8 Match Star Ratings For AEW Revolution
2. PAC Vs. Orange Cassidy
A superbly-worked match that the crowd went apesh*t over, this was just fantastic.
It didn't just follow the Orange Cassidy formula - he f*cks around, heel gets pissed, f*cks him up, unlikely comeback - it told that story in such an interesting and powerful way.
Cassidy didn't f*ck around for too long to lean too heavily into comedy. In virtually every AEW Cassidy appearance thus far, the man has grazed the calves of the heel to draw the lunging strike, which he ducks. But PAC, a master, protected himself. He didn't put up with it; he grabbed Cassidy's hands immediately, but Cassidy put him on his ass after a standing switch. This pissed PAC off. They earned the hell out of the usual transition, and the deafening pop, with classic babyface versus heel psychology veiled in that intoxicating irony.
This initiated an inspired sequence in which PAC played along with the Superkick before shoving Cassidy out of his soul. Cassidy used his dormant athleticism to run rings around PAC, and the Bastard's work was as creative as this next-gen pioneer. When he kicked out of a DDT in an exhilarating sequence, he shoved Cassidy out of it at 1.5, fuelled not by instinct nor adrenaline but fury in the face of this chancer.
A technically awesome, pulsating, hilarious, dramatic match that blurred the face/heel dynamic as effectively as that seminal tag, in its own way, this triumph was as fun as it was life-affirming.
This was so outrageously great that it turned Jim Ross around; he bemoaned Cassidy wearing his shades at the opening bell, but popped his t*ts off when he taunted PAC with his beaming smile.
Star Rating: ★★★★¼