Written by Alex Marco (@generalreaction)
All Elite Wrestling capped off another pay-per-view outing with their latest offering, All Out, that took place in the city of Chicago just over a week ago. And while I’ll be the first to admit that I typically like to get my reviews of a pro wrestling show out quicker, I had to take some time to let the events that transpired at All Out marinate in my mind. The show saw the crowning of the first-ever All Elite Wrestling World Champion, along with a variety of interesting (some less than others) matches that appealed to almost every aspect of the pro wrestling fanbase. Without further ado, let me dive right in and give you all my thoughts on AEW All Out.
Pre-Show: The Buy In
The Buy In pre-show for All Out featured two matches: a 21-woman Casino Battle Royale with the winner receiving an opportunity to become the first-ever AEW Women’s World Champion, and a tag team match pitting Private Party against the team of Angelico and Jack Evans.
For those unfamiliar with AEW, a Casino Battle Royale works something like this:
21 participants draw a suit from a deck of cards (hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds).
The participants are then placed into four groups of five wrestlers each (minus the person who drew the joker from the deck, but we’ll get to that shortly).
The battle royale kicks off with the first group of five wrestlers all entering the ring at the same time.
After a set period of time has passed, the next group of five competitors enters the match.Once all four “suites” of wrestlers have entered the battle royale the final entrant, the person who drew the joker, enters into the match.
Eliminations can take place at any time (just like a Royal Rumble match), and occur when a wrestler is thrown over the top rope and both of their feet touch the floor.
The last wrestler standing is the winner of the match.
The women’s battle royale featured a number of the most exciting female wrestlers in the world today: the World of Stardom Champion Bea Priestley, Awesome Kong, Britt Baker, Tenille Dashwood, Nyla Rose, and Mercedes Martinez. The match concluded with Nyla Rose eliminating Britt Baker (with an assist from Bea Priestley) to win the Casino Battle Royale, earning herself a spot in the match for the AEW Women’s World Championship. Overall this match featured a lot of the standard battle royale spots that fans are used to seeing. We had creative, albeit somewhat far-fetched, ways to avoid elimination pulled off by entrants like Leva Bates. We had a face-off between the two biggest competitors in the match, Awesome Kong and Nyla Rose. We even had moments that sowed the seeds for potential future rivalries (I’m looking at you Bea Priestley and Britt Baker). This was a nice way to warm up the crowd and was an acceptable pre-show match.
The second and final match on the Buy In pre-show featured the team of Jack Evans and Angelico take on Private Party. These two teams are almost mirror images of one another in the sense that they both put on displays of high-flying, exciting offense to wow the crowds. Evans and Angelico (known in Mexico as “Los Güeros del Cielo”) were the veteran pairing in this match-up, having been teaming together since 2013 while also holding the AAA World Tag Team Championship on three seperate occasions. The Private Party, which is the team of Mark Quen and Isiah Kassidy, debuted in 2015 and are viewed as one of the most exciting, up-and-coming tag teams in pro wrestling. This match featured a great deal of high-flying spots and fast-paced action designed to showcase the strengths of both teams. In the end, Private Party was able to pull off what I considered to be an upset victory over Evans and Angelico. Post-match the two teams shook hands in what looked like a display of sportsmanship, only to see the losing team attack Private Party. I suppose this establishes Evans and Angelico as heels moving forward, and presumably will lead to a rematch between these two teams somewhere down the road.
Now that my thoughts on the pre-show are out of the way, it’s time for me to move on to the main card for All Out.
Match One: Jurassic Express vs. Socal Uncensored
All Out’s main card kicked off with a six-man tag team match between the team of Socal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Scorpio Sky, and Frankie Kazarian) against the trio of Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, and Marko Stunt (this team now being known by the name “Jurassic Express”). To start with, I had a lot of mixed feelings about this match as a whole. I get that you want to try and get all of SCU on the main card so that they can showcase their talents. And I also understand that you want the upstart team of Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy to get a good amount of screen time as well. What I didn’t understand was the inclusion of Marko Stunt as a competitor in this match. Once I knew he was actually going to be competing in the match itself the outcome of the contest seemed like a foregone conclusion; there’s no way that SCU is losing to a team with Marko Stunt on it. And wouldn’t you know it Marko Stunt was the one who ate the pin in this match. Now I will say that the crowd definitely got behind Marko Stunt and Jurassic Express throughout this match, and that Stunt (to his credit) had a couple of cool spots in the ring. But I feel like this match would have been better overall if it had been Jungle Boy and Luchasaraus against Daniels and Kazarian with Marko Stunt and Scorpio Sky serving as managers in the corner of their respective teams. I have Jungle Boy and Luchasaraus as my dark horse pick in the tournament to crown the inaugural AEW World Tag Team Champions, and both of them looked great in this match. As a whole, this was a solid opening match for this show but I felt that it just would have been better as a normal two-on-two tag team match.
Match Two: Pac vs. Kenny Omega
For those curious about how this match came about, it was originally scheduled to be Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley. But due to an elbow injury that Moxley suffered in Japan during the G1 Climax he was pulled from the match, and then replaced by none other than Pac. Since departing from WWE the man once known as Adrian Neville made his return to Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling in Japan, where he captured the Open the Dream Gate Championship. The match featured an immense amount of back-and-forth action as Pac and Omega traded blows while trying to take control of the match. I had forgotten just how amazingly athletic Pac is, but this match really helped to refresh my memory. Both men emptied their offensive playbooks while trying to capture victory, and for a time it seemed like this match could go all night. And then suddenly, just past the 23 minute mark of the match, it all came to an end. But it wasn’t a One-Winged Angel by Kenny Omega that brought the contest to a close. Instead Pac employed a modified version of the Rings of Saturn to render the Best Bout Machine unconcious to win the match by referee stoppage. Going into this event I would have bet everything on Kenny Omega earning a big win at All Out. He had come off of a solid match against Cima at Fight for the Fallen, and everything seemed to be aligning for Omega to continue to build his momentum with a win. But in a matter of seconds that all came crashing down. Omega has not had what he would likely consider an ideal win/loss record since AEW’s inception, and his loss at All Out has to be considered a major setback. As for Pac, it will be interesting to see where he goes from here. Will he start to wrestle more often for AEW? Or will this match be a one-off affair for Pac.
Match Three: Jimmy Havoc vs. Darby Allin vs. Joey Janela
The third match of the night pitted Jimmy Havoc, Darby Allin, and Joey Janel against one another in a Three-way Hardcore Match, sponsored by Cracker Barrel (what an age we live in). Havoc, Allin, and Janel are perhaps the three most hardcore wrestlers in the AEW roster, and this match proved to be a showcase of just how far each man would go to achieve victory. In a match that saw a staple gun, steel chairs, tables, wooden barrels, and a skateboard lined with thumbtacks all used as weapons the three men involved put their bodies through agony just to prove who was the toughest amongst themselves. The spot of the match occurred when Darby Allin attempted a Coffin Drop with the aid of a wooden barrel onto a prone Jimmy Havoc, who had been laid out on top of the steel ring steps. Havoc was able to avoid disaster just in time, moving out of the way and making it so Allin was essentially a non-factor in the remainder of the match. From there, Havoc would go on to hit his Acid Rainmaker finishing move on Joey Janela to secure the three count and emerge from this human demolition derby as the victor. I’m hoping that, in due time, AEW will establish a Hardcore Championship so that we can see more matches out of these three competitors.
Match Four: Best Friends vs. The Dark Order
The special stipulation of this match was that the winning team would receive a first-round bye in the upcoming tournament to crown the first-ever AEW World Tag Team Champions. On one side we had the team of Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta, the Best Friends, taking on Stu Grayson and Evil Uno, the Dark Order (a team that the Best Friends had dubbed the “Spooky Perverts” in a recent interview). The Dark Order have been positioned as the top heel tag team in AEW thus far, and this match was really a platform to help build them up to be a credible threat to capture the AEW World Tag Team Championship. Thanks to a good bit of outside interference on behalf of their minions, the Dark Order was able to hit their Fatality finisher to pick up the victory and earn that pivotal first round bye. After the match, the Dark Order’s minions attempted to kidnap Trent Beretta (likely to do all sorts of spooky pervert stuff to him), but the arena lights went out and when they came back on Orange Cassidy had made a surprise appearance in the middle of the ring. The ever-cool, laid back Cassidy took out the Dark Order and their minions with a suicide dive to the outside (the man didn’t even take off his shades or take his hands out of his pockets!). It would appear that the Best Friends now have a new ally, and their feud with the Dark Order may be far from over.
Match Five: Riho vs. Hikaru Shida
In a singles match, where the winner of the bout would take on Nyla Rose to crown the first-ever AEW Women’s World Champion, Riho went toe-to-toe against Hikaru Shida. Both of these women have been honing their skills in various Joshi Puroresu promotions in Japan, with both of them competing at one time as part of the Ice Ribbon promotion. Riho has been competing in AEW since late May, and had earned a victory in a triple threat match at Fyter Fest leading up to this event. All Out marked the first time that Hikaru Shida, who had also debuted in AEW in late May, had competed in a singles match for All Elite Wrestling. Shida maintained control throughout this matchup, using her power and size advantage to easily overwhelm Riho (Riho, by the way, only weighs roughly 93 pounds and stands at 5’1’’ tall). Riho was eventually able to turn the tide of the match by utilizing a series of high-speed maneuvers, along with several top-rope double foot stomps on Shida. The finish of the match saw Riho reverse a move by Shida into a variation of a backslide, which allowed the former idol to keep the shoulders of her opponent down for the pinfall. Riho will now move on the face the dominant Nyla Rose in a David vs. Goliath-esque matchup to crown the inaugural AEW Women’s World Champion.
Match Six: Cody vs. Shawn Spears
In a special grudge match that came as a result of a brutal chair shot by Shawn Spears, the American Nightmare Cody stepped into the ring against the man who now refers to himself as the “Chairman” of All Elite Wrestling. With former Four Horsemen member Tully Blanchard in his corner, Shawn Spears looked to prove that he was a main event competitor in AEW and he was prepared to make an example of Cody to prove his point. For Cody, who was accompanied to the ring by MJF, this match was a chance at revenge after Spears left Cody a bloody mess following a chair shot to the head at Fyter Fest. For me, this match had almost everything. Hard-hitting exchanges, back and forth swings of momentum for both men, and a fair amount of outside interference. The match would spill out to the ringside area early on as Cody and Spears began to brawl in the crowd of the sold out Sears Centre Arena. Spears was able to take control of the match of Blanchard distracted Cody, allowing Spears to land a low blow onto the American Nightmare while referee Earl Hebner was distracted by a frustrated MJF. Spears would bring the fight back into the ring, focusing his offense on the head and neck of Cody for the next several minutes of the match. Despite hitting a picture perfect top-rope hurricanrana, Cody’s attempts at a comeback were consistently halted by Spears. After adding insult to injury by striking Cody with a leather belt, Spears realized he had poked the bear one too many times as a fired-up American Nightmare turned the tide of the match, hitting a series of high impact moves to take control of the contest. Cody was eventually able to hit Cross Rhodes on Spears, only for Tully Blanchard to pull the referee out of the ring before the count of three. This caused tempers to flare as both MJF and Blanchard climbed up onto the ring apron before clashing with one another in the center of the ring. Spears would lay out MJF with a bicycle pump kick, knocking him out of the ring and allowing Blanchard to continue the assault of MJF on the floor. The crowd suddenly erupted as none other than “Double A” Arn Anderson made his way to the ring, inserting himself into the match and hitting a thunderous spinebuster on Shawn Spears. This allowed Cody to hit a second Cross Rhodes on Spears to secure the pinfall and the win. Shawn Spears had failed in his attempt to thrust himself into the spotlight as a part of the AEW roster, and Cody achieved the revenge he was looking for with a hard-fought win.
Match Seven: Lucha Bros. vs. The Young Bucks (Ladder Match for the AAA World Tag Team Championship)
In a ladder match for the AAA World Tag Team Championship dubbed “Escalera De La Muerte” (which translates to “Ladder of Death”) the Lucha Brothers battled the Young Buck. These two teams have been involved in a series of fantastic matches throughout 2019, and this match served to raise the bar both teams had set that much further. The combatants in this match wasted no time opening up their respective playbooks to unleash an array of high-impact offense, with both teams pulling out some of their signature moves early on. The Lucha Bros. took control of the match as Rey Fenix hit a springboard, ladder-assisted somersault senton onto the Young Bucks outside the ring, which brought the sold-out crowd to their feet. The elder brother from each team would both climb to the top of a ladder set up in the center of the ring in an effort to bring down the gold, but their efforts would be cut off as Nick Jackson and Rey Fenix both hit rolling cutters in stereo on Pentagon Jr. and Matt Jackson respectively. But just over a minute later, Matt Jackson and Pentagon Jr. would deliver stereo spears to Rey Fenix and Nick Jackson (who had been brawling on the ring apron) driving the younger brothers of their respective teams through tables on the outside of the ring. There were honestly too many amazing spots in this match for me to list, but two of my favorites came when, first, Rey Fenix hit a slingshot destroyer piledriver (while jumping through a ladder) onto Matt Jackson. Then, not to be outdown, Pentagon Jr. delivered a destroyer piledriver of his own onto Matt Jackson off the top of ladder through a table. The Lucha Brothers would finally be able to neutralize the Young Bucks for good when they hit a package piledriver/double foot stomp combination on Nick Jackson, driving the younger Jackson brother’s head and neck into a ladder that had been propped up between the ring apron and the ringside guardrail. The Lucha Bros. would then make their ascent up the ladder, pulling down the gold title belts hanging above the center of the ring, and thus retaining their coveted AAA World Tag Team Championship. One can only begin to imagine what the next encounter between these two teams will be like, and I wonder just how these four men can one-up the match they had at All Out.
Match Eight: “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Chris Jericho (For the Inaugural AEW World Championship)
The main event of All Out saw Adam Page take on Chris Jericho for the inaugural AEW World Championship. The Hangman earned his spot in this match by winning a 21-man Casino Battle Royal at Double or Nothing back at the end of May, while Jericho earned his spot by defeating Kenny Omega in the main event of Double or Nothing. While Page clearly had the speed, youth, and likely the power advantage in this match Jericho unquestionably had the experience edge; Jericho is 20 years the senior of Adam Page. With his parents watching at ringside Adam Page attempted to pull off the biggest win of his career and capture the first world title of his career all in one night. Page’s strategy over the course of this match was to extend the time of contest, relying on his youth and conditioning to help him outlast Chris Jericho. Jericho was ruthless and aggressive from the opening bell, working to set the pace of the match early while pummeling Page. Page was able to escape several early attempts at the Walls of Jericho submission hold, and quickened the pace of the match to resume control of the contest. At one point Page caught Jericho just above the left eye with a discus forearm strike that lead to Jericho being busted open, a wound that Jericho would have to combat for the remainder of the match as blood began to pour out of his forehead. The two men would brawl around the ringside area, with both men running the other into the steel guardrails on the outside. Page was able to hit a Buckshot Lariat on Jericho but the move was only able to earn a two count for the Hangman. Page would later attempt another Buckshot Lariat only to see it countered into a Codebreaker by Jericho, but that wasn’t enough to keep Page down as he managed to kick out at two. Page was even able to hit his finishing move, the Rite of Passage, on Jericho but even that was not able to put the global superstar away. After yet another Buckshot Lariat the Hangman was poised to deliver one final discus forearm to his opponent when out of nowhere Chris Jericho was able to strike Page down with the Judas Effect, which would lead to a pinfall and the close of this match. Chris Jericho, bloodied and bruised, stood triumphant in the center of the ring as the first-ever AEW World Champion. Adam Page will be left wondering what could have been as he will likely now go to the back of the line, and have to earn his way back into the world title picture in All Elite Wrestling.
Overall I enjoyed AEW’s latest pay-per-view event, All Out. The card offered a little bit of everything in a way that was meant to appeal to all aspects of the pro wrestling fanbase. Jericho being the company’s first world champion makes sense as it can help AEW market themselves to a broader audience that extends past just committed pro wrestling fans. I was honestly a bit shocked that Shawn Spears didn’t emerge as the victor in his match against Cody, and I was almost equally as surprised that Pac was able to defeat Kenny Omega (this seemed like the perfect time for Omega to continue to build up his momentum towards becoming a challenger for the AEW World Championship). This event may not have been as good as Double or Nothing but it is still very much worth a watch, even if you aren’t completely sold on All Elite Wrestling just yet. Until next time, be sure to follow Turn Tweener for more news and information about the world of professional wrestling.