[Since I started watching and writing this, news about PAC’s death has come out. I had already watched and written my thoughts of his match with Andrade, presented here as they were. Also of note, I’m sure everyone knows Steven Borden was injured and the tag match he was in was stopped. There was still more than enough to talk about, so I will.]
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) hosts the eight annual All Out, live from the Now Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. In the main event, newly minted AEW World Champion Will Ospreay faces his former mentor and trainer, the leader of the Death Riders, Jon Moxley, with the championship on the line. Plus, over 25 years since the first match of it’s kind, three of AEW’s top tag teams come together in a match where Tables, Ladders and Chairs will all be legal, as Cage and Cope (Adam Copeland & Christian Cage) defend their titles against both FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) and the Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson). The AEW International Championship will be on the line in a first-time-ever dream match, as Kazuchika Okada defends his gold against Tommaso Ciampa, while Andrade El Idolo will defend the AEW National title against PAC. The AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championships will be defended as the new champions, the Brawling Birds, face former champions Divine Dominion in a Chicago Street Fight, and the TBS Champion, Persephone, will hold an open challenge with her title on the line. The AEW Trios Championships will be defended as Swerve Strickland the New Level (Austin Creed & Kofi) face previous champions “Hangman” Adam Page, Bandido & Brody King. Number one contenders for the AEW World Tag Team Championships will be determined as Darby Allin & Steven Borden face Kyle Fletcher & Kevin Knight of the Don Callis Family, and Thekla and Willow Nightingale will face off one more time, with the winner going on to WrestleDream next month to battle Mercedes Mone for the AEW Women’s Championship.
On the pre-show, three matches are set to kick off the action. An eight-man Tailgate Brawl between The Bang Bang Gang and the combined Dogs/Death Riders will headline the opening hour, along with a tag team contest between Julia Hart and Chicago’s own Skye Blue facing Queen Aminata and Mina Shirakawa. In the opening contest of the night, Jack Perry continues to test himself and prove he is ready to face former AEW World Champions; Perry called out Samoa Joe but has been told to get through Joe’s stablemate first.
+ Cage and Cope (Christian Cage & Adam Copeland) (c) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) (with Stokely) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (Triangle Ladder Match for the AEW World Tag Team Championships): this was indeed a total car crash, but it was an incredibly entertaining one. I feel like I’ll say this a lot but this probably should and could have been the match at All In in Wembley last month, but I can understand why it was saved for here. The things Copeland and Cage are doing at this stage of their careers is crazy, and while these weapons matches are not FTR’s specialty, they each were fantastic here as well. The Young Bucks are in many senses the second coming of the Hardyz, so they fit right into this (as their various ladder matches from history) have shown. I liked this match a lot and consider it the real main event of the show
+ Thekla vs. Willow Nightingale (Winner faces Mercedes Mone at WrestleDream): this was good, albeit maybe one step below their previous encounters. I don’t know to what level Willow’s hand is actually hurt/injured, and how much is storyline, but both of them are so gosh darn fun to watch (and nice to look at…) that I was invested. Thekla might be the best woman wrestling at the moment and considering how many great women there are across the world of professional wrestling, that is a big claim I am happy to stand behind
+ Swerve Strickland & The New Level (Kofi & Austin Creed) (c) (with Prince Nana) vs. Adam Page and Brodido (Brody King and Bandido) (AEW World Trios Championships): this was excellent, and essentially worked as two matches in one. On one hand, I did not overly care for this as a trios contest, but the teases of a proper New Level versus Brodido tag team bout, and the inevitability of more violence between Swerve and Hangman played together perfectly. There was some good ‘comedy’ moments between the teams, with Bandido/Kofi as the highlight for me personally, but even Austin Creed getting a chance to really show what he can do as a wrestler and performer in this match. I enjoyed this a lot, and wish this was the match we got at All In instead of that gosh-awful gauntlet
+ The Brawling Birds (Alex Windsor & Jamie Hayter) (c) vs. Divine Dominion (Lena Kross & Megan Bayne) (Chicago Street Fight for the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championships): after the absolute garbage fest these two teams had in Wembley, my hopes were not high for this but this blew me away. All four women put themselves through hell, including chairs, tacks, barbed wire, and the match felt intense because of it. This was great
+ Kazuchika Okada (c) (w/ Don Callis) vs. Tommaso Ciampa (AEW International Championship): simply put, this was incredible and easily the match of the night. Okada is proving himself, match after match, to be a certified Sports Entertainer who just so happened to also be one of the all time best professional wrestlers in the world. I am a decade-long Ciampa fan at this stage, and seeing him get to cut loose after his lackluster final periods in the WWE has been an absolute joy; I even liked his match against Jericho not too long ago. The shenanigans here were kept to a minimum, and that is how I like it. I think the final stretch of this match might be some of the best stuff I’ve seen in a very long time. Go out of your way to watch this one
+ Persephone (c) (w/ Britt Baker) defends the TBS Championship in an Open Challenge: I enjoyed this a lot, but the crowd was clearly still reeling after the previous tag team finish. The competitors here were in a tough spot, having an ‘open challenge surprise’ reveal after the Steven Borden injury, and I personally would have done this a bit differently, even if things had gone well previously. That said, the match was a lot of fun. Persephone has really impressed me, lately, and it was good to see her in the ring with an actually talented opponent, and not Maya World
+ Andrade El Idolo (c) vs. PAC (AEW National Championship): this was absolutely fantastic, and would have been match of the night if Okada did not fight Ciampa on this same show. PAC’s body type defies his speed, and Andrade has been such a joy since coming back to AEW one has to wonder if he’s not performing as if he knows this is his last chance. Marina Shafir’s involvement actually made sense for once, instead of just being interference for interference’s sake, and I enjoyed it. That fakeout-boot-to-elbow Andrade does is a thing of beauty, especially when his opponent is such a damn good seller as PAC always has been. I loved this, and I hope it does not get overlooked due to the rest of the show
+ The Dogs (David Finlay & Clark Connors) & Death Riders (Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta) (w/ Marina Shafir) vs. The Bang Bang Gang (Jay White, Ace Austin, Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) (with Juice Robinson) (No Disqualifications Tailgate Brawl): this match absolutely over-delivered. From the fantastic pre-match shenanigans, and then the Dogs/Death Riders entrance skits, I was hooked early and it never let up. I could complain about my boy Jay White being stuck in these meaningless team matches instead of running the show like he should and could be, but this was so entertaining I can overlook it this one time. Ace Austin was a huge standout, but I’m a sucker for everyone in the Bang Bang Gang. Get them back on main PPV cards, please
+ Sisters of Sin (Julia Hart & Skye Blue) vs. Queen Aminata & Mina Shirakawa: I’m a sucker for all four of these women, but this was very clearly put together to get Skye Blue, the hometown wrestler, onto the card in some way. I was very critical of the Sisters of Sin being in a throwaway match at All In despite being two-thirds of the Artist of Stardom champions, and that has not changed here. Still, the crowd was into it and all four competitors got the chance to shine
+ Katsuyori Shibata vs. Jungle Jack Perry: this had a lot of good action, though it was quite short even for a pre-show match. I’ll always love Shibata, even as he moves out of his aura-farming persona from the 2010s. Despite its length, this was fun
– Will Ospreay (c) vs. Jon Moxley (AEW World Championship): this was a very, very weak match. I am disappointed to say that I did not enjoy this at all, especially after my boy Omega was so damn good against Ospreay at All In. I was not a fan of this story coming in, and I think I was right in that feeling. No matter how hard the commentators tried, this did not feel like a big deal and I never once was invested in this in-ring action. This was the weakest match on the main card, and probably even worst of the entire event. I did not like this match at all
> Don Callis Family (Kevin Knight & Kyle Fletcher) (w/ Don Callis) vs. Darby Allin & Steven Borden: generally speaking, this was fine. Borden looked good, standing up physically to Fletcher and towering over Darby and Knight. I don’t even know what he was going for when he got injured, but the fact is we all know Allin, Fletcher and Knight are great so it was just an unfortunate accident. I won’t list this positive or negative, but what we saw in the ring was fine
Should you watch this event: Overall, this was probably the best AEW show I have watched in a long time. Aside from the obvious elephant(s) in the room, being Steven Borden’s injury and the death of PAC following this show, I thought this was one of the strongest AEW shows in a very long time with every match feeling important and having stakes. The main event was an utter stinker, but if you stop watching at the end of the ladder match you’ll have a fantastic few hours of wrestling to enjoy.
