Welcome to the AEW All Out 2024 PPVPreview presented by GrapPro.com
We will be previewing all matches from the pay per view this week as they are announced.
To find all AEW All Out PPVPreview’s click here.
To find the AEW All In 2024 PPVPreview’s click here.
AEW Men’s World Championship
Jack Perry versus Bryan Danielson (c)
When I discussed potential contenders for Bryan Danielson in the Gauntlet For Dragon, I already laid out why Jack Perry deserves this title shot.
Jack Perry was the one who pinned Bryan Danielson in the Anarchy in the Arena match back at Double or Nothing 2024 to win the match for The Elite. It was the last time Bryan Danielson had been pinned in a match. Perry also defeated Darby Allin in the Coffin match at All In when Darby held a number one contender spot for the Men’s World Championship at Grand Slam.
For some, the fact it makes sense isn’t enough. It’s still the TNT Champion challenging the Men’s World Champion instead of having a different contender in line. Christian Cage won a title shot at All In with the Casino Gauntlet but they made that shot anywhere anytime so he doesn’t have to lock it in to any specific day or event.
A lot of the people I named for matches with Bryan Danielson were people who were either not ready for the match, not in the company, or not built up properly to get a title shot at a pay per view. I would love nothing more than to see Kyle O’Reilly versus Bryan Danielson for the AEW Men’s World Championship but not when he’s getting pinned in multi-man matches.
You can partially blame the booking for people to not be passionate about this since this is an extension of the AEW versus Elite storyline. The Elite have the World Tag Team Championship, TNT Championship, and Continental Championship. They are also clearly aligned with Mercedes Moné and could argue they have the TBS Championship under their umbrella as well. But they do not have a World Championship in a singles division, and that’s why it’s important for Jack Perry to beat Bryan Danielson at All Out.
And yes, it would mean Jack Perry getting a World Championship match one year after he was suspended for “Real Glass” at All In last year. During his suspension he worked in New Japan Pro Wrestling and tried to rip up his AEW contract. In New Japan he became The Scapegoat he is today, with his real “coming out” moment being Windy City Riot in Chicago at the Wintrust Arena in April, where he may have lost to Shota Umino but the match established The Scapegoat as a threat. He now returns to Chicago hoping for a better result.
I personally hope the TNT Championship gets defended more following this show, and I’m okay if it isn’t defended. The TNT and TBS Championships are television titles and should be more about television defences instead of pay per view defences. This is a concept a lot of AEW fans have had to struggle with, and Jack Perry not defending the title much hasn’t helped. The Continental Championship in some ways is starting to replace it as the workhorse title.
I haven’t said much about Bryan Danielson, but that isn’t due to apathy or anything. I’m still weary on if the win at All In was the right decision, and if this is just going to be a gold watch run. His promo on AEW Dynamite did make me feel a bit better that he has no plans to retire as champion as I was worried that was something Tony Khan would have wanted to happen. Danielson does plan to go out on his shield, and I commend him for that.
The American Dragon defending the championship only two weeks after, and then has Darby Allin at Grand Slam? He’s going to be very busy, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can survive both pillars and see who he faces in Tacoma, Washington for WrestleDream.
What adds a bit of spice to all of this is Jon Moxley’s return. Moxley was absent from Bryan Danielson’s celebration with the Men’s World Championship at All In. When he returned on Dynamite last week, he didn’t seem to be a member of Blackpool Combat Club. He had Marina Shafir by his side while throwing around riddles and mysterious statements. This week he told Jack Perry he’s a good kid, and it didn’t feel like this was a member of the BCC confronting The Elite. He feels completely separated from them without explanation.
Danielson tried to say on commentary that if The Elite try to make it a numbers game he had friends to even it up. Is Jon Moxley one of those friends? It sure doesn’t feel like it.
Did I just answer the question of who Danielson faces at WrestleDream? I guess we will see. He has to survive The Scapegoat first.
