We’re 48 hours after AEW All Out 2024 so it’s time to go over the show afterwards based on my predictions and previews.
You can check out my All Out 2024 Predictions and Previews here.
I said in my All In 2024 Thoughts it was a very strong show but wasn’t to the point of surpassing Revolution 2024 as the best pay per view of the year for All Elite Wrestling.
All Out 2024 is the best pay per view of 2024 for AEW.
Three absolute classics, four strong matches, and only one match that fell below my expectations. The main event was one of the greatest AEW main events of all time. This could go down as one of the greatest events in AEW history. All Out has continued its legacy from last year as being the premier event for those who follow AEW every day. Or “For the Sickos” if you prefer.
Favourite Wrestling Match
Swerve Strickland versus Hangman Adam Page
I said in my predictions I didn’t know what would happen and how it would end. I wasn’t pretending at all. I had absolutely no idea what would be the finish of this match.
Let’s just say I had to go to the dentist today and it was not easy.
Hangman Adam Page and Swerve Strickland took one year of story and wrapped it into an incredible cage match with twists, turns, callbacks, and references to previous blood feud cage matches in history.
In my predictions I referenced Magnum TA versus Tully Blanchard’s steel cage I Quit Match and Swerve/Page were definitely on the same wave length. Hangman took out a charred wooden stake, likely from a piece of furniture, and tried bludgeoning Swerve Strickland with it. Swerve would take it from him and hit Hangman with it before breaking down into tears.
The finish to Magnum versus Tully was a broken wooden chair that Tully tried to stab into Magnum’s eye, only for Magnum to take a different piece of chair and stab Tully with it until he quit.
We saw the staple gun come into play. We saw the cinderblock once used to crush Keith Lee’s head in Swerve’s heel turn, and also the way he knocked out Hangman Page before choking him out with a chain in the Texas Death match.
There was only one blown spot, which was referee Paul Turner for some reason stopping Hangman from using a steel chair. While leaning down, Swerve tried to do the flip over Buckshot Lariat to Hangman that Page once used on Lance Archer in a Texas Death match. It didn’t go so well. It’s the only blemish on the match.
Both wrestlers took some of the most outrageous bumps I’ve seen in a match. A Cop Killer on a cinderblock. A powerbomb on a cinderblock. Swerve stapling photos of his family on Hangman Page’s face then ripping it out.
There was a point where the crowd chanted for fire because how else was this going to end? Neither man was willing to quit and neither man was going to take a pin. It would take an extreme level of destruction to lead to one man falling.
Hangman Adam Page would remove Swerve Strickland’s grill, pull out a needle, shove it in Swerve’s face, and then hit him with a chair shot straight to the skull with the needle still hanging out of his mouth. Swerve was knocked out with that, and Hangman Page finally defeats Swerve Strickland.
There are some who will point out the win doesn’t matter. Swerve didn’t tap out or get pinned. The match was unsanctioned so it doesn’t count for either man’s record. That’s true, but there’s no doubt in anyone’s minds this was Hangman Adam Page winning his first main event pay per view match since he was AEW Men’s World Champion. Revolution 2022.
916 days.
This match made me uncomfortable. It made me grimace. I loved every second of it. It was a horror film in wrestling form. How far would two men go when pushed to the limits? That far.
Swerve Strickland created a monster, and the AEW fanbase helped. That monster? Hangman Adam Page.
Best Wresting Match
PAC versus Will Ospreay
I’ll first give an honourable mention to Willow Nightigale versus Kris Statlander. In my preview I mentioned they had to reach the level of Diamante versus Leyla Hirsch at Death Before Dishonor and they absolutely did it. And they did it having to follow this.
PAC versus Will Ospreay was pro wrestling excellence. Two men with total control of their bodies, capable of incredible athleticism and good physical impact on their strikes and moves.
Will Ospreay has had an incredible 2024 in AEW, wrestling pretty much the best the company has to offer in great match after great match. PAC was no different.
PAC is becoming in a funny way the new Billy Kidman. No really, hear me out. Billy Kidman used to have a reputation of never being powerbombable because he’d always hurricanrana you out of it. PAC does that in this match and it creates so many exciting moments. You think okay this is where Ospreay will hit the NOPE PAC HURRICANRANA.
PAC is an incredible seller. Maybe the best on the AEW roster. It’s such a treat to watch. Toshiaki Kawada is hopefully proud.
Just a fantastic win by Ospreay and hopefully he can start taking that AEW International Championship worldwide now.
More Thoughts After 48
Hikaru Shida: I feel bad for Shida. She was having a pretty good match with Mercedes Moné and then that finish? Everything completely fell apart. Moné seemed to no sell a knee, and then Shida tried it again and hit it, but Moné didn’t really sell it so she did it again and it looked ugly. Just took me completely out of the match. It’s unfortunate. Thought that match could have been better.
Jack Perry: Great performance against Bryan Danielson but now it’s time to defend the TNT Championship and often. Also, that moment where Killshot was in the ring with him? That tension. We gotta get that boy and his dinosaur back together.
Jon Moxley: I talked more about it in The Club is Closed but with Jon Moxley officially heel? It makes things very interesting at the top of the AEW card.
Daniel Garcia: I’ve heard rumours he hasn’t officially signed with All Elite Wrestling yet. Not sure what he’s waiting for. You want to replace Bryan Danielson? Can’t do that in the fed with weekly Twitter matches under three minutes buddy.
Kris Statlander: Fantastic win for Kris Statlander and well deserved. I’m not sure if she goes after Mercedes or Mariah May, so I’m curious to see what she does next.
Konosuke Takeshita: The AEW Continental Championship is his destiny.
Zero Hour: One of the worst efforts of a pre-show I’ve seen from AEW in some time. Truly was just a, “Let’s get a bunch of people on the show” lack of effort. The pre-show can mean something if you do it right and AEW has done it right in the past. Remember Riho versus Serena Deeb? PAC versus Kip Sabian? Hook versus Jack Perry? Okay maybe that one meant too much.
Swerve Strickland: Heard he’s taking a well deserved break (as well as MJF?) after his fantastic title run. I’ll probably write more on Swerve’s title reign this week. It will be interesting who he is when he returns from the break. Did Hangman Page break him like he broke Hangman? Will he be able to live with the fact he never got proper revenge for Hangman burning down his childhood home?
Ricochet: Keep that man away from a microphone. He’s a cool wrestler. Let him do cool wrestling. Nobody is demanding for Hologram to talk. Ricochet should take notes.
Wheeler Yuta: I wonder if PAC and Claudio can bully him into defending the Trios Championship with them.
Hangman Adam Page: Last update I saw from WrestleTix was All Out sold 8,500 tickets. On August 30th, WrestleTix said they only sold 6,500 tickets. That’s 2,000 tickets sold on excitement for the lights out steel cage match with Swerve Strickland that was announced on the August 28th Dynamite. Credit for that should go to both Swerve Strickland and Adam Page. People keep saying AEW has a ticket selling problem. Maybe they have an Adam Page not in the main event problem? The Cruel Summer is over. Time for Hangman’s Fall.
WrestleDream in Tacoma, Washington is October 12, 2024. AEW won’t be taking any breaks with Grand Slam on September 25 and the 5th Anniversary of Dynamite on October 2.
