AEW Revolution 2024 HOT TAKE
When it comes to icons, they stand the test of time for a reason.
AEW REVOLUTION: STING'S FINAL BATTLE
Passion.
In the world of professional wrestling, many talented fighters become champions. Many champions become legends. But, only a few professional wrestlers ascend into the stratosphere and remain there forever, rising above all others to become one with the majesty of professional wrestling eternally.
Steve Borden, professionally known to fans the world over as Sting, there's a reason why he was the Franchise of WCW, the heart and soul of that promotion and why he remains, forevermore, one of the most popular men to ever enter the squared circle.
Passion.
There are so many moments where Sting's passion exploded out of the squared circle and touched fans across the globe. From the earliest incarnation of his career, where he and The Ultimate Warrior broke out of Rick Bassman's California Gym to become the Blade Runners in Memphis Wrestling to the moment Sting broke free of Hot Stuff International in Mid-South to the first time young "Surfer" Sting took Ric Flair to the limit in Greensboro, NC, passion was the key.
There were many facets of what made Sting so special. The facepaint, the howls, the Stinger Splash, the robes, the energy, but even when all those bright colors faded over time for Sting's resurgence into the black and white force of nature who battled the NWO with a baseball bat to protect WCW, it was passion that drove him to battle the endless odds.
Over the years, Sting faced off with the greatest in professional wrestling history and lived to tell the tale - from Eddie Gilbert to Paul Wight, from Ric Flair to Hulk Hogan, from Lex Luger to Randy Savage, from Triple H to Seth Rollins, from AJ Styles to Jeff Jarrett, from Abyss to Big Van Vader, from Rick Rude to Terry Funk to The Great Muta - and Sting was the passion threadline, the spine of the book of professional wrestling. From the mid-80s through today, Sting's passion has battled back the ravages of time the same way he's battled back countless villains to win an infinite amount of World Championships.
It was that same passion that carried Steve Borden out of what many assumed to be a permanent retirement to All Elite Wrestling, aligning with Darby Allin and shining a light on this promotion that has railed against the machine. Across the galaxy of AEW, Sting has shocked the world with alliances new and old, competing and performing in the ring well beyond anyone's expectations, diving off balconies and ladders while scoring countless wins with old reliable, the Scorpion Deathlock.
But, as iconic and immortal Sting is, only one opponent could truly end his career - himself.
Sting will compete for the final time at AEW Revolution, returning to the scene of the crime, the same Greensboro Coliseum that housed his legendary Clash of Champions bout against Ric Flair on TBS, sending Sting's popularity soaring like an eagle. On March 2nd, Sting and Darby Allin, who Sting has named his greatest tag team partner of all time, will defend the AEW World Tag Team Championship against The Young Bucks, The Jacksons, who claim to be the best team of any and all eras. Win lose or draw, Sting will walk out with his head held high, competing one last magical time before the city that made him a bonafide superstar - as well as an international TrillerTV that will flock to witness one final chapter in a legendary run that has emitted greatness for over four decades.
Of course, The Jacksons are looking to rain blood on Sting's parade, having recently attacked and beaten not just the AEW World Tag Team Champions but Sting's own sons on AEW+'s Dynamite. Embittered by what they believe is a lack of respect from those who have benefitted from the creation of All Elite Wrestling and drunk on their sense of power and greatness, The Young Bucks are seeking to once more enforce their will by regaining the Tag Team belts and sending Sting out to pasture humiliated and emasculated by a Superkick Party.
Darby Allin has shown the world that he will stop at nothing to score victory for himself, so the question begs to be asked: what insanity will Darby Allin endure in order to make sure his friend and mentor Sting exits on the ultimate high?
What surprises will Sting have in store for everyone when he enters a professional wrestling ring for the final time? AEW Revolution on TrillerTV will reveal those answers and more as Triller, AEW and the world salutes a true icon for the final time as an in-ring competitor.
Sting's career may end but his passion will burn forever.
AW Revolution, airing live for TrillerTV international fans across the globe, will not just feature the celebration of Sting's career, but the following cavalcade of main event attractions:
AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
If there is one thing everyone should know about the reigning and defending AW World Heavyweight Champion, it is that Samoa Joe is a patient man. He's also a dangerous man, ready and willing to snap necks and smash hapless opponents in their heads in a split-second before forcing them to endure the darkness as he chokes them out to retain his championship gold.
Over the entirety of his career, Joe has ruled with an iron fist, a real life Thanos who controlled the cosmos of professional wrestling well before the MCU was a cultural happening. No matter the promotion, Joe has ruled the roost. Even in his rare defeats, Joe has controlled the narrative inside the ring and out.
Since soundly defeating MJF at Worlds End, Joe has taken his time, strolling AEW arenas as if they were his own private jungle, hunting his prey and decimating his challengers. At AEW Revolution, Joe had been waiting to fight one top contender, but instead, he takes two on at the same time, just the way a warrior like Joe craves it.
The war between Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page has threatened to engulf all around it and now, at AEW Revolution, this blood feud threatens to suck the World Championship into its never-ending battle. These competitors may be two of the finest to ever step inside an AEW ring, but their sheer hatred for the other will likely never end, begging the question of whether either competitor will be able to take his concentration off the other in order to somehow take down the seemingly invincible Samoa Joe.
For Hangman Page, this match represents a chance to truly wipe away the slate once and for all, decimating Swerve while also regaining the World title, potentially putting himself back in place at the top of the pyramid, sitting in a throne he has been desperate to regain since losing it at Double or Nothing 2022. Two years of heartbreak, bitterness and sadness will all be encapsulated in one final fight where he can return home a conquering hero.
For Swerve Strickland, AEW Revolution could be the moment where he breaks through and shows the world that everything he can boast about since his formative days in CZW and MLW have not been the words of a braggart but of a prophet. Swerve has slowly and methodically climbed to the top of AEW. His blood feud with Hangman Page may have taken years off his career, but if that career can be climaxed with the World Championship, it will have been all worth it. If Swerve emerges victorious, cue the Prince Nana dance, for sure.
But, for either man to enter that hallowed ground as champion, they will have to face the demons of their past - each other - and still contend with the living, breathing dragon known as Samoa Joe - the Final Boss of professional wrestling. Joe has beaten legends, champions and would-be contenders across the run of his career, but even in the rare moments where he errs and falters, Joe emerges stronger and ever more dangerous.
AEW Revolution will see three warriors at the peak of their craft enter Greensboro live on TrillerTV, but only one champion will emerge holding the most coveted championship in the world in the air.
A NEW ERA BEGINS
While Revolution will celebrate the greatness and the end of Sting's career, it will also officially mark the start of a new chapter for All Elite Wrestling. While everyone is speculating about "Big Business" in Boston, Greensboro will be the site of Will Ospreay officially stepping into an AEW ring for the first time as an official member of the roster.
Over the course of his emergence in Europe before jettisoning to super-stardom in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ospreay went from being one of the most talked about young talents in the world to a fully matured main event superstar. He has scored victories over Kenny Omega, Shingo Takagi, Zack Sabre Jr., Chris Jericho and countless over top echelon fighters but at Revolution, enters a grander fighting stage and seeks to show the world once more why he's come to become one of the definitive combat sports stars of the 21st century.
Ospreay enters the battlefield at Revolution against a most dangerous opponent, Don Callis' prized fighter Konosuke Takeshita. Takeshita has morphed into one of the most feared and versatile combatants in AEW since turning on Kenny Omega and making Chris Jericho's life a living hell. Converted into a true fighting force, Takeshita is looking to show the world that he, not Ospreay, is where the international headlines should be focused. As if he's not dangerous enough, Takeshita can call on the entire Callis family, including Ospreay's former ally in the United Empire, Kyle Fletcher. Could Fletcher provide Takeshita with intel that could lead to this new era careening into an explosive end before it even begins?
Will Ospreay walks into AEW with the reputation of being a brash man ready to shatter expectations and push the envelope beyond expectation. Takeshita has built his reputation on snatching the hopes and dreams of others and crushing them. Which of these stellar professional wrestlers will carve their name in the time capsule at Revolution? TrillerTV fans internationally will soon witness that moment for themselves.
AEW WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!
Deonna Purrazzo has come to All Elite Wrestling with a goal to become the Women's World Champion. Having tested herself against the best across the world and well accustomed to draping herself in championship gold, The Virtuosa has arrived in AEW, seeking to snap arms into submission and out-grappling the most Elite athletes in the world to claim her place in professional wrestling history.
The only problem with that is to achieve history, Purrazzo will have to conquer someone who is absolutely "Timeless" in Toni Storm. The reigning and defending AEW Women's World Champion is offbeat, unique and the queen of black and white cathode rays but one cannot argue with success - and since reinventing herself, Storm has been the literal definition of success.
While one may be off-put by the antics of Storm, her butler Luther and her superfan Mariah May, there is no question that beyond all of that, her pedigree as a competitor is untouched. The problem for Storm is that Purrazzo is equally untouchable as an in-ring competitor, to the point that oddsmakers have battled back and forth over who may have the true advantage leading into this Revolution bout on TrillerTV. It may be that the competitor who slips up first may find themselves prey for the other - but with two women as sterling as Storm and Purrazzo in the ring, who will be the hunter when that time comes? We shall soon find out.
Already announced for AEW Revolution as well is a literal dream match as the Continental Crown kingpin Eddie Kingston brings all the grit and grime of NYC to the ring in defense of his championship against a battle-tested American Dragon Bryan Danielson, fresh off some incredible battles in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Danielson boasts of being the best in the world and obviously has one of the greatest in-ring IQs of anyone in pro wrestling history, but how will that style stand against being punched in the mouth and chopped across North Carolina? It will be two proud men, from two very different and lethal pro wrestling disciplines vying to be King at Revolution!
AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy will march? Walk? Saunder? OK, he'll…whatever.. into AEW Revolution, looking to stick his thumbs up following a successful championship defense against Roderick Strong. Strong, the master of the backbreaker, has recovered from his neck injury and seeks to bring the Undisputed Kingdom a new championship belt to display on their mantle at Kingdom HQ. While Strong is well known for bringing the fight, only a fool would overlook the resilience of Orange Cassidy as he seeks to retain his championship glory…and putting it back into his backpack for safe keeping.
AEW Revolution will feature these and many more exciting main events as Spring is upon us, and so are the Tides of Battle, wars that can only be fought and conquered by the best and most elite combat sports stars from across the world, streaming live to your international TrillerTV devices. The Revolution is upon us, so join TrillerTV or miss the end of a true, magical era as well as so many historic moments yet to unfold in the era to follow. The tag team of TrillerTV and AEW will lock a Scorpion Deathlock on the world at large, so don't miss out on Revolution, March 2nd!
Mike Johnson is the lead reporter for PWInsider.com and has been writing about professional wrestling since 1996. He can be found on Twitter @MikePWInsider and MikeJohnsonWrites.com.