7 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Revolution 2023 (Review)

1. All-Time Classic Headlines

Not to denigrate the legendary Bret Hart, but there's an interesting comparison to be made here.

Per his autobiography, Hart was proud, during his Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII, when he caught a small moment to reflect and realised that he had followed the clock to the very second. Everything he had plotted unfolded with perfect precision.

With 59 minutes elapsed in a 60 minute Iron Man match, Bryan Danielson and MJF generated "Fight forever" chants. "Fight forever!" chants!

MJF and Danielson caught something else last night: a feeling thought impossible.

Bryan Danielson has a long-held goal of working a three hour match. On the evidence of this - a classic match, the architecture of which was a wonder of the wrestling world - he'd sell tickets for it and probably exceed all expectations.

The last 20 minutes were among the most dramatic ever worked in the history of the business. Fans were delighted by the fact that it might have gone even longer. Again: comparing wrestling to a prestige medium is an invitation to mockery, but the plotting here was worthy of Breaking Bad. In the best episodes of that show, it felt like there was no way out for Walter White. The series was at its best when the walls closed in, and you knew he was going to get away with it - there were several episodes and even seasons left - but you didn't know how. Because it was impossible.

Here, MJF was done. It was a predictable match heading in - the man around whom the future of AEW is being built wasn't going to lose his first PPV match - but in those last 20 minutes, you had no idea how. He was done. Bryan Danielson was going to dethrone him. In the thick of the action, he smiled as MJF wept, telling the story of their dynamic with a brilliant visual, because he knew it too. Suspension of disbelief was cultivated to perfection.

The trap MJF had successfully set for Ricky Starks at Winter Is Coming, attempted again here, didn't work. Danielson, the best technical wrestler ever, was simply too accomplished, his repertoire too deep. MJF was also gushing with blood. Minutes 50:00 to 55:00 were unbelievable. The tension was off the charts, and they were simply trading holds on the mat. The struggle elevated this to an immortal, elusive standard. They got the "Fight forever!" chants when they weren't even fighting. They got them when they were selling.

But don't discount the careful plotting of the first 40 minutes.

Through awesome mat exchanges, and one scintillating display of cardio in particular, Danielson had drained MJF's tank. His babyface spirit allowed him to endure MJF's desperate, uncharacteristic high spots in a more spectacular final third. Bryan preserved his own stamina levels at key moments. All of this informed the magic of the twist because Danielson had made himself look unbeatable.

The twist, the how MJF escaped, was so exquisite because it only revealed itself after normal time was up. You literally couldn't see it coming.

As overtime unfolded - and Tony Schiavone's giddiness at announcing it was genius, maintaining a plot thread first weaved when he called MJF a "pr*ck" all the way back in October 2019 - the oxygen tank used to treat MJF found its way to the outside. MJF, in a smash-and-grab, timed his cheating wonderfully. The last act of a desperate man went unseen, and like a true ar*ehole, he finished the job with Danielson's hold.

Five glowing stars.