Pantoja’s AEW All In 2024 Review

AEW All In

August 25^th, 2024 | Wembley Stadium in London, England

Action Andretti, Kip Sabian, Kyle Fletcher, Lio Rush, Rocky Romero, Tommy Billington & Top Flight vs. Ariya Daivari, Anthony Agogo, Dark Order, Jay Lethal, Private Party & Satnam Singh

Yes, it’s a 16-man tag. Daddy Magic was on commentary through, which made this worth it. Things broke down quickly into a brawl until we got left with the biggest and smallest guys facing off in Satnam and Lio. That led to a funny little spot between them. Ariya Daivari looks like Temu Ricochet. They kept up a fun pace throughout with spots where a bunch of guys hit dives outside and the action never slowed. It’s my Survivor Series feeling that no match like this should ever be boring because there’s always someone to pick up the slack. Dante Martin got the win with his ridiculous double crossover frog splash in 11:34. That was super fun even if it was useless. [***]

They announced that Grand Slam is coming to Australia rather than New York.

Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Willow Nightingale

Stokely was brought out on a goddamn bed. He’s the GOAT baby. Him getting uppies from Kris to get on the steel steps has me like, “IT SHOULD’VE BEEN ME.” Willow had Ishii inspired gear. Stokely avoided starting with Ishii, allowing Kris and Willow to go at it. They were hitting each other pretty hard, fitting of their feud. They did flub a discus lariat outside due to timing issues. This was obviously set up with Kris cutting off the tag to Ishii for as long as she could. When it finally happened it got a great reaction and they didn’t overdo the build to it. Watching Stokely flail as he tried to chop and shoulder block Ishii was worth the price of admission. He did bust out a spinebuster to a pop though Ishii no sold it obviously. Kris saved him from getting beat by a powerbomb but Willow took her out with the Pounce, and then Ishii pinned Stokely with a sliding lariat in 8:14. Another fun match. [***]

Another big announcement which we already knew about but Forbidden Door comes to London in 2025.

Cage of Agony and The Undisputed Kingdom vs. Dustin Rhodes, Katsuyori Shibata, Sammy Guevara and The Von Erichs

Sammy Guevara is a thing again? Yikes. Anyway, this started with a brawl in the aisle before the bell rang. That was the most fun part of the match because they worked an isolation heat segment on Sammy Guevara like he’s sympathetic or something. Then we got a bunch of big dives where not everyone even got caught properly. The only cool spot was Dustin teasing a dive and then hitting a Destroyer for two because they move means as little as a superkick these days. This should’ve ended like four times but kept getting pins broken up so more guys could do lame spots. It eventually ended when Dustin got the pin in 11:01 and yeah, that sucked. It was Shibata and Dustin doing their thing while everyone else either botched, looked bad, or did nothing. [*]

Saraya came out with her family and Harley Cameron. She complained about not being on the card and called herself the best women’s wrestler to ever come out of England. That of course triggered the return of Jamie Hayter to a massive pop. She laid out various members of the family, including Saraya’s mother, before facing off with Saraya in the ring. Saraya escaped but Harley got flattened with a lariat. A great moment as Jamie has been missed and she got to have a moment in Wembley.

Time for the main card.

AEW Trios Championship London Ladders Match: The Patriarchy [c] vs. The Bang Bang Gang vs. The Blackpool Combat Club & PAC vs. The House of Black

I said it last time AEW had one of these on a PPV and it still rings true. We see so many ladder matches that they all kind of run together. So even when you get a really fun, great one, you forget about it by the next day. Same goes for WWE. I gave the last AEW PPV ladder match ****+ and I couldn’t tell you anything more than maybe one spot from it. Christian ran away at the start but was back after some big spots that including the Gunns lifting classic Dudley moves. Mother Wayne attempted to climb at one point but the Gunns stopped her. Killswitch might’ve had it won but Christian cut him off so he could get the glory which backfired. From there we got some big spots, a lot of which were done by Nick Wayne including a Destroyer through a table. I liked Christian busting out a spot he used on Rhino back in TNA but on Wheeler here by burying him under a ladder and wailing on him with chairs. Instead of grabbing the belts himself, Killswitch put Christian on his shoulders to help him as the crowd chanted “Luchasaurus.” PAC interrupted them, Christian fell onto Killswitch, and PAC pulled the titles down to win in 18:57. The expected fun spotfest that all ladder matches are. [****]

AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm [c] vs. Mariah May

Surprised this was on so early. It’s second to only Bryan/Swerve in terms of interesting matches on this card and it’s not really close. The two came face to face to start and you got the sense that Toni was heartbroken that this even had to take place. They went right into trading strikes from there though and this was on. Mariah’s apron sunset flip bomb came of well and then she spat at Luther to garner more heat. Mariah busted out a spinning side slam which I felt was a nod to Xena who was shortly in Club Venus with her. Toni fired up and rallied but Mariah kept finding ways to cut her off. Mariah hit Luther and then slapped her mom in the front row. I do feel they should’ve built to that moment better. They kind of showed the mom quickly and then we got this. There was no build to it. Toni busted Mariah open with a piledriver on the steel steps. She got going after that and used Storm Zero for a near fall. They went into a spot of trading blows that led to a standing ovation, it was that good. Mina Shirakawa was stunned in the audience. Toni couldn’t bring herself to use the shoe as a weapon and it cost her as Mariah countered Storm Zero into a pin. She then fired off some knee strikes and hit her own Storm Zero to win the title in 15:13. The right decision and a great match that had a few awkward moments but worked very well overall. I was totally into a lot of the storytelling aspects here. [****¼]

FTW Championship FTW Rules Match: Chris Jericho [c] vs. Hook

This man made people sit through Fozzy again. Jericho needs to pay for his crimes. With the FTW Rules in effect, over as hell in England Big Bill and Bryan Keith jumped Hook immediately. Jericho then hit a hideous Codebreaker for one. Hook fought off the other guys but they kept coming back for more and various weapons were brought into play like a cricket bat, barbed wire board, and a bag of apples. Hook removed the eye patch to reveal that he could see. Random to do mid-match. Why even lie in the first place? How did that benefit you? I only popped for the finish as Taz got up from commentary to choke out Bryan Keith (Bill was put through a table) and Hook made Jericho tap to Redrum after 10:13. The weapons kept it from sucking and the Taz spot was cool. I’d have made it shorter though. [**]

AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks [c] vs. The Acclaimed vs. FTR

I’m old enough to remember when the AEW tag division was good. These are three teams that I don’t think I’ve heard anyone talk about caring about in a long time. The early goings saw the teams do their usual stuff, hitting their expected spots. They then lifted a spot from TakeOver: Orlando in 2017 (though done worse) where one member of each team partnered up to do spots against the Bucks. The teams kind of just did stuff with nothing of interesting really happening for most of it. Billy Gunn’s Fameasser on a belt was the best spot of the match and he wasn’t even legal. The Bucks retained with the EVP Trigger after little to no drama in 13:32. My friend said this was three washed tag teams in a match and after this, I don’t think he was wrong. [**]

Grizzled Young Veterans appeared after the match and stared down the Bucks, who left. Then GYV turned their attention to FTR to beat them up.

Casino Gauntlet Match

This should be a fun way to fix the bad taste of the last two matches. Orange Cassidy and Kazuchika Okada started this. Former CHAOS member Okada goaded OC into a fake hg at the bell. NO FUCKING WAY. NIGEL MCGUINNESS ENTERED at #3. I lost my mind once Oasis started playing. I was a huge Nigel mark. Kyle O’Reilly was #4 but Zack Sabre Jr. got a massive pop at #5. That gave me Nigel vs. ZSJ which is a dream. Mark Briscoe and Roderick Strong entered and the 2006 ROH mark in me was thriving. Hangman got a great reaction as a legitimate threat. The absolute pop for Jeff Jarrett though. Ricochet made his expected debut to a good pop. Christian showed back up. Jarrett took out Hangman with a guitar shot only to eat a Rainmaker setting up a good stretch of people getting their shit in. Nigel’s close call on the Tower of London was so sick. Luchasaurus was next out, not Killswitch, and Christian was terrified only for him to help Christian anyway. He chokeslammed Kyle and put Christian on Kyle to end this in 25:58. Super fun match, super lame ending. I love Christian and am down for him to have a World Title shot but the Luchasaurus fake out made no sense. [****]

AEW American Championship: MJF [c] vs. Will Ospreay

Will had an Assassin’s Creed entrance while MJF was overly patriotic and the fans sang along to his theme. Of note, somebody stole MJF’s Dynamite Dozen ring gimmick before the show so he doesn’t have access to it here. This got off to a hot start with them trading blows and Will nailing a big dive in the early moments. They had very good back and forth from there, including MJF’s Kangaroo Kick and him countering another Will dive into a Tombstone on the outside. MJF shouted that Will wasn’t special because he could flip and went for one of his own though he missed, leading to an awkward Spanish Fly on the outside. From there, we got some big spots like a Shooting Star Press, Cross Rhodes from MJF, Oscutter, and some good close calls on both sides. When Storm Breaker wasn’t enough, the crowd began chanting “Tiger Driver.” There was a countout tease after an apron Destroyer from MJF, who desperately wanted the cheap victory. A cameraman bump distracted the referee (nice twist on a tired ref bump gimmick) long enough for MJF to get the title and use it for a near fall. Then we got a normal ref bump and when MJF tried to cheat again, someone in a mask stopped him. He then revealed himself to be Daniel Garcia to a huge pop. Will hit the Hidden Blade and then added the Tiger Driver to win in 25:47. Overbooked at points but another banger for both men. Intrigued at where Will goes from here though because he feels like he’s ready for the top title. [****½]

Post match, Ospreay refused the American Title and was given the International Title by Christopher Daniels.

AEW TBS Championship: Mercedes Moné [c] vs. Britt Baker

Great entrance for Mercedes that included her dog Ryu. We love a corgi. I wasn’t blown away by the way this started though I do like how Britt’s back became the focus. She struggled to hit moves because of it and honestly, the Bret’s rope body slam by Mercedes was a hell of a spot. That was the crux of the match for the first 10 or so minutes. A few of Mercedes’ power spots didn’t come off so well as it’s not the strongest part of her game. The attempt at turning a second middle rope slam into a flipping something from Britt came off very weird. Then Britt did the Eddie Guerrero spot to get Kamille thrown out. Britt got in her signature stuff from there, including the Lockjaw, but Mercedes found her way out. From there they traded rollups until Mercedes found a way to hit the Moné Maker and retain in 17:21. That was longer than it needed to be and dull at points. Mercedes is one of the best big match wrestlers around but Britt really isn’t and that showed here. This was as average as I was expecting. [**½]

AEW TNT Championship Coffin Match: Jack Perry [c] vs. Darby Allin

I totally forgot about this because I just do not care about tough guy Jack Perry. Darby wrestled this from start to finish with thumbtacks in his face. He put them there himself because he’s a madman. I had to admit that I stopped typing for this match. Needed to rest up my digits for the main event (I worked my main at-home job today too which involves a lot of typing). What I will say here is that they did a lot of stuff with glass and such, yet it never really went as far as you’d expect from these two. It was kind of a whole lot of nothing outside of Darby hilariously poking his head through a body bag. Jack sent him back and put him in the coffin to win in 10:27. That was…fine. [**]

Post-match, the Bucks arrived with gasoline to set the coffin and Darby on fire. However, he got saved by Sting! Complete with “Seek and Destroy.”

AEW World Championship vs. Career Match: Swerve Strickland [c] vs. Bryan Danielson

Bryan got a very emotional video package followed by “The Final Countdown” for his entrance. I was very emotional throughout this as Bryan is my all-time favorite and the person I feel is the GOAT. Brie, Birdie, and Buddy were front row. Bryan delivered a NASTY Divorce Court to start and that gave him a target in Swerve’s arm. Swerve turned things around and got help from hitting the DVD on a ring bell after the referee took a small kick to the head and was distracted. It busted Bryan open. Swerve then dragged Bryan over to his family and mocked them as Bryan was battered. Bryan avoided the Swerve Stomp and somehow turned it into the Regal Stretch. Imagine someone being that good at wrestling. Bryan busted out a goddamn top rope Tiger Suplex which is ridiculous. Swerve countered the Cattle Mutilation into the Vertebreaker which brought out doctors to check on Bryan though Swerve chased them off. From there, the champ hit the Swerve Stomp and several House Calls as Bryan was out on his knees. Bryan stared at his family as he took all of these moves and kicked out. Looking at them powered him up though as he started to get to his feet and no sell the kicks before slapping Swerve. In a sick spot, Bryan hit the Busaiku Knee and Swerve just brushed it off. Bryan kicked out of Big Pressure and the place came unglued. When Swerve had this win lined up, Hagman chopped the guardrail and started throwing people around. Security had to stop him as Swerve watched. That opened the door for Bryan to hit the Busaiku Knee again for two. He added another one to block Swerve’s flipping lariat. He slapped on the LeBelle Lock and Swerve tried to break it, so Bryan snapped his fingers, turned it into the Rings of Saturn, and got the submission victory in 26:00. Bryan is my favorite ever so yes, this was perfect. [*****]

I can’t put into words what that main event meant to me. An absolutely special moment. I was there live at the Manhattan Center for Bryan’s last ROH match before joining WWE. I followed him to WWE and was blown away that I got to see him win the WWE Title at WrestleMania XXX. Now I got to see him have this moment at Wembley Stadium. The greatest to ever do it and you cannot argue anyone else in my eyes. Incredible.

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

A great night of wrestling. It suffered at times from the “AEW needs to trim these down” issues as there are four matches that were either flat out bad or wildly disappointing. Otherwise though, this was a fantastic show with some of the best matches and moments of the year.