Here are my final thoughts on All Elite Wrestling’s All Out 2020!
Joey Janela (with Sonny Kiss) vs. Serpentico (with Luther)
Reactions: Joey Janela does nothing for me, so you can probably tell how little I cared for this Buy-In Match. This was simply a passable time-filler that gave more of AEW’s roster the time they needed to shine in the PPV spotlight. Nothing really stood out about this contest – it was simply there and nothing more. I see no reason for AEW to keep wasting its time trying to make its fans give a damn about Janela, Serpentico, and Luther. Sonny Kiss is worth keeping around, though.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) vs. The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver)
Reactions: I gotta give a multitude of props to Alex Reynolds and John Silver – they’re surprisingly one of the more exciting duos in AEW. They both pull off some pretty impressive, eye-popping tandem maneuvers. They made sure to highlight that particular aspect of their underrated teamwork during this match at several intervals.
This match certainly got kicked up a notch after Silver stomped right onto Isiah Kassidy off the top rope during a signature spot. Seconds later, Silver put his strongman offense on display with a devastating airplane spin slam. That hype exchange led to even more fun back and forth action in a tag team match that didn’t overstay its welcome. Solid stuff here. Kinda wish it went a bit longer, though.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Britt Baker (with Rebel) vs. Big Swole (Tooth and Nail Match)
Reactions: So this first time stipulation ended up being contested within a cinematic format. This feud’s been brewing for a good while now, so seeing it finally result in a hardcore brawl between Britt Baker and Big Swole was fitting. While silly and full of splatstick humor, I found some moments of this match to be somewhat entertaining.
Watching glass diplomas explode into pieces over the heads of Swole and Rebel got a pop out of me, plus I was into Swole’s constant shit-talking throughout this whole affair. Overall though, this match would have been better served as a regular contest. The finish of this “match” was a bit too hokey for my tastes. This definitely wasn’t the best way to kick off a PPV.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus)
Reactions: I figured this would be the type of match that would inject some much-needed energy into this show. And thankfully, I was right. This heelish variation of The Young Bucks went a lot harder than they usually do when it comes to cutting off their opponents, while Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus pulled out all their unique tag-team maneuvers in a bid to capture the upset victory.
Even though there was a noticeable botch during Matt Jackson’s attempt at suplexing Jungle Boy over the top rope, the majority of this match was full of some clean back and forth action. What I liked most about this match, in particular, was how both teams changed up their signature spots and implemented them in a more unique manner. This was a classic example of AEW’s appreciation for fast and furious tag team wrestling.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Darby Allin vs. Lance Archer vs. Brian Cage vs. Ricky Starks vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Rey Fenix vs. The Butcher vs. The Blade vs. Eddie Kingston vs. Shawn Spears vs. Billy Gunn vs. Austin Gunn vs. Jake Hager vs. Santana vs. Ortiz vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Trent vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Will Hobbs vs. Matt Sydal (21-Man Casino Battle Royale; Winner Receives a Future AEW World Championship Match)
Reactions: I would be doing everyone reading this a disservice if I didn’t acknowledge Matt Sydal making his surprise return and immediately botching a Shooting Star Press. It was so cool to see him resurface in a major wrestling company – it’s just too bad that the very first move he attempted to pull off in AEW was a complete failure. Anyways, this was a decent battle royal at best.
We got some shocking eliminations here from Sonny Kiss and Will Hobbs, Santana & Ortiz and Best Friends rekindle their beef, Darby Allin took a particularly nasty spill, and the big brutes of this match put on quite the show. Brian Cage got to look like a killer on PPV, but Lance Archer overshadowed him as the super destroyer here. It was great seeing Lance step back into the winner’s circle with a win here by showcasing his penchant for domination. This one had its moments, for sure. But it was also filled with some noticeable sloppy exchanges here and there. Hearing random fireworks go off in the background was kinda strange, too…
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara (Broken Rules Match; If Hardy loses, He Must Leave AEW)
Reactions: This one scared the hell outta me. Matt Hardy took a horrifying spill during this brawl’s earlier moments – the back of his head smacked the pavement hard as Sammy Guevara drove him through a table.
It was clearly evident that Matt was incredibly dazed and unable to continue, which is why the ref ended the match early at one point. But after a long wait, the match restarted and led right into what I presume as the big-match ending spot. I can’t properly grade this one since it simply didn’t go as planned. I sincerely hope Matt thinks about hanging it up here. I’m legitimately scared for the man’s well-being at this point…
Rating: Yikes!
Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Thunder Rosa (AEW Women’s World Championship)
Reactions: So this was an above-average women’s match from two quality competitors, but it didn’t really meet the high expectations I had for it. Hikaru Shida and Thunder Rosa have the capacity to produce a barnburner of a match, which is something they clearly attempted to produce here.
But it seemed like both ladies didn’t have the best of chemistry with each other, which resulted in awkward strike exchanges and maneuvers that seemed to go down in slow motion. While both women did their best here, something about it felt a bit off. The long runtime made this one crawl along instead of making it feel as epic as it was advertised. This one was solid, yet still a bit underwhelming.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
The Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno, and Stu Grayson) vs. Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky, and The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall) (with Allie) (Eight-Man Tag Team Match)
Reactions: After sitting through a string of matches that sat right in the meh category of overall quality, this eight-man war brought the show back to life. Goldust and crew came to this match hungry for revenge, which was thoroughly displayed in the way they fought with The Dark Order. All eight competitors raised the energy level of this PPV by competing at a fast pace and delivering some big spots. Even Brandi Rhodes and Anna Jay had a fun exchange.
Once Matt Cardona and Scorpio Sky got to run wild, I got into this match even more. The middle to the closing portions of this match pushed it over an above-average rating to good. Even though it was weird seeing the newly crowned TNT Champion come out on the losing end of this war, it played into the ongoing storyline with Brodie Lee and Colt Cabana. Plus it helped lead us to a future title match between Dustin Rhodes and Brodie on a future episode of Dynamite. Round of applause for all eight men here for helping this show regain some of its steam.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Kenny Omega and Adam Page (c) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) (with Tully Blanchard) (AEW World Tag Team Championship)
Reactions: AND NEW! The lengthy tag team title reign of Kenny Omega and Adam Page has come to a close by the hands of Tully Blanchard’s boys, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood. Although it felt a bit too long and had one too many near falls, I thoroughly enjoyed this tag team match for the most part. FTR was especially on their A-Game tonight as they pulled out a bevy of throwback tag team finishers and did a great job of weakening Kenny Omega’s leg. But Kenny and Adam were also at their best tonight…until an errant V-Trigger led to them losing the straps.
The story being told here was great – Adam found a way to regain Kenny’s trust back at first, but things begin to deteriorate between the two as the match wore on. FTR used their broken partnership to ultimately prevail and piledrive Adam (TWICE!) into a winning pin. I truly felt like the very first assisted Spike Piledriver should have ended it, though. In fact, there were a ton of moments here where it looked as if the match had reached its conclusion. The near falls got to be a bit too much if you ask me. Even still, this was a great match. I can’t wait to see the aftermath unfold between Kenny and Adam.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy (Mimosa Mayhem Match; Match Can be Won By Pinfall, Submission, or Throwing Your Opponent Into a Tank of Mimosa)
Reactions: This was easily the best match out of the Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy feud. I enjoyed their first match, but their second meeting was a letdown. This third (and what looks to be final) match between the two was packed with some good wrestling, some hardcore spots, and a whole lot of close calls as both men looked to be falling into the ringside pools of mimosa.
Jericho and Orange did everything imaginable in order to dunk each other into fruit-flavored booze, which resulted in some fun exchanges. I expected this one to be extremely hokey, but it was more of a war that saw some weapons come into play and big moves pulled out when I least expected them. I knew someone was going to lose via a big splash into either pool of mimosa and that’s exactly what we got here. Orange is a made man now!
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Jon Moxley (c) vs. MJF (with Wardlow) (AEW World Championship; Moxley is Banned From Using His Paradigm Shift Finishing Move)
Reactions: A lot of people say that MJF is great on the stick, but not that great in the ring. Matches like the one he had against Jungle Boy at Double or Nothing and the one he delivered tonight against Jon Moxley disprove that sentiment. The champion and challenger worked a smart match that saw brutal limb work, impactful moves, and even some color.
After MJF got busted wide open, this main event kicked into second gear. MJF and Moxley wore each other down with their respective submissions and signature piledrivers. MJF proved himself here once again as someone that AEW can rely on to excel at the top of the card. Both men fought hard and gave the crowd a smart ending that played into both of their characters. Jon even pulled a trick out of MJF’s book by cheating – he ignored the extra stipulation to this match by planting MJF with a Paradigm Shift after Wardlow screwed up on throwing the pinky ring to MJF. Now we’re getting Jon vs. Lance Archer at a later date and MJF possibly splitting from his massive bodyguard. And I’m totally here for it.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Match of the Night
Jon Moxley vs. MJF!
Final Verdict
So this year’s edition of All Out was a good show, but it will forever be tainted by what happened to Matt Hardy. That terrible moment scared me and plenty of other fans into thinking that we just witnessed the end of his career. And I’m sure those same fans would agree with wit me when I say this – the powers that be at AEW shouldn’t have allowed Matt to go ahead with the finish to his match.
Really bad call on AEW’s part there. This show certainly had some in-ring highlights – The Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express, the tag team title match, the 8-man war, the Mimosa Mayhem match, and the main event were clear standouts. But Matt’s unfortunate fall, a slightly disappointing women’s title match, a bunch of Botchamania worthy moments, and a long PPV runtime kept All Out 2020 from being truly remarkable. It was good but could have been so much better.
Final Score: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
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