By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW All In Hits
Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson for the AEW World Championship: An excellent main event to close out the company’s biggest show of the year. The wrestlers created real drama with suspenseful near falls before Danielson pulled out the win. I really could have done without Hangman Page showing up at ringside and causing a late distraction. Does Swerve or anyone else really need an out for losing to Danielson? Sure, it probably sets up a match between Swerve and Page for All Out, but there were other ways to get there. Otherwise, this was a gem and the post match scene with Danielson celebrating with his family was wonderful.
MJF vs. Will Ospreay for the AEW American Championship/AEW International Championship: Another very good match, albeit with one of the most predictable outcomes of the night given that they all but told viewers that Ospreay was going to use the Tiger Driver 91 to win. Predictability isn’t always a bad thing, but I look forward to their next match ideally having a lot more mystery regarding the outcome. Nevertheless, the wrestling was great and the production team did its part to make this feel like a major match by helping make both wrestlers feel like the stars that they are.
Toni Storm vs. Mariah May for the AEW Women’s Championship: The big stage clearly wasn’t too much for these two, as they came through with a really enjoyable match with an outcome that was perfect for this stage in their feud. It was good to see Luther back and he did a fine job of looking devastated after Storm was pinned. I never felt that Storm needed the title given her fun character. I’m all for doing more with Storm and May, but here’s hoping that May will also have other meaningful challengers during her title reign.
Casino Gauntlet match for a future shot at the AEW World Championship: Another good variation of this match. It was filled with big show surprises, most notably Nigel McGuinness returning to the ring for the first time since 2011. It was also a nice touch to use NJPW G1 Climax Tournament winner Zack Sabre Jr., and Ricochet’s debut was certainly newsworthy. The buzz over Ricochet’s debut faded a bit when his last memorable moment was taking a Buckshot Lariat from Hangman Page, and then Christian Cage went on to win the match. I hope they have a good idea for Christian winning because it sure felt flat in the moment, and that’s coming from someone who gets a big kick out of his heel antics. Furthermore, as Jake Barnett pointed out in our same day audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons), Christian’s win also felt like a hand tipping moment regarding the main event outcome in that he already challenged Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship and there was no reason to set up a rematch.
Jack Perry vs. Darby Allin in a coffin match for the TNT Title: Sting’s surprise appearance bumped this into soft Hit territory. The actual match was underwhelming. We’re so used to seeing Allin take a beating and keep fighting that it felt awkward when Perry won so quickly and decisively. It didn’t feel like a major moment for Perry as much as it created the feeling of “That’s it?” Was their match time cut due to timing issues with the overall show? Fortunately, Sting brought the crowd to life. Jake also pointed out in our same day audio review that Sting hilariously walked right past the coffin and left Allin to breathe in the gas fumes while he beat up the bad guys and had his moment. As much as that made for an unintentionally funny moment, it was good to see Sting again for the first time since he retired.
Chris Jericho vs. Hook for the FTW Championship: More of an in the middle than a true Hit or a Miss for the garbage hardcore brawl. The highlight was Taz getting involved at the end. Taz has mostly avoided physicality since he suffered a career ending neck injury, so it packed a real punch when he did something even as safe and simple as applying his Tazmission finisher on Bryan Keith at ringside. Will North American fans join the UK fans in cheering Big Bill?
Overall Show: The first Wembley event felt like a big show that happened to be held in a stadium, whereas the second Wembley event felt like a true big stadium event. Year one was clearly a learning experience. AEW showed real growth the second time around. The key matches felt bigger than last year’s top matches, thanks in part to being announced well in advance and getting better storyline support in most cases. The production team really stepped up their game. The crowd was mic’d well, which is no easy feat for a stadium show. They also had plenty of great shots that showed off the size of the crowd. The exterior stadium shots of the pyro felt very WWE-like in a good way. The use of licensed music in key spots also added to things. There were plenty of big show surprises. AEW is known for having a lot of great matches and yet they have struggled to create memorable moments. They showed real progress on Sunday. With future stadium shows already announced for London, Australia, and Arlington, AEW is entering a new phase. There’s still the key issue of making the weekly television product better and being able to fill stadiums once that novelty wears off. But if All In 2024 is any indication, they are ready in that they showed they understand what makes for a good stadium event.
AEW All In Misses
Mercedes Mone vs. Britt Baker for the TBS Championship: Meh. The company would have been better had this match swapped spots on the card with the AEW Women’s Title match. The action was nothing special. The finish came out of nowhere and felt flat. It wasn’t all bad, but they just didn’t rise up to the big show occasion.
“The Young Bucks” Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson vs. “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler vs. “The Acclaimed” Max Caster and Anthony Bowens in a three-way for the AEW Tag Team Titles: Referee Rick Knox was the star of the match for all the wrong reasons. The guy is just doing his job, but he’s constantly scripted to look like the most incompetent referee to ever put on a striped shirt in any sport. It’s just plain lazy and absurdly repetitive. At this point, these antics doesn’t put heat on the Young Bucks nearly as much as they have become turnoffs for the Bucks’ matches. AEW has several great tag teams and now they appear to be adding the Grizzled Young Vets to that pool. Talent isn’t the problem, the booking of the tag team division is.
The Patriarchy vs. House of Black vs. Bullet Club Gold vs. Pac, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta in a four-way London Ladders match for the AEW Trios Titles: A soft Miss. The belts were hanging too low to the point that it seemed like the wrestlers merely needed to climb a little more than halfway up the small ladder to be able to pull the belts down. Everyone involved worked hard, but this match was hurt by being placed in the opening slot after there were two spot-fest multi-person tag team matches on the undercard. Tony Schiavone had a rare key moment flub when he gave away the outcome by saying “What a moment!” before it even looked like Pac was going to pull one of the belts down to win the match. And I still couldn’t care less about trios or six-man tag team titles.
All In Pre-Show: No, I’m not going to complain about the length of the pre-show. Yes, two hours would be a bit much normally, but it was fine for the company’s biggest event of the year. The production crew filled the time with better content than usual that included interviews and various production pieces in addition to the panel doing their thing. The mixed tag match was fun and Jamie Hayter returning was the highlight of the pre-show. The Miss is due to the “get everyone on the show” tag team matches. The balls to the wall pacing with dives and big spots is just too much for a pre-show. I actually sighed when they started the introductions for the AEW Trios Title match at the end of the pre-show because I was so desperate to see a well paced singles match rather than more big spots. While it’s a nice gesture to get everyone on the big stadium show (and I selfishly enjoyed the all Minnesota finish of one of the tag team matches when Dante Martin pinned Ariya Daivari), it would be better for the main card to just go with a battle royal next time.
Did the bell ring when PAC grabbed only one of the belts?I thought the winner was supposed to grab all three,but I guess it doesn’t matter.
You have a rating for it out of 10, Powell-a-mino?
I’ll try to protect you from the 2 Mike’s in the event it’s not a 10/10.
I couldve watched for free and passed on it. I think Dynamite has been markedly better lately but their ppv’s aren’t calling me.
Maybe I’m just an old crank (ok there is no maybe about it) but if we are raving Danielson/swerve and Roman/Cody I think our standards as fans have really dwindled to “settling”
I know both promotions have multiple PPVs/PLEs every year so we can’t expect every match to be Flair/Steamboat for ability and Hogan/Andre for importance. But lately most “big events” feel a lot more like WM IV than WM3
As I said elsewhere, the Danielson-Swerve match’s outcome was obvious for months since Danielson did all the “I’m ready to retire” and “this will be my last match” suggestions. Still a good match.
Ref’s looking like idiots in AEW, WWE, TNA, ect is SO old it’s ridiculous, and I agree, they need to stop that crap.
As for any Mone match, she’s NOT over, people don’t like her because they recognize she’s a self-absorbed, narcissitic female Punk, and as I predicted, REALLY big mistake and a waste of money signing her.
Rational Mike is in the house! I agree with you on all of this.