Thoughts on AEW’s Revolution PPV

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Ratings – AEW Revolution 2025
By: Zack Heydorn

Hey, was there any blood on the AEW Revolution 2025 PPV?

I’m obviously kidding, but man, there was some tremendously brutal stuff across this PPV and that will undoubtedly be what Revolution is remembered for this year. The thing is, the gore and guts was logical and made sense within the storyline arcs of many of the matches on the show. The matches that needed it, got it, and that’s exactly how it should work.

AEW still needs to figure out how to organize their shows. With Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher doing what it did and the Toni Storm vs. Mariah May Hollywood Ending being what it was, one of those needed the main event slot. Everything that Moxley and Cope did came across as flat because the audience had already felt the show peak prior to the bell ringing. I get wanting a world championship match to headline PPV’s, but May vs. Storm was exactly that. Nothing that happened in the main event warranted it being in that slot and the match was severely hurt because of it.

Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. Period.

Adam Page vs. MJF

A strong opener. The psychology around the Buckshot Lariat throughout the match was fun to navigate. It seemed like Page and MJF had chemistry out there. The tombstone onto the steel chair was wild and made for a good comeback spot for Page. Because Swerve Strickland is the number one contender for the AEW World Championship now, I’d imagine these two are going to run it back at least one more time.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating – OOOO

Mercedes Mone vs. Momo Watanabe – TBS Championship

Mone retained. No surprise in that outcome. The match was pretty darn good, though. Overstayed it’s welcome by a couple minutes, but strong action throughout. Momo’s kicks were insanely stiff and Mone is going to be feeling them for a few days. It’s time for Mone to get herself into the narrative structure of AEW. These dream matches are great for some fans, but she has to start being involved in key AEW storylines to really deliver for the company that is paying her gobs of money.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating – OOO 1/2

Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet – AEW World Championship Number One Contender Match

Man, I loved this match. It had drama, strong in-ring athleticism, and story — all executed to perfection. I’m glad we didn’t get a shock turn by Prince Nana because the moment of Strickland kneeling and handing Nana the Jimmy Rave jacket popped the audience. The entire story — and match itself — built to that and it paid off for all involved. Very cool. Swerve nearly got paralyzed on a Death Valley Driver spot, but luckily he was ok. As the heel who was going to get vanquished, Ricochet played the role spot on.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating – OOOO 1/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. Brody King – AEW Continental Championship

Both guys chopping the hell out of other was fun and insane, but that’s about all this match was. Okada is a two star match general now. Anytime he wants to up his game, that would be great. Overall, you simply didn’t need this match on the show.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating – OO

The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Outrunners – AEW World Tag Team Championship

Yikes. The worst match of the night by a wide margin. The Outrunners missed spots and tripped over their own feet multiple times in this and clearly showed they aren’t ready for any kind of real push in AEW. It’s ROH or bust for them right now. Good to see The Hurt Syndicate go over strong, but hopefully they can get some real opponents here in the near future.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating – O

Toni Storm vs. Mariah May – Hollywood Ending Match for the AEW Women’s World Championship

This was fantastic. The match of the night and then some. The thing with gory violence in pro wrestling matches is that it needs to make sense. All of it made sense in this one. The glass, the tables, the shoe head bashing – all of it. This was the big blowoff, so I was glad to see the violence get the green light here, so the story could end in the best way possible. Storm really had a gusher and was covered in blood for the majority of the match. May too. That was a nice touch and the finish to the match was as well. It started with that shoe and ended with it. The shot of Storm laying on May after the pin worked really well to capture the emotion of it all. The crowd ate this up and appreciated a strong ending to one of AEW’s best feuds of all time.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating – OOOO 3/4

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kenny Omega – AEW International Championship

I mean, this had no chance of being bad and it wasn’t. Omega doesn’t seem like he’s lost a step at all and we know how good Takeshita is. The counter wrestling in this was strong as was the storyline of Takeshita targeting Omega’s diverticulitis injury throughout. A thumbs up match and a nice pivot in style for the show coming out of the bloodbath that was May vs. Storm. Omega as AEW International Champion points directly at a showdown with Okada like rumors and reports have indicated.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating – OOOO 1/4

Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher – Steel Cage Match

This was insane. Just absolute insanity. Violence times ten, but again, it made sense because of the nature of the feud between these guys. The action was crisp throughout and both Ospreay and Fletcher worked really hard to make the work come across as a fight. The Oscutter off the cage wall was overdone by the Styles Clash on the thumbtacks, which was then overshadowed by a freaking Spanish Fly off the top of the cage. As I said, pure insanity. Mark Davis getting involved was annoying, but it helped Ospreay look like superhero fighting the forces of evil. Ospreay singles matches need to be protected. They are a tremendous feature of AEW and have value to the company. Charge for them.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating – OOOO 1/2

Jon Moxley vs. Cope – AEW World Championship

You have to think these guys were thinking “oh crap,” before going out for this one. After everything the audience had seen throughout the night, what was left for them to do? Nothing. The match was pretty darn boring. Nothing popped the crowd and the inevitable notion that Mox would retain rendered all the near fall attempts useless. What was worse was the finish that involved Christian Cage. He cashes in his contract and then just gets choked out by Moxley? I’m not breaking news here, but it seems to me that Cope wasn’t interested in doing the ol job to Mox. A flat and lame ending to an otherwise very good show.

Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating – OO 1/2

What did you think of AEW Revolution 2025? Let us know in the comments!