AEW All Out was an overbooked mess of a show, that completely undermined the stellar record of the company’s PPVs. Here’s the rundown.
AEW All Out presented nine matches in total and most of them would have passed as good matches on Dynamite, but on a PPV they were less than fine. Tommaso Ciampa vs Kazuchika Okada was a good match with some great spots and intense action, as you would obviously expect from two of the best workers in the world.
The Persephone open challenge was answered by a surprise opponent in Dani Luna, which was ultimately not a surprise at all thanks to the leaks online. That’s hardly a thing to complain about though, it’s the age we live in, but the match itself was more suited for weekly television than a PPV, and was passable at best. The other women’s match, Willow Nightingale vs Thekla was a great match, complete with action, injuries, and interferences. The same was also true for the Women’s Tag Team Title Match between Divine Dominion and The Brawling Birds. The action was intense and end-to-end, bloody in most parts, and entertaining.
Andrade vs Pac was a very mediocre bout given the insane abilities of both men and how good they are. The TLC match for the tag titles was great, and at this point, if you don’t rate The Young Bucks as one of the best tag teams in the world, then I don’t know what to say to you. The Trios match had a lot going for it but the animosity between Hangman and Swerve took the cake, and perhaps on another day it would have been a better match.
The Main Event Sucked
The main event was something that I genuinely had a lot of interest in. Mainly it was Ospreay’s first title defense since winning at All In and Jon Moxley in the main event scenario is always a treat to watch. That was far from the case with this one though. The Death Riders, United Empire, Andrade, and my dead grandmother all interfered to the extent that it made WrestleMania 40 look like a kid in diapers sucking their thumb.
You don’t usually associate AEW with such shenanigans, but something has changed and the WWE playbook, that even WWE rarely uses nowadays has been implemented. Will Ospreay kicking out of 1800 finishers and two piledrivers that would have put most of us in a neckbrace for the rest of our lives, and somehow managed to come out victorious against the indomitable and fierce Jon Moxley.
I love the Death Riders to death (lolol), but it’s time for either something to happen in the group or for it to disband amicably and never see each other again. The kickouts and the complete disregard for the finishers makes Super Cena look like regular Cena.
At some point you have to realise that kicking out of two piledrivers (could have been more I wasn’t counting) and at least four Paradigm Shifts was a bit of an overkill and it does not in any shape or form make your talent look strong. There will be better days for Will Ospreay as AEW World Champion but this was not the one.
Let’s Talk About That Injury
Oh boy. First up, Tony Khan said Steven Borden is awake, responsive, and his tests have come out positive, so all the best to the guy and a speedy recovery to him.
Now, the important part. IT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED!!!
I mean Borden is only 32 matches into his career, he has barely wrestled on TV and this was his first PPV match. Whose bright idea was it to get him involved in a spot that takes others years to master?
Borden looked completely under-confident out there and it seemed like he did not want to do it at all. He barely stabilised himself before making the jump and was so out of sync with Kevin Knight that the latter had barely gotten his foot off the ropes when Borden was already mid way in the air.
The disaster was bound to happen and the complete should be put on anyone and everyone who approved the spot. Fans, wrestlers, critics, and anybody with an IQ over 10, have repeatedly said over the years that these spots are very dangerous and one day someone or the other was going to get hurt. And that’s exactly what happened!!!
Tony needs to intervene and stop this before someone else gets hurt.
Again, nothing but a speedy recovery to Steven.
AEW All Out Felt Like A Complete B Show
The main problem with AEW All Out was that it felt like a B show, a show that nobody needed, or asked for, but was there, for the sake of…something…I guess.
It was not on the level of some of AEW’s other shows, and let’s be honest here, most of AEW PPVs smash WWE out of the water. Not this one though. All Out was the Saturday Night’s Main Event version of All Elite Wrestling PPVs, and that’s saying something.
From start to finish All Out felt like the PPV that clearly lacked a lot of starpower. And it’s true. There was not MJF or Kenny Omega, Hangman and Swerve were in a trios match and there were not surprise returns or debuts at all, barring one, which was greatly underwhelming. Oh Samoa Joe also returned but that was on the pre-show, so meh.
It was a show that felt like it didn’t want to be there but some forced to make an appearance. All Out dragged on for way longer than it should have and had way too many needless matches.
The general consensus online was largely the same, but if you disagree there’s always Twitter to tell me how much of a sucker I am.
MORE: All Out Vs Worlds Collide: WWE May Be Selling More Tickets, But AEW Is Winning This War
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