AEW All-In 2023 Review

• 27th August 2023

• 81,034 in attendance.

• London, England – Wembley Stadium

MrDCWood and Ben Boorman breakdown the results of All In London!

CM Punk (Champion) vs. Samoa Joe / “Real World Championship” Match

CM Punk def. Samoa Joe via Pinfall at 14:00

MrDCWood: Both these guys are 44-years-old now, so I doubted that they could produce a bout that was as epic as the ones they had when they were in their prime. Instead, I hoped for a match that was worthy of honouring their legendary trilogy in Ring of Honor, and that’s what I got. Both Punk and Joe wrestled smart, and told an excellent story. This was the best bout AEW could’ve chosen to kick off an event of this calibre, and it was high-quality stuff with Joe smashing Punk’s head through the announce desk to bust him open, and Punk parodying Hogan and Cena, and honouring Terry Funk with the spinning-toe-hold. Would’ve liked this to have gone another five minutes, but it was still an excellent opener. Punk doing the Pepsi Plunge was a great finish. Keen to see when the ‘Real AEW World Champ’ will go after you-know-who again. (9/10)

Ben: Punk/Joe was a brilliant opener with a hot crowd. Punk challenging his inner-Cena is hilarious to watch, Joe proving he’s one of the most consistent top wrestlers of the last 20 years…a match worthy of the trilogy. Cool to see the Pepsi Plunge as the finish, he should use it as his finisher more often. (9/10)

9/10

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Konosuke Takeshita & Bullet Club Gold vs. The Golden Elite / Six Man Tag Team Match

Konosuke Takeshita pins Kenny Omega for his team at 20:30

MrDCWood: This match started alright for me. There was good-action, a fast-pace, then it became too chaotic for its own good. And I’m with JR, here. It would have been nice to know who the legal man was a lot of the time! However, things did pick back up again for the final moments…and then Takeshita beat Omega with a roll-up of all finishes. Still a fun match, but could’ve been more coherent. And could’ve concluded much better. (6/10)

Ben: Golden Elite/Bullet Club Gold was a fun match, great showcase for everyone, Takeshita beating Omega sets up surely the 1v1 match at All Out between the two. My only gripe was Jay White seems to be in the background when I feel he should be at the forefront more often. Hopefully soon we get Jay/Kenny, what a feud that would be! (8/10)

7/10

FTR (Champions) vs. The Young Bucks – AEW World Tag Team Championship Match

FTR defeat the Young Bucks via Pinfall to retain the titles at 21:45

MrDCWood: I absolutely love FTR. They truly rank among the greatest tag teams in wrestling over the last decade. The Young Bucks on the other hand…not really a fan. Amazing athletes, rubbish storytellers, incredible performers, lousy workers who hardly ever sell. And there was some of that present tonight which was annoying. But I will take my hat off to Matt and Nick here. They actually worked for the majority here, and the result was simply amazing. An absolutely epic tag-title match that had me on the edge of my seat with the right team going over. Amazing spots, a fantastic story…definitely in my Top 10 Matches for 2023! (9/10)

Ben: Easily the best match of the 3 these have had, FTR showing they can do flips, Bucks showing they can sell and wrestle. Amazing callbacks to the history books, including the finishes of the first two matches. FTR complete babyfaces and right call to have them win. Easily the best Tag Team in the world and the Bucks had their working boots on tonight! Fantastic to watch! (10/10)

9.5/10

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Eddie Kingston, Orange Cassidy, Best Friends & Penta Al Zero Miedo vs. Blackpool Combat Club, Mike Santana & Ortiz / Stadium Stampede Match

Orange Cassidy pins Claudio Castagnoli for his team at 21:30

MrDCWood: Ugh…I do love a good multi-man hardcore brawl. Honestly I do. But whenever AEW does stuff like a Stadium Stampede, there’s no method to the madness whatsoever. This was just yet another chaotic, sloppy mess, full of botches & unnecessary risks, and it wasted twenty-minutes. It was all over the place and not in a good way. Moxley bled again because he has to, there were sick spots that just made me cringe (do we really need skewers in the forehead and broken glass on taped fists in 2023?!). Also, the Blackpool Combat Club LOST AGAIN. I know there are fans who enjoy this kind of garbage wrestling but this isn’t the 90s and ECW is long gone. (DUD)

Ben: …Well I do love violent nonsense sometimes but this seemed over the top. Glass, forks, chopsticks…it all just seemed unnecessary. You can do wild hardcore brawls like this well and it’s a lot of fun, but it just looked like people doing stuff for the sake of it. Also, it’s impossible to keep track of 10 men at the same time so we kept missing spots. Keep them in one area, either ringside, backstage or in the stands so at least we could see what was happening. This just didn’t do it for me. (2/10)

1/10

Hikaru Shida (Champion) vs. Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. vs. Toni Storm vs. Saraya / Four-Way Match for the AEW Women’s World Championship

Saraya pins Toni Storm to win the title at 8:50

MrDCWood: Pleased that all four of these ladies got the chance to compete on this show, and the result was a fine four-way that went the right amount of time, had some very good action, and some very good storytelling. The fallout between Saraya and Toni was very well-executed and Ruby Soho’s appearance helped the story. Loved the spot where Saraya had Toni in the P.T.O and Britt executed a curb-stomp on Toni, and the finish was brilliant with Britt trying to apply the Lockjaw on Shida, and Saraya using the spray-paint on Storm (who tried to use the belt), then hitting the Nightcap DDT to win the title. Saraya deserved this moment, but how long will the reign last? (7/10)

Ben: As a British person, Saraya coming out to Queen and with her family was a beautiful sight to behold and having her win the title as well felt perfect. Very solid match where Shida showed again she’s one of the best in the world, Storm really channeling her new character really well and Britt again proved a safe reliable hand in the match. Everyone got their moments in, there was the implosion of the Outcasts, so it had progression as well…this match exceeded expectations. (7/10)

7/10

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Sting & Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland & Christian Cage / Coffin Match

Sting & Darby close the lid on Swerve to win at 16:00

MrDCWood: Great London entrance from Darby & the Stinger to kick things off, Christian Cage still remains a legendary heel, Swerve is doing well…and unlike the Stadium Stampede, there were some decent spots. But this was another match that dragged, and at 64-years-old, Sting has nothing left to prove. I really don’t want to see him take anymore reckless bumps and endanger his health & wellbeing at his age. It happened too much at Forbidden Door and on Dynamite this year. Sting should be allowed to ride off into the sunset now. (5/10)

Ben: Sting defies human logic how he’s able to do this at 64. Insane, good action all around, Darby showcased the insane madman that he is, Swerve oozes a great heel and Christian is having an amazing run right now. Another fun match. (6/10)

5.5/10

Will Osprey vs. Chris Jericho

Will Osprey def. Chris Jericho via pinfall at 14:55

MrDCWood: I admit I wasn’t looking forward to this one but I really got in the mood once Chris Jericho started singing Judas on his way to the ring, and Fozzy were playing live on stage! The match itself was very good, with Jericho perfectly playing the heel and Osprey playing the beloved English hero. Some very good counters and nearfalls…this was definitely the finest Jericho match I’ve seen in a long time. Happy with the outcome given that Osprey is the hometown boy and Jericho can easily afford the loss at this stage in his career. However, Will was taking all these crazy bumps and wasn’t selling accordingly. And taking a baseball shot from Sammy Guevara whilst in the Walls of Jericho? That should’ve been used to end the match. Instead, Osprey just shrugged it off. That grates at me. (7/10)

Ben: Fozzy performing ‘Judas’ to the ring was sweet. Lovely story of Jericho, the clever veteran using tactics to try to keep up with Ospreay; the stronger, faster, in-his-prime star. They kept it simple and it worked a treat. Very good match and right that Ospreay won cleanly as well. (8/10)

(7.5/10)

The House of Black (Champions) vs. Billy Gunn & The Acclaimed / No Holds Barred Match for the AEW World Trios Championship

Billy Gunn & The Acclaimed pin Brody King to win the the titles at 10:50

MrDCWood: This felt like another dose of filler. And another multi-man match to get various wrestlers on the show. As Tornado-style tag-matches go…this was alright but if it was supposed to be no-holds-barred, why not use weapons? I can understand the story they were going for after all the build-up, but the end result means Billy Gunn is a champion at 59-years-old. Is that a good thing? Kudos to the House of Black by bringing a lantern to the ring to honour Bray Wyatt. (4/10)

Ben: Lovely tribute from House of Black to Bray Wyatt. The Scissor Me Timbers to Julia was a cool moment…not much else to note. The Acclaimed win gold…nice for Billy Gunn, who can still go. (6/10)

(5/10)

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Maxwell Jacob Friedman (Champion) vs. Adam Cole / AEW World Championship Match

MJF def. Adam Cole via pinfall to retain the title at 29:00

MrDCWood: This storyline between Adam Cole and MJF is absolutely the single-best thing going on on AEW Television today! I’ve loved their chemistry over the last few months, and I hoped it would translate into the epic-main-event All In deserved. And by golly, it did! This was a masterclass in storytelling featuring so many exciting near-falls, psychology, counters and character-work with both Adam and MJF trying to out-cheat the other and then actually starting to feel guilty about the lengths they were going to to become AEW Champion. There was a lot of chaos, ref-bumps, false-finishes, and some illogical moments…but unlike the Stadium Stampede and other bouts, it all served the story perfectly! AND there was such exemplary wrestling and selling! Either one of these two could’ve walked out with the title and I’d have been happy! Roderick Strong’s interference was great, I loved the finish and the aftermath, and I’m really keen to see what happens next! WHAT a main-event! Another top contender for Match of the Year! (9/10)

Ben: WHAT a main event! One of AEW’s best! The lingering story of friendship/betrayal, the double pin from the double clothesline was a neat spot, MJF ultimately wins with a small package…they really teased that Cole would pull the trigger on MJF but neither did! And we got a happy ending! (9/10)

(9/10)

OVERALL THOUGHTS

MrDCWood: This is probably my favourite AEW PPV of the year, and a strong-contender for Show of 2023. Revolution was great, Double or Nothing I wasn’t fussed about, and Forbidden Door was alright, but a tad overrated. All In deserved to be a huge success after 81,034 people came to see it, and even though the Stadium Stampede was dire, and there was some dross on the card like the Coffin and Trios Title Matches, the rest of the card had a strong Jericho/Osprey match, a very good Women’s Four-Way bout, an excellent Punk/Joe opener, and BOTH FTR/Young Bucks and MJF/Adam Cole are serious Match of the Year Contenders! As with most AEW Pay-Per-Views, I felt this outstayed its welcome at four hours, but the atmosphere and crowd were amazing, and a big shout-out as well to the legendary Nigel McGuinness for calling this show. WHAT a night! (8/10)

Ben: Amazing show, hope AEW on-screen is going on the right track again and that they use this show to get better even more, They’re also coming back to London next year! Amazing news, and all in all, All In was a massive success. (8/10)

OVERALL: 8/10

What did YOU all think of AEW All In? Please let us know in the comments below!