AEW All In, 10 biggest takeaways: Hangman Adam Page has rescued AEW
A new World Champion was crowned in Hangman Adam Page, both MJF and Athena carved paths toward the top of the promotion, and Kenny Omega against Kazuchika Okada gave us exactly what we needed.
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As AEW continues to build on its strong momentum from the first half of the year, here's 10 key takeaways from a wild night in Arlington.
1. This isn't a story about redemption
Hangman Adam Page and Jon Moxley was always going to be a war. Their Texas Deathmatch was violent, and it took mere minutes for Moxley and Page to cut into each other — literally. Forks, barbwire, glass, chairs, tables, everything was game as both men sported crimson masks.
The end followed the roadmap many anticipated, with run-ins from the Death Riders and the Young Bucks. A Will Ospreay save wasn't enough. Darby Allin and Bryan Danielson returning wasn't enough either.
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It was never going to be about the "Avengers" saving AEW. And to Hangman's point, it wasn't about redemption either . It was about growth, transformation, and the further development of AEW's biggest rivals between Page and Swerve Strickland. Through blood, sweat and war against each other, they've developed a certain respect for one another.
For now, Page is the champion and the face of the company yet again. Strickland will come for the title yet again. Same for Ospreay and Allin. But those chapters are for another day. Right now, it's all about Hangman Adam Page — and a chance for him to soak in a well-earned moment.
2. Toni Storm remains "Timeless"
It's rare to find a talent who can blend the intensity of a main-event level championship match with the humor that a character like 'Timeless' Toni Storm can evoke. Mercedes Moné played a perfect dance partner as the all-too-serious contender who's all about business and who grew infuriated as the champion paraded around the ring.
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As the match continued to build, Storm and Moné drifted further from the comedic bits that opened the action and hit their stride with a hard-hitting, technical, and a back-and-forth showdown that was about as evenly matched as possible. It was a match that would've been worthy of the main event and lived up to every expectation fans had for the two top women's wrestlers in AEW.
The question now is where Storm and Moné go from here. A new champion likely would have opened the door for a rematch, maybe a trilogy down the road. Does AEW go right back to the well here or do we see Storm move on to the next challenger in the way she has against the likes of Mina Shirakawa and Megan Bayne? Or perhaps the person to match Storm and dethrone the champ is Athena, which would open up an entire world of opportunities. (More on that in a moment.)
3. Okada vs. Omega served its purpose
Kenny Omega 's tilt with Kazuchika Okada felt like it had unrealistic expectations coming into it, and it never quite reached the level that transcended the sport like many of these two's prior matches. That's not to discredit Saturday's latest whatsoever, though. It perfectly encapsulated the story that was relevant to this version of Omega and Okada.
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The duo continued to play on real injuries that kept Omega on the shelf for over a year. Omega thrives in a place where he can make every move feel like it's the end, whether it was a DDT, a front dropkick into the turnbuckle, or a shot to his midsection, and he went all in to sell those moments.
They played with the pace, as Omega sold the injuries, starting slow, building fast, and then slowing their movements down to let things breathe. Omega and Okada were the perfect conductors as the audience lived and died on their every move as they sprinted to the finish. They never quite reached the next gear though, and the outside interference from Don Callis muddied the waters of what could have been.
4. What are founding fathers without power? The Young Bucks
Earlier this week, the Young Bucks told me they're both leaner, moving younger, and have no plans to get left behind. That couldn't ring more true after they put on another absolute classic with huge implications against Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay.
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The Bucks and Ospreay/Swerve put together a Match of the Year candidate that had everything — drama, near-falls, dirty tactics, emotions. Similar to the Death Riders run on top, there's no question it's time for the Bucks to navigate an EVP-less version of themselves on-screen again. The post-All In AEW offers an opportunity to reset the Bucks potentially as the top faces of the promotion, which currently feels heavily skewed with heel tag-teams. That's more of a long view, though, considering they both took out Page toward the end of the main event.
While it'll be refreshing to get the Bucks with a different character element eventually, it is a shame we won't see how AEW would have navigated a year without Strickland or Ospreay in the title picture. That likely would have been a travesty as both showed yet again why they're consistently right at the top of the card.
5. Athena has arrived
With a dominant Ring of Honor run under her belt, Athena's path to the AEW roster — and specifically the AEW Women's World Championship picture — has been a bit of an unknown. Her match against Mercedes Moné in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament felt like a turning point. But in the weeks that followed, the only known was that she'd defend the ROH Women's Championship at Supercard of Honor the night before.
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She was a last-minute addition to the Women's Casino Gauntlet Battle Royal and the overwhelming favorite as soon as she hit the ring. The roar that followed the referee's hand hitting the count of three was deafening, and for the first time, it feels like we have clarity on where Athena goes from here.
6. MJF has a path back to the top
The Casino Gauntlet Battle Royal concept continues to be an absolute home run for AEW, structuring these multi-person matches in a way that doesn't feel overboard, all while weaving in elements of different stories together without things feeling completely out of control.
Konosuke Takeshita felt like a star who does the most with whatever screen time he's had between his ROH Supercard of Honor match Friday night against Bandido and his participation in Saturday's Men's Battle Royal.
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Pairing the Gates of Agony with Ricochet continues to pay off. It was a fun false finish to bring them down and set the win for their group leader, only for the Gunns to make the save for Juice Robinson. The trios division could use some substance and these teams are just that.
What really stood out throughout the match was the emphasis on MJF vs. Mark Briscoe, starting and ending with the fierce rivals. The opening sequence perfectly encapsulated what MJF is right now, with attempt after attempt to win the match early signaling he wants to move up as fast as he can. The finish, with Briscoe hitting his brother's Jay Driller only for MJF to toss him out of the ring and steal the victory, opened the door for that rivalry to continue to have legs.
MJF really thrives in a way that feels very reminiscent of Rick Rude, with his own special twist. He's refreshed as a member of the Hurt Syndicate, and it'll be fascinating to see how his dynamic plays out with an AEW World Championship title shot in his control.
7. AEW plays to the home crowd … again
At the very first All In, Saraya captured the AEW Women's Championship in a Fatal 4-Way against Hikaru Shida, Toni Storm and Britt Baker, in a match that felt very much like it was playing to the home crowd without necessarily a clear long-term direction. She went on to hold the belt for 44 days, defending it just once before Shida earned it back.
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When it was announced that Adam Cole was relinquishing the TNT championship earlier in the evening, it was a gut punch to see someone who'd worked so hard suffer another setback (potentially ending his career). When the replacement match was announced though, what followed was a realization that maybe history would repeat itself.
Credit to Dustin Rhodes for continuing to press forward and putting himself in a position to win on AEW's biggest stage, and AEW CEO Tony Khan's logic of giving Rhodes another shot at a title he's come so close to before makes sense. But it was a shocking conclusion to a match that seemed gift-wrapped for Kyle Fletcher to win — only for Rhodes to capture the TNT Championship. I can't wrap my head around the long-term play of Rhodes holding the title, either. Perhaps it opens the door for Fletcher to dispatch him quickly before going on a dominant run as the clear future of the men's division. Or Sammy Guevara turns heel again, as was teased shortly after the bell signaled the end of the match. For right now, this one was a head-scratcher.
Other thoughts:
8. Outrunners vs. FTR had all the makings of an All In main-card match, and they put on an excellent bridge between Zero Hour and the main card. FTR is at their best as despicable heels, with underhanded tactics to find ways to win. The Outrunners remain one of the most over and entertaining acts in AEW. Also, their Newports cosplay was top-tier.
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9. Big Justice and Big Boom AJ were a really fun part of the Zero Hour show. They've totally bought in on being an entertaining part of the show without necessarily needing the entire spotlight.
10. The Hurt Syndicate keeps running through everyone. At some point, there has to be some resistance to make this interesting. Is that through Edge and Christian? Perhaps, as the wheels finally appear to be in motion for the tag team that totally reeks of awesomeness to reunite.
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