AEW ALL OUT

 

Chicago

OVER BUDGET CHARITY BATTLE ROYAL ('HANGMAN' ADAM PAGE) (13:18): CM Punk was fired by AEW. That was a bigger story then anything on this show. Punk got into a backstage fight with Jack Perry last week at All In and also supposedly "lunged" at Tony Khan and, in the process, knocked over a TV monitor onto Khan while yelling, "I'm quitting AEW!" or something. So Punk's gone and they had to do two shows in Chicago with the fans knowing this. Collision on Saturday started with Tony Khan saying that he fired Punk. One fan on this show in the front row had a sign that said, "Tony Khan Cured Cancer" or something, meaning Punk was a cancer in the company. Considering Punk got into two backstage fights in a year, he sounds like a bitter old man at this point. Some speculated that he just wanted out of AEW, maybe because they just re-signed Adam Page, the Bucks, and Omega, four guys he had a beef with. Oh, well. As for this show...it definitely was weird doing a PPV a week after their biggest PPV and show of all time. Considering they're doing this again next year, Khan doesn't seem to think it's a problem. I don't know, though. They were asking $50 for this show and it didn't have a championship title match, a tag team title match, or a women's title match. It did have all the secondary titles on the line, and most of the big stars were in matches, but still...the main event was for the International title. Okay. The show turned out really good, but most AEW shows are, so that wasn't a surprise. This first match was a pointless battle royal. Page won and got to donate $50,000 to the charity of his choice. He chose some Chicago school charity. On Being the Elite, Page joked that he won all this money and had to give it to some stupid kids. That made me laugh. Considering Page was once the AEW champ...maybe do something more with him then put him in a forgettable Battle Royal. **

HIKARU SHIDA, SKY BLUE & WILLOW NIGHTINGALE vs. ATHENA, DIAMANTE & MERCEDES MARTINEZ (8:28): Sky Blue got the win, which was good, considering a ton of heels got wins tonight plus Skye is from Chicago. Mercedes Martinez did a top rope, sitting suplex on someone that put them right on their head. That looked gruesome. Match was okay. *1/2

BILLY GUNN & THE ACCLAIMED vs. JAY LETHAL, JEFF JARRETT & SATNAM SINGH (5:57): Dennis Rodman came out with The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn. Eventually he hit Jarrett over the head with a guitar. This show was in the United Center where the Bulls play, so I guess that's why Rodman was there. I wonder if he still talks to Kim Jong Un. Match was fun and short. **

BETTER THAN YOU BAY BAY (ADAM COLE & MJF) vs. THE DARK ORDER (ALEX REYNOLDS & JOHN SILVER) (14:08): This match baffled everyone. I guess The Dark Oder hasn't been wrestling much lately so Khan threw him a bone. Otherwise, I have no idea the purpose of this match. Cole and MJF retained the ROH tag titles. The crowd loved the Double Clothesline and the Kangaroo Kick. It was fun but nothing spectacular. Supposedly the Collision that featured Cole & MJF wrestling FTR for the tag titles got big ratings. Other than that, Dynamite always beats Collision in the ratings. So CM Punk wasn't a giant ratings draw for Collision, probably one reason they were okay with firing him. **1/2

SOMOA JOE vs. SHANE TAYLOR (6:23): MJF was walking to the back after his match and Somoa Joe came out for this match and nudged MJF with his shoulder. This caused MJF to run into the ring and start brawling with Joe until security came out. Then this match happened, which was good not great. Joe retained the ROH TV title. Shane Taylor looked good as usual. It was two big guys doing big power moves. **1/2

LUCHASAURUS vs. DARBY ALLIN (12:14): Considering this was the only match on the show that was announced a full month early, I figured it was because Darby was going to win the TNT title. He didn't. It was mostly a beat down. Darby was bloody. Darby did a top rope flip onto Luchasaurus on a chair. Nick Wayne came out because he's feuding with Christian for some reason. Match was good but nothing special. They probably should re-unite Jurassic Express, because both Jack Perry and Luchasaurus aren't as exciting anymore nor are even used much anymore. **1/2

MIRO vs. POWERHOUSE HOBBS (15:34): The crowd really got into this match. Miro wasn't doing anything in AEW for practically a year. He bitched about it on Twitter and then Khan noted that Miro had turned down some idea he had and that's why he was on the sidelines. Well the crowd in Chicago loved Miro and loved this match. It was kind of like a WWE match in that nobody did any wild, crazy moves. It was all just power slams and holds and stuff. Match was pretty good mostly thanks to the crowd. Miro's wife, Lana, came out at the end but Miro saw her and left the ring. I don't know what that was all about. **1/2

KRIS STATLANDER vs. RUBY SOHO (12:20): Toni Storm took the spray paint out of Ruby's hand at the end which caused Ruby to lose. I think The Outcasts group as been pretty entertaining, so I'm not so sure about breaking them up, but whatever. Match was kind of boring. Statlander retained the TBS title. Whatever happened to the last TBS champ, the woman that was undefeated forever? I even forget her name, that's how long she's been gone for. *

BRYAN DANIELSON vs. RICKY STARKS "STRAP MATCH" (16:39): Good match, and a surprise match as Danielson made his return the night before on Collision. These guys beat the shit out of each other and were both bloody messes. At one point, the announcer noted that, "This is hard to watch." Usually in a strap match they will whip the other guy's back or stomach or something. In this one, they were whipping each other in the face and on the head. That was hard to watch. Very brutal but very compelling. ***

BLACKPOOL COMBAT CLUB (CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI & WHEELER YUTA) vs. EDDIE KINGSTON & KATSUYORI SHIBATA (15:50): I guess with Shibata in this it was a bit more than just a random Dynamite match. Supposedly Shibata doesn't work for NJPW anymore. I guess this is all he does? Wrestle for AEW on occasion? Match was entertaining but pretty standard. Kingston got pinned, which I guess is a surprise since he was the crowd favorite. They keep building another Kingston vs. Claudio match, so that was mostly the focus in this. **1/2

KONOSUKE TAKESHITA vs. KENNY OMEGA (22:21): Considering Omega is usually in awesome singles matches (this year alone he had fantastic matches against Ospreay, Moxley in a cage, and Vikingo), I kind of thought this would be better. One reason is that crowd was a little bit quiet and seemingly not that into this. Maybe they don't see Takeshita as a big star. It's probably good then that they had Takeshita win, since they should start elevating all these non-main event guys they have. Match was good, though, it just never hit that high level we've seen in previous Omega matches. Takeshita had an awesome Dynamite match against Adam Page this year...so maybe I figured Takeshita could translate some of his shorter, awesome matches into an awesome, longer match. I was wrong. There was one particular move that reminded me of those sadistic Naito/Ibushi matches. Takeshita did a suplex type slam on Omega that put him right on his head. Takeshita also gave Omega a Blue Thunder Bomb from the top rope. Omega pretty much lost clean here, which was a bit surprising. Good match but, alas, not great. ***

BULLET CLUB GOLD (JAY WHITE, JUICE ROBINSON & THE GUNN'S) vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS & FTR (21:41): This was a fun match, although basically just a Dynamite main event. I thought maybe the reason they even did this match was because The Young Bucks would join Bullet Club and turn on FTR. They didn't...even though the Bucks were in Bullet Club long before Jay White, Juice, and The Gunn's were. They do seem to be setting up another FTR/Bucks match...which doesn't really make sense considering their All In match was billed as the "who's the greatest tag team" and "final in the trilogy" match. The Bucks got booed early but actually got cheered a lot when they were doing all of their awesome, fast paced, high flying and super kick stuff. There was a lot of action at the end which made this a lot of fun. **1/2

JON MOXLEY vs. ORANGE CASSIDY (19:43): Good main event. One of the highlights of AEW this year has been Orange Cassidy's International title reign. The announcers mentioned he defended it 31 times. Well it's over, as Moxley won. Since this is the International title...why don't they give it to someone from another country? PAC had it earlier this year. What about Penta? Fenix? Takeshita? Anyway, Orange was busted open and bleeding all over the place. The crowd got super into this by the end and was totally with Orange's every move. Good way to end a good show. Now onto Arthur Ashe. ***

WWE PAYBACK

Pittsburgh

BECKY LYNCH vs. TRISH STRATUS "CAGE MATCH" (20:02): This show really only had one match that was any good, and this wasn't it. While this match generally got favorable reviews, I think the only reason was because Trish didn't look as sloppy or botch anything like she did in the MITB ladder match two months ago. This match was set up a long time ago and was supposed to be a big, Summerslam match. Why it ended up as the opener on this B show is beyond me. The big problem I had with this match is that the whole point of a steel cage match is so that there is no outside interference, yet Shayna Baszler was in the ring and beating up Becky during the match. Ugh. Remember when Becky Lynch was the biggest star in the WWE? Why don't they, like, give her something better to do than feud with old, has-been legends? **

LA KNIGHT vs. THE MIZ (15:46): John Cena came out before this match to announce that he would be the special guest referee. There wasn't really a point to that, but I guess they just thought having Cena on the show would make it more PPV caliber. The match was dull, though the sold out Pittsburgh crowd loved LA Knight. I'm still baffled at this, as I somehow missed how he turned from a heel on NXT to a Smackdown crowd favorite. What did he do to earn the crowd's approval, anyway? It's not like he's a good wrestler. He's okay on the mic. I give up. *1/2

REY MYSTERIO vs. AUSTIN THEORY (9:49): I suppose Austin Theory's push is over. Mysterio won the U.S. title from him somewhere and retained it here. Where's Bobby Lashley, anyway? He hasn't been around. And Braun Strowman? I haven't really watched much of Smackdown or RAW lately, though I did notice that Roman Reigns wasn't on this show, hence why this was a forgotten show. That, and it happened on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, when most people watching TV were focused on college football (this game went against Penn State vs. West Virginia, which I watched live instead of this) or down the beach having fun. This was overall a basic, standard match. *

THE JUDGMENT DAY (DAMIAN PRIEST & FINN BALOR) vs. SAMI ZAYN & KEVIN OWENS "STEEL CITY STREET FIGHT" (20:44): This was by far the most entertaining match on the show. The brawled around the arena. At one point, Zayn and Owens were tossed into the hockey penalty box and came out dressed as Pittsburgh Penguin hockey players holding hockey sticks. As stupid as that was, the crowd seemed to like it. Owens was also busted open at that point and a bloody mess. They cleaned him up off camera pretty quickly after that, though. The big spot was Owens doing a moonsault off a guardrail in the crown down onto Dominick Mysterio on a table. No, Dominick wasn't in this match. Rhea Ripley wasn't either, but she still speared Owens through the crowd barrier by the announce table (a spot that the WWE does way too much). The Judgment Day ended up winning the tag titles here. So what are Zayn and Owens going to do now? I'd rather see Owens do singles matches, actually, as he's one of the WWE's better wrestlers in big matches. At this point, considering LA Knight is so popular, it wouldn't shock me to see him beat Roman for the title eventually. Can you believe they'd do that, though, when they wouldn't do it with Sami? I actually kind of hate this company lately. ***

RHEA RIPLEY vs. RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ (17:22): This match was boring. Rhea retained her women's title. The other women's champ, Iyo Skye, wasn't on the show. Has she even defended the title yet since winning it at Summerslam? I wonder. Dominick interfered in this match and got slammed by Raquel. At 17 minutes, this was too long. 1/2*

SETH ROLLINS vs. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (25:57): The major problem with caring about Seth Rollin's new WWE championship is the fact that Roman Reigns has had his title for 3 years and has beaten everybody. So Seth's title feels secondary and weak in comparison. And did anyone really think Nakamura was winning the title here? No. I haven't seen Nakamura wrestle in awhile in a singles match. I guess they're pushing him these days. He used to be in that comedy tag team with Rick Boogs, who disappeared. Is Boogs hurt? Was he fired? I don't know. Bray Wyatt died. Did I mention that? & Terry Funk as well, in the same week. Wyatt apparently got Covid and got really sick from it and was then getting better and possibly going to return when he had a heart attack and died. I wonder if it was from steroid or drug use...or if it was health issues as he was always a big guy. They did do a tribute type show for Funk and Wyatt on Smackdown the week before this show. The one thing I was thinking about during this match was how great New Japan was when Nakamura was there...and how it's sad now that those great wrestlers are slowly fading away in terms of in-ring prowress, ability, and excitement. Tanahashi is a shell of his former self, pathetically hobbling around the ring. Okada is still fairly good, though slower. & Nakamura has never been as great in the WWE. His only good match in the WWE was his first one, the NXT match against Zayn in Dallas. It's sad watching Nakamura in a boring match. Remember his AJ Styles match? His awesome G1 semi-final vs. Okada? I remember seeing him at the ECW Arena for a ROH show. He was signing autographs before the show and I remember how big a star he was back then. I guess it's cool he's still main eventing things. Too bad the match and this show weren't very good. *1/2