AEW All Out 2024 - September 7th

[LaGoosh]

6 minutes ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

like it being a 'gimmicked chair' actually makes even a blind bit of difference when it is swung full force, unprotected, at someone's head. 

...but it definitely does make some difference.

Edited September 9 by LaGoosh

[JLM]

I imagine Jarrett’s guitar shots would also be a touch worse if they weren’t gimmicked. I remember the Blue Meanie interview where he said they’d take the pins out of the legs on Balls Mahoney’s chairs, but only for Masato Tanaka because he’d had neck problems. ECW health and safety logic there. 

[Chili]

I thought Will Ospreay Vs PAC was great, just to desperately drag us back into orbit for a second. I think younger me rather found the more video game choreographed matches a bit daft as it felt fake or unrealistic to my stupid brain (I think those old ROH scramble matches did this, as they were just mostly patchy bollocks), but now I just marvel at the amazing shit they're able to pull off. The tiger driver into that snap hurricanrana near the finish was sublime. Proper popped me.

Edited September 9 by Chili

[digforvictory]

1 minute ago, Chili said:

I thought Will Ospreay Vs PAC was great, just to desperately drag us back into orbit for a second. I think younger me rather found the more video game choreographed matches a bit daft as it felt fake or unrealistic to my stupid brain, but now I just marvel at the amazing shit they're able to pull off. The tiger driver into that snap hurricanrana near the finish was sublime. Proper popped me.

I'm exactly the same.

Used to be a bit sniffy about it but now I really enjoy matches like that. The athleticism and the creativity was off the charts. Ospreay this year has had some absolute incredible matches.

[Chili]

1 minute ago, digforvictory said:

I'm exactly the same.

Used to be a bit sniffy about it but now I really enjoy matches like that. The athleticism and the creativity was off the charts. Ospreay this year has had some absolute incredible matches.

Yeah, I think as insane as they are, their is some cognitive attempt at 'TELLING A STORY' during them these days. Both that they want to win, but also being cocky TV wrestlers, they want to show off they are better than their foe. Will Ospreay might do some utterly sublime stuff, but I don't watch him and go 'well that just made no sense to me.'

Edited September 9 by Chili

[JLM]

Yeah the back to back "I can do that too pal" sky twister presses were a great example of that. 

[DavidB6937]

I'm okay with stuff like PAC/Ospreay if it isn't JUST what they do all the time. And luckily Ospreay is capable of a lot more these days. PAC I just marvel at all the time and I just wish he had a little more to him character wise to take him to the next level. Feels like it's always held him back slightly but maybe that's just me. It's something I'm desperately looking for from Ricochet though. I'm really hoping he'll step up like Ospreay and show he's far more than he has been in recent years. AEW has more than enough talent that can do flips and stuff.

[JLM]

 

[Chili]

To circle back to Hangman as a character, I'm really interested to see just what exactly happens next? Does he try and return to some sort of normal state but he can't, is he just off his box for the foreseeable. I'd actually love him to open up or get time in the coming episode of Dynamite and cut an in-ring promo as opposed to something backstage, though I'd settle for a sit down pre-tape too. I'm excited to see where and who is fights next and why?

And give us the Jarrett/Hangman bloody brawl that we want Tony. We know you lurk around these places, give us the goods, coward!

Edited September 9 by Chili

[gmoney]

Those breezeblock spots were two of the dumbest things I've ever seen. Swerve and Hangman are as thick as Ospreay. I didn't enjoy any of it really, just unpleasant and not in any way fun for me, I don't care if it makes sense or is referencing something they did earlier. "Don't you see? Him slicing the top of his bellend off with a shard of blue glass is a reference to the last match when he stuck his knob through a stained glass window."

Good show overall though. Willow v Stat was a good brawl (and crucially didn't make me think about spines snapping). I was genuinely sad that Willow lost. 

[Supremo]

On 9/8/2024 at 5:33 PM, TheScarlettChad said:

It means fuck all when its every PPV. And they can't keep getting more and more "dangerous". What's next for Hangman and Swerve? Is Swerve going to be beheaded?

You know what's next. We all know what's next. The only way to truly settle a year-long blood feud.

Traffic Lights Strap Match!

I thought this was a phenomenal show. Turns out you can do two consecutive pay per views in the space of a fortnight. You just need to make them diametrically opposed in theme and vibe. All In was, "A New Hope," All Out was, "The Empire Strikes Back." Incredible sequel that takes all the euphoria and delight of the first one and tells you to get fucked. A dark, horrible, grotesque show, that made me feel dark, horrible and grotesque, as was their intent.

I thought the plastic bag angle was ridiculously effective. I'll never doubt them again. In one moment they saved everything. I've been bored shitless of the Blackpool Combat Club for over a year now. And Moxley's been such a big nothing, for so long, that I honestly just wanted him to fly to Turkey, get a hair transplant, and return to WWE with the Dean Ambrose barnet. Him returning with this rubbish character, talking in silly riddles and hanging around with Marina Shafir, did nothing to help things. Fucking Marina Shafir?! Who made that call?! Granted, I've stopped watching Rampage, but last time I checked Marina was legitimately one of the worst members of their roster. Has she improved without me knowing? She was stealing a living, last I saw.

Anyway; yeah, the whole BCC thing just felt like it was fizzling out, it did my head in that nobody mentioned why Mox wasn't at Wembley, or why Pac was suddenly mates with them. Everyone just seemed to be floating about in limbo (which is why The Tag Title match felt so skippable on this show). But in that one angle everything has been tied up brilliantly, they all instantly feel fresh, dangerous and exciting, and Mox feels like a Superstar again. Loved all of this. Legitimately shocking and scary. Yuta not being in on it was a fantastic little touch. But yeah, what cruel booking. Make Danielson the most beloved man on the planet, only for his mates to try and murder him? What a bunch of horrible Bastards. Blackpool Bastards Club. Cannot wait to see where this goes, now. With the amount of clever foreshadowing they've been doing recently, I hope they shot some footage of Pac in Blackpool whilst they were in the UK. I wanna see Pac at the Pleasure Beach, pushing kids off the pier, talking about how he's more Blackpool than Bryan will ever be.

Also, Claudio showing his true colours, you say? He was a prick all along, was he? If only there was a man out there who's been saying this over and over. A real man. An authentic man. A great man. The best man. Bryan Danielson summoning the ghost of Eddie fucking Kingston as his back up will be all my dreams come true.

I did smile though. You can one hundred percent imagine the trade offer backstage. Bryan agreeing to give Tony his big, celebratory, euphoric Wembley moment, as long as in return Tony gives Bryan his horrible, disgusting, snuff-film angle, where he twitches on the floor and scares everyone into thinking he's really hurt. Bryan Danielson, I love you, you're the best ever, but you're the biggest sicko of us all.

Similar to the plastic bag angle, the main event was horrible and disgusting, with the last few minutes making me feel a bit sick, but again, that was the point. I felt similar when Hangman drank the blood. It was absolutely gross, but if we're doing it then let's fucking do it. This wasn't two idiots on a 2003 CZW show, doing torture porn for the sake of it. They'd earned this. Within the fiction, it had come to this. We're burning down each other's homes. We're putting each other's kids at risk. Give me the needle. Give me the brick. I'm going to cave in your skull with a chair. Shout out to the chair spot though. Cutting to a wide shot not only hid what I suspect was a gimmicked chair, but it was really effective in that horror film it's-scarier-what-you-don't-see way. It was way worse in your imagination. The sound alone made you think you saw Swerve's head legitimately come off his shoulders. Really clever. This company is cooking. They deserve way bigger houses than they're getting.

I get why the bricks and the needles aren't for everyone. They aren't particularly for me, either. I had to look away with the needle spot especially. Hate stuff like that. I nearly faint getting an injection at the dentist. But the proof is in the pudding. Watch the match. The first half gets little-to-no-reaction because it's just the usual weapons-based Cage Match everyone has seen a million times. Most of them featuring Adam Cole in NXT. It was only once they went a bit crazier that the crowd really started reacting, so as long as the two professionals think they can do this relatively safely then I'm not going to tell them how to do their job. I can't remember the Kenny Omega line, but it goes something like "have you considered I'm just really good at doing this stuff?" That's how I felt watching these two nutters. Go nuts. Who am I to tell you otherwise. You might brick me.

Don't get me wrong; I'll never watch this match back. It wasn't anywhere near as enjoyable as the Texas Death Match. But what I will watch back, over and over again, is everything that happened after the match because it was FUCKING AMAZING. That's my biggest takeaway. The Main Event only existed for what it did for the Hangman Adam Page character, which is now my favourite character in the history of me watching pro-wrestling. In fact, I'd honestly put it against all characters in all of fiction. It's up there. What an amazing, fascinating character to follow. Written spectacularly, performed even better. He's the best actor in the business. By miles.

It's almost funny. We've had decades of idiots looking at their hands and mumbling to themselves, wondering why they're so violent, but here's Hangman actually doing that arc properly. Putting the work in. Five years. To watch this troubled, flawed man struggle to fit in amongst his peers, hit rock bottom, discover new friends, start believing in himself, reach the pinnacle, only to slowly fall apart, become everything he hated, and be left a complete mess when vengeance doesn't give him the satisfaction he craved? Unbelievable. For as much your Pacs, Ospreays and Takeshitas wrestle matches like they're from the future, Hangman Adam Page feels like he's telling stories and doing character work from the future. This stuff is unreal. Levels above everything else. I don't know how to feel. I'm happy he got revenge, he'll always be my boy, but I'm so disappointment in him. I'm so gutted to see what he's become. So conflicted with what I want to see him do next. What he, "deserves."

I hope he can one day turn this all around, but God Knows how. He's too far gone. Maybe once Eddie Kingston saves the day with Bryan Danielson he can sit down and save Hangman. Lad's a complete mess. What have you become?! I feel for him the same way I felt for Jesse in Breaking Bad. Just get it together and stop making such bad decisions, you stupid, beautiful, frustrating, loveable knobhead!

If nothing else, you've got to admire the balls on Hangman and Swerve, following that Street Fight. I like to think this is what Hangman and Swerve looked like backstage, trying to put their match together whilst watching Willow and Statlander tear the house down on the locker-room monitor.

No wonder they had to resort to bricks and needles. Those two incredible women left them NOTHING.

Home run show. A completely different show to All In, but as good if not better in terms of overall quality. For as happy as I felt watching All In, I felt just as sad watching All Out. The full spectrum of emotions. The worth of boast worlds. I fucking love pro-wrestling.

Once again, the only real negative was the Mercedes match. Worse still, it once again wasn't even her fault. Just when you think she can't have a worse dance partner than Britt Baker, THE WIG proves otherwise.

Edited September 10 by Supremo

[Ironic Indie Lad]

4 hours ago, Supremo said:

The Main Event only existed for what it did for the Hangman Adam Page character, which is now my favourite character in the history of me watching pro-wrestling. In fact, I'd honestly put it against all characters in all of fiction. It's up there.

[Supremo]

Stand by it. Easily one of my favourite characters ever. Look at him! What a fall from grace. I need Kenny Omega to come back and somehow fix him.

Edited September 10 by Supremo

[gmoney]

38 minutes ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

It reminds me of a guy at collage who thought Metallica's S&M was one of the best examples of classic music. 

[Ironic Indie Lad]

 

5 minutes ago, gmoney said:

It reminds me of a guy at collage who thought Metallica's S&M was one of the best examples of classic music. 

Its definitely one of the best examples of all time. Others that come close are KISS Symphony and the Apple Music 'Classical Hits' playlist.