AEW ALL IN HITS & MISSES (8/25): Toni Storm vs. Mariah May, Chris Jericho vs. Hook, Swerve vs. Danielson, Bucks vs. Acclaimed vs. FTR, Ospreay vs. MJF, more

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

HITS

The Patriarchy vs. House of Black vs. Bullet Club Gold/Bang Bang Gang vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta & Pac (AEW Trios Titles)

A strong start to the All In main card. While I contest that we see way too many ladder matches these days (both in AEW and across pro wrestling in general), I still found myself enjoying this one. While I thought the smart idea was to keep the belts on The Patriarchy, the happenings later in the show shifted my feelings a bit. It was cool to see Pac get a nice moment in his home country, even if it is the very devalued Trios Titles that got him in. I am curious to see if Pac will officially join the Blackpool Combat Club or if he’ll just be an ally of the group. The trios division doesn’t do much for me these days but it was a fun match to kick off the show.

Toni Storm vs. Mariah May (AEW Women’s Title)

Chalk this one up as, arguably, the best non-gimmick match in the history of women’s AEW matches. I will say that personally it was my favorite women’s (non-gimmicked) match in the five year history of the company. The story to this one coming in was strong and both women delivered in the ring. While I thought May going over was a no-brainer, it didn’t take anything away from the match for me. The match itself lived up to the story that was told before it. I could see this story continuing. I wouldn’t be surprised if Storm took a short time away from AEW while May defends the title a few times only for Storm to return very unhinged with a variation of her “timeless” character. May is a star for sure and I’m excited to see where her character goes from here.

Chris Jericho vs. Hook (FTW Title)

This gets a soft hit for me just for the finish itself. We knew that Hook was going to have to deal with Big Bill and Bryan Keith throughout the match coming in. However, having Taz get involved in the finish, the right way, made it right for me. What I mean by “the right way” is that he simply stopped anymore outside interference from occurring so that Hook could win cleanly. Hook and Taz sharing a moment/hug after was also a nice moment. I’m really hopeful that both sides go their separate ways from here but my hopefulness doesn’t equal my optimism of that. If Hook now decides to retire the FTW Title and put it back on his father’s mantle for the rest of time I think that’d be best for AEW also.

The Young Bucks vs. FTR vs. The Acclaimed

This was another soft hit for me. As good as The Bucks and FTR are, they just don’t seem to mesh like you’d think they should. I’m also very much over the silliness of referee Rick Knox always being fooled in matches that The Bucks are in. That aside, it still was a solid match and The Bucks retaining is probably what’s best for the tag division right now (even if the tag division is still at an all-time low in AEW currently). I assume we’ll see The Acclaimed getting a straight up tag match at All Out in a few weeks since they didn’t factor into the decision. The Grizzled Young Veterans showing up after was a nice surprise as well. It appears as though they’ll be feuding with FTR coming out of this show. We still haven’t seen any graphic saying that GYV are “all elite” though. Perhaps we get that at Dynamite? If they have signed, I’d like to see what they can do under a different regime than the one they were under in Orlando with NXT.

Casino Gauntlet Match

I believe AEW has found its signature match. Having said that though, this match needs to be scaled back to happening only once or twice per year. This is an AEW original concept and it is a hit with the fans. But, it needs to feel big like it has the last few times and not like it did during its debut. That’s a big reason why I think having it no more than twice per year going forward is important. It needs to have the stakes that it already has AND needs to be filled with bigger names. If done right, it can be AEW’s version of the Royal Rumble and be a calendar event. As for the match itself, it felt like a big deal considering the names involved. I didn’t have Nigel McGuinness on my bingo card for this match and that was a lot of fun. There’s been a lot of mixed reaction to Christian Cage getting the win and winning the contract that can be implemented at any time and place for a world title shot. I admit, I was pretty shocked. Having said that, I didn’t hate it. Christian is doing some of the best character work of his career and I can’t see him playing spoiler to the newly crowned Bryan Danielson (at least I hope not!). As much of a blast that this match is, I hope it’s the last time we see it this year. I’d hate to see AEW ruin what they have by running this concept into the ground.

Check out the latest episode of “Wrestling Night in America” with Greg Parks, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)

MJF vs. Will Ospreay (AEW American/International Title)

A very good match but I did like their nearly 60 minute match on Dynamite better. I imagine both guys will go their separate ways for a bit now. MJF seems to have a readymade feud with the returning Daniel Garcia. I will be curious to see where Ospreay goes from here. I know that he has a match with Pac at All Out due to Pac being the number one contender but that doesn’t feel like a longer term feud. I really wish AEW would go into some title consolidation mode now with the FTW/International/Continental Title but I won’t hold my breath on that one.

Jack Perry vs. Darby Allin (TNT Title; Coffin match)

I was pleasantly surprised that this match went only about 10 minutes. I also don’t think that it “kills” Allin or his character. It took Perry binding Alllin’s arms and legs to get the win. That’s the idea of how to win that match. Darby didn’t lose by pin. He didn’t give up. What Perry did was a cheap way out but he’s a heel. He didn’t incapacitate Darby. I liked the finish and didn’t mind how short the match was. Sting getting a fun moment in Wembley Stadium was also fun to see. His story is also tied to the Young Bucks considering he faced them in his last match. It all conveniently made sense. We’ll see how Darby is heated up before his world title match coming up at Grand Slam next month. Personally, I was thinking it would’ve been a good idea to have Perry put Darby out for awhile and Darby’s title match could be put on hold due to a worked injury. I suppose that option is still available. Regardless, it’ll still be interesting to see where Darby’s character goes from here as I could see him still wanting to get back at Perry even if I think it’s beneath Darby at this point to be chasing a mid-card title.

Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW Title)

Some are saying that this was Danielson’s best match ever. I don’t know that I’d agree or disagree with that at this point as it’s too early to say one way or the other. However, I could argue that it may have invoked the most emotion of any match that he’s ever had. The storytelling in this match was off the charts and had me engaged from entrance to the fade to black. Swerve Strickland was a very good champion even if you want to argue that his run was too short. He signed a new deal with AEW this past weekend and he deserves very penny that he signed for. You have to be happy for Swerve as he deserves every bit of money and accolades that have been thrown his way this year. The stage is set for what I hope will be Danielson promising to not retire as a full-time competitor until someone can take the title away from him in the ring. If you watched the scrum after All In, you have to fully understand his dilemma when it comes to family/retirement vs. professional wrestling. This week’s Dynamite should be very newsworthy and hopefully we get an idea of what Danielson’s future is coming out of that show. This was a very fitting end to the main event of what is easily becoming AEW’s signature show/their version of WrestleMania.

MISSES

Mercedes Mone vs. Britt Baker (TBS Title)

This was a soft miss for me. This match also had some things going against it. First, at this point, you could tell the crowd was starting to tire out. Second, the placement was very hard with it following MJF-Ospreay. I’m not advocating for a longer show ever with AEW PPVs but a lighthearted segment in-between the matches might’ve helped the crowd to recover a bit. Third, it definitely felt like Baker still has some ring rust to knock off. That’s not a shot at her. She’s been gone nearly a year, ring rust is only going to be natural. The match itself felt clunky in parts and just didn’t feel nearly as big as it should’ve. Perhaps it also should’ve been placed in the spot on the card where the women’s world title match was and that match should’ve been here. We’ll never know. I was also surprised that the finish was as clean as a freshly washed sheet. It seems as though Baker and Mone will be kept apart for awhile if that finish is any indication…and that’s also fine. Both characters are strong enough that they can come back to this feud down the line. It’ll also allow Baker to get her “working legs” under her.

OVERALL SHOW

Last year’s All In may have been the first AEW iteration of the event but this year’s version was the better show. If the announcements for the Australia show, Forbidden Door, and All In Texas for 2025 are any indication, it appears as though AEW will be shifting its PPV schedule some. I think that’s good. I like a buffer between All Out and All In. I also think that All In needs to be THE signature even for AEW going forward and treated like how WWE treats WrestleMania. It should stand alone. Having a PPV 1-2 weeks after All In doesn’t make All In feel as important. A more balanced PPV schedule makes sense.

If you look at the calendar last year and this year it feels lopsided. In this same column last year, I stated that 40-60k fans in attendance would be a success. AEW accomplished that. I also said that they needed to be on a streaming service by now to make these purchases easier on the consumer. That hasn’t happened yet but I feel like that time is coming. The storytelling in AEW has gotten better this year. It especially has shown in the top 2-3 stories being told in both the men’s and women’s divisions.

The crowd was strong for most of the show. It did dip a bit during the TBS Title match but did come back at the tail end of the TNT Title match and was definitely there for the main event. I think the show would’ve done better to have anywhere from 6-8 matches on the main show instead of 9. It also would give some of the moments time to breath. I was happy to see the show end at the four hour mark and not become a marathon.

Having some of the stronger mid-card matches be main events of Dynamite and/or Collision the week leading into and coming out of PPVs would be a great idea. I know WWE does this already but that doesn’t make it a bad idea. As I said, in some ways this show felt more successful than the first AEW All In. It certainly was promoted and booked much better. The ending of the main event did rival the ending to the main event of night 2 of WrestleMania.

What was it missing? Time given to let the moment breath. AEW has made strides this year. I hope this can be their next big step. Overall grade: A-minus.

Tony Donofrio is a Contributor for PWTorch.com. You can contact Tony at TonyDonofrio@icloud.com and follow him on TwitterX and Threads @TonyDonofrio.

OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s AEW All In Hit List: Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson for the AEW World Championship, Toni Storm vs. Mariah May for the AEW Women’s Championship, MJF vs. Will Ospreay for the American Title