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.
