AEW: Revolution 2026

Date: March 15, 2026
Location: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 12,590
Watch On: HBOMax / MyAEW

By Emiliana Rico-Toro

This year’s “Revolution” will go down as one of the most confusing albeit enjoyable PPVs I’ve ever had the privilege of watching live. Yes, considering that Hangman Adam Page had it in his heart to break mine by offering up his ability to ever challenge for the AEW Men’s World Championship to the Devil himself, I would have been remiss not to make the flight to Los Angeles and see the match that would make or break Hangman’s Texas Death legacy in person. I think I made the right decision, something I cannot say remains true for the former AEW Men’s World Champion.

I flew in on Friday, enjoying some historic ramen in Little Tokyo with Chris Whitehead of Social Suplex fame, his wife, and our good friend Ariel. After a solo day trip across all of Los Angeles on its pretty reliable public transportation on the Saturday (heading to Santa Monica for a spell, hiking up to the Getty Center, before heading to the Griffith Observatory to enjoy the sunset), Ariel and I started our Sunday early by taking a trip to the natural history museum near USC, before making our way back toward the former Staples Center to get in line for a DC x AEW comic book for our friend Josh and a chance to glimpse Orange Cassidy, say hi, and get his signature. As I have already met Toni Storm in person before, we chose instead to belay more queueing in line for her to spend an hour or two at the Grammy Museum, which was a short walk from the arena. As a Latina from Texas, I couldn’t not visit the Selena exhibit that they had on display. Though small, the exhibit served as a gentle reminder that it is our duty to share our talents with a world that is so desperately in need of our beauty, and that – like the flower – it will live on past our temporal nature, touching as many lives in its absence as it did while it thrived.

So, yeah, I think it’s safe to say that I had a great time leading up to this show. Let’s get into it, shall we?

The pre-show started, and I immediately got up to go visit with friends elsewhere in the arena. I did not feel it necessary to sit down and lock into a Big Boom AJ & QT Marshall tag match against Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero of the DCF, though I could hear the crowd exploding with delight at certain spots in the match. At one point while visiting with our friend Nejma, Ariel pulled up the match on the YouTube Zero Hour livestream right as we saw Shane Taylor, 40, pushing down the Rizzler, 9, who stepped in because Taylor came at Wayne Brady, 53, who was ringside for the match. (I popped big for this at concessions.) Taylor would then be speared by Big Justice, 12. I added the ages so you can understand how insane this was. I love pro wrestling. Much like their spot on the pre-show at “All In: Texas”, this strange little duo in Big Justice and the Rizzler have found their niche as the opening crowd popper.

© AEW

After this match, we would have a pretty good match between the TBS Champion, Willow Nightingale, and Lena Kross, who recently signed with AEW after her first appearance at the second annual “Grand Slam: Australia” and has found a tag team partner in powerhouse Megan Bayne as part of Divine Dominion, which is SUCH a better faction and/or tag team name than MegaBad (I’m so sorry, Penelope, please be back soon). The match was okay for the most part. The crowd was very amped up for Willow, though it didn’t feel like it came across on screen as much as in the arena. Kross did well playing up being the heel, and my personal favorite spot of the match was when they started chopping each other and Willow’s first crisp chop rang clear through the arena all the way up to me in the 300s. It was LOUD. Willow would win the match only to be immediately clobbered by the loser’s tag team partner, who appeared out of nowhere for a post-match beatdown. This would play into the tag match later on the main show, because yes, Willow Nightingale had two matches on the card, which I don’t think has happened to a double belt champion in AEW in quite a while.

The battle royal consisted of a whole lot of midcard guys that I would love to see contend for the world title one day and actually win, among them Ricochet, Jack Perry, and RUSH. I can’t say the beginning of the match was worth watching, but I greatly enjoyed the match right at about ten minutes left on the countdown clock for the main show. There were some fun spots between the guys previously mentioned, as well as Ace Austin. But the best part came after the pyro (and yeah, maybe we shouldn’t keep doing this mid-match PPV pyro spot so frequently, too much of a good thing, etc) when Jack Perry and Ricochet managed to eliminate the rest of their opponents, leaving them the last two men standing for a 1v1 competition and Jack Perry ending up the winner. That’s right, the hometown boy got the big hometown AEW National Championship win to start off the night happy and strong, but it would go downhill from here in terms of satisfying results.

© AEW

Next up were the Young Bucks challenging FTR for their AEW World Tag Team titles. Before they made their entrance, a video was played showing the Young Bucks with their families narrated by their children. It was extremely sweet, made all the sweeter by the entrance. Where normally there stood two Young Bucks flexing their guns to opposite sides, there were now eight (maybe more, to be honest), with the OGs flanked by their kids and their brother Malachai’s children. Once they made it to the ring, one of the girls – I believe it was Malachai’s daughter – did a cartwheel and posed. It was a fun moment that only served to remind me and all of us that though the Bucks are adamant that they are wrapping up their careers soon, their legacy will live on in their children, and that’s always been the most important thing in the world to them. I also couldn’t help but notice how well this played to me in a way that Dax’s mentions of his family have never worked before.

I can’t tell you how many of these Young Bucks vs FTR matches I’ve seen by now, but I’ve seen two of them live. This one, by far, is the stronger of the two. It played to the strengths of both teams, in that the Bucks are clearly better babyfaces – especially Nick, with his explosive offense – and FTR just work better to chop them down. Fairly quickly into the match, Nick got busted open, or maybe he bladed. That’s always fun. But my favorite spot of the match wasn’t any of the flashy moves; it was when Matt Jackson came down off the ring mat and touched his forehead to his son’s, pleading with his son in a way that suggested he could not continue, and his son willed him back into the fight. Sue me, that rocked. What also rocked? Stokely getting superkicked in the face. There was a kick-out at 1 spot that I liked in the moment, but I have to admit that this is another case of “too much of a good thing.” It was fun the first time Kenny Omega did it in 2020 – not so much now, especially when we saw it at least twice on this night, if not more. What are we doing? I don’t get why there’s a lack of communication about spots like these between all the matches on a card. In the end, however, the Bucks would lose, and this was the first confusing result. Deflated me. And to make matters worse, it played into the long awaited return of Cope (barf) and Christian (mild amusement). Rather than play into a FTR-C&C staredown, what seemed to close this segment out was a staredown between the Bucks – who just lost their title shot – and Cope and Christian. While this match up seems leagues better than a match between two old men and FTR, I can’t say I was that thrilled.

Toni Storm vs Marina Shafir was a strange match to have on next, but it made sense. It was a match with no real stakes, but everyone was banned from ringside after weeks of the Death Riders getting involved in shenanigans. The match was okay, but it wasn’t something I was fully invested in at the time. Marina has improved since the first time I’ve seen her in the ring, but I think the character is much more improved than the ring work. I can’t say this was one of the best matches on the card, but I was happy to see a win for Toni – that is, until the post match. Toni was up at the top of the ramp, laying down and swimming in air on the floor, when a hooded figure appeared in the ring. From the 300s, all I could see was possible reddish hair, and I’ll be honest, I thought it was Becky Lynch. Bad guess, I know, but that’s what I thought I saw! Anyway, it was Ronda Rousey, and I was not happy at this discovery. And neither was the rest of the city she calls home, because the LA faithful booed the shit out of her. Good. That’s all I will say about it.

This rolled into the next match, Jon Moxley versus Konosuke Takeshita, with Shafir crossing paths with Mox on the way out. She slapped him around a couple times, and Rousey punched him in the arm. Just get her out of here, man. Once he was fully in the arena, it’s like he’s the greatest wrestler of all time. The crowd popped huge, because of course we did. Renee was at ringside before Takeshita came out, once again bringing Rousey’s name to the forefront, wondering out loud whether she would become a member of the Death Riders. Nigel would do this, too, during the match. I remained skeptical of this match up until it started, because I was there live for the absolute bore of a match between them at “Double or Nothing 2024” in Las Vegas – and it takes a lot for me to say this about a live match with two of my favorite wrestlers in the world, by the way. But they blew that match out of the water relatively quickly, with fun striking battles from the outset. The match was so good, exactly my type of brawl, that it got to the point where I even stood up, pumped my cowboy hat in the air, and lost my hatband down to the lower bowl below. The crowd was fully behind Takeshita by this point, a testament to both his showcase of fighting spirit and Mox’s ability to bend the crowd to his will, at least in a vacuum like this, judging by the crowd reaction when Mox signaled that he was going to put a bullet in Takeshita’s skull after the challenger’s 1-count kick-out. I was certain that this was Takeshita’s time, finally. He managed to counter Mox into a Raging Fire, where Mox would kick out at 2.999. It was actually incredible to witness how the crowd had turned on him for not giving up for the count of three. As Excalibur would point out, Moxley would be the first man to kick out of the Raging Fire. The story of the match – Mox pointedly targeting Takeshita’s left knee – would culminate when Takeshita would buckle and fail to hit the Wagamama knee in desperation, but a Death Rider was not enough to put down the challenger. The crowd was going apeshit by this point, with Excalibur giving this excellent call: “Nigel, we will gladly sell you the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge!”

An avalanche Death Rider would not be enough to put an end to Takeshita, as another great near fall would bring the LA sickos to their feet. The compliment here is Mox tried everything to put Takeshita away and he could not, and Takeshita only succumbed when he had the life choked out of him and the referee called the match. Incredibly deflating as a live viewer hell bent on seeing Takeshita come out with the win here. Even as a self-proclaimed Hangman enthusiast, this was by far the most egregious result of the night. What was the point in Jon Moxley kicking out of the Raging Fire? What is the point in him winning this match? The questions would become more frustrating as Moxley held his hand out for Takeshita to shake, with Takeshita leaving and then coming back to take it. Why? Why the show of solidarity? Especially when you take into consideration, then, that as Mox and his crew left ringside, the lights would go out and a video package would play, signaling the return of Will Ospreay. They would return to the ring to beat him down only to be at the receiving end of a one man wrecking crew – yes, Will made a little crack at his neck to show us he was fine – and leave like cowards. Again, not understanding why Moxley had to keep his title when a feud built on revenge for a broken neck is hot enough without it. Why does Jon Moxley have to hold this belt for a feud with Will Ospreay when we all know Ospreay is going to main event Wembley Stadium in August for the best prize in AEW? Get mad at me, I don’t care.

Willow Nightingale would be in medical alongside her tag team partner Harley Cameron. Renee Paquette would confirm with Willow that she had been cleared to compete in the next match, an AEW Women’s Tag Team title match against Divine Dominion, though Willow looked anything but prepared or certain of herself, but she was adamant that it was important for her to be there alongside her partner in the match. The story here was clear: Willow was badly hurt, and Divine Dominion took advantage of this to pin Harley to win the AEW Women’s Tag Team Championships. I can’t say I watched most of this match, as it was put in the terrible position of going on after an emotionally exhausting barn-burner. It also did not last long. Though a disappointing loss, it wasn’t out of nowhere, and it’s probably for the best to have Willow focus on being the TBS Champion. Harley Cameron will be fine – she’s funny and talented, but she still needs a bit more time to get to the level of what I would consider tag team championship material. Lena Kross is still new to me, but I do like Megan Bayne, though, and having her as one half of the tag champs is a good thing. Let the women’s tag division find some more teams to bow down.

© AEW

If you like barking, big meaty men, and chants that exercise your right to protest, look no further. Huge pop for the next match, in which hometown boy Brody King would take on Swerve Strickland to find out who is the Most Dangerous Man in AEW. The crowd was extremely invested in this one, but I can’t say I was to the same extent as them. I appreciate Brody King for what he’s brought to the table lately in ‘real life’ terms, but I have not always been as keen on his ring work. Swerve is Swerve, and I love him, and I was just banking on him winning the match here and getting it over with, because I was starting to realize how long the PPV was and how long I’d been awake since that morning. Perhaps putting on the Bucks match and Mox/Takeshita so early into the show was a bad idea. That’s not to say there weren’t some bangers after this, but in terms of emotional investment, it is hard to get back into the swing of things when the stories coming into the middle of the show are not as important to me. The best moment of the match would come in the form of a Vertebreaker (also known as the Copkilla) to the de-matted floor at ringside on Brody King. It was like Swerve was saying, “This is what I put on all these pounds for. To drop a man like Brody King on his dome.” Incredible work, Mr. Strickland. After the third kick-out at one of the night, King would take not one, not two, but THREE consecutive House Calls to finally lay down for the count, making Swerve Strickland the Most Dangerous Man in AEW. But before he could stomp Brody’s face into a cinderblock after the bell had rung, Kenny Omega would make his return to AEW a little earlier than expected from Japan, saving King in the process. Happy to see Kenny, and I’m glad that his little rivalry with Swerve was able to get some more steam to it. Should I say more? Probably, but he’s not my god of pro wrestling.

Up next we had Thekla defending her recently attained AEW World Championship against the former world champion, Kris Statlander, in a 2 out of 3 falls match. Much like the match before, I was exhausted and not near ready enough to fully immerse myself in the bout, so we’re going off vibes. Thekla got the video intro, where you could hear her speaking in her native language (German). It was pretty awesome, and it’s always good to hear people talking in their native tongue; it made her feel all the more badass when she came out to the ring. The match itself didn’t intrigue me much until the very end, where Thekla stole the knocked out Paul Turner’s belt after not being allowed to use her own. Kris would take it from her and even take out the Sisters of Sin, who had run in to help Thekla retain her title. But before Kris could use the belt against Thekla, Paul Turner would get back in the ring and stop her from using it. This allowed Thekla to catch Statlander with a spear and two curb stomps for the three count. This was also kind of anti-climactic, but I don’t really hate the result. Thekla is proving herself to be a great presence in the women’s division, as her showboating throughout the match still brought forth cheers from the crowd. It will be tough to maintain her alignment over the course of the year, especially with certain spots open for the taking in the women’s division in terms of great wrestling characters to love.

© AEW

After losing the AEW Trios Championships a few weeks back with Hangman Adam Page, JetSpeed would team up with Místico against the Don Callis Family here. Both teams proved they were locked in as teams by wearing matching gear, with JetSpeed and Místico coming out in unique Místico-inspired white masks and the Don Callis Family (Kazuchika Okada, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis) coming out in personalized colored varsity entrance jackets. They looked like the PowerPuff Girls or something. 10/10, no notes. This match started off kind of slow for me, with a few spots feeling kind of rocky, but both myself and the crowd were willing to let these things slide for the feeling of a happy win for the babyfaces here. The heels played their parts well, pulling off the Jet and Speedball’s masks from the outset, pissing off the heroic Místico. I can’t say this is a match I would remember in a few months, but the truth is that it didn’t matter in the moment; the writing was quite on the wall here. If we had any hope left of a good babyface win, this might be one of our last before the main event. And win they would, with Místico putting Kyle Fletcher in La Mística to win the AEW Trios Championships. But that wasn’t even the best part, because as JetSpeed celebrated by putting Místico on their shoulders, the “Místico is All Elite” graphic would appear on screen to a loud pop from the crowd, and Místico would fall to the mat in pride and happiness, which was enough to make me want to cry, his serenade of a theme song playing loudly through the arena. It made me so happy to see all the Mexican fans in the arena as it played. If nothing else, going from a Brody King match – (along with a little Austrian detour) to Místico, to Andrade El Idolo and Bandido – would be a subtle reminder of the cultural influence of lucha libre to pro wrestling, of Mexican culture to a city like Los Angeles, and a solidarity to the diversity of the country we live in, no matter what other people have to say about it.

In another homage to the legacy of pro wrestling in southern California, Bandido came out to the ring in a mask and entrance robe inspired by PWG co-founder Super Dragon, who was perhaps the first American booker to identify the main eventer potential of Bandido. The match started off with a little mat grappling, the lull as the two men sized each other up giving the crowd the perfect spot for them to chant, “Take your pants off!” to Andrade. (The chant was an even 50/50 split of men and women, by the way.) Both men, still in long pants, would end up taking them off at the behest of the crowd, with Andrade using Bandido’s struggle with his pants as a way to really get his offense going. Above all else, this match was entertaining in a way I would consider surface-level, but still fun, with Andrade going for another ringside selfie spot. The wrestling was great, so good that I pulled my binoculars back out to pay real close attention. I gotta say, however, that this match did not feel like the end of it. There was still so much more left in the tank between these two talented men. That 21 Plex that Bandido pulled off without the assistance of the ropes was probably one of the coolest modifications I’ve ever seen to a finisher, but it wasn’t enough to put Andrade away. El Idolo would put Bandido away with the DM, and I felt like that was an okay end. Andrade has only been back a few months, and it’s clear that TK is strapping the rocket on him. Bandido deserves more, especially after the 2025 he’s had, but I can’t say I don’t understand the result.

After this awesome match, we would have a semi-main that I can’t say makes much sense to me, because my eyes glaze over every time I see Gabe Kidd crawl around like Gollum and HBK wannabe Clark Connors strutting around like some kind of scumbag. The only person on this team I care about is the one most men call “just some guy” – aka David Finlay. I appreciate his normalcy in the face of his freaky ass goons. They would be fighting Orange Cassidy, Darby Allin (ugh) and Roderick Strong in a tornado tag team match. I think I went to the restroom here after hearing “Where Is My Mind?” (the superior OC theme). On my rewatch, I greatly enjoyed the parts of this match where David Finlay manhandled OC, as well as the part where Gabe Kidd somehow got tied up under the ramp and he started behaving like a rabid dog. At some point, Darby also got tied up, and by this point I think I was back from the restroom and I added my voice to the thousands chanting, “Please help Darby!” despite my less-than-enthusiasm for him. (Sometimes you just want to enjoy a little chant.) I also didn’t mind Darby hitting the back of Gabe’s dome while doing a skateboard move. But my favorite thing was the finish, where OC and Roderick Strong worked in tandem, with an Orange Punch into an End of Heartache to Clark Connors. Roddy would basically throw OC onto Connors for the pin, and something about that was so endearing to me after all the nonsense they had been going through that I think my heart swelled two sizes. Roddy… finally conglomerating… you love to see it. I really expected a win for the Dogs on their first PPV (in the semi main, no less), but I was not complaining at this turn of events.

Before I get into the main event, I wanted to think a little about Hangman Adam Page and why he is so important to me – yeah, yeah, I know, you’re probably tired of this by now. Suck it up, though, this is good stuff. I remember once, someone on the website formerly known as Twitter made a complaint into the ether about why fan artists didn’t make more art about other characters, other wrestlers, and I saw Lee Moriarty pipe up in response, saying that characters like Hangman (and Swerve) have a connection with the audience that other wrestlers could only dream of. Over the past couple weeks on the Social Suplex Podcast Network, some of my dear friends and beloved hosts have made connections between Hangman and their favorite wrestlers: Hangman and Tetsuya Naito, Hangman and Tam Nakano – even Tam’s mentees like Saya Kamitani and Sayaka Kurara. Something about them makes us feel strongly. It could be all manner of things – their ability to tell a story through nuance, through vulnerability, the emotion behind their in-ring work. But I also think about how they put everything on the line to the point of stupidity, but also to the point of bravery, because there is no point in living if they don’t give it their all to achieve what they desire or what they need.

They send us on these rollercoasters of emotion because we recognize their vulnerability, and part of me wonders if each of us wishes we could live our truths as openly as they do. Do we wish we were not so cowardly? Do we wish we could put everything on the line, as they do, and hope for the outcome that will make us happy? I think of all the times I think I should reach out to get what I want and how I feel so craven, like taking up space or asking for what I want or need is the wrong thing to do. But these characters, they push past that. Despite their fears, despite the risk of losing everything in the face of this competitive sport, they put it all on the line because they have to believe they will succeed, because they would rather fail miserably than not do everything in their control to get it.

None of this was on my mind as we waited for the main event to start. All I could think about was that, despite everything, I had made my way to LA to watch my favorite wrestler lose his specialty match. I knew it, in the same way I felt the deep worry in the pit of my stomach at “Double or Nothing 2022”. Regardless, I would be there in person to cheer for my favorite wrestling character – and in some small way, remind him that even in loss, he would not be alone. That’s kind of insane, right? And yet that is the kind of passion that characters like Hangman – like Naito, like Tam – manifest in us, the ones who bear witness to their story. Because what if that was me? What if I put it all on the line? I would want someone to bear witness. I would want someone to be there when I fall.

Hangman Adam Page was serenaded to the ring on March 15, 2026. Famed musician Jon Manness played the trumpet in a haunting rendition of “L’Ira Di Dio” (translated from Italian as “the wrath of God”), the title song to a Western film of the same name, in which a man goes searching for revenge, acting with impunity against those who have sinned against him. Now, I didn’t find out how the end of this film ends, but I’m guessing badly, because a single man cannot be judge, jury, and executioner, even if it’s against the Devil himself. And that’s only a small piece of it, isn’t it? Hangman was so certain, or wanted us to believe that he was, that Texas Death was the only way to get what he wanted from Maxwell Jacob Friedman that he put his word and contendership on the line. On October 12, 2022, Hangman looked Jon Moxley in the eye and said: “Look at me now, I have nothing. I have a shot…and I have my word.” He promised on that night that he would be the AEW World Champion again as he smeared his own blood on Moxley’s shirt, the same blood that was smeared on the AEW World Championship contract a year previous by the world champion, Kenny Omega. Hangman has lost a lot of blood over the years for that title, and he’s made quite a few promises. In early 2025, just over a year ago, Hangman and MJF had their first scheduled face-to-face live in the ring. When faced with MJF’s scorn about the hypocrisy of the audience to love Hangman despite all his wrongdoings, Hangman had this to say:

We all know that when it matters, he has made good on his word. By shaking hands with the Devil, he put this all on the line. Break the stipulation, and he loses his word. He is no better than MJF has ever been. All that talk about how he and MJF are so similar and that’s why Hangman hates him…it will ring true, in the same way that Hangman’s word will ring false.

So the only thing left was for him to win, right?

© AEW / GIF by Emiliana Rico-Toro

The graphics on screen went from colorful to blood red. The last time we saw his graphics blood red were at “Full Gear 2025” accompanied by Red Dead Redemption 2’s “American Venom”, when Hangman ended up losing the AEW Men’s World Championship to Samoa Joe in a most astounding upset. My stomach dropped, and I turned to Ariel and the friends we’d made sitting next to her. I knew where this was going, but still I wanted to believe that maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t bearing witness to a man going to war for the very last time. I should add that Excalibur did nothing to quell my fears here as the trumpet played, giving us a solemn summary of Hangman’s history with MJF from the debut of the company, both of them being contestants in AEW’s first ever battle royal where Hangman would throw MJF over the top rope to win the match and earn the first ever shot at the inaugural AEW World Title – as if I could ever forget it. MJF’s entrance was the exact opposite of Hangman’s. Where Hangman was dark and full of ire, MJF was doing everything to make Texas Death a joke from the start of his entrance video, where he made a mockery of the Western aesthetic and ended it by pissing on Hangman’s grave. Perhaps that was the strategy: make the big, bad, scary match something cartoonish and goofy, thereby taking away all of its – and Hangman’s – power.

I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed the story of a match quite so much as this one in a long time, since the tag match at “Revolution 2020,” in fact. Now, I know that a lot of this is because I was there live; I’ve since rewatched the match on my television and have realized there were some lulls in the pacing that don’t hold up as well when you’re sitting on your couch and not in the middle of the crowd in Los Angeles. But being there, present fully in body and spirit for each spot, it was incredible. Ariel spent the entire match clowning on MJF for doing the same spots either Hangman or one of his other Texas Death opponents did in Hangman’s previous Texas Death matches, calling him a phony, a coward, an unoriginal person. In that same face-to-face in 2025 in the lead up to their first singles match, MJF demanded one last thing from his sparring partner: “You name one thing that you do better than me, Hangman.” To which Hangman would reply: “I am real.” This all played into what we’ve learned from MJF’s character over the years, all the spots, the matches, the angles that he’s taken from wrestling history and made a farce of. I think of the Terry Funk pants he wore that night, pulling inspiration from the son of the originator of Texas Death, and yet I can’t help but feel that a legend like that would hate everything he did here. MJF would make light of many moments in the match, with his goofy yelling and over-acting, and I cannot argue that the tone shifts were definitely off, but it worked, somehow, for me, because that’s who MJF is. He’s a copy of a copy of a cartoon, faded lettering and skewed margins and warped images and all.

Both commentary and the graphics department made it very clear that Hangman being an all-time winner in Texas Death matches in AEW was important to the story being told. From the jump, Hangman was champing at the bit to get his hands on MJF and vice versa, but Hangman was the overconfident one. Immediately, MJF took a moment from Adam Cole’s handbook from the Texas Death on April 15, 2022 – he got out of the ring and baited Hangman into the bleachers, and just like the last time, Hangman would beat up his opponent and then get handed a beer, chugging it down to raucous cheers. It is here that we would see the first instance of Hangman asking for the adoration of the crowd rather than continuing on his mission – he held his arms out, asking for applause, and received it from his willing fans. Confidence to the point of taking his eyes off the ball. Another thread in this story.

I would go over each spot from Hangman’s Texas Death match history from the main event, but that would make this review go much longer than it already is. Just trust me, bro. From the stapled birthday card spot (Swerve) to the barbed wire arm spot (Archer) to the barbed wire reins spot (Daniels) to the Orihara moonsault with the barbed wire chair (Mox)…this match felt like Hangman’s swan song. And he wasn’t the only one doing the spots; Maxwell was doing them as well. A turnbuckle bite, the needle injection, sitting in a folding chair in the middle of the ring like Hangman did in the Adam Cole Texas Death…both of them were pulling from Hangman’s past. But the moment where it felt like the match shifted for me was when Hangman did the Orihara moonsault. In real time, I could see Hangman getting too comfortable, too overconfident, to the point where I shouted loudly, “No, he’s seen you do this before!” Of course, he couldn’t hear me. I was too far away. (He did the Orihara after hitting MJF with a Deadeye on the same chair, by the way, which I can’t imagine hurt MJF more than it hurt Hangman’s own knees.)

They were mirroring each other. When one put out a table, so did the other on the other side of the ring. After Hangman got sent through the table with a Tombstone piledriver, Max brought him back in the ring as the crowd started dueling chants for both men as they struggled to their feet, diametrically opposed – mirrors. They got in each other’s faces, traded blows, but Maxwell would fall to the floor. Hangman would once again look to the crowd, ready to end it. I’m reminded about what Trish said about the Aaron Wolf “Wrestle Kingdom” match from January 4th, where he did a great job showing his face to the crowd so they could cheer him. Hangman is good at that. He knows how to make the audience plead for his victory – but then he used his hands, too openly asking for their support, giving Max a few extra seconds to counter his Buckshot Lariat. They got in each other’s faces, bloody forehead to bloody forehead, before catching each other with the same forearm strike and falling. As the ref counted to ten, they rolled to opposite sides of the ring, once again reflections of each other, pulling out light tubes from beneath the apron.

© AEW / GIF by Emiliana Rico-Toro

This led into the penultimate act, at least in my eyes, and in MJF’s eyes you could see fear for the briefest moment before he steeled himself. His punisher would not grant him mercy, and it seemed he was beginning to come to terms with this match – it was not a joke. He baited Hangman up the ramp, but he wouldn’t have the upper hand here. He was the first to get a light tube to the back, blood spattering immediately across his skin, and then he would also be the second, receiving a light tube straight to his head to the shock of the crowd. In his own shock, Hangman would roar at the crowd, disbelieving at what he’d done and staring at the jagged edge of the light tube still in his hand. He would let it go, and this is where I wonder if he’ll bring this up later, the choice to not use it again. But that didn’t mean Hangman wasn’t ruthless, kicking MJF back to the ring while he was down and pleading at his challenger.

After a disgusting skewers-to-the-hairplugs spot, Hangman would finally do something that he hadn’t done the entire match. Until this point, everything revolved around Hangman’s past with Texas Death matches. That is, until he pulled out two dog collars tied together by a metal chain, the tool used by a mutual rival of Hangman and MJF to challenge Max to a gruesome match four “Revolution” PPVs ago. The words immediately popped into my head, I could hear the bastard saying it: “Will you be my Valentine?” Hangman’s smile was just as sick and twisted, and it turned my stomach into knots. Of all the people to emulate, why this one? Why dog collars? Why with Max? Why now? Why change the game when you had it won by pulling from your own history? Why would you pull from his?

But Hangman had already tied the noose around his own neck.

© AEW / GIF by Emiliana Rico-Toro

There is a shot of MJF on the mat that sits with me even today. Dead in the eyes, bloody, with the dog collar around his neck. The greatest poker face of all time. He watched Hangman the entire time; he knew what this was, and that’s why I couldn’t believe Hangman would give MJF what he needed to win so heedlessly. MJF pulled himself up and then “realized”, comically, what lay around his neck. I simply can’t believe this wasn’t on purpose, to make Hangman believe he had the upper hand. “Not again,” he pleaded, but Hangman was quick to use this new tool to his advantage, pulling MJF back into the ring within striking distance. They would end up on the apron, Hangman once again pulling a table out from under the ring. The crowd chanted for fire, willing him back into arsonism. All Hangman could say was, “Who got a lighter?” But no one did, because arena restrictions suck. We would not be seeing fire, but we would be seeing a table topped with enough barbed wire to injure a man. As they fought on the apron, I could see (upon rewatch) the moments in which MJF was re-learning how to use the dog collar against his opponent, wrenching back on the collar first as he stood behind Hangman, and then yanking the chain to pull Hangman off of the turnbuckle and into the barbed wire table.

But even then, there was still some fight left in Hangman, who got back up right before the ten count. I’m sure MJF believed he was sending Hangman back up the ramp with some well-placed strikes of the chain, but Hangman had thought about it already earlier in the match as they stood off to the side of the ramp – if MJF was the Devil, Hangman was going to drag him back to Hell where he belonged. A pull of the chain into an embrace, an exchanged look, and Hangman would send them both into a soundboard (electrical wiring, perhaps), setting off a well-timed explosion. Another count, and both men got up at nine. What could possibly be next? We thought, as the crowd roared in disbelief and a thirst for blood.

The weaker of the two, MJF, would fall on all fours as Hangman dragged him by the chain. He was literally getting dogwalked back to the ring, and the crowd would respond: “He’s a good boy!” along with barking echoes. Not exactly the correct assumption to make here, but sure, whatever. Perhaps I laughed anyway. Once Hangman flipped MJF back into the ring, he would turn, again, to the crowd, egging them on so he could hit Max with his next attempted Buckshot Lariat, but he received a low blow for his troubles. Max left the ring, pulling his world title belt from the timekeeper’s area, intent on using it against the challenger, and he would succeed. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine!!!! Hangman was up before Bryce Remsburg could count to ten, a wild look in Hangman’s eyes that I just know, if Jim Ross had been on commentary, he would have called him the “wild eyed Southern boy” as he used to do in the early days of AEW. The crowd erupted, and Max sat there in disbelief. Another attempt with the belt, but Hangman would give Max a low blow receipt. This time, unlike many others in his AEW career, Hangman would hold the world title in his hands and finally use it against his opponent and immediately roar in an as-yet-unattained triumph. Too confident. One last time over the ropes to prepare for the Buckshot Lariat, turning once more to the crowd, amping them up, begging them for support. I remember at this point, having already spent minutes upon minutes on my feet in cowboy boots, jumping up and down and screaming, begging him not to ask, because we’re already here, we’re already with you!

© AEW / GIF by Emiliana Rico-Toro

In April of 2025, MJF said that the thing Hangman does best…is choke. As he finally turned to vault himself over the ropes, Hangman was hit by the Dynamite Diamond Ring to the head, one concussive shot too many in this absolute dogfight, and he staggered, feet falling off the apron as MJF yanked once more on the chain, using his foot on the ropes as leverage, the cowboy outsmarted by the man who had made a joke of death. This was it, the last mirrored moment from Hangman to his Texas Death opponents: twice in his Texas Death career, he hanged Jon Moxley. Once to win the men’s world title at “All In: Texas”, where I was also present, and once at “Revolution 2023.” The only time Hangman ever lost a Texas Death match, he was hanged by Swerve Strickland and unable to get up for the ten count. All of those moments in AEW history, culminating in this one. All because Hangman – this overconfident Icarus, clamoring for our adoration, so certain in his ability to invoke the wrath of God – pulled from the Devil’s own history in a moment of hubris, allowing MJF – his foil, his mirror, the only man on the roster who needs this as badly he does – to outmaneuver him. But he would not tap. He could not tap. One can only imagine his thoughts and feelings in this moment as the air was sucked out of him. Did I do everything I could? This can’t be happening. I’m not ready. I can’t stop…I gave them my word.

MJF let go of the chain, allowing Hangman to topple down to the glass-littered floor, hitting his forehead against the camera broadcasting the live feed, a splatter of blood left on the lens. It was gruesome, and incredibly disarming. Bryce started the ten count. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine…Ten. Unlike in the Texas Death against Swerve Strickland, Hangman’s muscles never even moved. There was no indication that he even realized what was happening. He was out for the count. The initial shocked reaction from the crowd gave way to silence. I was completely and utterly deflated. As MJF lay on the mat in exhaustion and the broadcast replayed the finish, Excalibur brought up once again Hangman’s moral compass and the agreement he had made in order to have the match. That he could no longer challenge for the world title again. Though I have not listened to the press scrum myself, it has been reported that Tony Khan stressed the nature of the agreement as a gentleman’s agreement, and that Hangman could break it if he chooses. That gives me hope that he will break it when it’s necessary, and yet – it will mean that he is no better than the Devil he sees in the mirror. The ending shot of the PPV is Hangman lying unconscious on a stretcher, with MJF standing over him, holding the AEW Men’s World Championship for the world to see, and reminding us all who the Devil really is.

While I was extremely disappointed in the result, I was happy I got to see such a great variation of wrestling throughout the night. Some of the results weren’t what I was hoping for (Takeshita losing remains inexcusable), but I wouldn’t say the end to the main event was the most unbelievable. The pacing was a bit strange as well, but the wrestlers gave it their all (yes, even MJF), as they always do. However, it’s the end that will forever stick in my mind. Last summer, I took a road trip in my backyard to see the cowboy redeemed by winning the AEW Men’s World Championship at “All In: Texas” and giving Jon Moxley a Texas Death. This year, I traveled thousands of miles to watch his downfall. And yet it was important to bear witness. I hugged my friends after it was over, but I knew I would eventually come to terms with the decision because it remains undoubtedly clear that the door is open for Hangman to break his word. Unlike others, I’m okay with that, as long as he can keep telling his story the way he wants to tell it. Because that is what it means to be a fan of a storyteller like Hangman Adam Page and others like him: emotional terrorism is all a part of the game we play. No matter what happens, I will always bear witness. I will always be along for the ride. Until – maybe one day – it is my turn to put my heart on the line.

© AEW

AEW “Dynasty” News Update

By Trish Speirs

AEW presented its “Dynasty” PPV from Vancouver, Canada on 12th April. The event marks the promotion’s second visit to the largest Canadian city on the Pacific Coast, with a crowd of 9,081 in attendance according to Wrestletix, which is around the original expectation considering their first visit to the market for a random “Collision” in May 2025 had 6,643 tickets distributed and WWE had 17,417 for their “Survivor Series” PLE in November 2024. It is the first visit by either promotion to the city since that date.

The event was headlined by Kenny Omega making his first ever challenge for the AEW Men’s World Championship on PPV against MJF. With the short turnaround and proximity to “WrestleMania”, it will be this match which drove the PPV buy rate. Whilst extremely unlikely to get close to the Dave Meltzer estimate for “Revolution” of around 170,000 buys, Tony Khan noted that early estimates show that it should continue their streak on being up on PPV compared to the same event in the year prior; a trend that began with last year’s “All In” event. The 140,000 buys estimate for “Worlds End” and “Full Gear” is probably the mark they would look to exceed after building up Omega (and it could be conservative). The only current indications is that it looks to have cleared the mid 120,000s.The show marked the first PPV to not be aired live on TrillerTV in the history of AEW, as the deal between the two parties begins to come to an end.

The main story to come out of the show was Omega’s loss to MJF in the main event, with a finish that is aimed at leaving the door open to another match later this summer. There was a push inside the company for Omega to be belted at “Dynasty” and the belt to be moved into the Omega-Swerve program, whose second match put up the best TV viewership of the year and a massive opening quarter hour. The leaking of that quarterly ratings data, which appeared in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, was not an accident. Having the programs which are secondary to the title program but are still the top performing programs on the show fail to be converted into a world title program has been a criticism and frustration for many performers in the last few years, with people being able to point to the success of Adam Page and Jon Moxley last summer as a reason why it should happen more often. That isn’t the direction they went with though.

The title change to Darby Allin on “Dynamite” on 15th April had been confirmed with multiple AEW sources in the company over the past month and the current expectation is that there could be up to two further title changes between now and “All In”, with the next PPV being “Double or Nothing” in Queens, New York on May 24th. This also does not end Kenny Omega’s chances of going into “All In” as Men’s World Champion either, rather, it increases the odds.

This was a PPV which saw a number of returns to the ring, including Chris Jericho, Adam Copeland and Christian Cage. Jericho, 55, has signed a new multi year deal with AEW after months of speculation over whether he would depart for WWE. The Canadian returned in Winnipeg on April 1st and lost his first match back against Ricochet on this show. Tony Khan, on the pre PPV media call, presented the decision for Jericho to come back to the promotion as a choice between WWE and AEW and it is clear that there was not just WWE interest but also an expectation in some quarters that he would be moving, with WWE sources confirming to us that there were departments which prepared for the potential arrival. Copeland and Cage lost their AEW Tag Team Title challenge to FTR, putting Canadians 1-3 in title matches on the show. The two teams now have one win and loss each between them, leaving the path for a third match alongside the Young Bucks matches which are being heavily telegraphed at this point.

Will Ospreay also made his return to PPV in a loss to Jon Moxley as they look to give him some struggle in the path to “All In”, whilst the Konosuke Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada program was put back on track in the duo’s loss with the Young Bucks. The match was pushed for by the participants in order to get this program restarted after a puzzling few months and it appeared to very much succeed here. The Don Callis Family team here changed in recent weeks, with Okada replacing Kyle Fletcher, after Fletcher’s injury on the March 28th episode of “Collision”. Fletcher, who Fightful reports has suffered a meniscus tear, hopes to be back before Wembley. The Australian being missing meant that his TNT Championship required vacating, with Kevin Knight picking up the belt in a Casino Gauntlet on the show, as Knight continues his upwards trajectory.

Also back was Kyle O’Reilly, who picked up the Trios Championships with the Conglomeration, ending the one day reign of the War Dogs, who had defeated Jetspeed and Mistico on “Collision” the night before. Gabe Kidd was injured in the match, but this did not change the finish, as first reported by Bryan Alvarez. Kidd was initially diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder, with Tony Khan labelling him as out “indefinitely” in the post show press scrum. This has already led to New Japan announcing that Kidd’s match with Yota Tsuji for the Global Championship at “Wrestling Dontaku” was off, with New Japan sources telling us that David Finlay will be the first name that New Japan is looking to approach as a potential replacement.

Fletcher was not the only major absence from this show compared to “Revolution”, with Toni Storm, Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland the other top names not involved in the event. Storm was scheduled to wrestle on March 18th but was pulled from the show for an undisclosed reason and is now expected to be out for the remainder of 2026 at the very least. The change led to Thekla making her second AEW Women’s World Title defense on this show against Jamie Hayter instead. Thekla recently signed a new multi year deal with the company whilst only mid contract on her previous deal; indicating the level of importance she is currently held at by the promotion.

Hangman Page, who lost his stipulation AEW Men’s World Title match with MJF at “Revolution”, has also been off TV since but has plans through to 2027 which were triggered by the loss in the Texas Death Match. Swerve Strickland, last seen losing to Kenny Omega in Minneapolis at the end of March, was reported by Fightful to be away from AEW due to a convention last weekend in Houston and filming promotional material for WBD in the early part of this week in Los Angeles. However, it is our firm understanding at Social Suplex that these are not the reasons for the wrestler’s current absence from the promotion.