Tag: Adam Cole

AEW All In takeaways: Analyzing the biggest moments from a historic event

AEW All In London was an unforgettable night at Wembley Stadium. Here are the moments that stood out most.

We have heard plenty of times over the years about a major wrestling show being a historic event.

Most of the time, it’s hyperbole, or as the kids say, cap.

But Sunday afternoon (or night for the good folks in the United Kingdom), really was a historic happening not just for All Elite Wrestling but for all of professional wrestling, as 81,305 people packed into Wembley Stadium to witness All In — a world paid attendance record for professional wrestling.

And to think this all started with a challenge to put 10,000 people in an arena.

 

Did AEW deliver on such a monumental event? Here are my takeaways from the show:

What a moment for AEW and professional wrestling

When WWE does well, it usually only benefits WWE and not the industry as a whole. 

Evidence of this was WWE lording over the wrestling industry for nearly 20 years with very little competition before AEW came to be in 2019. WWE became the industry leader, but the industry was helped none. All WWE’s dominance did was make professional wrestling synonymous with the promotion’s three letters.

There is a large group of people in the world who still refer to any form of wrestling as that “WWE stuff.” That doesn’t help any other promotion sell one ticket.

AEW putting more than 80,000 people into a historic venue like Wembley Stadium actually does help the industry, as it shows that there are a lot of people who actually care about the unique sports/entertainment/art hybrid known as professional wrestling — so much so that it packs out football (both the gridiron kind and the pitch kind) stadiums around the world. 

It is a good look for the entire industry, not just AEW.

AEW should be very proud, as it sold a large chunk of those tickets before one match was announced. The novelty of AEW putting on a major show in the United Kingdom obviously helped, but it is a testament to the fan base the promotion has built during its four years of existence.

AEW apparently enjoys the arrangement it has with Wembley Stadium, as it will return to the venue next year for another All In.

More backstage drama

But what would a major AEW show be without some backstage drama? It is like they go hand-in-hand at this point. 

And it involves the promotion’s prominent name, CM Punk, again.

During the opening match on the card Sean Ross Sapp posted on X that Punk had been involved in a “physical confrontation” with Jack Perry prior to walking through the curtain for his match against Samoa Joe.

According to multiple reports (but h/t to Wrestling Inc.), the confrontation stemmed from a comment Perry made during his match against Hook on Zero Hour. Perry took a bump on the windshield of a limo he rode in for his entrance. 

He eventually stood up, looked at the camera and said “It’s real glass, cry me a river.”

This comment was apparently in reference to Perry wanting to use real glass during a match on Collision and Punk (rightly) putting the kibosh on it. This apparently angered Perry, prompting him to speak his mind during his match at All In.

Punk heard Perry’s comment and decided to check him right before he went through the curtain to open up one of the biggest wrestling shows of all time.

(Note: There have been conflicting reports about who approached who in this incident. Either way, it’s all bad.)

Enough already.

Is Perry wrong for saying what he said? I think so. There was no reason to do it and it is unprofessional to keep fanning these flames — especially after Punk, who seemingly has limitless power, had allegedly excommunicated multiple people from Collision, including management. If Perry really had something to say about it weeks after the fact, all he had to do was speak to Punk. Don’t go out on television and sneak diss.

Is Punk wrong for confronting Perry right before his own match? Yup, mainly because of the time and the place. Punk fashions himself as a locker room leader. A locker room leader does not try to physically confront anyone who dares speak ill of him, in my opinion.

I’m not saying Punk shouldn’t address these things. What Perry did was honestly childish and should be addressed. But how about we do this the professional way and talk about it? And that conversation does not have to happen right before the opening match. In fact, it doesn’t have to happen that day at all.

(Note: Again, there have been conflicting reports about who approached who in this incident. Either way, it’s all bad.)

The promotion is literally breaking worldwide attendance records. This squabble couldn’t have waited until tomorrow? Could we just cut the nonsense and push the egos to the side for one day? Not one day?

Bottom line: Both Perry and Punk’s actions were selfish and took away attention from the biggest event AEW has ever produced. The other people on that roster have worked too hard to let rubbish like this mar their day.

Smartly, AEW did not have Punk take part in the post-event media scrum, but something has to be done.

MJF and Adam Cole remain brochachos … for now

Fortunately for AEW, the drama right before the show’s opening match did not dampen the mood for the main event, which was the best match on the show by far.

The action in the ring was great, but the storytelling took this match to an even higher level. It was the best storytelling I have seen this year outside of the Bloodline. It was really well done.

And to make things even better, AEW has the rare opportunity to complete a full double turn. Time will tell if Adam Cole will flip to a full heel while MJF flips to being more of a good guy, but even having the opportunity to actually pull it off is pretty cool. Again, they don’t come around often.

I am very much looking forward to what’s next regarding these two.

Saraya wins with her family by her side

In probably the most touching moment of the event, Saraya won the AEW Women’s World Championship in her home country and with her family by her side.

Whether you agree with the decision to give Saraya the title or not, it made for a great moment for the fans in the United Kingdom.

I could not help but think of how much this could mean to Saraya, who has been through A LOT during her professional wrestling career. She was called up to WWE’s main roster and thrust into a top position at a very young age, had explicit photos and videos of her leaked online, was in an abusive romantic relationship with a coworker, and was told her career was over due to a severe neck injury.

Despite all of that adversity, Saraya was on top of the world in her home country Sunday.

Side note: Mercedes Moné was in the building Sunday. Maybe she can help make AEW put more than one women’s match on its major events …

Stadium Stampede was a bloody yet sort of fun mess

I’m not a big fan of the ultra-violent, ultra bloody style of wrestling, especially matches that include skewers being shoved into the top of someone’s head.

However, I was a fan of the end of Stadium Stampede, which saw a bloody Orange Cassidy pull off yet another miraculous win. I’ve written before about why I enjoy watching Cassidy so much, and Sunday was another example of it.

Yes, Cassidy did win after he punched someone in the head with a punch while his fist was covered in glass, but he only landed the move once, and it ended the match.

If you’re going to venture into ultra-violent territory, make the moves mean something.

Will Ospreay picks up another HUGE victory

It’s been quite a year for Will Ospreay with two big matches against Kenny Omega and another against Chris Jericho at Wembley Stadium.

It is one thing to be in the big matches. It is another to win them, and that is what Ospreay has done, starting at Forbidden Door against Omega and at All In against Jericho.

FTR stake their claim as the best in the world

If All In was supposed to determine the best tag team in the world, I believe FTR proved it during their win over the Young Bucks Sunday.

And since The Usos aren’t currently a tag team, I’m OK with giving FTR that honor. Objective rankings aside, all of the participants in this match held up their end of the bargain as this was the second-best match on show, in my opinion.

The Acclaimed hosts the world’s largest scissor party

Isn’t it wild how over The Acclaimed is? I mean, they had 80,000 people at historic Wembley Stadium screaming about scissoring each other, which is both NSFW and hilarious at the same time.

AEW All In London results: Friendship bends but doesn’t break as MJF defeats Adam Cole

Though both men had their morals tested, the AEW All In main event between MJF and Adam Cole ended in hugs.

Everything about this is screaming big fight. Both men have more pyro and theatrics in their entrances, and there’s cool lighting during their in-ring entrances. MJF has a little trouble getting his robe off, cracking a smile.

The two men step together and have a few words, then head to opposite sides of the ring to put on their Better Than You Bay Bay shirts. The fans, already cheering, get even louder for that.

Lots of hip tosses and headscissors leave no one with an advantage. They shake hands at the urging of the crowd. MJF does a little Ric Flair mixed with Rick Rude, and Cole comes right back with his signature pose.

MJF leads a “sportsmanship” chant but uses it to trick Cole as he rushes in. Adam slaps him for that, then lets go with a series of strikes and an enzuigiri. Cole gets the first near fall and looks like he’s in control.

Cole pulls MJF’s trunks and his hair to maintain his edge. The champ finally gets tired of being made a fool but still can’t do the dive to the floor. His hesitation allows Cole to land a superkick, covering for a two count.

An irritated Cole says “I had you beat,” referring to their Dynamite match that started this whole story, and he takes off MJF’s shirt. The champ finally gets rolling with a series of offensive moves, including plenty of corner punches … and a bite.

Buoyed by the crowd’s support, MJF decides to try the suicide dive and looks shocked when it turns out fine. He rolls Cole back into the ring to cover for two.

MJF and Cole do the rolling pinfall thing until Cole is caught and powerbombed onto the champ’s knee. Is MJF trying a Panama Sunrise? Maybe, but Cole superkicks him and hits the Heatseeker, and the champ needs to get his foot to the rope to disrupt the count.

On the outside, MJF is hurled into the steel steps, then given a brainbuster on top of it. He barely beats the 10 count to keep the match going, then rolls back outside to get out of the crosshairs of a Panama Sunrise.

MJF needs to regroup and clears off the announce table. He wants to Tombstone Cole through the table but decides he can’t do it. Cole has no such issues, hitting the same move on a table that doesn’t break. The crowd starts up an “a–hole” chant, then MJF kicks out at two.

Things still look bad for MJF even after he manages to slow Cole’s attack, leaving them both on the canvas. They yell out “double clothesline” and connect, then pin each other’s shoulders at the same time. The ref, Bryce Remsburg, tells Justin Roberts it’s a draw, which is what he announces.

Cole refuses and grabs the mic to ask for five more minutes, the same thing he asked Max once before. MJF says no … but only because it’s not enough time: “We’re going until we have a winner in f–king Wembley.”

Right after the match restarts, however, Remsburg takes a bump, and MJF gets a chair. Both men toss the chair back and forth to each other, then they try to one-up each other to make it look like they’ve been hit by the other. MJF rushes forward and tries to pin Cole, who kicks out once and then again after a Heatseeker.

They head out to the apron, where Cole hits a straitjacket German suplex that looks painful. So does a Panama Sunrise on the floor. Cole rolls the champ back into the ring but still can’t seal the deal.

Cole tries another Panama Sunrise in the ring, but MJF throws Remsburg in the way and the ref takes the move. MJF gets his Dynamite Diamond Ring from his trunks but can’t bring himself to use it. Roderick Strong runs down and punts MJF in the crotch, and Cole hits the Panama Sunrise. Cole drops the Boom as well, but Remsburg is still out. He eventually comes to, but his count is slow and MJF has time to kick out.

With Strong urging him on, Cole takes his team shirt off and lurks with the title belt. But he, too, has a crisis of conscience and tosses the belt away. That proves costly, as MJF catches Cole with a small package and holds on for the three count.

As Cole looks on the verge of tears, MJF crawls over and tells Cole the fans still love him and he got lucky. MJF goes to get their ROH tag team titles, but Cole chucks his away when offered.

MJF is clearly hurt, and throws his belt to Cole, saying he was always just after his title. Strong returns too, but Cole throws the world title down and they end up in a long hug in the center of Wembley.

Click here for full All In London 2023 results.

AEW All In London results: MJF, Adam Cole prove friendship the real winner at Wembley

Follow along with one of the biggest shows in pro wrestling history with live AEW All In results from London’s Wembley Stadium.

The wait is over, Wembley Stadium. London is playing host to one of the biggest wrestling shows of all time as AEW stages its first ever U.K. event in the most grandiose possible fashion. More than 80,000 fans are expected to experience AEW All In London in person, which is quite the accomplishment for a company that is only a few years old.

It certainly helps that AEW has one of the hottest storylines in all of wrestling going right now to fuel the show’s main event. Adam Cole nearly defeated MJF several months ago for a shot at the AEW World Championship. Then the two men got thrown together unwillingly as a tag team.

Instead of being a disaster, it turned into an unlikely bonding experience where MJF embraced his face side, and Better Than You, Bay Bay was born. The two friends have experienced moments of tension at times but always ended up hugging it out.

That ends tonight, when they’ll meet for the world title at Wembley (though not before teaming to try for tag team gold first). Will one of them finally turn on the other with the stakes this high? It should be very entertaining to find out.

The All In card is also loaded to the hilt with other championship matches (four more besides the main event), a Tag Team Coffin match, and the spectacle that is Stadium Stampede. Plus the man who might be the best wrestler on the planet right now, Will Ospreay, will take on an icon in Chris Jericho.

We’re certainly envious of everyone in attendance in London. Here we go.

AEW All In London results:

(click on any match with a link for full details)

AEW All In London Zero Hour results: Two titles change hands

AEW All In London will also see Jack Perry vs. Hook for the FTW Championship.

AEW All In London is such a big show that Tony Khan has said people in attendance will want to be in their seats as soon as the Zero Hour pre-show begins, because it’s kicking off with some championship matches — including one pairing the two men who will face off later for the grandest prize in AEW.

Those would be AEW World Champion MJF and Adam Cole, affectionately known collectively as Better Than You, Bay-Bay. The unlikely bromance that blossomed between the two men after they were unwillingly thrown together as a tag team has delighted fans and become one of the best ongoing stories in pro wrestling.

There’s a feeling one might turn on the other before or during their main event match in London, but they’ll need to keep it together during Zero Hour if they want to wrest the ROH World Tag Team Championship from Aussie Open. The United Empire duo has staked a claim to being one of the best tag teams in the world, and it would be surprising to see them drop the belts if MJF and Cole are at odds.

The other match added to Zero Hour will be one the champion didn’t even want to have. Jack Perry intended to retire the FTW Championship before London, but instead he’ll be trying to make sure former champ Hook doesn’t take it back.

The reality is setting in that this is really happening, and the crowd at Wembley looks extremely live. Let’s see what Zero Hour holds.

AEW All In 2023 Zero Hour Results:

Adam Cole and MJF def.  Aussie Open by pinfall to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions

Boos rain down on the champs as Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher attack the challengers before the bell. Davis covers MJF as soon as the bell rings, but like, nice try.

MJF shrugs after using a thumb to the eye on both Aussies, but he still can’t get a tag to Cole since Adam is hauled off the apron. The world champ signals for the Kangaroo Kick, getting the fans to chant for it, but Fletcher won’t let that happen.

Finally, MJF rolls to his corner and tags in Cole, who runs over Fletcher and hits a Backstabber for two. It looks like a Double Clothesline might be cooking, but the champs head out to the floor. Cole wants MJF to dive to the floor, but Aussie Open catches up with and beats up Adam first.

The champs end up getting tricked into clotheslining each other, and the crowd erupts as MJF hits them both with the Kangaroo Kick. Fletcher eats the Double Clothesline, and Better Than You, Bay Bay is golden.

Mercedes Moné is shown in the crowd.

Hook def. Jack Perry by submission to become the new FTW Champion

Hook seems unamused as Perry rides in via limo, and the two men meet to start the match over by the car. That vehicle is used as a weapon by both men, and Perry tries a cover for two.

A suplex breaks the windshield of the car and looks like it has caused both men to start bleeding a bit too. They finally make it to the ring, where Perry teases the Coast to Coast, then hops down and gives the crowd the double bird.

Hook tries to rally but takes a German suplex for two. Some back and forth leads to Perry using a trash can to down his foe, though he crashes and burns on a moonsault when he takes too long to taunt the fans. Hook uses the trash can to set up clubbing blows, then locks in Redrum. Perry fights it for a bit but then is forced to tap out.

 

AEW All In London start time: What time does All In start?

Here’s when you’ll need to tune in for AEW All London from Wembley Stadium.

For the first time since 2018, AEW All In will transpire later this week. While a different look compared to the groundbreaking event that Matt and Nick Jackson and Cody Rhodes organized, the spirit of the show remains the same: defy expectations to put on an incomparable pro wrestling event.

When All In London was first announced earlier this year, it was eye-opening that AEW decided to go for Wembley Stadium, a venue that can hold 90,000 people, considering it had never orchestrated an international show or even a stadium show before.

However, AEW shocked everyone by, as of Aug. 22, selling 81,103 tickets for All In. This remarkable feat for a young pro wrestling company speaks volumes about the level of interest in this show.

Before announcing any match, including the headliner of MJF vs. Adam Cole for the AEW World Championship, tens of thousands of tickets had already been sold. Building the rest of the card only sparked more interest in what AEW will offer in the UK.

Before they battle for the world title in the main event, MJF and Cole must work together to face Aussie Open for the ROH Tag Team Championship at Zero Hour. Tensions will inevitably build between the two friends as their match approaches to end the night, so it is almost certain that something will happen to spark angst.

CM Punk will face Samoa Joe in another headlining match for the Real World Championship in London, reigniting their decades-long rivalry. Punk has been in the news lately for the wrong reasons, but for one night, that will shift aside when he faces his longtime foe.

All In goes down on Sunday, Aug. 27. The main card will have a start time of 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on PPV, with Zero Hour headlined by the tag title match beginning one hour earlier.

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Updated AEW All In London card: 1 match added, changes made on Dynamite

Check out all the matches confirmed for AEW All In London, one of the biggest events in pro wrestling history.

Even in the home stretch to AEW All In London, Tony Khan suggested additions and changes would be made. That proved to be the case during AEW Dynamite this week, when one popular match was added to the show at Wembley Stadium and several alterations were made as well.

Billy Gunn made his return to assist The Acclaimed against the House of Black, and revealed that he has one more match in him. He’ll join his “sons” to take on the House for the AEW World Trios Championship in London.

A vicious assault by Blackpool Combat Club put Rey Fenix in an ambulance, taking him off the All In card. But the real surprise was who helped the BCC: a returning Santana and Ortiz, who will join them at All In to make the Stadium Stampede match a five-on-five affair.

Last but not least, Swerve Strickland unceremoniously fired AR Fox from the Mogul Embassy, meaning he needed a new partner for the Coffin match — and found one in Christian Cage.

Adam Cole and MJF will headline All In with their bromance-turned-competitive match, as MJF defends his AEW World Championship. Before that, however, they will join forces on the Zero Hour pre-show to challenge Aussie Open for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. It will be intriguing to see how this impacts their singles match later in the evening, especially if it creates tension that hints at a heel turn.

In two other tag team matches at All In, FTR will defend the AEW World Tag Team Championship against the Young Bucks, and Darby Allin and Sting will face off against Swerve Strickland and AR Fox in a Coffin match.

We’ll update this post if/when more matches are made official. For now, here’s what has been revealed for Wembley Stadium this month.

Latest update: Aug. 26, 2023, 2:00 p.m. ET.

AEW All In 2023 card:

  •  Aussie Open (c) vs. MJF and Adam Cole – ROH World Tag Team Championship match (Zero Hour pre-show)
  • Jack Perry (c) vs. Hook – FTW Championship match (Zero Hour pre-show)
  • MJF (c) vs. Adam Cole – AEW World Championship match
  • CM Punk (c) vs. Samoa Joe – “Real World Championship” match
  • Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Toni Storm vs. Saraya vs. TBD – AEW Women’s World Championship match
  • FTR (c) vs. The Young Bucks – AEW World Tag Team Championship match
  • House of Black (c) vs. The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn – AEW World Trios Championship
  • Darby Allin and Sting vs. Swerve Strickland and Christian Cage – Coffin match
  • The Golden Elite (Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page) vs. Bullet Club Gold (Juice Robinson and Jay White) and Konosuke Takeshita
  • Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay
  • Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo and Best Friends (Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta), Mike Santana and Ortiz – Stadium Stampede match

AEW Dynamite Fyter Fest results 08/23/23: London calling

AEW Dynamite Fyter Fest will set some of the final pieces in place for All In. Join us to see what’s going down.

What do you do when it’s the final AEW Dynamite before the biggest show in company history, and with the Fyter Fest branding to boot? Load it up as best you can, which is exactly the case for tonight’s episode from Duluth, Georgia.

Naturally, setting up some final pieces to All In looks like it will be part of the fun. There’s the obvious stuff, like a contract signing between Chris Jericho and Will Ospreay, as well as a face-to-face interview between AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR (who will be the subject of, let’s call it increased interest due to recent events) and their challengers, the Young Bucks.

Some of the matches on tonight’s card are also previews of sorts for things we’ll see this weekend, including a battle between The Elite and Bullet Club Gold. Even the singles match between Jon Moxley and Rey Fenix has taken on potentially greater meaning since Fenix is rumored to be on his way out of his All In match due to visa issues.

Plus we’ll hear one last time from the two men who will meet in the main event of All In, MJF and Adam Cole. The success of their pairing has gone way beyond what anyone might have expected when it first started (including Cole himself, as he told us earlier this week), but now it’s the most exciting storytelling in all of AEW. Will there be one more twist in their tale before they team, then fight, in London?

Getting answers to questions like that is a big part of why we watch. Let’s dive in.

AEW Dynamite Fyter Fest results from Duluth:

The Elite (Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks) vs. Juice Robinson and The Gunns is a no contest that turns into a huge multi-person brawl

The heel trio doesn’t even wait until our heroes are in the ring to attack, and Juice also abuses the ref for preventing him from using a steel chair. The Gunns hit Nick Jackson with the 3:10 to Yuma, but there’s no ref to count … or to stop Jay White from intervening too.

Omega fights valiantly against White but gets run over by Konosuke Takeshita. Things are looking dire until FTR events the odds, and with Omega and Takeshita isolated in the ring, Konosuke barely escapes the ring before he’s hit with a One-Winged Angel.

MJF proves he’s still having some trouble adjusting to being a face as he promises a pint to all the fans at Wembley but suggests he’ll make Tony Khan pay for them. Renee Paquette asks about the pressure he feels, and he says it’s the most of his entire life while putting over those who paved the way for a show as big as All In to happen.

Paquette also questions the sincerity of his friendship with Adam Cole while showing video of some of their previous interactions. The champ says that he’s become a better person because of Cole, and that while brothers fight sometimes, they hug it out at the end.

MJF suggests that if you put your faith in him, he will reward it. After all, he’s not just a scumbag — he’s your scumbag.

Jon Moxley def. Rey Fenix by submission, plus Santana and Ortiz are back

Fenix gets off to a quick start that includes a tope to the floor, but this all feels like a bit of misdirection given what’s rumored to happen here. Rey takes a nasty bump to the floor and is slow to rise, which may be leading toward what we’re talking about.

Mox rips away at Fenix’s mask during some picture-in-picture action but he’s able to avoid being unmasked and the fight continues. Fenix takes a series of stomps to the face but manages to pull off a superkick that gets him a momentary respite.

Rey tries his rollthrough cutter and gets it on his second try. A frog splash follows and comes very close to winning it for the luchador.

As Moxley tries for the Death Rider, Fenix counters with an inside cradle for another near fall. The two men slug it out until Rey’s thrust kick provides him the time to go up top. But Mox meets him there, biting his face to get leverage for an Avalanche Death Rider.

Fenix kicks out but falls right into a sleeper. Rey tries to fight it but can hold out only so long.

After the bell, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta attack Fenix with crowbars, and when Eddie Kingston and Penta try to come to the rescue, they are stopped by a returning Santana and Ortiz.

Best Friends and Orange Cassidy chase away the heels with chairs, but the damage is done to Fenix, who ends up getting stretchered out.

Penta and Alex Abrahantes hop in the ambulance to ride along with Fenix, and Kingston has an issue with Paquette over “what your husband did.”

Sammy Guevara defends Chris Jericho to Daniel Garcia, Daddy Magic and Cool Hand Ang, who wonder if Jericho will be there for him when needed.

Will Ospreay is accompanied by Don Callis for the contract signing, and Jericho walks out with Guevara. Callis says everyone wants to know why he did what he did, but he makes it simple by saying it was due to Ospreay … as well as having a chance to end Jericho’s career.

He chose money and power over friendship and Ospreay over Jericho. Will grabs the mic to talk about how the match will change his life, and that he’ll be the only person who can say he beat Omega, Kazuchika Okada and Jericho in two months.

Jericho responds by saying Ospreay may not have done all of those things without him, claiming he called Will and told him to calm it down because his style was too reckless to ensure longevity. He says the match at Wembley means more to him than Ospreay or anyone since everyone is predicting his demise.

He touches a nerve as Ospreay smacks the mic out of his hand, and the two men need to be separated by everyone else in the ring. They did sign the contract in there too, so it’s on.

Now it’s Cole’s turn to talk to Paquette, with Cole praising MJF for having belief in him to return to top form. He also says winning the AEW World Championship would cement his status as the best wrestler in the world.

Alas, when he’s shown video of Roderick Strong and how their relationship has suffered while he’s been friends with MJF, Cole gets mad and cuts the interview short, yelling that there are no problems between him and Max.

Darby Allin and Nick Wayne def. AR Fox and Swerve Strickland by pinfall, but there’s more to the story

Fox is wearing the same tank top he wore when attacking Wayne in his home ring, stained with the youngster’s blood. That’s … pretty nasty.

Wayne is taking some hellacious bumps here early on, but he hits a double Wayne’s World to the floor, followed by a Coffin Drop from Allin.

After a commercial break, Allin is hurling himself through the air again. Fox puts him in a chair on the outside, where Strickland lands a Swerve Stomp to knock him to the floor. Wayne is bleeding from his nose too, but he manages to kick out of Fox’s corkscrew brainbuster.

Swerve’s running head kick also won’t keep Wayne down, and when Fox misses a 450 splash, Wayne is able to bridge back into a pin just as Allin recovers to prevent Strickland from making the save before the ref’s count hits three.

Taking the mic, Swerve only laughs, telling Fox how disappointing he has been. “Why are you such a loser, Fox?”

Strickland says this was all a test, and he can’t trust Fox in front of 80,000 people at Wembley. The Mogul Embassy fires Fox and Brian Cage comes in and thrashes AR. Happily, Sting arrives with a baseball bat and Allin forgives Fox.

When Allin asks Strickland “who do you got?” for Sunday, out come Luchasaurus and Christian Cage, with the latter immediately insulting Wayne’s dead father.

So … Cage or the dinosaur man at Wembley?

Paquette sits down with FTR and the Bucks, with FTR saying that the only reason they’ve aided the Jacksons recently is to make sure that in London, they can determine who is the better tag team once and for all.

Nick Jackson suggests that FTR needs to win the match for their legacy, which the champs sort of shrug off. Dax Harwood says both the titles and the legacy are important, after which Matt Jackson starts in on them as well.

The four women in the title match talk about their tag team match at All In … except, curiously, for Saraya.

Ruby Soho def. Skye Blue by pinfall

Prior to the match, Soho delivers a warning to Kris Statlander, saying she’s got her eyes on the TBS Championship. At All Out, maybe?

Blue puts up her typical good fight here, including hitting Skye Fall, but Soho is able to catch her with Destination Unknown for the victory.

Flanked by The Kingdom, Roderick Strong ominously suggests that by the end of the night in London, we’re going to find out who the real MJF is and who the real Adam Cole is.

Without their usual music, The Acclaimed hits the ring and calls out the House of Black. They need to be careful what they wish for, as here comes the House.

A three-on-two beatdown is on, but Billy Gunn comes out to help chase the bad guys away. He gives an impassioned speech before saying he’s up for one more match to get some payback on the guys who hurt his “kids.”

And while fun loving Daddy Ass can’t make the trip to London, Gunn says a “Bad Ass” will be.

Aussie Open def. The Hardys by pinfall to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship, then get a visit from MJF and Adam Cole

It feels very unlikely that these titles would change hands four days away from All In … but you also can’t rule it out if for some reason the Aussies can’t travel.

They sure look like they have taken control of this one, and by isolating Jeff Hardy, they manage to retain their belts.

For some reason, Aussie Open gets on the mic to promise no double clothesline or kangaroo kick at Wembley Stadium. All that does is bring out Better Than You Bay-Bay, a.k.a. MJF and Cole. The four men have a staredown that turns into fisticuffs.

Though Mark Davis evades a double clothesline, Kyle Fletcher is still in the ring. He nearly gets Cole to kick MJF, and hey come nose to nose before Max holds the world title belt over his head. Cole offers a handshake that MJF refuses before grabbing his Dynamite Diamond Ring, but they end up hugging it out.

MJF calls for WWE vs. AEW fan tribalism to stop: ‘We’re all rooting each other on’

Both MJF and Adam Cole have sounded off this week on why they root for wrestlers in companies besides AEW to succeed.

Social media users often debate topics on a variety of subjects, especially in pro wrestling. They pit one viewpoint against another, and one of the most popular topics is which pro wrestling company is better: WWE or AEW? Fans continuously argue about why one is superior to the other, creating an endless debate.

Given how many pro wrestlers are on some form of social media, they have caught onto it, including MJF, who will headline AEW All in on Sunday against Adam Cole for the AEW World Championship.

In a Town Hall interview with Busted Open’s Dave LaGreca, MJF addressed the tribalism between WWE and AEW fans online. He said that while fans may be pitting companies against each other, wrestlers are all rooting for everyone to succeed (h/t Fightful for transcription).

“I call it emotional puppeteering. I definitely feel I’m the best, but I’m not gonna sit here and pretend I’m the only one. There’s this weird thing going on now in professional wrestling where I’ll see fans online, the way they communicate with each other, it’s like all-out war. Just so you guys know, that’s not what’s going on with the wrestlers. We’re all rooting each other on because realistically, the better the two companies are doing, the more money we’re gonna make. So stop arguing. We’re all freaking having a blast. I’m watching LA Knight and Cody Rhodes every week, and I’m having a blast, just like I know everybody else is having a blast, just like I know that there are fans out there watching Better Than You Bay-Bay having a blast every single week. There’s so much great professional wrestling going on, and there’s more than enough room for it, clearly. Because AEW is about to have the biggest crowd, this is not hyperbole, the biggest crowd ever in the history of the sport, and I’m headlining it. When I think about that, it’s so insane to me.”

MJF is calling on fans to celebrate the fact that pro wrestling is arguably hotter than ever, with AEW set to put on a show at Wembley Stadium and WWE touting the number of tickets sold for WrestleMania 40 in 2024. Instead of debating which company is doing better, he wants fans to realize that everyone is having fun.

He isn’t alone in his views, either. As the guest this week on Wrestling Junkie’s Under the Ring podcast with host Phil Strum, Cole noted that he has “a lot of friends at WWE, and I love when WWE does awesome.”

None of this will happen overnight, and the fan debate may never disappear on social media. However, the wrestlers realize the conversation is happening and clearly don’t share the same sentiment.

AEW Dynamite Fyter Fest preview 08/23/23: All aboard to All In

AEW Dynamite Fyter Fest will have some intriguing in-ring action, a contract signing and more just days away from All In London.

AEW hasn’t quite shifted all of its focus across the pond (does anyone still say that?) just yet, as there’s business to attend to right here in the U.S. tonight on Dynamite Fyter Fest in Duluth, Georgia.

It starts with a tag team match that could affect the Zero Hour pre-show at Wembley Stadium this weekend. Aussie Open accepted a challenge from Adam Cole and MJF for the ROH World Tag Team Championship … but that only applies if they’re still champs after facing The Hardys tonight.

The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega will be in different matches Sunday in London, but they’re coming together as The Elite on Dynamite to battle Juice Robinson and The Gunns. Three-quarters of a tag team match (and a Coffin match, at that) at Wembley will see AR Fox and Swerve Strickland step in against Darby Allin and Nick Wayne. And with Tony Khan saying there will be changes to the All In card this week, a match that has everyone watching it with that in mind will see Jon Moxley face off against Rey Fenix.

That’s not even close to all of it. Also promoted for tonight:

  • Jack Perry will “retire” the FTW Championship
  • Skye Blue will battle Ruby Soho
  • Chris Jericho and Will Ospreay have a contract signing for their match at All In
  • FTR and the Young Bucks have a face-to-face interview
  • And Renee Paquette will talk to Adam Cole and MJF before they both team together and fight each other at Wembley

Sounds like a lot, but if ever there was a time to just load up Dynamite to the hilt, it would be the week of the biggest show in AEW history. You’ll want to be watching on TBS beginning at 8 p.m. ET tonight, or simply join us back here at Wrestling Junkie for live AEW Dynamite Fyter Fest results and updates.

Adam Cole once wrestled in front of a single family

Believe it or not, there was a time when less than 10 people showed up to watch Adam Cole, bay bay.

While the actual number of fans who are in attendance at Sunday’s AEW All In at London’s Wembley Stadium remains to be seen, it’s safe to say that when Adam Cole steps into the ring for the main event against MJF in front of 80,000 or more people, it will be the largest crowd to ever watch him wrestle.

As for the smallest, that’s a much smaller number — as in single digits, all of whom were part of one family.

Cole told the story when he appeared as a guest on this week’s episode of the Under the Ring podcast with host Phil Strum.

“So I did an independent show my first year in the wrestling industry,” Cole said. “It was in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, and it was in front of a family of six people. The wife and four children did not make a peep the entire show, and the husband was wearing overalls with no shirt underneath and he was rocking back and forth. And just any time the good guy was beating up the bad guy, he would go, Get ’em! Get ’em!’

“And that was it. Six people.”

While many wrestlers have tales about performing in front of sparse crowds, there likely aren’t many with one quite as memorable as Cole’s. And hopefully that family of six, or at least the dad, looks back now and realizes they had what was essentially a private show from one of the top wrestlers in the industry in his formative years.

Suffice it to say, it will be a much larger, more boisterous crowd at Wembley this weekend. Check out the full episode of Under the Ring below to hear Cole talk about what main eventing All In means to him, how the popularity of his team with MJF caught him by surprise, how important his time in ROH was to his career, and much more.