2022 AEW Revolution results, recap, grades: Adam Page outlasts Adam Cole to retain world title

All Elite Wrestling’s four annual pay-per-view events have become special days for wrestling fans, with the cards consistently delivering high-end action. Sunday’s AEW Revolution was no different, featuring something for everyone, from brutal grudge matches to thrilling championship clashes.

In the main event, “Hangman” Adam Page was able to outlast Adam Cole to retain the AEW world championship. Cole gave Page nearly everything he could handle and even got a bit of help from his friends from reDragon but ultimately came up short after two Buckshot Lariats from the champion.

The other half of the near-perfect event bookends came in the pay-per-view opener when Eddie Kingston finally won a big singles match in the promotion, beating Chris Jericho in a brutal war. In between those matches came loads of drama, impressive performances and buckets of blood spilled on the canvas.

CBS Sports was with you the whole way through the event, providing updates and highlights as the action went down in the live blog below.

2022 AEW Revolution results, grades

Leyla Hirsch vs. Kris Statlander: As expected, Hirsch focused her attack on Statlander’s arm. Statlander made a big save midway through the match when a Hirsch springboard attempt went awry. Statlander caught Hirsch awkwardly and kept the slip-up from being a match-derailing moment. The two women continued to battle until heading to the ring apron where Hirsch hit a rana to send both women crashing to the floor in the start of a run of big moves to build to the finish. Ultimately, Hirsch got the win when she was sent outside the ring and pulled a turnbuckle hook from under the ring, driving it into Statlander’s face while the referee was looking away. That set up Hirsch to hit a match-winning moonsault. The match found its footing down the stretch but was undeniably clunky in the early going. Leyla Hirsch def. Krist Statlander – Grade: C+

Hook vs. QT Marshall: Hook hit an early judo throw and even drove a headbutt into Marshall’s face before a t-bone suplex and a clothesline that sent Marshall to the outside. Marshall took to some underhanded tactics to try and get the upper hand, landing a shot on the referee break, yanking Hook face-first into the turnbuckles and even clawing at the face. Hook continued to fight back with big suplexes before countering a diamond cutter and locking in Redrum to get the submission victory. Solid enough pre-show match. Nothing special other than everything with Hook feeling kind of special. Hook def. QT Marshall – Grade: C+

House of Black vs. Death Triangle: The kind of high-octane, big-move showcase you’d expect with the six participants in the match. Moments like Penta Oscuro rolling through Malakai Black to hit Buddy Mathews with a destroyer and Brody King hitting Erik Redbeard with a Death Valley Driver got the crowd fired up heading into the start of the pay-per-view portion of the card. Penta hit Black with Fear Factor on the ring apron and rolled him into the ring for the pin only to realize Matthews was the legal man, allowing Matthews to hit a curb stomp for a near fall and setting up the final stretch of the match. Redbeard was ready to go two-on-one against Matthews and Black and was about to chokeslam Black, only to be hit with black mist to the face. That allowed King to hit Redbeard with a piledriver for the win. A really good trios match that showcased everyone and only had a few awkward spots (mostly involving Redbeard). House of Black def. Death Triangle – Grade: B+

Chris Jericho vs. Eddie Kingston: Kingston landed a half-and-half suplex seconds after the bell rang, dropping Jericho on the top of his head. Jericho tried to roll out of the ring but Kingston followed him, trying to relentlessly bring the fight. Jericho fought back by working on the previously-injured eye of Kingston. The brutality continued to build with furious chop battles and big suplexes, including Jericho returning the favor of Kingston having dumped him on his head to start the match. Jericho locked in the Walls of Jericho, drawing a massive pop from the crowd when Kingston managed to grab the ropes for the escape. Jericho got caught up in an argument with the referee, allowing Kingston to hit the spinning backfist for a near fall. Jericho came right back with a Codebreaker for his own near fall. Jericho went for the knockout with his back elbow but instead ate two backfists from Kingston before Kingston locked in a stretch plum to force the tap, finally getting a big victory. After the match, Jericho refused to shake Kingston’s hand after vowing he would do so if Kingston defeated him. The best kind of wrestling is when two guys engage in pure brutality. Kingston vs. Jericho was the best kind of wrestling, if not quite perfect. Eddie Kingston def. Chris Jericho – Grade: A-

AEW Tag Team Championship — Jurassic Express (c) vs. reDragon vs. The Young Bucks: As expected, the champions were at a disadvantage early, with reDragon and the Bucks working together to try and take out the big threat of Luchasaurus. Some cracks in the alliance began to show early with both teams breaking up pin attempts on Jungle Boy. Jungle Boy was kept in peril for a long stretch before making the tho tag to Luchasaurus, who quickly and impressively took out all the members of the Bucks and reDragon. After the Jurassic Express comeback segment, both challenging teams finally began to brawl rather than work together. With the match finally settling into each team working in their own interests, the already impressive action amped up with all six men hitting impressive moves until a wild stretch where Jungle Boy hit a shooting star press on Kyle O’Reilly as O’Reilly was held by Luchasaurus before Jungle Boy was taken out by a belt shot by O’Reilly for a near fall. Jungle Boy continued to eat big moves from the challengers, including a BTE Trigger that may have ended the match had O’Reilly not broken the pin, setting up the title retaining Jurassic Express finisher. A match filled with really impressive moments but somewhat dragged down by the awkward story of reDragon and the Bucks having an alliance that really made no sense in the context of a wrestling match. Still, a great spectacle to watch. Jurassic Express def. reDragon and The Young Bucks to retain the titles – Grade: B

Keith Lee vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ricky Starks vs. Wardlow vs. Christian Cage (Face of the Revolution Ladder Match): Cage was the first man to involve a ladder, going right at Lee, Hobbs and Wardlow, trying to take out the match’s three powerhouses. Cage also hit Hobbs with a reverse DDT off the ladder, playing into his history as a participant in some of history’s most iconic ladder matches. Every participant got plenty of moments to shine, with Cassidy especially showing moments of innovation, including skinning the cat while suspended from a ladder held in the air by Wardlow and Lee nearly grabbing the suspended brass ring to win the match. Throughout the match, a confrontation between Lee, Wardlow and Hobbs was teased. That was eventually paid off when the three men battled up the entrance ramp and onto the stage. After Wardlow and Hobbs ripped a ladder in half, Wardlow managed to knock the other two off the stage and through a table below. Shortly after, Starks nearly had the match won when Danhausen jumped in the ring to interfere, knocking him from the ladder. Wardlow then hit Starks with a powerbomb off of one ladder onto another before grabbing the ring to win the match. These ladder matches are hard to compare to regular matches and exist as sheer spectacle. This was a bit sloppier than most but also had some great movements. Wardlow won the Face of the Revolution ladder match – Grade: B-

AEW TBS Championship — Jade Cargill (c) vs. Tay Conti: Cargill nearly hit Jaded moments after the match started, putting Conti immediately on the defensive. After Cargill trash-talked Conti’s “karate s—,” Conti came back with a series of kicks to the face. Conti hit a DDTay for a near fall after Anna Jay interfered, hitting Cargill in the face with a steel chair as payback for Cargill hitting her with a cheap shot at ringside. The challenger almost picked up a win again after a piledriver but could not manage to keep Cargill down. Moments later, Cargill bounced back to hit Jaded and run her perfect record to 28-0. Conti looked strong throughout, getting in plenty of offense and allowing Cargill to show a bit more than her normal TV matches. Solid stuff for a short match. Jade Cargill def. Tay Conti to retain the title – Grade: B-

CM Punk vs. MJF (Dog Collar Match): The story of the match started with the introductions, with Punk’s music hitting only to be cut off by MJF’s. Countering MJF’s trolling, Punk entered to AFI’s “Miseria Cantare” and wearing basketball shorts and a windbreaker, throwing back to his pre-WWE days on the independent scene. The early portion of the match featured the standard choking and yanking with the chain before MJF was able to drive the chain into Punk’s face, opening up the same cut from MJF’s attack earlier in the week. MJF grabbed a microphone and demanded Punk tell the crowd he wanted to quit. The bloodied Punk refused and stormed back, whipping MJF with the chain before attacking his hand. MJF would counter the Go To Sleep into the Salt of the Earth armbar, though he had trouble locking it in because of his injured hand, allowing Punk to lock in the Anaconda Vice to nearly score the submission. The brutality continued to amp up with a methodical approach to everything before Punk hit a piledriver on the ring apron. MJF then introduced a bag of thumbtacks to the match and both men teased going into the tacks before MJF hit a superplex, sending both into the tacks. MJF called for Wardlow, who came to the ring, and said he couldn’t find MJF’s Dynamite Diamond Ring. The distraction allowed Punk to hit the Go To Sleep. Wardlow then “found” the ring and left it on the apron for Punk. Punk knocked out MJF with a punch while wearing the ring, though not before MJF spit in his face. This was a match that will not be for everyone but it was a near-perfect old-school dog collar match, slow and methodical and driving home the benefits of the stipulation: brutality and an inability to escape the other man. CM Punk def. MJF – Grade: A-

AEW Women’s Championship — Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. (c) vs. Thunder Rosa: Baker was borderline disrespectful with her attack early but also leaned into having the support of Rebel and Jamie Hayter at ringside. Baker had an answer for everything Rosa tried to do, repeatedly cutting off the challenger’s attempts to get her offense on track. Rosa finally got rolling a bit only take an air raid crash from the champion. The story of the match continued to play out exactly along those same lines with Baker simply operating a step ahead of Rosa, always cutting off the challenger’s attempts to build momentum. When Rosa managed to hit a tombstone piledriver, Rebel jumped on the ring apron to distract the referee from making the count. Hayter then tried to help Baker score a cheap victory, throwing the title belt in the ring, where Baker hit a stomp for a two-count. Rosa had a win stolen for a second time when she locked up a straight jacket on Baker, forcing the tap only for the referee to miss it because he was distracted by Rebel again. Rosa left the ring to take out Rebel and Hayter only to be hit by a stomp as she slid back into the ring, scoring the pinfall. The match just did not ever really hit its stride and was quite disappointing considering expectations coming in. Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. def. Thunder Rosa to retain the title – Grade: C-

Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson: While Moxley got off to a solid start, Danielson took over for a stretch as his wrestling skills were a bit too sharp for Moxley to keep up. Danielson also was able to take the fight to Moxley on a pure striking level, hitting chops, running kicks and clotheslines. Moxley slowly drew Danielson into more and more brawling exchanges, finding more success, even both men were busted open from a brawl outside the ring. Moxley was able to find some control after a big clothesline but Danielson quickly wrestled back control with a back suplex from the top rope. The match went into an extended period of both men landing big strikes, even exchanging a long string of simultaneous kicks before Danielson hit a running knee for a near fall after escaping from a Moxley bulldog choke. Danielson locked up Moxley in a triangle choke and landed punches and elbows as Moxley was trapped in the hold. Moxley then was able to get the shock pin, rolling into the choke to pin Danielson’s shoulders to the mat. After the bout, Danielson hit Moxley with a kick and the two brawled until William Regal made his AEW debut, breaking up the fight and slapping both men before demanding Moxley and Danielson shake hands. The match built wonderfully to a pretty brutal finish after a bit of a lackluster middle section. But the debut of Regal stole the show a bit, adding a fun new layer to the storyline between Moxley and Danielson. Jon Moxley def. Bryan Danielson – Grade: B+

AHFO vs. Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara & Sting: With the tornado rules, this was a wildly chaotic match from the second both teams hit the ring. Guevara hit Isiah Kassidy with a Spanish fly from the crowd onto two tables on the entrance ramp in one of the craziest moments of the match. The action continued to spill into the crowd before Matt Hardy took Sting to an entrance area only for Sting to fight him off and hit a dive onto Andrade, sending him through three tables — an incredible moment considering the man is two weeks from turning 63. Shortly after, Allin hit Hardy with a Scorpion Death Drop and a Coffin Drop to score the win. What could have been a basic cooldown match was just wildly chaotic. Also, and again, it featured Sting hitting a balcony dive through three tables like New Jack in ECW. Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara & Sting def. AHFO – Grade: B

AEW World Championship — “Hangman” Adam Page (c) vs. Adam Cole: Page took the fight to Cole early, taking him outside the ring and ramming him into ringside barricade several times before driving his boot into Cole’s head. Cole’s first big comeback saw a focus on attacking Page’s neck and arm, trying to take away the Buckshot Lariat. Page drilled Cole with an apron powerbomb followed by a moonsault from the top rope to the outside. Page tried to follow that flurry of big offense with a Buckshot but Cole slid out of the ring to find safety. After several more momentum swings, Page hit Deadeye to score a near fall. Another near fall came after a tombstone piledriver.

After Page hit a few more big moves and was setting up for a Buckshot again, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly ran to ringside for a distraction. This set up Cole to hit Page with Panama Sunrise on the floor. Fish and O’Reilly served up another distraction when the match went back to the ring, allowing Cole to hit Page with a low blow, followed by another Panama Sunrise and the running knee to the back of the head. Still, Page was able to kick out at two. Cole hit a series of superkicks only for Page to nearly hit the Buckshot again. Instead, Cole hit more superkicks to score another near fall. Dark Order eventually ran to ringside to aid Cole in chasing off reDragon. Page then hit the Buckshot Lariat on Cole but Cole got a hand on the ropes to break the count. A second Buckshot Lariat was enough to finish off Cole after Page hit a few superkicks of his own. A very solid way to close the show. Both Page and Cole delivered and made for a thrilling battle with several convincing false finishes to make for a fun ride for the crowd. “Hangman” Adam Page def. Adam Cole to retain the title – Grade: A-