ALL IN III - 8/25/2024

[TheVileOne]

I definitely understand the logic in Tony Khan wanting to give Bryan Danielson a happy ending sort of moment for his career, but I also fear having Swerve lose tonight might have been short-sighted. Was the moment and how they played this out cool and emotional? Yes, definitely. But it also sounds like Danielson is ready to retire now and ready to call it a career. Unless his recent interviews were just Danielson's playful form of wrestling kayfabe and gaslighting the fans and media. 

I'm very happy for Nigel McGuinness getting to wrestle at Wembley Stadium at least once, and he looks to be in tremendous shape. 

[NikoBaltimore]

I held off on watching this live as my friends weren't available until around 4:30 or so.  So I just waited until then and started from the beginning which was ultimately the right call.  But in holding off I did a quick check to make sure the Discord stream was good and the only post I saw was Craig mentioning he's in tears for the main.  That made me think Danielson lost and I was a nervous wreck as soon as the match started because since I didn't read anything else I assumed Danielson lost.  So when the match played out the way it did and he won I had such a huge sense of relief that I just took it in in a sense of quiet happiness.  The match was fucking aces and one I'll definitely need to watch again.  But fucking hell Danielson actually won it.  Absolutely amazing stuff.

Oh, and Ospreay had a killer entrance.  A friend of mine is huge into Assassin's Creed and despite various times telling him about Ospreay's love for it it wasn't until tonight that he became a fan.  Him in the press conference sealed it as the guy just seems like someone I would love to have a pint with and shoot the shit.

[Octopus]

I feel that as the stars of yesterday get older and work their way towards retirement and/or back to WWE, we’ll see Swerve and MJF and Hangman potentially getting another run. I think all three resigned recently but I could be wrong and I don’t know contract lengths. 
For fun, let’s look at the current ages of the champions:

Jericho - 53

Mox - 38

Omega - 40

Hangman - 33

Punk - 45 (no longer with AEW)

MJF - 28

Samoa Joe - 45

Swerve - 33

Danielson - 43

Company is roughly 5 years old depending on if we’re starting with the first event or the first Dynamite, I don’t have the dates. 9 champions so far. Let’s assume we’ll get another 9 , or even less with having someone already listed winning again or a weird interim reign attempt. For fun, let’s guess the next 9 or less champions. I don’t see Jericho, Danielson, or Joe getting it again. I’m gonna guess not Omega but maybe he gets another run. I’ll guess no. Punk 98% isn’t coming back. You never know with people leaving for other companies, but I could see maaaaybe another title reign for any of the people under 40. 
Anyone of the WWE Universe fame or ROH/NJPW/[insert company here] that could win it? I think Orton signed another contract and likely won’t leave WWE, but I could have seen TK giving him a belt with his much the Elite guys were hyping him up during his last contract negotiations. McIntyre? ZSJ?

They have Okada now. I’m strongly guessing him in the next year or two. Ospreay is likely the flagship wrestler for the company when they crown him. There is talk of Darby and I could see that as a fun win but that is a big maybe. I thought Kingston, but I convinced myself he won’t get the Foley win and TK looks at the Continental run as just as good, pal. Maybe Malaki or Brodie? They could get hit with the right booking, but it hasn’t shown that yet. 

Mox will get a run if there is another calamity and he needs to be Mr AEW again.

It’s tough to see MJF, Swerve, and Hangman not getting another run with the belt within 5 years. Outside of new hires really becoming big, even then I feel the rise to the top is slow and AEW fumbles the consistency to keep a Starks or White hot. It all depends on booking and talent of the future. 

[Juji Gatame]

I see Swerve winning the belt back at Wrestledream personally. Danielson's home state, Swerve's home state. Danielson disappears for a while and Swerve gets his win back. Seems perfect to me.

[Go2Sleep]

I kinda think they should have Darby knock off Danielson at Grand Slam. Darby needs a big singles win, especially after getting kinda squashed by Jack, and it's probably the only time in Danielson's reign that everyone won't be expecting him to lose. Darby as underdog champ for a couple months would be pretty fun and Danielson has some flexibility for his semi-retirement match at Wrestledream.

[The Natural]

Bryan Danielson at the All In press conference:

• He said tonight is the favorite moment of his entire career as it’s the first time his daughter can remember him wrestling in addition to his sons.
• He hasn’t thought about his future past tonight and isn’t sure what’s going to happen. He said he will be in Champaign, Illinois, this Wednesday and may have an announcement then.
• He was asked if he would like to end his career at WrestleDream. Danielson said that All In is his sole focus.
• Danielson was interested in facing Zack Sabre Jr. again, saying he’d love to wrestle at the Tokyo Dome and there is no one he’d rather wrestle there than him.
• Bryan Danielson said he picked Final Countdown as a joke, mentioning he saw it on a 100 Worst Songs of All time list and illegally downloaded it on Napster. He had no idea when he picked it years ago it would be playing in front of 50,000 people.
• Dave Meltzer asked Danielson’s daughter Birdie if she wanted to visit Australia or Tokyo, teasing potential places for Danielson to wrestle. Birdie said she would like to.

[The Natural]

https://twitter.com/TruHeelSP3/status/1827816093919879275

Birdie getting excited at ringside as Bryan fights through Swerve's kicks.

Edited August 26, 2024 by The Natural

[DreamBroken]

Great show.  The preshow was a ton of multi-man stuff, but a cool return for Jamie Hayter and I love the big time look/feel of the show. Glad Saraya got a spot somewhere, her cursing up the media scrum was amusing.

London Ladders match was fun. Was shocked by the outcome as I didn't expect the last minute team to win vs the teams that were feuding over the titles. Hell of an incredible week run for Claudio, who had the Lio Rush match on Collision last week to 4 days later having the 20 minute classic with Okada and the Collision trios match technically the same night, 2 days later the CMLL Grand Prix to 2 days later winning in Wembley. 

Mariah/Toni was epic and lived up to the hype, great story.  Big pop for the Tazmission! Liked Bryan Keith & Big Bill actually trying to take advantage of the no DQ aspect just getting involved right away.

Tag title match was a little underwhelming, felt like it just kind of ended suddenly and that was that.  Casino Gauntlet was fun, great shocker from Nigel entering. Ospreay/MJF killed it again.

Didn't think Mercedes/Britt was that bad, enjoyed it and thought they had some solid sequences throughout. Darby/Jack felt short, but love the Sting appearance with Seek & Destroy. 

Fantastic main event of course. Perfect moment for Bryan, made complete by the Final Countdown.

Feels like lots of great stuff announced in the future to look forward to. Grand Slam Australia sounds awesome in addition to Forbidden Door London and All In Texas next year.

[The Natural]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BeHywpK_gXI

Bryan Danielson's entrance to The Final Countdown.

[jm29195]

6 hours ago, Iron Moose said:

Not having a video screen over the ring facing the crowd that were facing the ramp is a huge problem - fans having to turn their backs to the ring to watch on the screen behind them is the kind of thing that can sour a lot of people on the event.

In the cold light of day, I would totally agree with this, we paid more for our tickets this year and I've got neck ache this morning because of precisely this issue. Also we had what felt like the whole of our side of the stadium chanting 'turn the lights off' at one point because there was an issue where some of the red and blue lights from the set were totally dazzling part of the ring area that we could see! 

[AxB]

So being on the pitch again, but this time closer and more aligned with the hard cam, it was much better. Last year, being over a hundred yards from the ring, it was only really Samoa Joe’s chops that were within earshot. Last night I heard every chop thrown (except the ones in Britt vs Mercedes, but that was a very quiet match; Not in terms of the crowd (well, that too), but in terms of the impact of the bodies hitting the mat. Outside of one or two moves, they were all very quiet landings in that one. Every other match, every bump was a big booming noise.

 The other cool thing about where I was sitting, after about a minute of every match starting, a member of event staff would walk past me carrying everyone’s entrance attire. But on the pre-show, I see this big chunky security guard escorting a short, older guy to the back and I have that “That old guy looks just like Tony Schiavone… wait, that actually IS Tony Schiavone!!” moment.

 It’s going to be interesting watching the broadcast version because a few of your more This Is Cinema moments went over people’s heads. Like I was the only person in my section who knew that was Mariah’s Mum (because I followed Mariah’s twitter since before she even went to Japan), and the “Danielson draws strength from his family” thing you’re all talking about felt more like a regular “Babyface draws strength from the fans” moment.

[Casey]

5 hours ago, Go2Sleep said:

TK isn't putting the belt on someone (even someone as upstanding as Bryan) without some kind of agreement in place.

Mox straight up said he had no contract during the summer of 2022 and could’ve walked into SummerSlam with the title if he wanted to. I don’t see a reason for him to lie or kayfabe about that, given it was (I’m pretty sure) on Renee’s podcast and the subject was all of the Punk drama and responding to his Instagram comments about Mox.

[Casey]

Damn double post

Edited August 26, 2024 by Casey

[Gordi the BJW fan]

That was a really really good professional wrestling show. Super enjoyable, and the hours straight up flew by. Start time was 2 am Japan time, so rather than watching "live" I woke up early-ish this morning and just managed to squeeze the entire extravaganza in before starting work. Chatted through the whole thing with my good buddy who lives in Tokyo (used to post here as The Cobra 2). We synchronized our delayed-watching start times.

Hook vs Jericho and Mone vs DMD were the only matches I did not get super into. The former felt more like a TV match for whatever reason (perhaps because I was really kind of hoping for a crowd reaction like the Large William match on Collision) and the latter kind of came off as a crowd killer. But I didn't *dislike* either of those matches or anything. MJF vs. Bruv and the main event both hit me as MOTYC-level and hugely enjoyable. 

I wonder if it's hard to get spearmint toothpaste green sneakers in Big Bill's size. Or maybe that was the only colour available in his size? Either way, I really enjoyed those sneakers.

Needless to say I am fn *delighted* with the way the main event played out. It's good to know I am not the only one who was getting a little emotional watching that.

Work started 7+ hours ago and I still have a markout buzz going as I type this out.

That had to have been one of the all time great pro wrestling live crowds. They made EVERYTHING better by their reactions. Even the tbs title match, because I felt less alone in not being able to find a way into it. Some of the chants and reactions had me legit laughing in delight. (Edit: and it's fn cool that a couple of "us" were part of that crowd!)

I mean, *literally* I laughed out loud, gasped out loud, and I was on the verge of actual tears... From watching  a professional wrestling event.

That'll do, AEW. That'll do.

 

Edited August 26, 2024 by Gordi the recovering AEW f

[stuntmanc]

Obviously, Danielson has had some amazing AEW matches and it might be recency bias, but I love that you could easily make an argument that Swerves/Hangmans/Danielsons best matches in AEW have been against one another.  

[stuntmanc]

I also woke up an hour early for work so I could rewatch Danielson/Swerve.  Just absolutely pitch perfect pro wrestling in terms on in-ring, emotion, drama.  Just everything.

[The Natural]

Watched Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland back and I still love it, it's easier to watch now knowing the actual result whereas live, I was so on edge. My MOTY is either Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns from WWE WrestleMania XL or Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland from AEW All In. The former was epic seeing a legendary three and half year world title reign come to an end in Roman Reigns with Cody Rhodes finishing the story. My emotional attachment was more in Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland because I adore Bryan Danielson so that probably will win out over Rhodes/Reigns. Man, wrestling puts you through the emotional ringer.

[The Natural]

I was thinking of our very own Tabe during the Will Ospreay Assassin's Creed video package as he loves that series.

[The Natural]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sr0qmnV6qo

Nigel McGuinness promo, 2:47.

Jeff Jarrett promo, 6:28.

[SturmCRF]

The bit where Danielson hit the first running knee, and Swerve just leaned into it like an Ishii and did his sicko deathmatch grin was fucking perfection. Talk about a wrestler who knows his character, he played a relentless heel like he needed to without ever being inconsistent with his character up to that point. That's the whole Attitude Era-ey shades of grey thing done right, Swerve as this focused, ruthless, amoral bastard who will accept the cheers and the hatred as they come, so long as his current actions help him to win the match and be the best.

[The Natural]

6 minutes ago, SturmCRF said:

The bit where Danielson hit the first running knee, and Swerve just leaned into it like an Ishii and did his sicko deathmatch grin was fucking perfection. Talk about a wrestler who knows his character, he played a relentless heel like he needed to without ever being inconsistent with his character up to that point. That's the whole Attitude Era-ey shades of grey thing done right, Swerve as this focused, ruthless, amoral bastard who will accept the cheers and the hatred as they come, so long as his current actions help him to win the match and be the best.

That made Swerve Strickland even more. Nobody's ever done that when hit with the running knee.

[Brandon Bones]

32 minutes ago, SturmCRF said:

The bit where Danielson hit the first running knee, and Swerve just leaned into it like an Ishii and did his sicko deathmatch grin was fucking perfection. Talk about a wrestler who knows his character, he played a relentless heel like he needed to without ever being inconsistent with his character up to that point. That's the whole Attitude Era-ey shades of grey thing done right, Swerve as this focused, ruthless, amoral bastard who will accept the cheers and the hatred as they come, so long as his current actions help him to win the match and be the best.

And for me that’s the gist of it for my complete turnaround on Swerve.  Killshot and his run in MLW did nothing for me.  But ever since the team with Keith Lee I’ve fully invested.  He is great and was as great as Bryan was during the match, the entrance, the build.  
 

In the category of picking nits though.  It’s tougher to swallow the Christian win in hindsight of his losing the feud to Edge.  Not that his injury was in the plans of course.  But it has forced a course correction that would have had more muscle if they’d had the foresight to beat Edge instead.  It’s not like I don’t think The Patriarchy has the legs to be the top heel group.  Cage will carry that entire act on his back and make it incredible (and he still might).  But at the moment?  I guess mixing in the Luchasaurus tease IS making use of available resources to keep a certain continuity.  But that element by itself is definitely mid-card strength expected to hold up main event weight.

[Zakk_Sabbath]

1 hour ago, SturmCRF said:

The bit where Danielson hit the first running knee, and Swerve just leaned into it like an Ishii and did his sicko deathmatch grin was fucking perfection. Talk about a wrestler who knows his character, he played a relentless heel like he needed to without ever being inconsistent with his character up to that point. That's the whole Attitude Era-ey shades of grey thing done right, Swerve as this focused, ruthless, amoral bastard who will accept the cheers and the hatred as they come, so long as his current actions help him to win the match and be the best.

Hardest agree. Maybe this doesn't mean much coming from someone as out-of-the-loop as I can sometimes be, but one major reason I really enjoyed his time with the title is how contemporary his character feels. In a world sometimes dominated by '80s throwbacks and nü-metal bodybuilders, his whole presentation and disposition screams 'modern era' to me -- I definitely have to add my name to the pile of those saying he's not had his last reign.

[Log]

2 hours ago, The Natural said:

Watched Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland back and I still love it, it's easier to watch now knowing the actual result whereas live, I was so on edge.

I really bought into a couple of the near falls. Especially when Swerve hit his finisher (the name escapes me, I think it's the same move as Shingo's Made in Japan) and Danielson was looking at his family sadly as Swerve got him up for it. I was like, "Oh shit! He's going out like that! That's so sad!"

[Lawful Metal]

Why did Mariah slap her own mother???