard showed up to help, but he had the worst spray tan in the history of ever, and that’s all anyone could focus on. Nick Wayne botched his interference at the end, but it was still enough to give Christian the victory.
Good stuff here. Not a classic, but plenty good to get the crowd going, and a really good choice to start the show off right. 3.5 Stars
Eddie Kingston vs Bryan Danielson – Continental Crown Title Match
LOUD dueling “Let’s go, Eddie” and “Let’s go, Bryan” chants. This crowd is hyped.
Would it surprise you to know that this was a physical match? If so, you probably haven’t paid attention to anything. This was extra physical. Both men have no problem dishing out punishment, but they almost seem to enjoy being on the receiving end of punishment, as well. The story of Danielson not respecting Kingston is only adding to the physicality. Danielson is being extra stiff to “prove” that Kingston isn’t worthy of being respected. Kingston is being extra stiff to make Danielson respect him.
Nigel McGuinness is truly hilarious in his hated of Danielson. He’s outright cheering for Kingston on commentary, and cameras keep catching him standing up and clapping whenever Kingston kicks out of a pin or breaks free from a submission attempt.
So much fun here. They beat the shit out of each other. The crowd was taken for a ride, and they loved every minute of it. Eddie Kingston doesn’t seem to be for everyone, and if you’re not a fan of his, this won’t do anything to change your mind. For people like me, who love the guy and what he brings to the table, this was another entertaining fight. 4.25 Stars
After the match, due to a match stipulation, Danielson shook Kingston’s hand and raised his arm for the crowd before leaving the ring and letting Kingston soak up the fan adoration.
Chris Jericho vs Wardlow vs Magnus vs Lance Archer vs Brian Cage vs Dante Martin vs Powerhouse Hobbs vs Hook – All Star Scramble for a future shot at the AEW World Title
Brian Cage with a Sting tribute, as he has his face painted like Surfer Sting. Nice.
Jericho received a bit of a mixed reaction for his entrance, and the crowd wasn’t really singing along to “Judas” that much… until the chorus, which was sung loudly and proudly. I beg of you, AEW fans… please make your minds up on whether or not you hate Jericho.
Almost immediately, the four “meat” competitors cleared the ring so that they can square off. That lasted for a few minutes, while the other four men just… died? I guess?
Nope. The other four are back, and now they’ve cleared the ring so they can battle each other while the big guys are… dead? I guess? This is very weirdly laid out so far.
Dante Martin is having a rough match. He nearly botched a dive over the top rope, almost planting himself on the ring apron. Then, mere seconds later, he jumps to the top rope and has to jump back down because his feet weren’t steady.
This match has been insane. The problem is… I’m not sure if it’s a good insane or a bad insane. There is almost always fast-paced action going on, but it is also turning into “eight guys performing as many spots as they can.” Throw in a bunch of awkwardly timed spots, and you have a hectic mess.
The match wasn’t bad. It was merely hectic, and perhaps too hectic. It also didn’t need to be on pay-per-view. The card was crowded to begin with. This only made it worse. Another strike against it was that everyone and their mothers knew Wardlow was going to win. He was pretty much the only one that had any focus and time dedicated to them on television. If AEW really wanted Wardlow to be the next World Title contender, there were easier ways to make it happen. 2.75 Stars
Orange Cassidy vs Roderick Strong – AEW International Title Match
Even before the match begins, I have to say that Orange Cassidy is underpaid. Whatever AEW is paying him, it isn’t enough. He is being asked to do so much, and has become such a workhorse. His body has to be pissed off at him by this point.
Remember what I literally just typed? If Orange Cassidy’s body wasn’t pissed off before, it is now. “The Messiah Of The Backbreaker,” Roderick Strong, has hit approximately 193 backbreakers in the match so far, and that’s not including the tilt-a-whirl gutwrench from the middle rope that had Cassidy land on the top rope and the turnbuckle.
In what was bordering on being an extended squash match, we have a new International Champion. It was well done, but it was really one-sided at times. Cassidy was hurt coming in, and Roddy put him through hell here. 3.25 Stars
After the match, Kyle O’Reilly made his return to AEW after a neck injury has kept him on the shelf since August 2022. The emotion on his face was visible immediately. He embraced Roddy, but he politely declined an Undisputed Kingdom t-shirt, placing it Roddy’s shoulder before he walked out of the ring. That was weird, but it was good to see KOR back after a serious neck injury that had people wondering if he’d ever be able to come back.
FTR vs Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli
Mox and Claudio decided to pay tribute tonight, but not to Sting. Instead, they came to the ring wearing Road Warriors-style spiked shoulder pads.
LOUD dueling “BCC” and “FTR” chants. Once again, this crowd is hyped, and they’re really helping the show out. I can’t even imagine what they’re going to be like for Sting later.
With these four men in the match, it’s another bout that you expect to be extra physical. They’re all laying in their strikes in the early moments. Slaps, punches, European uppercuts, and everything in between.
Hey, another tribute! This time, it’s Dax Harwood paying tribute to the heyday of pro wrestling in Greensboro by bleeding buckets. He appears to be split open somewhere on his forehead, and the blood is running down his eyes, cheeks, and into his mouth.
This was such a good, old school tag match. In the end, Dax’s blood loss was too much to overcome, and he gets choked out to give BCC the win. I loved every bit of this. Like I said, it had a real old school feel to it, and it was like watching Mid-Atlantic and NWA wrestling from the Carolinas back in the day. 4.25 Stars
“Timeless” Toni Storm vs Deonna Purrazzo – AEW Women’s Title Match
As good as Toni’s character work has been, here’s hoping that it gets toned down during the match itself. The character focus has nearly ruined multiple matches of hers in this title reign. Toni can “go” in the ring, and that should be the focus during the matches, not trying to cram in as many haha gags as you can.
Oh, hey, yet another tribute! Mariah May came out dressed up as the old Toni Storm, in the ring gear, jacket, and even the backwards baseball cap. She was a dead ringer for Toni, too.
This is the quietest that the crowd has been all night, but they’re still making a decent amount of noise.
Interference from Luther and Mariah May caused Referee Girl Hebner to miss Toni tapping out. Seconds later, the champion retains the title. Okay then. A flat ending to a decent match. It wasn’t anything special, and it didn’t come close to matching the build. 3 Stars, and that might be too nice.
Will Ospreay vs Konosuke Takeshita
*excited noises*
I’m a big fan of matches that have never happened before. These two shared the ring in a six-man tag at WrestleDream last October, but they were tag partners in that one.
While it isn’t as bad as Matt Menard’s from earlier, Will Ospreay has an awful spray tan tonight. His chest, stomach, and back are 57 shades of yellowish-orange. The man’s armpits are almost glowing neon. His palms are yellow. Jesus.
What a fucking match. Good God almighty. I couldn’t even type anything for the majority of it. That was as physical a match as you’re going to see in AEW or WWE. Tons of reversals and counters. Lots of believable near falls. It was a masterpiece on so many levels. 5 Stars. Easily. Ospreay gets the win, as expected, but please don’t sell Takeshita short. He worked his ass off here, as he always does.
Please go out of your way to watch this match.
Samoa Joe vs Swerve Strickland vs “Hangman” Adam Page – Three Way Match for the AEW World Title
At multiple points, this match was referred to as tonight’s main event, so I’m very happy that it isn’t going on last. It would’ve been a HUGE mistake if AEW didn’t have Sting’s final match in the main event spot. Without Sting, this show would’ve been taking place in another city, in front of maybe… maybe… four or five thousand people. With Sting, we’re at over 16,000 tickets sold. That’s what the fans are here for.
Page continues the night of terrible spray tan jobs. He looks like he had his front sprayed and completely forgot to have his back sprayed. You can see the line running down his ribs where his skin goes from yellow to whatever shade of peach that he normally is. I am BEGGING pro wrestlers to lay off of the spray tan. Either find a way to tan naturally or be proud of pastiness. It has worked for Sheamus, and it will work for you.
So far, this match has been laid out in an expected way, but it makes a lot of sense. Swerve and Hangman have both had opportunities to go for a pin on Joe, but instead, they’re so focused on their hatred of each other that they decide to deliver more punishment on each other instead.
The obsession that Hangman has with Swerve is playing out beautifully here. Page was broken up two pin attempts by Swerve on Joe, and Hangman has taken Paul Turner and Bryce Remsburg out, beating both Referees up.
The World Champion retains his title after taking advantage of Swerve and Page, sneaking in to make Hangman tap out. Swerve was mere inches away from being able to break the hold, but he was too late. On commentary, Excalibur asks if Hangman tapped out because of the pain of the submission, or if he tapped out simply to make sure Swerve didn’t win the World Title. Lots to enjoy here. 4 Stars. All three men got their chances to shine. Joe looks like a genius. Swerve and Hangman look like they’re going to need to finish their issues. Works for me.
Sting & Darby Allin vs The Young Bucks – Tornado Tag Match for the AEW Tag Team Titles
Here. We. Go.
Before the match, Ric Flair makes his entrance, and then we’re all surprised with the announcement that Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat is the guest timekeeper for the match. That’s awesome. Nikita Koloff, Magnum TA, and Scotty Riggs are shown in the front row. The stars are out, and so is Scotty Riggs.
I am so, so happy that Jim Ross was able to recover quickly enough to make it to Greensboro for this. JR was there for the start of Sting’s rise to stardom, calling Sting’s match against Ric Flair at the first Clash Of The Champions with Tony Schiavone. That happened in this very building. Having JR and Schiavone on commentary for this is a perfect touch. I don’t think Excalibur should’ve been on the call for this, but I can’t get everything I want.
After Darby’s entrance, we get a lengthy video package of Sting sitting alone in a theater and watching an ode to his career. Still shots from Pro Wrestling Illustrated, mixed with footage of his time in Japan and his time with AEW, followed by an emotional Sting looking at the camera and saying that this is showtime for the last time. I’m not afraid to admit that the video package got me emotional. Those emotions only continued as Sting’s sons were a part of his entrance, one dressed up as “Surfer” Sting and the other as “nWo Wolfpac” Sting. Then, the man himself came out to Metallica’s “Seek & Destroy.” Beautifully done, all around.
Early on, Sting and Darby introduce panes of glass, pulled out from beneath the ring. They’re not fucking around tonight.
Sting gets suplexed off the stage, crashing through two tables on the floor below! This dude is insane. It leads to a LOUD “fuck the Young Bucks” chant.
Darby climbs to the top of a ladder in the ring, but instead of landing a Swanton to the outside on a Buck, they move out of the way and Darby EXPLODES the panel of glass, which was placed between six chairs. It was real glass, too, because Darby’s entire back and his arms are bleeding profusely. Fucking hell.
Sting is playing the fucking hits tonight, folks. He is almost superhuman in the punishment he’s able to take and keep kicking out of, just like he used to do.
A Coffin Drop from Darby and a Scorpion Death Lock from Sting is enough to have the champions retain their titles. What a match. Not a whole lot of technical prowess, but it was a spectacle. Sting said it was a showtime, and a show is exactly what we got. The argument on whether or not Sting should’ve lost in his last match is something that can be done on another day. For now, that was a great way to go out. 4.25 Stars
After the match, Sting cuts a promo thanking the fans and everyone involved. The cameras cut to several people in the crowd with tears in their eyes. The pay-per-view runs out of time and goes off the air in the middle of a Sting sentence because Tony Khan is a fucking moron who overbooked yet another show, not even giving time to Sting’s farewell speech. Khan, you absolute dipshit, you could’ve cut at least one or two matches from the show. We didn’t need that stupid ass Scramble Match, but you couldn’t fucking help yourself, and now, this is what you get.
Overall, this might go down as one of the best pay-per-views in AEW history. Clearly, it should’ve been a match shorter, but there was a lot of enjoyable action tonight, and a retirement that will be remembered forever. Revolution featured a little bit of something for everyone, no matter what type of fan you are. It’s worth checking out, if you haven’t already done so.
Thank you, Sting.