How will AEW Revolution be remembered after that failed explosion?

You know that you have a bad ending to a pay-per-view when clips online about said ending get blocked with a DCMA takedown. Don’t get me wrong, I thought AEW Revolution was a good show, but the last 20 seconds will go down as one of the worst-botched endings to a wrestling show in recent memory.

I cannot honestly think of any other way to remember this year’s edition of AEW Revolution. Sure, there were good matches, including the cinematic street fight match (side note: Did anyone hear Taz at one point open a soda can during his commentary for this match?), but the main takeaway will, unfortunately, be what happened after the main event between Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega.

There were a number of spots and sequences that really brought out the intensity and violence during the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch that I loved. I was on the edge of my seat anticipating how this match would end. After a long and hard-fought battle, with the assistance of Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, Omega retained the AEW World Championship.

The “explosion” brought an otherwise good AEW Revolution show to a disappointing end

Based on my memory of deathmatches like this one from the Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) days, I expected the 30-second timer to appear at any moment before the big explosion happens. An explosion did happen while Eddie Kingston covered Moxley with his body to save his life, but the explosion felt flat like the sparkles the kids get on the Forth of July.

I can’t lie, I burst into tears laughing at the botched explosion. After my laughter wore off, I shook my head and went to sleep. Not only did Kingston look bad selling that spot, but Tony Khan also had to address it on the media scrum following the event. No amount of damage control (even on Being The Elite) can save what the wrestling world saw and even the AEW superfans have to admit that it was silly.

In conclusion, AEW Revolution was a good show that was tampered with an ending that fell faster than The Shockmaster going through the wall. Years from now, the explosion will have a lasting negative impact embedded in the wrestling fan’s eyes and mind just like the Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend Hell in a Cell match.