All Out 2024
Date: September 7, 2024
Location: NOW Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s the second pay per view in two weeks and we certainly have a big main event tonight. After Hangman Page burned Swerve Strickland’s house down on Dynamite, it’s time to lock them in a cage. Other than that, Jack Perry is challenging Bryan Danielson for the World Title because Jack Perry. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Iron Savages vs. Acclaimed

Bowens chops Bronson in the corner to start and it’s off to Caster, who gets crushed in the corner with a running splash. Caster is whipped hard into the corner again but can’t quite make a Flair Flip work. Instead Boulder hits a middle rope moonsault for two but a top rope elbow misses, allowing the tag to Bowens. Everything breaks down and Billy Gunn drops Jacked Jameson, leaving Caster to plant Bronson. The Arrival into the Mic Drop finishes for Caster at 8:51.

Rating: C. I’m not sure why this match was added as the Savages are about as low on the totem pole as you can get in the tag division. It was a nice little win for the Acclaimed, but this is something that could have easily been left on Rampage rather than here. The Acclaimed didn’t even rap!

Zero Hour: Dustin Rhodes/Sammy Guevara/Hologram vs. Premiere Athletes

Guevara flips over Nese to start but gets caught in the wrong corner for the stomping. A quick shot knocks Daivari down though and it’s off to Hologram to take out all three Athletes at the same time. The numbers game catches up with Hologram and Daivari takes over before Woods throws him outside. Mark Sterling gets in some stomping but Hologram manages a tornado DDT and hands it off to Rhodes for his usual comeback. Guevara hits a big flip dive over the top and it’s time for a parade of superkicks back inside. Some Cross Rhodes put the Athletes down and another hits Sterling. The Final Reckoning finishes Woods at 10:00.

Rating: C. Remember last night when Rhodes and Guevara and Hologram won a six man match? Well they did it again here. There was nothing to see here other than Hologram doing the same stuff he usually does. Rhodes is a double champion including a Six Man Champion, but now he’s in another three man team, giving him three stories going on at once, while how many wrestlers have almost nothing to do?

Zero Hour: Bang Bang Gang vs. Dark Order

It’s a brawl to start with the Gunns being sent outside, allowing the Order to do their pose on Robinson’s back. Robinson fights back and knocks them into the corner, setting up the Cannonball. Austin comes in but walks into Something Evil to give Silver two. Austin fights up again and gets kicked in the face, only to get caught in the Quick Draw. Everything breaks down again and Robinson hits his forward DDT to pin Uno at 7:34.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what there is to say about these matches. They don’t have a story and they’re just put out there to get people on the card and fill in time on the pre-show. The Gang gets a bit of a win but how much value is there in beating the Order? It’s another match that could have, and likely should have, been on Rampage, or just a dark match.

Skye Blue comes out for a surprise and asks if we could have had All Out without her. I’m thinking we could, but Mariah May interrupts. She isn’t going to have her championship celebration in Chicago and insults Blue. They get rather catty with each other with some vague references to being promiscuous until May kicks Blue’s crutch out. Queen Aminata makes the save.

Zero Hour: Beast Mortos/Shane Taylor Promotions vs. Undisputed Kingdom vs. Top Flight/Action Andretti

Taylor punches Bennett down before the bell and officially starts with Dante. It’s quickly off to Darius to slug it out with Moriarty before Mortos comes in to wreck a variety of people. Dante comes in and gets taken down into the corner, with Taylor hitting a splash to crush him rather hard. Dante absorbs some right hands from Taylor and knocks him down, allowing the tag back to Darius.

Everything breaks down and Top Flight teases a double dive, only to have Strong break it up. Taven kicks Dante in the head and hits the Flight Of The Conqueror to take out a Taylor, Bennett and Moriarty. Mortos hits his own twisting dive and it’s back inside for the parade of strikes to the face. Andretti DDTs Mortos but gets release Rock Bottomed by Taylor. Mortos adds a powerbomb to Andretti but Strong steals the pin at 10:57.

Rating: C+. This at least felt a bit more interesting than anything else on the pre-show but it didn’t feel like anything better than a Rampage main event. There was no title shot or prize on the line here and that didn’t do the match any favors. Maybe the Kingdom gets a title shot as a result, but those things are kind of few and far between.

The opening video looks at the show’s major matches.

We recap Daniel Garcia vs. MJF. Garcia is back after MJF laid him out and wants revenge, promising to break his neck.

Daniel Garcia vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Garcia runs in from behind and jumps MJF from behind to start fast. The bell rings and MJF shrugs it off and takes over with a shot to Garcia’s neck. Some choking in the ropes and a belly to back suplex have Garcia down and we hit the cravate as the neck work continues. A brainbuster doesn’t work as Garcia knees him in the head and the crash out to the floor in a nasty landing. Back in and Garcia rolls some neckbreakers but has to block a piledriver attempt.

Instead MJF counters a leapfrog into a powerbomb for two before going after a cut on the forehead. The blood is flowing so MJF loads up the super Tombstone, which Garcia escapes to avoid a bad case of pain. Garcia fights up and fires off a bunch of elbows, only to get poked in the eyes. MJF calls for a brainbuster but gets rolled up for two instead. Back up and MJF hits a heck of a right hand to leave them both down.

Garcia fights up again and they trade German suplexes, followed by a big clothesline to put MJF down. MJF is back up with the Boston crab before switching over to a crossface. Garcia reverses into his variation of the Sharpshooter but MJF reverses into the Salt Of The Earth. MJF ties up both arms and a leg but Garcia uses the free let to make the ropes for the break.

Garcia’s jackknife rollup gets two and he strikes away before grabbing a front chancery. The arm starts to drop but Garcia blocks it because he wants to do more damage. The piledriver only gets two so Garcia loads up the super piledriver, only to get hit low. MJF uses Garcia’s jackknife rollup for the pin at 23:22.

Rating: B. This was a bit better than I was expecting with the right result. I get the idea of wanting to push Garcia, but MJF losing another pay per view match wouldn’t have been the right move. Garcia got something out of just being here, but there was no way you can put him over MJF in a spot this big. Not yet anyway.

Post match MJF offers a handshake but gets kicked low. Garcia hits the super piledriver and leaves through the crowd as commentary feels bad for MJF.

We recap the Young Bucks defending the Tag Team Titles against the Blackpool Combat Club, which is another part of the AEW vs. the Bucks feud over the summer.

Tag Team Titles: Blackpool Combat Club vs. Young Bucks

The Bucks are defending. Matt and Yuta start things off with Matt’s wristlock being broken up and Yuta taking him down for a backsplash. Castagnoli comes in for a double shoulder and a double wishbone has the champs in trouble. Back up and Matt knocks Yuta down, setting up the kicks to the back to take over. The running flipping neckbreaker onto the knee sets up a chinlock, followed by a slingshot legdrop for two.

Yuta fights up and gets over to Castagnoli to fire off the uppercuts in the corner. A high crossbody gets two on Matt but he catches Castagnoli in the ropes. Yuta breaks up the hanging 450 and throws Matt’s kick into Nick’s head. Cattle Mutilation goes on but Nick makes the save with a Swanton.

Castagnoli comes back in and gets caught with the EVP Trigger, with Yuta making a save of his own. The Bucks pump up the shoes but Castagnoli blocks another EVP Trigger. Castagnoli Swings Matt for two but the Fastball Special is broken up. Back up and they try it again, only for Yuta’s splash to hit raised knees, allowing Matt to get a small package for the pin at 15:43.

Rating: B. It was good while it lasted, but there was almost no reason to believe that the titles were changing hands here. If nothing else, the Club already have some titles and the Bucks are not going to have their “epic” title reign come to an end in a thrown together tag match. The action worked, but this felt like a token title defense more than anything else.

We recap Will Ospreay defending the International Title against Pac. They’ve known each other for years and Pac won the title shot before Ospreay won the title. Pac is here to win and be all mean, as is his custom.

International Title: Pac vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay is defending and the fans are WAY into this one at the opening bell. We get the big staredown and Pac rolls outside for the early stall. Back in and a headlock takeover puts Ospreay down for a second. That’s broken up and they both flip over the other for a standoff. Pac knocks him outside and hits a big corkscrew dive to take him down again. Ospreay is right back up and hits his own corkscrew dive, followed by a double knockdown back inside.

They slap each other from the mat until Pac chokes in the corner. It’s already back to the floor with Ospreay being whipped into the barricade a few times. A brainbuster gives Pac two back inside and the headlock stays on Ospreay’s banged up neck. Ospreay fights up again and elbows him to the floor, setting up a Sasuke Special. Back in and a handspring spinning kick to the head drops Pac again.

The Cheeky Nandos Kick is broken up though and Pac hits a DDT into a Liger Bomb for two. Ospreay manages a standing Spanish Fly and the Oscutter for a delayed two to leave them both down again. Pac gets back up so Ospreay kicks him back down before they head to the apron. Another Oscutter is countered into a nasty German suplex, followed by a poisonrana to set up the Brutalizer. With that broken up, the Black Arrow hits raised knees to give Ospreay two more.

The Hidden Blade is countered and Pac hits a rebound German suplex for another near fall. Ospreay kicks him down and the fans are standing. Another poisonrana gives Pac another two and the Brutalizer goes on again. Ospreay powers up and hits his own poisonrana to rock Pac and a running elbow gets two. Pac crotches him on top but Ospreay slips out of a super poisonrana and hits another running elbow for another near fall. The Oscutter loads up the Stormbreaker, which is reversed into a hurricanrana to give Pac two. Ospreay has had it and hits the Hidden Blade to retain at 20:20.

Rating: A-. Yeah you knew this was going to be awesome coming in and they more than delivered. It was one big spot after another until Ospreay knocked him silly to retain. That’s all it needed to be and Pac can more than hang with just about anyone going today. Excellent match here, which shouldn’t be a surprise.

We recap Willow Nightingale vs. Kris Statlander. They used to be friends but Statlander turned on her, likely at the influence of Stokely Hathaway. Nightingale got to pick the stipulation so we’re having a street fight.

Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale

Street fight and Stokely Hathaway is here with Statlander. A chair is brought in to start but Nightingale knocks it out of her hands and hits an early cannonball for two. They go to the apron with Statlander slipping out of a Death Valley Driver attempt and hitting her in the back with a chair. A powerbomb sends Nightingale through the announcers’ table and Statlander puts her on a regular table.

The Swanton from the top only hits table, though Statlander’s legs to hit the moving Nightingale. One heck of a Pounce sends Statlander through the barricade and they go up the ramp. Statlander gets in a suplex and orders Hathaway to bring her a trashcan full of weapons. That works for Nightingale, who grabs a light tube and breaks it over Statlander’s head. Not to be outdone, Statlander gets up and spears her off the stage and through some tables.

They go back to the ring to trade strikes and slams before heading right back to the floor. Statlander grabs a bag of tacks so Nightingale bites the cut on her head. The tacks are poured out and Statlander is slammed onto them, landing in the splits. The Death Valley Driver gives Nightingale two and they go up top, where Statlander grabs a super Spanish Fly.

A discus lariat, with a chain wrapped around the arm, gives Statlander two and Nightingale rolls outside. Statlander whips out a chain and ties them together but Nightingale plants her with a spinebuster. They slug it out again and Statlander hits Staturday Night Fever before choking her out with the chain for the win at 15:02.

Rating: B. It was a street fight with the same stuff you often see in these things. You had the table, the chair, the tacks and a light tube thrown in for the big spot. They beat the heck out of each other and it felt like a war between two people who wanted to hurt each other, but you know a lot of what you’re going to get in this and they didn’t change it up much here.

Will Ospreay is happy to have retained the International Title and knows Ricochet is watching. Cue Ricochet, who gets in Ospreay’s face and says he’ll see him soon.

Continental Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Mark Briscoe

Okada is defending and the challengers all won qualifying matches last night on Collision. It’s a brawl to start with Briscoe being knocked outside, leaving Cassidy to DDT Okada for two. Back in and Briscoe shoulders Okada down before trading clotheslines with Takeshita in the corner. Briscoe knocks him into the corner but Cassidy comes in to send Takeshita outside. Cassidy and Briscoe connect with stereo dives but Okada is back up with a suplex to Cassidy inside.

The Stundog Millionaire staggers Takeshita but Okada dropkicks Cassidy off the top. Briscoe gets the chair for the big flip dive to the floor and goes back inside to chop it out with Cassidy. Okada and Takeshita come back in to suplex both of them down and the fans are rather happy with the villains slugging it out. Okada hits the dropkick but gets caught with the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Takeshita takes Cassidy up for a superplex but Briscoe is there with the Froggy Bow for two of his own.

Briscoe counters the Rainmaker and hits a hard clothesline of his own to put Okada down. Takeshita blocks both the spinning DDT and the Stundog Millionaire before running Cassidy over with the knee. Briscoe is back in with the Jay Driller but Okada makes the save. The Froggy Boy hits raised knees so Takeshita’s running knee gets two on Briscoe. Okada is back in to clean house until Cassidy rolls him up for two. The Rainmaker to Cassidy retains the title at 14:59.

Rating: B. This was pretty much all action and that’s what it needed to be. Okada was working well here but Takeshita felt like the star, as he was all over the place and hitting one big move after another. Cassidy taking the fall is fine enough as he tends to react well to adversity. I’m not sure who takes the title from Okada, but he could be holding it for a long time. Now just get Takeshita something of note already as it is long overdue.

We recap Mercedes Mone defending the TBS Title vs. Hikaru Shida. There isn’t much of a story here, especially as Mone has recently beaten Shida.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Hikaru Shida

Shida is challenging. Mone charges at her to start and hammers away but Shida is back up with some running dropkicks. A Brock Lock has Mone in trouble until she gets over to the ropes. Shida’s running knee gets two but Mone is right back with a Meteora for the same. We hit the early chinlock for a bit, followed by the double knees in the corner to put Shida down again. Back up and Shida manages to send her hard into the corner, setting up a middle rope dropkick for two.

The right hands in the corner have Mone in more trouble but she pulls Shida down into the Bank Statement. Shida fights up and they knock each othe down until Shida comes back up with a knee to the head. Mone is fine enough to hit a sunset bomb into the corner for two as things are picking up. The Three Amigos connect but the frog splash hits raised knees. Shida rolls three straight Falcon Arrows for two of her own but the Katana is countered into a dragon screw legwhip.

Shida is back with a German suplex and a running knee for two but her own knee is banged up. That means the Katana doesn’t quite work so she hits it two more times, with Mone rolling out to the floor. They fight over the kendo stick with Mone being pulled into the post but Shida throws the stick down. Instead Shida tries a Meteora but bangs her knee up again, allowing Mone to hit the Mone Maker (which is somehow getting worse) for the pin to retain at 16:29.

Rating: B-. This was getting good near the end but the stuff with the stick felt kind of out of nowhere. The Mone Maker didn’t look like something that would have finished Shida off but Mone insists on sticking with it for whatever reason. Shida couldn’t have felt like much more of a lame duck challenger coming in after Mone beat her last month, so this was only going to have so much drama.

We recap Jack Perry challenging Bryan Danielson for the World Title. Danielson won the title at All In and has said he’s done when he loses. Perry is the first challenger.

AEW World Title: Jack Perry vs. Bryan Danielson

Perry, who rode to the back in his weird car and met with the Young Bucks, is challenging (and his TNT Title isn’t on the line). They fight over a lockup to start with Perry throwing him down and then slipping away from Danielson on the mat. Back up and Danielson charges into an armdrag but Perry goes outside for a breather. Perry gets back in so Danielson starts in on the arm before hitting a powerslam of all things.

The surfboard has Perry in more trouble but he gets outside before Danielson can stomp his head. A dive takes Perry down again instead but he superkicks Danielson out of the air. The fans are all over Perry as he whips Danielson into the barricade. Back in and Perry fires off some hard chops, setting up a neckbreaker for two. Perry goes up but gets caught in a nasty belly to back superplex. Danielson fires off the kicks and spins him into the LeBell Lock until Perry gets a foot on the ropes.

The moonsault over Perry looks to set up the running clothesline but Perry pulls him into what used to be known as the Snare Trap. Perry switches over to Cattle Mutilation, with Danielson slipping out, allowing Perry to hit a German suplex. They head to the apron where Danielson escapes a snapdragon suplex and they strike it out. Danielson suplexes him to the floor and it’s time for the YES Kicks back inside.

Perry pulls him back into the Snare Trap though, with Danielson making the ropes this time. Danielson kicks him in the head but a running dropkick hits the referee by mistake. Cue the Young Bucks to jump Danielson, including the TK Driver. The Blackpool Combat Club runs in to chase the Bucks off, leaving Perry to hit a running knee for two.

Perry stomps away but Danielson gets up and hits a running knee of his own to leave both of them down. They slug it out again until Perry’s slap just fires Danielson up. Danielson strikes him down and hits the running knee for two so Danielson stomps him in the head. Perry gets to his knees and holds his arms out, allowing Danielson to hit another running knee to retain at 27:02.

Rating: B. It was a good match but it was Perry challenging and it’s going to take more to beat Danielson than Perry’s big move of “DO YOU KNOW WHO MY FRIENDS ARE”. In theory this was just because of the short turnaround between All In and All Out, but Perry never felt like a real threat to the title. At least he got to do his pose at the end though, because he’s just that interesting.

Post match Killswitch comes in to lay out Danielson and here is Christian Cage with the Patriarchy. Jon Moxley gets in the way of the cash-in though and the rest of the Blackpool Combat Club (including Pac) has the Patriarchy turning away. Moxley gets in the ring to hug Danielson and the team poses…until Claudio Castagnoli decks Danielson. Moxley whips out a plastic bag to suffocate Danielson as Pac holds Wheeler Yuta (the only one trying to help Danielson) back. Marina Shafir is here to cut off a referee as the fans chant THIS IS MURDER. Moxley lets go and the team leaves as the bag is ripped off and Danielson is given oxygen.

We recap Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland. Page has become obsessed with Strickland after losing to him over and over. They are set for a cage match, but this week Page burned down Strickland’s childhood home to take this to quite a higher level.

Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland

Unsanctioned lights out and you can only win via pinfall, submission or knockout. Prince Nana is here with Swerve but the dancing is a bit subdued in a nice touch. The brawl is on as the cage lowers and Nana whips out a table. A bunch of other weapons are sent in as the cage is lowered and the bell rings. Swerve hammers away but neither can sent the other into the cage. Page gets knocked down and kicked in the head but Strickland takes too long looking at the weapons and gets caught with a German suplex.

With Strickland down, Page grabs a staple gun, which Strickland takes away and staples Page in the back. Strickland staples a picture of his family to Page’s chest and then his face for a bonus. Page tries to go up, earning himself a chair shot to the face. Something like a Death Valley Driver into the cage has Page in more trouble and Strickland chokes away. They both go up top, with Page dropping down to crotch Strickland on the rope. There’s a ram into the cage to rock Strickland again and Page wraps some barbed wire around the cage wall.

Strickland is sent head first into the wire and is busted open as well. The cut is raked over the wire and Page kicks him in the face. Some chair shots have Strickland down again and the referee tries to step in, only for Strickland to flip over him for a Buckshot Lariat to Page. Strickland chairs Page down in the corner and then launches him head first into the chair for a scary crash.

It’s time to bring out a cinder block (oh dear) and Strickland Vertebreakers him onto said block (or at least pretty close to it) for two. The table is set up and a top rope Swerve Stomp drives Page through it in a huge crash. Page pops right back up and hits a Deadeye for two before whipping out a piece of the burned house. Strickland takes that away too and stabs Page in the head but cries as he looks at it. The distraction lets Page powerbomb him onto the cinder block for two and Page slugs away. That takes too long and Strickland is back up with a toss powerbomb into the cage.

The House Call against the cage and a running knee give Strickland two so he goes to the top of the cage. Well he starts to at least as Page is there to powerbomb him back down. Another Deadeye gets two and Page hits him in the head with a chair. Strickland starts laughing at him but falls down again. Page whips out a syringe and drives it through Strickland’s cheek before hitting a TERRIFYING chair shot to the head (with the camera cutting away) for the knockout at 31:21.

Rating: A-. I’m not sure what to say on this one, but I was feeling Page’s utter hatred of Strickland and wanting to destroy him, which is what he did in the end. Strickland was violent as well, but him laughing at Page in the end didn’t quite feel right after the whole arson thing. Page pretty much had to win here so he can finally beat Strickland, but I’m not sure where things can go from here. For now though, an incredibly violent match, albeit with the syringe being a bit weird.

Post match Page leaves, teases coming back, and then screams a lot to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. Yeah this was pretty awesome with nothing close to a bad match and the two big matches more than delivering. At the same time, it was kind of an odd show as there was very little in the way of title changes, but quite a bit in the way of moves such as the Club’s turn and Page getting his big win. It was a great show once I got into it and beyond the rather worthless Zero Hour. Now just give us some time before the next pay per view because this two week turnaround was annoying. Other than that, check this show out as it’s worth a look.

Results
Acclaimed b. Iron Savages – Mic Drop to Bronson
Hologram/Dustin Rhodes/Sammy Guevara b. Premiere Athletes – Final Reckoning to Woods
Bang Bang Gang b. Dark Order – Forward DDT to Uno
Undisputed Kingdom b. Shane Taylor Promotions/The Beast Mortos and Action Andretti/Top Flight – Powerbomb to Andretti
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Daniel Garcia – Jackknife rollup
Young Bucks b. Blackpool Combat Club – Small package to Yuta
Will Ospreay b. Pac – Hidden Blade
Kris Statlander b. Willow Nightingale – Choke with a chain
Kazuchika Okada b. Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe and Konosuke Takeshita – Rainmaker to Cassidy
Mercedes Mone b. Hikaru Shida – Mone Maker
Bryan Danielson b. Jack Perry – Running knee
Hangman Page b. Swerve Strickland via knockout

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It’s been a bit of a hectic week so unfortunately I’m going to have to do a short form preview.

Zero Hour

I’ll go with Top Flight/Action Andretti to win the three way and the Bang Bang Gang to beat Cage Of Agony, the latter being on the grounds of it’s the Bang Bang Gang vs. Cage If Agony.

All Out

I’m going to go with all of the champions retaining. Mercedes Mone is still way too early, the Young Bucks aren’t about to lose, Kazuchika Okada is going to lose in a big showdown rather than a four way, Ospreay has lost enough recently and even AEW isn’t nutty enough to make Jack Perry a World Champion.

I’ll take Kris Statlander winning the street fight with Willow Nightingale. It doesn’t feel like this story is done yet and that means the villain needs to win.

MJF beats Daniel Garcia. As much as AEW wants Garcia to be a thing, they would be nuts to have him beat MJF.

Finally, Hangman Page has to beat Swerve Strickland. Yes it would be two losses in a row for Strickland, but at some point Page has to actually beat him. Even after burning down Swerve’s house.

Overall, the show has hooked me in a lot more in the last week. It feels more like a pay per view than last year’s lame edition and I’ll certainly take that. On a sidenote: there are five title matches and four of them involve people with a chance to become double champions. That’s as much of an AEW problem as I can imagine and is so ridiculous that it’s almost funny.

All Out 2023
Date: September 3, 2023
Location: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Excalibur, Kevin Kelly

It’s the second pay per view in eight days and this week’s card isn’t exactly strong. In theory the main event is Orange Cassidy defending the International Title against Jon Moxley, which has been built up rather strong. Other than that, we have a pair of Ring Of Honor title matches so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Zero Hour: Other The Budget Charity Battle Royal

Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta, Dalton Castle, Matt Menard, Tony Nese, Kyle Fletcher, Mark Davis, Serpentico, Action Andretti, Darius Martin, Jake Hager, Daniel Garcia, Angelo Parker, Scorpio Sky, Bishop Kaun, Toa Leona, Brian Cage, Hangman Page, Shawn Spears, Komander

The winner gets to donate $50,000 to the charity of their choice. Before the match though, Nese gets in the ring and does his “you’re all fat and need group training” deal. He does some pushups as the bell rings and is promptly eliminated. The Mogul Embassy and Dalton Castle/The Boys get in a fight on the floor, only to have Komander hit his rope walk shooting star onto them all (none of them are eliminated).

Hager tosses Serpentico as Nigel says he’s never actually been in a battle royal. Garcia and Spears have a staredown with the TEN vs. dancing until the Aussies break it up. The Mogul Embassy gets together to dump Komander but the Boys save Castle from hitting the floor. The same Boys drop Parker for the elimination (Parker: “SERIOUSLY?”) but Cage clotheslines Castle out. There goes Martin before the Best Friends chokeslam Cage. Leona tosses Taylor though, only to have Page get rid of Kaun.

Menard and Hager are both out as the ring is rapidly clearing out. Page and Beretta double clothesline Davis out and Sky eliminates Garcia (the fans aren’t pleased). We’re down to six, with Page, Andretti and Beretta squaring off with Cage, Leona and Fletcher. Andretti is sent to the apron and tossed out but Beretta half and half suplexes Fletcher out. Cage eliminates Beretta and we’re down to Page vs. Cage and Leona. The Buckshot Lariat gets rid of Leona but Cage hits a quick neckbreaker. Not that it matters as Page comes right back and tosses him out for the win at 13:13.

Rating: C. This was the “get everyone on the show” deal and the charity thing was a pretty unique way to go. That being said, it’s another battle royal and I don’t know how AEW could possibly run them into the ground any farther. This is their second in three days and that’s a bit much for anyone. At least they didn’t go long and Page winning seemed to pop the crowd so it was hardly some terrible idea.

Zero Hour: Hikaru Shida/Willow Nightingale/Skye Blue vs. Athena/Mercedes Martinez/Diamante

Athena and company are quickly sent outside and start arguing, allowing Blue to hit a big dive. Back in and Shida’s middle rope dropkick hits Diamante but Blue comes in and gets dropped with a gutbuster. Diamante sends her face first into a boot in the corner but Blue slaps Athena in the face. That’s not enough for the diving tag as Athena plants her down for two instead.

The next attempt is enough to bring Shida back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and we get an exchange of strikes to the head. Martinez hits a German superplex on Blue but Nightingale crushes her. Athena hits the O Face but they head out to the floor. Nightingale Pounces Athena into the barricade and Martinez is whipped hard into it for a bonus. Back in and Code Blue finishes Martinez at 8:23.

Rating: C. The sooner they can get Athena into the AEW women’s division, the better. She’s dominated Ring Of Honor for so long and is completely ahead of everyone else around there. Let her come up to the bigger stage and show what she can do with the better talent. Other than that, this felt like a way to get a bunch of women on the show, though having Blue in the Chicago gear made perfect sense.

Zero Hour: Trios Titles: Jeff Jarrett/Satnam Singh/Jay Lethal vs. Acclaimed/Billy Gunn

Jarrett and company are challenging and get a very basketball themed entrance. On the other hand, the champs come out with Dennis Rodman as Caster calls the other team the 2023 Oddities. Hold on though as Gunn has his own referee, so here is Aubrey Edwards. Jarrett and company jump them to start but it’s a quick Scissor Me Timbers to Jeff. The Acclaimed do a pretty bad strut but Jeff gets in a running crotch attack on the ropes to Caster.

Lethal comes in to stomp Caster down in the corner until a suplex gives us a double knockdown. It’s off to Bowens to clean house and Gunn comes in to hammer away as well. That works until Singh is there for a chokeslam to Bowens. Sonjay Dutt offers a distraction but Aubrey Edwards catches Karen Jarrett bringing in the guitar. Aubrey kicks her to the floor as Gunn hits Singh low. Rodman adds a guitar shot to Singh and there’s a Fameasser to Lethal. The Arrival into the Mic Drop retains the titles at 5:56.

Rating: C. Rodman seemed a bit….we’ll go with “off” here and only did one thing. This is probably a match that could have been on Collision or Rampage instead but here it is making this show longer instead. I do like getting the Acclaimed and Gunn out there for a fun enough title match though and it didn’t last long, so this could have been a lot worse.

And now, the show proper.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: Dark Order vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Adam Cole

MJF and Cole are defending and we’re already in with the DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE chants. Silver slugs away at Cole to start but the threat of the double clothesline sends Silver out to the floor. Back in and MJF offers a handshake under the guise of sportsmanship, only to get in a cheap shot on Reynolds (the fans approve). The Kangaroo Kick is loaded up but he gets knocked down with a chair shot behind the referee’s back.

MJF’s neck is banged up and walks out (with help, rather than a neck brace), leaving Cole to fight on his own. Fans: “SINGLE CLOTHESLINE!” Cole is sent outside but cuts off a dive with a jumping enziguri. Back in and Silver kicks away at Cole, setting up a fisherman’s buster for two. Silver snaps off a German suplex for two before Cole is sent outside. Evil Uno gets in a cheap shot on the floor, setting up the jawbreaker into a German suplex for two on Cole.

There’s a double clothesline for two on Cole but he’s back with a kick in the corner to drop Reynolds. Cue the returning MJF to get the tag and clean house, including some right hands and a bite in the corner. Silver falls down and headbutts Silver low by mistake and Uno’s distraction is cut off by a superkick. The Double Clothesline retains the titles at 14:03.

Rating: B-. Honestly, what else were they supposed to do here? There was no reason to believe that the Dark Order was going to win, or really have much of a chance, without some kind of interference so the MJF handicap was all they had. It absolutely did not need to be on pay per view, but it had its entertaining moments.

MJF has to be helped out but here is Samoa Joe for his match. Joe shoves MJF on the way to the ring so MJF charges in for the brawl. Cole, instead of helping, calls out security as Joe grabs a front facelock (AHUH). Security finally gets in to break it up, as I’m trying to figure out where they came up with the inspiration for a shove and a front facelock until the fight was broken up.

Ring Of Honor TV Title: Shane Taylor vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is defending. Taylor slugs him into the corner to start but Joe knocks it out to the floor. Back in and Taylor grabs a powerslam for two but Joe slugs away again. With Taylor on the floor, Joe hits a suicide elbow, only to get clotheslined for two back inside. A hanging Stunner gets two on Joe and a middle rope splash gets the same. They forearm it out until Joe pulls him into the Koquina Clutch to retain at 6:23.

Rating: C. Well that happened. I’m rather glad that they spent time setting up Taylor as the challenger on ROH and then had this match get PPV time. Taylor never felt like a threat and then Joe just choked him out. Joe has held the title for almost a year and a half now and it’s time to find him a serious challenger. Or take the title off of him already.

We recap Luchasaurus vs. Darby Allin for the TNT Title. Christian Cage thinks it’s his and has been as gloriously delusional as ever.

TNT Title: Luchasaurus vs. Darby Allin

Allin is challenging and Christian Cage/Nick Wayne are the seconds. Allin charges right at him and they fight to the floor, with Luchasaurus sending Allin into the steps. Cage wants more violence so Luchasaurus puts the steps on Allin’s back and steps on them. Back in and a spinning side slam gives Luchasaurus two, followed by one heck of a headbutt. Allin manages a quick shot but a springboard crossbody bounces off of Luchasaurus for a crash.

Allin’s rib tape is pulled off and they head outside, where Luchasaurus gets posted. Luchasaurus is put in a chair for the top rope flip dive. Back in and Allin manages a crucifix bomb for two but Luchasaurus sends him flying. Allin fights up again and dives onto Cage, followed by a super Code Red for two. The Coffin Drop is loaded up but Cage blasts Wayne with a chair. That’s enough of a distraction for Luchasaurus to hit a pair of Tombstones and a clothesline to the back of the head to retain at 12:09.

Rating: B-. There is something about seeing Allin throw himself at a monster like a brick wall and it worked well here. I’m glad to see Luchasaurus retaining the title as it means more of Christian Cage’s delusions of grandeur. Good stuff here and it’s not like Allin is hurt by getting mauled by a monster.

Post match the villains grab a chair to load up the Concharito but a bunch of people, including Shawn Spears, make the save.

We recap Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Miro. They’re both big and strong so let’s hoss fight.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Miro

They start fast and it’s a brawl with the slugout going to Hobbs. A running clothesline drops Miro but he knocks Hobbs to the apron. Back in and a dropkick puts Hobbs down again but he pops up for an overhead belly to belly. Hobbs misses a splash in the corner though and there’s a running flip dive off the apron to put him down again. They head back inside and Hobbs drops him again, setting up a chinlock. Miro fights up and hits some running knees before kind of Hulking Up.

A bunch of clotheslines drop Hobbs but he blocks a suplex and goes up. That’s broken up as well and the Machka Kick connects, only to have Hobbs plant him for another two. They slug it out until Miro blocks him with a running clothesline. The Game Over is actually broken though and Hobbs grabs a spinebuster for two. Hobbs loads up his own Game Over but Miro fights out plants him down and grabs the real Game Over for the win at 15:15.

Rating: B+. Oh yeah that worked. This was the definition of a “what you see is what you get” match as two monsters beat the fire out of each other for fifteen minutes until one of them won. There is something to be said about this kind of a hoss fight and my goodness it was a lot of fun. Now just find something for both of them to do already.

Post match Hobbs turns down a handshake and jumps Miro….and here is CJ Perry (formerly Lana, Miro’s wife) to chair Hobbs in the back. The distraction lets Miro make the save but he walks away from Perry (who he says isn’t real), who looks confused.

We recap Kris Statlander vs. Ruby Soho. Statlander can’t beat her, but this time it’s for Statlander’s TBS Title.

TBS Title: Kris Statlander vs. Ruby Soho

Soho, with Saraya, is challenging and gets run over with a shoulder to start. That’s enough to take the fight outside, where Soho sends her face first into the barricade. Saraya gets in a cheap shot to give Soho two and she chokes away in the corner. Statlander hits a clothesline but gets kicked back down for two more. They strike it out for a double knockdown before Statlander unloads in the corner. A running knee rocks Soho but she grabs a belly to back suplex.

Back up and Statlander can’t get Sunday Night Fever as Soho rolls her up for two instead. Soho snaps off a hurricanrana into a DDT into a basement hurricanrana for two more. The Blue Thunder Bomb gives Statlander two but Soho pulls her off the ropes into No Future. Destination Unknown gets two so it’s spray paint time. Cue Toni Storm from under the ring to take it away though, allowing Statlander to hit Sunday Night Fever to retain at 12:12.

Rating: B. It’s amazing what happens when the women are given more time and don’t have a commercial right in the middle. Throw in the lack of spray paint in an Outcasts match and it was that much better. Statlander getting another win is a good thing to see, and now the Outcasts even seem to be imploding to make things that much better. Heck of a match here.

We recap Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks. Ricky Steamboat wanted revenge for Starks whipping him, so he got Starks to agree to a match with the Dragon. By that he meant the American Dragon, as Danielson made a surprise return.

Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks

No DQ strap match with Ricky Steamboat on commentary. Hold on though as Starks jumps him before putting the strap around his wrist and Danielson is beaten down. Danielson is busted open but let’s ring the bell anyway, with Starks going outside to hammer away. Since he’s one of the most professional wrestlers ever, Steamboat is there to explain that Danielson might be a bit out of ring shape despite being in great physical condition.

The whipping continues around the ring but Danielson is back with a headbutt. Starks backdrops him to the apron though and one heck of a strap shot has the blood flying. Back in and Starks gets crotched on top and the whipping is on, with Steamboat being rather pleased. Three dropkicks in the Tree of Woe rock Starks again but Starks gets in a whip of his own. Starks spends too long yelling at Steamboat though and Danielson pulls him into the ring.

More whipping ensues on the bloody Starks but he’s back with a long string of whips back inside. That just fires Danielson up as he shouts about Starks taking a beating. The YES Kicks knock Starks silly but cue Big Bill to jump Danielson. Steamboat pulls Bill off and chops away but gets shoved down. Danielson dives onto both villains, only to have Starks hit a spear for two. The running knee drops Starks again and Danielson kicks him into the LeBell Lock, with strap around the neck, for the knockout win at 16:36.

Rating: B+. There are times when the match needs to be straight up violent and that is what we got here. It was bloody and carnage, with Danielson looking like a monster at the end. Starks needs a win, but it’s ok to have him lose in a crazy brutal match like this one. In addition, Steamboat, who has barely been in wrestling in years, was better than most commentators and even looked decent with those chops. Heck of a match here.

Hangman Page is donating his winnings to the Chicago Public Education Fund.

Eddie Kingston/Katsuyori Shibata vs. Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta

Shibata takes Yuta down to start and goes for the arm, sending Yuta over to the rope. Castagnoli comes in to lock up with Shibata before it’s off to Kingston. The fight heads outside with Yuta hitting a suicide dive and Castagnoli driving Kingston into the barricade. Back in and Yuta cranks on both arms at once but Kingston fights up with an STO.

Shibata comes in and strikes away in the corner but Castagnoli drops him again. A Fastball Special (Rocket Launcher) gives Yuta two but Shibata strikes his way out of trouble. An Indian Deathlock to Yuta and an ankle lock to Castagnoli at the same time has to be broken up. Everything breaks down and Shibata kicks Yuta into a Saito suplex to give Kingston two.

Kingston and Castagnoli strike it out until the Neutralizer gives Castagnoli two more. The Riccola Bomb is escaped and Kingston hits a spinning backfist. The northern lights bomb gets two and Shibata chokes Yuta out. Then Castagnoli hits an uppercut to finish Kingston at 15:26.

Rating: C+. That ending is bizarre to say the least and I’m not sure where they’re going now. Castagnoli has beaten Kingston at least twice this year and that doesn’t bode well for Kingston’s title prospects. There is a strong chance he wins the title at Final Battle, but my goodness it’s not easy to bring myself to care about a title match another three months from now.

We recap Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita. Don Callis needs someone else to throw at Omega so here we go.

Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Don Callis is here with Takeshita. Omega gets struck down to start until Takeshita DROPS HIM ON HIS HEAD with a belly to back suplex. Omega is fine enough to hit a Regal roll on the floor into a moonsault off the barricade. Back in and Omega ties up the legs but Takeshita fights out.

They go to the floor where Takeshita hits a brainbuster, meaning it’s time to load up some chairs. A slingshot dive onto the chairs onto Omega gets two, followed by a Helluva Kick into a Blue Thunder Bomb for the same. Omega fights up with the ax handles to the chest and a missed running knee sends Takeshita outside.

That means the big running flip dive to Takeshita on the floor, followed by a missile dropkick to the back of the head inside. Some snapdragons and the poisonrana give Omega two but Takeshita hits one heck of a lariat for the same. Takeshita reverses something into a kneeling Tombstone for two and they trade more strikes.

A super One Winged Angel is blocked and Takeshita hits a super Blue Thunder Bomb for a rather near fall instead. Omega hits a V Trigger but Takeshita finds the screwdriver. That’s taken away, so Takeshita hits a running knee for two. Another running knee finishes Omega at 22:29.

Rating: A-. This was a heck of a fight with Omega putting Takeshita over in the big match, as he should. Takeshita has been the guy who could be something if he got a big win for a long time and that has now been solved. There is bound to be a rematch and Omega can get his win back there as he gets closer to revenge on Callis. This helped make Takeshita though and that is what he has been needing for a long time now.

Bullet Club Gold vs. FTR/Young Bucks

Wheeler starts in on Austin’s arm before handing it off to the Bucks (THERE is the reaction from the fans we’ve been waiting on) and they take turns on said arm. White comes in to hammer on Harwood, who fires back with some chops. It’s off to Wheeler for a change and Robinson gets to take out his knee.

Some snap jabs have Wheeler in more trouble but he fights back up and hands it off to Harwood. The Club takes him into the wrong corner for the alternating beating though and Robinson is back with the chinlock. A belly to back suplex breaks it up but Harwood gets pulled outside for a drop onto the apron. Back in and another chinlock is broken up, allowing the tag off to Nick.

The springboard wristdrag/headscissors takes down Robinson and Colten and everything breaks down. The threat of a triple superkick sends White into the slingshot X Factor from Matt. Austin is superplex into a top rope headbutt into a top rope elbow into a 450 for two, with Colten making the save. The Shatter Machine hits Robinson and superkicks abound, setting up a BTE Trigger from Harwood and Matt for two on Jay. Then White hits a Blade Runner on Wheeler to give Austin the pin at 21:39.

Rating: B. This was a wild match and they hit a bunch of stuff throughout. I’m not big on the idea of FTR/the Bucks being some new wonder team but there’s a good chance that is just a one off. If this leads to the Club getting another Tag Team Title shot on the big stage, it’s all for the better though, as they have some incredible chemistry with FTR every time they’re out there together.

We recap Orange Cassidy defending the International Title against Jon Moxley. Cassidy has been on a record reign with the title but Moxley is by far his biggest challenger.

International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley

Cassidy is defending and gets blasted in the head to start. The dropkick gives Cassidy a breather but Moxley suplexes him down hard. The flipping Stunner is countered into a suplex toss and Cassidy crashes again. They go outside with Moxley posting him to draw the first blood. Moxley sends him over the announcers’ table and bites at the head, prompting a lot of yelling from the referee.

Back in and a piledriver gets two on Cassidy, meaning it’s time to bite at the cut again. The referee even asks if Cassidy can still go and yes of course he can. Cassidy is back with some DDTs but the Beach Break is blocked. Instead Cassidy hits a PK into the Orange Punch for two but Moxley pulls him into a choke. The armbreaker is reversed so Moxley pulls him into the LeBell Lock this time.

With that broken up, they head outside with Moxley peeling back the floor mats. Cassidy reverses into a Beach Break and they barely beat the count back inside. Back in and Cassidy hits the Orange Punch and a spear of all things gets two. Cassidy goes with the lazy kicks but turns them into much harder kicks, only for the King Kong Lariat to drop him. Cassidy pops back up so it’s another King Kong Lariat into the Death Rider for a very close two. Then Moxley hits another Death Rider to win the title at 19:43.

Rating: B. It was a violent match and felt like Cassidy’s biggest ever, but man alive that result is going to have some people arguing. Cassidy’s reign was mainly against lower level stars and he loses in his first match against a main eventer? That doesn’t so much make me think he’s been elevated to the next level as much as it confirms the status he was in for a long time. Good match and it was time for someone new, but I’m not sure how much Moxley needed this.

Cassidy gets the standing ovation to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was another strong show, though I’m not sure how much a lot if will change the bigger stories going forward. Instead, this show was about having a string of strong matches and there were enough here to carry things on. The only weak stuff was either on Zero Hour or the ROH TV Title match (and maybe the Kingston/Castagnoli tag). It could have gone with being about 30-40 minutes shorter, but you won’t be disappointed with watching the whole thing. The big matches more than delivered though and that’s enough to make this work.

Results
Hangman Page won the Other The Budget battle royal last eliminating Brian Cage
Hikaru Shida/Willow Nightingale/Skye Blue b. Athena/Mercedes Martinez/Diamante – Code Blue to Martinez
Acclaimed/Billy Gunn b. Jeff Jarrett/Satnam Singh/Jay Lethal – Mic Drop to Lethal
Adam Cole/Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Dark Order – Double Clothesline to Reynolds
Samoa Joe b. Shane Taylor – Koquina Clutch
Luchasaurus b. Darby Allin – Clothesline to the back of the head
Miro b. Powerhouse Hobbs – Game Over
Kris Statlander b. Ruby Soho – Sunday Night Fever
Bryan Danielson b. Ricky Starks via referee stoppage
Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta b. Katsuyori Shibata/Eddie Kingston – Uppercut to Kingston
Konosuke Takeshita b. Kenny Omega – Running knee
Bullet Club Gold b. FTR/Young Bucks – Blade Runner to Wheeler
Jon Moxley b. Orange Cassidy – Death Rider

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Well we’re back on pay per view about a week after the last one and that might not be the best idea. The build to All Out, the full week that we’ve had for it, has been a bit lacking, as AEW does not seem to have the most steam coming out of All In. Some of that can be attributed to the CM Punk debacle, but I’m not sure if that is going to be enough to make the show work. There is some potential in the card though and that is a good sign. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Athena/Mercedes Martinez/Diamante vs. Hikaru Shida/Willow Nightingale/Skye Blue

This is some weird ROH vs. AEW style match and that is kid of indicative of how the women’s division has been going as of late. Thankfully the Outcasts are not involved in this one and we should be able to get some focus on some stars who could use the attention. Athena has been on fire in ROH and Martinez can work well with anyone. Throw in Shida and Nightingale and this has some potential.

I’ll go with Blue and company though, as she feels like the definition of someone in this match for the hometown pop. Blue can handle herself well enough in the ring, but the fact that she was in Chicago themed gear on Rampage told me all I needed to know about this one. We should be in for a fun opener, but odds are it gets about eight minutes, like so many women’s matches these days.

Zero Hour: Trios Titles: Acclaimed/Billy Gunn(c) vs. Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal/Satnam Singh

Normally the titles would be enough to drive the interest here but this is almost all about Dennis Rodman being in the champs’ corner. That’s another one pretty much entirely for the Chicago crowd and again, that isn’t a terrible idea. Rodman is going to stand in the corner for most of the match, put a cigar in his mouth, and probably punch Sonjay Dutt. Other than that though, we do have some titles on the line.

In what might be the easiest pick of the night, there is almost no chance of the titles changing hands here so we’ll go with the champs retaining. They just won the titles a week ago and there is no reason to believe that they are going to lose here. Just let the champs get another title victory and move on to whomever is next, though without Rodman after this one time.

Zero Hour: Over The Budget Battle Royal

This is a battle royal with no announced entrants, but the winner gets to make a $50,000 donation to the charity of their choice. That is the kind of thing that could make for quite the mess behind the scenes as AEW gets to pick a charity. Either that or we have the wrestlers all pick the same charity without letting it be known in advance. Now that being said, this is going to be a tricky one to pull off, as we don’t know who is actually in the ting.

Since the other two matches on Zero Hour have Chicago connections, and given the situation that took place this year, I’ll go with Colt Cabana to win the thing, both as a friendly Chicago deal and a big farewell to CM Punk. This is a match that pretty much can’t be previewed due to the whole WE DON’T KNOW WHO IS IN IT, but at least the charity stuff is a nice prize for a change.

TNT Title: Kris Statlander(c) vs. Ruby Soho

Here we have a match that isn’t likely to get much time but could do well for a match that gives the show a chance to breathe. Statlander has been built up rather well since winning the title and has been racking up wins, but that is going to have to end at some point. At the same time, Soho has to actually win something at some point, though I’m not sure if that is going to take place here.

I’ll go with Statlander retaining the title here, though after a rather good match. Soho is someone who can work with just about anyone and should be able to have a solid back and forth match with Statlander. At the end of the day though, the Outcasts having both titles doesn’t seem like the best idea so we’ll go with Statlander retaining, with the champ getting another nice win.

Eddie Kingston/Katsuyori Shibata vs. Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta

This is a match that was added to the card without much fanfare and I’m not sure how good of a situation that is going to be. Kingston vs. Castagnoli has been going on for most of the last five months and at some point, Kingston almost has to win the Ring Of Honor World Title. For now though, we’re stuck here with another tag match, which is likely to help set up Yuta for another Pure Rules Title shot. That’s not the most interesting thing, but here we are anyway.

I’ll take Kingston/Shibata for the win here, as there is really not much of a reason for them to lose. Since the Pure Rules Title shots are pretty much handed out, Kingston getting a pin, likely over Yuta, will keep the feud going. At the very least, we should be on the way to Final Battle for Kingston vs. Castagnoli, but since ROH takes it sweet time, we have to get through something like this on the way there. Kingston and Shibata win here.

Ring Of Honor TV Title: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Shane Taylor

So this is taking place on the AEW pay per view for reasons I do not fathom whatsoever. Taylor has wrestled two matches ever in AEW (both on Dark) and is basically a stranger unless you watch ROH. That doesn’t make for the most thrilling match, though Taylor did win a tournament to get the title shot. We have the potential for a heck of a hoss fight here, and if that is the case, we’ll be good to go.

There is no reason or Taylor to get the title back here so I’ll take Joe to retain. Joe has held the title for over a year at this point and could drop it at any time without losing any status, but I don’t think I can picture Taylor being the one to take the title from him. These guys are going to beat the fire out of each other and that should be a lot of fun, but Taylor doesn’t get the title.

Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks

This is a strap match as the American Dragon is stepping in for Ricky The Dragon Steamboat after a slightly clever tricky contract signing. In this case, Danielson’s return feels like something of a way to calm the fans down after Punk was fired and he might be about as good of an option as there was. The strap thing has kind of been Starks’ thing in recent weeks, so at least there is an idea here.

This one could go either way, but I think I’ll go with Danielson winning, as he might become the face of Collision in a hurry. With nothing Blackpool Combat Club related during his Collision return, there is a chance that he is going to be doing something else. For now though, at least he is getting to be in a big match and while Starks needs the win (and I’m not convinced Big Bill won’t help him get it), losing to a returning Danielson is hardly some terrible result.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: Adam Cole/MJF(c) vs. Dark Order

Yes the Dark Order is getting a title shot on pay per view and I’m still not entirely sure why. In theory this is going to be followed by a Cole/MJF vs. the Kingdom showdown, though it wouldn’t have to be for the titles. The Dark Order has been needing some kind of a big win seemingly for years now and they at least have a chance at one here, though that might be a long shot at best.

I don’t see a reason for the champs to drop the titles here so I’ll go with MJF and Cole retaining. They already have something set up with the Kingdom and taking the titles from them here would take away a big aspect of their story. Also, at the end of the day, it’s hard to imagine the Dark Order actually winning anything that mattered, so we’ll go with the titles being retained.

Miro vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

This is one of the matches where what you see is what you get. You know what you are going to see from these two monsters hitting each other rather hard and that should make for a fun match. They’ve been out there brawling already and just the taste was fun, so letting us get the full version should be even more fun as it can go even longer than the first previews.

I could see either of them going over here, but Miro seems like he would be hurt more by a loss than Hobbs so I’ll take the former. While Hobbs has lost multiple times already and doesn’t need to again, a loss from Miro would seem to be quite the blow. What matters here is just having two monsters slugging away at each other and that should work out well. Miro wins though, but it’s a coin flip.

Bullet Club Gold vs. FTR/Young Bucks

This isn’t exactly a strong follow up to FTR vs. The Bucks at All In but if we’re not getting a title match, I guess this is about as good as we can have. There is a history between the Club and FTR and I could go for another title showdown between them, but I’m not sure if that is enough to carry an eight man tag. It could go either way, though the Bucks and FTR’s relationship is rocky at best and that could be a problem.

I’ll go with the Club winning here, as they should be in for another Tag Team Title shot to complete the trilogy. White and Robinson are a heck of a team and the Gunns are fine enough on their own. That should be enough to overcome FTR and the Bucks, who don’t really have anywhere to go if they win. The Club wins here, after things break down and everyone gets to go nuts.

TNT Title: Luchasaurus(c) vs. Darby Allin

This has been one of the most entertaining stories in AEW in recent months, as Christian Cage has been tearing it up as the delusional mastermind who things he is the real champion. Luchasaurus has barely been a factor as Cage’s disdain for all things dead fathers is rather entertaining. Allin just wants the title back because he had it before, and now we get quite the showdown.

As much as I could see Allin winning the title, I want Cage to keep up his delusions of grandeur and those can’t happen as well without the title. At some point Luchasaurus is going to snap and destroy Cage, but for now, Luchasaurus manages to retain the title, perhaps with Allin’s friend Nick Wayne turning on him. This could go either way, but hopefully it ends with Cage holding the title again.

Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita

The more I see of Takeshita, the more talent he clearly has. He needs a big win over a top name and Omega would it that description, but I’m not sure I can imagine him actually beating someone as big as Omega. Takeshita already pinned him last weekend in a tag match, but there is a fine line between that and actually pinning him in a singles match, clean or not.

I’ll go with Takeshita winning here, as I don’t think we’re far enough into the story for Omega to get his big win. With Don Callis out there, Takeshita can get the win off some straight up cheating or maybe just a distraction. Either way, we should be in for one of the bigger matches on the show here and there is even a chance that this headlines the show, despite Callis taking the life out of anything he touches.

International Title: Orange Cassidy(c) vs. Jon Moxley

This has been treated as the biggest match on the show and it has the best chance of headlining the event. Cassidy has held the title for a LONG time now and it is time to either have him lose the thing or get the biggest win of his career over one of the biggest stars AEW has ever seen. This could go either way and they have been treating it as something serious, so some doors are certainly open here.

I’m torn on this one but I’ll go with Cassidy winning. While there is a grand total of no reason for him to keep the title, it would do a lot of damage to him if he loses the belt in his first match against a top challenger. Cassidy feels like someone AEW wants to move up to the next level, but that takes a big hit if he loses here. I could be entirely wrong and Moxley winning would make sense, but if AEW wants Cassidy to go a lot higher, he has to win here.

Overall Thoughts

This show does not feel like the best in the world and I’m not sure how much of a spark it is going to have. Now the good thing about that is the talent is there to make it work, even if a thirteen match card is still rather long. If the big matches can deliver and nothing is too bad, we could be in for a show that gets by its lackluster build. That is where AEW tends to shine, and maybe they can make it work again.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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It was a bad, bad night.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-muffin-man/

Three in two.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-weekend/

All Out 2022
Date: September 4, 2022
Location: Now Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Taz

It’s time for the big night and in this show’s case, that means really big, as we have a whopping fifteen matches on the card. That alone is going to make this a busy night, but the question becomes what happens in the main event. CM Punk is challenging Jon Moxley despite having a bad foot as of last week. This could go in a few ways, and I’m not sure how well it is going to wind up. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles: Sammy Guevara/Tay Melo vs. Ruby Soho/Ortiz

Sammy and Tay are defending and get jumped during their entrance at the Red Carpet. Soho and Ortiz chase them down with a golf cart and beat them into the ring, where we officially start with Sammy and Tay in street clothes. I have no idea what street, but they’re street clothes. Sammy gets kicked in the face to start and is busted open but manages a shot of his own.

Tay comes in and kisses a downed Soho on the cheek before putting Soho on top. The guys come in so Sammy launches Tay at Ortiz for a Canadian Destroyer. A Swanton gives Sammy two but Soho missile dropkicks Melo and lands on Sammy in the process. Cue Anna Jay for a failed save attempt, leaving Soho to hit No Future and Ortiz to hit a clothesline for stereo near falls. Back up and Melo catches Soho on top for a superplex onto the guys on the floor. They head back inside where the TayKO finishes Soho to retain the titles at 6:04.

Rating: C. So now Tay gets jumped before the match, wrestles in street clothes, and still pins Soho? At what point should she just move on to a trade school? The match was the usual collection of rapid fire spots as we have now seen this match three times in ten days. That is more than enough but hopefully everyone can move on from this feud, as it has been rather overdone in short order.

Zero Hour: FTW World Title: Hook vs. Angelo Parker

Hook is defending and Matt Menard is here with Parker. Hook takes him down to start but gets poked in the eye, allowing Parker to send him throat first into the ropes. Parker: “I’M EXPOSING HOOK!” That earns him a shot to the face but Menard grabs the foot for a distraction. Granted it doesn’t matter as Hook throws him down and an exploder suplex. Another suplex drops Parker again and Redrum makes him tap at 3:38.

Rating: C. They kept this short, as tends to be the case for Hook matches. As usual, it’s the idea of getting him in and out before anything can go badly, which is the right way to go for him. I’m sure Hook will get to beat up Menard next before moving on to whatever his next goofy match is, as it isn’t like this title matches whatsoever.

Post match Menard runs in to jump Hook but Action Bronson, who performs Hook’s music, comes in for the save.

Zero Hour: All-Atlantic Title: Kip Sabian vs. Pac

Sabian, with the box on his head, is challenging and yeah I still have no idea what the deal is supposed to be with that thing. Pac starts fast and kicks away at Sabian but it’s too early for the Black Arrow. Sabian gets shoved off the top but is right back with a springboard kick to the head.

That’s enough to knock Pac outside, setting up a springboard moonsault to drop him again. Pac is fine enough to hit a suplex on the floor and they head back in for some kicks to the unboxed head. A pop up knee to the head sets up a dragon suplex for two on Pac but he snaps off a German suplex for the double knockdown. The Black Arrow is loaded up again but Sabian rolls away before it can launch. Pac chokes him down again and stomps away, setting up the Red Arrow for the pin to retain at 10:20.

Rating: C+. I for one totally get why we waited six months to set this up with Sabian sitting in the crowd without being acknowledged in any way. Pac winning and getting this over with is the right way to go because there wasn’t much to the story anyway, and I’d much rather not have to figure out what the point of Sabin was supposed to be. Nice enough match as Pac was there, but Sabian is still his old self.

Post match Pac says he needs a new challenger so here is Orange Cassidy. Pac: “NO!” Cassidy is a joke instead of a wrestler and he can get to the back of the line.

Sabian yells at his box hat.

Zero Hour: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Eddie Kingston

Rematch from a New Japan match earlier this year, with Ishii winning. The chop it out to no avail to start with Ishii getting the better of things until Kingston drops him with a hard clothesline. Back up and Ishii unloads on him in the corner with Kingston being knocked down for a change. Kingston can’t hit a belly to back suplex so Ishii hits a vertical suplex but they’re both banged up.

Ishii misses a charge in the corner so Kingston hits, you guessed it, more chops. A DDT plants Ishii and a sliding forearm gives Kingston two. Ishii gets up and is more serious so he stands there while Kingston chops him. A kick to the back frustrates Kingston for a change so this time they slap it out.

Kingston hurts his shoulder on a suplex attempt and Ishii is back with a German suplex. One heck of a clothesline staggers (but doesn’t drop) Kingston so they hit each other for a double knockdown. Back up and Kingston hits a hard lariat for two before Ishii runs him over for the same. Ishii’s brainbuster is blocked and Kingston hits the spinning backfist for a VERY near fall. Another spinning backfist is shrugged off and Kingston grabs a northern lights bomb for the pin at 13:28.

Rating: B-. This is a good example of a match that might not be everyone’s taste and that was the case for me as well. The chopping part was more than a bit repetitive but eventually they started beating the fire out of each other and that made up for a lot of it. Kingston winning the match made sense, but there is only so much that you can get out of these two hitting each other with such similar stuff over and over.

Casino Ladder Match

Rey Fenix and Wheeler Yuta start things off and Fenix is right there with the first ladder, which he leans over the barricade. That takes too long so Yuta takes him down and goes up. Rush is in at #3 and shoves both of them down to take over. Andrade El Idolo comes in at #4 and this is not going to go well for everyone not named Rush. A ladder is set up in the middle and it’s a super sunset bomb to drop Martin hard onto the bridged ladder.

Claudio Castagnoli is in at #4 and pushes the double ladder, with Andrade on it, over for the big crash out to the floor. Dante Martin is in at #5 and has a ladder fall on him as he hits the ring. Martin kicks away at Castagnoli before getting shoved from one ladder to another. Penta El Cero Miedo is in at #6 and Canadian Destroys Martin on the ramp and another one drives Andrade onto a bridged ladder.

Fenix frog splashes Rush through a table at ringside and….we’ve got a bunch of masked men to wreck everyone else. One of them goes up to pull down the chip and it’s Stokely Hathaway. Apparently that doesn’t count because he’s not a wrestler, so whoever get the chip wins the title shot. Cue the Joker, another masked man, and it’s…well we don’t know as he doesn’t unmask but he wins at 14:12.

Rating: B-. It’s another wild ladder match and there are only so many things that you can see in one of these things. They were doing all of their crashes and dives but what matters most is having the Joker as a wild card. That could be a lot of people and odds are we’ll be finding out in a few weeks at the most. Good stuff here, but these ladder matches completely run together.

We recap the Trios Titles tournament, which should make for a big final.

Trios Titles: Elite vs. Hangman Page/Dark Order

For the inaugural titles and Don Callis is on commentary. Reynolds and Matt Jackson start things off and neither gets anywhere of note. That means a lot of glaring as we recap the issues among Page and the Elite over the years (and there are a lot of them). Matt gets knocked down by Silver and his back seems to be messed up, which is enough for Page to call off the Order. It’s off to Omega vs. Page and the fans are WAY into this.

They lock up and go into the Order corner, where Silver comes in, much to some booing. Omega’s recently repaired shoulder gets cranked on but Page doesn’t like that either. A big boot and fall away slam connect for Page but his springboard is superkicked out of the air. The Bucks start taking turns on Page before Omega tells him that HE CAN’T ESC….ok I guess Page can as he slips out and gets Silver back in.

Everything breaks down and the Order hits a suicide dive/brainbuster combination to Nick on the floor, giving us a rare ALEX REYNOLDS chant. Matt suplexes both of them but hurts his back again, as tends to be the case with him. Omega gets caught in the corner for the running lariats and the German suplex into a jackknife rollup gives Reynolds two. The Bucks are back in with the superkicks to set up the V Trigger to send Silver outside.

Omega hits the big running flip dive to the floor but Silver is back in with a Backstabber. Page moonsaults onto Nick on the floor and the Pendulum Bomb gets two on Matt. The Bucks and the Order trade clotheslines and a four way superkick puts all of them down. That leaves us with Page vs. Omega….and the referee actually says they need to tag in. With that idiocy out of the way, Omega hits a V Trigger into the Jay Driller for two but Page is able to catch him on top.

A super fall away slam into a cover gives Page two of his own and there’s a Buckshot Lariat to the back of Omega’s head. Matt teases grabbing Page’s leg ala when Page won the World Title but the delay lets Nick hit his own Buckshot Lariat to drop Page. The BTE Trigger gets two with Silver making the save but a V Trigger cuts him down. The One Winged Angel is countered into a rollup to give Silver two but a Buckshot Lariat accidentally knocks Silver silly, with Omega stealing the pin at 19:47.

Rating: B+. Heck of a match as you knew it would be, but there is something amusing about the Elite winning again and setting up even more Bucks/Page/Omega melodrama. What we got here was another pretty awesome match though and that is the point of these belts. Just let them get in their car crash, all action stuff and pop the crowd, which I’ll take over it being the focal point of the show. Very good stuff, even if I’m not at all into the never ending Elite story.

We look at Jade Cargill and Athena yelling at each other on Rampage.

TBS Title: Jade Cargill vs. Athena

Cargill is defending and is painted green for a She-Hulk look. Athena starts fast and hits the O Face in less than a minute, but the Baddies pull Athena out (a second late as the referee had to slow his count). That earns the Baddies a beating but Jade runs Athena over for two back inside. A big toss sends Athena flying until she’s back up with a springboard spinning crossbody for her own two. The fans get behind Athena as she goes up but Kiera Hogan grabs her leg again. Another springboard is pump kicked out of the air and Jaded retains the title at 4:25.

Rating: C-. So remember every big match that Cargill has had? This was the latest one as Athena gets beaten down and added to the list. I’m not sure who is next for Cargill but she continues to be the most pushed woman in AEW, which does make sense given how oddly charismatic she is, but it is going to be very interesting to see what happens when she loses.

CM Punk arrived earlier and put over Chicago again as the live crowd gets more love.

FTR/Wardlow vs. Jay Lethal/Motor City Machine Guns

Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt are here, with the latter’s shirt mocking Dax Harwood’s daughter. Harwood one ups that by bringing out his daughter for a sweet moment. Lethal and Wardlow start things off but it’s way too early for a powerbomb. Harwood and Sabin come in, with the latter slapping him in the face. Everything teases breaking down before Harwood runs Sabin over again.

Shelley gets knocked off the apron but it’s time to chase Dutt, allowing Sabin to get in a cheap shot back inside. Harwood chops his way out of trouble though and it’s Wardlow coming in to clean house. A double suplex drops the Guns and Harwood comes back in (rather quickly) for a chop off with Lethal.

Harwood fights his way out of the corner and hands it off to Wheeler to pick up the pace. Sabin is sent outside, leaving Shelley to kick Wheeler’s leg out. The villains take turns wrapping Wheeler’s leg around the post, leaving Lethal to grab a Figure Four. With that broken up, Wheeler gets over to Wardlow for the tag, setting up the house cleaning.

Everything breaks down and Singh punches Wardlow in the face for two, leaving Wardlow to be tied in the Tree of Woe for the series of baseball slide dropkicks. Lethal is back up with the double Lethal Injection to FTR. That’s enough time for Wardlow to fight up and start wrecking everyone, including a four movement Powerbomb Symphony on Lethal at 16:36.

Rating: C+. Good enough match here as Wardlow gets some momentum back after a few weeks of nothing. That doesn’t really help FTR, but maybe we can get a regular tag match against the Guns sooner than later. This match never felt important from the moment it was announced and this didn’t help, though of course it was at least pretty good.

Post match Samoa Joe returns and goes after Sonjay Dutt. Cue Harwood’s daughter Finlay so Harwood decks Dutt, allowing Finlay to get the pin for a feel good moment.

We recap Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ricky Starks. They were friends and partners, but then Hobbs got sick of Starks’ singles success. Fighting ensued and here we are, as Starks wants revenge.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ricky Starks

Starks charges straight at him to start and is promptly powered down without much trouble. Hobbs goes into the slow power beating as Starks realizes he might be in over his head. The neck crank goes on as Hobbs is working on the recently injured neck. Starks fights up and strikes away in the corner, setting up a DDT for two. Back up and Starks charges into a spinebuster to give Hobbs the sudden win at 5:13.

Rating: C. This feels like the match that was cut down due to time but the ending made up for it. Hobbs winning is a fine way to go (and Starks would have been as well) because AEW is giving someone young and talented a win. We could be in for something from Hobbs and I could certainly go for that kind of a push, as he seems like he could be a breakout star.

We look back at Acclaimed and Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee arguing on Rampage.

Tag Team Titles: Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee vs. Acclaimed

Acclaimed, with Billy Gunn, is challenging. Bowens takes Swerve down to start as the fans chant OH SCISSOR ME DADDY at Billy. Thankfully they are smart enough to let the fans get it out of their system before handing it off to Lee vs. Caster. For some reason Caster tries to go with power vs. Lee but gets about as far as you would expect. A middle rope hurricanrana works a bit better as Lee is taken down before all four come in at once.

The champs are sent outside, meaning it’s time for the big scissoring, much to Billy’s delight. We settle down to Lee taking over on Caster, despite the fans letting Lee know that HE CAN’T SCISSOR. Caster fights out of the corner and hits a middle rope cutter to put Lee down. It’s back to Bowens to hit a running neckbreaker on Swerve, followed by a discus forearm.

A shot to the leg cuts Bowens down though and Swerve throws him over the top, with the leg being banged up again. Lee adds a splash to the knee but misses a charge, allowing the hot tag off to Caster for the house cleaning. For some reason Caster tries a fireman’s carry on Lee, which works as well as you would expect. Lee Pounces over by mistake and a knee gets two on Lee.

Back up and Lee kicks out Bowens’ bad knee but gets caught up top. Swerve makes the save and hits the Swerve Stomp for a VERY close two on Bowens. A half crab goes on but Caster makes the save with a missile dropkick. Swerve’s running kick to the head gets two on Caster, leaving Bowens to break up Swerve’s springboard. With Bowens holding Swerve over the floor, Caster hits a Mic Drop, only to hurt Bowen’s knee in the process. Back inside and Lee chops away, until Billy gets up for a distraction.

Somehow Caster uses the distraction to hit an FU on Lee and it’s the Arrival to Swerve setting up the Mic Drop for a VERY close two with Lee making the save (and the fans aren’t pleased). A Death Valley Driver onto the apron plants Caster and Bowens gets pulled into a backbreaker back inside. Bowens has to fight off both champs but his knee gives out, causing Swerve to kick Lee by mistake. A rollup gets a VERY close two on Lee but Bowens gets caught on Lee’s shoulders. Swerve adds the Stomp to make it a sitout powerbomb for the pin to retain at 22:18.

Rating: B+. Oh I’m not sure about that result, as the fans were BEGGING for the Acclaimed to win here. I get why they didn’t do it and I get why they want Swerve and Lee to retain, but egads if there was ever a reason to call an audible, that might have been it. Either way, at least they had a big pick up match that got a lot of time, with some of those near falls being too close to believe.

Post match Lee and Billy scissor, much to the fans’ uncertainty.

All of the Women’s Title match participants want the title.

Interim Women’s Title: Jamie Hayter vs. Britt Baker vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Toni Storm

For the vacant title, Rebel is here too and the fans seem to like Hayter. It’s a big brawl to start and we get an exchange of rollups. With that not working, Hayter half crabs Storm to leave her in trouble. Baker and Shida trade some rollups before Baker is back up with a Sling Blade. Hayter suplexes Shida and Storm at the same time before being sent outside. Storm dives onto Hayter but gets Sling Bladed by Baker.

With Baker taken down, Shida and Storm face off back inside with Storm being shouldered down but nipping right back up. Rebel tries to come in and gets double headbutted down, which is good for a flat back fall and a lot of laughter from commentary. Hayter carries Shida up the ramp and Baker follows for a Stomp to Shida. That’s enough to get Shida taken out, leaving us with three for the moment.

Storm is double teamed inside and the fans think Hayter is better, which has JR talking about….a sale in a department store? And now here is Shida, complete with two kendo sticks, because KENDO STICKS ARE COOL. Shida gets to clean house and suplexes Baker into Hayter in the corner. Everyone is back up for an exchange of strikes and the villains get a double rollup for two on Shida.

Now it’s Shida with a Falcon Arrow for two on Hayter, with Storm making the save. Hayter breaks up a German suplex with a Tombstone to Storm (that was cool) but Shida makes a save of her own. Baker is back up with a Stomp to Shida for two but Storm breaks up a Lockjaw attempt. There’s a ripcord lariat from Hayter to Shida, causing baker to pull the referee out at two. Storm hits Storm Zero on Hayter but Baker steals the cover for two more. Back in and Storm gives Baker and Hayter a jumping DDT each, with the latter being enough to make Storm champion at 14:41.

Rating: B-. There were some plot points in there, as Baker costing Hayter is going to come back and bite her in the near future. Storm needed to win here as you can only go so far with the losses before she stops mattering. Good match here with the right result, so I’ll take what I can get.

We recap Christian Cage vs. Jungle Boy. Christian claims that Jungle Boy cost him money by losing the Tag Team Titles so he started insulting the memory of Jungle Boy’s dead father. Jungle Boy is out for revenge.

Jungle Boy vs. Christian Cage

Hold on though as Jungle Boy can’t find Luchasaurus, who comes up from behind and chokeslams Jungle Boy onto the lighting grid. Jungle Boy is taken to ringside and beaten down again, but insists on the bell ringing. A spear gives Christian two and the Killswitch finishes for Christian at 21 seconds.

Death Triangle is ready for the Best Friends on Dynamite, though Pac still doesn’t like Orange Cassidy.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Bryan Danielson, which is about who is the better professional wrestler/sports entertainer.

Chris Jericho vs. Bryan Danielson

William Regal is on commentary and it’s Lionheart here as the 17 Faces Of Jericho continues. Danielson is sung to the ring by someone named Elliott Taylor. They go technical to start until Danielson takes him down for the stomping. With that broken up, they stare at each other a bit in the corner and Jericho hits a hard chop. Danielson goes with a hammerlock but lets him go instead of firing off the palm strikes.

Jericho takes him down on the mat for a change, which is reversed into a double knee stomp. A cross armbreaker is blocked and Jericho reverses up for some elbows to the head. Danielson reverses that and ties up the legs before asking if the fans want some entertainment. That means a Rick Rude hip swivel, which has Jericho angry enough that he chops away in the corner.

Jericho sends him to the apron and hits the triangle dropkick to the floor, but the dive is knocked away to give Danielson a breather. Back in and Danielson hits a missile dropkick, setting up the YES Kicks. A super hurricanrana is countered into the Walls though but Danielson slips out and sends Jericho outside.

That means a suicide dive through the ropes in the corner, only to miss the Swan Dive back inside. Jericho takes his time following up though and Danielson tries the LeBell Lock, which is reversed into a catapult. Naturally Danielson skins the cat so Jericho hits a Tombstone into the Lionsault for two. Back up and the Judas Effect misses and Danielson kicks him in the head.

Danielson stomps away at Jericho, setting up the LeBell Lock. It’s rolled into the middle for better position but Jericho reverses into the Walls again. That’s reversed into a triangle choke but Jericho gets him into the ropes for the break. They chop it out from their knees with Jericho getting chopped into the corner. The backflip over into the clothesline is countered with the Codebreaker for two, setting up a Liontamer to make it even worse.

Another rope is grabbed so Jericho goes primal by hammering away at the head. Danielson gets up again though and it’s the running knee for two. Cattle Mutilation goes on but Jericho rolls out again. That works for Danielson, who fires off the hammer and anvil elbows. Cattle Mutilation goes on again but this time Jericho makes the rope with his foot. More kicks stagger Jericho until Danielson is backed away from the rope. Instead it’s a rolling forearm to rock Jericho and more hammering and elbowing ensues. Jericho manages a low blow though and the Judas Effect finishes Danielson at 23:31.

Rating: A-. They were having a classic and a low blow brought it down a bit. Otherwise, this was a heck of a wrestling match, but I’m really not sure on having Danielson lose again. I’m sure this will be more about Daniel Garcia on the end than anything else, but could we get Danielson a big win for a change? He’s a made man for the rest of his career, though I’m still not sure how many more losses he needs.

The House Of Black is ready to end Sting, Darby Allin and Miro.

House Of Black vs. Sting/Darby Allin/Miro

Miro and Black start things off with Miro taking him into the corner. King comes in for the power brawl with Miro until Allin has to tag himself in. Allin counters Matthews’ Murphy’s Law into a cradle for two but a Code Red is countered (Allin: “Oh s***.”) by Black’s kick to the head. King throws Allin into the corner and Black comes in for the chinlock. Allin fights up and goes over to the corner but Julia Hart distracts the referee, meaning no tag.

The tag goes through a few seconds later, allowing the tag brings in Sting. Some Stinger Splashes connect and it’s time for the staredown with Black. The brawl is on and we hit the Scorpion Deathlock, with the rest of the House not being able to break it up. Sting is finally staggered enough to let Black reverse into a kneebar, with Miro having to make a save.

Allin hits a Coffin Drop for two but Matthews gets in a bat shot to send Miro crashing into the steps. Allin is back up with a flipping Stunner and a suicide flip dive, only to come up holding his shoulder. Back in and Sting mists Black, setting up Allin’s Last Supper for the pin at 12:09.

Rating: C+. This didn’t get crazy for Sting but at least he got to get in there and do his thing while Allin got the glory in the end. I’m still not sure what AEW is doing with Black and Miro, but neither of them did much of anything here. What we got was a fun match, but it is coming near the end of a FAR too long show and that hut things a lot.

Chris Jericho asks Daniel Garcia where he was. As a result, Garcia is challenging Wheeler Yuta for the Pure Rules Title without the Jericho Appreciation Society.

We recap the AEW World Title match. CM Punk came back from his injury and lost to Jon Moxley in three minutes. Now he is motivated by his friends and family and wants to win the title back for Chicago.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. CM Punk

Moxley, with William Regal in his corner, is defending. They stall to start until Moxley starts hammering away in the corner. Punk gets in a kick to the head with the bad foot, setting up the running knees in the corner. Some Hammer and Anvil elbows rock Moxley and the GTS gets two. They fight into the crowd with Punk unloading as Moxley seems to be covering up.

Back at ringside and Moxley manages to post him, which busts Punk open. They get back inside where Moxley licks the blood off of his hand before kicking away at Punk again. Back up and Punk hits the running knee in the corner but the knee gives out, allowing Moxley to hit a shinbreaker. We hit the leglock, followed by a half crab, which Moxley switches into an STF and then a Figure Four.

Some middle fingers fire Punk up enough to roll over to freedom and Moxley gets beaten up on the floor. Back in Punk grabs the Anaconda Vice but Moxley slips out and stomps away. The clothesline misses though and Punk hits a dropkick but the top rope elbow is pulled into a bulldog choke.

That’s broken up and Punk hits a kick to the head, only to be taken down for more Hammer and Anvil elbows to knock Punk silly. The bulldog choke goes on again but that’s muscled up as well. The GTS attempt is countered and Moxley hits the Death Rider for two. Moxley isn’t having that and grabs the choke again, only to get GTS’d for the third time and the title at 19:43.

Rating: B. This was more of a fight than anything else, though it does feel like they spent a long time setting up this one moment when they could have cut out a lot of stuff in the middle. Anyway, Punk got to get his big hometown moment (as it had been…four days since the last one) and is champion again, but now he needs something else to do as we start to close out the year. Heck of a match here, but I really don’t think it was worth the effort they put in to make it happen.

Then the lights go out and we hear a voiceover from Tony Khan, talking about how someone is gone over and over and keeps screwing the fans. Show up at All Out and everything is forgiven, with whoever it is being put in the Casino Ladder Match, plus get a big bonus. We see a clip of Punk in the old ROH days talking about the devil. Then we see the devil from earlier….and he’s wearing a scarf. MJF is back and comes into the arena and the fans are VERY happy to see him. MJF motions that he wants the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. It was a show where the high points were very good, but there is enough stuff here that REALLY needs to be cut or just dropped altogether. The biggest problem as always with these shows it he length, but at least we had some very good action in there as well. The big ending should set up Grand Slam where MJF gets the World Title, but other than that, you also have Jericho vs. Danielson in a great one and the far better than expected Tag Team Title match.

This was another awesome AEW pay per view, but if they want to really make them all timers, enough with the Wrestlemania lengths. It doesn’t work there and it doesn’t work here, as I was sitting around wondering how in the world there were so many matches left on the show, despite how good they might be. Anyway, certainly check this out, but have a fast forward button loaded up, or at least take a break in the middle.

Results
Tay Melo/Sammy Guevara b. Ortiz/Ruby Soho – TayKO to Soho
Hook b. Angelo Parker – Redrum
Pac b. Kip Sabian – Black Arrow
Eddie Kingston b. Tomohiro Ishii – Northern lights bomb
The Joker won the Casino Ladder Match
Elite b. Hangman Page/Dark Order – Buckshot Lariat to Silver
Jade Cargill b. Athena – Jaded
FTR/Wardlow b. Jay Lethal/Motor City Machine Guns – Powerbomb Symphony to Lethal
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Ricky Starks – Spinebuster
Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee b. Acclaimed – Sitout powerbomb/Swerve Stomp combination to Bowers
Toni Storm b. Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker and Hikaru Shida – Jumping DDT to Hayter
Christian Cage b. Jungle Boy – Killswitch
Sting/Miro/Darby Allin b. House Of Black – Last Supper to Black
CM Punk b. Jon Moxley – GTS

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For the first time in a good while, we are getting a full scale AEW pay per view rather than AEW and some other promotion mixing together to make a big special. As tends to be the case on AEW pay per views, the card is absolutely loaded, even to the point of being WAY too big. There are fifteen matches between the Zero Hour (better than Buy In) show and the main card, all of which are absolutely necessary. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: FTW Title: Hook(c) vs. Angelo Parker

You know, because we needed to get Hook onto this thing. Or is it that we needed to get the “Sports…..Innderdainers”? Either way, this is the kind of a match that is not likely to take very long because Parker has never been treated as anything serious and Hook runs over everyone. I don’t know what else anyone is really expecting here, but at least Hook should pop the crowd.

Of course I’ll take Hook to win here, as there is no reason for it to go any other way. Hook is one of those unique stars that just works for some reason and it would be nuts to have him lose to one half of a comedy due. I’m sure Matt Menard will get his chance to be destroyed later, but for now, this will be Hook crushing Parker and going off to find some more chips.

Zero Hour: AAA World Mixed Tag Team Titles: Tay Melo/Sammy Guevara vs. Ruby Soho/Oritz

If anyone can explain why this match is on the card, you’re smarter than I am. This is the third time that these teams have fought in ten days and that isn’t exactly my idea of interesting. The first two matches weren’t good but now we’re seeing them again after a second match this week on Rampage. But at least they’re on the shwo and something is on the line, so points for that I guess?

There is almost no reason to believe that the titles are going to change here so we’ll go with Melo and Guevara retaining. If I had to guess, maybe Soho can even get pinned again to keep the titles where they already are. This feels completely out of the norm for AEW and I’d like to believe that it isn’t something they are going to do regularly. Either way, this isn’t something I’m interested in seeing but we’re getting it anyway, because something about a trilogy.

Zero hour: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Eddie Kingston

So these two fight back at a New Japan event in May and this it he rematch, which AEW is hosting so I guess they can fight each other once on equal footing? This is another match that was added on to the card and the story seems to be that Kingston is wanting to prove that he has become a better man since Ishii beat him the first time. I’m not sure how interesting that is but you know AEW will take a New Japan star when they can.

I’ll go with Kingston here, even if it is a match with virtually no build or reason to exist other than to get the two of them on the show. Much like the previous match, it is one of the first matches I would cut from the card, but it should at least be a heck of a fight with two guys hitting each other really hard. Ishii is getting up there in years but he can still do his thing well enough to get by.

Zero Hour: All Atlantic Title: Pac(c) vs. Kip Sabian

After several months of sitting in the front row with a box over his head, commentary just said “yeah that’s Kip Sabian” and now he is getting a title match against Pac. Why that is supposed to be interesting isn’t clear, as it’s still Sabian, who has never been much more than just ok during his time in AEW. It should be nice to see Pac defend the title on AEW TV for once, even under these circumstances.

Despite having no idea what they’re going for with the whole box thing, I’ll go with Pac to run through Sabian without much trouble. Pac is on a higher level and I don’t see the point in messing with the title on someone so far out of Pac’s league. Maybe commentary can explain something about Sabian’s deal, but for now, this is just a weird story that came out of nowhere and leaves me wondering why it’s happening.

Interim Women’s Title: Britt Baker vs. Toni Storm vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Jamie Hayter

Yes we’re still doing the Interim Champion deal and no I don’t quite get it either. This is the thing they’re doing rather than just vacating the title and moving on and it’s still not exactly a great way to go. This time Thunder Rosa has suffered a back injury and will not be able to defend the title, so this is what we’re getting instead. At least there are some options to win here, which always helps.

I’ll take Storm to win, even if the signs seem to be pointing to Baker. If nothing else, it would be nice for Storm to win and give us something fresh, as Baker and Shida have both been champion for so long. Hayter would be interesting as well and is a dark horse to win the thing, but I’ll go with Storm here, if nothing else to set up the Storm vs. Rosa match when she gets back.

Ricky Starks vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

For the life of me I don’t get why it took so long for these two to have something significant to do but at least they’re finally getting some kind of a match here. Both of them have the potential to be break out stars and that could very well start with this match. This is the result of a tag team split and that is as good of a reason as any for two young stars to be fighting.

I think I’ll take Hobbs here, even if Starks seems more ready to move up to the next level. The good thing here is there is no bad choice for a winner, as long as AEW picks someone and moves forward with them. Hobbs is a monster and Starks is more of a complete package, which opens up several possibilities no matter which choice they make. I’ll flip a coin and go with Hobbs though in what should be a fine match either way.

Jungle Boy vs. Christian Cage

We’ll stick with the grudge match theme here as Jungle Boy finally gets his hands on Cage after a lot of horrible things were said about him. These two have been on a collision course for several weeks now and we should be in for something good when they finally get to face off. There is a major wild card in the background though and that could be the big factor in the whole thing.

I think I’ll go with Cage here, as Luchasaurus has been so notorious in his absence for the last few weeks. If nothing else, it seems a bit too easy that Luchasaurus was Cage’s heavy and then stepped aside while Jungle Boy got to Cage. Maybe that is a red herring, but I have a feeling that Luchasaurus turns on Jungle Boy to let Cage get the win, which would set up even more between these three going forward.

Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Jericho

Hey, did you know that Jericho calls himself a Sports Entertainer and is a bad guy in a company that focuses on wrestling? I wasn’t sure if AEW had hammered the idea in enough just yet. This is a match that has been set up for a few weeks and should be a good one if they do it right. Jericho has a hit or miss track record, but Danielson seems incapable of having a bad match no matter what he does in AEW, meaning I have a lot of hope.

Danielson needs the win more than Jericho so we’ll go with what makes sense here and pick Danielson to go over. Jericho seems to be bringing back the Lionheart as he continues his own version of the 3 Faces Of Foley, but Danielson wrestling him down and then beating him, likely with Daniel Garcia not helping Jericho when he needs it, is the way to go. This needs to be Danielson’s to give him a win over a bigger name and that is what they’ll do here.

TNT Title: Jade Cargill(c) vs. Athena

Well it’s about time. This is a story that has been built up for the last few months and I cannot bring myself to care after so many months of Athena getting beaten up by Cargill and the Baddies. They have to have the match at some point though and this is as good for a place as any, even if it is something that should have happened at least a few weeks ago when the interest was still there.

Of course Cargill retains here and there is no reason for this to be anything else. Cargill is someone who is going to need a special opponent to finally take her down and as good as Athena is, I can’t picture that being the case. Athena will probably hit the O Face for a near fall, but ultimately it’s going to be Jaded to keep Cargill undefeated, as she should be at the moment.

House Of Black vs. Sting/Darby Allin/Miro

This is another match that feels like it was forgotten until the last few days and now it is taking place on the show. That isn’t the best way to go but there are a lot of names in here who should probably be on the pay per view. Miro vs. the House Of Black alone should be good and Sting/Allin already have issues with the team. Now just let them all go nuts and it should be fun.

This should be fun and I’ll go with Miro making Matthews tap to win. Sting and Allin can do their wacky things and Sting can probably have his showdown with Black, but with all of the reported personal issues for Black, I can’t imagine his team winning here. This is a way to redeem Miro a bit and that is the way they should go, as it’s almost easy to forget he is even in AEW half of the time.

Casino Ladder Match

A few weeks ago, I was wondering when AEW was going to announce another ladder match and here we are. This is the latest future World Title opportunity on the line and so far we have seven names, plus more to come. In other words, this is all about the Joker, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a big name return in that spot, as he is certainly overdue to do so.

In short, I’m going with MJF making his triumphant return, likely setting up the title match in New York City later this month. MJF has been gone for several months now and it is long past time to get him back so he can continue his reign of amazing. If nothing else, seeing him come in at the very end and win the thing without having to put in much, if any, work, would be a heck of a troll job and something I can see him doing.

Wardlow/FTR vs. Jay Lethal/Motor City Machine Guns

And here we have the weirdest match on the card, as I still don’t know why this is the best thing that they can offer. The match has felt thrown together since it was announced and for a very good reason: it is a thrown together match for the sake of getting the people involved on the show (you might be noticing a pattern emerging here). It’s nice to have them here, but Harwood’s speech explaining why the match matters didn’t quite sway me.

Give me FTR and Wardlow to win here, which is the only logical way this can go. At the end of the day, they both REALLY need something to do and this isn’t likely to lead anywhere. While I could go for FTR vs. the Guns later on, Wardlow vs. Lethal has already been done. I’m not sure why this match is taking place, but hopefully it isn’t AEW giving up on the three of them so soon, as that would be incredibly stupid.

Tag Team Titles: Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland(c) vs. Acclaimed

Now this one intrigues me and I’m not sure about where it is going to go. On one hand you have the champs, who have not exactly been given a major run yet and have only held the titles for a few weeks. On the other hand though, you have the Acclaimed, who are on fire and the fans absolutely love them, meaning there has to be some temptation to pull the trigger here. That makes this a little complicated and I’m not sure what they are going to do.

I’ll take the champions to retain though, as it just isn’t like AEW to take someone who is getting their big break and just cut them off so soon. The Acclaimed has come a long way but I don’t know how much they need the titles. Caster’s raps alone, or with Bowens’ nutty charisma, are going to keep them over for a very long time so why bother with giving them titles that they don’t really need yet? The champs keep the belts.

Trios Titles: Hangman Page/Dark Order vs. Elite

Yeah I don’t think there is any real shock that this is where we wound up after the whole tournament was announced. Even if Page wasn’t involved in the tournament in the first place, I don’t think there was any shock in the fact that he wound up in the finals anyway. These titles feel more and more like a vanity deal for the Elite anyway, and that is where things get screwy.

I’m actually taking Page and the Dark Order to win here, as it is more of a feel good story for the lovable goons to FINALLY win something than for the Elite to get another title on their resume. Throw in Omega possibly being blamed for the loss, Page redeeming himself, and whatever else the Bucks are going to talk about and the underdogs winning is the much more interesting way to go.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. CM Punk

CHICAGO! Ok there now we can move on. For some reason this feels like it is designed to be a match for the live crowd than everyone else watching. I get the idea of keeping a crowd hot, but this story has been so all over the place and I’m still not sure I get why we’re getting things going this way. At the very least, this is the kind of story that needs to end so everyone can move on to something else, and in theory that is what they’ll be doing.

I’ll take Punk to win here, again going off of the idea of MJF getting his title shot in New York later this month. MJF vs. Moxley doesn’t have the history to it and Punk winning the title back to set up the big loss to MJF is a better way to go. This really doesn’t feel like a main event though and I wouldn’t be hurt if they went with the Trios Titles headlining instead (The heck am I saying?). Oh and one more time: CHICAGO!

Overall Thoughts

Long. That’s the overall thought for this show: it sounds really long. There are so many matches crammed into this card that I’ve been dreading it more and more eveyr week. I’m still not sure why AEW insists on doing this but for some reason this is what we get with their regular pay per views anymore. I’m sure people will be burned out by the end, but why let that get in the way of what they want to do?

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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It was a night of reviews.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-four/

All Out 2021
Date: September 5, 2021
Location: Now Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

We’re back to the still fairly rare AEW pay per view schedule with an absolutely stacked show. There are three major matches this time around, including CM Punk vs. Darby Allin, Chris Jericho vs. MJF and Kenny Omega defending the World Title against Christian Cage. Let’s get to it.

Buy-In: Hardy Family Office vs. Orange Cassidy/Wheeler Yuta/Chuck Taylor/Jurassic Express

Matt Hardy shoves Taylor into the corner because he wants Orange. He gets Luchasaurus instead so Jack Evans gets a rather fast tag. Luchasaurus sends Evans flying with a suplex and it’s off to Boy to send Evans into the corner. Quen and Yuta come in, with the former getting two off a running crossbody.

We get the big sequence of most of the people trying a hold at the same time to as much avail as you would expect. Luchasaurus comes back in to throw people around, including a knee to the face to drop Evans. Private Party and Hardy come in to take Luchasaurus down but Orange breaks it up with the slow motion kicks. That earns him a Codebreaker into a shooting star onto his back, followed by a trip to the floor. We get a short form parade of dives but Orange heads back inside for the hands in pockets comeback to drop Private Party.

Hardy is back in with a Twist of Fate but now it’s Jungle getting to clean house. Angelico and Luchasaurus put Evans and Jungle on their respective shoulders for a chicken fight but here is the Blade to interfere. Marko Stunt dives off of Luchasaurus’ shoulder to take him out, leaving Jungle to make Angelico tap with the Snare Trap at 8:34.

Rating: C+. Take a bunch of popular wrestlers, put them in the ring with a bunch of unpopular wrestlers, have them fly around a lot and do cool spots to pop the crowd. That’s how you do a match like this and they made it work well here. This was a fun, quick spectacle and it wasn’t supposed to be anything else.

The opening video runs down the big matches.

TNT Title: Miro vs. Eddie Kingston

Miro is defending. Kingston goes for his neck to start but has to fight out of an early Game Over attempt. That’s enough to send Miro outside for an early breather as they both feel very serious. Back in and Kingston snaps off a suplex, earning a rather loud cheer from the crowd as Miro bails back to the floor. This time Kingston joins him and gets sent hard into the barricade to put Kingston in trouble for the first time.

That lasts all of a few seconds as he is back with a kick to Miro’s face. A dive off the apron is countered into a powerslam though and Miro, despite holding his neck, gets a breather. There’s a hard posting to put Kingston down again and it’s a backbreaker back inside. We hit the chinlock but Kingston fights back up with the chops. Miro knocks him silly again but Kingston snaps off a jumping enziguri.

A Saito suplex drops Miro again, allowing Excalibur to rattle off Kingston’s Japanese influences. Back up and they chop it out, with Kingston getting the better of things to set up more Saito suplexes for two. The threat of a spinning backfist sends Miro outside so Kingston hits the suicide elbow. Back in and Kingston’s fisherman’s suplex gets two as the fans are all behind Kingston. Miro pulls him into the corner though and unloads with forearms to the back.

Kingston accidentally pulls the turnbuckle pad off but Miro catches him with the jumping kick to the face. Game Over goes on but Kingston falls forward to make the rope for the break. That is NOT cool with Miro, who walks into the spinning backfist into the DDT for a delayed two as the referee was getting rid of the turnbuckle pad. Some knees connect to Miro so he goes into the corner, allowing him to sneak in a low blow. The jumping superkick retains the title at 13:25.

Rating: B. This was two big guys hitting each other hard but there was a story there too. Kingston set up the neck and the DDT, which had been built up in the last week, gave him a great near fall. Miro needing to cheat to survive was a good way to go and the crowd was WAY into everything all night. Very good choice for an opener here and I got into it.

We run down the card.

Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima

Moxley wanted someone from New Japan and Kojima accepted. The bell rings and Moxley flips him off, setting up the big chop off. They forearm it out until Kojima runs him over with a shoulder and Moxley rolls outside. Kojima catches him with a dive and Excalibur is right there to list Kojima’s accomplishments. Moxley jumps back inside for a suicide dive of his own and a Russian legsweep sends Kojima into the barricade.

Back in and Moxley stomps on the hand and starts cranking on it for a bit, followed by the knees to the chest. Kojima sends him into the corner though for the rapid fire chops and a top rope elbow gets two on Moxley. Back up and Moxley snaps off a suplex before taking Kojima up top. That just earns Moxley a superplex back down and a DDT on the apron makes it worse. Tony calls Moxley a representative of the state of Chicago and even JR gets on him a bit for it.

Back in and Moxley (with a cut elbow, which causes Excalibur to mention Moxley’s staph infection from a year or so ago in a great catch) hits a release suplex, or Jason Jett’s Crash Landing for you last few weeks of WCW fans. The Paradigm Shift into the brainbuster gets a delayed two and Moxley is rocked. Kojima’s lariat is countered into a German suplex for two and a jumping knee drops Kojima again. Back up and Kojima hits the lariat into the Koji Cutter but can’t cover.

They slug it out from their knees and then their feet until Moxley blasts him with a lariat of his own. The bulldog choke goes on but Kojima makes the rope. Some Mongolian chops rock Moxley, who counters another lariat into the Paradigm Shift. Another Paradigm Shift finishes Kojima at 11:55.

Rating: B-. This was another fun one with Moxley getting a win over a credible opponent. There is something cool about AEW’s relationship with New Japan (stupid name aside) but I’m not a huge fan of having the dream matches with little personal backstory. The action made up for it and the match was good, though I could have used a better build.

Respect is shown post match….but none of that matters as Minoru Suzuki is here. Suzuki takes off his shirt and they forearm it out with Moxley throwing in a bow of respect. That’s fine with Suzuki, who wins the slugout and chokes Moxley out. The Gotch style piledriver leaves Moxley laying.

We recap Britt Baker defending the Women’s Title against Kris Statlander with a bunch of talking heads giving their predictions.

Women’s Title: Britt Baker vs. Kris Statlander

Baker, with Rebel and Jamie Hayter, is defending and Orange Cassidy is here with Statlander. They stare each other down a bit until Statlander starts working on Baker’s recently broken arm. That’s broken up though and Baker takes her into the corner for a hanging neckbreaker. The seconds are near blows on the floor as Baker sends Statlander face first into the apron.

Baker grabs a neck crank to keep Statlander in trouble but she fights up for some running shots to rock Baker in the corner. Statlander grabs a modified Falcon Arrow for two but Baker is back with a hard DDT for the same. Baker loads up the glove, which takes long enough for Statlander to kick her in the head.

Statlander’s Area 451 misses though and Baker grabs a crossface. That’s countered into an electric chair faceplant and an ax kick gives Statlander two. Baker is sent outside but the big dive misses. A Stomp rocks Statlander again but she is able to counter the Lockjaw back inside. The Spider Crab is countered as well and Baker busts out a Panama Sunrise for two. Another stomp sets up the Lockjaw to retain at 11:33.

Rating: B. These two beat the fire out of each other and the fans were into it, even without the drama over who was going to win. Statlander was a good choice of an opponent as she feels like a credible enough of a threat but was always going to come up short in the end. Baker could be champ for a long time, but it is going to go through Thunder Rosa at some point and that is all that matters.

Andrade El Idolo and Chavo Guerrero deny having anything to do with Pac’s travel issues. El Idolo is ready for Pac on Rampage.

We recap the Lucha Bros vs. the Young Bucks in a cage for the Tag Team Titles. The Bucks keep cheating to win and the teams have a history of major matches in the company’s history.

Tag Team Title: Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks

The Bros are challenging in a cage and get rapped to the ring. Don Callis joins commentary as the Bucks try to leave early. That’s broken up with ease though as the Bros score with kicks to their backs. More kicks, including stereo kicks to the kneeling Bucks, keep the Bros in control but the Bucks kick them right back down. Penta winds up on the floor between the ring and the cage (which doesn’t connect to the apron), leaving Fenix to get powerbombed against the cage.

There’s a kick to Penta’s head and a chain is used to choke Fenix. A hurricanrana sends Matt into the cage and Penta is back in with a Backstabber out of the corner. The Bros’ stereo low superkicks only hit each other and Matt hits a top rope flipping Stunner on Penta. A double rolling cutter drops the Bucks as well and the Penta Driver gives Penta two on Matt. The Bucks are back up with more kicks and Fenix is sent into the cage.

The Swanton/Tombstone get two on the Bros but the BTE Trigger knees only hit each other. Fenix sends the Bucks into each other but Matt kicks both of them low. More Bang For Your Buck gets two on Fenix so the frustrated Bucks go after the masks. Callis calls it psychology, which Tony calls BS. Fenix is sent face first into the cage and Cutler throws his bag into the cage. Matt loads up a thumb tack shoe but Penta gets in front of Fenix. That’s fine with Matt, who kicks Penta in the head instead.

Penta is sent into the boot in the corner, with his mask getting stuck for a disturbing visual. A running boot from Nick drives Penta’s head even further into the tacks and there’s a superkick into the poisonrana to Fenix. The BTE Trigger gets two on Penta with Fenix making a save to bring the crowd right back to life. Matt takes the shoe off but Fenix makes the comeback with his variety of insane kicks. The shoe goes upside the Bucks’ heads and the Black Fire Driver gets two on Matt. The spike Fear Factor is broken up so Nick and Fenix climb the cage to slug it out.

Matt and Penta pull them down for stereo package piledrivers on the apron, setting up the big slugout. Matt goes up top with Penta though and it’s a super Canadian Destroyer to bring him back down to put everyone out. Everyone gets back up for a circle strike off until they’re all knocked down again. Back up and a Fear Factor gets two on Nick so Fenix goes up to the top of the cage. Nick saves Matt from the package piledriver and climbs up top with Fenix, only to get kicked back down. Fenix dives onto all three of them (dang) and the spike Fear Factor FINALLY ends the Bucks’ reign at 22:02.

Rating: A-. They had to do the title change here and even though things got bleak for the Bros more than once, all that matters was the big ending. The Bucks had to lose here and it took a lot to put them away, but it was a heck of a match to get there. This was the big show stealing match and that’s all you could have expected it to be. Awesome stuff here and by far the best thing on the show so far.

We get the long celebration and a look back at the rest of the show as the cage is removed.

Casino Battle Royal

We have twenty entrants and three minute intervals between suits. Clubs are in first, including Hikaru Shida, Skye Blue, Emi Sakura, Bunny and Abadon, the latter of whom freaks out the announcers. Blue and Bunny slug it out to start with the hometown girl Blue getting a big reaction. Blue gets sent to the apron though and Abadon knocks her out in a hurry.

Bunny eliminates Abadon a few seconds later and is fine with letting Sakura put Shida in a surfboard. That’s broken up with a rake to Sakura’s face though and Bunny gets in some more stomping until the Diamonds come in. That means Anna Jay, Kiera Hogan, KiLynn King, Diamante and Nyla Rose.

The brawling is on again and Sakura is out in a hurry. Hogan and King follow her out and there goes Shida with them. Rose and Diamante team up to go after Bunny and Jay and split up in about ten seconds. The four of them are joined by the Hearts, in the form of Thunder Rosa, Penelope Ford, Riho, Jamie Hayter and Big Swole. Riho hits a double 619 on Ford and Conti but Hayter tosses her out. Swole headbutts Diamante out but gets tossed by Hayter as well. The fans are behind Rosa as she fights off Hayter and Rose in the corner.

Things slow down a bit until we get the Clubs, with Tay Conti, Red Velvet, Leylah Hirsch, Jade Cargill and Rebel. The brawling is on and Velvet dropkicks Rebel out. Bunny and Jay wind up on the apron and both are kicked out in a hurry. Cargill throws Hirsch out and onto the pile (including onto some referees) and the clock ticks down, bringing up the RUBY SOHO chants. The Joker is….Ruby Soho (formerly known as Ruby Riott).

The final grouping is Soho, Conti, Ford, Cargill, Hayter, Velvet, Rose and Rosa. Soho goes after Cargill and then Rose, with Rosa using Soho to take Rose down. Cargill pumphandle faceplants Soho and tosses Hayter out in a nasty crash. Velvet is tossed as well but Rose gets rid of Cargill. Conti gets rid of Ford but gets tossed as well, leaving us with Soho, Rosa and Rose.

Rosa and Soho are knocked silly in a hurry but Rose gets a bit too cocky, allowing Rosa to send her to the apron and kick her out for the elimination. They stare each other down until Rosa shouts in Spanish and chops her hard. The Fire Thunder Driver is broken up and Rosa is sent to the apron but she pulls Soho out with her. Soho can’t get a German suplex off the apron but she can knee Rosa off the apron for the win at 21:48.

Rating: C+. This is their signature deal with the decks and all that jazz but it doesn’t make for the most thrilling battle royal. It doesn’t help when the Joker gets the big advantage, but Soho winning is one of the right ways they can go. It made for a good moment, though the match could have been a bit shorter to keep things moving a bit faster.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. MJF. Jericho can’t beat MJF and has become obsessed with him, so tonight Jericho’s career is on the line.

Chris Jericho vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

We get the old school COUNTDOWN but it is only leading to “JERICHO’S LAST MATCH”. Ok points for some good trolling, along with MJF coming to the ring in a king’s robe. Jericho is played to the ring by Fozzy’s guitarist to quite the reaction. MJF bails to the floor to rip up some Jericho signs before coming back inside so Jericho can snap off some armdrags. MJF gets in a shot to the face so they head outside, where Jericho whips him into the crowd. Jericho drops things onto MJF’s head and they go back inside.

This time Jericho’s baseball slide is caught in the ring skirt though and the beating is on. MJF starts in on Jericho’s bad arm and drives his elbow into the shoulder. Jericho fights up but a shot to the arm cuts that off in a hurry. A headbutt and some chops set up MJF’s Fargo Strut and the Heatseeker on the apron crushes Jericho again. That’s good for a nine so MJF knocks him back outside, only to miss an Asai moonsault.

Back in and they slug it out with Jericho getting the better of things. Jericho goes up top but dives into a Codebreaker for two in a good moment. Back up and Jericho scores with a dropkick for two and the fans are behind him again. Some corner clotheslines and right hands look to set up a super hurricanrana but MJF counters into a super sitout powerbomb. MJF is banged up too though, allowing Jericho to come back with a Codebreaker for two. Cue Wardlow but Jake Hager comes out to take care of him in a hurry (because the Inner Circle and the Pinnacle are back for this match).

The distraction lets MJF get in a baseball bat shot and the Judas Effect hits Jericho…for the pin at 18:19, though Jericho’s foot was on the rope. Therefore hold on, as another referee comes out to explain things and the match will restart. The bell rings and Jericho grabs a rollup for two. MJF is right back with the Salt of the Earth, which is reversed into a rollup for two more. The hold goes back on but this time Jericho reverses into the Walls. MJF is dragged back to the middle of the ring and FINALLY taps to save Jericho’s career at 21:08.

Rating: B. This was another good one as MJF used all of Jericho’s stuff because he believes he is the better of the two. Then Jericho wins in the end, with the great false finish of the boot on the rope. I’m not sure how much good this whole thing has done for MJF because he ultimately lost in the end, but it was nice to see him in such a high profile feud over the last several months.

The Inner Circle comes out to celebrate with Jericho.

We recap CM Punk vs. Darby Allin, which includes Allin in a BEST IN THE WORLD body bag and being hung from a helicopter.

Darby Allin vs. CM Punk

This is Punk’s first match since January 2014 and he’s in tights instead of trunks. Allin sits in the corner so Punk sits in the middle of the ring for the staredown. They lock up and Allin armdrags him down, which has Punk thinking twice for a second. Back up and Punk shoulders him down, earning a WELCOME BACK chant. Punk has to clarify that they mean him before grabbing a headlock and laying on Allin for a bit.

That’s broken up as well so Allin hits a hard running shoulder of his own. The threat of the GTS sends Allin bailing to the floor though and we need a breather. Allin is back in with the high angle armdrag and some running shoulders in the corner. Punk whips him HARD over the top and out to the floor though with a nasty crash. Back in and a belly to back suplex sets up a double arm crank to keep Allin down.

The abdominal stretch goes on, followed by a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker (Allin: “OH S***!”) for two. Another abdominal stretch is countered into the flipping Stunner to give Allin a needed breather. The springboard Coffin Drop to a standing Punk sets up La Majistral for two and the Code Red gets the same. Punk catches him on top but a belly to back superplex is countered into a crossbody for two.

Back up and Punk scores with the GTS out of nowhere but Allin falls outside. Allin barely beats the count so Punk tries another GTS, which is countered with a bunch of elbows to the head. A big charge sends Punk outside and there’s a Swanton to a standing Punk outside. Back in and Allin loads up the Coffin Drop but Punk sits up. Allin’s cradle is countered but so is the GTS, allowing Allin to get two off the Last Supper. Punk’s leg lariat gets two so Allin loads up the poisonrana, only to get countered into the GTS for the pin at 16:08.

Rating: B. This was a well put together match as Punk got to stand still a lot and wrestle in bursts instead of going full speed the whole time. That allowed Allin to do most of the heavy lifting and protected Punk from not having his wind back yet. The big matches can come with time, but for now this was about getting Punk back in the ring to knock off some of the rust. Rather good match, mainly due to the setup and Allin’s work.

Post match Sting comes out to check on Allin, with Punk kneeling right next to him. Allin gets up and Punk shakes his hand for the cool moment. Punk gets to take a quick victory lap and says that was #1.

Full Gear is Saturday November 13.

We recap QT Marshall vs. Paul Wight. Marshall had been insulting Tony Schiavone and his family, so Wight came out to help his broadcast partner. Now it’s time for Wight’s in-ring debut.

QT Marshall vs. Paul Wight

Wight doesn’t waste time and starts in with the chops before Marshall can take his jacket off. Marshall gets in a shot to the bad hip though and a low dropkick staggers Wight. The kickout sends Marshall outside and it’s time to start panicking. Back in and the Diamond Cutter is blocked, Wight beats up the rest of the Factory and grabs the chokeslam for the pin at 3:12.

Rating: D+. That’s how it should have gone and there is nothing to complain about here. Yes the Marshall stuff over the last few weeks has been a bit lame but ultimately, Wight beat him without much effort and that is all he should have done. Wight can go back to commentary until he is needed again and Marshall can go back to….whatever it is that he does.

Jon Moxley is facing Minoru Suzuki on Dynamite in Cincinnati.

Moxley says Suzuki better be ready to come to his hometown in the Nasty Natti.

Malakai Black is ready for Dustin Rhodes on Dynamite and suggests that Rhodes think of everything he has done to Rhodes’ family and friends.

We recap Christian Cage challenging Kenny Omega for the World Title. Cage pinned him to win the Impact Wrestling World Title so now it is time to do it for the belt that really mattes. Talking heads aren’t sure who should win.

AEW World Title: Christian Cage vs. Kenny Omega

Omega, with Don Callis, is defending and Cage starts fast by knocking Omega outside. Cage whips him into the barricade and Cage hits the big dive off the top to take him out. Back up and Omega whips Cage into the steps before pulling out a table. This one is laid on top of Cage though and Omega stomps it for a break (Omega: “Did I do that???”). Cage blocks a suplex through another table and suplexes Omega onto the floor. Back in and Cage’s Cloverleaf is blocked, allowing Omega to hit something close to a Sling Blade for two.

Omega knocks him to the floor again and hits the moonsault off the barricade. Back in and Cage is in more trouble, setting up a chest first whip into the corner. A fireman’s carry backbreaker gives Omega two more but he takes too long going up, allowing Christian to grab a hurricanrana. Christian chokes on the ropes and then jumps over for the customary right hand. Omega gets in a knee to the head and drives him into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs.

Now the V Trigger can hit the back of Christian’s head in the corner. The Snapdragon brings Christian out of the corner and there’s a second to make it even worse. Cage flips him off so it’s a third Snapdragon into another V Trigger. Instead of covering, Omega tries a German suplex through a table on the floor. Since that can’t work, Christian reverses into a Killswitch attempt but has to settle for a spear through the table instead. It takes them a minute to get back in, where Christian hits a spear each to Omega’s back and ribs for two.

Christian can’t follow up and has to escape the Dr. Wiley Bomb. Omega this some knees to the face, setting up a ripcord V Trigger. A tiger driver is countered though and Christian gets the high angle Cloverleaf. Callis calls in the reinforcements with the Good Brothers but Christian fights them off. The Killswitch gives Cage two more and they’re both down. With nothing else working, Christian catches him on top and tries a super Killswitch but gets reversed into a super One Winged Angel to retain the title at 21:21.

Rating: B+. They did everything they could to get around the lack of drama and it was a very good match. The problem is I never once believed Christian had a chance and I can’t imagine I’m alone. Cage was fine for a one off challenger, but Omega is going to need a major challenger sooner than later. Like at Full Gear for example.

Post match the rest of the Elite comes in for the big beatdown, with Jurassic Express not being able to make the save. The YES chants begin but Omega grabs the mic and asks if if Chicago is finally starting to understand. Omega doesn’t care who is a hometown hero because no one is on his level. When it comes to the AEW World Title, the only people who have a chance to beat him are either not here, already tired or already dead. Then the lights go out…..and it’s Adam Cole (Bay Bay) making his debut.

Cole gets in the ring….and superkicks Jungle Boy, because Cole is with the Elite. Omega: “In the words of Steve Urkel, did I do that?” Cole asks who is ready for Story Time With Adam Cole Bay Bay. The Elite is the most dominant faction in wrestling and no one can stop them. Omega hits the catchphrase….and we have Ride of the Valkyries. Brian Danielson is here too and some of the Elite bails. Danielson, Christian and Jurassic Express stare down Omega, Cole and the Young Bucks, with Omega leaving so the good guys can clean house so YES chants can end the show. That’s a heck of a pair of surprises so yeah, they nailed it.

Overall Rating: A. Great matches, two big moments and the historic title change with the only thing resembling a bad match lasting less than 200 seconds. They did pretty much everything right here and it was a pretty awesome show as a result. This felt like the normal AEW pay per view and that is certainly a great thing to hear. Awesome show and it didn’t feel like nearly four hours so there isn’t much of anything to complain about here.

Results
Miro b. Eddie Kingston – Jumping superkick
Jon Moxley b. Satoshi Kojima – Paradigm Shift
Britt Baker b. Kris Statlander – Lockjaw
Lucha Bros b. Young Bucks – Spike Fear Factor to Nick Jackson
Ruby Soho won the Casino Battle Royal last eliminating Thunder Rosa
Chris Jericho b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Walls of Jericho
CM Punk b. Darby Allin – GTS
Paul Wight b. QT Marshall – Chokeslam
Kenny Omega b. Christian Cage – Super One Winged Angel

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