After a short-term Adam Page fakeout nearly changed the AEW World Championship picture heading into Revolution, the card remains unchanged heading the biggest show of the month: Samoa Joe will face off against the “Hangman” and Swerve Strickland to see who comes out of Greensboro, North Carolina with the promotion's top title around their waist.

Now to some, this is a pretty open-and-shut case, as, despite Joe's dominance since winning the belt from MJF at Worlds End, Strickland has continued to become more and more popular with each passing month, leading some to believe doing anything but belting him up would be a gigantic mistake, but when it comes to a three-way title match, things have a tendency to get interesting, especially when one performer like Page is more concerned with ending Swerve than becoming a champion.

Discussing his feelings heading into Revolution on an appearance on Q93, Strickland explained why it means so much to become the top star in AEW, as, considering seemingly every major free agent wants to come to the promotion, being the top guy with the top title is a pristine honor.

“Revolution is truly the perfect name for this because that's where we're going to start. That's where I'm looking to start in the wrestling world, a true revolution. All the free agents out there that are looking to have a home, everybody's going to be targeting AEW, I will say that. We welcome that as well. We want this place to grow. We want to showcase the best talent available, the best talent out there and for all of them to want to just assemble here and truly take the sport, the industry, to the next level,” Swerve Strickland told Q93 via Fightful.

“For me to be the number one guy, to be on top of the mountain with all that talent coming in means everything to me. It means something different and truly unique to the company and to the industry, and the industry is going to see that. Everybody else in the industry is going to see that and watch. They're going to watch and pay more attention than they ever have because of not just the talent coming in, but just myself being at the top of that and watching how I operate and move, which I've already been moving for the past year, a better part of like two years. I've always been in a very unique way with Rick Ross and Kevin Gates and going to the Grammys and my music, my podcast. I've always moved in a very unique way. Now imagine what I can do with an AEW World Championship on my shoulder.”

Say what you will about the crossover potential of other WWE Champions, former and current, with Sting and Darby Allin both drawing external eyes to the promotion and MJF having expanded his role outside of AEW with acting roles in The Iron Claw and Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen but Strickland really does bring a lot to the table from a multi-media perspective, with the potential to elevate the promotion for the next few months until Will Ospreay wins it all at All In 2024 at Wembley Stadium – or, you know, some less good idea. Still, whether that happens at Revolution, or at a future show like AEW Dynasty, it's safe to say Strickland's era is rapidly approaching.

Matt Hardy believes Swerve Strickland should win it all at Revolution.

Discussing the Revolution card heading into the big event on his Extreme Life podcast, Matt Hardy gave his thoughts on the AEW World Championship match that should – emphasis on should – be the penultimate match on the card.

While Hardy clearly has experience with Joe and Page in the past, at this point, he believes it's Strickland's time to shine, as momentum has been perfectly built to this moment.

“I’m gonna have to say, I think it’s time to pull the trigger on Swerve. That is what I would say. Is that what’s gonna happen? I don’t know,” Matt Hardy said via Fightful. “There’s no spoilers, I don’t know. I am not in the loop. I haven’t been around TV, I haven’t talked to anybody. I don’t want to know. I would rather be genuinely surprised. As I said before, I think it’s Swerve. I just think it’s the right time. I think if they’re gonna pull the trigger on Swerve, I think now’s the time to do it.”

Asked if he believes Strickland could ultimately lose the belt because of “Hangman's” interference, leading to Joe retaining the title, Hardy said that's possible but in his opinion, it's AEW's job to pull the trigger at the right time and this, he feels, is Strickland's time.

“That’s sensible and logical, I could see that as well. I could also see a scenario where he could also, the roles would be reversed, as opposed to him screwing Swerve, him somehow trying to screw him and somehow costing him the match, and it ended up with Swerve wins, and it drives Hangman nuts, and you still get that one-on-one of Hangman versus Swerve for the title,” Hardy noted.

“I could see that happening too. There’s a couple ways it could go. One thing I do just want to point out, when you have guys that you can tell organically get hot, and the crowd is really behind them and they dig them, and it’s a special moment, here you have even a even more special moment with Swerve. There has not been a black world heavyweight champion [in AEW], so that is a special moment in itself, and this is gonna be a huge show. There’s so much interest in the show because of Sting and Sting’s last match. You’re gonna have a ton of eyeballs on this. If you want to make Swerve, this is the fucking place to make him. If you want to make Swerve, if you are trying to make him a legitimate guy, this is the place to make him. This is the most eyeballs that have been on any show in the last few months. I think this is the time to pull the trigger.”

Should Tony Khan follow Hardy's thought process and give the belt to Strickland, ending Joe's reign at just under 70 days in an effort to make Swerve into the promotion's top star? Well, considering Joe always felt like a transitional champion, it's safe to say his reign isn't going to challenge for MJF's all-time record. Whether that run ends at Revolution, however, is what makes the match incredibly interesting to watch.