AEW All Out 2020

 AEW All Out 2020

Jacksonville, FL - September 2020

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the AEW World Champion was Jon Moxley, the TNT Champion was Brodie Lee, the AEW World Tag Team Champions were Kenny Omega and "Hangman" Adam Page, and the AEW Women's World Champion was Shida. 

Once again eminating from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show kicks off with Big Swole searching for Dr. Britt Baker at her medical office. The "match" begins with Baker bashing Swole in the head with her diploma and then trying to extract one of her teeth as the two women do something resembling fighting in a very small, very cramped dentist room. The brawl continues in the alley with Swole rolling Baker, who is sitting on a wheelchair, into a stack of boxes. They end up fighting on top of what appears to be a golf cart with Baker getting assistance from Rebel (who she refers to as "Reba"), her personal make-up artist. Its all very hokey and reminiscent of the kind of "wrestling" my friends and I did in middle school and recorded on one of our parents' video cameras. At one point, Baker attempts to use a power drill and then a needle filled with novocaine, which ends up going into Baker's leg instead in a pretty crazy bit of "action." This causes Britt's leg to "fall asleep," allowing for Swole to then put her down for good by putting her under with some gas. This was really bad and not funny or entertaining enough to make up for the poor performances of everyone involved. (0.5/5)

The Young Bucks vs. The Jurassic Express ("Jungle Boy" Jack Perry and Luchasaurus, with Marko Stunt in tow) follows and is a considerable step-up in every way. Perry shows off a ton of athleticism and agility early on with some impressive back-and-forth against Matt Jackson. Perry's chemistry with the Bucks continues to be put on display later on when Perry gets sent to the outside but counters the toss into a head scissors on the ramp before another awesome sequence built around Matt Jackson's signature rolling suplexes. Other highlights included Luchasaurus being blocked from a tag by a Nick Jackson superkick, Jack Perry springboarding off of his partner's back for a great crossbody to the outside, Nick Jackson powerbombing Jungle Boy on the apron and then hitting a Destroyer on Luchasaurus in rapid succession, a nasty superkick to Marko Stunt from Matt Jackson, and a whole slew of other double-team moves from the Bucks pulled out of their seemingly bottomless playlist. I've written it elsewhere but the Young Bucks might be polarizing for their characters, for their "spot-heavy" matches, for "spamming" false finishes...but when you actually sit back and watch one of their matches, especially a top-level match like this one, those criticisms don't tend to hold water. There was a clear structure and layout to this match. There was escalation. The actual finish was definitive and the false finishes weren't gratuitous at all. Damn good match. (3.5/5)

The Casino Battle Royal followed with Trent Baretta, Christopher Daniels, Jake Hager, The Blade (of The Butcher and The Blade flame), and Rey Fenix starting the match. The next group in was Frankie Kazarian, Will Hobbs (not yet "Powerhouse"), Chuck Taylor, and the tag team of Santana and Ortiz. Santana and Ortiz brawled with The Best Friends on the outside but there had yet to be an elimination until Hobbs finally got rid of Blade and Hager tossed Christopher Daniels. The third group in was Billy Gunn, Penta, "Absolute" Ricky Starks and Brian Cage of Team Taz, and Darby Allin. Cage came in and got rid of Gunn quickly, Darby eliminated Fenix, and Chuck Taylor was out soon after. The final group was Shawn Spears (who wisely bided his time outside the ring and joined the commentary team rather than enter the fray), Eddie Kingston, The Butcher, Sonny Kiss, and Lance Archer, who came in with a huge crossbody. Sonny Kiss got rid of Hager but was sent out himself by Cage almost immediately after. Santana was the next man out, followed by Trent Baretta, and then Ortiz. The final entrant was Matt Sydal, who, unfortunately, botched his big entrance spot, slipping on the top rope when it looked like he was going for his signature Shooting Star Press. Whoops. Penta was eliminated and Kaz got sent over the top by The Butcher, but the next few minutes were all about Brian Cage, who went on a rampage, basically taking out everyone in the match (but not scoring any eliminations). Darby Allin managed to eliminate Starks, which led to Starks pulling out a bodybag, Cage filling it with thumbtacks, and then Allin getting shoved inside and tossed onto the stage in what I would think would be a seriously dangerous spot (not so much because of the tacks but because Allin was essentially "blind" when he took the bump). Sydal eliminated Spears but then got planted by a Hobbs spinebuster. Archer knocked Hobbs and Cage off the apron and we were down to the final four - Archer, Kingston, Sydal, and The Butcher. Butcher was out next, followed by Sydal. Butcher tried to help Kingston out, but Archer ended up getting the W by chokeslamming him off the post and into the arms of his buddies, Butcher and The Blade. I liked the format of this battle royal, but it didn't make for many "moments" because the ring was so crowded from the very start. Things got better as the match thinned out. In terms of booking, it felt like a real waste of some talent, specifically Fenix and Penta. Nothing special here aside from the Darby spot, which was insane. (2/5)

Sammy Guevara vs. "Broken" Matt Hardy was next in a "Broken Rules" match with Hardy promising that if he were to lose, he'd leave the company. The match began on the Jacksonville Jaguars' football field with Hardy searching for Guevara, who showed up in a golf cart to try to run down Hardy. They brawled in the backstage (loading?) area, with Hardy hitting Guevara with a DDT on the table. Up they went on a lift and Hardy looked like he was going to toss Guevara through a table, but Sammy countered, and both men went flying off the lift and through a table. Hardy's head hit the concrete, though, and he looked like he may have been paralyzed. Guevara walked away and demanded that the ref count Hardy out. Somehow Hardy broke the count but it was clear he could barely stand and that the match would need to be ended...and then it re-started because, well, they needed to get to the planned finish. This was hard to watch as it was so clear that Hardy had suffered, at the very least, a concussion. Hardy and Guevara climbed up a lighting rig minutes later, Guevara took a fall, and Hardy got the victory. This was an unfortunate mess. (1/5)

Shida vs. Thunder Rosa for the AEW Women's World Championship followed. They got plenty of time and they made the most of it, putting on a hell of a match that was, based on what I've seen (which is admittedly limited), the best women's match in AEW history up till that point. There was some telegraphing, some noticeable moments of cooperation, and not every transition looked perfect, but I liked the pacing, Thunder Rosa's character work, Shida's multiple attempts to lock up Rosa's leg, and the high-impact moves (including an awesome moment when Shida hit a Meteora on Rosa from the top rope to the entrance ramp). (3.5/5)

The Dark Order - Brodie Lee, Evil Uno, Colt Cabana, John Silver, and Stu Grayson took on the team of Dustin Rhodes, QT Marshall, Matt Cardona, and Scorpio Sky in the next match. This was part of the Cody/Brodie feud as the babyfaces were trying to get some revenge after the Dark Order had put Cody on the shelf. Marshall takes some great bumps early on, nearly hitting the ceiling off a back body drop from Brodie. Speaking of Brodie, I loved his taunting of Brandi Rhodes on the outside and how much he worked this as the "lead," allowing his henchmen to do most of the work, coming in to pick up scraps, cheap-shotting Dustin, etc. Dustin eventually gets the hot tag and takes out almost the entire opposing side, including hitting a Canadian Destroyer on Cabana before getting booted by Brodie. This leads to a Brodie/Sky staredown and sequence, briefly interrupted by Brandi hitting a big boot on Anna Jay. The match falls apart a bit from here as there are all sorts of tags and dives and whatnot, which was to be expected. The heels hit a rally of awesome moves on QT, including a really nifty double-team move by Uno and Grayson, but only get 2. Brodie comes in for his team and sends Marshall into the corner to tag in Dustin. Lee goes for a powerbomb but Dustin escapes only to get nailed by a huge lariat. Brodie tags in Cabana, who misses a moonsault and ends up eating a roll-up by Dustin. This was definitely more of a "TV-level" match than a PPV-worthy one. (2.5/5)

Another tag match follows as Kenny Omega and "Hangman" Adam Page take on FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championships. Part of the story coming into this was that Page and Omega didn't trust each other 100%. Omega and Page controlled early despite some bickering. Wheeler turned the tides by shoving Page into the post. Page got worked over, punished with an abdominal stretch, before making a tag to Omega, who hit Wheeler with his signature Fireman's Carry Roll/Moonsault combo. Omega followed it up with the Terminator Tope and then a missile dropkick back in the ring, but then fell prey to a powerbomb by Dax and then a German Suplex by Wheeler. Not much of a transition there. Page came back in and we got some cool combos out of the champs. They went for their joint finish but couldn't execute it. Wheeler went for a superplex, but Omega front-suplexed him into the middle of the ring. Omega looked like he was going to take flight but Dax tripped him up and eventually hit him with a superplex of his own. The ref lost control as all four men started throwing bombs, including a Tiger Driver 98' by Omega. Omega hit the V-Trigger onto Wheeler and went for the One Winged Angel but couldn't pull it off. Dax applied an inverted figure four but Omega wouldn't tap. FTR effectively slowed things down and kept Omega on the mat, preventing him from tagging in Page for several minutes. Dax wrapped Omega's knee around the post to continue his attack on the limb. Dax's head hit the post when he attempted a splash, which allowed Omega to make the hot tag. Without a big live crowd, though, the moment didn't feel as big as it typically would. Page hit an awesome swan dive splash from the top rope onto both men on the floor. Back in the ring, FTR used their tag expertise to cut off Hangman's momentum, striking him with double diving headbutts. Soon after, FTR hit a Steiners-esque bulldog onto the floor on Omega but Page was the legal man in the ring. They hit Page with a bulldog for 2 before seemingly setting up for a 2-man spike piledriver. Page escaped, though, and hit Wheeler with a huge moonsault body slam off the top. The champs looked to hit their finisher again, but Omega ended up catching Hangman with the V-Trigger when Wheeler moved! Assisted spike piledriver by FTR...but it only got 2! They connected with a 2nd one and this time it got the 3 count. Kind of an awkward ending there only because its rare that a match ends with a team hitting their finish, having it kicked-out of, and then just hitting the same move a second after to get the W. Maybe it was the lack of audience or the weak transitions or the way that the match, at one point, seemed to be built around Omega's knee but that having little to do with the finish, but this was not the Match of the Year-level bout that I thought it could be. (3/5)

The Mimosa Mayhem match was next: Orange Cassidy vs. Chris Jericho. Before the match, Jericho cut a "meta" promo about how he spent the last 14 weeks trying to make Cassidy a "main event-level draw." Jericho struck first and attempted to catapult Cassidy into the giant vat of mimosa. Jericho threw the table at Cassidy and then smashed a cocktail tray over his head. Cassidy fought back, though, tossing Jericho off the stage and hitting him with a big splash off the platform. Cassidy whipped him through the guardrail, but Jericho struck back with a chair. Jericho hit a nifty powerbomb that sent Cassidy through another table. Cassidy caught Jericho with an awesome superkick. Throughout the match, both guys did a good job teasing various slips near the vats of mimosa, but the gimmick was still kinda too silly and the match went a touch too long for this to be a "great" match. Unique and fun, though. (3/5)

MJF vs. Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship was the night's main event. This was really smartly-worked at the start, but kinda got a bit redundant and repetitive by the end. I really liked the psychology on display as MJF tried his best to avoid having this become a brawl, doing his best to keep the match inside the ring, and Moxley, at least early on, tried to do the opposite. Down the stretch, I didn't love Moxley's selling of MJF's armbar as he just seemed to really undersell how vulnerable he was to it even after MJF had inflicted considerable damage to his arm. Overall, Moxley did a good job of making MJF look credible, but had he gone the extra mile, maybe it would've felt - even for a brief moment - like MJF might've won this match. Moxley just never seemed like he was in any real danger despite MJF putting on a career performance (up till that point). The finish was clever as Moxley, despite having his finisher banned, finally put MJF with it when the referee was distracted by Wardlow (who had tossed MJF his trademark Dynamite Diamond Ring). To me, you know a match goes a bit too long when it peaks with a huge gusher but then goes on long enough for the guy who was bleeding buckets to basically look fresh (and then have to open themselves up again for there to be more blood). (3/5)

Though there are more good matches on this card than bad, the Hardy/Guevara and opening "match" between Britt Baker and Big Swole are so bad, they bring down the Kwang Score all the way to a not-so-hot 2.44-out-of-5. Even the better matches on the card - the Tag Titles bout, the main event - could've stood for a little bit of pruning, running at least 4-6 minutes longer than they needed to and, in both cases, resolving with finishes that didn't necessarily need that much "runway" to land. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand