The show kicked off with the AEW Trios Championship on the line as Christian, Killswitch, and Nick Wayne of the Patriarchy defended the titles against the House of Black (Murphy, Brody King, and Malakai Black), the Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson and the Gunns), and the makeshift team of PAC, Yuta Wheeler, and Claudio Castagnoli. As expected, this was all about dives and, eventually, table spots, but they didn't go overboard with anything too deth-defying. In fact, this was a touch underwhelming with multiple guys not really getting any noticeable "shine" in the match (Aleister Black really faded into the background in particular). PAC was the clear fan favorite and ended up getting his "moment," which was nice. The crowd was hot for the start of this but definitely died down as it went on. I liked Christian's psychology early on as he ran away early and let everyone else do the hard work before returning to the ring. Juice Robinson may have been the MVP of the whole match for crotching himself on the top rope after falling from the "super ladder." Not a bad opener, but nothing really special. (2.5/5)
The AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm defended her title against Mariah May in the next match. This match had a great build and started off hot. Lots of signature moves on display as May and Storm dished out a bunch of Storm Zero piledrivers and hip attacks. Mariah May got some "color" too, which was necessary after how this rivalry started. I wasn't a huge fan of the finish as Storm decided against using a shoe on May - not necessarily because it would've got her DQ'd, but because she showed mercy for some reason. This moment of hesitation feels like something we've seen before recently in AEW with Ospreay and I really think TK's lack of creativity (or that of his match producers) is a huge problem when you can recall similar endings in other recent matches. This was good, but not great, and, similar to the opener, it seems like they lost the crowd for a few minutes in the middle. (3/5)
Chris Jericho made his way down the aisle for his next match as his band Fozzy performed. Jericho was defending the gold against longtime rival HOOK. This was fun for what it was with lots of smoke-and-mirrors, specifically the inclusion of Big Bill and Bryan Keith. Big Bill was very over with the UK crowd for some reason. I'm a fan of the big man but still don't see him as a stand-alone main event-level guy. In a sense, he's in the perfect spot as someone's "heater" and has definitely improved over the years, but I'm not sure he's ever found the same chemistry as he had with Enzo Amore. Anyway...Jericho brought out the cricket balls, HOOK found the cricket bat, and we got a nifty fall from Big Bill through a barbwire-covered table. We also got a great finish that saw Tazz lock Keith in a Tazzmission to allow HOOK to get his big victory. This felt like a satisfactory ending to the HOOK/Jericho feud so hopefully they won't drag this on any further. Not a bad match, but certainly not great either. (2.5/5)
The AEW Tag Team Champions, The Young Bucks, defended their titles against the teams of FTR and The Acclaimed in the next match. I haven't been watching the weekly programming as much so I've missed a good chunk of the build for this. It seemed to me like FTR was inserted into the match to up the "workrate" as I'm not sure TK fully trusts The Acclaimed to bring the goods in a spotlight match (and FTR is certainly always deserving of PPV time). I thought this was a fun match and quite good considering they didn't have the benefit of using a bunch of ladders and tables and whatnot, something that the Bucks have to tended to rely on more and more over the past few years. I liked all the double-team maneuvers, especially when Max Caster and one of the Bucks delivered an EVP Trigger. The finish and post-match seems to be pointing to more Acclaimed/Bucks action in the future and the Grizzled Young Veterans (who debuted here to not much fanfare) going after FTR. The former feels stale and the latter seems like a "TV feud." A fun spotfest, but far from "must see." (3/5)
The Casino Gauntlet Match followed, a match with stipulations I didn't really understand at first. Its Royal Rumble-ish as participants entered at "random" times, but the match could end at any time because the first man to get a pinfall was named the victor - even if there were supposedly entrants still hanging out backstage. Orange Cassidy and Okada started things off and the crowd ate up their callback to their days as part of a stable together in New Japan (or at least that's what the commentators said?). I'm not sure, but I like both guys so I dug it. Then came our first of multiple surprise - Nigel McGuinness making his return to the ring after over a decade of being a commentator (in AEW now and, before that, WWE and Ring of Honor [years before AEW purchased it]). Nigel didn't necessarily look as smooth and quick as he once did, but the impact of his moves was there and he was massively over with the London fans. Kyle O'Reilly came in next, followed by the often-excellent (always-excellent?) Zach Sabre Junior. ZSJ is swiftly becoming one of my favorites of modern times as I just love his shtick and moveset and arrogance. He was followed by Roderick Strong and Mark Briscoe, which just goes to show how deep the talent pool in AEW is at this point. Strong is not a guy who gets much lip service for how competent and consistent he is with everything he does. A "Your Favorite Wrestler's Favorite Wrestler" in his ability to make anything he's handed better, including this match, where he took a "throwaway spot" and still made sure that he was there to bump and sell and feed for the "bigger" stars in the match. In the #8 spot was "Hangman" Adam Page, followed, in a brilliant piece of booking, by Jeff Jarrett and Karen Jarrett. Again, critics who say AEW doesn't tell enough stories look no further here as Jarrett and Hangman's interactions got huge reactions (and deservedly so). At number 10 was the AEW debut of Ricochet! He got a huge reaction and looked like an absolute star. Where was the big smile and huge charisma when he was in WWE? If this Ricochet being a bit more natural, I'm okay with the wide grin and positive attitude. The dude can obviously go in the ring and the AEW landscape is full of incredible dance partners for him. Then, at #11, we got Christian Cage, who came limping down the aisle because of the damage he suffered earlier in the show. Loved that attention to realism there. The fans booed the hell out of Christian and then popped huge as Killswitch came out next. I really liked how they didn't pull the trigger with his babyface turn yet here as this match didn't need it. This match is something of a litmus test for wrestling fans as you're either into this sort of non-stop spotfest full of "callbacks" that only avid wrestling junkies will appreciate or you're not. I'm kind of in the middle, but still thought this was fun and that the enthusiasm of the crowd really pushed it into feeling special (and that the AEW roster is ridiculously stacked). That being said, I do think the match could've used at least one "hoss" (aside from Killswitch, who appeared for a very brief time) to give it some variety. (3.5/5)
The AEW International Championship was next as MJF defended the his "American" version of the title against Will Ospreay. This was widely praised, but I wasn't as high on it as others. While it was loaded with ridiculous maneuvers and spots, I do find a little bit of a disconnect between the MJF character - who perpetually mock those that compete for "star ratings" or are overly obsessed with Japanese wrestling - and the way he has become, in terms of style, presentation, and moveset, almost indistinguishable from those sorts of workers, including Ospreay. MJF's claim of being a generational talent has worn thin as I'm not sure he's quite figured out what an "MJF match" is and how that framework is different than those of his peers. Anyways, this was still a really good, main event-caliber match and I loved the sheer number of hidden blade and springboard stunner attempts by Ospreay (and MJF's ability to use ring awareness to counter or evade them). I was expecting MJF to bust out his Dynamite Diamond Ring despite claiming it was stolen earlier in the day on Twitter, but it didn't appear - even when Daniel Garcia showed up (could he have been the guy that stole it? If so, why not have him appear with it on his finger?) to cost MJF the match. The effort was there, the crowd engagement was there, and the athleticism was fully on display, but this still felt a little short of "must see" to me. (3.5/5)
Mercedes Mone defended her TBS Championship against Britt Baker in the next match. This one got some heat online as there were some noticeable moments where it seemed like Mone and Baker didn't quite click together (to the point that Mark Henry even accused Baker of "sandbagging" Mone). I can forgive seeing wrestlers struggle to perform moves - in fact, I like the realism that this sort of thing can add - but I'm less forgiving with telegraphing, which can really take me out of a match and there was some of that going on too. Mone was great and I thought she might've actually had the best overall performance of anyone on the show, laying it on thick with the sports-entertainment when others forgot that they were wrestling in front of a stadium and didn't scale up their emotions and expressiveness. Baker, on the other hand, seemed to still be showing some ring rust after her extended absence and struggled to gather sympathy from the crowd. It's not that she undersold, necessarily, but the crowd did not seem to get behind her as much as this match needed them to. When the finish came, which was basically 100% clean, I did not leave the match feeling like Baker had been "screwed" or "cheated" or that I was interested in seeing future matches between the two - which is very different than how the Mone/Willow matches came off, for example. This was not Britt's night, but I still thought it was no less than good because of Mone's performance. (2.5/5)
Jack Perry took on Darby Allin in a Coffin Match next. Darby Allin is swiftly becoming one of the best workers of the past decade. You can say that his overuse of gimmicky "stunts" and hardcore spots is "cheap," but it is undeniably entertaining and there is no denying his charisma. While in this match we mostly got the extreme side of Allin, let's not forget that, even in straight-up wrestling matches, he can work as good as anyone and knows how to build his matches around his big spots - not dissimilar to Mick Foley, another guy who is almost underrated for how good he was in just regular ol' singles matches. Jack Perry is still relying too much on milking his backstage altercation with CM Punk to my taste, but I won't deny that it draws big reactions and busting out a bag of glass did just that at Wembley. Again, this match was really all about Darby Allin's bumping, especially once his arms and legs got tied up. Perry may have got the W, but Allin lost nothing here. The post-match featured the return of Sting to prevent the Bucks and Perry from lighting the coffin on fire (with Allin stuck inside), another highlight on a show full of cool moments. (3.5/5)
Main event time - Bryan Danielson challenging Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship (and putting his career on the line to do so). This had "big fight feel" and there was a real question as to who would come out on top, something you don't always get with major title matches in AEW or WWE. Similar to Ospreay/MJF, this was loaded with counters, reversals, and signature maneuvers from both men, though there was considerably less high-flying as neither Swerve or Danielson have the agility of Ospreay. Also unlike the Ospreay/MJF match, I thought that while they technically did "less," the match had a structure and pacing that allowed the suspense to build. I really liked how vicious Swerve was here, hitting Danielson with a barrage of superkicks at one point. My one nitpick would be their choice to needlessly feature a "referee checking out Danielson" spot, something that we've seen too many times now for it to have any impact. It's almost become as predictable a match feature as the Yes Kicks and that's not a good thing. I also didn't necessarily love Swerve shrugging off Danielson's first Baisuku Knee. These small details prevent me from calling this match "must see," though the finishing sequence was incredible and the post-match was an awesome, feel-good way to end the show. (3.5/5)
Earning a very respectable Kwang Score of 3.06-out-of-5, All In 2024 wasn't an all-time classic show and did lack a singular match that really blew me away, but the majority of the show was strong (even the unfairly maligned Mercedes Mone/Britt Baker match). The funnest match of the show might've been the Casino Gauntlet match, but the main event was also very strong and the Jack Perry/Darby Allin match delivered the goods in terms of wild hardcore spots and a feel-good return in the form of Sting. If you're a fan of any of the performers on this show, you'd likely love what they brought to the show here, whether its MJF or FTR or the Patriarchy or Ospreay.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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