Podcast: High Above Ringside

Swerve Strickland is the new no. one contender/AEW

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Undisputed’s official podcast, High Above Ringside is hosted by Justin Barrasso and Francis Connolly–and offers a deep dive into the world of professional wrestling and MMA.

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This week’s High Above Ringside podcast took a deep dive into The Queen of The Ring, the new wrestling film based on a true story about the life of Mildred Burke. There was a lot (yes, a whole lot) of creative license in telling this story, which we discussed throughout the show.

We also looked at Cody Rhodes’ promo from SmackDown, John Cena’s absence, Magomed Ankalaev’s victory against Alex Pereira at UFC 313, and quickly made our AEW Revolution predictions (which are now, as Jeff Hardy would tell you, are obsolete).

Speaking of Revolution, despite a clunky finish to the main event, the show featured some spectacular wrestling. Here are the results:

• Hangman Page defeated MJF

• Mercedes Mone defeated Momo Watanabe to retain the TBS title

• Swerve Strickland defeated Ricochet to become the no. one contender for the world title

• Kazuchika Okada defeated Brody King to retain the Continental Championship

• The Hurt Syndicate defeated The Outrunners to retain the tag team titles

• Toni Storm defeated Mariah May in a Hollywood Ending falls count anywhere match to retain the women’s world championship

• Kenny Omega defeated Konosuke Takeshita to win the International title

• Will Ospreay defeated Kyle Fletcher in a steel cage match

• AEW world champ Jon Moxley defeated Christian in a triple threat that also included Adam Copeland

(And yes, The Rizzler returned to help AJ and Big Justice.)

Orange Cassidy and The Rizzler/AEW

The low point of the night was the finish to the Moxley-Copeland main event, which turned into a three-way when Christian used his guaranteed title shot (AEW’s version of Money in the Bank) to turn it into a three-way. This lacked logic: why not just wait until the match was over, then attack whoever won? But Christian had serve a purpose, as Moxley choked him out for the win, protecting Copeland from taking the finish. I would have much preferred to see Christian’s interference backfire to the point where Copeland got pinned, especially since Moxley is now moving on to a feud with Swerve Strickland (maybe we’ll see a heel turn for Copeland).

Disappointment over the finish converted into genuine excitement when Strickland leapt off a balcony to attack Moxley before the show went off the air. Strickland was positioned as the man to take the belt off Moxley, which should be compelling. The segue to Mox-Swerve also helps understand why the show closed with the men’s world title match instead of the Toni Storm-Mariah May title match, a gory Hollywood Ending falls count anywhere match that served as an outstanding end to their feud.

Toni Storm piledriving Mariah May/AEW

There was also the Will Ospreay-Kyle Fletcher cage match, which, depending on your point of view, was either a poetic violence or obscene. Ospreay walked away victorious, and it will be fascinating to see if this is truly the end to his feud with Fletcher.

A bloody Ospreay in the air against Fletcher/AEW

To no one’s surprise, Kenny Omega also shined, defeating Konosuke Takeshita to win the International title. This was the match of the night, slightly more compelling than Swerve-Ricochet, which was also tremendous.

Omega with his hands around his newest piece of gold/AEW

And I would remiss not to include an unforgettable moment that took place outside of the ring.

Courtesy Twitter

Damaris Lewis, who is part of the new Queen of The Ring film, dropped this gem of a line during a ringside interview with Tony Schiavone.

Happy Monday, everyone.