There’s plenty that has been said about Sunday’s AEW All In from London’s Wembley Stadium, but one fact that can’t be disputed: The event is already a major success for the young company.
To go from nonexistent to packing a major stadium with more than 80,000 fans in less than five years is pretty incredible, and a feat that is underappreciated given the amount of non-WWE wrestling promotions that haven’t been able to pull off a similar feat despite decades of existence.
Even before a single pay-per-view is bought or a single T-shirt is sold for All In (1 p.m. ET on PPV), AEW will have generated $10 million or more in revenue on ticket sales alone.
There remain All In detractors in the wrestling community, however. Putting aside the anti-AEW crowd on social media, there has been plenty of grumbling about the card itself from the pro-AEW crowd—for how long the card came together and the actual lineup itself.
Part of the reason for the lineup, if you listen to AEW head Tony Khan, is due to injuries that took Bryan Danielson and two locals, Jamie Hayter and PAC, out of high-profile opportunities. In Hayter and PAC’s cases, it must be crushing for them to not be able to perform in front of their home fans.
On a media call this past week, Khan also alluded to factors outside of pro wrestling that caused him to make changes to the card. Khan did not go into details, promising to talk about the issues after the show—adding another level of behind-the-scenes intrigue at AEW.
The main complaints about the card is that the matches don’t seem big enough for this level of event. Since there will be a WrestleMania-level crowd, the expectation is a WrestleMania-level show in terms of match importance and the culmination of story lines paying off and chapters ending.
Except there’s a reason why this Sunday can’t be that: Seven days after All In, AEW will hold its annual Labor Day weekend PPV All Out from Chicago’s United Center.
This will be the first time the company has run back-to-back weekends on PPV, and it’s still unclear as to why. For better or worse, Khan is handcuffed to tradition, especially with specific shows in specific cities on specific holidays, which is why All Out stayed put. Perhaps one day we will learn All In was targeted for a streaming service like Max or broadcast TV, or if the plan was to run two straight weekends of pay-per-views all along, which seems unlikely.
Having said all that, the in-ring action will be great as always, and the results will undoubtedly link directly to All Out, likely in the form of a big rematch, which is where we begin our story.
AEW world champion MJF defends against Adam Cole
Khan feels this is the best story AEW has ever told on TV, and I’m inclined to agree. The reason (sorry, WWE haters) is because this whole story is a WWE-esque presentation. The rivals-turned-partners angle has been done to death in wrestling history, but usually it’s a paint-by-numbers execution with little variance.
With MJF and Cole, AEW resisted the easy move to split the two before All In and instead made them the (perhaps) best of friends with some wacky skits and entertaining tag team matches along the way as they unsuccessfully made a run to win the AEW tag team titles. This run has truly crowned MJF as a major player in the business and one that could easily transition to WWE if “the bidding war of 2024” is to be believed. He needed this and so did AEW.
Recent weeks have both men teasing that despite their friendship, they can’t trust each other. While it was assumed MJF would be the one to eventually turn on Cole, the growing feeling is that it could be Cole who does the turn instead and goes heel in the process. Adding some additional spice is the sulking former BFF of Cole—Roderick Strong—and The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett). Strong has teased being disgusted with Cole’s MJF friendship with The Kingdom doing all they can to add to those feelings. Could they align with Cole and reform their ROH faction or could they align with MJF in another swerve?
The possibilities are endless, but I think the end result of Sunday will lead to a rematch at All Out and Cole leaves Wembley as the AEW world champion with a new group to support him.
Winner and new champion: Adam Cole
Ring of Honor tag team champions Aussie Open defend against MJF and Adam Cole
Dear reader, Cole and MJF won’t just be in one match but two as they will challenge ROH tag team champions Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) on the preshow. Does Cole and MJF going into the main event as tag champions help? Not really, which is why something here will add to the main-event recipe AEW is cooking up, perhaps an injury that gives either man pause about taking advantage of the other during their singles match.
Winners and still champions: Aussie Open
CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe
This is for Punk’s “real” world title—one he claims he never lost after he was stripped of it last September due to a torn left triceps and that little brawl he had following his scorched-earth post–All Out press conference comments.
He takes on Samoa Joe for the second time in AEW in a rematch from the recent Owen Hart Cup tournament. Joe attacked Punk from behind during a recent AEW trios title opportunity as he was in pursuit of the rematch Punk initially ignored. Punk then answered the challenge last Saturday by tricking Joe in a match and laying him out after revealing it was himself under a mask.
The issue here is that I really had to think about how this rematch came to be as this doesn’t have that real emotional hook other current feuds have. Punk’s return run has been entertaining, but scattered in terms of targets as he’s feuded with Ricky Starks and kinda, sorta Jay White since returning in June. I’m looking forward to this, but not as much as, say, a match against The Elite.
Winner: CM Punk
Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay
This is another one that had some fans less than excited as they expected Ospreay to finish his trilogy with Kenny Omega in front of a massive audience. I have read the sentiment that this feud is one born in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and should end there. I understand that, but I think exceptions can be made. There is also the rumor that Omega vs. Bryan Danielson II was tabbed for Wembley before Danielson broke his forearm at June’s Forbidden Door.
Jericho apparently is hearing the grumbles as well as he has been active on X (formerly known as Twitter), playing up the hate and even referred to it during a spirited Dynamite promo Wednesday.
While I appreciate and admire how Jericho has made so many pivots at the right times in his long career, I don’t really care about seeing him against Ospreay. His run this year reads like a “I still can do this at a high level” bucket list on the road to an eventual retirement.
Both guys are going to bring it Sunday, and the environment should help this be even bigger. If there were odds for what match kicks off the PPV, I would put some money on this.
Winner: Will Ospreay
AEW tag team champions FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) defend against The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)
This should, and will, be a GREAT match. Yes, all CAPS. These are two of the best teams in the game in the trilogy match of a series that has lasted a few years. While Khan’s slow drip approach to booking matches, and especially rematches, is sometimes a bit of a head-scratcher, it worked in this case.
And due to Cash Wheeler’s arrest last week, this briefly was in jeopardy, but all systems seem to be a go as of this writing.
This is yet another reason AEW needs a domestic streaming service as the only way to watch FTR and the Bucks’ first two encounters is either if you have them saved on your DVR, bought them on PPV to go back and watch, or by more nefarious means.
I expect all four men to rise up to the moment and put on a top-five match of the year. Who goes over in the end will be an interesting decision, but I feel like it’s time for the Bucks to make a real run again as champions.
Winner and new champions: The Young Bucks
The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi and “Hangman” Adam Page) vs. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White and Juice Robinson) and Konosuke Takeshita
I must admit that I am not, nor ever have been, a fan of NJPW simply due to not having enough time to commit to watching regularly. This match feels like more than a nod to NJPW, which is probably why it’s not hitting with me.
I am of the belief Omega should have been in a major singles match on this show. While the Danielson bout didn’t work due to injury, either Ospreay or the much-anticipated Takeshita match should have been the call here. Omega and the Wembley fans deserved that moment.
That’s not to say that this is a bad match, but it feels like a Dynamite or Collision main event. Page has been back-burnered for far too long, and Ibushi looked less than great in his return match at last month’s “Blood & Guts.” Conversely, White and Robinson have hit a new level over on Collision, while Takeshita has really fit into his new heel persona.
The bigger match out of this combo is coming a week after All In, but it should have been on this show.
Winners: Bullet Club Gold and Takeshita
AEW women’s champion Hikaru Shida defends against Toni Storm, Britt Baker and Saraya
As I said, Khan loves his traditions, hence another four-way for the women’s title. The pall cast over this match is the lack of the aforementioned Hayter who has to be gutted to not be able to take part. At least another local in Saraya (the former Paige in WWE) will get to have a well-deserved moment on a huge stage after so many years of thinking she wouldn’t have that opportunity again due to injury.
The Shida victory over Storm was a surprising one, but I don’t feel like she is meant to be a transitional champion. I think we see major dissension between The Outcasts members Storm and Saraya and, in the end, Shida retains the title as a result. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hayter here in some form or fashion to aid Baker, who I’m struggling to figure out where she fits in everything in AEW.
Winner and still champion: Hikaru Shida
Stadium Stampede match: Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo, Orange Cassidy and Best Friends (Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta), Santana and Ortiz
This lineup was changed due to what is believed to be a visa issue for Rey Fénix. Now, it’s a five-on-five brawl with the returning Santana and Ortiz on the side of the BCC. The real-life Santana-Ortiz drama due to having some kind of falling out is an intriguing one, but that discussion will have to be shelved for another day.
This is going to be a much different Stampede match than previous installments given they are assumed to be doing this live vs. a taped version. Every such bout has featured wild stunts and the combatants fighting all over the stadium without fans getting in the way. That also allows for postmatch editing, which helps enrich things for the viewer and helps the presentation.
This will be a fun brawl that the late Terry Funk would be entertained by and one that will set up a few matches for All Out.
Winners: Team BCC
Coffin match: Sting and Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland and Christian Cage
This lineup was adjusted Wednesday after Strickland oddly decided to “fire” Fox from his group just a few weeks after bringing him in as part of a whole story line involving Allin and Nick Wayne. The way it was presented likely means Fox couldn’t travel to London. Otherwise, it’s nonsensical.
Enter the always entertaining Cage, who will undoubtedly rile up the locals in a delightful way. This stage is primed for another big Sting moment and likely one that will have us covering our eyes in the hopes he is O.K. afterward. This will be a lot of fun.
Winners: Sting and Darby Allin
AEW trios champions The House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews and Brody King) defend against The Acclaimed (Max Caster and Anthony Bowens) and Billy Gunn
This was added Wednesday night and is a vehicle for Gunn to either have a final coronating moment in winning a title or for him to officially retire in front of 80,000 fans. Given that The House of Black has been so abusive toward the popular Acclaimed and Gunn over the past few months, this feels like a spot for the feel-good moment of the night
Winners and new champions: The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn
FTW champion Jack Perry defends against Hook
Another late addition, this takes place on the preshow. Perry is too early in his heel run to lose the ceremonial title back to Hook, but will win in a way that will give Hook a reason to challenge Perry to a stipulation match at All Out.
Winner and still champion: Jack Perry
