If bigger is better when it comes to pro wrestling pay-per-views, AEW All Out should be about as good as it gets.
AEW is throwing absolutely everything it has into the upcoming show at the Now Arena in Chicago (or more precisely, in the greater Chicago area), loading up the card in terms of both quantity and, hopefully, quality. Including the Zero Hour pre-show, a total of seven titles are on the line, as well as a future world championship shot in the Casino Ladder match.
Even when fate has thrown a late curveball or two, AEW has pivoted with regard to this show. Case in point: Thunder Rosa was slated to defend her AEW Women’s World Championship against Toni Storm, but got injured during the run-up to this weekend. No worries; now there’s a four-way battle for the interim championship that may be even more intriguing, featuring Storm, Hikaru Shida, Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter.
Topping the card is a world championship rematch between Jon Moxley and CM Punk. The two men met less than two weeks ago and surprised the wrestling world when Moxley squashed Punk, leading some to wonder if he had returned from injury too quickly. But this week’s Dynamite proved that it was simply wrestling being wrestling, with Punk needing a pep talk from a friend to prove he was still on top of his game enough to compete at the highest level.
Tony Khan admitted that it wasn’t the normal way he’d build up a world title match but thought it worked for these circumstances (and was good for Dynamite’s ratings, to boot). That could be said for All Out writ large to a certain extent, but there’s no question there is more pressure on this pay-per-view than normal with AEW’s larger competitor suddenly resurgent and holding its own big show on the same September weekend.
In the end, even if the consensus ends up being that All Out isn’t outstanding, it won’t be for a lack of trying on AEW’s part.
AEW All Out 2022
- When: Sunday, Sept. 4
- Where: Now Arena, Hoffman Estates, Ill.
- Start time: 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT (Zero Hour pre-show starts one hour earlier)
- How to watch: Via Bleacher Report or traditional PPV providers in the U.S., along with select movie theaters; through FITE TV internationally
- Matches announced: 14 (including three on the Zero Hour pre-show)
Scroll down for previews and predictions for all main card matches; we’ll add one for the trios tournament final and any additional matches that get made after Rampage on Friday night.