AEW Revolution 2021 Predictions

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we give our predictions for AEW Revolution 2021. (Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling)

Which match are you most looking forward to at AEW Revolution 2021?

David Gibb: Team Taz vs. Darby Allin and Sting. It’s honestly the only match on the card I care about even a little bit, and I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

Juan Bautista: The barbed wire deathmatch. This PPV offers a lot of diversity and it will be a big night.

John Corrigan: I’ve never watched an exploding deathmatch before, so I’m intrigued.

Neal Wagner: It has to be the Street Fight. Sting was my all-time favorite growing up and I was so disappointed in how he was used in WWE. This storyline has been very repetitive, but it has finally grown some legs with more physicality. It’ll be a good cinematic match overall.

Steven Jackson: Omega and Moxley. Simply because I’m intrigued and excited for the spectacle that we may see!

Chad Gelfand: Definitely the exploding barbed wire death match. Jon Moxely and Kenny Omega are not in the business of false advertising. This is going to be one of the most brutal matches we’ve seen in North America in years. Moxely loses and takes some time off, but it will be a memorable match.

Jack Goodwillie: We’ve actually got a pretty big card in store for us this Sunday, but without question, I’m most looking forward to the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch. Tony Khan’s booking can, at times, make you feel like you’re following an e-fed. No stipulation is off-limits, and midcard title eliminators are plentiful on these AEW shows. That said, there’s a bit of genius to making this hardcore rematch between Moxley and Omega. Many people panned their unsanctioned match at Full Gear 2019, but I was not one of those people. Everything that happens – and is going to happen – in the ring is up to the discretion of the performers, and if Moxley and Omega are comfortable doing an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch, then so be it. As someone who doesn’t binge deathmatch wrestling on the reg, they’ve got my interest.

How do you feel about Sting wrestling?

Gibb: If he’s excited for the match and his spine specialist can sleep at night thinking about it, I’m pumped. Sting’s face was always painted. His body was covered for most of the second half of his career. He doesn’t need to be an amazing athletic wrestler with perfect timing to be Sting; he just needs to fire up and kick a little ass, and I’m confident in his ability to do both based on what we’ve seen on Dynamite.

Bautista: He’s in good shape and wants to wrestle. Meanwhile, WWE is still a place where you get your pay and then rest on your laurels.

Corrigan: I would have saved the physicality until AEW Revolution 2021 because that’s where the intrigue was. But now that we’ve seen him take a bump and hit some Stinger Splashes, then by all means, have fun!

Wagner: If he has passed all physicals on AEW’s end, and if he has the desire to wrestle, then let him do it. I don’t have an issue using stars of the past – it’s more when they are winning major titles that should be used on younger talent. If Sting and Darby win the Tag Team Titles, that’s fine. That only builds Darby up. But Sting should not be winning the TNT or World Title at any time.

Jackson: I’m okay about it, but it is time for Sting to call it a day. He’s not getting any younger, and I’d hate for him to get terribly injured. For this match at AEW Revolution 2021, I hope he allows Darby to do a lot of the work, but we’ll see.

Gelfand: I’m unsure about how I feel about Sting wrestling. On one hand, he must have gotten medical clearance to take bumps again. On the other hand, he’s a 61 year old man who suffered a serious neck injury a few years ago. So, I just hope he wrestles smart and limits the bumps.

Goodwillie: Not great. Number one, this is Sting. He’s 61 years old and has nothing to prove. Had he retired back when WCW folded, I would still say he has nothing to prove, although I’d be disappointed to not get an eventual match with him and The Undertaker. He then went on to have a distinguished decade-long run in TNA. He THEN went on to have a brief run in WWE that was cut short by a Seth Rollins buckle bomb. I don’t know if it’s a question of Sting needing the money. He strikes me as someone who is pretty self-aware of his accomplishments and just flat out loves to work. I don’t think he should be taking powerbombs from Brian Cage of all people. It seems a little ill-advised. That said, he adds a ton of credibility to whatever wrestling show he’s on.

What do you think of the women’s tournament so far?

Gibb: AEW would’ve been better off waiting until conditions allowed for the Japanese participants to come to the U.S. There hasn’t been enough info/context/effort to get the talent over for the Japanese side of the bracket, and the American side just feels like more matches between women we’ve already seen wrestle each other over the last year.

Bautista: It’s been a good tournament despite most of it being pushed on YouTube.

Corrigan: It was a waste of time. I don’t even know the woman who won the tournament and her challenging the champion could have easily been made without a tourney at all. This was a missed opportunity to establish Britt Baker or Thunder Rosa as next in line for the gold, or even elevate Tay Conti up the card.

Wagner: It’s been great. Sure, AEW could have used this to elevate another regular talent like Anna Jay or Britt Baker, but of course, the injury to Anna happened. In Britt’s case, I hope she gets the shot soon because she is really the only one left that hasn’t been dethroned by Shida.

Jackson: It has been really fun and different. Some great female wrestlers have been showcased and the concept has been unique, too.

Gelfand: AEW did a good job with the tournament, but I wish it included more of the matches on TV. As far as the actual quality of the tournament, it delivered.

Goodwillie: It’s been just okay. The concept sounded great in theory, but I haven’t really gone out of my way to watch any of the Japanese side of the bracket and probably won’t. The thinking behind the tournament lends itself to a sports-based product, but you need to take it only so far. This is pro wrestling, after all, not Wimbledon. And not to go off on a tangent, but I saw a graphic breaking down match statistics between Riho and Thunder Rosa down to knockdowns, grapples and fouls. This kind of stuff is superfluous, and reminds me of one of my favorite acronyms, KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Think about that the next time you blast “Strutter” with your windows down.

As far as the booking, I wasn’t too jazzed about the final and the tournament as a whole was a missed opportunity. It felt extraordinarily rushed. When you’re putting on a tournament, namely one that’s going to name a top contender as opposed to a champion, it all boils down to making the challenger seem like a credible threat to the champion while giving the audience a reason to care. It’s very, very, very hard to do that when you crown the tournament winner on a Wednesday, then turn them around to challenge for the belt on the ensuing Sunday, all of this after the SEMIFINALS took place on Monday. What you’re doing is cramming the three most important components of a King of the Ring-style tournament into SIX DAYS.

On top of that, Ryo Mizunami, a good wrestler but someone who has zero notoriety with casual American fans, went over. She will be facing the current champion who has neither notoriety nor heat herself! And pay no mind to the Twitter community, which will tell you how great Shida is. She’s had some solid matches, don’t get me wrong, but she is not a needle mover and that is the type of woman AEW needs as its champion right now. I was originally going to use this space to rant about how I think it’s dangerous to have Thunder Rosa lose in the semi-finals and how I’d lament the idea of her getting lost in the shuffle, but this tournament, and the AEW Women’s Division, has much bigger problems. All of this prompts me to ask Tony Khan, Kenny Omega or whoever is actually booking the women’s division: What is the point?

Does AEW do too many multi-man matches for title shots?

Gibb: It’s impolite to ask questions you already know the answer to.

Bautista: Yes. It’s ok to do it once in a while, but AEW should do a gold rush tournament or just have the No. 5 ranked wrestlers challenge the No. 1 ranked to determine the next contender.

Corrigan: Absolutely, and “Face of the Revolution” sounds like a WWEism.

Wagner: Yes, but it adds another element to AEW Revolution 2021. They all have been great matches and I like having No. 1 contender matches on the PPVs because then at the end of the show, you know who is next in line. Maybe AEW can get more creative with the matches. Why can’t Pentagon just face Scorpio Sky and the winner is next in line for Darby?

Jackson: I don’t think so. But AEW does have a tendency to book too many multi-man matches across the board.

Gelfand: The tag team division definitely falls victim to this and then you end up having just giant cluster matches with 12 people randomly hitting moves. A tournament would be a benefit to the tag division at this point, especially with the addition of so many teams during the pandemic.

Goodwillie: Hah. See my first answer. Yeah, and the reason I compared Tony Khan’s booking to that of an e-fed is that when you’re running an internet community that doubles as a role-playing, text-based wrestling federation, you want to give everybody in the fed something to strive for, and the best way to do that is to dangle title shots in multi-man matches to see who stands out. Tony probably knows this himself. Granted, it’s preferable to WWE cramming everybody onto a WrestleMania card so they don’t get their feelings hurt, but not every match needs stakes. Cody having to be in a ladder match to determine a future title challenger for the TNT Championship is more just a product of AEW’s failure to give him anything meaningful to do, and since he most likely books his own storylines, the onus probably falls on him trying to make people care about him fighting Shaquille O’Neal vs. working an actual program.

Who’s 2021 first-quarter earnings would you wrestle for?

Gibb: Omega is champion, and I doubt he’s picking up extra dates on other people’s TV for free.

Bautista: I’ll wrestle for AEW to get those Q1 earnings because of the merch and actual live crowds.

Corrigan: I’ll take Wardlow’s finish to be included in Tony Khan’s will. I’ll also (cheap plug) put my hair on the line just to see Joey Ace lose the ECWA Heavyweight Championship.

Wagner: Do the EVPs count? I’ll get my ass kicked, but I’m willing to try for their money.

Jackson: AEW. I’m not going to work for WWE any time soon.

Gelfand: I’ve seen Matt Hardy’s insane room with hundreds of his action figures and merch, so the Hardy check is probably substantially heavier than the Page check at this point.

Goodwillie: Nick Khan.

Who wins at AEW Revolution 2021: Young Bucks or Chris Jericho and MJF?

Gibb: Bucks. They just did the Tag Team Champions whose relationship is falling apart.

Bautista: I would say The Young Bucks, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they lose and tease a breakup.

Corrigan: The Young Bucks retain after Papa Buck breaks a guitar over Jericho’s head.

Wagner: I’m predicting a Young Bucks win by one of two ways. Either Sammy Guevara returns to screw Jericho and MJF or MJF screws Jericho and takes full control of Inner Circle by night’s end.

Jackson: Chris Jericho and MJF. Let MJF finally win a championship and show the world how good he is when he has some gold around his waist, as well as the scarf around his neck!

Gelfand: Young Bucks. It’s too early to take the titles off the Young Bucks and Chris Jericho and MJF’s story seems like it will be advanced more with a loss, perhaps due to interference by Sammy Guevara.

Goodwillie: The Young Bucks should probably win here, but in keeping with the theme, more weird booking clouds what this match could be. It was only two weeks ago when we found out Jericho and MJF would be facing The Young Bucks at AEW Revolution 2021. Now they’re playing seek and destroy with The Young Bucks’ John Cusack-lookalike father? Or does he look more like Steven Segal…Unless there’s a swerve coming here, the babyface team gets retribution (which is now a dirty word) 99 times out of 100. Since there will be a big swerve in the Big Money Match, give me TYB here clean.