Pantoja’s AEW All In Texas 2025 Review

AEW All In

July 12^th, 2025 | Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas

It’s the biggest show of the year for AEW and I do love me some afternoon wrestling.

They announced that Adam Cole couldn’t be medically cleared so the TNT Title is now vacant. Kyle Fletcher, former TNT Champions Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia, and Dustin Rhodes (for reasons) will compete for it.

Zero Hour time.

Shane Taylor Promotions vs. The Sons of Texas

For those unaware, the Sons of Texas are the Von Erichs, Sammy Guevara, and Dustin Rhodes. They came out with Kevin Von Erich. The crowd popped for the hometown boys but otherwise, they didn’t care much. I think it’s because these random ROH matches on AEW kickoff shows give the fans no reason to care about anything. Shane Taylor was in control early on until the faces made the comeback. Anthony Ogogo and Kevin Von Erich got into it outside, which triggered the arrival of Dusty Rhodes’ grandkids for a cameo. Things broke down for all the faces to do Iron Claws. That included Kevin coming in to give Ogogo one and Dustin got the win with his in 7:13. Yeah, that wasn’t very good but was there for Texas nostalgia I guess. [*½]

Big Boom AJ, Hologram, Kyle O’Reilly and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hechicero, Lance Archer and RPG Vice

I’ll be the first to admit that this is likely not a fair review. My order of Thai food for lunch arrived at the start so I went to grab that and have a few bites, meaning my focus was elsewhere. What I did see was a pretty basic tag match, with Archer being the dominant big and them working the hot tag to Big Boom AJ. Hechicero and Hologram had an exchange that was ultimately disappointing. I was hoping they could do something really good. Big Justice, who got shoved earlier in the match, got involved and Speared Trent. Somehow, that wasn’t a DQ. It was a good Spear though. A Big Boom powerbomb on Rocky ended this in 12:51. It went a bit long for what it was but it was inoffensive. [**]

FTR vs. The Outrunners

These four had a really good TV match the other day. FTR working heel is always when they’re at their best. Basically, the Revival. Also, the Outrunners’ gear was Newport cigarette themed. The teams went back and forth for a while and they weren’t totally building to a hot tag, which surprised me. However, they eventually did set that up and FTR has always been great at finding creative ways to cut off the tag. Having Dax basically stalk Magnum and take him out right as he got close to Floyd was really good. When we finally got the hot tag, the crowd ate up what The Outrunners do, including their double elbow near fall, though the jackknife pin near fall was better. The Outrunners may have had it won but Stokely Hathaway broke up a pin, so Turbo stalked him. As he ran, it set up FTR using a cheap rollup with feet on the ropes and leverage from Stoke to win in 16:13. That was solid but unspectacular. [***]

Main show time.

AEW Trios Championship: The Opps [c] vs. The Death Riders

Glad AEW remembered they have Trios Titles. Joining Claudio and Wheeler is Gabe Kidd. The teams brawled immediately to set off the bell. Props for Joe beating the shit out of Wheeler instantly. We got Shibata and Gabe trading shots which I will always love (loved it on Collision two nights ago too). This started hot but calmed down into a more traditional six man tag. Interestingly, Joe was the guy who played the face in peril as the Death Riders used quick tags to keep him on his heels. Hobbs got the hot tag and started hitting everything moving, including busting out his great spinebuster. The joe/Gabe section was short but made me want a singles match between them. In the end, Joe beat Wheeler with a Muscle Buster in 14:28. A good, solid start to the show. Nothing special and the crowd was rather quiet. [***]

 

Post-match, the Death Riders jumped The Opps and placed a chair around Joe’s head, leading Claudio to stomp on it. Joe even did a stretcher job, so the idea is that one of Hangman’s potential allies for later is now taken out.

 

Men’s Casino Gauntlet

Mark Briscoe was #1 and MJF was #2, as we knew coming in. MJF said he’d beat Mark before the third entrant even showed up. Bald Ricochet drew #3 so MJF failed in his bid to end this early. The heels joined forces until Bandido showed up at #3 and MJF turned on Ricochet. Takeshita was #5 and honestly, he should win. When MJF tried to unmask Bandido, Mistico entered at #6. They played his theme for a LONG time. It was a cool idea but the crowd didn’t fully react to it so it kind of dragged. #7 was Josh Alexander, while Anthony Bowens was #8. Takeshita and Alexander worked like a well-oiled machine to dominate this section of action. Roderick Strong was #9 and man, Paragon is such a lame thing. What happened to the aura the Undisputed Era boys used to have? Brody King got a pop at #10. He killed it. Juice Robinson, in bad gear, entered at #11.  Ricochet got help from the Gates of Agony, who weren’t even in the match. The Ass Boys returned to even the score and they got a big pop. Kota Ibushi got a pop at #12. #13 was The Beast Mortos. Takeshita interrupting the 21 Plex to do a double German suplex was a sick spot. It took forever to get to the next entrant and it was #14 Max Caster. It all led to MJF sneaking in and stealing the pin to win in 34:50. That was fun enough but dragged on too long. Lots of guys just napped outside for 8 minutes or so. Then that finish was expected but was still a wet fart. [***]

AEW TNT Championship: Daniel Garcia vs. Dustin Rhodes vs. Kyle Fletcher vs. Sammy Guevara

Adam Cole came out before the match to emotionally talk about how he doesn’t want discuss retirement but that he’s distraught at not being able to compete here. It feels like he might be realizing that he’s gonna have to retire. That’s a damn shame if it happens but I’d rather he be healthy. The crowd, even with hometown guys in, couldn’t really get into this after the Cole promo. It’s hard to turn it around right after that. Even DG’s dance spot barely got a reaction. The guys were doing stuff to almost no pop. Dustin came close with a Destroyer and Cross Rhodes. Everyone took turns hitting Kyle with Shattered Dreams, which finally got a reaction. This needed to be a sub-10 minute sprint and instead, as is often the case with AEW PPV matches, it dragged on because it HAS to go at least 15 or so minutes, minimum. It took forever to get there but Dustin countered DG’s Sharpshooter into an inside cradle to win the title in 15:21. That was way longer than it needed to be on a show that’s already guaranteed to go way too long. Cool moment for Dustin. Could’ve gotten there like 8 minutes ago. [*]

Someone needs to tell AEW that less is more. It has literally been TWO hours for three matches. Tony Khan is horrendous at pacing a show.

Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay vs. The Young Bucks

If the Bucks win, Will and Swerve can’t challenge for the World Title for a year, if the opposite result happens, the Bucks lose their EVP status. Whatever that means. Ospreay had a big Assassin’s Creed entrance (again) while Swerve came out to “Ain’t Nobody,” performed by Jojo Offerman. That was his indie theme, so that’s cool. After she sang, he then showed up to his current theme. The Bucks had a big boat for their entrance and considering the horrible pacing of this show, that took absurdly long. Once this finally started, it was good as expected. Ospreay played the face in peril after taking a shot outside but his comeback was sweet and set up a great Swerve hot tag. Swerve and Will worked very well together and their tandem stuff looked cool. Things picked up with a wild sequence that involved the classic no selling of Destroyers. It’s wild how wrestling has changed in 20 years. From there, the spots kept getting bigger as this was the first thing on the show to feel like something on a big AEW PPV. The EVP Trigger counter combo with Ospreay was great. Ospreay accidentally hit Swerve with Hidden Blade and that could’ve set up the finish but the Bucks did more moves to Ospreay to continue this. The Bucks laid into Will with kicks until Swerve stepped in front as Will did for him weeks ago. They overdid the near falls and such but the finish was sick as Swerve and Will won with a sandwich Hidden Blade/House Call in 26:16. That was actually awesome and that finish is top-tier. I pointed out the issues I had with it which is that they overdid some of the near falls and such but otherwise, outstanding. [****¼]

Women’s Casino Gauntlet

As we knew, Statlander and Bayne opened this and, to paraphrase Toni Storm, “my god, what women.” Their exchange was good and next in was Willow Nightingale, who has something interesting going on with Statlander these days. They went at it before #4, Tay Melo, arrived. Penelope Ford and Anna Jay, who seconded Tay and Megan, got involved, which brought out the returning Harley Cameron with a mask after having her nose broken. #5 was Thekla and Julia Hart was #6, as she came out with Skye Blue. Weird to just have these women at ringside and not in the match. Things continued on as Queen Aminata entered at #7, going straight for Thekla.  We got a cool spot of Thekla and Julia staring each other down while hanging upside down. Mina Shirakawa got a big pop at #8 before Athena entered at #9. She came in hot and basically wrecked everyone. Thunder Rosa was #10 and she got a major pop too. She and Athena met yesterday on ROH’s show so they went right at each other. Next in was Syuri to no reaction but LET’S GO. Uncultured swine in the crowd didn’t know her. She got to have a standoff with Athena before going at it with Mina. Alex Windsor entered at #11, which was a surprise. Everyone got in the ring to brawl as this really broke down. Willow took out Athena with a DVD on the apron, which was dope. Mina attempted a Figure Four only to have Athena hit the O-Face and win in 26:58. So much better than the men’s match. Expected winner in both, so maybe they can make that ROH reign mean something for once. [***¾]

AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Hurt Syndicate [c] vs. JetSpeed vs. The Patriarchy

FTR was on commentary during this and they were horrible. Just so boring. The Hurt Syndicate jumped before the bell and gained a quick upper hand. That hot start was withstood by the challengers and teams played to their strengths. JetSpeed used their quickness and elusiveness to gain upper hands while the Patriarchy was taking calculated chances to get their stuff going. Shelton popping Knight up in the air onto the steel steps outside was really cool. The same goes for Shelton German suplexing Bailey onto a crowd to the outside. Shelton is a monster when he’s not on a roster filled with overly muscular dudes. They could’ve ended this soon after but it kept going because Tony Khan doesn’t know how to tell anyone to go less than 15 on a PPV. Christian had this won but MVP distracted the referee. Then Christian was thrown into FTR, who tried to enter the ring and got hit again by Christian. Lashley Speared Christian to win in 18:58. That needed to be 8-10 minutes. Instead, it dragged. Especially since they made FTR/Hurt Syndicate obvious, so the outcome was never in doubt. [***]

Post-match, FTR and the Patriarchy argued. Christian went to leave only for Nick Wayne to hit him with the Unprettier. Nick attempted to add a con-chair-to but here comes COPE to make the save for his friend. Well, he played to the crowd for a bit before running down even though the heels didn’t capitalize. Cope told Christian to go find himself and walked off.

AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm [c] vs. Mercedes Moné

Lots of pomp and circumstance for Mercedes’ entrance, which had cheerleaders dancing with her titles. She also had a robe with the names of everyone she’s beaten. Toni’s entrance was really cool too. The feeling out process was good and Toni made sure to inject it with personality, sliding under the ropes instead of going through them when Mercedes held them open for her. She also mocked Mercedes’ CEO dance, pissing off the TBS Champion. Mercedes found a way to turn the tide and force Toni to take her a bit more seriously. The section where Merecedes held serve slowed the pace down but the Three Amigos getting booed was a bright spot. Toni turned things around with a short Storm Zero for two. I don’t like that near fall, especially since it was so early that there was no drama behind it. The spot where Toni could’ve Tombstoned Mercedes but instead shoved her face in her crotch was kind of perfect. Mercedes also kissed Toni only to get hit with a Pearl River Plunge (I’ll kind of always call it that) for two. The big near fall came when Toni delivered three Storm Zeroes in a row and only got two. The Mercedes inside cradle near fall after was much more effective. Then Toni surprisingly got the win with a Bret’s Rope Storm Zero at the 25:11 mark. Match of the night. An expertly paced match that felt like a huge deal, had great wrestling mixed in with character moments, and never felt like it went long. [****½]

AEW Unified Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega

Some call this the best rivalry ever. I think it’s great but wouldn’t go that far. I rate their matches like this: Wrestle Kingdom 11 (****¼), Dominion 2017 (***½), G1 27 (****¾), and Dominion 2018 (****½). The crowd lost their shit as soon as the bell rang. They went back and forth for the first seven or so minutes until Don Callis got involved with some cheap shots. Omega had to weather that storm and hit a tope con hilo to turn the tide. Kenny’s midsection was a problem throughout that kept costing him moments and Okada took advantage. Kenny looked like he was really struggling with it around the 20 minute mark. Omega’s comeback after that was a high point as he started in with bigger moves like the V-Trigger and the insane top rope Dragon Suplex that he busted out. Okada was laying in the big shots by this point, like a discus lariat that looked more vicious than any Rainmaker. When Omega got going again, Rocky Romero ran out for a distraction but got taken out by Kenny’s boyfriend Kota Ibushi. Omega hit the One Winged Angel, only for Don to pull the referee out of the ring. Omega survived a Rainmaker and the two traded blows, only for Okada to drop down and hit the midsection. Omega countering the Rainmaker into a small package was 10/10. That was his last shot though as Okada went on a quick spurt that ended with the Rainmaker, winning in 30:31. They’re now 2-2-1 against each other. They told a story around Kenny’s diverticulitis history, didn’t really overdo anything, had the right amount of interference, and left things open to continue the story if they want. [****½]

AEW World Championship Texas Death Match: Jon Moxley [c] vs. Hangman Page

Hangman’s entrance was a thing of beauty as he ultimately came out to his old babyface theme. It was less than three minutes in before Hangman bloodied Mox with a fork. And we could see ALL OF IT. Then a couple of minutes later, Hangman was bleeding from barbed wire. Then we got Hangman being dragged across broken glass. Then Moxley took a powerbomb on the tops of two open chairs. This was gnarly in the wildest sense. Wheeler Yuta was our first official run-in (Marina helped earlier but she’s been at ringside from the start) and was taken out by Hangman. Marina jumped on Hangman’s back on the apron, leading to her taking a DVD off it and through a table. A Deadeye onto tacks set up the Claudio run-in, which led to Will Ospreay showing up to help. Gabe Kidd also ran out for a 3-on-1 beating of Ospreay that included a piledriver on the floor and him getting the same chair treatment that Joe got earlier. The guys were bloody messes as they fired up to have a strike exchange. Moxley won that and used the choke to keep Hangman down as the referee started the 10 count. Hangman just made it to his feet. Mox then did the Death Rider onto an open chair but again, Hangman made it to his feet, pissing off Moxley. They got the plastic bag to choke out Hangman before a video played on the tron of Darby Allin from the top of Mt. Everest, saying he was coming down to take everything from him. Then someone in a mask with a beard that was clearly Bryan Danielson, ran in and hit the Busaiku Knee. He removed the mask to a huge pop and beat up more Death Riders. And as that happened, Darby was rappelled down to the ring, making his official return. He stared Moxley down, opening the door for a Buckshot Lariat. Darby then took out the Death Riders with a Coffin Drop as Bryan laid into Wheeler. Another Buckshot Lariat to Mox. Deadeye off the apron and through a table. Hangman got in the ring and Moxley was down at the count of 9 until Marina Shafir helped him up and flipped off Hangman. Time for the Young Bucks to show up and double superkick Hangman so Moxley could bring out a bed of nails. Moxley hit a stomp and Paradigm Shift onto the nails, yet Page again got up. Moxley asked Marina for the key that she always has on. She went to get the briefcase but got handcuffed to the table by a sneaky Prince Nana. And there’s Swerve with the chain from the other day to take out the Bucks. He slid to Hangman who used it to lay into Moxley and then hang him with it over the ropes, though that didn’t last long. Moxley got inside and took a Buckshot Lariat where he fell onto the nails. He did the hanging choke which Mox sold like it was the end of the world. He panicked and tapped at 35:53. Incredible. Overbooked in the best possible way with the right outcome in the end. Wrestling is beautiful in that something like this could come from something that was so bad in the Death Riders angle. [****½]

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

This was a hell of a show that ended with a barrage of bangers. It has the same old AEW problem in that some matches go on way too long, causing the show to drag at points. The stuff that went too long (TNT Title, tag titles, Men’s Gauntlet) suffered and the stuff that got the right amount of time (Women’s gauntlet, triple main event) were the highlights.