All Out recap & reactions: Mastermind Moxley

AEW

AEW All Out (Sep. 5, 2020) emanated from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL. It featured Hikaru Shida and Thunder Rosa stealing the show, FTR dethroning Hangman Page & Kenny Omega, and Jon Moxley teaching MJF a rough lesson.

Get caught up on all the Dynamite details with the excellent live results and play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.

Let’s run down the matches from main event to curtain jerker.

AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley retained against MJF. The Paradigm Shift was banned, and that played into the story a few times when Moxley instinctually locked in the hold but had to let go. MJF took control early with traditional wrestling. Moxley creatively turned it into a brawl on the floor. Mox had earlier missed a slingshot plancha, so he faked the same move to trick MJF with a suicide dive instead.

MJF turned the tide by slamming Moxley’s shoulder into the apron. MJF focused his attack on the left arm. That damage played a role in Moxley not being able properly secure pinfalls after heavy maneuvers. Mox made it ugly again with a slingshot into the ring post. MJF got up oozing blood.

The two combatants went back and forth. The closing sequence began a fierce exchange of blows. MJF pulled the referee in front of a charging Moxley to sneak in an eye poke and a back slide. Mox escaped. Moxley applied a standing sleeper and blood gushed from MJF’s head. MJF escaped by grabbing the ref and hitting a mule kick to the cojones. Mox kicked out on that cover.

It was time for Wardlow to assist. He hopped onto the apron as a distraction to toss the Dynamite Diamond Ring to MJF. The catch was bumbled. Moxley caught MJF trying to cheat, so he planted MJF with a Paradigm Shift. The referee was completely oblivious and counted three.

The match lived up to the story of this feud. MJF was the better man inside the ring. Moxley was the better man outside the ring. When they going got tough, MJF had to cheat. It turned out that Moxley is better at cheating as well. It was a funny way to finish, but it didn’t feel like a feud ender. AEW appears to be moving on to Lance Archer as the next challenger, however, I don’t think this is the end of MJF battling Moxley. It should have a case for a rematch. Especially if his lawyer isn’t too beat up from his own Paradigm Shift from Moxley.

Mimosa Mayhem Match: Orange Cassidy defeated Chris Jericho. The rules were win by pinfall, submission, or being submerged into a vat of mimosa. There were two tanks set up on opposite sides of the ring. My initial reaction was that the vat placement looked too easy to win with a back body drop or falling off the turnbuckles. Jericho and Cassidy made it work though.

The opening was a bang. OC faked putting his hands in his pockets and charged forward. Jericho read it and countered with a Codebreaker. The quick win was not to be had. The two men brawled with Jericho having the advantage. There was a nice powerbomb tease next to the mimosa. Jericho slammed Cassidy on the stage then picked him up for a second into the drink, but Cassidy punched his way out only for Jericho to powerbomb him onto a table.

For the finish, OC escaped a super Razor’s Edge to unload two Superman punches. Jericho played up the drama by hanging onto the ropes, but the second strike launched Le Champion backward into the mimosa mixture. It didn’t look like that’s the first time Jericho has bathed in such a concoction.

The bout was entertaining enough as a novelty. There is a certain level of theatrics to be tolerated given the unique rules. For example, Cassidy was a little over the top when teasing potential calamity into the drink early. Overall, the two men provided enough drama to keep me guessing as to who would win.

At the end of the day, Cassidy benefit tremendously from this feud. Just like Jericho said, Cassidy proved his doubters wrong. I began thinking Cassidy’s gimmick was stupid. I’ve now seen enough fire in his ring evolution that I find him tolerable. I don’t buy him being World Champ material yet. I’ll need to see him try against a few more big names before I hop on that wagon. Progress is progress though.

AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR dethroned Hangman Page & Kenny Omega. The story began with FTR working more as a team, while champs worked more as two singles wrestlers who happened to be a team. As the match progressed, sore feelings exited and Hangman & Omega found their groove.

The next chapter was FTR working over the knee of Omega. Kenny hit a V-Trigger into the turnbuckle by accident. FTR pounced with a dragon screw into the ropes, a second dragon screw in the ring, then an inverted figure-four leglock. Omega was in tremendous pain but managed to reach the ropes for the break.

The champs had their rally with big-time moves. It came to an abrupt end when Cash Wheeler ducked a Buckshot Lariat and also a V-Trigger. Omega’s jumping knee collided with Hangman. Wheeler clipped Omega’s knee as well. FTR hit Hangman with a spike piledriver. Hangman miraculously kicked out at two. FTR crushed Hangman with a second piledriver. Dax Harwood blocked Omega from making the save. 1, 2, 3, new champs.

After the match, Omega teased an attack on Hangman, much like Hangman did when they beat the Young Bucks. Omega controlled himself. Hangman came in for a reconciliation, but Omega literally let him fall flat on his face. Hangman was still woozy from the two piledrivers. Omega exited alone. He continued backstage as the Young Bucks tried to calm him down. Omega is done. He wanted the Jacksons to join him as The Cleaner. Omega hopped in his ride and fled the scene.

I grew to become a big fan of Hangman & Omega as a team. It is a little sad that their run is finally over. I appreciate that they lost on their own terms instead of one becoming a backstabber. Their story feels more complete that way, and it also gives a true rub to FTR as new champs. FTR is clearly the best tag team in AEW right now.

As for the post-match scene, it left me scratching my head. I didn’t understand why Omega was all of a sudden so angry at Hangman. It also didn’t make sense to me that the Bucks were trying to be the cooler heads after their crotchety attitude as of late. The Elite’s personalities are too fickle for me to comprehend.

Dustin Rhodes, QT Marshall, Scorpio Sky, & Matt Cardona defeated Mr. Brodie Lee, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, & Colt Cabana. The finish came down to Dustin and Mr. Brodie going toe to toe. QT was a beaten man, but Mr. Brodie wanted to make a statement against Cody’s brother. They danced the dance of counter escapes then Mr. Brodie connected with a huge discus lariat. Mr. Brodie tagged in Colt to gift him the pin. Colt instead decided to attempt a moonsault. Dustin dodged it and rolled Colt up to win. Mr. Brodie was furious post-match.

The story of Colt Cabana joining the Dark Order has dragged on too long. It is a nice background story to provide layers to the AEW universe, but it doesn’t have any zip to it. I wasn’t a fan of the uproarious reaction from the winners. Winning the match is cool. Acting like you conquered the Dark Order by pinning the chump of the group is a step too far. Cabana didn’t even have a role in the beatdown of Cody Rhodes. I fail to understand the level of their satisfaction.

This match also had a moment for Brandi Rhodes. Anna Jay came in the ring to cheat then ate a big pump kick from Brandi. It was a nice pop that felt squeezed in for the sake of getting Brandi some shine.

It was later announced that Dustin will receive a TNT Championship bout against Mr. Brodie Lee on Dynamite.

Wrestle wedding! Kip Sabian announced his marriage to Penelope Ford will be live on Dynamite. But first, there needs to be a best man. That person will be revealed on Wednesday night Dynamite. AEW also squeezed in a shot at WWE’s new policy against third parties by endorsing Sabian’s Twitch channel.

AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida retained against Thunder Rosa. Thunder Rosa came in as the NWA Women’s Champion looking to stake her claim as the best. She took charge early and even stole Shida’s running knee off a chair signature maneuver. At one point, Thunder Rosa used a pendulum submission to ram Shida’s head into the bottom turnbuckle. Rosa also hit a DVD on the apron.

Shida rebounded with a superplex and a springboard meteora double knee strike. Shida connected on the Falcon’s Arrow, however, Rosa surprisingly kicked out at one. Shida continued her comeback and closed it out with her patented running knee strike to win.

These two ladies delivered the match of the night. They wrestled a tough aggressive style with a variety of maneuvers and submissions. It was the type of match that makes me appreciate the craft of professional wrestling. There were so many complicated transitions and counters. The degree of difficulty for smoothness was much higher than AEW’s standard flippy style.

Broken Rules: Matt Hardy defeated Sammy Guevara. Ugh, this one was ugly. It began in good spirits with a callback to the street fight back in May between Le Sex Gods and Hardy & Omega. Sammy rolled in on a cart and attempted to run Hardy over.

The action quickly progressed onto a cherry picker. Sammy speared Hardy for both men to crash through tables. The problem was that Hardy hit his head on the concrete. He was clearly concussed. Hardy tried to rise, but he could barely keep his feet and stumbled all over the place. Referee Aubrey Edwards did the right thing and called off the match as a legit injury stoppage.

That’s when things went from awkward to dangerous. Nobody really wanted to stand by Edwards’ decision. Everybody was meandering around backstage, then it was declared that Hardy would continue since there must be a winner.

Hardy smashed Sammy with a DDT on the floor. After that, the two went straight to the finish. They climbed a structure and Hardy pushed Sammy down crashing through the stage. Sammy couldn’t answer the ten count.

The continuation was a bad call. Hardy was clearly messed up. The right thing to do was to stick by Edwards’ decision. There would have been no harm done. Sammy could have been given an easy talking point for promos to keep their feud hot until Hardy was healthy. Although, perhaps it is better to close this feud down. Hardy and Guevara are jinxed for each other. There have been three hardway injuries already, and maybe a fourth if Sammy is actually hurt from the finish.

Casino Battle Royale: Lance Archer outlasts 20 other men. The gimmick was half battle royal and half Royal Rumble. Waves of five men entered every three minutes. The 21st man earned the right via card pick to enter solo at the end. There was one wildcard entry for the group. Winner earned a future shot at the AEW World Championship.

The first wave of five was Trent, Christopher Daniels, Jake Hager, Blade, and Fenix. The second wave was Frankie Kazarian, Will Hobbs, Chuck Taylor, Santana, and Ortiz. The third wave was Billy Gunn, Pentagon, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage, and Darby Allin. The fourth wave was Shawn Spears, Eddie Kingston, Butcher, Sonny Kiss, and Lance Archer.

The last man also happened to be the wildcard. Enter Matt Sydal (fka Evan Bourne). Unfortunately, he immediately slipped on the ropes for a dangerous botch on a shooting star press. Sydal recovered to hit some cool moves.

The final two came down to Archer and Kingston. They duked it out on the apron. Butcher and Blade tried to assist Kingston, while Jake Roberts used his bagged snake to distract Kingston. Archer got the upper hand by chokeslamming Kingston off the turnbuckles down onto his cronies for the win.

The battle royal was entertaining with solid action. I like that they didn’t lean too hard on skinning the cat or people being stupid about not finishing off eliminations. There were some intriguing stories set up going in, but none of that felt like a priority until it was time for a specific spot. For example, Kingston put his team together, but he pretty much only had Butcher by his side. Also, Darby Allin’s knee pain from last night’s Dark was nonexistent.

There were plenty of little spotlight moments. Will Hobbs was called up from Dark to be in the match. I’ve become a big fan from what I’ve seen, so it was cool for him to be on the PPV. He had a fistifcuffs moment with Cage that could lead to a mini feud. Sonny Kiss had a surprising elimination of Jake Hager.

The top moment was the elimination of Darby Allin. He suckered Cage into clotheslining Starks for an easy elimination. Team Taz retaliated bringing in a body bag filled with thumbtacks. Cage loaded Allin inside then tossed him hard over the ropes onto the stage. That was truly insane and completely badass. I can’t wait to see post-match pictures of Darby’s damage.

The official order of elimination was:

1. Blade by Hobbs
2. Daniels by Hager
3. Billy by Cage
4. Fenix by Allin
5. Chuck by Santana & Ortiz
6. Hager by Kiss
7. Kiss by Cage
8. Santana by Trent
9. Trent by Archer
10. Ortiz by Archer
11. Pentagon by Kaz
12. Kaz by Butcher
13. Starks by Allin
14. Allin by Cage
15. Spears by Sydal
16 & 17. Hobbs and Cage by Archer
18. Butcher by Sydal
19. Sydal by Kingston
20. Kingston by Archer
Winner: Archer

Young Bucks defeated Jurassic Express. Luchasaurus’ power presented a problem, but the Bucks neutralized him with speedy tag team combos. In the end, the dinosaur took a poor risk with a flying crossbody to the outside. He aimed for a Jackson, but that target moved. Luchasaurus landed onto a mass of bodies in the front row. That took him out for the remainder. Jungle Boy flew into a superkick. He then ate a double superkick. Jungle Boy kicked out of pins on both, but he couldn’t escape the pin from a BTE Trigger.

The story going in was the ornery attitude of the Bucks. They were more intense and aggressive, but their style was the same as usual for the most part. There was one incident where Matt picked on Marko Stunt and superkicked him. That was effective heel work, because it’s the first time I’ve ever wanted Stunt to get retribution. Bottom line is that this was not a heel turn from the Jacksons. It is supposed to be taken as being focused on their goal of being the best.

The match was the typical flippy style that AEW fans love so much. The finish didn’t jive well as a way to dispose of Luchasaurus. It looked too planned. It also plays into my critique that Luchasaurus is too soft. He can be a beast at times, but he relies too much on flash in the wrong moments.

Tooth & Nail: Big Swole defeated Dr. Britt Baker DMD. Swole did indeed travel to Baker’s dental office. This was an ugly brawl rather than a wrestling match in an odd venue. Baker surprised Swole by breaking a glass picture on her head. Baker hit the only two wrestling moves before the finish with a DDT on the roof of the Roll’s Royce and a swinging neckbreaker on the floor. The tide turned when Swole overpowered Baker to inject a syringe of Novocain into the dentist’s thigh. Swole hit Dirty Dancing through a glass picture to Reba then Dirty Dancing to Baker. Swole won by making Baker pass out via use of a gas mask.

The match was fun for what it is. The humor fit the vibe of the feud. The action came off a little awkward though. The gas mask finish felt a little unsatisfying in terms of Baker getting comeuppance. The fight just kind of ended when the referee called it off. There is still room for this feud to continue in a regular match.

Private Party defeated Alex Reynolds & John Silver. Silver had an explosive flurry to make me believe the Dark Order would actually win, but Marq Quen kicked out. Dark Order also had a vicious teamwork train of moves on Quen to trick me again. Private Party prevailed on the pre-show with Gin and Juice.

Joey Janela defeated Serpentico. Luther and Sonny Kiss were ringside for extracurricular activities. It was a competitive contest but strategically sloppy. Janela won the pre-show opener via flying elbow drop.

Both pre-show matches did the job of whetting the appetite for the 9 course meal to come. The quality was worthy to main event Dark. If you skip them, you shouldn’t be missing anything relevant.

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Grade: B+

All Out was fun overall. It didn’t compare to past PPVs, but it was still high quality. There were some lows, such as Hardy’s concussion. The highest high was the women’s title match. I felt that the build-up storylines weren’t fully explored. The matches were the primary focus. That’s not necessairly a bad thing, since it piques my interest to tune into Dynamite.

Share your thoughts about All Out. How do you rate it? Who stole the show?

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