AEW All Out 2025 Discussion

[Kamran]

9 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

I’m really annoyed that Toni Storm’s title reign ended like that. No main events, and dropping the belt in a four way. Would they have done that to Moxley? Omega? Page? Of course not. Statlander deserves a world title reign, but Storm - AEW’s greatest ever women’s champion - should not have lost the belt in this way. 

 

8 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

I'm okay with the Stat win. I think you need wins like that every so often to keep things unpredictable and I don't think AEW have overdone it in that area. The danger of always having long reigns and build ups is that it can often cause everything else to lose any real danger along the way. So you've got to throw these in sometimes.

Obviously I don't know the motivations  behind the decision or what the plans are going forward, but in the moment I enjoyed it.

There was an audible gasp from the audience when Stat won, I has the same reaction as @RedTwoster initially but thinking about it now, I agree with @DavidB6937 it's good to have a shock now and then. They've done a good job with Toni so far, I'm trusting their judgment on this. I would like to see some movement on the Yuta/Stat angle, it feels like it's been going on for ages, no idea where it ends up.

8 hours ago, The King of Old School said:

The Jurassic Express reunion would have been so much better if Luchasaures hadn't have come back a few weeks ago.

As ever with AEW, some really good matches and action, but just far too much of it. Hangman/Fletcher must have gone about 40 minutes, completely unnecessary.

 I wonder if that was always the plan and they just bought him back sooner because of Wayne's injury. I would have preferred Wayne to have got some hired help for Forbidden Door (it happens quite a lot in AEW), like a deal with the Callis family etc and then save Luchasaurus for tonight.

7 hours ago, stumobir said:

Call me old fashioned but a plastic bag over someone’s head and stomping on it has no place on a wrestling show. 
 

I hated that when it happened originally but I wasn't as mad about it this time. Danielson wanted payback and Allin gave Mox a taste of his own medicine. Saying that though, I hope we don't see one again.

Some random thoughts:

- I was genuinely surprised to see Beth, I assumed it was going to be that Green Bastard guy from the intro ?

- I didn't mind Copeland's tribute to Cena, I'm assuming it was a response to Cena's acknowledgement of Edge, it even got a Cena chant 

- I assumed Hook was going to turn heel when he came back but they seem to have pivoted and he's made up with The Opps, this makes me think he'll probably turn on Eddie instead.

- Not sure what I think about 'The Demand' as a faction name but it might grow on me, who knows.

- I thought Fletcher did well, I enjoyed the match more than I thought I would.

Overall, I thought it was a good show, I enjoyed it.

Edited September 21, 2025 by Kamran

[Merzbow]

2 hours ago, Kamran said:

- I was genuinely surprised to see Beth, I assumed it was going to be that Green Bastard guy from the intro ?

I was really hoping it was him, much rather see some Trailer Park Boys than any other celeb either company uses.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Overall I thought that was a good show with some weird bits and decisions for what’s coming next.

C&C vs FTR never really felt like it got going, not sure how long it was but by FTR standards it felt like a blink of an eye. Looks like that might have been because they’re going to have a rematch, but I’d have preferred it to be one and done.

It was nice to have Eddie back, clear ring rust which was a shame but it’ll only take one promo and he’ll remind everyone why they love him. Surprised there was zero interaction with him and Moxley, or the Bucks, or anyone really. Out of anybody who you’d think would appear again in a backstage segment seeking out old rivals after ages away, it’d be Eddie.

Tacks and Tables was good for what it was, they built well to MJF taking a tack bump. The Conglomeration backstage promo was 10 times more entertaining than the match, though. The pop for “he says… whatever”! I popped too. Then got Mrs HG to watch because OC’s her favourite and she popped and he’d better be in Manchester.

Triple Threat match definitely my MOTN, just excellent and loads of fun.

I was very very surprised by Stat winning the title, and I wouldn’t have done it, but when it comes to Toni I have confidence they know what they’re doing. They wouldn’t jeopardise what they have with her, she’s one of their biggest stars by some margin.

It’s nice to have Jurassic Express back. It might be considered regression for Perry but it’s probably just what he needs. I’m okay with Luchasaurus already being back, it kind of means they’ve dealt with his Patriarchy ties and sorted those out so he can move on to different things faster.

Moxley winning was the baffling thing for me. As has already been posted, we were all hoping Texas was the beginning of the end of the Death Riders but no, on and on it drags, even if I am happy Pac is back. Match and afterwards were the worst of Death Riders and of Darby, they can all fuck off with the plastic bags and fire and attempted murders that dragged the entire promotion down this time last year.

Main event was (just about) never in doubt. Yay Hangman!

Edited September 21, 2025 by HarmonicGenerator
This post was almost Cloudflared

[LaGoosh]

12 hours ago, FLips said:

The flaming bodybag spot they did later in the night may be the dumbest spot this company has ever done. I burned my thumb through an oven glove the other week because it got too close to the grill. That bag burned through in a second, I would not be shocked if Moxley is blistered up something rotten. Idiots, the pair of them.

Looked incredibly gimmicked to me. The bodybag was on fire for about 1 second before it went out on its own even before the fire extinguishers got to it! Mox will do lots of gross stuff but I really don't think he'd risk his actual life on a fire spot.

I hated the spot because it was dumb.

Edited September 21, 2025 by LaGoosh

[BrodyGraham]

I'm beginning to feel a bit like AEW's PPV's are a bit of a victim of their own success.

I thought this was a good show with some great stuff some good stuff and some stuff that wasn't for me. The problem is that the floor and ceiling on the last 2 shows have both been a bit lower than AEW running on all cylinders for me.

This show especially felt like it was missing some names or proper elite workers. 

Really enjoyed the main event, unified triple threat, ladder and women's title matches. 

I'd started to convince myself a little that they were going to do their own version of the Okada shock with Fletcher, so I was properly on the hook for that. 

Okada and Takeshita feels like something that should be central to the company for the next few months and fuck me if they didn't work phenomenally well together but they were both in danger of being overshadowed by Mascara Dorada. Dorada has IT, whatever IT is. This was also a timely reminder that Okada is an all timer base guy.

Women's title result made sense to me as something that gives purpose to the never ending saga of Willow Vs Statlander and moves those two properly up the card. Can see this leading to those two and Moné passing the belt between themselves for a little bit.

Always enjoy a good cluster fuck, so the ladder match was fun. However as much as Hechicero is great, I feel like him and Alexander was probably a team too far. Mostly because I think Alexander is the dullest man to ever look so fucking stupid.

Didn't mind either hardcore matches although the post match angle with boil in a bag Moxley was also fucking stupid. 

Thought TBS title match was good although I'd forgotten how lightweight and devoid of tension Riho is in her movements. There's a looseness to the way she moves that makes everything lack a sense of purpose or urgency. There's a cross face in this match that has proper STFU vibes and her transitions look like she's made of spaghetti. I have the same problem with Tay Conti. Conversely I've noticed Moné looks to have put some bulk on recently and her stuff looks so much better and more stable for it.

Eddie always looks messy and could probably have benefitted from a more fluid/ flashier opponent than Big Bill as a comeback match.

I can't get around the idea that Copeland seems to see himself as better than AEW. He eats multiple finishers, wins with one spear and then is the centre piece of the post match where he watches his wife get fridged. Fuck off. 

 

[Chris B]

Nice easy watch of a show - not their best, but really solid.

That triple threat was absolutely great. Gave us enough Takeshita/Okada to show that they really work well together, and Dorada came across like a star at the same time. Really impressive stuff.

I think the title had become a little bit of an albatross for Toni Storm. She's so much on her own level that if they were to try to match the story they've already done with Mariah May for her losing it, it might never happen. It's clear some of their partners are interested in her, so she's earned the time to explore some of that and become a bigger star. I suspect we'll see her less often, but it'll be a bigger deal when she's around. They could have built Stat up more, but it's Stat - she's always fun to have around and the feud with Willow can take a bit more centre stage now. Willow and Jaymie feel like they'll fit better to feuds with her than Toni.

Good to see Eddie back, even if that was an unfortunate ending - these things happen, though.

The thumbtacks match was just the right amount of silly.

And Mercedes Mone's Twink Army for her belts had me laughing out loud. 

[The King of Old School]

I could kind of understand them trying to load the PPV's as much as possible when they were only doing 4 a year.

Now they do one every month though, there is just no need to have 13/14 matches per event including the pre show.

Let things breath a little, a 8 match main show with a couple on the pre show would work perfectly.

[DavidB6937]

7 hours ago, BrodyGraham said:

I can't get around the idea that Copeland seems to see himself as better than AEW. He eats multiple finishers, wins with one spear and then is the centre piece of the post match where he watches his wife get fridged. Fuck off. 

 

I don't really understand how any of this shows him as thinking he's better than AEW? I think it's safe to think he's probably not booking the entire thing. 

His AEW run has definitely been a bit strange and when it's all said and done I'm not convinced it will have been worth it, but I don't think anything of what you've said would suggest he's acting bigger and better than AEW.

[tiger_rick]

25 minutes ago, The King of Old School said:

I could kind of understand them trying to load the PPV's as much as possible when they were only doing 4 a year.

Now they do one every month though, there is just no need to have 13/14 matches per event including the pre show.

Let things breath a little, a 8 match main show with a couple on the pre show would work perfectly.

They might do it anyway, so I'm not going to go into bat for them, but given the paranoid market leader keep putting shows opposite them leading to the running earlier and choosing to go longer into those shows, it's a bit of a forced hand at the moment. I'd love for them to ignore it, put on a 4 hour banger of a show at the usual time and let everyone who loves them enjoy it and everyone who loves WWE watch that shite but they don't want to be seen to be just taking it.

[LaGoosh]

53 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

His AEW run has definitely been a bit strange and when it's all said and done I'm not convinced it will have been worth it, but I don't think anything of what you've said would suggest he's acting bigger and better than AEW.

Yeah I would agree with this. I think fundamentally Copeland's run feels like a WWE run taking place in AEW. It just doesn't fit the vibe, tone or feel of the promotion and I'm not sure it's doing either any favours. I think Copeland came in with the best of intentions.

For me the warning signs were there pretty early when shortly after his debut in an interview he listed all the people he wanted to work with in AEW and they were all ex-WWE guys.

Edited September 22, 2025 by LaGoosh

[BomberPat]

I thought it was an odd show, but I enjoyed it, and the earlier start time definitely helped that. I started the show an hour or two late, and was still finished by the time some US shows are only just starting. More of that, please.

I enjoyed C&C vs. FTR in isolation, though it's an odd step as part of the feud. There was a lot of fun feelgood stuff, which is what you want from a big tag team reunion in their hometown, but as a result it never felt like the blood feud it was supposed to - Copeland doing Cena's schtick to repay Cena for doing his was cute, as was C&C hitting each other's finishers, the 3D, and going for the Twist of Fate and Swanton combo (and maybe other little nods I missed), but that didn't feel like how you'd wrestle a match against hated rivals. And they clearly realised that, and chose to layer on all the heat after the match, but I just felt like that segment dragged on a bit too long. I don't know if Christian is going to be written off for a little while, but obviously it means this feud isn't over, and I'm not sure what I feel about that - I assumed C&C would win, and then the next question was what's next for them given Christian only agreed to team together as a mutual arrangement to deal with their problems, so what would be enough to keep them together? I figured there's a Young Bucks match and a title match (if they're not the same thing) in the future for them. But now I guess it's another FTR match? On one hand, a street fight or gimmicked up match of some kind would work around a lot of Copeland's limitations, on the other hand it increases the likelihood of him doing his "now it's time to get serious" growly face and carrying a stupid weapon around with him again. Maybe they do a TLC match, but I dread to think what Copeland tries to do in that.

It was nice to see Eddie Kingston back, but it's not the match for him. They didn't really gel, and I felt awful for him on the finish. I'm surprised he still went for the cover, rather than just hitting the backfist again properly. Knowing Eddie, fucking that up will be eating him up inside. Hopefully they move on and he does something great to put this behind him. Two out of two matches having a post-finish heat segment, which I didn't like, and I'm not sure where I land on the Eddie/Hook alliance, as it feels like a sideways move for Hook, and like it places Eddie solidly as a midcard act.Briscoe and MJF outstayed their welcome. It was fun to begin with, and I would disagree with whoever it was who earlier said that there was zero psychology - the early portions of this match were built really well around both wrestlers trying to avoid the tacks, and their different approaches to the match; they were getting big reactions just by teasing the simplest of moves, because of the tension around who was going to be first to take a bump on to the thumbtacks. It was diminishing returns once that was out of the way, though, because a chair covered in tacks or a table covered in tacks doesn't feel like an escalation when you've already rolled around in thousands of the things, and by the end you're numb to the visual. I like that Briscoe got the win, but it was too little too late for this feud.

Is this the first time Ricochet's group have been called The Demand? I'm not sure how I feel about it, or what it means. The match was fine, though overshadowed by how good Lashley and Liona's match on Dynamite was. It felt inevitable that MVP was taking the fall, and it'll be hilarious if that's the Syndicate's attempt to prove that really they are happy to do jobs, by letting their manager get beaten.

Moné and Riho was good - I knew going in that the dynamic would be really interesting, as we've never seen Moné as the heavier, stronger wrestler in a match, and there were definitely spots in here that she was able to do that she couldn't with any other opponent. The result was never in doubt, though, so I never got as invested as I could have done.

Okada/Takeshita/Dorada was absolutely brilliant. When they started the match by just taking it in turns to throw Dorada out of the ring, I was worried he would be an afterthought, but he was the absolute stand-out in this match, everything he did was fantastic. They left more than enough in the tank for the inevitable Takeshita/Okada singles match too, doing just enough here to make you excited for it without feeling like they'd given too much of it away. I assume they're waiting for Takeshita to win the IWGP belt before pulling the trigger on that one.

It never once occurred to me that Moxley might win the Coffin match. The Death Riders angle started with Moxley and Darby, I assumed it would end with Moxley and Darby, or at least noticeably move into its next phase, yet here we are. Especially after Moxley asked the Death Riders to leave, and Marina was last to go, I assumed that was backfiring on him, and Marina would lead a revolt of the Death Riders by refusing to free him from the coffin and just writing him out as leader. I don't know where you go with this angle when you've had Darby Allin and Bryan Danielson - the heart of the story, essentially - team up against them and still lose. They can't be building back to Death Riders vs. Assortment of Babyfaces, because we spent months working towards that and it happened. Maybe there's a Blood and Guts match later down the line, but I'm not sure why. The post-match with Darby setting Moxley on fire felt like maybe trying to have their cake and eat it too, to go back to Moxley's hubris getting the better of him once he'd dismissed the Death Riders, but without having him actually lose the match, and that's a terrible choice if so. I assumed the next step was Death Riders breaking up, maybe an nWo Black & White vs. Wolfpac situation with them splitting into two factions, but unless the follow-up on Dynamite goes in an unexpected direction, that doesn't seem likely. Maybe we get to Mox/Claudio/PAC/Yuta/Shafir vs. Darby/Danielson/Kingston/Hook/Willow, and a resolution to Statlander's storyline in that match, but it feels like going over old ground. I can't help but think they're keeping them together to eventually do Death Riders vs. The Elite, though that has to be months away if that's the plan.

Speaking of Statlander, I probably wouldn't have done the Women's Title match immediately after the Death Riders match, I'd have put some space between Wheeler Yuta appearances. Either that, or have Yuta bump in Stat backstage between matches to do their interaction, rather than bringing him back out to ringside. I thought the Women's Title match was good - Thekla looked the best she's been in AEW, and similar to Takeshita and Okada, I felt going in that the point of this match was to tease a more meaningful interaction between Toni and Jamie without giving too much away early. I figured that was the story all the way through, until Stat very abruptly won. It felt out of nowhere, but I don't mind a title win feeling unexpected from time, and Toni Storm is more than good enough for "what's next now she's not champion?" to be a more interesting storyline than her continuing to defend the belt, though I hope they don't lose sight of her and Jamie as the match. The last time Toni lost the title, she disappeared, so how does she handle it this time? I did find the timing for Stat's win odd, though - she won using a move associated with Wheeler Yuta, in the middle of a storyline about how she can't be trusted, yet the framing was of a long overdue babyface win, rather than a point of intrigue.

I was flagging by the time we got to the ladder match. It was good, full of bonkers spots, but too much that made me wince. Speedball hitting the Weapon X on the ladder, and mangling both his own knees and Hechicero's face and neck in the process, is something I'm amazed either of them have walked away from. I could have happily seen anyone but the Callis Family team win this one, and I'm glad they're giving Brodido a proper run as a team.  

Something I noticed in this match was that, while the crowd weren't great throughout, they never had the WWE Canadian crowd "Bizarro World" thing, and were perfectly happy to boo Canadian heels in Josh Alexander and Don Callis. Good.

The main event was fantastic. I was against it going in, felt Fletcher shouldn't be challenging for another title when his stated goal was being the best TNT Champion ever, and I generally don't like champions devaluing their existing belt by challenging for a different one. But the story of whether Fletcher was ready, and the comparisons drawn to Hangman's career? Brilliant, played to perfection. Adding in the stipulation that Fletcher would forfeit the TNT Title if he got DQ'd helped square the circle of my usual issues with this kind of match, because he does care about that championship, so he isn't going to risk it. Kyle is going to win the World Title one day, and they will have this match to refer back to as the start of that story.


Something I did find irritating, and is the one thing I would change above all else about AEW, is how badly agented this show was. Way too many repeated spots and moves across multiple matches. At least two matches featured a spot I hate already, which is someone hitting a superplex and immediately popping up to hit another move, but three matches featured the spot where one wrestler German suplexes multiple opponents, and that's inexcusably poor planning.

[LaGoosh]

42 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

they're keeping them together to eventually do Death Riders vs. The Elite,

They've already done Blackpool Combat Club vs The Elite which is basically the same thing. I can't see them going this way again at all.

[BomberPat]

3 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

They've already done Blackpool Combat Club vs The Elite which is basically the same thing. I can't see them going this way again at all.

I just can't really think what the end-game for the Death Riders is if not to lose to a bigger faction now. That might become clearer on Dynamite, or there might just not be an end-game planned. But it seemed like the story was that the Death Riders could run roughshod over AEW because the babyfaces couldn't get their act together and work for the greater good, and when they finally did, that allowed for Hangman Page to win the title, and for Darby Allin to start picking them off one by one. But then Darby fell at the final hurdle, and now what? Maybe an even more violent, more gimmicked up rematch with Moxley, to just get back to that point later down the line? Babyfaces who were adamant that Moxley needed to be stopped don't really seem to care all that much now that he isn't champion, even though he's still doing all the same shit he was before, just with no belt.

Just trying to think several months into the future as to how they would book an ending to this story if Darby beating Moxley in a gimmick match with Bryan Danielson's help wasn't to be the end of it, and maybe it's a few months of treading water and getting back to a version of that same story, but AEW don't tend to be that keen on rematches. I think the Don Callis Family storyline is going to eventually get to a Don Callis-aligned Young Bucks vs. Hangman & Omega, and I could see that eventually leading to an Elite reunion, followed by The Elite vs. Don Callis Family, and then Elite vs. Death Riders. But that's a lot of moving parts, and I'm probably way off, just the feeling I have of the current direction. 

[RedTwoster]

3 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I just can't really think what the end-game for the Death Riders is if not to lose to a bigger faction now. That might become clearer on Dynamite, or there might just not be an end-game planned. But it seemed like the story was that the Death Riders could run roughshod over AEW because the babyfaces couldn't get their act together and work for the greater good, and when they finally did, that allowed for Hangman Page to win the title, and for Darby Allin to start picking them off one by one. But then Darby fell at the final hurdle, and now what? Maybe an even more violent, more gimmicked up rematch with Moxley, to just get back to that point later down the line?

I was expecting Darby to win, and I think that’ll eventually happen. My guess is the end game is Moxley being forced out of his own group, resulting in a situation where no one really trusts him or is willing to assist. Moxley, Danielson, Darby and Kingston vs Claudio, Yuta, PAC and Garcia, perhaps? Maybe Gabe Kidd takes over the leadership role and it’s Mox vs Kidd? 

[tiger_rick]

I think the only thing that feels bigger than a Darby v Mox blow-off is a match involving Danielson after all this time. A big time 5 on 5 with the full Deathriders vs. Darby, Danielson and mates would be great. 

I will say that while I thought the Deathriders would have ended after the title win, I don't think it's outstayed it's welcome. As an act that isn't dominating the promotion, it has plenty of upside and intrigue. It's not being pushed above it's station, like the nWo was over Sting and Goldberg, and is fine in it's spot. I think there needs to be an end game but I'm fine with that being down the line and involving Bryan.