Oh, hello there.
Welcome to yet another busy pro wrestling weekend. Actually, it’s another busy pro wrestling day. Right now, it’s time for AEW’s All Out 2025 pay-per-view, coming from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Four hours after All Out begins, WWE will present Wrestlepalooza from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
At one point, these shows were going head-to-head, but AEW moved All Out at the last minute. There will probably be a bit of an overlap, though. AEW pay-per-views generally go over the four-hour mark, so I would assume at least a portion of All Out’s main event will be taking place as Wrestlepalooza begins.
All Out is beginning any second now, so let’s have some fun.
Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs FTR
Before the match, we get backstage footage from earlier today, when Copeland and Cage entered the arena. They encounter Toronto Maple Leafs legend Wendel Clark, who gets almost zero reaction from the Toronto crowd. Then, they come across Bubbles from the Canadian sitcom Trailer Park Boys, and Bubbles gets a big pop. We’re just feeding the stereotypes about AEW fans at this point, aren’t we?
The crowd is hot, as expected. However, I would say that I’m a bit surprised at the reaction Copeland and Christian got. The fans love them, but I was expecting a bigger pop.
I know I’ve said this before, but it is still hilarious that Christian wrestles in a sleeveless turtleneck.
Christian gets a “he’s our father” chant, so naturally, Copeland gets a “he’s our uncle” chant when he tags in. Cute.
Add this crowd to the list of non-United States crowds that love to chant and cheer all throughout matches. Most viewers love it, but I’ve definitely seen my fair share of people who think that stuff is dumb, feeling that the fans are just trying to get themselves over instead of focusing on the matches themselves. I love it, though. It adds so much to the show.
Slow start to this one. Not that it should be a surprise to anyone, considering we have an old school technical-based team taking on a team with a combined age of 102 years old. Dax and Cash are controlling the pace and looking to wear Copeland and Christian down.
Copeland hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle! The crowd chanted “you can’t see me” and exploded in cheers, giving it a standing ovation and loudly cheering Cena’s name. Kudos to them for not going with the tribalism bullshit. That’s how loved John Cena is. Fun tribute from Copeland, returning the favor after Cena recently used a Spear to pay tribute to him.
Big Stoke interferes in the match, pulling the Referee out during a pin attempt. Of course, Stokely draws the ire of Beth Copeland, who shows up and hits him with a Spear before carrying him backstage. Good pop for her.
Spear from Copeland, and it’s enough for the pin and the win. Good match. The focus on the final stretch was FTR trying to injure Copeland’s neck, hitting him with a Spike Piledriver, but it wasn’t enough.
Not quite on a “great” level, but this was 3.75 Stars. It did everything it was supposed to do, and it gave the crowd a feel-good match result.
After the match, Beth Copeland returns to celebrate with the victors. They’re interrupted by the arrival of Mother Wayne and Nick Wayne. The distraction allows for FTR to attack Copeland and Christian from behind. Kip Sabian appears out of nowhere with handcuffs, which he uses to cuff Copeland to the middle rope. Copeland is forced to watch as FTR hit Christian with a Spike Piledriver. FTR looks like they’re leaving the ring, but then they change their mind and stalk Beth, who is trying to free her husband from the cuffs. Beth realizes that FTR are behind her, and she kisses her husband, tells him that she loves him, and takes the fight to FTR. They get the eventual advantage and they hit her with a Spike Piledriver, too. Big-time heel heat for FTR, and it looks like this feud will continue.
Eddie Kingston vs Big Bill
16 months after his last match, the “Mad King” makes his triumphant return to AEW. I know some were wondering if he would look different upon his return, and the answer is, simply put… no, he doesn’t. That’s a good thing for some of you, and a bad thing for others, but he looks exactly the same.
Bill goes for a Sidewalk Slam on Eddie, but he barely has him in his grip, and he plants Kingston on his butt in an ugly-looking move. Moments later, he hits Eddie with another one. The second attempt was better than the first, but he still didn’t hit it cleanly. Sheesh.
Goodness gracious. Kingston goes to hit Bill with his Backfist, but it looks like he completely missed. He goes for the pin, anyway, and he gets it. Ugly finish to what was frankly an ugly match. They just didn’t have any in-ring chemistry, and they had too many wonky spots. It’s the rare miss on pay-per-view for this company. 2 Stars
Mark Briscoe vs MJF – Tables n Tacks Match
Time for some bloody carnage.
Within seconds of the match starting, Briscoe dumps out big buckets of thumbtacks, covering the entire canvas with them.
Briscoe is the first to feel the tacks, getting bodyslammed on them. It came at the end of a multiple minute showdown where each man tried to slam his opponent on the tacks. One feel wasn’t enough, though. MJF takes Briscoe’s head and drives it onto the canvas, rubbing his face in the tacks. Mark has a handful of tacks stuck in his forehead, and once he takes them out, he comes up bleeding a bunch.
Another slam on the tacks, this time with no shirt on, has Mark’s back scratched up and bloodied. Now, MJF puts tacks in Mark’s mouth and punches him, followed by two back body drops on the tacks. This has been pretty one-sided so far.
MJF goes for another back body drop, but Mark lands on his feet and he gets to land one of his own, letting MJF feel the tacks for the first time.
The match has devolved into “I’ll stand here and put you in the tacks a few times, then you stand there and put me in the tacks a few times,” and that’s not ideal. There’s no ring psychology or anything. They handicapped themselves a bit by covering the canvas with tacks, and they haven’t really recovered from it.
Oh, you want more tacks? Okay then. MJF sets a table up in the ring and then dumps out bags of tacks on the table. Unfortunately for MJF, he’s the one that goes through the table, as Mark hits him with a Froggy Bow, then another one from the opposite turnbuckle. Finally, Mark hits MJF with a Jay Driller onto the tacks for the pin and the win.
It was violent and bloody, like we all knew it would be. That’s it, though. Like I said, there was too much standing around. Tack spot, stand around, tack spot, stand around, tack spot, stand around, tack spot, stand around. You rarely ever see bad matches on AEW pay-per-view, and we’ve now seen two of them in a row here. I’ll give this 2.5 Stars, and that might be too generous.
Based on what I’ve seen on social media, I might be alone in how I felt about this match. It seems like everyone else just enjoyed the violence. Your mileage may vary, I guess.
Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin & MVP vs Ricochet, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun – Trios Match
This crowd has gotten a lot quieter since the opener wrapped up. That’s a shame.
It’s an interesting decision to have MVP work the huge chunk of the match so far. He keeps himself in shape, but he’s also coming up on his 52nd birthday, has knee issues, and wasn’t exactly the most fast-paced worker in his physical prime.
The match has picked up a lot once Shelton and Bobby get tagged in. That’s good.
This ended up being a tale of two matches. When Shelton and/or Bobby were involved in the offense, things were good, and when MVP was involved in the offense, things were… less good. Ricochet, Kaun and Toa were able to isolate MVP in the end, though, and they pick up the win. It got little-to-no reaction whatsoever, though. I don’t think the fans were expecting the match to end when it did.
3 Stars. Honestly, that’s a match that probably should’ve taken place on Dynamite. Now, perhaps we can get back to Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin looking like a million bucks.
Mercedes Moné vs Riho – AEW TBS Title Match
It’s crazy to see how petite these two are. If you combined their weights, they would still qualify to compete for Cruiserweight Titles. What matters is that they can both “go” in the ring, so I’m hoping for something fun here.
Commentary points out that Mercedes rarely gets to have the size and power advantage in her matches, but that’s exactly what she has here.
The pace has been picked up considerably here in the early stages. I like it. It’s exactly what the show has needed.
Yeah, this crowd hasn’t been very good since the show opener. They’re damn near silent for chunks of this one so far.
As soon as I finish typing that, dueling chants of “let’s go, Riho” and “C-E-O” break out. They don’t last very long, but they still happened. It’s a start.
This has been fun so far. Lots of joshi influence, of course. Stiff strikes, submissions, and a fast pace to everything. Maybe the crowd will notice at some point.
Riho with a Single Leg Crab on Mercedes, but she drops back, damn near bending Mercedes in half. Ouch. Great application of the hold, though.
Mercedes picks up the hard-fought victory. Riho took the fight to her, but Mercedes is on her quest to break Ultimo Dragon’s record of championships held at the same time, so the outcome here shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
Fun stuff here. Both women looked really good. 3.75 Stars. I’d love to see Riho stick around and continue working in AEW.
Kazuchika Okada vs Máscara Dorada vs Konosuke Takeshita – Three-Way Match for the AEW Unified Title
This one might have my attention more than any other match on the show. If it doesn’t end up being great, I’m going to be highly disappointed.
In the early moments of the match, Dorada is the star, using his quickness and Lucha Libre skills to win the crowd over.
When Okada or Takeshita are on offense, they’re slowing the pace down, trying to keep Dorada from building momentum. Smart work there.
All three men are precariously standing on the top turnbuckle, and Dorada hits them both with a Hurricanrana AT THE SAME TIME, sending them flying. That was beautiful. Win or lose, Dorada is going to be who everyone is talking about when this is all said and done.
A hectic closing sequence sees Okada finally land a Rainmaker, taking Dorada out to get the win and retain his title. That was a great match. All three men put in work, but again, Dorada is the real star here. The match was put together to give him the spotlight to shine, and he looked like a million bucks in doing so. Okada and Takeshita brought their own styles to the match, and everything just worked. Super fun stuff. Let’s see more of Dorada in AEW, though. 4.5 Stars
Darby Allin vs Jon Moxley – Coffin Match
Well, it would appear we’re going back to the violence and the chaos. Both of these men are certifiably insane. What the hell are we about to witness?
We’re not waiting. It’s insane from the start, with Darby hitting a Coffin Drop from the top of one of the crowd entrances, and they’re brawling up the stairs and through the people. Darby jumps from a few steps up, hitting Mox with a dropkick, but Darby gets the worst of it as he lands on the stairs back first. Ouch.
These two are beating the hell out of each other. Darby gets payback on Mox by making his ear a bloody mess, and now, Darby appears to be bleeding from the nose area.
Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia hop the guardrail and are at ringside. Bryan Danielson is on commentary, but he gave his word to Darby that he wouldn’t get involved, no matter what. For now, Darby is all alone while all five (counting Marina Shafir) members of the Death Riders are there.
Just as I type that, Mox orders the rest of his crew to go backstage, and they do. Okay then. That was pretty pointless. The male members of the group literally hopped the guardrail, then walked to the other side of the ring and up the ramp to leave.
Darby gouges a fork into Moxley’s ear before stabbing him repeatedly on the top of the skull. Mox’s head is even bloodier now.
More fork gouging to Moxley’s ear, followed by Darby biting Mox’s earlobe. Poor Renee Paquette. Her husband isn’t going to hear shit she says for a while.
At ringside, Danielson pulls out a duffel bag and Darby takes it. Inside the duffel is a plastic bag, which Darby then puts on Moxley’s head. Mox is flailing as Darby tries to suffocate him, and the visual of Mox’s blood staining the inside of the bag is a great one.
LOL @ the fans chanting “this is murder.” They’re not wrong.
PAC is back, and he takes Darby’s head off with a kick before sending Darby over the top rope for a sick landing atop a coffin at ringside. He pulls out a body bag, places Darby in it, then puts Darby inside of a coffin in the ring. Mox kicks the lid shut, and he gets the win.
Yes, this was violent and bloody, but unlike the Briscoe vs MJF match, there seemed to be a reason for everything that happened here. It wasn’t just standing around and waiting for the next spot. Good stuff from both men. Not sure we needed the Death Riders to get even stronger, though. They’re up to six members, and they’re still actively recruiting Kris Statlander to join them. 3.75 Stars
“Timeless” Toni Storm vs Jamie Hayter vs Kris Statlander vs Thekla – Four-Way Match for the AEW Women’s Title
Before the match, Wheeler Yuta runs to the ring and gives a motivational speech to Stat, who doesn’t appear to appreciate it.
After the last two matches helped get the crowd back in the mix, they’re quiet again for this one.
Thekla does her spider walk, but she doesn’t see Toni Storm, who… *ahem*… kicks her right in the lady bits. Cunt Punt? Clam Jam? Whatever you want to call it, there was nothing scientific about it.
I’m digging this match so far. There’s still a lot of the “one or two women get taken out and rest at ringside” stretches, but the overall action hasn’t stopped since the beginning.
Out of absolutely nowhere, Kris Statlander uses the Seatbelt to get the pin on Toni Storm. We have a brand new AEW Women’s Champion, and the fans are chanting “you deserve it.” There was almost no reaction to the pin, but it was because everyone was caught off-guard, especially because it seemed like business was really picking up. 3.5 Stars, either way.
Even though she didn’t win the match, I think Thekla was the star here. Like Máscara Dorada earlier, this match was put together in a way that made Thekla look strong in defeat. She has a bright future in AEW if Tony Khan doesn’t completely forget about her like he almost always does with free agent signings.
Brody King & Bandido vs The Young Bucks vs “Speedball” Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight vs Hechicero & Josh Alexander – Four-Way Ladder Match for the AEW Tag Team Titles
This one starts off with a lot of slow, methodical action. The teams are almost being cautious, feeling each other out.
I’m just kidding.
As soon as the opening bell is heard, all eight men went ballistic, and the action has been impossible to keep track of.
So far, this has been a very even match. You’ll see the Bucks get momentum for a bit, followed by Brodido getting the momentum for a bit, and then the Don Callis Family getting the momentum for a bit, followed by JetSpeed getting the momentum for a bit, and so on. Everyone looks good.
Bandido gets in the ring and takes JetSpeed out all by himself with vim and vigor. He’s the only one left in the ring, so he climbs the ladder, where he… moves like he’s 100 years old, climbing slowly, allowing for Kevin Knight to knock him off of the ladder. Sigh.
Speedball is ALONE AT THE TOP OF THE LADDER, but instead of grabbing the titles to win the match, he goes for a Moonsault on Hechicero, who is atop a bridged ladder. Then, to make it worse, Speedball basically lands knees-first on the ladder, performing a move on himself.
Then, seconds later, Bandido is ALONE AT THE TOP OF THE LADDER, but instead of grabbing the titles to win the match, he goes for a Sunset Flip Powerbomb on Josh Alexander. I really hate the logic used in these types of matches. Every promotion of every size does it. All it does it make your wrestlers look like morons. Seems like a weird goal to have.
To follow up on something I said in the beginning of this column, Wrestlepalooza is about six minutes away from going on the air, and this match hasn’t even ended yet. Looks like All Out is going to go on for a while after Wrestlepalooza begins.
The Bucks are the smartest Ladder Match wrestlers ever. They damn near sprint to the top of the ladder in an attempt to win, but they’re still thwarted by Brody King and Bandido. Bandido stands atop the ring post, is handed a ladder by his tag partner, and delivers a moonsault with it to the ringside area, where he takes out Hechicero and Josh Alexander.
Once Bandido gets back in the ring, he is able to climb the ladder while Brody King guards him. He pulls one title down, then takes the other one down, and the champions retain. That was a fun train wreck, as expected. 4 Stars. Lots of opportunities for each team to shine.
After the match, we get the return of Jack Perry, who attacks Matt and Nick Jackson. They get the numbers advantage on him, though, but right as they’re about to take him out, he looks up and smiles. The lights go out, and we get a short video airing that showed Jack working in a lab on… Luchasaurus! The lights go back on, and Luchasaurus is standing in the ring behind the Bucks. He takes them out, and the crowd explodes! Jungle Boy’s old music hits, and the crowd loses their minds as they “sing” along. This is as loud and as animated as the crowd has been all night long. Looks like the AEW tag division has gotten a bit deeper.
In a backstage shot, we see Darby Allin put Jon Moxley in a body bag and then light the bag on fire. Unfortunately for Darby, the fire went out almost immediately once Mox began to flail around. It was still a crazy shot, though, and the level of violence has only been escalated. It will be interesting to see how the Death Riders respond.
“Hangman” Adam Page vs Kyle Fletcher – AEW World Title Match
Wrestlepalooza has been on the air for about ten minutes now, and we’re getting the video package for the All Out main event. Sure, AEW would’ve gone four-plus hours for this, no matter what else was going on, but that’s still a smart way to counter-program the counter-program.
On the other side of the fence, WWE seems to be delaying the start of their action as much as possible, in a smart counter-program to the counter-programming of the counter-program. We’ve reached the introductions for Hangman vs Fletcher, and we’re still with the filler on Wrestlepalooza, with John Cena vs Brock Lesnar not looking like it’s going to start just yet.
Wrestling is fun.
I wish Kyle Fletcher didn’t look a grown-up version of Sid from Toy Story. I’m not saying… I’m just saying.
In the early stages, Fletcher looks like he doesn’t have any issues with the nerves that should come from this being his first time in a pay-per-view main event for the World Title. He has controlled the pace, and looks good in doing so.
Bryan Danielson’s voice is a few minutes away from being shot. Sounds like he needs to drink more organic kale squeezings, or whatever the hell people like him drink.
This has been a lot of fun so far, but it just sounds weird without the usual raucous crowd that AEW pay-per-view main events usually feature. For once, a Toronto wrestling crowd is actively hurting a product instead of making it ten times better. These fans are awful.
Fletcher has been so physically dominant here. He is manhandling the AEW World Champion, and is absolutely beating the dog shit out of Hangman. All that “he’s not ready” nonsense should be out the window. He looks like he is 100% ready for this type of spot.
Hangman has finally gotten the momentum back, and we’re having ourselves a banger. There have been a ton of 2.999 counts, including one as I typed that, when Fletcher ducked a Buckshot Lariat attempt, floated over, and nailed Hangman with a Brainbuster.
AVALANCHE DEADEYE FROM THE MIDDLE TURNBUCKLE! Ugly, ugly, landing for Fletcher, who nearly folded in half. Hangman follows this up with a Buckshot Lariat, and he retains his title in an incredible match. Physical, hard-hitting action from start to finish. Fletcher looked like someone who is going to be a multiple-time World Champion in the future, but today was not his day. 4.5 Stars
We go off the air with Hangman celebrating on the ramp. The show ends two minutes shy of the FIVE HOUR mark. Wildly unnecessary.
Aside from a brief down period, this was a really entertaining show. AEW always delivers on pay-per-view, and overall, this was no different. A definite recommendation from me, if you haven’t already checked it out.
Now, I need to actually spend some time with my wife and daughter for a bit before I start watching Wrestlepalooza and doing my review column for that show.
