AEW REVOLUTION PPV MOVIE THEATER EXPERIENCE REVIEW
Kevin Gill
Sunday March 6, 2022
I’ve had the pleasure and honor of working on and attending wrestling events in incredibly unique and diverse array of venues around the world in my life, but I have never ever had the opportunity to experience professional wrestling in a movie theater until All Elite Wrestling Revolution! The location was the AMC Metreon in San Francisco, California and It was something I looked forward to attending all week once I found out it was in my area.
It’s worth noting that AEW has been doing this with JOE HAND PROMOTIONS for some time now, but the first shows were not available in my area, so if you looked into attending in the past, you might want to check availability in your area again via the JOE HAND PROMOTIONS website by entering your zip code when the next AEW PPV is approaching! Now onto my experience!
I arrived at my local theater right on time for the Buy In show and easily slid into my reserved recliner to enjoy the show. My theater offers a bar and the usual mix of snack bar stuff (Pizza, Impossible Nuggets(!) Pretzel Dippers, Ice Cream and those custom Coke machines where you can get creative!) Sadly the bar has been closed since the pandemic and was still not open at this time to my surprise, but thankfully my HAOMING MASK bag contains many resources, and my Tervis Tumbler keeps my ice alive for HOURS!!!!
I was very curious how attendance would be, as historically SF has not been the biggest wrestling town, although that is changing slowly but surely. It was in one of the smaller theaters in the 16 theater complex (almost all of them are the smaller theater at this particular theater) = which also houses the second largest IMAX screen in the country. There was a handful of people there when I arrived, and a few more arrived at the AEW REVOLUTION pay per view was starting, at the conclusion of the BUY IN! In the end around a dozen people including me and my friend attended. It was interesting to note that everyone else came alone, which I don’t include as a jab on the wrestling community, but as an interesting discussion point because to order the pay per view at home was $49.99 and a ticket for the theater was $25. So if you were gonna order the show at home to watch solo, you could save $25 by going to the theater.
The lights were on at the level they usually are during the trailers and stuff playing before the main presentation and as soon as i sat down, it felt like the volume was a lower than you want a wrestling event to be. I spoke to a staffer and I’ll be honest, I was blown away with how gracious the employee was and how eager they were to resolve it. They quickly BOOSTED the volume and it definitely boosted the vibe and atmosphere!
The small crowd was obviously made up of big wrestling fans, and they were all excited to see the show, as was I, because this lineup was absolutely BANANA!!!!!! This show has been, and should be covered everywhere in great depth, and should be watched by every wrestling fan currently, lapsed fans, etc. Just a monumental professional wrestling show with appropriate times for all the matches, top top top top tier wrestlers, long term storylines being built to and reaching exciting crescendos. Everything delivered on every level. It had everything I want in a wrestling show. So I’m not gonna try to summarize that or review the show itself, just the experience.
Big Seats, Big Screen. Big Sound! The fans would react organically to the facets of spectacle they were witnessing on the BIG SCREEN. Meaning when something insane happened, which was often, multiple people would almost involuntarily stand up, or loudly exclaim from their recliner(not chant) HOLY F***, HOLY SHI*, NOOOOOOO!!!!, OHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!, WHAAAAT THE FUUUUU*K, or a “LETS GOOOOOO”, “OHHH MYYY FUC*ING GOOOOD”. It wasn’t done in a performative “LOOK AT ME” sort of way. It was natural reactions multiplied by the excitement and joy that comes with watching a compelling top tier product with an incredible presentation that you are invested in. The big moves, the near falls, the finishes, the moments, the violence, the debuts all got reactions. I thought it was cool that the employee who came in to fix the sound ended up coming back to watch matches throughout the night when they had time, and several other staffers could be seen in the side aisle for several of the big matches which was cool to me.
When you see the craziest shit you’ve ever seen, the most common responses are the ones above. When Orange Cassidy unleashed his kicks upon his opponents, everyone did the “OOH” along with each impact which was cool to experience. It was It all increased the energy in the room, and the pace of the show certainly played its part! It felt like watching a show with friends who like to watch the show and experience it, but not talk over it !!! Which is a massive plus!!!!
It was cool to experience was how much people laugh during a great wrestling experience. It really stood out to me. Hearing the theater LOL when Jim Ross called MJF a DICK, and other moments in ring, on commentary and on the microphone really illustrate how powerfully entertaining a carefully concocted cocktail of violence, athleticism, drama, comedy, and intrigue can be! Watching CM Punk’s love letter to Roddy Piper written in his own blood on a giant screen was unforgettable. Seeing The Young Bucks deliver the goods alongside the incredible Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus and Red Dragon in the Multi- Team was incredible. The Eddie Kingston vs Chris Jericho opener as well as Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson’s masterpiece both were wild to experience in this format…. Danhausen received a big reaction in the theater. Thunder Rosa looked incredible. I felt so proud to see longtime standout wrestler from the area POWERHOUSE HOBBS on a big screen as well!!!! I could go on and on because I enjoyed every match on this show from top to bottom.
There was a small wrinkle when the show cut off during the main event, and it started playing PSA’s for the theater, but after a few minutes we were able to find the manager who got us back on the air within a few minutes. Cool moment was one of the fans pulling up the PPV on his phone and turning it up loud so everyone went over by his seat and watched for a few mins while they got the big screen back in effect. Teamwork makes the dream work!!!
Overall This was a unique and fun experience, I live tweeted a bit about my experiences at @OgKevinGill and fans seems curious and excited about the potential of this type of experience. Others had rave reviews for their experiences viewing AEW shows in theaters in the past with larger and more rowdy crowds. For me, I loved it. I got to sit and watch wrestling on the biggest screen I’ve ever seen it on, and enjoy all my favorite snacks and beverages, while getting out of the house and supporting professional fucking wrestling! What’s better than that? My advice is to give it a try if you have an opportunity, and I have the feeling the more people in the theater, the more fun it feels, so spread the word and turn it into a group outing!
Check out KG on commentary for Game Changer Wrestling this Saturday LIVE from the legendary CenterStage in Atlanta for Game Changer Wrestling!
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