Revolution 2021

Revolution 2021 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It was broadcast on March 7, 2021. While the majority of the event aired live from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, the tag team Street Fight, which was produced as a cinematic match, was pre-recorded at an undisclosed location in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the second event in the Revolution chronology and was AEW's first PPV event held on a Sunday.
Nine matches were contested at the event, including one on The Buy In pre-show. In the main event, Kenny Omega defeated Jon Moxley in an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch to retain the AEW World Championship. In the penultimate match, Darby Allin and Sting defeated Team Taz (Brian Cage and Ricky Starks) in a Street Fight, in what was both Sting's AEW in-ring debut and first match since competing at WWE's Night of Champions event in September 2015, coming out of retirement. In other prominent matches, The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho and MJF) to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship in the opening bout, and Hikaru Shida defeated Ryo Mizunami to retain the AEW Women's World Championship The event was also notable for the surprise appearances of Maki Itoh, Ethan Page, and Christian Cage, the latter two making their AEW debut.
Tickets for the event sold out in just minutes. The event drew an attendance of over 1,300 people, AEW's largest attended show during the COVID-19 pandemic up to that point. It had an estimated 125,000 buys and grossed more than $6 million in sales, making it the highest grossing non-WWE wrestling PPV since 1999.
==Production==
===Background===
On February 29, 2020, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) held a pay-per-view event titled Revolution. Later that year at Full Gear, AEW announced their next pay-per-view would be Revolution on February 27, 2021, thus establishing Revolution as an annual pay-per-view for the promotion.
AEW moved the event to March 7 after conflicts with the Canelo Alvarez vs. Avni Yildirim bout in Miami on the originally scheduled date of February 27, and had considered March 6, but that date fell through because of a conflict with UFC 259. This will be AEW's first ever pay-per-view to take place on a Sunday.
===Storylines===
Revolution featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Storylines are produced on AEW's weekly shows Dynamite and Dark and The Young Bucks' YouTube series Being The Elite.
At Winter Is Coming on December 2, 2020, Kenny Omega won the AEW World Championship from Jon Moxley with assistance from his close friend and Impact Wrestling's vice president, Don Callis. Over the next few weeks, Omega would make appearances on Impact! and reunite with his former Bullet Club stablemates, close friends, and Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson), who would also make appearances on Dynamite to attack Moxley. At Beach Break on February 3, Omega and The Good Brothers defeated Moxley and Death Triangle members Rey Fenix and Pac. On the February 17 episode, Moxley was again attacked by The Good Brothers and Omega and it was revealed that Moxley had added in a rematch for the championship in the contract that he and Moxley had signed previously for their match at Winter Is Coming; Omega agreed to the rematch, but in order to finally end the feud between them, Omega said the match would be an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch.
Also at Winter Is Coming, Sting made his AEW debut, saving Cody Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, and AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin from a beatdown by Team Taz (Brian Cage, Ricky Starks, and Powerhouse Hobbs). Sting continued to make appearances to save Allin from Team Taz, finally getting physically involved to prevent interference from Starks and assist Allin in retaining his championship against Cage at New Year's Smash Night 2. On the January 20, 2021 episode of Dynamite, the stable's manager, Taz, stated that he wanted to take the fight to the streets, and issued a challenge to Allin and Sting. The next day, it was announced that Allin and Sting would face Team Taz (Cage and Starks) in a Street Fight at Revolution, marking Sting's first match in AEW and his first match in over five years following his retirement in 2016.
On the January 20 episode of Dynamite, a tag team battle royal was announced for Beach Break, with the winners getting an AEW World Tag Team Championship match against The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) at Revolution; The Young Bucks also participated and had they won, they could have chosen their opponents. Chris Jericho last eliminated Daunte Martin of Top Flight to win the battle royal, earning himself and Inner Circle stablemate MJF a tag title match at Revolution. The Young Bucks later announced they would defend the titles against Santana and Ortiz of The Inner Circle on the February 17 episode of Dynamite where they retained to keep them as the defending champions against Jericho and MJF at Revolution.
Also on the January 20 episode of Dynamite, AEW announced a 16-woman, single-elimination tournament to determine the #1 Contender for the AEW Women's World Championship, with the winner receiving a title shot at Revolution. The tournament was broken into two separate brackets, with eight women competing in matches in the United States and the other eight competing in Japan, with the winner of each bracket facing each other in the tournament final on the March 3 episode of Dynamite to determine the overall winner and number one contender for the AEW Women's World Championship at Revolution. The United States bracket began during February 10 episode at Daily's Place. The Japan bracket began February 15 and aired on AEW's YouTube channel, broadcasting from Ice Ribbon Dojo. In addition to Dynamite and YouTube, tournament matches aired on February 28 during a Bleacher Report special, which also featured a six-woman tag team match where the team of AEW Women's World Champion Hikaru Shida, Mei Suruga, and Rin Kadokura defeated the team of Emi Sakura, Veny, and Maki Ito.
On the February 17 episode of Dynamite, a six-man ladder match was announced for Revolution, where the winner receives a future match for the TNT Championship. Cody Rhodes, Scorpio Sky, and Penta El Zero M were announced as the first three participants; they were the first three wrestlers to agree to terms for the Face of the Revolution Ladder match. The remaining spots will be determined in qualifying matches, beginning with Lance Archer vs. Rey Fenix on the February 24 episode of Dynamite.
After being kicked out of The Elite, "Hangman" Adam Page would find himself being courted by The Dark Order to join their ranks, which he refused each time. At the same time, Page was also being scouted by "Big Money" Matt Hardy. On the February 10 episode of Dynamite, Hardy bought out a bar to celebrate their tag team win one week prior and coaxed a seemingly drunken Page into signing a contract to become his manager, with Hardy taking 30% of Page's earnings. The next week on Dynamite, Page revealed he had actually swapped the contract which Hardy unknowingly signed for a "Big Money" match at Revolution; if Hardy loses, Page gets 100% of Hardy's 2021 first-quarter earnings. Hardy then told Page if he claims to be an "honorable man" that he should also put his earnings on the line, which Page agreed to.
On February 26, a men's tag team variation of AEW's Casino Battle Royale was scheduled for Revolution, called the Casino Tag Team Royale. The order of entrants is based on a lottery. Two tag teams start the match, and every 90 seconds, a new team enters. Individual eliminations occur when a wrestler has gone over the top rope and both feet hit the floor; a team is eliminated when both members of the team have been ruled out of the match. The match ends when one wrestler or team is left. The winning tag team earns a future AEW World Tag Team Championship match. Seven teams have been confirmed for the tag team battle royal with more to be announced.
On February 24, AEW announced the signing of Paul Wight to a long-term deal as an in-ring performer and commentator for their upcoming YouTube series Dark: Elevation, alongside Tony Schiavone. Wight made his debut on the March 3 episode of Dynamite in an interview with Schiavone, in which he said he had a "big scoop" that AEW would sign "a Hall of Fame worthy talent that is a huge surprise and a huge asset" at Revolution.
==Results==
;
;
*Pre-Show: Dr. Britt Baker DMD & Maki Ito defeated Riho & Thunder Rosa (14:50)
*The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (c) defeated The Inner Circle (MJF & Chris Jericho) (w/ Wardlow) to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship (17:49)
*Death Triangle (PAC & Rey Fenix) won the Casino Tag Team Royale for a future AEW World Tag Team Championship match (26:45)
*Hikaru Shida (c) defeated Ryo Mizunami to retain the AEW Women's World Championship (15:06)
*Miro & Kip Sabian (w/ Penelope Ford) defeated Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor (7:51)
*Adam Page defeated Matt Hardy in a Big Money Match (14:57)
:*
*Scorpio Sky defeated Cody Rhodes (w/ Arn Anderson) and Penta El Zero M and Lance Archer (w/ Jake Roberts) and Max Caster and Ethan Page in a Face of the Revolution Ladder Match (23:07)
:*
*Darby Allin & Sting defeated Team Taz (Brian Cage & Ricky Starks) (w/ Taz) in a Street Fight (13:52)
*Kenny Omega (c) defeated Jon Moxley in a Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch to retain the AEW World Championship (25:11)
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Jim Ross 
*Tony Schiavone 
*Excalibur 
*Taz 
*Don Callis 
*Alex Abrahantes 
*Dasha Gonzalez 
*Willie Urbina 
*Alain Mistrangélo 
*Norbert Feuillan 
*Günter Zapf 
*Mike Ritter 
;Interviewers
*Alex Marvez	
;Ring announcer
*Justin Roberts
;Referees
*Aubrey Edwards
*Bryce Remsburg
*Frank Gastineau
*Mike Posey
*Paul Turner
*Rick Knox
==External links==
* The Buy In Pre Show Results
* Revolution Results
Category:AEW Revolution
Category:2021 pay-per-view events
Category:All Elite Wrestling pay-per-view events
Category:Events with Battle Royal matches
Category:Events with Ladder matches
Category:Events with Deathmatches