AEW Revolution 2023 Hot Take

Before All Elite Wrestling was born, there was a silent scream seeking out something greater for true professional wrestling fans. From the moment AEW was created, an army arose, taking up arms and marching across the battlefield, calling for a new world, an uprising, a REVOLUTION that would carry professional wrestling, its stars and its fans into a brave new world, a grander universe that pushes the boundaries of athletics, emotions and all out combat.

This Sunday, AEW Revolution returns to FITE.TV for international viewers, bringing the absolute best in professional wrestling through the unified vision of Tony Khan, who has celebrated all of professional wrestling's history while rising the tide of all ships to bring forth a new generation of combat sports stars who have taken to the ring and skies above in battle to determine who are the true champions and the absolute best of this Elite iteration of professional wrestling.

If there is one man who gets to boast he is the greatest in the world, whether anyone wants to or not, it is MJF. Once he finally captured the AEW World Heavyweight Championship, MJF has descended into deeper levels of depravity, revealing the true disgusting nature of who he is as a person both inside and outside of the squared circle. The only thing more revolting than his recent outbursts are his attacks on "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson, verbally and physically assaulting one of the most celebrated in-ring competitors of this generation, as MJF has stopped at nothing to try and prevent Danielson from making it to Revolution this Sunday night in San Francisco.

Danielson, however, has persevered, running the gauntlet through all of the chosen competitors MJF has thrown at him as well as remaining steadfast through all the verbal and emotional assaults, as prepared as he has ever been for this Saturday's AEW Revolution Iron Man Match. With 60 minutes for each fighter to score as many falls over the other, the victory will go to the man who survives with the most victories. For MJF, this battle ground is virgin territory as he's never wrestled that long bell to bell in one match in his life, but for Bryan, this is an accomplishment he has achieved many times over and over during the course of his grand career.

Bryan Danielson has captured major championships before across the globe, but never has he wanted to turn back the challenge and beat humility into an opponent as much as he's wanted to defeat MJF. For the despicable Maxwell Jacob Friedman, survival at Revolution will not just be another set of bragging rights - it would be a moment akin to surviving a horror film - as there is no one in the world as well prepared to torture, stretch and beat down on his opposition more than Bryan Danielson, and that's just when he's competing to show he's the best in the world. At Revolution, he's looking to avenge all the slander and attacks and expose MJF as a paper champion.

This Sunday, the entire world of AEW changes. Either a Dragon Rises or a Champion stands triumphant, more powerful and more despicable than ever before! FITE international fans will witness the entire landscape of All Elite Wrestling shift before their very eyes.

Perhaps the only AEW Championship more tumultuous than the World Championship is the AEW World Women's Championship now held by Jamie Hayter. The British star has risen to greatness before the eyes of the AEW faithful through her hard work and gritty fighting, but now finds herself battling opposition on multiple fronts. While she and Dr. Britt Baker have not been strangers to being antagonists for their competition, Saraya and Toni Storm have driven themselves under the skin of everyone in AEW in a way unlike any female fighters before them. Armed with their ferocious and sneering might, they have beaten countless opponents and even fans down, spray painting them to emasculate and destroy them. Their chaos has enveloped the majority of AEW's women's division, with the exception of one stellar combatant, Ruby Soho.

When Jamie Hayter steps into the ring at Revolution to defend her championship against both Saraya and Ruby Soho, the major question still to be answered is where Soho stands in this civil war that has split the women's division across the board. Does she stand with those who struck ground in AEW, seeking to build it from its earliest foundations to the global sensation it is today or will Soho decide to throw in with the interlopers who arrived later, seeking to mine its riches for their own glory and clout?

While Soho was not one of the AEW originals back in 2019, she has certainly carried herself with all the heart and soul and fighting spirit of everyone else who has helped lift AEW up upon the pedestal it now sits for fighting fans across the globe. But, when the Women's World Championship is on the line this Sunday, will Soho be the woman that tips the scales of this very unique identity crisis? Could Saraya complete her unimaginable return to the ring with a glorious championship victory? Or, will Jamie Hayer continue to rule the roost with her magnificent in-ring scrapping skills? The balance of power for AEW's Women's division will change this Sunday live on FITE.

If there is one act that can be described as the definitive All Elite Wrestling tandem, it is the hip hop infused Max Caster and Anthony Bowens, who truly live the life of their tag team branding, The Acclaimed. There is no one in AEW even remotely close to the extreme popularity and sheer energy that follow the former AEW Tag Team Champions when they hit the scene and compete before the AEW faithful. However, since losing their titles to The Gunn Club, The Acclaimed have faced adversity the likes they have never experienced thus far in their AEW run. This Saturday, they claim their rematch against Austin and Colton Gunn, but as always, there is a twist that puts the former champions at a major disadvantage when it comes to regaining their cherished championship belts.

As AEW had already mandated the World Tag Team Championships would be defended in a Four-Way encounter at Revolution, it will now be on The Acclaimed's Daddy Ass to help the former champions navigate the stormy waters of not just defeating his sons, The Gunn Club, but two additional teams.

All time greats Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal have qualified for this championship bout and having turned AEW upside down with their antics, their intrusion into this bout certainly raises the level of danger for Caster and Bowens. As of this writing, the fourth team remains unrevealed, giving the winners of a Battle Royal this Wednesday on Dynamite for AEW+ subscribers here on FITE the greatest advantage possible, as none of the other teams will be able to scout and prepare for them until the very last minute.

Can The Acclaimed live up to their namesake and regain the World Tag Team Championships? Is it truly The Gunn Club's time? Will Sonjay Dutt lead Jarrett and Lethal, two of the best singles competitors in modern day professional wrestling, into becoming perhaps the most shocking AEW World Tag Team Champions of all time? Or, will a new or returning force stun and awe everyone watching this Sunday to emerge with the titles live on FITE?

Wardlow has risen in recent years into one of the most powerful competitors in AEW today, but even he has found himself striving to overcome setbacks in the form of the reigning and defending AEW TNT Champion Samoa Joe. After Joe savagely beat Wardlow and cut his trademark hair, Wardlow told the emotional story of how he had grown out his hair and beard in honor of his late father after a tough battle with cancer had stricken his father of his hair. In cutting that hair, Joe did not disempower Sampson but instead super-charged a nuclear fire within Wardlow, who is coming to Revolution this Sunday to beat and destroy Samoa Joe in his Home State of California, seeking to humiliate one of the most dangerous fighters who has ever lived.

For Samoa Joe, who has collected championships his entire career like Thanos collects Infinity Stones, Wardlow will be yet another conquest on the road to immortality in professional wrestling. While Wardlow has emotionally promised to defeat The Samoan Submission Machine, the reality is that Joe has always played professional wrestling opponents like they are games of 4-D Chess, moving and striking in ways that are invisible without the benefit of hindsight. Joe strikes, he submits and he pounds away at his challengers - but could he have underestimated the sheer monstrosity and might of Wardlow? The unstoppable force and the immovable object are coming to San Fran to throw down live for international FITE viewers, the biggest kaiju battle the world has seen since Kong vs. Godzilla!

It seemed like a return to California was going to hit that sweet spot for the Elite, The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. It would be a nice return to The Bucks' home turf, a simple showcase and spectacle showing off everything the AEW World Trios Champions bring to AEW. It was a night thought, but instead The Elite find themselves submerged into the stuff of nightmares.

This Sunday at Revolution, The House of Black have picked their shot and their latest targets in The Elite. Malakai Black, Brody King and Buddy Matthews have risen from the darkness to become one of the most feared factions in AEW history. Unstable and unpredictable, they have attacked and decimated many competitors but despite an impressive series of victories and accomplishments, still have yet to achieve the ultimate golden championship goal. This Sunday, that will change, but only if the frightening might of the House of Black can overwhelm and destroy The synchronized offensive maneuvers of The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega.

In recent months, The Elite had been one of the spotlight attractions on AEW television, blowing through impressive Trios combinations as they rack successful championship defenses on a weekly basis, but let's call it like it is - none of those teams strike fear in the hearts of men like The House of Black. It has been a long, long time since anyone has stepped up to physically, mentally and emotionally challenge The Elite in this manner and if the AEW founders cannot ascend to the heavens when the bell rings, they will certainly be dragged down to the darkest reaches of hell. FITE fans across the globe will see the most talked about trios combinations explode in combat this Sunday night.

Of course, explosions would certainly describe the tale of former AEW World Champions Jon Moxley and Hangman Adam Page, who's unique desires and obsessions to fight their way back to the championship they each proudly held has seen their careers intersect with the other in the most violent and gritty ways possible, leading to Sunday's Texas Death Match showdown at Revolution.

As AEW+ subscribers witnessed, It all began when Moxley knocked out and concussed Hangman on AEW Dynamite while defeating him, leaving Hangman being hospitalized and forced out of action while recovering. When he was finally cleared to return to the ring, they battled again, this time with Moxley scoring a pinfall victory. Now suffering two losses, Hangman Page became obsessed and enraged with seeking vengeance while also looking to position himself back into contention for the AEW World Championship.

Moxley, never one to back away from the blood and mud of a fight, agreed to face Hangman in a Texas Death Match, where the battle will continue with zero rules until one man's body has been beaten and his soul tattered to the point he cannot intelligently answer the official's ten county, resulting in the better man being declared the ultimate victor. For Hangman Page, this is a do or die moment if he seems to return to the center of the AEW cosmos. For Moxley, a rattlesnake always ready to uncoil with all of his physical weaponry, another victory over Page all but guarantees a golden ticket to the winner of MJF vs. Danielson. Someone's future will be engraved this Sunday, but the loser will be forced to somehow pick up the pieces and somehow find another way to trudge forward.

Chris Jericho is one of the greatest competitors, personalities, performers and sports-entertainers who have ever walked the face of the Earth. AEW would not exist without him. He is the grandest and the bestest of all time - just ask him. He'll tell you. Incessantly. For all of his accomplishments, Jericho believes deep down he is infinitely better and more accomplished than anyone in professional wrestling history.

Enter Ricky Starks.

After defeating Jericho on AEW Dynamite to kick off 2023, the Ocho has unleashed the pure might of the Jericho Appreciation Society against Starks, seeking to run him out of AEW once and for all, except Starks has continued to stand tall against the onslaught. Indeed, he has captured victories over JAS members Jake Hager, Matt Menard, Daniel Garcia and Angelo Parker, leaving just one more piece of business to be handled, defeating Jericho again.

This Sunday at Revolution, Starks gets his chance against Jericho, and this time it will truly be the better man emerging victorious as all members of the Jericho Appreciation Society will be banned from ringside during the course of his battle. Jericho will have to prove himself and handle Starks alone, or find himself once against falling to New Orleans' favorite son. Fans have been calling for Starks to be the voice of the AEW Revolution and San Francisco may see it become renowned for being the origin point for that majestic moment.

There will be additional matches and combatants announced over the course of AEW's Revolution week as all roads lead this Sunday to San Francisco, but one thing unites all of these unique fighters.

This Sunday, winners and losers alike will surge forward as All Elite Wrestling - the promotion that rages against the machine strives once again to bring the best professional wrestling for the most dedicated fans across the globe.

For it is AEW and their fan base alike that have planted the flag of REVOLUTION in the ground, shattering the norms, heightening expectations and bringing a true rebellion to life for professional wrestling, professional wrestlers and all professional wrestling fans.

This Sunday, live on FITE, the REVOLUTION marches on!

Mike Johnson is the lead reporter for PWInsider.com and has been writing about professional wrestling since 1996. He can be found on Twitter @MikePWInsider and MikeJohnsonWrites.com.