wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s AEW All In 2023 Review
Image Credit: AEW
Loading...AEW All In
August 27th, 2023 | Wembley Stadium in London, England | Attendance: 81,035
I’ll be the first to admit that the build for this show has been lackluster as hell outside of MJF/Cole. That said, there was no way I wans’t going to order such a historic event. I won’t be ordering All Out next week though because two PPVs in a week is a wild move.
The pre-show had a Miro/Powerhouse Hobbs contract signing and an appearance from NO MORE BS PAUL WIGHT as he, Anthony Ogogo, and Grado interrupted a heel Jeff Jarrett promo. Jarrett stole the show by calling Tony Schiavone a Slapnut. Singular.
ROH Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open [c] vs. Adam Cole and MJF
Our first pre-show match sees our main event competitors in tag team action. Those dastardly Aussie Open boys jumped the challengers during their ADAM COLE BAY BAY entrance so that was rude. That put them in control and MJF got isolated from the opening bell though it didn’t last long and Cole came in hot, DESTROYING Fletcher with a superkick. I loved how every little moment in this match had implications for later. Like Cole wanted MJF to do a dive and you had to wonder if it was a ploy to soften him up for later. Also, everything Cole and MJF did got huge reactions from the double clothesline tease to MJF’s Kangaroo Kick. Surprisingly, this ended in short fashion with a double clothesline beating Fletcher at the 6:57 mark. A great shock result to end a really fun short match with a hot crowd. [***¼]
MERCEDES MONÉ WAS IN THE CROWD.
FTW Championship: Jack Perry [c] vs. Hook
Jack Perry and his unfitting theme had a limo for his entrance. Hook met him in the aisle and the bell rang to start this. That included a fight on the limo where Perry did a Rolling Thunder onto the hood of it. Hook responded with a suplex that broke the windshield but Perry took over back toward the ring and made sure to throw in some taunts directed at RVD during it. It was interesting to see Hook sell so much as he has spent his young career dominating. He did pretty well at it but then got to make a short comeback complete with using a trash can as a weapon. He then used Redrum to regain the title after 8:22. I thought that was good but I think it needed a bit more from the Hook rally to really click. [***]
Main card time!
AEW “Real” World Championship: CM Punk [c] vs. Samoa Joe
This fake world champion gimmick is very not good. The tron tunnel they have for the entrance is dope as hell. I’m guessing Phil had to go on first to leave before the Elite entered. Anyway, Joe opened this by flat out kicking Punk’s ass with strikes, chops, and more. It reached a point where Punk was busted wide open pretty heavily and Joe just laid into him with more jabs. Punk was in major trouble for a while but his rally included him doing John Cena’s FIVE MOVES OF DOOM and mocking Hulk Hogan with a leg drop. That just seemed to annoy Joe who punished Punk by putting him in several submissions. Joe continued to beat him from pillar to post but he made one crucial mistake up top. Punk capitalized by busting out the Pepsi Plunge in a perfect nod to their ROH history and Punk retained in 13:58. A very good match where they did the best I could hope for given both are past their primes. I liked the idea that Punk got his ass kicked but found a way to hit the one shot that ended things. [***½]
Apparently, Phil had a confrontation with Jack Perry in the back. I love stupid wrestling beef.
Hangman Page, Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White, Juice Robinson and Konosuke Takeshita
This was fun from the start and I lost my shit at Kota vs. Jay, which renewed the best Tokyo Dome main event I’ve ever seen. It was also cool as heel to see the Golden Lovers and Hangman/Kenny working together again. They were rolling until Kenny seemed to hurt himself on a top rope move and he became the face in peril. Kenny had some hope spots but he really spent the majority of this match getting beaten up. Jay White was on point, Takeshita was hitting hard, and Juice was doing stuff. He’s quite the character isn’t he? Kenny found a way to flip over his opponents and make the tag only for the Gunns to pull Kota and Hangman off the apron, making for a great tease. Hangman did get the hot tag shortly after though. You can tell that Kota hasn’t been working consistently as some of his stuff lacked bite or was mistimed just like in Blood and Guts. I could watch Kota and Jay interactions even with Kota being a step slow. The same goes for him against Takeshita as the Takeshita jumping knee was sold like death. The closing stretch was filled with exciting moments and Kenny was on fire until Takeshita rolled him up with a handful of tights to steal this in 20:27. The best match so far even with some slip ups here and there. Just tons of fun and action from bell to bell. [***¾]
AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR [c] vs. The Young Bucks
Match #3 in this trilogy. They’ve met at Full Gear 2020 (****¼) and at Dynamite on 4/6/22 (****½). This got off to a hot start again though that was ideal for the Bucks. They thrive on a high octane setting. FTR needed to go out and try to slow the pace to get it to something that works for them. Likely due to the way this started, FTR really couldn’t muster momentum until Dax used a guillotine to slow down Matt Jackson’s trio of suplexes. With FTR in control, Matt ended up trapped in the Sharpshooter and he was in there for a while. Given how he has sold a back injury for like six years, that didn’t bode well for the challengers. I appreciate that a lot of the close calls and near falls here weren’t on finishers. They came on signature moves and flash pins attempts. It’s a small thing that I find so important. In a big momentum swing late, Dax got saved from the BTE Trigger and the champs were suddenly in the driver’s seat. They opted to hit the FTR Trigger, complete with cheek kisses, and added Shatter Machine for two. That’s a near fall I didn’t like. I’d rather Nick make the save. FTR also hit a superkick to play against their opponents. They had a camera angle mistake that showed the Bucks pull Cash up on a pin attempt rather than it bed a typical kickout. After FTR also did a big finisher kickout, the finish saw them avoid the Bucks’ biggest shot and hit Shatter Machine from out of nowhere to retain in 21:44. Obviously, another great match. I’d rank it behind their match last year but ahead of the one in 2020. The Bucks also declined a post-match handshake. [****¼]
Stadium Stampede: Best Friends, Eddie Kingston, Orange Cassidy & Penta El Zero Miedo vs. The Blackpool Combat Club, Santana & Ortiz
Eddie, in a Patrick Ewing jersey, went straight for Claudio to kickstart this. What we got was the expected big brawl that this match is known for. Some guys fought backstage while others stayed in the ring and the action was wild at every turn. Moxley introduced skewers but had them put in his head which looked gross as hell. OC was having his usual good time but Moxley went after him with a fork and we had a totally different look for OC. Another high spot was Trent getting tripped up top and landing on a ladder. Trent taking a piledriver on the steel steps was wild too. Honestly, this match was just a collection of big spots but that’s fine because that’s what I wanted/expected from it. At one point, Penta was apparently carted off to the back due to injury. That sucks. Trent’s mom Sue drove up to the stadium and Moxley kissed her so Trent went after him. Sue brought a cookie sheet with actual cookies on it. NEVER MIND, PENTA RETURNED AS PENTA OSCURO even if the camera botched it. He hit a sunset flip bomb off a ladder and through a table. OC got hardcore, duct taping his fist and covering it in broken glass to use for an Orange Punch but Moxley cut him off. He took one of the best popup European uppercuts ever. Kingston returned to a pop with a chair as he laid into Claudio. Moxley and Eddie went face to face and Eddie put them through a table. Then, OC returned with the glass covered Orange Punch on Claudio to win in 21:15. Just a war with absurd moments and some good storytelling, capped by a strong ending. [****¼]
AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida [c] vs. Britt Baker vs. Saraya vs. Toni Storm
It’s the “we only have one women’s match on the card so let’s throw multiple girls into it” match. Saraya came out to “We Will Rock You” with her family. As expected, the Outcasts worked as a unit until it came time to try a pin attempt and then they argued. They still worked together a bit afterward until Toni hit her mom by mistake (who was holding Britt). That made Saraya mad but like, you saw Britt move. You now it was an accident. As they fought, Ruby Soho ran out to calm things down but she got hit and just walked off like a punk. From there, we had a more level match with each woman getting a chance to shine. Britt had Shida trapped in the Lockjaw so Saraya used hairspray on Toni and hit her finisher to win the title in 8:42. That was certainly a choice. I get the hometown thing but Shida deserved a legitimate reign in front of live crowds and Saraya has been very not good since returning. [**]
Coffin Match: Christian Cage and Swerve Strickland vs. Darby Allin and Sting
Tony Khan a madman with money, getting “Seek and Destroy” for Sting and Darby. Darby got handcuffed pretty early and still hit a bunch of offense with it. It looked cool though with OC often doing the same with his hands in his pockets, it lost a bit of luster. Sting was doing Sting things including a dive onto a table that didn’t break, causing him to redo the spot. Nick Wayne interfered at one point only for Luchasaurus to jump him. They kept up with the big spots like Sting surviving being put in the coffin by blocking the lid with his bat, Darby missing the Coffin Drop and hitting the coffin, and Sting hitting a Scorpion Death Drop on that coffin. Swerve was trapped in the casket on his way out when Darby slammed it on his ribs with a Coffin Drop, giving us the finish at the 15:38 mark. That was fun, though a bit too long. Still, I could watch Sting be a madman for hours. [***¾]
Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay
This wasn’t the match that should’ve happened in Wembley but alright. Before the bell, Jericho (who had Fozzy play him out) tried to do the Freddie Mercury Live Aid thing with the crowd and it was CRINGE. To combat Will’s athletic advantage, Jericho had to get violent, which he did with a brutal German suplex on the apron that looked awful for Will to take. That put Will on the defensive though not for as long as you’d expect. Like, the dude was hitting a Shooting Star Press just minutes later so it was an odd setup. Even so, Jericho remained in control for a lot of this. I give Will props for selling the terrible Judas Effect like he got shot. He did his best to make sure that looked good. What didn’t look good was Jericho bumping for some of Will’s offense. Will went into his offense late, hitting Storm Breaker and Hidden Blade to a defiant Jericho, ending this in 14:54. It looked like Will was out there to have a banger and he was going to drag Jericho’s corpse along for the ride. That said, Jericho did his part and this was better than I expected though nothing I’d call great. [***½]
AEW Trios Championship: The House of Black [c] vs. The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn
Bold of AEW to think I’d rather see Bad Ass Billy Gunn over Daddy Ass. The challengers selected No DQ as their stip but a lot of this was standard tag wrestling between these teams and everything you’d expect. I do think that for being a No Holds Barred match, they really didn’t use that stipulation much. A standout moment saw Julia Hart intervene only to get hit with Scissor Me Timbers by the challengers. They did everything in their power to run off a string of offense late, capped by a barrage on Brody King that saw everyone cover him to give us new champions in 10:03. Surprised by the title change because House of Black should’ve kept running with the belts but the match itself was fine. The former champions handed the titles over to the new ones and walked off. [**½]
AEW World Championship: MJF [c] vs. Adam Cole
So I watched this live and didn’t write anything about it before leaving to a family party. I’m back now and it has been a few hours since I watched this so I apologize if this isn’t the best when it comes to remembering specific spots. What I do remember is that I really liked a lot of the storytelling aspects. MJF was torn on pulling the trigger on certain moves, like a Tombstone on a table, but Cole wasn’t shy and immediately attempted it. That was kind of the story throughout. The dastardly MJF is who you’d expect to do these things but he has come to trust Cole and couldn’t. Meanwhile, Cole was seemingly willing to do anything to win the title. They did that so well. They also teased a draw like last time (on a double clothesline which is PERFECT) only for MJF to not accept the five minutes but to say to keep going until we have a winner. Just layers upon layers. This next section was where things got a bit melodramatic. Roderick Strong showed up to hit MJF low and Cole again was ready to capitalize but MJF kept kicking out. MJF couldn’t bring himself to use the ring as a weapon and when Cole had a chance to use the title as one, he also decided against it, much to the chagrin of Roddy. MJF pulled Cole into an inside cradle to retain in 27:31, capping one hell of a story. [****¼]
The post-match stuff teased the breakup of MJF and Cole, including having Roddy shout for Cole to attack him and for MJF to turn his back to Cole. They ultimately hugged it out and did a LOT of crying. It hit the melodramatic point of the worst Ciampa and Gargano segments. I can see why some were very upset by it.
