AEW Revolution 2026 preview and predictions: 5 big questions for Sunday’s stacked PPV

While the rest of the sports world is enamored with college basketball and filling out their brackets this weekend, the wrestling wing will have all eyes on AEW, as it holds its annual Revolution pay-per-view at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Three of the Uncrowned Horsemen — Kel Dansby, Drake Riggs and Anthony Sulla-Heffinger — are here to sift through this unique bit of madness, answer some burning questions and pick which stars will have their “One Shining Moment” on Sunday.

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Let’s ride!

1. Who has been the bigger star in AEW to this point in their careers, MJF or “Hangman” Adam Page? If you had to build around only one moving forward, who is it and why?

Sulla-Heffinger: It’s about as razor-thin of a margin as you can get when asking who is the bigger star between these two — which is what makes this debate so fun. Considering both are AEW OGs and have held the promotion’s top belt multiple times, I think this question boils down to which moment(s) feel bigger when each are at the top of the card?

For me, that’s MJF. Our Uncrowned teammate Cam Hawkins did a feature this week on MJF and it touches on a couple unique aspects of his past and current title runs, namely how long his first one was and his desire to become more of a traveling champion for AEW. It’s not a knock against “Hangman,” who is excellent, but it felt more like the build to his runs and winning the championship were by far the larger moments than what he did afterward. I think it’s more about what you do with the ball when it’s given to you versus how you got the ball in the first place.

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As far as who you build around, I also think the answer here is MJF, evidenced by his crossover appeal and charisma away from AEW programming. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in AEW’s history who has reached that level of celebrity during their time with the company. It’s an invaluable tool when looking at new opportunities and growth.

Dansby: “Hangman” Page has probably been BOOKED as the bigger star throughout AEW’s history, especially with his long-running story that culminated in the world title win. But if I’m choosing one to build around moving forward, it’s MJF.

His charisma is on another level. Whether it’s his promos, his in-ring work, or his presence outside of wrestling, MJF feels like someone who can carry a company. He’s already crossed over into films, he can sing, and he leans into that larger-than-life personality better than almost anyone in the business. As he loves to remind everyone, he’s better than you, and you know it.

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Riggs: This is one of those “you can’t go wrong with either” questions. The answer is perhaps more about perspective on what someone might want: Lengthy wrestling exclusivity, or overall reach.

Which, when putting it that way, sounds kind of obvious.

MJF has proven to have a broader reach with his budding acting career — then, in the ring, the man is equally as great as it gets. But because of his wider range, building around MJF is simultaneously a riskier proposition. He’s willing to go do his own thing at any given moment, or pursue the most lucrative wrestling option available, regardless of the company — another factor he’s openly admitted to.

So, ultimately, it comes down to star power. As much as I love “Hangman” Adam Page, and believe he’s a top talent across the wrestling landscape, MJF undeniably has more juice worth the squeeze and risk.

2. Do you like the “never challenge for the title again” stipulation in professional wrestling?

Riggs: Not really. And Cody Rhodes’ situation over in WWE caused a lot of my sourness around this particular stipulation.

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There are ways it can work effectively. Ideally, the most effective — at least to me — is being unable to challenge certain people, like Lyra Valkyria’s recent inability to challenge Becky Lynch. But doing a certain title overall? That feels like a lose-lose more often than not, because you’re either creating a likely outcome despite the big stakes, or, if it’s swerved, you’ve put a talent in a promotional black hole of sorts.

Dansby: It’s a tricky stipulation, especially when it’s attached to a company’s main title. In a lot of ways, it unnecessarily handicaps a top talent. As Drake mentioned, a better version of the idea is when the stipulation is tied to a specific champion, meaning the challenger can’t compete for the title as long as that champion holds it.

You can even make it work for a midcard championship, but placing a permanent ceiling on a main-event star rarely makes sense. Just look at what happened with Cody Rhodes during his final run in AEW. It also tends to give away the result, because the champion almost always ends up dropping the belt in these situations.

Sulla-Heffinger: There are a few reasons I don’t like it. First, it either handcuffs one of your talents from a creative standpoint, potentially limiting their ceiling. Second, it could telegraph the outcome, especially if it involves top-tier talent like it does in this case.

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Finally, I don’t love breaking this stipulation out so early in a program.

Yes, I understand MJF and “Hangman” have years of history, but this AEW World Championship feud is new — as I mentioned above, it’s all about the chase for “Hangman.” This feels a little short-sighted.

3. Toni Storm is in a match with Marina Shafir and Mercedes Moné has been away from AEW for some time now. Does AEW have a hole at the top of its women’s division, or does Thekla vs. Kris Statlander feel big enough for the top title?

Dansby: AEW has used this stretch to test a few new names near the top of the division, which isn’t necessarily a bad idea. But as the summer approaches, it’s probably time to reestablish the strongest contenders around the Women’s World Championship.

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Toni Storm reclaiming the title at some point feels like the logical direction. Meanwhile, Mercedes Moné’s story should take a bit longer to develop. The most interesting path would be for her to lose the various belts she’s collected across promotions, let that frustration drive her a little unhinged, and spark a new obsession with the one title that’s eluded her so far — the AEW Women’s Championship.

Sulla-Heffinger: I won’t say there’s a hole, because there’s obviously excellent talent at the top with both Statlander and Thekla, but I do think we’re experiencing a bit of a comedown from what had been a truly remarkable run for AEW’s women for essentially the past two years.

I also think, not unlike what is going on in WWE, the focus on the relatively new AEW Women’s Tag Team Championship has shifted the spotlight a bit — in a good way.

Statlander and Thekla will put together an excellent match and it could catapult them into that Storm-Moné stratosphere, but this one just doesn’t quite have that star power just yet.

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Riggs: Both can be true. There is a hole with the absence of those two in a major title pursuit, but Thekla and “Big Stat Daddy” are great, and they have a proper forever-feud building here.

It’s also good to use this time to maintain the status of Stat and Thekla as equals to the made stars like Storm and Moné. It makes it easy to rebuild or build stories for each, as Stat, in particular, has clear histories with Storm and Moné. This is a necessary “break period,” especially to avoid fatigue, which the community already felt toward Moné.

4. Last year’s Revolution card featured two MOTY candidates in “The Hollywood Ending” and Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher. Is there any match on this card that can reach those heights?

Sulla-Heffinger: Special things happen when FTR and The Young Bucks share the ring, so that is one I believe will be on the short list for best tag-team matches of 2026. Beyond that, Jon Moxley and Konosuke Takeshita having no time limit after their match at Grand Slam last month has the makings for an instant classic and Andrade has unlocked something that I haven’t seen from him since his NXT days.

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All of that said, answering the actual question posed here: No, as great as these matches might be, I think we saw an iconic event last year and it’ll be hard to meet that same goal.

Riggs: Any “Hangman” Texas Death Match has that potential. It doesn’t matter who it’s against. Throw in MJF, who we’ve already seen crush it in stipulation matches, and we’re bound to see something epic once again.

That’s your obvious choice, but don’t sleep on Jon Moxley vs. Takeshita and Bandido vs. Andrade either. This feels like the proper time for all parties to bring the house down.

That’s without even mentioning another guaranteed banger between FTR and the Young Bucks. No misses to be expected, folks. Buckle up.

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Dansby: At this point, it almost feels like every AEW pay-per-view produces at least one Match of the Year candidate, so I’d say there’s a good chance something on this show reaches that level.

The “Hangman” vs. MJF death match feels like the obvious contender. That has five-star chaos and plenty of blood written all over it. At the same time, FTR vs. Young Bucks is always capable of reminding everyone just how great tag-team wrestling can be when those two teams are in the ring together.

5. Will the 21-person Blackjack Battle Royale be a hit or a bust?

Dansby: Battle royales can be hit or miss, and they often end up feeling a little underwhelming. But this one has the potential to be fun if AEW uses it to introduce a few surprises.

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Ideally, it should help elevate a new name into the main-event conversation.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bobby Lashley return in the match as well — and if he does, he feels like a strong candidate to win the whole thing.

Riggs: Kel is on point that this match feels due for a big return or debut — or at least something significant.

At the same time, it’s difficult to imagine a believable surprise popping up at the present moment, at least around someone new showing up. The match definitely serves its purpose, though. And after another bust of a WWE Royal Rumble, AEW can capitalize by giving the fans what they want.

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Forget the winner, as important as that is. WWE really lobbed one up to AEW for an easy delivery here, because as long as some surprises are presented, we’ll have a hit on our hands.

Sulla-Heffinger: Unless there’s some sort of big surprise, I’m going to lean toward a bust here.

My guess is we see Tommaso Ciampa win and set up a feud with Ricochet potentially, which will be very fun to see. It just doesn’t need a battle royale to set it up.

Predictions

• AEW Championship Match: MJF (Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page (Dansby) in a Texas Death Match

• AEW Women’s Championship Match: Thekla (Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Kris Statlander (Dansby) in a two-out-of-three falls match

• AEW Continental Championship Match: Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita (Dansby, Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger)

• AEW Tag Team Championship Match: FTR (Dansby, Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. The Young Bucks

• AEW World Trios Championship Match: The Don Callis Family (Dansby, Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. JetSpeed and Mistico

• Bandido (Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Andrade (Dansby, Riggs)

• AEW Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Babes of Wrath vs Megan Bayne and Lena Kross (Dansby, Sulla-Heffinger)

• Roderick Strong, Orange Cassidy and Darby Allin vs. The Dogs (Dansby, Sulla-Heffinger)

• “Timeless” Toni Storm (Dansby, Riggs) vs. Marina Shafir (Sulla-Heffinger)

• Swerve Strickland (Dansby, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Brody King (Riggs)

• 21-person Blackjack Battle Royale: Tommaso Ciampa (Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger), Bobby Lashley (Dansby)