HEYDORN’S TAKE: Don’t hold me to this – AEW All Out 2022

Wooooo boy, right? The build to the fourth annual AEW All Out PPV event has been quite the doozy. A concoction of great stories, silly angles, weak builds, stellar match potential, tardy decisions, and effective promos, all rolled into one weird show. One weird show that will likely be entertaining and memorable.

That’s the story here, I guess. What matters more?  The build to a PPV? Or, like, does that not matter if the PPV gets to the right place and is interesting. I’m sure some completely logical and polite discourse on social media will take place after this, but it does matter. Good builds drive PPV buys and revenue. I mean, that matters, right? It’s good AEW got to where they did for All Out, but it likely came at a price.

In the All Out media scrum, Tony Khan declared it was injuries that caused the delayed build and that makes sense. What it doesn’t do is change the fact that builds matter and framing certain matches in certain ways matters to draw money. Both facts can be facts at the same time and in this instance that’s exactly the case.

Call this a preview, a calm look into the distant future, or a gaze into a wondrous crystal ball; just don’t hold me to anything, ok?

Jungle Boy Jack Perry vs. Christian Cage

The week to week build for this match had its high highs and lows, but in the end, the story very much came into focus. Jungle Boy declaring himself Jack Perry in the final showdown between both men backstage at Dynamite. The week to week was the road to Jungle Boy finding himself as Jack Perry. Now he’s there and he’ll continue that journey by beating Cage clean in the middle of the ring.

Jade Cargill vs. Athena – AEW TBS Championship

Jade Cargill has carved out a really nice spot for herself in the company. She’s overwhelmingly the most over act in the women’s division and it shows when she’s opposite most acts – including Athena. Athena hasn’t assumed nearly enough momentum to end Cargill’s undefeated streak. Cargill wins here and keeps the streak alive.

Swerve In Our Glory vs. The Acclaimed – AEW World Tag Team Championship

Not a smart match to book. The Acclaimed and SIOG are on the rise together and this match is going to slow momentum for someone. Add into the fact that this match is masquerading around as representing the two top tag teams in AEW and you’re left without another option, but to furrow the brow. At this point, The Acclaimed should take the win and they will. Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland are likely heading toward feuding anyway, so why not put the other tag team over? It’s a tough call, but that’s the way Khan will go.

Ricky Starks vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

The best built match on the card. Starks and Hobbs have stayed in their lanes as far as character development goes and there is a clear guy to root for. Starks and Hobbs have both cut promos to help heat this up. It’s been a simple, traditional build, but effective too. Look for Hobbs to take this one. Starks fighting from underneath plays and Hobbs would lose a lot doing the job when being dominant is a staple of his act right now.

Toni Storm vs. Britt Baker vs. Jaime Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida – AEW Interim Women’s Championship

Not the original plan, but a logical direction to go after Thunder Rosa bowed out of her title. Build has been limited, but the story remains Toni Storm. It’s her time and she’ll claim the championship and eventually showdown with Rosa down the road as was originally planned for this show.

The Elite vs. Dark Order – AEW World Trios Championship Tournament Final

Get ready for drama between The Elite and Adam Page. Lots of it. This match will have a lot of action, but the story will revolve around The Elite members rather than two team vying for a big Trios World Championship prize. It seems as if Tony Khan waited to introduce these belts until Kenny Omega got healthy. He is, so it’s hard to see them around anyone’s waist besides him and The Young Bucks.

Casino Ladder Match

Not a lot of build for this one and I’ll tell you why. Whoever The Joker entry is wins this thing and goes on to challenge for the world title. Samoa Joe. That’s my pick to click.

Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Jericho

This one isn’t a novel match, but it works well enough on this show. It’s the pro wrestler vs. the sports entertainer to determine who the best in the world is. Well, kinda. The key to this one is Daniel Garcia. We’ll see the full babyface turn tonight and Garcia will prevent Jericho from winning underhandedly and thus Danielson will get the win.

Darby Allin & Sting & Miro vs. The House Of Black

Miro vs. Aleister Black felt like the match here, but Darby and Sting needed to get on the show. Not great. Will this be a good match? Sure. Here’s the thing. The House of Black needs a win or their slide into total irrelevancy will continue. They’ll get it.

FTR & Wardlow vs. Jay Lethal & The Motor City Machine Guns

I cannot endorse this match. Sorry. For as good as it might be, here’s the problem. FTR is not in a traditional tag match. The most over tag team of the year and they aren’t defending or chasing tag titles? In a tag team focused company? Make that make sense to me. To make matters worse, The Motor City Machine Guns are on the freaking card! That’s a layup of a booking choice that AEW missed. FTR and Wardlow are winning here, but I watch in full on protest.

CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley – AEW World Championship

Well, they got there. They could have just gotten there, but decided to navigate all over the place until they did. Moxley and Punk both cut wonderful promos building the match up and Punk will have the Chicago PPV crowd on his side. This will be dramatic and a blast to watch as Punk will win in his hometown to a raucous reaction. No heel turn, no MJF. Boom.

CATCH-UP: VIDEO: Full Tony Khan All Out media call