AEW Revolution 2020 

​Two days ago I saw news that Kris Statlander may have the flu and therefore is questionable for tonight's PPV event. So we will have to wait and see what happens as far as the Women's Title Match tonight. click here 

PAC vs Orange Cassidy 
I'm going to keep this short and to the point even if Orange can go in the ring unless this is going to lead to PAC going absolutely nuts then there is no contest who needs the win here. Cassidy is an unproven in ring competitor on this level and needs to compete more before he is on PAC's level. PAC wins tonight there is no other way to go with it without risking PAC's credibility in the main event. 

Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara
In what could be one of the more underrated matches of the night two future stars get there chance to shine on PPV tonight. Solid premise to the feud and I'v enjoyed the build-up since Darby returned as it's made the feud unique. Tonight though Darby needs the victory to get some measure of revenge against Sammy even if it is the start of something bigger. Darby still needs the victory to have some positive momentum. 

Dustin Rhodes vs Jake Hager 
It was great booking heading into this match that Dustin has been winning, because it makes him all the more credible and ready to take a loss tonight. I will keep this very short it will be a solid match, but Jake Hager will win the match no doubt about that. 

AEW Tag Team Championship Match: 
(c) Kenny Omega & Hangman Page vs Young Bucks 
On a normal show this would be a match of the night contender, but there is no way this match will overshadow the other matches that have been given top billing on the show tonight. It has been interesting development seeing Omega and Page win the titles and wondering how this will end up, and I think tonight will be the next wrinkle to the feud. I see Page & Omega winning, but Page will cheat to win as a way to continue the feud with the Bucks and raise questions of his standing in The Elite which will make things weird for Omega. Either way Page & Omega retain tonight setting up the bigger picture. 

Cody vs MJF w/ Wardlow 
Since November this has been one of the most talked about feuds in all of wrestling and with taking the booking into account since the start it's not hard to see exactly why that is the case. I've enjoyed some parts of the build up a little more then others, but either way this feud has brought the word intensity back to wrestling. In my opinion, tonight is the first battle in what could be a very long war between Cody & MJF. I think the winner of this match will directly effect who wins the main event and with that being said Cody gets the win. 

AEW World Championship Match: 
(c) Chris Jericho vs Jon Moxley 
Another highly anticipated match-up that has made this card one of the biggest shows in AEW history. For months Moxley has been doing one thing and that's causing havoc on Dynamite and after turning down the Inner Circle he became public enemy number one. The Inner Circle spiked Moxley in the eye partially blinding the number one contender and throwing an unexpected twist into the mix. Jericho has been champion since August of last year after he defeated Page at All Out to be crowned champion and at this point I'm sure some fans might think it's time for a switch. In my opinion, there is no need for a switch now and you can keep this feud going and make the switch in the future. Jericho will retain the World Championship tonight in a cheap manner to Moxley in the picture, but Jericho will keep his gold and the power. 

Our final stop before Revolution at the end of the month we will make a stop in Kansas City for one more episode of Dynamite. Again heading back to their home away from home in Chicago, IL once more they awll out in Chicago. This week on Dynamite we get a preview of a PPV quality match when Kenny Omega locks up one more time with Pac in an Ironman match which will be the first of it's kind in AEW. I for one think that having a match of this prestige on the go home show before the PPV might take away from Saturday's event, but this might be putting the writing on the wall and could make everything worth it in the long run. 

At this point what more can be said about Cody vs MJF other than the time for talking is finally over and let's get to the action. This Saturday will finally give us the in ring debut of Jake Hager who has been the muscle of the Inner Circle since he arrived in AEW. Last week it was announced that Darby Allen will collide with Sammy Guevara on Saturday as well. This will be Darby's attempt to gain revenge on Sammy for damaging his throat with Darby's skateboard months ago. Seeing Darby continue to sell his injury by not speaking is a nice touch and it is a long time coming that someone like Darby was given a chance to build his match and gain some more exposure for a still unproven commodity. Both Allen and Guevara are still proving themselves on a national level and will get their biggest chance thus far on Saturday at Revolution. ​

Now there is one last stop before we land in Chicago for Revolution at this point I would call Chicago the home away from home for AEW as they have played host to a number of major events in the short history of AEW so far. Since Full Gear last November one thing has been the talk of wrestling and that is the tense rivalry between MJF and Cody. For once these two have been feuding for months at this point and have yet to touch or compete against one another which is a rarity in wrestling these days. From the start MJF has played the douchey heel to perfection and Cody has worked his way up from the bottom after losing it all against Jericho thanks to MJF.

For the first time we had the chance to catch a glimpse of MJF's bodyguard Wardlow and from the small sample size we received I was impressed with the big man and he seems to have build-able potential. Following the show Cody opened up and why Atlanta has a special place in his heart other than it being in his hometown. I never saw Cody as a leader of a company, but over the last few years he has proven me wrong and showed just how much potential WWE truly did leave on the table.

As the first PPV event of the new year for AEW beckons on the horizon we have a few more stops to make on the way. On Wednesday we exit stage left to Atlanta, GA which will play host to All Elite Wrestling for the fist time. Last week we saw another title change as Riho suffered a rare loss in a big moment which saw Nyla Rose take the Women's Championship. In my opinion, Nyla should've won the title back in October instead of Riho this way the plucky underdog could've went on the chase, but that didn't happen. Now we can see if AEW can build the Women's division to the point where we could see a variety of credible challengers for the new Women's Champion. The Women's division has been a very weak point for AEW since the very beginning now that we are in the new year we can hope that more continuity and long term planning for a weak division. 

Shifting gears to a very strong suit for AEW recently and it is the build up of the feud between Cody and MJF. It is far to say at this point that this feud is one of the best built up rivalries in recent memory. The expectations keep rising for AEW as we draw closer to Revolution in two weeks and so far it seems like it could go either way, but I firmly believe we won't be disappointed. This week Wardlow will be making his highly anticipated debut against Cody in a Steel Cage and with Jeff Cobb's anticipated debut against Jon Moxley this promises to be a massive episode of Dynamite. The war rages on and NXT will need to pull out all the stops this week to attempt to keep pace. 

Things got a little bit more interesting this week on Dynamite when a major announcement came down that Chris Jericho had a bounty hunter. Drawing comparisons to Dr. Death Steve Williams is former 2004 Olympian Jeff Cobb. I honestly don't know a lot about Jeff Cobb other than his run in Ring of Honor and winning the Television Championship and team in New Japan with Michael Elgin. Cobb would have his first opportunity on a national level even though he was under a mask it was still his first shot on television. In 2016, Cobb would join Pro-Wrestling Guerrilla and saw his stock in wrestling rise much like it has for so many others once they arrive in PWG. 

In my opinion, Cobb was presented in his debut as a destroyer and the fact that he has joined the Inner Circle gives him immediate credibility in AEW and on a national level for the first time in his career. Think about this if they brought him in as Jericho's chosen bounty hunter it's not just going to be a match where Moxley can barrel over him next week. They need to make Cobb look like a million bucks or at least good enough to not lose credibility next week against Moxley. I applaud AEW for the continuity and Moxley continuing to play up his eye injury it's nice to see at least one wrestling care about the small stuff. Moxley vs Cobb promises to be a slug fest next week on Dynamite and will be a major final test for Jon ahead of Revolution on February 29 when he will finally meet Chris Jericho for the World Title. 

In all honesty it is hard to put into words what happened last week on Dynamite when MJF and Cody stood in that ring and told a simple story. The emotion and sympathy they were able to bring out of the fans and those watching last week was amazing it has been a long time since a segment took on that type of ride. Reality is WWE took me on a ride when Edge returned and Randy Orton proceeded to end that feel good story. Shifting gears Cody and MJF did exactly the same thing last week getting more emotion out of me then I thought they would especially when Brandi appeared for emotional support. The story of Cody and MJF will be the feud of the year or at least extremely hard to beat. 

Since the start of AEW last year there have been some people that have struggled to find their footing in All Elite and one of those men is Jimmy Havoc. In my opinion, they need to keep letting Havoc tease a return as oppose to just having him return to television unless they have a bigger idea planned for the British star. As far as the other matches I'm unsure of Riho vs Nyla Rose, because I guessed wrong the first time around and would think it's time for a change, but is AEW ready for another title switch with the PPV right around the corner. 

This past week on Dynamite is seeing MJF give Cody his 10 lashes which was a stipulation that MJF put in the way of Cody as a way for Cody to get his match with his former protege. In twenty years of watching wrestling I've only seen ​this type of segment once when The Sandman cained Tommy Dreamer 10x's which gave birth to Tommy becoming the ECW Legend he was destined to be. Seeing Cody in the ring getting stuck by the belt he made you feel bad for him. 

In my opinion, the only reason why this segment worked is because of who was a part of it and not the type of segment it was. Prior to this segment most if not everyone who watches AEW hates MJF, because it is very difficult not to and we love Cody as he is willing to give his heart and soul every time he's in the ring. Cody would get knocked down and you could see the pain on his face and hearing MJF run his mouth or tell him to stay down, but every time Cody would get back up made Cody's stock rise more and more and allowed him to earn both respect as well as sympathy from the audience. A weaker man wouldn't have taken those lashes, a weaker man wouldn't have been able to stop himself from punching MJF in the face, but in one segment Cody showed resolve, perseverance, and heart so much so that he will use those lashes as fuel for his match with Wardlow and MJF. 

I have both critiqued and criticized AEW's booking, for example I would've had Wardlow fight Cody on PPV and held off his match with MJF for later in the year. Either way the intensity level has risen again and this match promises to be a war. They showed us that even though this match could've happened later it needs to happen now otherwise the tension will boil over before long and they won't be able to wait until May at Double or Nothing. Cody vs MJF is needed for Revolution to move the feud to it's next phase and allow it to take a step forward.