It’s a classic Labor Day Weekend dilemma. All Out, All Elite Wrestling’s fourth event, is tonight, and you don’t have time to go on YouTube and watch hours and hours of content to get caught up with the storylines heading into it. You just want to drink your beverage of choice (hard or soft seltzer, since it’s 2019), chill out and watch some wrasslin’. Well, never fear, you can just crack open another White Claw and read this card preview. No work necessary.
The Buy In: Casino Battle Royale for Shot at the AEW Women’s World Championship
The winner of the battle royale at Double or Nothing is in the main event of All Out to become the inaugural All Elite Wrestling World Champion, so this is going to be the same deal, but for women. A few familiar faces from prior AEW shows have been announced: actual dentist Dr. Britt Baker, Allie, Nyla Rose, Yuka Sakazaki, and the CBO herself Brandi Rhodes. AEW has also announced: Big Swole (fka Aerial Monroe), the UK’s Sadie Gibbs (who got a pretty rad promo video at Fight for the Fallen), ECW’s Jazz, Lucha Underground’s Ivelisse, the Australian Shazza McKenzie, and Teal Piper (Roddy Piper’s daughter.) That’s only eleven names, which means the other ten will be a surprise.
I’d be very surprised if we don’t see Bea Priestley and “Smiley” Kylie Rae show up here. My fingers are crossed for Aja Kong and Awesome Kong, whose staredown at Fight for the Fallen was the best part of a pretty lackluster event. Other women signed to AEW not announced for this show include Penelope Ford and Leva Bates.
Prediction: There’s a lot of different ways they can go here, honestly, which is kinda cool. I’m going with Britt though.
The Buy In: Private Party vs Angélico & Jack Evans
A match like this one really shows AEW at its best: an up and coming tag team against a long standing one that has flown under the radar in the United States. Private Party really impressed me in their match at Fyter Fest, and the team of Angélico and Evans have been consistently fuckboi, dirtbaggy and punchable since they first arrived. The Young Bucks have already stated their intent to wrestle Private Party in the first month of AEW on TNT, so they are really a team to keep an eye on. This should be a fun one.
Prediction: Private Party wins.
Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy & Marko Stunt vs SCU
The only things you really need to know going into this are that: Luchasaurus is super tall, Jungle Boy is kind of small, and Marko Stunt is extremely small. The guys in SCU are all pretty standard non WWE wrestler sized. Also Luchasaurus is an actual dinosaur man from actual dinosaur times, and he has a masters degree in medieval literature.
This match is happening because the SCU guys kept seeing dinosaur things everywhere and took it as a sign from the universe. Good shit.
Prediction: Luchasaurus & small men win.
Joey Janela vs Jimmy Havoc vs Darby Allin
The three-man team that I dubbed “Team Disaster” at Fight for the Fallen have turned on each other and now have this threeway match. For the uninitiated: “The Bad Boy” Joey Janela is kind of a sleazy New Jersey troublemaker, Darby Allin is a spooky skater punk, and Jimmy Havoc is an emo goth deathmatch Englishman who has made his bald spot part of his hairstyle. They all love unnecessary amounts of violence. My fingers are crossed that we see one of Darby Allin’s skateboards (with or without thumbtacks) get in the mix.
Prediction: Darby Allin wins.
Winner Gets a First Round Bye in the AEW Tag Team Tournament: The Dark Order vs Best Friends
The Best Friends have both called their opponents “spooky perverts” and clarified that having masked minions is extremely cool as long as you don’t bring them to work to beat people up for you. If that isn’t good babyface character work, I don’t know what is.
I was lucky enough to see a preview of this match at last month’s Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show, and it slayed. This is going to be a classic good guys versus bad guys tag team wrestling match. I couldn’t really tell you what happened except that I was jumping out of my seat with excitement and yelling a lot. If that match was any indication, this one is going to be a blast.
Prediction: Honestly, I think The Dark Order winning this sets them up to be much more formidable foes for the Best Friends. I still hope the Best Friends win.
Riho vs Hikaru Shida
While technically this isn’t the first women’s singles match in AEW history, it may be the first good women’s singles match in AEW history, so that’s pretty exciting. Shida and Riho were teammates at Double or Nothing, where Shida picked up the win. Riho got her first win at Fyter Fest a month later. While there’s no officially stated stipulation regarding the Women’s Championship, it’s hard to imagine that whoever prevails here won’t be seriously considered for a shot.
Prediction: Hikaru Shida wins
PAC vs Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega was supposed to face Jon Moxley at All Out, since Moxley debuted for the company in the first place by surprise attacking Omega in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, Mox injured himself on his (fabulous, wonderful, award-worthy) stint in New Japan’s G1 tournament this summer. As far as last minute replacements go, putting PAC in here is kind of like saying “sorry, we’re out of Sprite, is champagne okay?”
Most wrestling fans are more familiar with PAC’s work in WWE as Neville, the high flying compact beefcake who was tied up in contract weirdness for like a full year when he tried to leave the company. He was supposed to have his AEW debut against Hangman Page at Double or Nothing, but debuting against Kenny Omega instead? Again, I love Sprite, and if I’m asking for Sprite, I probably want some Sprite. But I’m not going to say no to champagne. The Bastard King taking on the Gamer King? This is going to be nuts.
Prediction: I could actually see this going to a time limit draw. Both men really need the momentum a win would give them, but I’m going to go with PAC.
Ladder Match for the AAA World Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks vs The Lucha Bros (c)
I have learned my lesson from Fight for the Fallen and will never complain again about seeing the Young Bucks wrestle the Lucha Bros. Yes, they have wrestled them on three of the four previous AEW events, and yes, they also wrestled them on the proto AEW event All In, but it’s always pretty good. They’re playing the hits. Expect a high flying, fast paced spotfest, with carefully planned out moments for you to chant “this is awesome” and “holy shit.”
Yeah, it’s repetitive, whatever. As long as I don’t ever have to see the Bucks vs the Rhodeses again, I’m happy.
Prediction: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Young Bucks win.
Cody vs Shawn Spears
At Fyter Fest, Shawn Spears turned on his old friend Cody, hitting him in the head with a chair so hard Cody needed ten (ten! ten! ten!) stitches, and now they have a big singles match about it. Tully Blanchard, an old man who used to wrestle Dusty Rhodes, is also there. As Spears’ advisor, I guess. Someone surely cares about this match. Someone out there is psyched to hell that the “ten” chant guy from WWE is a top dude in AEW. If you’re that someone, hey, good for you buddy.
MJF might show up, that’d be cool I guess.
Word to the wise: if you aren’t a. psyched to hell about this match, or b. reviewing this event for your job, this will be full of video packages and probably much longer than it needs to be. It’s looking like your best bathroom break/7-11 run option. Just saying.
Prediction: Cody wins. God… can you imagine if Shawn Spears wins? What a precedent to set. WWE’s F-Tier is going to come running.
AEW World Championship: Hangman Page vs Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho has been a professional wrestler for longer than Hangman Page has been alive. Jericho may not look as good as he did in his younger days, but he’s got star power and bloodlust. Hangman Page is supremely athletic, absurdly handsome, and has been part of the Being the Elite squad for years. Page’s murdering, cheating days seem to be behind him now. He’s a hunky cowboy with a good heart who works hard.
This match will see more of Jericho’s new brawling, aggressive style and Page’s strong athleticism. We’ll have to wait for tonight to see if Page is going to try to outsmart the enraged Gen Xer or just have more heart and stamina.
More than the action in the match itself, I’m interested in the choice being made here between a 49 year old wrestling legend with a vanity rock band and a super hot 28 year old former art teacher with a killer slingshot lariat. It’s a choice not just between the past and the future, but between character and workrate. There are good arguments to be made for both options. The winner isn’t just the first champion, he’s a statement this new company is making about their own identity. That’s a big deal.
Prediction: Adam Page wins.
Start Time, How to Watch
All Out’s Buy-In preshow starts at 7 PM Eastern/4 PM Pacific Time, and streams for free on YouTube and B-R Live.
All Out’s main show starts at 8 PM Eastern/5 PM Pacific Time, and can be bought in the US and Canada on B-R Live for $49.99. It’s on ITV Box Office in the UK and Fite TV everywhere else. $49.99 is pretty steep, so maybe invite some friends over and get them to pitch in.
