Image Credit: AEW
AEW: ALL-IN TEXAS Review
By:Kobain Reid
The 3rd edition of ALL-IN was nothing short of a spectacle. It really felt like a celebration of how far AEW has come in such a short time. It was an insanely long show coming in at 8 hours from Zero Hour, 6 hours for just the main card. The Zero Hour Pre-Show did feature 3 matches on it, those being: The Sons Of Texas Vs Shane Taylor Promotions; as well as Big Boom AJ and the Conglomeration Vs The Don Callis Family, and The OutRunners Vs FTR. Most of which were only set up the week before if not just a few weeks before, with exception of OutRunners VS FTR which has been building for months. Really not a bad warmup for the audience while most of the crowd was still filing into the field.
The Main Card of the show featured 9 matches. Usually this would be considered too long, while the length of the show was long, they started the show in the early afternoon. Every match made sense as to why it had a spot on the show, it was paced extremely well, (which is a genuine and common criticism of AEW PPV’s) and each match was different with a captivating story, or stakes, keeping the crowd engaged and enthralled the entire night.
1. AEW World Trios Championship - The Opps (Samoa Joe/Shibata/Hobbs) (c) DEF. The Deathriders (Castagnoli/Yuta/Gabe Kidd)
This match really allowed the fans to see Gabe Kidd as a firm member of the DeathRiders by putting them in strong showing against proud champions who want to prove themselves at the top of the Trios division. Also the teams do have a long-standing feud already which helped add intrigue into the match. However, the match in itself was nothing crazy, pretty average for the most part, it was really done to set-up for later in the show because after the match, the DeathRiders orchestrate a beatdown on the Opps and end up Putting Joe’s head in a chair and stomping on it. Thus, leaving Joe confined to a stretcher to leave the arena.
***¼ (3.25/5 Stars)
2. Men’s Casino Gauntlet Match - MJF Wins This match was really great. It had that sense of reality to it where that the participants were reacting off each other. For example, Bandido comes in, then the next participant is Takeshita. They had just a ROH World Title bout the night before where Bandido retained the Title, so clearly Takeshita wouldn't want to see Bandido somehow get the win. Also I thought it was great when MJF tried to tear Bandido’s mask, so the next entrant came, and it was Mistico, they intertwined so many stories in this match. Even the starting 2 participants ( MJF and Mark Briscoe) were doing promos on each other the weeks leading up to the show. The full participants that were featured were: MJF, Mark Briscoe, Ricochet, Bandido, Konosuke Takeshita, Mistico, Brody King, Josh Alexander, Juice Robinson (Returning), Kota Ibushi, Max Caster, Roderick Strong, Anthony Bowens, and The Beast Mortos.
**** (4/5 Stars)
Before the next match, Adam Cole comes out to address the crowd. We learned just a few hours before the show that Adam Cole was not medically cleared to compete, however it was worse than we could imagine. An emotional Adam Cole says he may have to retire and he thanks the fans for always supporting him. We have reason to believe it's concussion based so he will be gone for testing for a good while, and may never come back.
3. AEW TNT Championship (Vacant) - Dustin Rhodes DEF Daniel Garcia, Kyle Fletcher, and Sammy Guevara
This match started with just a depleted crowd. It's insane to follow an announcement like that from a beloved star who fans expected to see wrestle that night. But it had to be done and everyone here worked their ass off. Dustin and Sammy were on their 3rd match within 24 hours. The finish saw Dustin get the win by countering the Dragon Tamer and rolling up Garcia. Dustin was extremely emotional after the win. It's his first singles title in AEW, and his first singles title win as “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes in decades.
***¼ (3.25/5 Stars)
4. Swerve Strickland/Will Ospreay DEF. The Young Bucks
This match had extremely high stakes, The Bucks put their EVP status on the line, and Ospreay/Strickland would give up any right to challenge for The World Championship for 1 full year. That being said, this match was pure insanity and one of the reasons AEW is unique. This felt like a PWG style tag match but with a classic professional wrestling story told perfectly. Lots of teamwork, psychology, and chemistry was needed to pull this off and allow the story to hit, and they did it perfectly. Tag match of the year candidate.
****** (6/5 Stars)
5. Women’s Casino Gauntlet - Athena Wins This was an exciting one. It was fast paced, featured plenty of participants, and even included a couple debuting talent. The crowd was into this match but was really made them come alive was when Athena won, in her hometown, making her the Number 1 Contender for the Women’s World Championship. Participants Included: Athena, Alex Windsor, Julia Hart, Kris Statlander, Megan Bayne, Mina Shirakawa, Queen Aminata, Syuri, Tay Melo, Thekla, Thunder Rosa, and Willow Nightingale.
***¾ (3.75/5 Stars)
6. AEW World Tag-Team Championship - The Hurt Syndicate (c) DEF. Jetspeed and The Patriarchy
More like the first match of the card where it was a pretty average match, never felt like it kicked into that next gear however. And it was really there for the story and climax of The Patriarchy storyline that happened after the match. FTR was on commentary. After the match, Nick Wayne, Mother Wayne, and Kip Sabian all turned on Christian Cage to the shock of the audience. Nick Wayne looks to be about to hit Cage with a conchairto, but COPE returns and chases away FTR and the Patriarchy. He then tells Cage to “Go Find Himelf”. Which is a reference to Cage telling Copeland to “Go F*** Himself” when they met again in AEW.
***¼ (3.25/5 Stars)
7. AEW Women’s World Championship - Toni Storm (c) DEF. Mercedes Mone
This match and finish was pretty unpredictable. I believe most people in the audience and watching at home thought Mercedes would win the Championship here, however everyone wanted Toni to win. The beginning of the match saw a few corny spots and raunchy taunts and moves done by Toni to Mercedes. About 10 minutes in is when they really started to pick up. The moves and grapples in this match looked very physical and tough, they didn't shy away or try to lessen any fall. It really felt like they hated each other and didn’t want to lose to the other. Mercedes hasn't lost or been pinned in months, which made the win here for Storm even more special. Great match, must watch.
****¼ (4.25/5 Stars)
8. AEW Unified Championship (Vacant; Unification) - Kazuchika Okada ( Continental) DEF. Kenny Omega (International)
This was a classic in every sense or definition of the word. The psychology as well was next level. Kenny tried to wrestle a NJPW style match like he could 7 years ago. He struggled with his abdomen from the beginning of the match and Okada took advantage of that. Kenny fought through the pain and put Okada through the Ringer, however he knew all he had to do was pace himself and the match so that eventually wouldn't be able to continue or make a mistake that Okada could capitalize on. Kenny seemingly had it won when he hit a One-Winged Angel, but Don Callis got involved pulling the referee out of the ring and stopping the 3 count. This allows Okada to use 2 Rainmakers to get the win. Khan explained that since Okada won, the title will adopt the Continental Championship rules, and will be defended in the Continental Classic.
***** (5/5 Stars)
9. AEW World Championship - “Hangman” Adam Page DEF Jon Moxley (c)
The culmination of an 8-Month regime that held AEW by its proverbial throat. This match saw redemption, years of effort, and the story of Adam Page reclaiming the top of the mountain, and it was nothing short of spectacular. It was violent without going over the top. You never knew what would happen next, or which tool/weapon Moxley wanted to use at what time. There was glass, lots of barbed wire, forks, and a bed of nails used in this match. The way this match was laid out really kept fans on the edge of their seats, especially if you had been following the product since the beginning. When a match and an ending can make you feel, when it can make someone cry, that's how you know it's a perfect match. That's professional wrestling. Similar to WWE: WrestleMania 40, Page received help from everyone who had been harmed or a part of this journey. Darby Allin returned by having a promo he shot on Mount Everest play for Moxley. While he's being descended from the ceiling, Bryan Danielson appears to deafening “Yes!!” Chants. Ospreay did try to help, but like the first match on the show, the Deathriders forced him to leave on a stretcher. Swerve Strickland eventually evened the odds, threw Page a chain and watched as Page, to his namesake, hung Moxley with the chain leaving Moxley no choice but to tap.
*****¼ (5.25 Stars)
AEW: All-In lived up to the hype of being AEW’s biggest show of the year. With multiple Match of the Year contenders on this card, and the loudness and passion of the crowd, I'd have to say one of if not the best PPV that will come out of 2025.
