7 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Revolution 2024 (Results & Review)

6. World Title Three-Way Is Good...But...

There is no such thing as a good three-way build.

The Hangman Page turn is fun - he's very funny in the role - but this match was only very good when it peaked. Questions must be asked about how the story unfolded, too. Was it over-ambitious?

Was the point missed entirely?

In this tale of deeply personal obsession, the professional goal of pro wrestling was undermined.

As expected, Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland were primarily interested in kicking each other to bits. In a funny and inspired early moment, Samoa Joe bonked their skulls together to remind them to get their heads in the game.

In the first glimpse of the new reality, as utterly fantastic as these three wrestlers are, they were quite simply blown away by Will Ospreay. A lot of the match passed by with action that was very good, but not great enough to meet the standard he had set. It did border on great down the stretch. Happily, it was impossible for these guys not to craft something good. In his own stated individual pursuit of taking Page's spot, Swerve blasted with an awesome Buckshot variation from the top rope. This led to a superb near-fall from the JML Driver.

The finish itself was questionable. Joe slid back into the fray to blast an unaware Swerve with a nasty half-and-half suplex before tapping out Page with the Coquina clutch. Excalibur wondered aloud whether Page had tapped early to deprive his nemesis his big moment. This expected finish was always going to be tricky to navigate. Page had to surrender his chance to advance his arc.

The idea of him actually throwing the match does make one ask what we're doing here. WhatCulture's Adam Wilbourn suggested that a helpless Page smile as he drifted into unconsciousness. There was nothing he could do to win himself, but he could grin wryly at the silver lining.

That was a far better tweak on what they were going for.