AEW ALL IN REVIEW

"Wrestling is not a love story, it's a Fairy Tale for masochists. A comedy for people who criticize punchlines. A fantasy most can't understand, a spectacle no one can deny. An excuse to be a kid again, and nothing matters except the moment we are in. Wrestling is not a love story, it's much more. t's hope. And in a world surrounded in hate, greed and violence, a world where closure may never come. We all know a place that has hot and cold hope on tap. For better or for worse."

- Windham Rotunda

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In a week where we lost the person who said these beautiful words, pro wrestling decided to take us on a ride. The destination: Wembley Stadium. In front of the largest paid crowd the industry has ever seen, All Elite Wrestling gave us a pay-per-view for the
ages. AEW All in will, indeed, go down in history. Everyone will remember this differently, and that is quite okay. Here is how I shall choose to remember
it.

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THE CROWD

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It should go without saying that England's crowds are infamous. Whether it is futbol or pro wrestling, they are passionate. They deserve all the praise for their contribution to this show. From the opening to the main event, they were engaged and loud! They served as the fuel for All In. It was in their chants. It was in their build ups to moves. The way they paid their own tributes when the lights went out. The way they created the heroes and villains because the lines were blurred. This was a great atmosphere. The metal clanking from their foot stomps was something that really stood out to me. It created a really unique sense of competition. All of this, compounded by the sheer visual of it all, made me feel like a kid again.

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While much of this was expected, it does not take away from the greatness of this spectacle. In many of our lifetimes, we never saw what we witnessed inthis PPV. Ask yourself, When was the last time a crowd like this, gathered to watch a pro wrestling
event that wasn't executed by the WWE?

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THE MATCHES

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Our first match of the evening was perhaps the most important. CM Punk vs Samoa Joe told us a story of two decades of hatred playing out before our eyes. It
also set the tone for what was to be a very special night. The crowd ate this match up. You could also tell that Samoa Joe was having fun.

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Bullet Club Gold vs The Elite is an underrated match on this card. There is a history there that needs to be told over time here in AEW. I would love to see them build to Kenny Omega vs Jay White as a match at Wembley in 2024.

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My personal match of the night is FTR vs The Young Bucks. Easily worth the price of ad mission or PPV! In a match clearly split the crowd, the story told was exceptional! Add this match to both teams' lists of instant classics.

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The most brutal match of the night goes to the Stadium Stampede with Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, Penta El Zero M and Eddie Kingston taking on The Blackpool Combat Club and Proud & Powerful. Take notes. If you wanna pay homage to a hardcore legend, that's how you do it. So much cringe, but you couldn't look away!

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Our lone women's match (do better) gave us one of the biggest surprises of the night. This match ended with a 'feel good' moment.

 

My biggest surprise was The Coffin Match. Going into this PPV, I foolishly thought that we didn't need this match. However, the chills I got watching Sting and Darby Allin's entrance was everything. That match also served a very important purpose: Giving that crowd variety. Well done with the placement.
 

One of the best matches was Will Ospreay vs Chris Jericho. Before we even address Jericho in the ring, we have to acknowledge his performance of "Judas" all the way to the ring. THEN he rewound the clock and put on an absolute banger! Will
Ospreay, with this performance in front of his home crowd, became a local legend. However, he let the world know that he has arrived. Say hello to the newest megastar!

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Our main event should be talked about for a long time. This was not only historic in terms of being the main event of a historic event but the story itself was excellent! They also left room on the table for this story to continue. We have more questions than answers at this point, and it's going to be interesting to see where they go from here!

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THE AFTERMATH

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Where do we go from here? In the crowd, we saw one of the faces of women's wrestling. Could that have been our introduction to what's to come?
Stories were told that need closure. A lot of the night, we will see play out this coming weekend. Something that should be pointed out was the media scrum. If you want to know how successful this event was, look no further than the media scrum. Pay very close attention to the amount of countries that now want AEW to pay them a visit. That speaks volumes. It seems as though AEW has reached a new level. With the eyes of the world on them, they successfully executed one heck of a PPV. This took guts, and the reward was huge. Hopefully, AEW is able to build on this momentum.

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