2024-08-26 02:30:02
Bryan Danielson is going all in at All In.
“The American Dragon’s” storied career is seemingly reaching its end, with the multi-time world champion upping the ante and putting his career on the line vs. Swerve Strickland on Sunday. While he’s used to holding gold, Danielson is still searching for that first AEW championship win, and the stakes couldn’t be any higher when he squares off against the AEW champ in Wembley Stadium.
A Danielson victory would not only cement his legacy as one of the best in the world today, but one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of all time. He faces a tough task against Strickland, who has been dominant since defeating Samoa Joe and “Hangman” Adam Page for the strap in March.
Elsewhere on the card, several championships will be defended: Dr. Britt Baker will vie for Mercedes Moné’s TBS title, while Toni Storm looks to hold off former protégé Mariah May when they grapple for the AEW women’s championship.
Will Ospreay will also defend home turf when he faces MJF for the International – well, temporarily the American – championship.
USA TODAY Sports will provide live updates, match grades and more from All In 2024 below.
After an uneventful stint with WWE, world-renowned high-flyer Ricochet made his AEW debut in the Casino Gauntlet match at All In.
Ricochet’s star rose alongside Will Ospreay’s in the 2010s for their series of matches on the independent scene. After stops at Lucha Underground and NXT along the way, Ricochet signed with AEW after his WWE contract expired in 2024.
Both Darby Allin and Jack Perry are known as two of the most daring wrestlers in AEW. While their match was tame by both of their standards, it was also somewhat boring.
Perry getting a somewhat decisive victory over Allin was something of a surprise: He restrained Allin and shut the casket lid on him for the victory. And while there were a few spots that were on the dangerous side, it also was in line with what you’d expect from the two.
This probably isn’t the end of the road for the feud between the two, and it’ll be worth watching to see where Sting factors in, if at all, from here on out.
Grade: 3.25 stars
Whether it’s ring rust or a concerning trend of her career, Britt Baker seems to have taken a step back or stalled when it comes to her in-ring work. While the match with Mone wasn’t bad, it was definitely disjointed, and that was painfully noticeable throughout.
They won the crowd over with solid work, but it wasn’t enough to overcome some of the issues in this match, one that probably shouldn’t have been as sloppy as it was.
Winner: Mercedes Mone
Finish: Mone hits the Statement for the pinfall victory.
Grade: 3 stars
The will-he-won’t-he saga of Will Ospreay using the Tiger Driver ’91 came to an end on Sunday, when he used it to defeat MJF to win the AEW International (formerly and temporarily, the American) championship.
There were one of two options for Ospreay to using the dangerous maneuver: To put down a hated heel who had it coming, or to use it on a beloved face to spark a heel turn. In this scenario, Ospreay used it for the former, and while MJF is the top heel in the industry, to build to this point and not use it in a main-event spot feels rushed.
Daniel Garcia making his return to a massive ovation should put to bed the re-signing rumors, and it made sense within the scope of the story.
The match itself was what you’d expect from two of AEW’s – and the world’s – best workers. While it didn’t reach the highs of their one-hour “Dynamite” clash, it managed to be fresh and hit all the right notes in about half the time.
Winner: Will Ospreay
Finish: Ospreay hits the Tiger Driver ’91, beats MJF via pinfall
Grade: 4.5 stars
The Casino Gauntlet match has been a staple of AEW since it was first introduced in April. AEW should caution itself to not keep going back to the well with the match. That said, outside of the first rendition, each Casino Gauntlet has been a complete home run, Sunday’s edition included.
Christian’s entry to the match and subsequent victory were both shocking; as was Nigel McGuinness’ return to a wrestling ring after a lengthy stay away from the ring due to a medical issue. A debuting Ricochet also spiced things up, as did the furthering of the Adam Page revenge story.
Luchasaurus – not Killswitch – making his way to the ring led some to believe that the long-awaited face turn was coming. It did not, and that led to Cage’s win.
Winner: Christian Cage via pinfall
Finish: Luchasaurus chokeslams Orange Cassidy leading to a Cage victory.
Grade: 4.5 stars
The AEW tag team division has taken a turn for the worse in recent years after being one of the hottest divisions in the wrestling world. While slapping the titles on the Bucks is almost always the right decision for a course correction, the tag titles haven’t been in the spotlight as much as they should have been leading into this three-way feud and match.
Both The Acclaimed and FTR have been ice cold heading into this match, and the crowd wasn’t buying the bout until it neared its end. It was fine enough, but it felt totally inconsequential.
Winners: The Young Bucks retain via pinfall
Finish: Nicholas Jackson hits Dax Harwood with a belt shot, Harwood kicks out at 2. EVP Trigger seals the pinfall for Matthew Jackson.
Grade: 3.5 stars
While Chris Jericho can still build meaningful feuds and programs, his in-ring work has suffered, since Father Time remains undefeated.
Jericho’s current “Learning Tree” gimmick has been incredibly divisive, and his feud with HOOK has felt very derivative of Jericho feuds over the last two or three years.
Building this match with Bryan Keith and Big Bill was a smart decision, considering it hid a bit of Jericho’s in-ring shortcomings. Putting the ceremonial strap back on HOOK was also the smart decision, because Jericho didn’t do much to elevate it in the time he’s had it.
Winner: HOOK via submission
Finish: Hook locks in the REDRUM on Jericho; Taz intervenes and stops Bryan Keith from interfering and locks in a Kata ha jime of his own
Grade: 3.75 stars
There have been some questions surrounding Mariah May’s ability to get over while not being involved with Toni Storm. Those theories are going to be put to the test now.
Mariah May gets a shot to run with the top women’s belt in the company with her win over former mentor Storm. What has never been a question is May’s in-ring work: Again, while some say her opponents have had better showings than she has in her matches, it takes two to tango.
This was an excellent match that maybe should have gotten a few more minutes, but Storm’s inability and unwillingness to pull the trigger on using the shoe to get her revenge cost her the match and her title. This was an excellent match in, what should be, a mile marker in their feud.
Winner: Mariah May via pinfall
Finish: May hits a pair of running knees and the Storm Zero for the 3 count.
Grade: 4.25 stars
What do you get when you add 12 men, trios championships and a metric crap-ton of ladders? Pure fun.
The opening bout to the main card of All In was pure, chaotic fun. There are so many things that can potentially go wrong in a ladder match, but that’s almost never the case when Christian Cage is involved. Fostering a reputation for being one of the smartest minds when it comes to laying out ladder matches, Cage seldom has a bad showing in these matches, and that was evident again in this match.
With Pac securing the win for the Blackpool Combat Club, his post-Death Triangle roadmap is clear, and he should be a seamless fit in the group. Pac also finally secured his long-needed elusive big-time victory after being handed crushing losses after the last year, making for a feel-good story in his home country.
Winners: Blackpool Combat Club
Finish: Pac climbs the ladder to secure the win for the BCC; Luchasaurus fails to stop Pac from climbing.
Grade: 4.25 stars
Some things are worth the wait.
Jamie Hayter has been out of action for over a year as she nursed injuries. What better spot, what better stage for the UK native to come back at than Wembley Stadium? Even more so: Getting to punch fellow countrymate Saraya a few times in the face was probably pretty sweet, too.
This match was more of a reminder that ROH exists and is a thing than it was anything else.
The Von Erichs and Rhodes are the ROH six man champs, while Rhodes and Guevara recently won the ROH tag titles from the Kingdom. Cage of Agony are former ROH six-man champs, while Shibata is a former ROH Pure champion.
So, logically, there was a reason to have this match, with a story built in already. That said, it wasn’t anything special, and at times it was disjointed and more of a car wreck than the earlier 16-man tag match.
Post-match, Kevin Von Erich locked in the Iron Claw on Matt Taven, which brought the crowd to its feet.
Winners: Dustin Rhodes, Sammy Guevara, Katsuyori Shibata and the Von Erichs
Finish: Sammy Guevara hits Taven with a Senton Bomb, Taven is pinned by Rhodes.
Grade: 2.5 stars
For a partnership and feud that has gone on for months now, crowds haven’t seemed entirely invested in the Nightingale vs. Statlander feud. Most of the match was the two friends-turned-rivals going 50-50, which the crowd wasn’t overly into.
The highlight of the bout came when Hathaway got some unexpected offense in on the “Stone Pitbull,” including a 10-punch and a drop toe hold.
It was all for naught, however, as the team of Nightingale and Ishii picked up the win.
Winners: Nightingale and Ishii win via pinfall
Finish: Ishii hits a sliding forearm on Hathaway
Grade: 2.75 stars
For what seems like a bloated concept – can we try and keep tag matches to like, eight-man tags, please? – this was a fun pre-show opener.
Hometown heroes Kip Sabian, Anthony Ogogo and Tommy Billington got some shine in the match, and the crowd sopped it up early.
The match didn’t take long to turn into a finish spot fest, but if what you want from an opener is just some light-hearted, low-stakes fun with high spots and plenty of likeable stars on both sides of the ring, then you got what you wanted. It also didn;’t overstay its welcome.
Winners: Top Flight, Lio Rush, Action Andretti, Tommy Billington, Kyle Fletcher and Kip Sabian
Finish: Dante Martin hits a splash on Ariya Daivari for the 3 count.
Grade: 3 stars
AEW All In will take place on Sunday, Aug. 25. AEW All Out is two weeks later, on Saturday, Sept. 7.
The main card for AEW All In gets underway at 1 p.m. ET. The show will feature a two-hour pre-show, which will begin at 11 a.m. ET.
AEW is presenting a hefty two-hour pre-show. You can watch it on YouTube and PPV.
The stage for All In this year seems to be a bit more intricate than the 2023 designs. Here’s a look, courtesy of Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp:
AEW All In will air on traditional PPV at a $49.99 price.
Those looking to live stream the event will have several options:
The card is subject to change.
(c) indicates champion
Bolded lines indicate correct predictions; Italicized lines indicate incorrect predictions
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