wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s AEW All Out 2024 Review
Image Credit: AEW
Loading...AEW All Out
September 7th, 2024 | NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois
I wasn’t going to order this show but I was home on a Saturday night and figured I’d go for it. The wife is watching college football, got some good dinner right now, and Swerve and Hangman are gonna murder each other. It’s a good night.
Daniel Garcia vs. MJF
During MJC’s entrance, Daniel jumped him but MJF turned it around once the bell officially rang. From there, they had some back and forth with MJF mostly holding serve. The idea was that he was a step ahead because Daniel was highly emotional. He would level MJF when he could but he’d also get himself into trouble because of his aggression and MJF knew how to take advantage. MJF really got the advantage after a stiff powerbomb and he busted Daniel open again like he did this past Wednesday. That led to him trying the Bret’s Rope Tombstone and commentary sold the idea like it would be death, which was well done. It made Daniel escaping all the better. Daniel fired up after that only for MJF to stop him with a thumb to the eye. Classic heel shit. They got into a spot where they countered and traded submissions, including DG bringing back the Dragon Tamer he used against Bryan Danielson during their epic 2022 trilogy. Garcia may have had this won with a submission but refused to let MJF’s arm drop a third time, opting for a piledriver instead that only got two. When he went for one off the top, MJF cut it off and used a low blow to set up a jackknife pin that ended it in 23:41. I thought that was a great opener. The crowd was totally into it, some of the exchanges were great, and you got the sense that DG really hates Max. [***¾]
Post-match, MJF offered a handshake and went to hit DG but DG was ready for it. He caught the kick, hit a low blow, and delivered a Bret’s Rope piledriver.
AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks [c] vs. Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta
Claudio is the best tag team wrestler ever. He’s here to try and save this bad Young Bucks reign. There was fun to be had early on, with the BCC using several wishbones on the champs and Nick hurting his own foot by kicking the guardrail in frustration. That was a lot of the early goings here. The challengers were a step ahead of the Bucks at every turn, especially when Claudio got one of them one-on-one. The Bucks turned things around once they got to do things like isolating Wheeler and using underhanded tactics. They started hitting their signature stuff and came close with the EVP Trigger but Wheeler broke up the pin. The challengers had one final close call after a Claudio superplex but Matt got the knees up on Wheeler’s splash and rolled him up while Nick held Claudio back to retain in 15:45. The Bucks are beyond tired as champs, this EVP stuff is very not good, and their in-ring work has been way down. That said, this was a solid match. [**¾]
AEW International Championship: Will Ospreay [c] vs. PAC
Oh, now we’re talking. The crowd was hot for this so PAC wisely took a powder to stall momentum. PAC took to the skies first only for Will to answer with his own dive moments later. The mirror stuff about European high flyers was clearly a focal point. Ricochet was watching on a monitor in the back for obvious reasons. Will gained an upper hand by going back to the skies with the Sasuke Special and his handspring elbow. Remember when Tajiri first did that and it blew minds but now it’s so commonplace? The spot where Will caught a PAC moonsault only to have it turned into a tornado DDT was a perfect look at what this match was. They moved into higher impact moves from there like a BRUTAL release German Suplex and Poison Rana on the apron, both by PAC. Seriously though, the neck bumps are wild. Is Will trying to not walk by the time he’s 40. They just kept building and building with bigger and better spots. The Hidden Blade near fall was fantastic and not a case of overdoing things. They then one upped that great close call with another when Will landed on his feet on an avalanche Poison Rana and hit another Hidden Blade. PAC countered the Storm Breaker into a sick rana that Will rolled through for a Styles Clash. He added one more Hidden Blade to retain in 20:36. Outstanding match. Ospreay is on one hell of a role in big PPV matches. [****½]
Chicago Street Fight: Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale
I love that AEW has built this feud without a title being the focal point. Even when they’ve given the women more shin, they’ve often had trouble giving time to anything without a title. I missed the beginning of this but it looks like they got right to the action. Willow took some big bumps, eating a powerbomb through the announce table and falling on her neck when Kris threw her into the guardrail. Kris took her own wile bump when she missed a Swanton off the top through a table and caught Willow with her foot. Stokely Hathaway brought out weapons that Kris used until Willow busted out light tubes. Kris responded by spearing Willow off the stage and through a table. They fought back to the ring where they kept up the intensity. The big spot saw Kris miss an Axe Kick and land on the thumbtacks in a split. That wasn’t enough as these two just kept up with the big spots. They had one final moment where they kind of embraced before Kris hit Saturday Night Fever and then applied a choke with the chain. Willow submitted for the surprising result after 14:57. I loved that. Just an absolutely violent war between two women who deserved this chance to shine. [****½]
AEW Continental Championship: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Orange Cassidy
This is super random and thrown together but the talent involved should make it work. I like that they teased Takeshita and Okada, knowing that’s the money match that people want to see. The Conglomeration members worked together at a couple of points. The crowd chanted “Fuck Don Callis” and hilariously, he was on commentary like “I didn’t do anything, I’m just calling the action!” The mix of styles worked here, allowing everything to feel fresh. Takeshita hitting hard, Okada being a jerk, Mark being a madman, and OC doing his gimmick all made for entertaining TV. When we finally got Takeshita against Okada, it was very good though still mostly just a tease. We eventually got the spot of everyone hitting big moves one after the other as is typically the case in multi-man matches. Takeshita got going late and man, it really makes me sad that he does a lot of nothing in AEW most of the time. Okada took out Mark with a Rainmaker and knocked Takeshita outside before OC got a near fall on him. Okada then beat him with the Rainmaker at the 14:59 mark. That was a fun match that kind of felt like a cool down, yet did the job. [***½]
AEW TBS Championship: Mercedes Moné [c] vs. Hikaru Shida
They had a match on Dynamite on 8/14 that was really good (***½). Mercedes held serve at the start, slowing the pace and wearing down Shida to take away her strikes and high impact moves. The action itself was fine but the crowd just didn’t seem to care. That’s a problem with building this over two weeks. They were doing stuff but it was kind of just there. Mercedes talked smack while getting her stuff in and Shida had the fiery babyface comeback. There was one spot that looked rough as a Dragon Screw on Shida saw her kind of invert and it could’ve ended badly. Shida hit the Katana three times and Mercedes simply rolled outside, kind of killing that finisher. Shida teased using the kendo stick but couldn’t do it and it cost her. I don’t like that spot here because it’s not like this was some personal feud where she’d choose to hurt the champion over winning the title. Mercedes clipped her knee and won with the Moné Maker in 16:32. Nowhere near as good as the first match and it fell apart down the stretch. Outside of the Willow match, this Mercedes run has not been very good. [**¾]
AEW World Championship: Bryan Danielson [c] vs. Jack Perry
The Scapegoat stuff really doesn’t work for me. He came out with riot police because he’s in Chicago or something. Bryan came out to Final Countdown again. Bryan was in control to start, working the mat and even hitting a dive to the outside. Jack used a dropkick outside to swing the momentum a bit before they traded stuff inside. It started with chops before Bryan hit an avalanche back suplex and worked the mat against Jack, where he had the obvious advantage. Jack responded by doing Cattle Mutilation. He put his focus on the neck. That upped the intensity of the match, with Bryan kicking the shit out of him and Perry hitting a big lariat while yelling at Bryan for saying he was disappointed in him. A ref bump led to run-ins by the Bucks, who hit the TK Driver before the BCC ran them off. Perry couldn’t get it down with a running knee so he kicked Bryan’s head in and went for the Busaiku Knee only for Bryan to level him with one of his own that sent him flying. Bryan hit him with another great one soon after that Perry kicked out of. I think that was overkill. Why must no finishers be able to end a match? Bryan kicked his head in and then signaled for a third knee. Perry held his arms out in defiance as Bryan hit it and retained in 27:53. Very good match and the kind of performance Perry needed. Bryan remains the best to ever do it. [***¾]
Post-match, Bryan got attacked by Luchasaurus, who then had a staredown with his former partner Jack Perry. Out came Christian Cage to cash in. However, Jon Moxley appeared at ringside to stop the Patriarchy from getting in the ring. The rest of the BCC and PAC joined in, causing Christian to back away. As the BCC posed in the ring, Claudio laid out Bryan with an uppercut. Moxley then put a plastic bag over Bryan’s head to choke him as PAC held a crying Wheeler Yuta back. Marina Shafir joined in, taking out the referee. Moxley left with everyone as Wheeler ran over to check on Bryan, who was given oxygen.
Unsanctioned Lights Out Steel Cage Match: Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland
As soon as the cage started to lower, Swerve pounced. He beat on Hangman and kept looking up at the cage while doing so. Nana threw some weapons into the ring as Swerve looked to hold Hangman in place so the cage could lower on him. Nana shoved them into the ring, allowing the cage to settle and the bell to ring. It wasn’t even three minutes before the staplegun was out and both guys felt the effects. That included Swerve stapling photos of his family to Hangman’s chest and cheek. Barbed wire got brought into play when Hangman wrapped some around his arm for a lariat and both men were busted open. Swerve tried for a big lariat where he launched himself off the referee but he slipped a bit. A cinder block got brought into play because of course it did. Swerve used it as he hit Hangman with a Vertebreaker and I loved the way the spot looked. The block didn’t disintegrate, it just stayed there as Hangman’s lower back hit it and it had a real scuff mark left on his body. Madness. The Swerve Stomp through a table was also pretty sick. Hangman tried to use a giant splinter from Swerve’s burnt down house as a weapon but Swerve blocked it and used it first. A low blow turned the tide and then Hangman hit a powerbomb onto the cinder block that looked devastating. Hangman shouted that he wanted Swerve to beg for mercy as he hit him with a chair a bunch but Swerve laughed at him until he fell down. Hangman took out Swerve’s grill and injected a needle into his cheek before a chair shot to the head led to the referee calling for the bell in 31:23. I don’t even know how to describe what I just saw. I’m blown away. I do think I liked the Texas Deathmatch more but that was madness. [****¾]
