AEW's biggest show of the year All In is this Sunday, and while for the first time I have kinda major issues with the booking and build for parts of this show, it should be a pretty stunning PPV, as only AEW can deliver.
Yes, when it comes to Tony Khan's booking and his flaws in that area I'm generally much more forgiving than even most AEW fans (at least from what I see on social media), largely because this company's big shows always live up to and often exceed the hype. And that will likely be true with All In as well, but ever since Bryan Danielson (my favorite wrestler of all time, don't @ me) upset Hangman Page in the Owen Cup tournament to take the main event slot at Wembley, I've felt Tony went in the wrong direction with this title match. And judging from the crowd reactions to what little Swerve-Hangman interactions we've gotten since Page returned, I'm certainly not alone. Swerve-Hangman is AEW's answer to Austin vs. Bret. Two mortal enemies who switched places, one a former heel who was so cool he became a babyface, the other a longtime babyface so destructively obsessed with vengeance and justice he turned heel. How in the blue hell does this match not take place for the title at the biggest show of the year? Yes I know Danielson is retiring from a full-time schedule and this might be the last chance to give him an honorary title run, but since when are honorary title runs more important than paying off a fantastic story? AEW seems to have sacrificed a great long-term title feud for a fleeting feelgood moment, and in the bigger picture that's a major mistake from where I sit. Couple that with Danielson constantly doing interviews saying he's ready to hang it up and isn't that interested in being champion and it's like, if the challenger doesn't care about this, why should I?
My minor gripes with this lineup are the fact that two tag title matches came about because of a draw between the two top contenders - pretty lazy booking - and the absence of Kazuchika Okada on this card unless he's in the gauntlet match despite already having a title (Was Tony hoping Kenny would be back by now?). Aside from that though, this show has numerous bangers on tap. So let's get into it...
Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kris Statlander & Stokely Hathaway
So it's already been announced that Willow and Kris will duke it out at All Out for the CMLL Women's Title (which was supposed to be won by Stephanie Vaquer until she backed out of numerous committed dates to sign with WWE - gotta love their predatory business practices). This match will determine who picks the stipulation for that match. It's odd that Hathaway is Kris's partner as opposed to an actual wrestler. We'll obviously get to see Ishii and probably Willow beat the snot out of Hathaway and I'd be surprised if the babyfaces lose here.
Pick: Willow/Ishii
Casino Gauntlet Match
So far only five names have been announced for this: Orange Cassidy (the #1 entrant), Mark Briscoe, Evil Uno, Kyle O'Reilly, and Hangman Page. I'm sure we'll see a surprise debut or two, perhaps Ricochet, and I guess Okada and/or Moxley could be involved. But Page has to win this. Of course that muddies the main event waters even more; if Page wins this then surely Swerve is retaining, no? Or will Page avenge his Owen Cup loss to Bryan and Swerve can chase him for a while? I dunno. Either way, it's Page here.
Pick: Hangman
AEW Trios Championship London Ladder Match: The Patriarchy vs. The Bang Bang Gang vs. House of Black vs. Pac/Claudio/Wheeler
This'll just be a car wreck and should be lots of fun. I'm not crazy about how we got here, as I said, but the match should be wild. I see no reason to take the titles off Christian & co. at this point.
Pick: The Patriarchy retains
FTW Championship: Chris Jericho vs. Hook
This'll be fine. I expect it to be one of the weaker matches of the night, but they've done a good job building to it. Hook will once again regain this fake title, which should really be phased out since it never meant anything anyway.
Pick: Hook
AEW Tag Team Championship: Young Bucks vs. FTR vs. The Acclaimed
Another match set up by a #1 contenders draw, this should be really good but the tag division desperately needs rebuilding, as this will be the third Bucks-FTR match in the span of a year. Also The Acclaimed should turn heel. This might be the hardest match to predict; I could see any of these teams winning. Bucks should probably retain since neither challenger team is particularly hot right now. Build up someone else to take the belts from them - maybe Top Flight?
Pick: Bucks retain
TNT Championship Coffin Match: Jack Perry vs. Darby Allin
This should be pretty great. Darby always provides a spectacle, and Perry is an incredible heel (I hope he uses real glass at some point; it would be poetic). Jack just redid his title belt, which looks pretty damn cool, so I don't think he's losing it yet. Also Darby has a World Title match at Grand Slam. So Darby is fixin' to lose his signature match.
Pick: Jack retains
TBS Championship: Mercedes Moné vs. Britt Baker
One of the biggest women's dream matches maybe ever. Mercedes has settled comfortably into her douchey heel character and Britt is playing the role of Hangman 2022, protecting from the hotshot outsider the company she helped build. Kamille will almost certainly get involved and I'm hoping to see Jamie Hayter return to a massive ovation to run Kamille off. I wonder if Hayter finally turns on Britt since they were teasing that here and there before Jamie got hurt. Anyway I think Mercedes keeps the title for the time being.
Pick: Mercedes retains
AEW Women's Championship: Toni Storm vs. Mariah May
This has been one of the best builds for this entire show. Mariah's heel turn was executed perfectly and lent this show the really emotional face vs. heel marquee match it needed. As sad as I'll be to see Toni's title run come to an end (I adore this woman), it's Mariah's time. But hopefully this match will be just the beginning of this feud.
Pick: Mariah
AEW American/International Championship: MJF vs. Will Ospreay
Another big match with a great build (last night's promo segment was fire), this one has BIG shoes to fill if the goal is to top the hourlong bout from a few weeks ago. One of the best free TV matches of all time. Anyway there's no doubt who's walking out with this title at Wembley, but the real suspense will be whether Max and Will can deliver a sequel that tops the original.
Pick: Ospreay
AEW World Championship - Title vs. Career: Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson
I've never been more torn about a wrestling main event. On one hand Danielson is my favorite wrestler of all time and I obviously don't want him to retire. On the other hand I think taking the title off Swerve and giving it to another babyface with the crowd solidly behind him is a huge error. Hangman beating Swerve for the title here would further Swerve as a character and give him a hated rival to chase to win it back. Swerve would still be an essential part of the story. Swerve losing the title to a guy everyone wants to see get his flowers undermines Swerve as the company's top babyface, and reduces him to just a warm body for Danielson to beat. If Bryan wins the title, then what? What does Swerve do, feud with Hangman without the championship at stake? That's a step backwards for him; Swerve comes off as less important than he was prior to this show. Damaging your top babyface at this stage of the company's development is counterproductive at best, and they've already kinda made Swerve the heel in this feud without convincing me I should be rooting for Danielson. Does Bryan actually WANT to win the title? Last night's promo didn't make that clear. Tony better have a logical plan forward from here that benefits the company long-term. Otherwise this feels a lot like when WWE used to bring in part-timers for WrestleMania and have them beat the full-timers before going home. The match will be insanely good and Danielson winning the title will fill the crowd with joy. But then what?
Pick: Danielson
So yeah, All In 2024 will be a mega-extravaganza in front of their second-largest crowd ever, numerous matches will break the four-star barrier, and it could even surpass last year's All In in terms of quality. But will the title situation do more harm than good? I surely hope not.
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