7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (February 14 - Results & Review)
Downs...
2. A Bit Of A Waste
The segment booked to build the three-way World title match at Revolution was strange.
AEW advertised that fans would hear from Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page. It was implied that you'd hear from them separately, since you can't account for a promo train, which is premised on unexpected interruptions. Promo trains are contrived enough as it is: an advertised promo train is even worse. The content of the promo train was also uneven, which didn't help.
Samoa Joe's delivery was fantastic as he brushed off the idea of facing two wrestlers. They'll walk in, but limp out. While it probably wasn't a capital idea to bury three-way matches as "dumb" - which they sort of are in a sports-oriented league, since a champion need not be defeated to lose their title - he did so in a way that was funny, comparing it to how "bigger and dumber" everything is in Texas.
Swerve was the second carriage on the train, and said the sort of things he's been saying for a while now - he's put in the work, he's undeniably great etc. He needs a plot development to avoid these retreads, and this segment advanced nothing. The story has been told well, but it feels finished weeks ahead of Revolution.
Hangman entered the fray last, and while a dril reference was delightful to hear on a mainstream wrestling TV show, his motives didn't make a great deal of sense. He's meant to be scrambling to justify his actions, as his sense of morality slips, but this went too far.
Firstly, he said that Swerve didn't beat him and thus doesn't deserve a shot at the belt, even though Swerve was ranked #1 and he didn't best Swerve either. Secondly, Page said to Joe that the Revolution match should be wrestled by the two men who most value the World title. What?
That's all Swerve has talked about forever.
Page is one of the deepest thinkers of his era, but he has a tendency to over-think, and this might have been the case here.