Tonight at AEW Revolution, fans will get to witness a street fight between Darby Allin & Sting vs Team Taz’s Ricky Starks and Brian Cage. The match will not take place in front of the live crowd, however, as the cinematic match has already been taped.

SI.com’s Justin Barrasso confirmed recently that the match has been filmed ahead of time. Not only that, it evidently exceeded expectations.

“AEW Revolution note: The Team Taz-Darby Allin/Sting street fight was filmed ahead of time and is said to be a massive success,” Barrasso Tweeted.

“The match highlights Sting while ensuring he worked in as safe of an environment as possible; allowed Ricky Starks and Brian Cage to have some star-making moments; and gave Darby Allin – who had a chance to apply his film school background – more chances to be a daredevil,” he added.

“In this case, there is no denying that WWE’s loss is AEW’s gain. The failure to use the legendary Sting in a similar role, especially after proving in 2014 and ‘15 that he was still a legitimate attraction, is a considerable blunder for Vince McMahon,” Barrasso concluded.

This will be Sting’s first match since Night of Champions 2015. He was defeated by Seth Rollins on that night.

All Elite Wrestling filed a very interesting trademark on March 3rd, 2021. The company filed to trademark the term “Captain Insano” which just so happens to be the name of the character Paul Wight played in the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy film, “The Waterboy.”

AEW has listed video games, clothing, toys, and “Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer” as to the nature of the filing.

There is also a children’s author named Christopher Williamson who has the term trademarked for a series of kid’s books. Website HeelByNature was the first to report on these trademark filings with the US Patent and Trademark office.

The 49-year-old Wight has numerous IMDB credits to his name, including as Captain Insano. Before appearing in the Waterboy, Wight performed in 96’s Jingle All The Way. He also had a role in 2010’s MacGruber. He starred in 2010’s poorly-reviewed film, Knucklehead.

The first television role Wight ever had was in 1994’s “Thunder in Paradise” starring Hulk Hogan. His role went uncredited but it led to him signing with WCW the following year. His latest role was as the star of Netflix’s “Big Show Show.” The series ran for 6 episodes before ultimately being canceled.

AEW will be presenting their Revolution PPV tonight from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. Several talents have been rumored for appearances on the show; with the ladder match spot and ‘hall of fame worthy’ talent still to be revealed by the company.

A few different performers in pro wrestling have continued to tease that they’re heading to All Elite Wrestling tonight. NXT and NFL star Pat McAfee and former WWE, ECW and TNA star Bully Ray are among these names.

Bully Ray recently posted an old Dudley Boys ECW promo where he references the phrase ‘revolution.’

“Tonight, from men to heroes” Bully said during the original promo. “From heroes to legends and from legends to gods. The gods become immortal and the revolution continues.”

Bully Ray and Pat McAfee

Pat McAfee also used Twitter to tease an appearance tonight. The one time NXT Superstar posted a video of him packing his wrestling gear, seemingly preparing for a match.

McAfee and AEW star Miro have been going back on forth on social media recently; so there’s potentially a chance that the former NFL kicker might appear in All Elite.

Do you think that Pat McAfee or Bully Ray might appear at AEW Revolution tonight? Let us know in the comments

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle has seemingly trolled fans when it comes to the rumor of his AEW signing. The Olympic Gold Medallist posted a video yesterday to Twitter; showing the pro wrestling great tying up his boots and getting his gear ready for an in-ring return.

The video finished with the words ‘to be continued.’

This lead fans to believe that the former WWE and TNA Superstar was the rumored new AEW signee appearing tonight.

Kurt Angle posted a further video today. The video showed most of the same footage but ended with Angle appearing in a Kurt Angle Podcast t-shirt. It appears as though Angle was aware of the AEW rumors and decided to help promote his new AdFreeShows podcast.

There are however still rumblings of Kurt Angle being the rumored ‘hall of fame level’ talent that is going to be revealed tonight.

AEW President Tony Khan recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. Khan discussed a number of topics on the show ahead of tonight’s AEW Revolution PPV, including the aforementioned surprise talent that will be signing with AEW on Sunday.

“It’s one of my all-time favorite wrestlers” Tony Khan stated on the show. “I’m very excited about [it]. I’ll say one thing, it’s one of my all-time favorite wrestlers. I tipped this on Unrestricted, I tipped the gender — it’s a male. He’s coming.”

Do you think that Kurt Angle will appear on tonight’s AEW Revolution PPV? Let us know in the comments

Terry Funk is one of a small selection of wrestlers ever to compete in an exploding barbed-wire death match. Funk wrestled the match type’s pioneer, Atsushi Onita, in May of 1993 in such a match for FMW. He also faced Cactus Jack in a very similar No Rope, Barbed Wire, Explosive Barbed Wire Board, Time Bomb Death Match in 1995.

The 76-year-old recently spoke to SI.com and offered some advice for Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley who will take part in the match tonight. “It’s the roughest style match I’ve ever been in,” said Funk. “I put a lot into those matches. I put in 100%, and I came out with a lot of damage to my body.”

“If you want to make this match work, you need to give the people their money’s worth. That’s the bottom line, that’s the most important thing. You need to do whatever you can to accomplish that. Physically, that can sometimes be a rugged game to play.”

Funk says the two won’t be worried about storytelling during the match, however. The only story is that both guys will be trying to win the fight.

“You’re not trying to tell a story, you’re trying to win a g—— match,” said Funk. “That’s the whole point. Win the match, win the fight.”

Funk concluded by saying that if Moxley and Omega give the fans their money’s worth, the match will live on in history just like his match against Onita has.

“This is a tough match. It was for me at least, as tough as it could possibly be. It’s up to them how they treat it. This match, their job is to go ahead and give the people their money’s worth. If they do that, their match will live on for a long time. These two guys, I think they’ll do it to the best of their ability.”

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neil made his in-ring debut for All Elite Wrestling this past week on AEW Dynamite.

Shaq and Jade Cargill scored a win over Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. Shaq’s involvement was considered a big success from virtually every angle. The match topped 1.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched AEW Dynamite match since 2019. He looked great in the ring and received rave reviews for his work ethic during training and his easygoing attitude behind the scenes.

During an appearance on Access, Shaq spoke with Mario Lopez and Kit Hoover about his AEW experience. His ‘ring gear’ was one of the topics they discussed.

Shaq’s AEW Ring Gear

Shaq he wore street clothes and basketball sneakers for the match. Cody Rhodes challenged him to a fight and that’s what he showed up for.

“Look, Cody challenged me to a fight, I’m showing up in fight clothes,” he said. “Sweatpants and a tank top. I respect him, I respect his family, I respect all the wrestlers, The Rock, what they’ve done. I don’t want to come in with a gimmicky costume. This man challenged me to a fight, I’m showing up like it’s going to be a fight. I’m just going sweatpants and a tank top.”

All Elite Wrestling presents AEW Revolution tonight on pay-per-view.

The card for tonight’s (Sunday, March 21, 2021) AEW Revolution event has been finalized.

The company has officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place as the show will be headlined by AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley. 

This show marks the first PPV of 2021 for the promotion, which features a stacked lineup. There are a total of nine matches booked for this show with three of them being championship matches.

As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special later tonight. Here’s the final card:

AEW Revolution: Card

AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley – Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch

Sting and Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage and Ricky Starks – Street Fight

AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. MJF and Chris Jericho 

Matt Hardy vs. Adam Page – the winner receives the loser’s first-quarter 2021 earnings

AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Title Eliminator Tournament winner Ryo Mizunami

Cody Rhodes vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Lance Archer vs. Max Caster vs. TBA – Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match (winner gets shot at Darby Allin’s TNT Title)

Casino Tag Team Royale for a future Tag Team Title Shot: Bear Country, Alex Reynolds/John Silver, Evil Uno/Stu Grayson, Santana/Ortiz, The Butcher/The Blade, Private Party, Top Flight, PAC/Rey Fenix, 5 and 10, The Pretty Picture, Matt & Mike Sydal, Jurassic Express, Varsity Blonds, Natural Nightmares, SCU, and Gunn Club

Miro & Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor

Paul Wight to reveal AEW’s big talent signing

Riho & Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker & Rebel – Pre-Show

Shaquille O’Neal and Jade Cargill defeated Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet on Dynamite this week. During the match, Shaq body slammed several people, gave Cody Rhodes a power-bomb (with a Brodie Lee tribute), and eventually was put through two tables.

Shaq’s preparations for the match were recently addressed by Bryan Alvarez on Figure Four Daily.

“I talked to several people and what I’ve gathered is that Shaq has been training for awhile,” Alvarez said on the show. He’d continue to say he’s not sure exactly how long Shaq had been preparing, however.

“I know there were rumors that he had been secretly training since the summer, I don’t know if it’s been that long,” Alvarez continued.

Shaq is believed to have trained with QT Marshall at his gym. Alvarez would continue to say that everyone was really pleased with his attitude as well.

“I believe he was training with QT Marshall. I did hear from multiple people that it was everything that we heard about Pat McAfee. Despite what you may have seen on the videos, where he appeared to be very lazy and half-caring, this guy took it very seriously. He worked his ass off, he was nice to everybody, he was polite and humble, everything you heard about McAfee.”

Alvarez did say that one person told him that Shaq only showed up 2-hours before showtime, however.

“I was so impressed with Shaq,” Alvarez continued. “I don’t want him to be a regular but I wish he was signed and every 6-months he’d be Andre.”

AEW has had “Lights Out” matches, Parking Lot Brawls, and various other forms of hardcore matches. This Sunday at Revolution, Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley will wrestle in arguably the most hardcore match type ever invented. The two will face off in an Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match.

In a recent interview with NY Post, Kenny Omega spoke about why AEW does not shy away from hardcore match types.

“I still very much look at pro wrestling as an art form. I still like to consider myself the utmost professional. People like to dumb down matches with a violent stipulation. They kind of like just defer to those as garbage wrestling or that maybe we lack a certain area of expertise or talent, which is why we’re going there,” Omega said. “For me, it’s the complete opposite. I want to be considered as one of the best well-around athletes in professional wrestling. And I want to test myself in all avenues this sport has to offer.”

Omega also said he needs to test himself in this style of match against another wrestler who has a knack for hardcore bouts.

“For me to do that and do that effectively, I have to have some kind of experience in these types of situations. I want to test myself with the type of wrestler who specializes in this type of stuff. And sure, I don’t think Moxley has had an exploding barbed wire deathmatch, but it’s not something out of his wheelhouse to do something very hardcore.”

“I do believe the stars will align and something special will emerge from this,” Omega continued.

The Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match was made famous by Atsushi Onita. He competed against names like Terry Funk and Mr. Pogo in the match type.

Omega also recently revealed the official rules for the match:

The women’s division in AEW feels like it has taken a few significant strides as of late. The women’s title-eliminator tournament featured some great matches and both Jade Cargill and Red Velvet put on a stellar show in the night’s opening contest at AEW Dynamite: The Crossroads.

AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida was recently interviewed by SI.com. During the discussion, Shida said that she knows the women’s division in AEW has the power to “carry the show.”

“We’re proving our division has the power to carry the show,” Shida says. “That drives me. And I always had a dream to work internationally since I was a child, so, I am living my dream right now.”

When AEW first began, there was talk of the promotion really emphasizing Joshi-style wrestling in its women’s division. This was hampered by the onset of the pandemic, however, and the reduced ability to bring in talent from Japan. Shida helped organize the recent AEW Women’s Title-Eliminator tournament bracket in Japan and spoke about that experience with SI.com as well.

“I’ve always felt that Japanese joshi are the best in the world,” Shida continued. “So introducing them to everyone is very meaningful for me. It’s kind of a way to brag about my home. I also want Japanese wrestlers to know they can reach the top of the world if they work hard. It’s not a fantasy. This is one of the biggest things I have done as champion, and I’m proud of it.”

Shida continued to say that main event’ing a PPV or Dynamite are her goals.

“The main event for a pay-per-view and Dynamite are always my goals. I’ll continue working hard for it until it comes true,” she said.

Former WCW President and co-host of the 83 Weeks podcast Eric Bischoff recently spoke to the It’s Our House Podcast. Easy E discussed a number of topics, including which current performers he sees that could possibly ‘transcend’ the pro wrestling business.

“You guys put me on the spot here, I’m gonna give you an answer” Eric Bischoff began. “But just know that there’s a lot of people that I hold in such high regard and have so much respect for and I think are so valuable as performers and human beings. I’m gonna offend those people, I apologise.”

“If I was in Las Vegas and I had one $100 bill, and I was forced to place a bet on one person – I put it on Cody Rhodes” Bischoff continued. “Okay. I think when you talk about somebody who has the potential to transcend the business, that means to become a bigger star, or at least a star outside of the wrestling business as inside of the wrestling business.”

Eric Bischoff finished by comparing the AEW EVP Cody Rhodes to one of WWE’s biggest ever talents, John Cena. “That’s how John Cena became a big star” Bischoff stated. “Everywhere you looked, including WWE, but outside of WWE, you would see John Cena. He became that. WWE was preaching outside of the choir. And they connected with people that they weren’t connected with just on the wrestling show by using John Cena because he had that potential and ability to transcend the business in that regard. I think Cody Rhodes has the same potential.”

The last match of Kurt Angle’s professional wrestling career took place on April 7th, 2019. He lost to Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35. In recent days, however, there have been rumors circulating that Angle could be the “Hall of Fame” worthy signing teased for AEW Revolution.

Angle recently Tweeted out a video that can be taken as a tease for his in-ring return. The video features him lacing up his boots and putting on his ring gear. It closes with the caption “To Be Continued.”

Kurt Angle was released from his contract with WWE on April 15th, 2020 along with several other performers.

Is Kurt Angle The New AEW Signing?

Tony Khan recently dropped some more hints on who the new signing is.

“It’s one of my all-time favorite wrestlers” Tony Khan stated on Busted Open. “I’m very excited about [it]. I’ll say one thing, it’s one of my all-time favorite wrestlers. I tipped this on Unrestricted, I tipped the gender — it’s a male.”

“He’s going to do great things for us” Khan continued. “He’s committed, he’s going to sign a contract on Sunday at Revolution on PPV.”

AEW President Tony Khan recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. Khan discussed a number of topics on the show ahead of this Sunday’s AEW Revolution PPV, including the ‘surprise Hall of Fame worthy talent’ that will be signing with AEW on Sunday.

“It’s one of my all-time favorite wrestlers” Tony Khan stated on the show. “I’m very excited about [it]. I’ll say one thing, it’s one of my all-time favorite wrestlers. I tipped this on Unrestricted, I tipped the gender — it’s a male. He’s coming.”

“He’s going to do great things for us” Khan continued. “He’s committed, he’s going to sign a contract on Sunday at Revolution on PPV.”

There of course have been rumors flying from all corners online. Two names that have been mentioned on multiple occasions are Kurt Angle and CM Punk. The Straight Edge former WWE Superstar Punk confirmed recently via Twitter that he was not the star showing up on Sunday.

Another name that has been mentioned is Christian, as he is believed to have not signed with WWE following his appearance at the Royal Rumble back in January.

Who do you think is showing up on Sunday? Christian, CM Punk, Kurt Angle or someone else? Let us know in the comments

Batista was asked on Twitter by a fan if he was the “Hall of Fame talent” that Paul Wight aka Big Show teased will get hired at AEW Revolution. The fan also highlighted the fact that Wight erroneously called the event “Evolution” and wondered if it really was just an error or a reference to the faction Batista was part of in WWE. He has stated that his decision to leave wrestling was permanent and that he has no intentions of coming back to wrestling. Batista quipped in response to the question how the word “retirement” has no meaning in pro wrestling as supposedly “retired” wrestlers come back for a match all the time.

Writing on Twitter, Batista said, “They’re going to have to come up with another word thats (sic) used specifically for professional wrestlers who actually mean it when they say they’re retired. Currently the word “retired” has zero credibility by professional wrestling standards.”

Names such as Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley among other legends have all supposedly “retired” from in-ring action only to return later, with the exception of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who has stayed true to his word. Batista was poking fun at the fact that even though he has made clear he’s retired for good, he still gets asked questions about his return. And therefore, according to him, a new term needs to be invented to let fans know that a wrestler really is retired this time.

Batista officially retired after his No Holds Barred Match against Triple H at WrestleMania 35. “Thank you for letting me entertain you,” Bautista said on his retirement. “I love this business and whether you cheered me or jeered me, I’m grateful for being a small part of your life.

“I am officially retired from sports entertainment and I am grateful for every second of my amazing journey.”

Shaq appeared on AEW Dynamite this past Wednesday to finally have his first match teaming up with Jade Cargill against Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet, after several promos and hype. The tag team match showed the drawing power of the NBA legend as the match was able to bring in a massive amount of viewers with 1.3 million.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer revealed the numbers saying that the Shaq match rised to a viewership of 1.3 million viewers. He reported, “…the Shaq match peaked at 1.3 million viewers. Highest opposed number since 2019.”

Overall, the show drew in 934,000 viewers and achieved a 0.33 rating in the coveted 18-49 demographic. The number is down from last week, however. The match was hyped by Shaq on NBA before his in-ring debut. Also, the reason why the match took place on Dynamite and not on Revolution is because NBA is holding the All-Star Game on the same night as the PPV and Shaq will be covering the NBA game.

Read more: Shaq Wins AEW Debut Match, Goes Through Table

Shaq’s first appearance on Dynamite was back on the December 9, 2020 episode of Dynamite where he did an interview with Brandi Rhodes. The show did 995,000 viewers, with Shaq’s segment drawing 1.2 million viewers. The quarter featuring Shaq averaged 1,063,000 viewers and 618,000 viewers in 18-49 demographic.

Shaw has said in recent years that he wanted to wrestle Cody and he has achieved that. It is likely like we will see Shaw again to take revenge on Cody for sending him crashing through two tables during the match.

Cody Rhodes for now will be working AEW Revolution this weekend in a ladder match. You can check out the full card of the event below.

AEW Revolution Card

• AEW World Champion Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley in an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch
• AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Ryo Mizunami
• AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho and MJF)
• Team Taz (Brian Cage and Ricky Starks) vs. Darby Allin and Sting in a Street Fight
• Adam Page vs. Matt Hardy in a “Big Money Match”
• Cody Rhodes vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Lance Archer vs. Max Caster vs. TBA in a Face of the Revolution Ladder Match for a future AEW TNT Championship match
• Miro and Kip Sabian vs. Best Friends (Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor)
• Bear Country vs. Silver & Reynolds vs. Evil Uno & Stu Grayson vs. Santana & Ortiz vs. The Butcher & The Blade vs. Private Party vs. Top Flight in a Casino Tag Team Royale for a AEW World Tag Team Championship match
• Riho and Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Rebel on the pre-show

Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley is the most talked-about match in the wrestling world as of now and for good reason — it is one of the biggest and most hyped-up matches on AEW Revolution’s card. The barbed wire deathmatch is an exciting stipulation for hardcore fans and casual fans alike, with the fact that it also contains explosives that can be triggered which make a dangerous and thrilling setting for a match. Fans are curious as to what we can expect from the hardcore match and Omega has detailed some rules and provided us a closer look on how the match will work.

Kenny Omega posted a hand-drawn guide on his Twitter which reveals details on how the match will work and why fans should be excited. The drawing shows that 3 sides of the ring will be wrapped in barbed wire. According to Omega, if contact is made with the wire, then explosives will be triggered on the corresponding side. There are also three zones on the floor dubbed the “Triple Hell” which are also wired with explosives. All the explosives also have a time limit, as they will automatically trigger after 30 minutes. So even if contact is not made with the traps, it’s all going to detonate, anyway.

Here are all the details of the match as per Kenny Omega:

THE RULES:

-3 sides of the ring ropes wrapped in barbed wire.

-contact with barbed wire triggers explosives on corresponding side.

-‘Triple Hell’ (3 zones on the floor wired to explosives)

-30 minute countdown timer until all explosives in and around the ring detonate.

Kenny Omega also clarified that the reason why the diagram shows all 4 sides of the ring ropes wrapped in barbed wire but the description says only 3, is because he’s being made to keep a side clear in case of an emergency.

Speaking on what to expect from the match, Kenny Omega said, “The idea itself is incredible. You touch the ropes and they explode. This is a match that was made famous about 30 years ago in FMW. It’s not like a cage match where you have a pretty good idea about what you’ll see. With this, there are going to be so many unexpected parts.”

“This is my opportunity to show to a much broader audience that I can show a different side to my work, do these skits, which the people who watched Being the Elite already knew, and accomplish a whole new set of goals.”

The betting odds for most of the matches that will take place at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view event have been released.

The card for the show that takes place on Sunday (March 7, 2021) in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place appears to have been finalized.

Cody Rhodes is favored to win the Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match while the rest of the wrestlers are priced at the same +275. Kenny Omega is favored to retain the AEW World Title at -350 while Moxley is listed as +325.

Make sure to join us on Sunday for match recaps, and our takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by AEW. 

Revolution Betting Odds

The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Here are the final betting odds: 

• AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega (-350) vs. Jon Moxley (+325) – Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch
• Sting and Darby Allin (450) vs. Brian Cage and Ricky Starks (+275) – Street Fight
• AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks (-250) vs. MJF and Chris Jericho (+175) 
• Matt Hardy (-350 ) vs. Adam Page (+225) – the winner receives the loser’s first-quarter 2021 earnings
• Cody Rhodes vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Lance Archer vs.. Max Caster vs. TBA – Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match (winner gets shot at Darby Allin’s TNT Title): Cody +175, The Field -250
• Miro & Kip Sabian (+120) vs. Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor (-160)

Shawn Dean is All Elite. AEW announced his signing Friday afternoon.

Dean been a regular on AEW Dark since the early 2020. He’s been teaming with Carlie Bravo in recent weeks as part of the The Infantry tag team.

AEW President Tony Khan thanked Dean on his US military service and the hard work he’s shown in AEW thus far.

“Thank you for your service to the USA, @ShawnDean773, + thank you for everything you’ve done for @AEW to help us thrive through the pandemic,” Khan wrote. “Your consistent hard work, positivity + reliability have made you so valuable to #AEW; now it’s my honor to officially welcome you aboard!”

Shawn Dean On Signing with AEW

Shawn Dean replied to Tony Khan and expressed gratitude for his wrestling journey.

“Wow….just Wow…..this has been a journey …hard work… dedication…against all adversity I stayed the course and it has led to this….dreams work with hard work!!!
@TonyKhan and MY entire @AEW family thank you …thank you ….#Salute and….#ImWithAEW”

Congratulations to Shawn Dean.

Jon Moxley challenges AEW World Champion Kenny Omega in an exploding barbwire death match this Sunday at AEW Revolution.

Moxley spoke to Steven Muehlhaisen for DAZN this week about his chemistry with Omega, the high stakes of Sunday’s match and more.

Many people regard him and Omega as two of the best pro wrestlers in the world. Moxley said he agrees with that sentiment, but wrestling is not exactly like pro sports, where one championship game (or series) determines the best in the world.

“In wrestling, that’s not necessarily the case. It’s different,” said Moxley. “You can be one of the best. The most important thing is how do you say who’s better: Shawn Michaels or Ric Flair? You can’t pick. If your favorite wrestler growing up when you were a kid was Big Van Vader or Ahmed Johnson, then they’re the best wrestler in the world to you. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter who drew more money or who had people think had better matches. The most important thing is you just got to be the best you.”

Jon Moxley & Kenny Omega

Moxley said that he and Kenny Omega are being the best versions of themselves in AEW. They’re not being held back. They’re not being overproduced. AEW allows them to ply their craft and executive their visions.

“You’re getting the best version of Kenny Omega, the best version of Jon Moxley on a weekly basis on Dynamit,” he continued..” I don’t think anybody’s doing it at a higher level than me and Kenny are right now. We’re both in our prime, both at our peak, both just really hitting on all cylinders.

We’re in a position with AEW where we just get to go out there, be given the ball, and get a chance to score touchdowns on a weekly basis. Nobody’s doing it at a higher level than us two right now.”

Visit DAZN to check out the rest of the interview.

• Jon Moxley Wants To See Christian In AEW

CM Punk made it clear on Twitter recently that he is not the big surprise promised for AEW Revolution. He took part in a Q&A with fans and noted that he feels AEW needs to focus more on the stars already on their roster rather than new signings.

Punk doesn’t feel AEW was trying to tease he was the surprise, however.

Punk was asked about having never been in the final match at WrestleMania, something that at one point was his dream. He noted that this is no longer something that bothers him.

“No. It’s a trap I fell into. Doesn’t mean sh**,” Punk Tweeted.

The noted hockey fan also lobbied for a return of the Quebec Nordiques.

When asked, Punk picked the Midnight Express over the Rock N Roll Express.

Punk also chose the Mandalorian over Wandavision.

Punk also threw out some congrats to the new WWE Champion, Bobby Lashley.

Punk also says he’s been in a submarine before. That seemed notable for some reason.

Cody Rhodes addressed AEW’s previous negotiations with Punk in an interview last year.

“As far as the CM Punk negotiations go, everyone heard the famous ‘he got a text from us’. Yeah, of course there were negotiations and he did ask for a great amount of money and Punk is worth a great deal of money.”

Matt Hardy made his AEW debut during the first edition of Dynamite taped without a live audience. Since that time, Hardy has started performing more under his “Big Money Matt” persona rather than his “Broken” one. He spoke to the Asbury Park Press about how the pandemic forced him to reinvent himself yet again.

“Broken Matt Hardy is a very audience-friendly character,” Hardy said. “It needs a crowd, it needs an audience, and it just was not in the cards to be Broken Matt Hardy … because his debut was in the first-ever empty arena era, pandemic-era show, the first empty arena show that AEW had.”

“Broken Matt Hardy is … very theatrical, and it doesn’t translate as well to the current AEW audience that sits at home and watches (on television) because I’ve realized that this is a much younger audience. It’s a much more sports-centric-type audience.”

Hardy then praised Tony Khan for giving him the creative freedom to switch characters.

“I tip my hat to (AEW president and CEO) Tony Khan. He allowed me to try kind of switching characters and see how people reacted to it,” Hardy continued. “I think if we had been in arenas full of people it would have been different.

“But considering we’re now playing to the television audience, it was better for me to zone in and focus on one thing.”

Hardy would continue to say being a heel is the best option for him currently. He will face Hangman Page at Revolution. A stipulation was added to the bout that the winning wrestler is given the losing wrestler’s pay for the first quarter of 2021.

Chris Jericho believes that wrestling legends are treated with more respect in AEW than they are WWE. The former AEW World Champion spoke to Digital Spy about how Sting and “Big Show” Paul Wight were treated in their final runs with WWE.

“These are guys that were kind of almost insulted in their WWE runs,” Jericho said. “[Sting and Wight were] definitely not treated with too much respect over the last few years.”

Jericho continued to say that WWE often treats legends as something of a joke. He listed off a series of examples which included himself.

“We treat our legends with respect,” Jericho continued. “We don’t make jokes out of them and WWE is notorious for that, whether it’s Sting, Paul Wight, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Jake Roberts, Dustin Rhodes, throw in Chris Jericho.”

Jericho continued to say AEW knows how to treat legends with respect.

“We know how to treat our legendary performers with respect and make them all look great and make them all worthy of being in AEW because if they aren’t worthy of being in AEW why would they be there?”

Chris Jericho On Paul Wight’s Value To AEW

Jericho would continue to say that Wight has more value than simply being a legend, however. He’s someone who can help mentor some of AEW’s larger guys as well.

“I also know that he’s a great mentor for some of our bigger guys that we have, Lance Archer and Luchasaurus, those types of guys,” Jericho continued. “Most importantly I know how dangerous a motivated Big Show can be.”

Jericho will team with MJF to challenge the Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championships at Revolution. On Dynamite this week, Jericho spoke about his multiple tag-team title wins. These include a run with Big Show as Jeri-Show. Wight and Jericho are 2x tag-team champions in WWE and won the Slammy Award for Best WWE tag-team in 2009.

Kenny Omega will defend his AEW World Championship this Sunday at Revolution against former champion, Jon Moxley. This will not be a standard match as their one at Winter is Coming will be, however. Rather, this match will be contested under “Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match” rules. Omega recently spoke to SI.com and gave further details about the match.

“The idea itself is incredible,” Omega said. “You touch the ropes and they explode. This is a match that was made famous about 30 years ago in FMW. It’s not like a cage match where you have a pretty good idea about what you’ll see. With this, there are going to be so many unexpected parts.”

Omega continued to say that this match is partly about him expanding his repertoire as a performer.

“I’ve been hearing for over a year these expectations of what I was supposed to be in AEW. It was just a copy-and-paste of the ‘Tokyo Dome Kenny Omega,’ which would essentially have monopolized all of our programming. If that were the case, an hour would have to go to my matches. I believe too much in our roster and our vision to ever want to do something like that.”

“This is my opportunity to show to a much broader audience that I can show a different side to my work, do these skits, which the people who watched Being the Elite already knew, and accomplish a whole new set of goals.”

AEW Revolution will mark just the second time Omega has defended the belt since winning it in December. His first title defence was against Fenix on the first night of AEW’s New Year’s Smash.

Paul Wight dropped a bombshell at Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite. During his first appearance for AEW, Wight revealed that a ‘Hall of Fame’ worthy star will debut this Sunday at AEW Revolution.

AEW President Tony Khan appeared on this week’s AEW Unrestricted podcast and provided some new information about this signing. Khan said, “It’s true. There’s going to be a major star in the world of wrestling, a huge huge star, is going to sign a multi-year deal at the pay-per-view.”

You can listen to Tony Khan’s comments in the player embedded below:

Khan confirmed there will actually be two debuts at AEW Revolution: Paul Wight’s mystery man, as well as the 6th and final competitor in the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match.

So, who is the “huge huge star” who has signed a multi-year contract with AEW? Khan’s “It’s true” remark has some fans guessing Kurt Angle. Other possibilities could include Christian, Brock Lesnar, CM Punk or Batista.

Batista Says It’s Not Him

Speaking of Batista, he denies that he’s signing with AEW. In response to a fan on Twitter, Batista reiterated that he is retired from pro wrestling.

So, just how “done” is Batista with pro wrestling? Back in 2019, Batista told Chris Van Vliet that he would go broke before wrestling another match.

”This is a real wrestling retirement. I am done. My in-ring career is over… I will not have another wrestling match. I will go broke before I have another wrestling match, and I will not go and wrestle for another promotion. It’s not going to happen.”

CM Punk: It Isn’t Me Either

Former WWE Superstar CM Punk is also urging fans to not get their hopes about him being the AEW signee. Punk held a Twitter Q&A on Thursday afternoon told people flat out – “no, it’s not me.’

Ryo Mizunami has earned the chance to become the AEW Women’s World Champion on this week’s AEW Dynamite, as she defeated former champion Nyla Rose in the finals match of the Women’s World Championship Eliminator Tournament. Mizunami was part of the Japan Division of the tournament along with Maki Itoh, Yuka Sakazaki, and Aja Kong.

With the win, Ryo Mizunami has earned a title shot at Hikaru Shida’s Women’s Championship at this Sunday’s Revolution pay-per-view event. After Mizunami’s win, Shida who was sitting at ringside, came up to the ring and presented the trophy to Mizunami as part of the ceremony of her winning the tournament. While shaking hands, Mizunami hit a forearm to Shida and the two then began trading shots. Shida was able to knock her challenger down as they both stared each other down.

Ryo Mizunami, affectionately called aniki — which is a Japanese honorable term for an older brother or a superior — is a veteran joshi wrestler who started her career in 2004. She was planning to retire from pro wrestling in 2019 until she was part of a six-woman tag team match at AEW’s Double or Nothing event that made her stay wrestling. She would go back to wrestling in Japan as a free agent and would return to America by winning the Japanese bracket of the AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator Tournament.

Updated AEW Revolution Card

• AEW World Champion Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley in an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch
• AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Ryo Mizunami
• AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho and MJF)
• Team Taz (Brian Cage and Ricky Starks) vs. Darby Allin and Sting in a Street Fight
• Adam Page vs. Matt Hardy in a “Big Money Match”
• Cody Rhodes vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Lance Archer vs. Max Caster vs. TBA in a Face of the Revolution Ladder Match for a future AEW TNT Championship match
• Miro and Kip Sabian vs. Best Friends (Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor)
• Bear Country vs. Silver & Reynolds vs. Evil Uno & Stu Grayson vs. Santana & Ortiz vs. The Butcher & The Blade vs. Private Party vs. Top Flight in a Casino Tag Team Royale for a AEW World Tag Team Championship match
• Riho and Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Rebel on the pre-show