After things almost went off the rails at AEW All In 2023, Samoa Joe helped get the show back on track and give fans the product they paid to see.
The 2023 event was a big night for AEW with the promotion running Wembley Stadium in London for the first time. But Tony Khan told Q101 Radio that it was also AEW’s most stressful pay-per-view “by far” due to the backstage incident that took place between CM Punk and Jack Perry. Khan credited Joe — who faced Punk at the PPV — for de-escalating the situation and making sure that their scheduled match could still happen.
“The most stressful pay-per-view was the first Wembley — by far. Samoa Joe saved the day there,” Khan said.
“I think it was very good that Samoa Joe de-escalated the situation. And also that Samoa Joe made sure that the fans got the match that they thought they had paid to see. And he went out there and everything was great, and he was such a professional. That exemplifies Samoa Joe in the ring and out of the ring. The most professional man. He was so great that day and so many other times. He’s one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met. What a leader Samoa Joe is — in the ring and out of the ring. A captain, a true captain of a team. I’m very blessed that he’s in AEW.”
Punk defeated Joe at the PPV, but it ended up being the last match that Punk ever had in AEW. He was terminated from his contract over the incident and returned to WWE soon after, where he is the current World Heavyweight Champion.
Video of the backstage altercation at All In between CM Punk and Jack Perry was shown on AEW Dynamite.
The Young Bucks introduced the footage, playing into their storyline with FTR who were associated with Punk during his run in the company. They ultimately blamed the backstage situation for their loss at All In against FTR.
The footage, which had no audio, showed Punk walking up to Perry and engaging in a conversation with him. Punk then suddenly shoved Perry and placed him in a front facelock. Samoa Joe, Jerry Lynn, and Chris Hero, who were in the area, immediately broke up the altercation. Punk could be seen talking to someone off-camera, as Sonjay Dutt could be seen talking to Perry. Malakai Black walked up to Punk to talk to him. The footage ends with Punk leaving.
In character, The Young Bucks praised Perry, calling him a “loveable kid. ” They did not name Punk, but said the “other individual” tried to make it about himself, someone who were good friends with FTR. They insinuated that FTR were the masterminds behind the altercation, though later took it back as it was unprofessional.
The altercation ultimately led to Punk’s firing from AEW and his return to the WWE a few months later at Survivor Series. Perry was suspended from the promotion and has since been working NJPW dates using the moniker “The Scapegoat,”. Matthew ended their segment on Wednesday showing he was wearing a Scapegoat t-shirt.
Tony Khan said Wednesday’s Dynamite is the ‘right time and place’ to air the altercation that took place at All In last August.
Speaking to Uproxx, Khan said that the footage they are airing on Wednesday’s show between Jack Perry and CM Punk is relevant to upcoming plans for The Young Bucks, who are set to face FTR in the finals of the AEW Tag Team title tournament at AEW Dynasty on April 21.
“For us, this is a decision based on the timing of our upcoming pay-per-view, AEW Dynasty, and given where the Young Bucks stand going into the World Tag Team Championship Tournament finals at AEW Dynasty,” he says. “This was the right time and place for them to play this footage and talk about why it’s relevant to them and AEW going forward and what this means going into AEW Dynasty.”
The company announced on Saturday that The Young Bucks will be airing backstage footage from All In on AEW Dynamite, with Nicholas & Matthew Jackson talking about the footage for the first time. The altercation between Perry and Punk ultimately led to Punk’s firing from AEW and Perry’s suspension from the company.
AEW shot an angle on Wednesday’s Dynamite to add Christian Cage to Sunday’s All In coffin match, replacing AR Fox.
Fox & Swerve Strickland were defeated in tag team action by Nick Wayne & Darby Allin on Dynamite when Wayne pinned Fox.
After the match, Strickland said that the tag bout had been a test for Fox and that Fox had failed. Strickland turned on Fox and had Prince Nana fire him from the Mogul Embassy stable, leaving Strickland without a partner for the announced Fox & Strickland vs. Allin & Sting coffin match at Sunday’s All In pay-per-view.
Allin & Fox then reestablished their friendship after Fox had turned against Allin & Wayne to join Strickland & Mogul Embassy weeks ago.
Christian Cage then entered with Luchasaurus and cut a promo on Wayne’s late father, aligning with Strickland. The coffin match was then re-announced later in the program as Cage & Strickland vs. Allin & Sting.
The updated All In card:
AEW All In, Sunday, August 27, 1 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
AEW World Championship: MJF defends against Adam Cole
AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida defends against Toni Storm, Britt Baker & Saraya
AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defend against The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
Real World Championship: CM Punk defends against Samoa Joe
AEW World Trios Championship: The House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews & Brody King) vs. The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) & Billy Gunn
Stadium Stampede match: Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo, Orange Cassidy & Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta), Santana & Ortiz
Coffin match: Sting & Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland & Christian Cage
Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay
The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Hangman Page) vs. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Juice Robinson) & Konosuke Takeshita
Zero Hour pre-show, 12 p.m. Eastern time on AEW’s YouTube & social media channels —
ROH World Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defend against Better Than You Bay Bay (MJF & Adam Cole)
Santana & Ortiz returned to AEW, reuniting as a duo and aligning with the Blackpool Combat Club ahead of Sunday’s All In Stadium Stampede match.
Santana made his return for the first time since suffering a devastating knee injury in last year’s Blood & Guts match on the June 29, 2022 Dynamite. Ortiz has intermittently appeared for AEW since last year’s Blood & Guts, occasionally working as a single or in mixed tags, but Dynamite marked his first appearance for company since an ROH match taped on April 5.
In their return, Santana & Ortiz aligned with Blackpool Combat Club, turning on Eddie Kingston in the process in an angle that involved Jon Moxley & the BCC attacking Rey Fenix as Kingston & Penta El Zero Miedo ran in for the save. Santana, Ortiz, Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli took out Kingston & Penta, then Orange Cassidy & Best Friends entered to even the odds.
Fenix was taken out of the arena on a stretcher after the angle, creating a scenario where the originally announced six-on-six Stadium Stampede match for All In was changed to a five-on-five, with Moxley, Castagnoli, Yuta, Santana & Ortiz facing Kingston, Penta, Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor & Cassidy.
The updated All In lineup:
AEW All In, Sunday, August 27, 1 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
AEW World Championship: MJF defends against Adam Cole
AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida defends against Toni Storm, Britt Baker & Saraya
AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defend against The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
Real World Championship: CM Punk defends against Samoa Joe
AEW World Trios Championship: The House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews & Brody King) vs. The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) & Billy Gunn
Stadium Stampede match: Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo, Orange Cassidy & Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta), Santana & Ortiz
Coffin match: Sting & Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland & Christian Cage
Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay
The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Hangman Page) vs. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Juice Robinson) & Konosuke Takeshita
Zero Hour pre-show, 12 p.m. Eastern time on AEW’s YouTube & social media channels —
ROH World Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defend against Better Than You Bay Bay (MJF & Adam Cole)
Behind the scenes of the last month of AEW. why stories were kept quiet, why people were not allowed to attend Collision, why this has gone on for 18 months
All of the recent incidents talked about from multiple sides
The promo by C.M. Punk and what happened at the Greensboro show which led to all of his getting out
Different reactions to the promo
The apology that did happen
All In and attendance records plus the updated card with new matches that have not yet been announced
Full coverage of the end of G-1 and the big fall shows for New Japan
Business notes on G-1
Naito has two of the best matches of the year
Koichi Yoshizawa and his role in Japanese wrestling coverage in the U.S.
Saturday’s UFC coverage and where the top stars go from here as well as the business notes
Coverage of the final TripleMania show of the year and storylines behind it
Tammy Sytch update
The most detailed look at ratings for all the wrestling and MMA shows, gains and losses with what groups and why, what segments did the best and worst
Another women’s champion out of action due to surgery
RevPro and CMLL working relationship notes
World Grand Prix notes
Stardom PPV coverage and upcoming tag team tournament
N-1 coverage
New Japan and Stardom business notes
Hiromu Takahashi talks junior heavyweight goals
New Japan PPV shows this weekend
One of the biggest women stars has major surgery and a look back at her career
How the television industry continues to change
Full PWG coverage of the first show since January including some of AEW’s top stars
Update on new promotion opening next month and what well known announcer is in talks to appear
RevPro anniversary show update
WWE & AEW upcoming ticket sales
WWE & AEW streaming numbers
WWE and AEW international ratings
Conor McGregor talks future
Former UFC legend officially retires
Update on Bellator sale
Update on PPV numbers for Diaz-Paul and SummerSlam
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Friday Update
Garrett Gonzales and I did a show with Mike Tenay today talking about newsletters in the 70s and Koichi Yoshizawa, as well as updating some of the news in the current Observer. Garrett & I will be back tomorrow night covering Collision, UFC, Smackdown and the other weekend news as well as do our usual week in review stuff. Bryan and I will be back up on Monday.
The new issue of the Observer is up and we’ve gotten a lot of compliments regarding it as one of the best issues of the year, both the lead story on AEW and the story on Koichi Yoshizawa.
There is still no update regarding the status of the FTR vs. Young Bucks match at All In. Daniel Wheeler is legally allowed to go to England. Tony Khan hasn’t said anything regarding the arrest of Wheeler that broke earlier today although it actually was from a few weeks ago. There is no word on when Khan first round out but talent that we know found out the same time everyone else did. I would expect if there is a change that it would be addressed on Collision tomorrow night. The idea that I’ve seen brought up by fans, ironically, is the same idea I had, which is basically hold up the titles if the decision is made not to use Wheeler at this time, and have Dax team with Mark Briscoe and go for the vacated titles against the Young Bucks. Now Briscoe was injured so that also may not be possible. But at this moment Young Bucks vs. FTR is still the match on the schedule.
All In was at 80,848 tickets out as of earlier today. The largest legit crowd ever at a pro wrestling event that the majority paid to attend was 80,709 at WrestleMania 32. So in a sense, that record appears to have been broken. It is possible that some people with tickets won’t attend, but it is unlikely that number would be higher than the number of tickets that will be sold over the next eight days. So this show probably sets the all-time record but that’s not official until the day of the show.
WWE released that WrestleMania for next year has sold 90,000 tickets for Philadelphia which is a combined number of two days or 45,000 each day. Pretty much all the tickets that were put on sale today were sold, and most tickets were already sold in the presale earlier in the week. Obviously more tickets will be released as the event approaches. For a WrestleMania set up, the show could put 62,000 in and obviously they are announcing a number larger than that.
WWE is claiming a gate record for Philadelphia. But that would be by adding the gate of two shows together. The claim is more than the record of $21.5 million set last year. However, the audited two date combined number from Los Angeles was really $19,749,071. To me, nobody combines two shows for gate records. New Japan doesn’t claim the two gates for Wrestle Kingdom beat the Inoki vs. Don Frye record. WWE had claimed $17.3 million for WrestleMania 2016 and neither show this year or next year will hit that mark, but of course adding up the two shows and comparing it to one would be a higher number. This isn’t to say the number isn’t impressive as it is. But it would be like baseball adding up the seven games of the World Series together and claiming they drew more than a single NFL game.
With Edge’s possible retirement match tonight, it was noted that the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which features Adam Copeland in a recurring role, will premiere on 12/20 on Disney+.
Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. on TNT has:
Rey Fenix vs. Komander – people who saw this live were raving about it
Ethan Page & Brother Zay vs. Aussie Open
Sammy Guevara vs. Jon Cruz
Hikaru Shida & Skye Blue vs. Toni Storm & Ruby Soho
We are looking for reports on these weekend shows:
Smackdown tonight in Toronto (dark matches only)
NXT tonight in Citrus Springs, FL
WWE house show tomorrow night in Ottawa, ONT
NXT tomorrow night in Tampa*WWE Sunday in Laval, Quebec
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
UFC 292 is tomorrow from the TD Garden in Boston:
ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. Eastern
Karine Silva (125) vs. Maryna Moroz (125)
Andrea Lee (125) vs. Natalia Silva (125)
Andre Petroski (186) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (185)
ESPN 2 at 8 p.m. Eastern
Brad Katona (135) vs. Cody Gibson (135)
Austin Hubbard (155) vs. Kurt Holobaugh (155.5)
Gregory Rodrigues (186) vs. Denis Tiuliulin (185)
Chris Weidman (186) vs. Brad Tavares (185)
PPV at 10 p.m.
Marlon Vera (135) vs. Pedro Munhoz (135)
Da’Mon Blackshear (135.5) vs. Mario Bautista (136)
Ian Machado Garry (170.5) vs. Neil Magny (170.5)
Zhang Weili (115) vs. Amanda Lemos (114) for the strawweight title
Aljamain Sterling (135) vs. Sean O’Malley 135) for the bantamweight title
Chris Weidman was very upset about his return fight after a gruesome broken leg not being on the PPV. I don’t really understand that decision either, especially with the show on ESPN 2 rather than ESPN.
PFL on ESPN tonight at 9 p.m. from the Theater in Madison Square Garden:
Renan Ferreira vs. Maurice Greene in a heavyweight tournament semifinal
Larissa Pacheco vs. Olena Kolesnyk in a women’s featherweight tournament
Denis Goltsov vs. Jordan Heiderman in a heavyweight semifinal
Marina Makhnatkina vs. Amber Leibrook in a women’s featherweight semifinal
The semifinal winners go to a championship match later this year where the tournament winners get a $1 million bonus.
Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 tournament has shows in Sapporo on Saturday and Sunday.
New Japan has two PPV shows this weekend,the All-Star Junior Festival on Saturday and the joint show with Impact on Sunday, both from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Added to the Sunday show is TJP & Franesco Akira, one of the top tag teams in the world, facing Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita.
Gunther, Grayson Waller and Trck Williams were at Lincoln Financial Field last night promoting the WrestleMania on sale. Williams did a hype promo. Waller talked about Jordan Mallata of the Eagles, who is from Australia and Gunther was there with his belt. Eagles announcer Dave Spadaro called Gunther’s belt “the championship” and Gunther corrected him, but Spadaro was told that Gunther is about to break the Honky Tonk Man’s record. This led to a scripted moment where Gunther shoved him down hard. (thanks to Ken Raining)
The former HBO hit show “Ballers” that Dwayne Johnsonh was behind and starred in is now on Netflix.
The Pat McAfee show will debut on ESPN on 9/7. The show will air from Noon to 2 p.m. eastern on ESPN and ESPN+ with a third hour daily only on ESPN+
Combate Global runs tomorrow night on Univision and Paramount Plus with a lightweight main event of Ivan Castillo (22-17) vs. Santiago Guzman (7-3).
MLW tickets for 12/7 in New York at the Melrose Ballroom go on sale 8/25. It will be a PPV show plus a TV taping.
Kurt Angle will be signing autographs before the 10/7 Border City Wrestling show in Windsor, ONT that also features a match with Kaito Kiyomiya. The show will be at St. Clair College’s Sportsplex.
The Chicago Cubs will host WWE Night on 8/28 at Wrigley Field in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
This is actually happening this weekend, a boxing match featuring Jeff Monson against former UFC legend Oleg Taktarov.
A promo by C.M. Punk and Adam Page and Ryan Nemeth being booked to work at the 8/12 Collision show at the Greensboro Coliseum and being turned away and not allowed to be in the building for the show ended up as the latest major divisive drama for the promotion.
Because of what happened, some minor things from the past that were not considered that big of a deal and just things that happened, became major stories this week as part of the pattern.
Essentially, in recent weeks, Matt Hardy was booked for a Collision taping but was later told not to go into the building. He was told it was related to C.M. Punk and while the story was not talked about heavily, it was mentioned as one of those things that happened. Those close to Punk have denied Punk being the reason for this.
Daniels, the head of talent relations, had been working Collision in his regular duties and wrestling on ROH shows as a single and sometimes as a tag team. He was recently told no longer to come to Collision and was of the impression it was related to Punk.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez questioned some of the All In booking on Wrestling Observer Radio Thursday morning.
Both Meltzer and Alvarez thought that the number of segments on this week’s Dynamite featuring the heels beating up the babyfaces to set up three different matches for All In later this month was a bit much.
“There were ten segments and in eight of them there was an attack,” Alvarez pointed out.
“And it’s always the heels beating up the babyfaces,” Meltzer added.
“This all looks the same,” Meltzer added. “It’s like there’s this blueprint. But if you do the same thing over and over and over again, it’s not going to work. That’s the one thing with wrestling, you have to vary it.”
With so many matches being set up on Wednesday’s Dynamite, the question is why did AEW take so long in announcing the matches.
“My question is, why didn’t we start this build earlier?” Alvarez questioned.
Meltzer pointed out that some of the participants, including Eddie Kingston and Will Ospreay, only became available now as a result of the G1 Climax tournament ending. Others, he admitted, could have been announced earlier in the month.
The field is now set for the four-way Women’s World title match at AEW All In.
Britt Baker won the final match of a tournament on Wednesday’s Dynamite to decide the participants in the All In title bout, defeating The Bunny to earn the last spot in the four-way.
AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida will now defend against Baker, Saraya, and Toni Storm at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, August 27.
Shida defeated Anna Jay in a title bout in the tournament to secure her place, Saraya defeated Skye Blue to earn a spot, and Baker defeated The Bunny to advance. Storm used her rematch clause as former Women’s Champion to get into the All In bout.
Eight matches are now set for All In. Here is the current lineup:
AEW All In, Sunday, August 27, 1 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
AEW World Championship: MJF defends against Adam Cole
AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida defends against Toni Storm, Britt Baker & Saraya
AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defend against The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
Stadium Stampede match: Eddie Kingston, The Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix), Orange Cassidy & Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) & three TBA
Coffin match: Sting & Darby Allin vs. Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland & AR Fox)
Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay
The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi &Hangman Page) vs. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Juice Robinson) & Konosuke Takeshita
Zero Hour pre-show, 12 p.m. Eastern time on AEW’s YouTube channel —
ROH World Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defend against Better Than You Bay Bay (MJF & Adam Cole)
A six-man tag match featuring The Golden Elite has been announced for Wembley.
Kenny Omega will team with Hangman Page and Kota Ibushi to take on Konosuke Takeshita, Jay White, and Juice Robinson following events that took place during Wednesday’s Dynamite.
Omega was being interviewed by Jim Ross when Callis walked interrupted, confronting Omega. This was a ruse as Takeshita jumped Omega and was soon joined by Robinson and White, leaving Omega laying on the floor after assaulting him with weapons. AEW then showed footage of Hangman Page outside of the hospital Omega was at and said that he, Omega, and Ibushi would team together at Wembley Stadium.
Callis has been feuding with Omega ever since he ended their relationship earlier this year, driving a screwdriver into Omega’s head. In recent weeks, Callis had attempted to court Chris Jericho into his group with Takeshita. Jericho initially agreed on Wednesday’s show, but turned on Callis after it was revealed Callis had been planning an attack on Jericho in the event he said no.
Here’s the updated card for All In on August 27:
AEW World Champion MJF defends against Adam Cole
AEW Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defend against The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida defends against Toni Storm, Saraya and either Britt Baker or The Bunny
Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and Hangman Page vs. Konosuke Takeshita, Jay White, and Juice Robinson
Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay
Stadium Stampede match: Eddie Kingston, Lucha Bros., Best Friends, and Orange Cassidy vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and three other partners
Sting & Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland & AR Fox in a coffin match
Zero Hour pre-show: ROH Tag Team Champions Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) defend against MJF & Adam
Ospreay attacked Jericho on Wednesday’s Dynamite episode at the behest of Don Callis, setting up Jericho vs. Ospreay at All In on Sunday, August 27.
Jericho had promised to give Callis an answer as to whether he would join his stable on Wednesday’s Dynamite. Jericho initially joined Callis, but then a portrait of Callis holding Jericho’s severed head was unveiled, and Jericho declined.
Ospreay then made a surprise appearance, attacking and bloodying Jericho. Later on Dynamite from the trainer’s room, Jericho issued a challenge to Ospreay for All In. The match was officially announced later in the program.
Chris Jericho just challenged Will Ospreay to a match at #AEWAllIn!
Sunday, August 27th LIVE from Wembley Stadium in London, UK at 6pm BST/1pm ET/10am PT!
Eight matches are now official for All In. The updated lineup:
AEW All In, Sunday, August 27, 1 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
AEW World Championship: MJF defends against Adam Cole
AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida defends against Toni Storm, Britt Baker & Saraya
AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defend against The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
Stadium Stampede match: Eddie Kingston, The Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix), Orange Cassidy & Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) & three TBA
Coffin match: Sting & Darby Allin vs. Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland & AR Fox)
Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay
The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi &Hangman Page) vs. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Juice Robinson) & Konosuke Takeshita
Zero Hour pre-show, 12 p.m. Eastern time on AEW’s YouTube channel —
ROH World Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defend against Better Than You Bay Bay (MJF & Adam Cole)
In the new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer gave an update on what the card for AEW All In may look like.
Meltzer mentioned Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay as a rumored match for All In, along with Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta vs. Eddie Kingston, Orange Cassidy, and a partner. It was also noted that Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita may end up taking place at All Out, with a six-man tag between Omega, Hangman Page & Kota Ibushi and Takeshita, Jay White & Juice Robinson being rumored for Wembley.
If the rumored Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta vs. Eddie Kingston & Orange Cassidy & ? match is accurate, those would likely be announced or at least strongly teased this weekend since Kingston and Ospreay will be available on Wednesday.
The Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita match may end up on All Out in Chicago, and a rumored match at All In was Omega & Adam Page & Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White & Juice Robinson & Takeshita.
All In is being held at Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday, August 27. Just one week later, the United Center in Chicago will host All Out. Both events are pay-per-views.
Here’s a look at what’s been made official for All In so far:
AEW World Champion MJF defends against Adam Cole
AEW Tag Team Champions FTR defend against The Young Bucks
AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida defends against Toni Storm and two other challengers in a four-way match (Saraya vs. Skye Blue and Britt Baker vs. The Bunny will decide the other two participants)
Coffin match: Sting & Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland & AR Fox
Pre-show: ROH Tag Team Champions Aussie Open defend against MJF & Adam Cole
CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe has also been set up for All In but hasn’t been officially announced yet.
The AEW Tag Team title match is official for All In.
After The Young Bucks defeated The Hardys on Wednesday’s Dynamite, Nick and Matt Jackson started to cut a promo when FTR came out. The two teams had a staredown before Nick Jackson simply said “All In”, confirming the match. FTR had challenged The Young Bucks on Saturday’s Collision, saying they wanted a rubber match.
Sting & Darby Allin will team up in Wembley, taking on Swerve Strickland and AR Fox in what will be a coffin match. Allin confronted The Mogul Embassay on Wednesday and told AR Fox knew the reasons why he never called, crediting Fox getting into AEW by himself. Allin then said he had friends as well, introducing Sting. After Allin chased Fox into the crowd as Sting eliminated the rest of the Mogul Embassay, cornering Swerve and pointing to the All In banner.
Here is the updated card for All In:
AEW All In, Sunday, August 27, 12 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
AEW World Championship: MJF defends against Adam Cole
AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR’s Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler defend against The Young Bucks’ Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson
AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida defends against Toni Storm, Saraya or Skye Blue, Britt Baker or The Bunny
Coffin match: Sting & Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland & AR Fox
AEW has announced a women’s division tournament, with the winners advancing to a four-way World title match at All In.
The tournament kicked off with a first round match on Wednesday’s Dynamite, with Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida defeating Anna Jay in a title match to advance to All In.
Former Champion Toni Storm exercised her rematch clause and received a bye in the tournament and will also take part in the title match at All In.
A Saraya vs. Skye Blue match set for this week’s AEW Rampage will determine the third competitor in the All In four-way, while Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs. The Bunny on next week’s Dynamite will decide the fourth and final participant.
The updated lineup for All In:
AEW All In, Sunday, August 27, 12 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
AEW World Championship: MJF defends against Adam Cole
AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR’s Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler defend against The Young Bucks’ Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson
AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida defends against Toni Storm, Saraya or Skye Blue, Britt Baker or The Bunny
Coffin match: Sting & Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland & AR Fox
Zero Hour pre-show —
ROH World Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open’s Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis defend against MJF & Adam Cole
The 8/27 AEW All In show at Wembley Stadium in London became one of the fastest-selling tickets in pro wrestling history this past week.
As of late Thursday in the U.K., the night before tickets went on sale to the general public, the show had sold 50,000 tickets for $6.5 million. It will likely break the record for the largest non-WrestleMania first-day ticket sales set for the 1992 SummerSlam event at the old Wembley Stadium, which was 55,000. It will likely beat the total paid attendance WWE got for Clash of the Castle last year on the first day of general public sales, which is the big shocker.
Granted, AEW has advantages, never having been to Europe and Wembley Stadium was a larger metropolitan area to draw from by far than Cardiff. The total paid attendance for each night of WrestleMania this year was about 60,000, so there is a good chance this will be the largest paid attendance for a pro wrestling event not only this year but the largest since 2016 at AT&T Stadium.
