All In II - 8/27/2023

[Octopus]

I don’t know if they really have a WrestleMania equivalent. With the addition of more PPV’s things might change, but I interpret it as a big four events time cycle where 1 isn’t bigger than the others. All Out was maybe the flagship being a spiritual successor to the original All In, but it was pretty much the big four event that always happened in Chicago. Double or Nothing was the first official PPV, but was the Las Vegas event. These not including the Pandemic where everything was in Florida. Yada yada yada Revolution and Full Gear.

Forbidden Door is a special co-event. But maybe WrestleDream will be as well? 

All In was the name reserved for big promotional gambles. I was assuming we wouldn’t see another one for a bit but now I guess it will be a yearly thing. So we’ll see if it’s treated more special than the other events. It got more tv hype then All Out, but I think that was more hyping what’s next and the necessity of it being a big success. But the build up to All In didn’t really feel different than previous AEW PPV builds. Idk. We’ll know more when it becomes a regular event and we have a big 5 or 6 or 7 and see which gets preferential treatment. 

I enjoy the tv special shows. Grand Slam and Winter is Coming feels important. Any reason put Penta in a leprechaun hat, so St Patrick’s Day Smash is great.

[Jamal]

I get the whys behind the Saraya win and I'm one of the few that actually hasn't had a problem with her AEW run but I was still hoping Shida would get a little more time as champ. Having said that, the match was decent enough with a cool surprise from the "OG" Sweet Saraya and there are some interesting possibilities coming out of this between the eventual Shida rematch to Outcasts dissension and Mone.

[porksweats]

34 minutes ago, Octopus said:

I don’t know if they really have a WrestleMania equivalent. With the addition of more PPV’s things might change, but I interpret it as a big four events time cycle where 1 isn’t bigger than the others. All Out was maybe the flagship being a spiritual successor to the original All In, but it was pretty much the big four event that always happened in Chicago. Double or Nothing was the first official PPV, but was the Las Vegas event. These not including the Pandemic where everything was in Florida. Yada yada yada Revolution and Full Gear.

Forbidden Door is a special co-event. But maybe WrestleDream will be as well? 

All In was the name reserved for big promotional gambles. I was assuming we wouldn’t see another one for a bit but now I guess it will be a yearly thing. So we’ll see if it’s treated more special than the other events. It got more tv hype then All Out, but I think that was more hyping what’s next and the necessity of it being a big success. But the build up to All In didn’t really feel different than previous AEW PPV builds. Idk. We’ll know more when it becomes a regular event and we have a big 5 or 6 or 7 and see which gets preferential treatment. 

I enjoy the tv special shows. Grand Slam and Winter is Coming feels important. Any reason put Penta in a leprechaun hat, so St Patrick’s Day Smash is great.

They've had less Special Episodes this year, hopefully we see the return of AEW Road Rager (the event, not Cash Wheeler).

[EVA]

Between the Bloodline driving WWE’s business and MJF/Cole being the hottest thing in AEW, it seems that 2020’s wrestling fans are hungry for blunt force melodrama. That’s definitely not my preferred style, but MJF and Cole have a lot of fun with it, and I was really loving MJF/Cole until my old nemesis reared it’s head again: finishing runs built around Panama Sunrise spots—the seemingly inevitable endpoint of any Adam Cole PPV main event.

[John from Cincinnati]

39 minutes ago, Octopus said:

I enjoy the tv special shows. Grand Slam and Winter is Coming feels important. Any reason put Penta in a leprechaun hat, so St Patrick’s Day Smash is great.

I understand you’re also a huge Quaker (what people call fans of Quake by the Lake).

[EVA]

The only match that really disappointed me was HOB/Acclaimed, mostly due to its formless No Holds Barred stipulation. Never really found a groove. And ended up being the third tag match without tags in a row.

RIP “House Rules,” a potentially fun concept that mostly stuck to re-running variations of the same 3 stips: no DQ, Julia banned from ringside, and no stip at all.

 

[Mr. Monday Morning]

1 hour ago, John E. Dynamite said:

This was, by far, the most casual crowd AEW has ever had.

Generally speaking they booked it in that direction. Big matches with ex-WWE talent, Saraya and Billy Gunn winning belts, Jericho being maximum Jericho and Punk/Joe being over where the ROH stuff wasn't, Bucks/FTR succeeding more with pure action than callbacks. Nobody Japanese was over. Nobody'd ever seen a Terry Funk match. Ospreay lived on the good will of being British and doin' fancy shit, but the majority of the crowd didn't know his moves. Most importantly MJF and Adam Cole had a "tHiS iS cInEmA" Performance Center 30 Minute Dramafest tailor-made for Bloodline junkies. This one was very much for the kids.

A big Ospreay or Omega singles match frankly wasn't needed for the company or for most of the crowd. Save that stuff for Chicago with nothing but diehards.

Think this is spot on. Some of the reactions from where I was weren't what I was expecting, not sure if they came across the same on TV.

My memory's a bit off but has Ibushi even been on AEW TV? He just showed up for Blood & Guts and then showed up here, unless I'm mistaken. Hard not to think it hasn't played a role in the reaction.

That said, I had good seats, enjoyed it, was a little late getting in but got there as Aussie Open were entering, so didn't really miss much. I was honestly surprised that it didn't feel like it dragged (at least, to me) - felt like the card order was done well

Got a pretty decent pic of Stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing, will have to up later after sleep

[Octopus]

4 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said:

I understand you’re also a huge Quaker (what people call fans of Quake by the Lake).

One of many. 

12 minutes ago, EVA said:

Between the Bloodline driving WWE’s business and MJF/Cole being the hottest thing in AEW, it seems that 2020’s wrestling fans are hungry for blunt force melodrama. That’s definitely not my preferred style, but MJF and Cole have a lot of fun with it, and I was really loving MJF/Cole until my old nemesis reared it’s head again: finishing runs built around Panama Sunrise spots—the seemingly inevitable endpoint of any Adam Cole PPV main event.

I was just typing this: The main was pretty special and this was the venue/ time to do it. I’ll preface by saying I liked it. It was very modern WWE Main Event style. Lots of pausing for the crowd, ref bumps, and stopping mid match for a series of significant emotional epiphanies. Not my cup of tea and not what I generally pay to want see on AEW, but I love the buffet that is a good AEW event that this main was a real treat. I wasn’t feeling it at first but those charismatic silly gooses won me over. Felt like a large scale operatic version of Dax vs Cash where one is mentally thrown off and becomes the aggressor. I enjoyed the ending being about friendship, which is a company wide theme arguably since the beginning. My only major criticism is post match they were too comfortable to throw the belt around. MJF saying he doesn’t care and throwing it doesn’t look good. I understand it, but still kinda could have done without that. Nitpicking, I know.

This is maybe a weird thing to say, but I liked it while it’s safe to say maybe it’s my least favorite AEW Title match in memory. I’ll have to think on this.

Im excited to see what they do next, I guess. 

[HumanChessgame]

The opening tag was fine but it sucks Aussie Open had to lose the titles for an angle with two main roster guys.

If Jungle Boy/Hook had just been a straight up match I would have liked it more, but in a show with two other gimmick brawls the stipulation was kind of unnecessary here. What

In the last Punk/Joe match they told a story of both guys needing to fight harder to win early as time and mileage have prevented them from going as long as they did in their earlier matches. This continued with that by Joe trying to maul Punk and use is power to overcome him and Punk just trying to do his best to counter what he could. Punk's ego got the best of him when the Hogan and Funk tributes got a little to cute for their own good and Joe almost got him with the rollup. Then you have Punk busting out the Pepsi Plunge again as a counter to get the win. I liked the match but it wasn't their best.

The six man tag featured guys I like fine as workers but have no investement in otherwise and don't really have a lot of interest in the surrounding storyline. Match itself was fine.

Bucks/FTR was probably my favorite match of the night. I like the Bucks fine when they keep their schtick to a minimum and actually wrestle, and either FTR's style helped them rein it in or they just decided it would be in their best interest to work a more straight match. Some nice callbacks to earlier spots (Cash missing the 450) and the Shatter Machine counter to win looked cool. I'm legit surprised FTR won.

Did Santana do a reverse WWE and gain a first name? Penta's costume change mid-match was...definitely a thing. This was the average AEW garbage match. I'm surprised OC got the most juice out of anyone. His taipei deathmatch finishing punch was a cool spot.

The women's match was shorter than I thought it would be (and why wasn't there one on the preshow?) but pretty good despite multiperson matches having clusterfuck potential. Isn't the Knight family kind of persona non grata after the speaking out movement?

Didn't really care about the coffin match. I'm sure the UK crowd enjoyed seeing Sting live.

Jericho played to his strengths in his match and didn't try to go overboard or longer than the match needed to.

I was looking forward to the trios match as HOB are always a high point to me until the NHB stipulation was annouced. Four of these on a show is overkill. I get the show was big on faces going over and Billy getting his happy ending, but HOB didn't need to lose here.

Cole and MJF told a good story of two friends who wanted to see who was better but had enough lingering rulebreaking tendencies to push the limits of sportsmanship. Cole started bending the rules until flat out playing the heel and MJF holding back on letting his true nature loose. That brainbuster on the stairs looked nasty for both guys. I figured the ending would be a big dog and pony show and that's pretty much what we got.

Good show overall that looked to be focused towards being safe in terms of not doing anything too over the top or endings that would be potentially controversial in order to send everyone home happy. I'm curious to hear feedback from people who were there live about how everything went over.

[EVA]

During the Elite/BCG 6-man, I couldn’t help noticing how hard Jay and Juice were working Rick Knox to cover for the Elite’s extended teamwork sequences. Details guys.

[Octopus]

Penta is great. He came out in a red suit and I was like “yes”

[John from Cincinnati]

5 minutes ago, Octopus said:

One of many. 

Oh no what have I done 

[Octopus]

6 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said:

Oh no what have I done 

We Quaken ovah

[EVA]

With Eddie and Penta out of the match for long periods of time, I loved how Stadium Stampede ended up being a showcase for Best Friends, a heart-and-soul act for AEW. Great to see them stand tall in front of 80,000.

 

[Web Conn]

Sue made it! I’m still think a Sue action figure with a minivan would sell.

Also if WrestleDream is an Inoki tribute PPV whose wrestling the 7 foot karate champion in a WWF Martial Arts Championship defense?

[tbarrie]

So that was a pretty awesome show.

I want to call out what a great facial expression Nick Wayne made when Luchasaurus grabbed him by the throat. I think the kid might make it in this business.

Edited August 28, 2023 by tbarrie

[Octopus]

7 minutes ago, EVA said:

With Eddie and Penta out of the match for long periods of time, I loved how Stadium Stampede ended up being a showcase for Best Friends, a heart-and-soul act for AEW. Great to see them stand tall in front of 80,000.

 

The camera shot of them walking up the ramp after the match was really well done.

A few tough to capture moments missed with camera cuts, but over all the camera work itself was pretty good. Visuals I’m sure I’ll remember when I think of this event.

[John from Cincinnati]

14 minutes ago, Web Conn said:

Sue made it! I’m still think a Sue action figure with a minivan would sell.

Cardona was pushing for this earlier on the bird app.

[Johnny Sorrow]

1 hour ago, EVA said:

During the Elite/BCG 6-man, I couldn’t help noticing how hard Jay and Juice were working Rick Knox to cover for the Elite’s extended teamwork sequences. Details guys.

That goes to show how good Juice and Jay are.  They worked around the worst ref who doesn't do anything and tried to make sense out of it.

[Octopus]

1 hour ago, Octopus said:

The camera shot of them walking up the ramp after the match was really well done.

this was what I was referring to

[Craig H]

This show ruled so fucking hard. I think my favorite match and result of the night was Stadium Stampede. The real heart and soul of AEW, the Best Friends, and Eddie, come out on top and wrap up what seems like years of storylines. I’m giving it more stars than the Best Friends/Santana and Ortiz parking lot brawl, which was something like 11 million stars.

 Completely and utterly shocked to see Tony thread the needle with Cole and MJF. Now the real test is to avoid the same issue the Bloodline story is currently having. Partly, I think Bloodline is in a holding pattern to sort through some lesser shit until it gets heated back up again for Cody vs Reigns. MJF and Cole at least don’t have the big issue that the Bloodline had, which was losing Kevin and Sami from the angle. Their big issue is going to be how long can they milk these two guys looking like they’re going to betray each other.

Loved Joe and Punk. Really liked the psychology of Punk nailing Joe’s head with the huricurana, then dropping Joe with two high kick headshots setting up how vulnerable Joe’s head is, and then finishing him with what looked like the biggest Pepsi Plunge ever.

FTR and Bucks really brought it and I’m surprised FTR won. 

Everything else delivered. The right person won on I think every match. It was all very feel good and well worked. This was the big show it needed to be.

What else…Vile One is a fucking dork. Umm, let’s see, uhh, oh! The remarks about sound.

I know it sounded like some stuff fell flat, but I don’t think that’s the case. Open air stadium, a huge fucking stadium, and that sound has nowhere to go but up. I remember when WWE first started doing their open air WMs and the sound of the crowd kinda sucked. It took them a bit to figure things out and now those shows sound better. I’ll give AEW a pass on the crowd noise on tv and figure I’ll trust the people online and in attendance that the crowd was really hot.

[Craig H]

8 minutes ago, Octopus said:

this was what I was referring to

My boys.

[Craig H]

OH! I said this on Discord, but Juice went from someone who sucked so bad as a heel and now I never want him to turn face. He’s so ridiculously good in his role now. I love Juice so much. There’s so much he does that cracks me up. Screaming out, “BREAK HIS HEAD!” early on in that 6 man tag, always being Jay’s boy, being the greatest hype man in wrestling, and having such manic, infectious energy. Never break up Juice and Jay, please.

[Go2Sleep]

I thought this show was close to perfect. No blow-away matches like Ospreay/Omega, but everything met or exceeded expectations and this show was all about the moments and spectacle, which hit all the right notes. This was absolutely the Wrestlemania equivalent it was aiming to be.

At first, I was a little eh on Aussie Open dropping the belts so hastily, but after letting it sink in, it made perfect sense. In the context of this show, MJF is the star and Cole is the co-star, so of course they go over a young team that's early in their AEW run. In the near term, Roddy is going to cost BTYBB the belts against the Kingdom soon, so it's not like MJF and Cole will be slumming it in ROH. Aussie Open can be main roster now and get programs with the Bucks, FTR, etc. The booking was right here.

Jack/Hook over-delivered. The car spots were more violent than I expected earlier in the show. I mark for petty shoot comments so the real glass thing got a good laugh from me. The low blow counter by Hook was super smooth.

Punk/Joe was a good choice for the opener. Once Punk stops feuding with heels and fully brings his shitbag persona to the screen, there's gonna be so much good content. The pepsi plunge was a good finishing choice since the vampire match showed neither guy is in the right shape for the GTS these days and it works as a call-back to the beginning of ROH and, well, you can understand the implications of interpreting just as a pedigree.

The 6-man was stayed entertaining without the participants needing to go top gear. Good spot to sneak in a heel win with Takeshita getting some heat on Kenny.

Bucks/FTR was a fittingly epic conclusion to their rivalry. Great finishing spot, and I respect everyone's awareness that FTR was the right team to go over. The Bucks still have gas in the tank, but they're on the downhill side of their careers while FTR is still at their peak.

Stadium Stampede was exactly what I wanted it to be: Over the top violence with a little bit of silliness blended in. Couple of bad botches in a vacuum where guys had to nonsensically no-sell to get back in position because it was a big spot, but the action was so fast those barely registered. OC's broken glass punch was a perfect finishing spot. Great to see the Best Friends get a big moment here. Eddie was great throughout as expected.

The women's 4-way did what it needed to do. Split the Outcasts, and give Saraya a career highlight. Shida isn't really ace material, but I like that they did her a solid and let her have a brief run with live crowds including a match with 80k fans. Saraya kind of got left behind when the 4HW took off, so it's great to see her get a truly huge moment for her work setting the table for the 4HW.

The coffin match was the usual Sting/Darby gimmick match fun. Loved Sting throwing his whole body on Swerve to break the table. Swerve was so great selling that finish with just his hands.

Jericho/Ospreay was fine, given they knew they were going to be working with opposite crowd reactions than what the feud called for. Ospreay was mega over. Hopefully TK will break open the bank to sign him next year.

The trios match was the only slight booking misstep I thought, but it was still justifiable. Kinda thought HOB winning after Billy puts up a much stronger fight before coming short then retiring for real would've been a better play, but honestly, there's nothing wrong with giving The Acclaimed a moment here.

The main event was perfectly cheesy in a good way. Cole not being able to stop himself from hitting the Panama Sunrise on the ref is my new favorite ridiculous destroyer spot. Obviously the Summer Slam 92 tribute was in full force with the face/face match ending in a roll-up, even if there were a ton of attitude era shenanigans along the way. MJF and Cole standing tall together is the right way to close the show.

Running it back next year should be easy. Ospreay/MJF for the belt with Ospreay going over, and Jamie Hayter getting her moment. Danielson and Mercedes special attraction matches if we're so lucky. There's another 80k tickets.

[DreamBroken]

Loved Bush's Machinehead becoming the ALL IN theme. Glad we at least got a segment for Jarrett and co + Paul Wight and that Grado got to do something after all.

It's WEMBLEY you know what that means! DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE~! YES! Can't wait to see MJF & Cole in ROH!

Jack using the rolling thunder on the limo ruled. Laughed out loud at the REAL GLASS shoutout, awesome. Loved Hook countering the corner low blow attempt. Really good match that felt longer than it was, they packed a lot in. Perfectly brutal for this feud. 

Nice Sweet Tooth reference by Nigel during Joe's entrance. This ruled. Joe's walk away from Punk's dive looked great. Loved Punk doing the Cena sequence, turning it in to a Hogan leg drop only for Joe to then HULK UP! Plus a spinning toe hold! Always pop for the PEPSI PLUNGE! Perfect finish.

Trios match was great.  Kenny especially seemed to have excellent exchanges with all 3 of the opponents. Loved Takeshita's jumping knee counter to the Kamigoye. Shocked with Kenny taking the fall on the finish, didn't see that coming. Crowd seemed to go to a shocked hush there.

FTR/Bucks was epic. Loved the callbacks with the Cash springboard 450. Great finish. FTR now the greatest team of all time!  Thought it was interesting they went from Punk to Elite to Bucks all in a row and it really showed how stacked this show was.

Stadium Stampede was a blast. Some amusing bits with "It's Suuuuuue!" and I laughed at the random transformation with music to Penta OSCURO! Absolutely loved the finish with the glass Orange Punch, Van Damme Kickboxer style.

Sweet Saraya Knight appearance! Awesome. Did not expect Saraya to win at all but thought it was an awesome moment even if the execution of the finish was a little weird. Not quite sure if the Outcasts just completely imploded here for good or what but love the moment for Saraya, very cool. I've missed her solo theme even though I dig the Outcast theme too. Expected Shida to retain but glad she got the brief run in anyway. Hearing We Will Rock You REALLY made me wish Emi could've appeared, even just to come out somewhere. 

Marked out huge for Seek and Destroy! That was epic and unexpected. Sting was on fire, coffin match ruled. Loved the brief TNA chant breaking out when Sting & Christian face off, 16 years later. Enjoyed the finishing stretch of struggling over shutting the casket, good stuff. 

Really liked Ospreay/Jericho, thought they delivered very well for the most part. Great to see the Acclaimed and BADASS triumph so now we can keep Billy from retiring. 

Main event felt like the most hyped I've been for a match in awhile and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I could not believe it but it went for me about as close to perfect as it possibly could. I was dreading an eventual turn all the way through the post match but they actually kept it like I hoped for. I definitely thought they were going with Cole winning after not seeing Strong knock out MJF at first. Popped for the original draw finish too coming off the Double Clothesline!  Amazing work, all time show lived up to the hype.  Looking forward to All Out, Grand Slam, and now WRESTLEDREAM! 
 

Edited August 28, 2023 by DreamBroken