AEW Revolution: Exploding barbed wire death match finale understandably left fans with sour taste

Joe Rivera

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AEW Revolution: Exploding barbed wire death match finale understandably left fans with sour taste image

What a dud. 

Oftentimes in wrestling, the last impression is the lasting one. All Elite Wrestling's "Revolution" event on Sunday night (mostly) delivered fireworks, but it was what happened after the main event that left fans with a sour taste.

After a brutal and bloody exploding barbed wire deathmatch (yes, really) between Jon Moxley and AEW champion Kenny Omega, the ring was set to "explode," but the final effect was nothing more than a Fourth of July showing at your uncle's place.

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To be fair, there's only so much you can do without, you know, actually blowing up and murdering your wrestlers in a ring, and the match did deliver on the brutality and whackiness that fans come to expect, appreciate and accept in wrestling. But the suspension of disbelief can only go so far in a scripted sport, and setting off some sparklers that could be recreated with $5 and some effort didn't leave fans thrilled, and understandably so.

The idea of "under-promise but over-deliver" isn't exactly a thing in a sport in which over-promising is in its DNA. Can the dud be explained away? Potentially. Good promoters and wrestling writers can usually spin bad finishes and events forward, which is what AEW brass was already doing last night.

Owner Tony Khan is taking on the tough task of damage control, seemingly turning the underwhelming pyrotechnics display into an angle, with an explanation on the failed kabooms said to come on this week's episode of "Dynamite."

It's unfortunate that the audience was left underwhelmed with the explosion, because the brawl between Moxley and Omega was one of the better hardcore matches we've seen in years. While the match was a bit more tame than its Japanese counterparts, it once again showed that both Mox and Omega are elite performers at the top of their games.

Still, not everyone was pleased, with some fans in the building yelling "refund" after the conclusion of the show as the last sparkler fizzled out, while others took to Twitter to mock the light show.

Hopefully we get some answers Wednesday night.

Joe Rivera

Joe Rivera Photo

Joe Rivera is in his seventh year with The Sporting News, handling NFL, MLB and some things pro wrestling. A proud-ish Rutgers University graduate, Rivera combines a new-school flair with an old-school soul. He loves dingers, wrestling, comic books, movies, music and really bad puns. He is also a card-carrying BBWAA member and teaches Multimedia Sports Reporting at his alma mater.

You can find him and tweet him @JoeRiveraSN, if you're into that sort of thing.