A Strong Opening
There are many that are calling All Out one of the greatest events of all time, and perhaps the best in AEW history. It’s hard to argue with that and straight from the first match it felt like we would witness a great night of wrestling action.
Miro successfully defended his TNT Title against Eddie Kingston in a hard-hitting match. The promo work in the leadup had been excellent and the match itself used that intensity. Kingston brought a lot of fire and showed of his All-Japan influences.
Miro would have to resort to underhanded tactics with a low blow to retain the TNT Championship. It sets up a rematch between the two and it kept Eddie strong coming out of it. This was perfect to the open the show and the Chicago crowd celebrated Kingston as one of their heroes.
Mox and Kojima
Satoshi Kojima might no longer be in his prime, but despite his age, he still brings a lot of physical charisma to his matches. He and Moxley had a good match with Mox picking up the win after hitting Kojima with two Paradigm Shifts.
The big story to come out of it was hearing Kaze Ni Nare hit and Minoru Suzuki coming out to a big pop. Suzuki and Mox get into a physical contest of trading blows with Suzuki eventually choking out Moxley and hitting him with the Gotch-style piledriver.
AEW Women’s World Title
Britt Baker retained her World Title in a good match against Kris Statlander. There was a cool spot on the outside where Statlander looked like she wasn’t going to make it back into the ring and break the ten counts, but an animated Orange Cassidy that seemed completely out of character roared for her to get back into the ring. I thought it was a cool aspect and adds another element to Orange Cassidy that shows there is much more to him and puts over his friendship with Kris Statlander.
The biggest moment of the match came towards the end where Baker would hit a Pittsburgh Sunrise to Statlander which would play into the closing segment of the show. It was a solid Women’s Title match with the final thirty seconds really taking it up a notch.
All Out in a Steel Cage
The show had already been good up to this point, but when the Lucha Brothers came out to an incredible entrance featuring a live performance of their theme song, a big match feel came over the Now Arena in Chicago and something special was about to come.
There are some people calling this the match of the year, the best match in AEW history and one of the greatest steel cage matches of all time. The Youngs Bucks and the Lucha Brothers delivered something that was very special, a match filled with insane action but more importantly a match filled with emotional drama.
Seeing a bloodied Penta shield his younger brother to the take brunt of a shoe covered with thumbtacks was a classic moment and something that will define what this match was all about.
The crowd were hot for the Lucha Brothers, and they got the happy ending they wanted when the brothers defeated the Young Bucks to end their reign and become the new AEW World Tag Team Champions. My words will never be able to this match justice, but it’s matches and moments like these that are why I became a fan of professional wrestling.
There was a very heart touching moment at the end of the match with Penta embracing with his family.
Casino Battle Royale
The Casino Battle Royal served its purpose in a few ways. It allowed the crowd to come down a bit after the steel cage match, but it also allowed some stories to further advance in the women’s division and give some focus on the wrestlers.
The biggest part of the match was the reveal of the Joker. Ruby Soho by Rancid hit and out came Ruby Soho making her AEW debut. She looked genuinely moved by the ovation she received.
The final two entrances would be Thunder Rosa and Ruby Soho. They had a nice exchange before Ruby would eliminate Rosa and receive a future title shot against Britt Baker. Some people might be upset with Thunder Rosa loosing, but I don’t have a problem with it.
Thunder Rosa should ultimately be the one to dethrone Britt Baker but I don’t think the time for that is now. I think that is something you save and build to at maybe Double or Nothing next year or even All Out next year. Soho winning was a good choice and I look forward to the match between her and Baker.
The Final Fight
MJF trolling the crowd with the Y2J countdown style entrance is why he’s one of the best heels in the business. This was another great match in their rivalry, and MJF once again showed that he can perform in big matches which I think is something he doesn’t always get credit for.
His selling of his back was tremendous, and it led to a great story throughout the match. They teased MJF ending the career of Jericho when he pinned him for the three-count with referee Aubrey Edwards failing to notice that Jericho had his foot on the bottom rope.
It’s made clear to Aubrey what happened, and the match was restarted where Jericho would ultimately put MJF into the Walls of Jericho that would result in MJF submitting. Jericho gets to continue his AEW in ring career and it was a rare singles loss for MJF.
The In Ring Return of CM Punk
This immediately had a big match feel to it. The crowd were respectful of both Punk and Darby but were into everything they did. The match played out like the veteran against the younger wrestler with Punk utilising a variety of holds to try and keep the quicker Darby down.
CM Punk looked great in the match and didn’t really miss a beat. He would pick up the win after hitting Darby with the GTS. Darby isn’t hurt by the loss, if anything having him go back and forth with Punk on a big stage is only going to benefit Darby in the long run and for Punk it proves he still has it and gives him a strong first win in front of his home crowd.
There was a post-match segment with Sting coming down to the ring and showing Punk respect. Sting, Darby, and Punk all stand tall together in a nice past, present and future moment and cement an alliance that could potentially see them teaming with each other later.
Paul Wight and QT
It was short and simple and everything it needed to be. Paul White got the quick win after hitting QT with a chokeslam.
The Main Event
I really enjoyed the World Title match. I thought it was one of the best Christian matches I have seen throughout his career, and it felt like a big world title match. They started the match with a lot of intense fighting on the outside and got straight into the action to make it different than some of the other matches.
Kenny Omega was great as always in big match situations. The only criticism would be the crowd at times not being into it, but it’s hard to blame t them after they have sat through a long-stacked card, and them using a lot of energy in the Punk and Darby match and the steel cage match earlier.
A big part of the story was based Kenny Omega trying to capitalise on Christian’s real life neck issues. Omega would successfully retain his title after hitting a devastating One-Winged Angel from the top turnbuckle.
The American Dragon, Bay Bay
The closing of the show saw The Elite beatdown Christian and Jurassic Express who failed to save him. Kenny talks about how nobody can beat him because they’re either not her, retired or dead. We get a blackout and the music hits for a big pop as Adam Cole makes his AEW debut. Cole aligns himself with The Elite and delivers a superkick to Jungle Boy.
Before Omega can say his farewell, Ride of the Valkyries plays, and Bryan Danielson enters the arena to a massive ovation. He sides himself with Christian and Jurassic Express and the four of them send The Elite retreating as All Out goes off the air.
Overall Thoughts: This was definitely one of the best wrestling shows I have ever seen. The main matches delivered and in particular the steel cage match will go down as a classic and match of the year candidate. The arrivals of Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole, as well as the importance of CM Punk in his first match made the show feel like AEW is entering a new era that will see the company continue to rise