AEW All In 2025
July 12, 2025
Globe Life Field
Arlington, Texas
Watch: Amazon / TrillerTV / PPV.com / YouTube TV / Fubo
Meet our reviewer
Sean Sedor: Happy All In Day everyone! Sean is ready to go on this review of AEW’s biggest show of the year. You can find Sean on Twitter @SASedor2994 and on BlueSky @sasedor2994.bsky.social. If you’re interested in some of Sean’s other escapades, you can watch him play the Formula 1 games on YouTube (just search his name and you’ll find the channel), and you can also go to the Be The Booker forums if you’d like to check out Sean’s EWR Diary, where he plays as WCW (started in 1998, currently just finished 2003).
AEW All In Texas Zero Hour
The Sons Of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) & The Von Erichs def. Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, & The Infantry)
So with the change to the TNT Title match (Adam Cole relinquished the TNT Title due to a health issue), I figured that this match—which was set up on ROH Supercard Of Honor last night—would either be altered or pulled off the card altogether. Instead, we’ve got Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara pulling double duty. Interesting to note that Dustin and The Von Erichs are approaching one year as the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions, but have only defended the titles three times since they won them.
After some early offense from the babyface side, Shane Taylor Promotions managed to isolate Ross Von Erich. This included Shane Taylor giving Ross a splash on the floor before doing the Braun Strowman spot where he runs everyone over on the outside. A brief confrontation between Anthony Ogogo and Kevin Von Erich led to Wyatt and Wayne Rhodes (the Grandsons of Dusty Rhodes and the nephews of Cody and Dustin who are very early in their own wrestling careers) coming out to back up Kevin. Eventually, all the babyfaces locked the STP guys in Iron Claws, which led to Ogogo getting locked in the Iron Claw from Kevin before a quadruple pin was counted. Nothing much to really say about this one. A pretty inconsequential match that just served to get The Von Erichs on the card on this big Texas show (which is perfectly fine for the Zero Hour). If you missed this one, you’re not really missing much. **
AEW All In Texas Zero Hour
Big Boom AJ & The Conglomeration (Hologram, Kyle O’Reilly, & Tomohiro Ishii) def. The Don Callis Family (Hechicero, Lance Archer, Rocky Romero, & Trent Beretta)
It’s so funny that (BY FAR) the most over part of the Costco Guys act is The Rizzler (who came out wearing a Cowboy Hat because of course he did). Seeing guys like Hechicero and Tomohiro Ishii in the same match as Big Boom AJ is just incredibly bizarre. The Don Callis Family attacked before the bell, but the babyface side soon turned the tables and started working over Rocky Romero. After a fun exchange between Hechicero and Hologram, the heels managed to isolate Kyle O’Reilly, and it was during this part of the match that Trent shoved down Big Justice (I would say that’s a heel move, but I’m sure some were cheering Trent on). The babyface side managed to mount a comeback a short time later, which included a cool back-and-forth battle between Archer and Ishii (it was awesome seeing Ishii hoist Archer up for that brainbuster). Big Boom AJ finally tagged in, and it was at this point that everyone started getting their stuff in.
With bodies flying all over the place, it finally came down to RPG Vice vs. Big Boom AJ, and after Big Justice got some payback on Trent with a spear, AJ hit the powerbomb on Rocky to score the pin. A perfectly solid multi-person tag with everyone involved getting moments to shine. I’ve never really cared that much about The Costco Guys, but my take has always been that if they’re contained to these PPV pre-shows, that’s totally fine. There’s definitely going to be diminishing returns with these guys, as their “fame” won’t last forever (I’m honestly surprised how long their fame has lasted). That being said, they’re completely inoffensive in this spot on the card, and if AEW’s going to keep using them, multi-person matches are definitely the way to go over singles matches. ***
AEW All In Texas Zero Hour
FTR (with Stokely Hathaway) def. The Outrunners
These two teams had an awesome match on Collision 100 a few weeks ago, so it’s nice to see them getting the chance to have a rematch on this card (even if it is just on Zero Hour). Much like that encounter from a few weeks back, The Outrunners were on the offensive early before FTR eventually cut them off. They managed to isolate Turbo Floyd and worked over his injured knee. At one point, Cash slipped off the top rope trying to do something, which led to Turbo hitting a powerslam. It was one of those things that was probably a botch, but actually worked in the context of the match as it gave Floyd the opening to tag Truth Magnum.
Magnum then ran wild for a bit until FTR started working him over. A tag to Turbo was nearly made, but Dax cut Magnum off with a chop block. After Turbo FINALLY got back in, The Outrunners managed to hit their double elbow drop and get a number of very close nearfalls. They avoided Shatter Machine and connected with Total Recall, but Stokely broke up the pin behind the referee’s back. This would lead to Dax rolling up one of The Outrunners, with Dax putting his feet on the ropes and with assistance from Cash and Stokely, for the win. This was a relatively good match, though it was definitely a step down from their recent bout on Collision 100. They did pretty much everything you would expect, but it just felt like there was just a certain energy that was missing from this rematch. Perhaps it was the stadium setting? Regardless, I’m sure that The Outrunners will get that elusive win over FTR one day. ***1/4
AEW World Trios Title
The Opps (Katsuyori Shibata, Powerhouse Hobbs, & Samoa Joe) © def. The Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Gabe Kidd, & Wheeler Yuta)
The Opps won these titles back in April when Jon Moxley was subbing for the injured PAC. With PAC still out with injury, Gabe Kidd (who has been aligned with The Death Riders over the last few months) is here to team with Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta in their attempt to regain those titles. This one started off as a brawl, with all six guys going at it. After Kidd and Shibata picked up from where they left off on Thursday’s Collison, Yuta tagged in and just got the crap beaten out of him by The Opps. Things started to turn around for The Death Riders after Claudio tagged in, as after an uppercut exchange between Claudio and Shibata, The Death Riders managed to single out Samoa Joe.
Following a senton to Claudio, Joe managed to tag in Hobbs, who ran wild as the crowd gladly chanted “Meat”. Following a Pop-Up European Uppercut from Claudio, Hobbs was hoisted up for a Doomsday Device attempt, but Hobbs managed to counter Yuta’s attack into a powerslam in an absolutely awesome spot. Hobbs didn’t get much time to follow up though, as he ended up getting sent into the barricade with a Giant Swing. It was at this point that things once again broke down, and following everyone else spilling out to the floor, Joe connected with the Muscle Buster on Yuta to get the pin and secure the win. Their celebration was short-lived, however, as The Death Riders attacked the champions after the fact, with the exclamation point being Claudio stomping on Joe with a chair wrapped around his head.
A very good match to kick off the PPV proper. It took a little bit to get going, but once it did, it was pretty entertaining to watch. Hobbs countering the Doomsday Device with that powerslam was easily the highlight of the match. As for the aftermath, it’s very clear that this angle was done to write off The Opps (who have been opposing the Death Riders for months now) for the night so that they won’t be able to help out Hangman later on. We’ll see what happens come the main event, because this probably wasn’t the last time Claudio, Kidd, and Yuta will be appearing on this show. ***1/2
Men’s Casino Gauntlet – Winner: MJF
The winner of this Casino Gauntlet will receive a future shot at the AEW World Title. MJF came out with MVP, and after all the build between him and Mark Briscoe specifically over the last few weeks, I was curious to see how the first portion of this one would shake out. MJF went for a series of quick pin attempts straight away, which was nice to see, but after Briscoe fought back, MJF seemingly abandoned that strategy and just started going to work on Briscoe. The third entrant was Ricochet, and he was one of several names that we knew were going to be in this one beforehand. He and MJF double-teamed Briscoe until ROH World Champion Bandido (who had an awesome match with Konosuke Takeshita on the ROH PPV last night) came out as the fourth entrant to even up the odds.
Speaking of Takeshita, he was the fifth entrant, as we continued to fill up the ring with the previously announced participants. He had quick exchanges with both Ricochet and Bandido before MJF got back involved. After trying to go after Bandido’s mask, Mistico came out as the 6th Entrant, and they let most of his song play before he and MJF started going at it. After a dive to the floor, Mistico locked in La Mistica on MJF, and Briscoe joined by locking MJF’s other arm in an armbar before that got broken up by Takeshita.
The 7th Entrant increased the number of The Don Callis Family members in this bout as Josh Alexander made his way to the ring. He and Takeshita went to work on the rest of the field until Anthony Bowens arrived as the 8th Entrant. Roderick Strong was the 9th Entrant and wiped out MJF, but his offensive flurry in the ring was cut off by The Don Callis Family. Brody King was the 10th Entrant and he laid out everyone who got in his way. Juice Robinson (who is dressed in black tights and a black singlet like he’s The Undertaker) was the first surprise entrant of the match, and as he went to work on Ricochet, The Gates Of Agony came out to help him. This led to The Gunns making their return, as they took out Kaun and Liona before hitting the 310 To Yuma on Ricochet.
Kota Ibushi was out next and he just started kicking the crap out of people until The Beast Mortos entered the match. I don’t know what the record number of actual participants in these Casino Gauntlets is, but it definitely feels like we’ve surpassed the record. It was around this point that everyone just started hitting big moves and getting close nearfalls. Based on how previous Casino Gauntlet matches have gone, that’s a pretty solid tell that we’re getting close to the finish. However, we still had one more entrant, as Max Caster came out, though got immediately wiped out. Mark Briscoe then hit the Jay Driller on Roderick Strong, but then MJF tossed him out of the ring and stole the pin on Strong.
If memory serves, Christian Cage won the Casino Gauntlet at All In last year in a similar manner, so it’s a tad annoying that we’ve had a similar finish two years in a row.
On the whole, this was a technically good match, though very much a step down from the Casino Gauntlet last year in Wembley Stadium. There was nothing really wrong with the actual wrestling, but it definitely had some issues that took it down a few notches. Given that MJF and Mark Briscoe were such big parts of the build for this match, you did get the sense that the match really wasn’t going to end unless one of those two guys were involved. Another issue is that while you had a lot of strong in-ring talents in this match, none of them were really believable winners….outside of MJF, Mark Briscoe, and maybe Ricochet? If this match was on AEW television, and the winner was getting a title shot the next week or on one of their named specials, then I feel the field is much more wild open. Alas, with this being All In, the list of possible winners just seemed….small. It also didn’t help that this match went over a half hour. Again, from bell-to-bell, there really wasn’t much wrong with this, but it definitely started to drag in the second half. Perhaps that second half would’ve been helped if they didn’t announce as many people as they did going into it?
When it comes to MJF winning, it’s definitely not a surprise considering his feud earlier this year with Hangman and his interactions with him since then. Now I don’t believe it was ever outright said that these were similar “cash in” type title shots (I think the language they used was different this time vs. All In last year). I hope and pray (*Knock On Wood*) we’re not doing that again. While it would line up with the MJF character, we just did this song and dance with him three years ago with the Poker Chip. We don’t need to retread something that started us on the road to the MJF “flavor of ice cream” that actively drove away fans. We don’t need to go backwards. Leave the cash-ins to WWE. A collision between Hangman and MJF is almost a certainty, though I get the feeling MJF isn’t done just yet with Mark Briscoe, or Mistico for that matter. ***1/2
AEW TNT Title
Dustin Rhodes def. Daniel Garcia, Kyle Fletcher, & Sammy Guevara
Earlier in the day, Tony Khan announced that Adam Cole was vacating the TNT Title and that a Four-Way Match would be held to decide the championship. This seemed very mysterious when the news first came out, as Cole wrestled on Thursday and didn’t seem to suffer any visible injuries, but when we got Adam Cole coming out with the title, it definitely seemed like a more serious situation. It was incredibly emotional. Of course, we’re all reminded of his past concussions issues, and how hard he had to fight to get cleared a few years ago. Whether it’s concussion related or another issue that’s just as serious, I can only hope for the best for Adam Cole.
I started getting into ROH in earnest in 2010, and that’s right around when Cole was starting to break in there, back when he was still in the bright trunks and white boots, teaming with Kyle O’Reilly as part of Future Shock. Once he got elevated to that next level, he was at the top of the card in pretty much every promotion/brand he worked for in this country (I say brand because he was only a pushed commodity in NXT during his WWE run). He was part of that big finale angle at the All Out 2021 PPV alongside Bryan Danielson, but since then his run in AEW (which has been far from stellar from an in-ring and storytelling standpoint, it has to be said) has been riddled with a multitude of injuries, including whatever has forced him to vacate the title here. I’m sure more will be written about Cole in the coming days, though as I said earlier, I wish nothing but the best for him, and if his in-ring career is truly over, I do hope he’s able to live a happy and healthy post-wrestling life.
As for the match itself, it started off with the usual four-way fracas, with the first big spot of note being Sammy Guevara hitting Daniel Garcia with a Spanish Fly off the apron to the floor. We then got dueling figure four leglocks in the ring with Fletcher and Dustin in one and Garcia and Guevara in the other. A few moments later, Garcia would manage to hit a double superplex on both Fletcher and Guevara. After both Garcia and Guevara took turns hitting the Shattered Dreams on Fletcher, we had some brief dissension between Dustin and Guevara, which was bound to happen eventually. More exchanges followed, and eventually, Dustin caught Garcia in a small package to get the win! Dustin Rhodes wins the TNT Title and we get a big celebration with Dustin, Dustin’s nephews (who appeared earlier), the Von Erichs, and Sammy Guevara.
This was a relatively decent match, though it was easily the weakest of the three matches we’ve gotten up to this point. The bigger debate coming out of this match was the call to put the title on Dustin Rhodes.
Kyle Fletcher was the odds-on favorite to win the title coming into this show, but I suppose with the Adam Cole situation, you really couldn’t have a heel Fletcher get the win right after that speech (which clearly took something out of the crowd). The other three guys involved here were babyfaces, so any of them winning could’ve worked in theory, though ultimately they decided to go with the veteran in Dustin Rhodes. It definitely provided a nice, feel-good moment for a guy who wrestled on the very first show (and had arguably the best match of his career with his brother Cody). Perhaps the end-game here is for Dustin to have a short run with the TNT Title before Fletcher wins it from him in a very decisive manner (which could help to put Fletcher over as even more of a dastardly, hateable heel). While the result was definitely a surprise at the moment, it does make a little more sense given the circumstances. Fletcher will have the title sooner than later, but for now, Dustin Rhodes getting the win provided a nice moment after the emotional Adam Cole promo. **3/4
Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay def. The Young Bucks
So we had special entrances aplenty for this match. Will Ospreay once again busted out the Assassin’s Creed Entrance, while Swerve Strickland’s entrance featured JoJo Offerman (the widow of the late Bray Wyatt) singing a bit of “Ain’t Nobody” by Chaka Khan, his theme on the indies.
Meanwhile, The Young Bucks had an over-the-top entrance that featured them riding a boat (ala Washington Crossing The Delaware River) while Justin Roberts was forced to read yet another Revolutionary War-style proclamation. It was definitely a wacky entrance, but also very fitting for this version of The Young Bucks. The stipulation of the match was if Ospreay and Swerve win, then The Young Bucks are forced to give up their EVP status, but if The Young Bucks win, then Ospreay and Swerve cannot challenge for the AEW World Title for a full year.
The story of the match in the early going was that The Young Bucks were working like a well-oiled machine while Ospreay and Swerve were still trying to get on the same page (I guess they’re still trying to sell Swerve being mad at Ospreay for being the one to suggest the World Title stipulation). After Ospreay was on the receiving end of a pair of assisted swantons, The Young Bucks worked him over until he finally found an opening and made the tag to Swerve. It was at this point that the match started to kick into high gear. Swerve and Ospreay hit dueling Sky Twisters, while The Young Bucks connected with their crazy double stomp into a sitout powerbomb (which is a move that never fails to look impressive as hell).
Globe Life Field came absolutely unglued after an incredible sequence that saw several superkicks, a pair of destroyers, a House Call, and a Hidden Blade. We then got dueling Styles Clashes from Ospreay and Swerve before a Stormbreaker/Double Stomp combo was hit for a nearfall. The Young Bucks were quick to respond, however. They wiped out Prince Nana, gave Swerve a TK Driver on the floor, and then hit Ospreay with their version of a Hidden Blade before connecting with More Bang For Your Buck. Ospreay pulled off an awesome counter to the EVP Trigger, but got hit with it anyway, and only avoided getting pinned thanks to Swerve. Ospreay then accidentally took out Swerve with a Hidden Blade, and that led to nearfalls off both the EVP Trigger and the TK Driver.
As Ospreay was getting blasted with superkicks, Swerve stood in front of Ospreay to shield him, and just shrugged off the superkicks that The Young Bucks tried to deliver. This allowed Ospreay to recover enough to hit another Hidden Blade, which led to a Tombstone/Double Stomp combo. Swerve then wiped out Nicholas Jackson on the floor, and got back in the ring in time to hit a House Call/Hidden Blade combo with Ospreay on Matthew Jackson to secure the win.
As pretty much everyone expected, this was an excellent tag team match that featured some incredible action from start to finish. Up to this point, it’s easily been the match of the night. Ospreay and Swerve are an awesome tag team (would definitely be cool to see them team more beyond this), and The Young Bucks once again prove while they’re the greatest tag team of all time (That Case Lowe article is like a fine wine….only gets better with age).
Much like the TNT Title Four-Way that came before it, the big talking point coming out of this one was the result. With Swerve and Ospreay’s victory, The Young Bucks officially are officially stripped of their EVP powers and status. While there were certainly enticing possibilities that could’ve come of Swerve and Ospreay losing, that stipulation ultimately just served to add more drama to this match. It was definitely important that it had to be a believable stipulation, otherwise it wouldn’t have worked as well as it did.
The Young Bucks did indeed come very close to winning on several occasions, and that stipulation just made those close calls and nearfalls more thrilling. Personally, while some were convinced that The Young Bucks were going to win after Ospreay added that stipulation, I still felt it was a toss-up.
Again, Swerve and Ospreay not being able to challenge for the World Title for a full year would’ve opened up some pretty fascinating storytelling avenues, but they went with the finish that killed off the heel EVP storyline, and honestly, I don’t think anyone is going to complain about that. ****3/4
Women’s Casino Gauntlet – Winner: Athena
This is the second-ever Women’s Casino Gauntlet, as the first one took place earlier this year on Dynamite. We had three powerhouses of the women’s division kicking this one off, as Kris Statlander and Megan Bayne started the match, while Willow Nightingale came out as the third entrant. Tay Melo was the fourth entrant, and after hitting what looked to be a very messed up move on Bayne (I still don’t know what they were going for), we got a sequence that saw Penelope Ford, Anna Jay, and a returning Harley Cameron (complete with a face mask) all get involved. Both Anna and Harley ran off Ford before Thekla made her entrance as the fifth entrant.
Julia Hart, alongside Skye Blue, was out sixth. Much like some of the seconds that came before her, Skye Blue just openly got involved in the match with no consequence (no disqualifications in these things, I guess). Queen Aminata was the 7th Entrant, and she made a beeline right for Thekla, which was pretty cool to see given all of their recent interactions. The next two entrants were ROH title holders as Interim ROH Women’s TV Champion Mina Shirakawa and ROH Women’s World Champion Athena made their way into the match and both ran wild for a bit (it was funny seeing Mina think she won when she tapped out Skye Blue, who wasn’t in the match). Thunder Rosa then came out as the 10th Entrant.
Syuri from STARDOM was the next entrant, and we knew she was a possibility for this match based on the video package that aired on ROH last night (plus some photos of her from Starrcast earlier in the week). She had some fun exchanges with Athena and Mina before going at it with the next entrant, Alex Windsor (who also had been featured in some video packages recently). Following that exchange, a big brawl broke out with everyone going at it, which culminated in Statlander powerbombing Bayne onto the pile of bodies on the floor. Mina and Rosa ended up back in the ring after this, and following a….not totally clean closing stretch, Mina got hit with an Oh Face while trying for the Figure Four, and that was it! Athena wins the Women’s Casino Gauntlet and earns herself a future shot at the AEW Women’s World Title.
Even though she’s still the ROH Women’s World Champion, Athena getting the win here seems to confirm that’s going to be more involved on the AEW side of things going forward, which is nice to see (I know people have been clamoring for that). On the whole, this was definitely the more enjoyable than the Men’s Casino Gauntlet Match, though it loses some points for being the sloppier of the two (not the whole thing obviously, but it definitely sloppy in spots) while also just having loads of people not in the match interfere at will.
The fact that this was worked at a generally faster pace was certainly a factor that contributed to it being a better viewing experience (it wasn’t as long as the men’s match either, so that was a plus).
Hopefully they have this Athena title challenge set for a PPV. Given the result of the AEW Women’s World Title match later on (more on that in a bit), it should be a very interesting match whenever it does happen. Also….another Texas wrestler getting a big win on this show! ***1/2
AEW World Tag Team Titles
The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) (c) def. JetSpeed (Kevin Knight & “Speedball” Mike Bailey) & The Patriarchy (Christian Cage & Nick Wayne)
The Hurt Syndicate came to a live performance of their theme song with Westside Gunn, Smoke DZA, and MVP. FTR is also out on commentary for this one (won’t shock me if those guys get involved). Benjamin and Lashley got this one started quickly as they jumped their two challengers before the bell. They dominated the early portion of the match until Jet Speed found an opening and finally went on the offensive, though that didn’t last long (Knight got dropped face first on the steps by Lashley). The Patriarchy got in some offense as well, but that also came to a screeching halt thanks to Lashley and Benjamin. At one point, Lashley just tossed Speedball to the outside onto the pile of bodies on the floor. It was at this stage of the match that I noticed that Lashley….wasn’t really selling the effects of getting his knee smashed repeatedly with a chair on Dynamite. I don’t think that aspect of the segment on Wednesday was even mentioned? Very strange indeed.
The last portion of the match saw the two challenging teams getting moments to shine. JetSpeed in particular looked very solid in this closing stretch. Their offensive flurry included hitting Nick Wayne with a Doomsday Dropkick to the floor, and it looked like Nick landed right on his face. Christian Cage ended up on the outside as well, which led to him getting shoved into FTR by Lashley. Once Christian got sent back into the ring, FTR tried to get involved, but Lashley shoved Christian into them again, hit the spear, and pinned him! The Hurt Syndicate retained, and Christian Cage was the one to take the fall.
Of all the possible finishes, that was the one I expected the least, though I guess there was a reason for it given the post-match (more on that in a second). I was definitely disappointed that JetSpeed didn’t win here, but I suppose this Hurt Syndicate reign must continue. The match was pretty solid, though I wasn’t exactly going crazy for it by any means. Part of me just wanted to get it over with. Maybe it was just down to me knowing that the show’s three biggest matches were next and my desire to just get right to those (the PPV was already pretty long by this point in the evening). The Hurt Syndicate also just….don’t interest me as champions anymore, especially with more exciting options on the horizon (some of those options were in or were factors in this one!). This was certainly a good match, don’t get me wrong, but perhaps it better for others than it did for me. ***1/4
Following the match, The Patriarchy have a confrontation with FTR over what happened at the finish of the match. They then go to leave at the behest of Christian Cage, but then Nick Wayne turns on him and attacks! Kip Sabian and Mother Wayne join Nick Wayne in turning on Christian, and FTR assisted in the post-match attack. They got out a pair of chairs and set up for the conchairto, but then Alter Bridge’s Metalingus hit, and we all knew what that meant. Adam Copeland is back, making his first appearance in AEW since FTR took him out at Dynasty in April. He does his entire entrance (because of course he does) alongside Spike, aka his giant 2×4 with nails, and manages to chase off all the heels, leaving him and Christian Cage alone in the ring. Christian begs off, but Copeland pulls him to his feet, and in a reversal of the “Go Fuck Yourself” line delivered by Christian two years ago, Copeland tells Christian to “Go Find Yourself.”
Now I have to say that line sounded pretty fucking lame coming out of Copeland’s mouth, but the fact that it sounded lame doesn’t shock me.
I guess the one positive here is that they’re not going right to the Copeland/Christian reunion, which is the right way to do it, given how Christian’s been this enormous asshole for three years now. What I find fascinating is that AEW has felt so much fresher with the new names they’ve introduced combined with guys like Copleand and Jericho absent from the show….but we all new those guys were going to come back eventually. I guess some of the other questions coming out of this segment will be whether FTR is actually aligned with the now former Patriarchy (they did leave separately), and whether this Copeland vs. FTR feud will be contained to Collision since that’s really been the FTR show as of late. I guess time will tell on….well….all of that.
AEW Women’s World Title
“Timeless” Toni Storm © def. Mercedes Moné
In what should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody, Mercedes Moné had a massive entrance. Not only did she come out in a car (as she usually does on these big shows), but she was accompanied by the cheerleaders for the Texas Rangers (the Texas Six Shooters) who were wearing all of her title belts. She also had all of the names of the opponents she’s beaten during her post-WWE run, which was a nice touch. Toni Storm had a big entrance as well, though I’m not entirely sure what that was inspired by Charlie Chaplin, maybe?
Dueling chants of “Let’s Go Toni”/”Mercedes” echoed through the building as these two locked up to get this one started. While Mercedes had the initial advantage, Toni would respond by just….spanking her (very on-brand) before getting an assist from Luther while tossing Mercedes off the apron. It wouldn’t take long for Mercedes to respond, as she not only wiped out Luther, but connected with a series of powerbomb variations (a sunset flip powerbomb in the ring and a powerbomb on the floor). The TBS Champion was in firm control at this stage, and focused her attack on the hand and arms, even doing Penta’s arm break spot. Toni got hit with the Three Amigos (which got booed, funnily enough), but got her knees up on a Frog Splash attempt. She followed up with German Suplexes, a hip attack, and the Storm Zero, but that only got two. Not too long after that, Mercedes would hit the Moné Maker, and that also only got a two count.
With a busted up nose, Storm tried to respond, but Mercedes went right back to working on the arm. Toni would respond with this toss over the back into a cutter (which I think she’s done before, but not in a long time) and then three Storm Zero’s all in a row, which the crowd popped big for. Somehow that only got two, and Mercedes nearly stole the match moments later with a Small Package while holding onto the ropes. Toni managed to fight out of the Statement Maker, and hit yet another hip attack before following up with a Top Rope Storm Zero to win the match and retain the AEW Women’s World Title.
I know one of the points mentioned multiple times in the build was that these two wanted to have the greatest women’s match of all-time.
Did this meet that incredibly high bar? I would say no.
Was this the greatest women’s match in AEW history? Again, I would say no.
Have Toni Storm and Mercedes Moné had better matches in AEW (against different opponents, obviously) in the last say….eight months or so? I would say unquestionably yes. Was this title match great? I would also say yes! These two definitely worked very hard, and efforts resulted in a strong Women’s Title bout. While they did lose some steam in the middle with Mercedes trying to do some grounded submission work, they definitely regained all of that lost momentum in the second half, with a number of cool moments and close nearfalls.
As far as the result goes, Toni Storm winning is what I would’ve gone with here as well. Beating the unbeaten Mercedes just served to elevate Toni Storm that much more, and based on Athena winning the Women’s Casino Gauntlet, we could be heading towards another one of those matches down the line (Athena has lost during her ROH Women’s World Title reign, though she’s held that belt for ages obviously).
When it comes to Mercedes, people are definitely going to be interested to see how she handles the loss and where she goes from here now that she’s finally been beaten in AEW. Will she slowly start to unravel? I guess we’ll find out soon enough. ****1/4
AEW Unified Title
Kazuchika Okada [Continental Champion] def. Kenny Omega [International Champion]
Here we go. Okada vs. Omega for the very first time outside of Japan. Okada came out dressed in all black while Omega had a big entrance with his (new) New Japan theme performed live by Jason Charles Miller and a druid choir alongside a giant Omega symbol that was set on fire (not all the way unfortunately, but mostly). Following all of that, we got a bell pop and standing ovation as the match officially got underway. Okada would get some cheap shots in early with a kick to Omega’s previously damaged gut and a thumb to the eyes, but Omega responded promptly with a high cross to the floor. Okada took control back in the ring and continued targeting the gut, and any attempt Omega would make to respond would just lead to Okada going right back to attacking that mid-section.
Don Callis (who was out on commentary) got some shots in on Omega on the floor, which led to Okada hitting a DDT on top of the Spanish Announce Table. After Okada fought out of an armbar attempt, he started taunting Omega until he finally managed to fight back with a rana, which set up Omega hitting the Terminator Dive. For the first time in the match, Omega was finally going on a sustained offensive flurry. A dropkick off the top rope to the back of Okada’s head was followed by a leg trap superplex. Okada managed to avoid a V-Trigger, and nearly caught Omega with a pin before connecting with a dropkick. Once again, Okada went right back to the gut with a series of top rope elbows. Omega fought back with a powerbomb and a series of V-Triggers before putting Okada on the turnbuckle for a Top Rope Dragon Suplex (which Okada turned in the middle off and landed right on his face). Okada avoided the One Winged Angel and connected with a Spinning Tombstone and a Spinning Rainmaker, but that only got two!
Omega managed to hit Croyt’s Wrath, but was too injured to follow up for the cover. It was at this stage that we unfortunately got some shenanigans. Rocky Romero came out, but was attacked by Ibushi. Omega then hit One Winged Angel, and had the match won when Callis pulled out Bryce Remsburg. Aubrey Edwards came out to replace him, and just as Omega was going for the One Winged Angel again, Okada got out of it and hit the Rainmaker for another close two count. Omega was hit with yet another dropkick, but did manage to get one more big nearfall in the form of a small package before getting put down with yet another Rainmaker.
So where does this match sit in comparison to the other Kazuchika Okada/Kenny Omega matches?
Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to go back and rewatch their previous bouts (just didn’t have the time for it), but I would comfortably say that this was their weakest of their five singles matches.
Now, the weakest match between Okada and Omega is still an absolutely epic encounter that was one of the best AEW matches this year. That just speaks to the supremely high quality of their previous meetings. I actually really enjoyed the first half of this match as Okada worked over the midsection of Omega. In the past, I know Okada’s had a reputation in these long matches where the first ten minutes or so are relatively uninteresting, but I feel the diverticulitis stuff (as ridiculous as that one angle on TV was with Omega coughing up blood in a way that was very over-the-top) did help keep me invested in that early stage of the match. Of course, once they got deeper into the match, they just took things to the next level. The action was great, and the atmosphere was pretty awesome.
The one thing that takes this down a peg is the small spurt of outside interference we got, particularly with Don Callis pulling the referee out of the ring to stop what would’ve been the winning pinfall. Even though it didn’t directly lead to the finish, that did annoy me, and hurt what was otherwise an incredible match. If there was no interference, would I still consider this the weakest of the Okada/Omega matches? Probably. I don’t think the absence of that interference would’ve changed that. If this ends up being the final Okada/Omega match, then I thought this was a nice addendum (if that’s the right word) to the larger rivalry. The fact that Okada won feels like they’re leaving the door open for another match potentially? They are tied at two wins apiece now. Will they go back to that? Anything is possible I suppose. Was this the match of the night, at this point in this show? I would say it was definitely a tossup between this and the Ospreay & Swerve vs. Young Bucks tag, depending on what you preferred. ****3/4
AEW World Title – Texas Death Match
“Hangman” Adam Page def. Jon Moxley (c)
Main Event Time. I have to say that I liked how they placed these top three matches. Toni vs. Mercedes wasn’t going to follow Okada vs. Omega, and putting Okada vs. Omega right before the Texas Death Match works because those are two styles of matches that couldn’t be more different. As many were hoping for, Hangman came out to his old babyface theme. Meanwhile, Moxley came out with the rest of the Death Riders in this giant, rustic-looking truck.
Page was wearing pants that were (mostly) white, so that’s a good sign if you’re hoping for blood, we’re probably going to get it! Hangman stomped a mudhole in Mox to start, but it didn’t take long for weapons to be used. Both men brought out forks, but Page struck first and struck HARD. He violently stabbed Moxley in the head with his fork, and he was bleeding big immediately. Mox would respond quickly as he managed to bust Page open after grinding some barbed wire across his face. More barbed wire came into play as Mox slammed Page on a barbed wire chair. He then set up a table on the floor with the help of Marina Shafir, and then brought out a bucket with some sizable shards of glass. The two battled on top of the glass briefly before Mox DRAGGED Hangman’s back across the glass, which was absolutely nasty. He followed that up with a piledriver onto the glass, but Hangman answered the count.
Moxley was in complete control of the match at this stage. He set up some chairs and dragged Hangman up the turnbuckle, but Hangman slipped out, turned the chairs around (so the backs were facing each other), and connected with a BRUTAL powerbomb onto the chairs! We got our first true interference spot as Wheeler Yuta ran down and hit Hangman with a chair, but he brushed it off and hit him with barbed wire. Marina Shafir then jumped on Page’s back, and she ended up getting a Death Valley Driver through a table for her troubles. Claudio then ran out and attacked Page, and helped Yuta set a table up on the floor. Will Ospreay tried to get involved, though he got jumped by the Death Riders (including Gabe Kidd) and taken out in the same way that Samoa Joe was earlier. Moxley suplexed Page through some barbed wire tables on the floor, and both men managed to answer the ten count.
Back in the ring, the two went at it for a bit before Moxley locked in a bulldog choke. He released the hold, but Hangman barely beat the count. A Death Rider on a chair followed, and once again, Hangman answered the count. Mox called for a plastic bag, but was interrupted by a video message from Darby on Mount Everest. This leads to Bryan Danielson (disguised in a Blue Panther mask, because of course) coming out and attacking the Death Riders! Darby then descended all the way down from the top of Globe Life Field and joined Danielson in running off the rest of the Death Riders. A Buckshot Lariat and a Deadeye through a table followed, though Mox only survived thanks to Marina Shafir. This leads to The Young Bucks arriving, and they hit Page with the EVP Trigger as Mox and Shafir bring out a massive board of nails. A Death Rider onto the nails was hit, and yet again, Hangman survives to keep fighting. Moxley then told Marina to get the belt out of the briefcase so he could rub it in Page’s face, but she gets chained to the barricade by Prince Nana! Swerve then comes out, takes out The Young Bucks, and hands the chain to Hangman (which is the same chain that Hangman gave him on Collision). Page and Moxley fight over the chain, and it leads to Moxley taking a Buckshot Lariat on the board of nails! Hangman then finishes the match the same way he finished off Moxley in their Texas Death Match two years ago….by hanging him! Moxley squirms for his life, but he is forced to tap!
The Anxious Millennial Cowboy is AEW World Champion once again!
When it came to the violence that you would expect from Texas Death Matches in AEW, this had all of that and then some. From the nasty stabbings with forks very early on, to the barbed wire, the tables, the broken glass, the giant nail board, and yes, all of the blood that was spilt. This match absolutely brought the violence that was promised, and these two totally thrived in this environment. In terms of the storytelling aspect of the match, we knew all of the interference was coming, but I feel the way they handled everything just worked incredibly well. They did an amazing job playing with the emotions of the crowd and everyone watching at home (myself included). Just when you thought Page was on the verge of winning, they’d do something to get Moxley back on top, making things seem hopeless again, only for Page to somehow survive and keep on fighting.
In a way, there are similarities between this and the Bloodline Rules Matches in WWE (though I guess you can say it’s just the WWE House Style now, especially after how the recent John Cena/CM Punk match went), but what made this match SO MUCH better than Bloodline Rules was that the interference spots just sort of happened.
Outside of the Darby video from atop Mount Everest, there really was no pomp and circumstance to any of these run-ins. They didn’t hit Bryan Danielson’s music and have him do his full entrance before making the save. He just….showed up in his Blue Panther mask through the crowd. The same could be said for all the other people who got involved here. Everything just felt….smoother and more natural. It didn’t feel forced or contrived, and all of the various run-ins made sense given everything that’s happened during this Death Riders storyline. We also didn’t get either Jon Moxley or Adam Page laying on the ground for several minutes while all these runs occurred around them. They were active participants in pretty much everything that was going on out there. AEW doing the Bloodline Rules Match better than WWE is incredibly funny on so many levels.
Ultimately, AEW gave their fanbase exactly what they wanted. Adam Page winning the title back got an insane pop, and him finally taking the AEW World Title out of that briefcase also got a pretty massive reaction. I can see some people not liking this match because of all the run-ins (and that’s a totally fair way to look at it), but I feel the way they handled everything on that front, combined with the insane level of violence that we saw, makes this an easy match of the year contender. Does this make it to the top of my MOTY list? I’ll save that one in the holster for the annual Voices of Wrestling Match of the Year Poll, but there’s no doubt that this was a super satisfying conclusion to AEW’s biggest show of the year. *****
Final Thoughts
All In Texas was far from a perfect AEW PPV, but the highs on this show were incredibly high. The first half of the card was definitely shaky (even though there really wasn’t anything bad or even subpar to speak of), though once we got to Swerve and Ospreay vs. The Young Bucks, this show kicked into high gear. Aside from that tag team match being nothing short of excellent, Toni Storm vs. Mercedes Moné and Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega were both great title bouts. As for the main event, it more than lived up to the Texas Death Match stipulation, and also gave everyone the satisfying conclusion that we were all hoping for, as Hangman Adam Page managed to successfully rescue the AEW World Title from the grasp of Jon Moxley and the Death Riders. With WWE continuing to falter and stumble their way through 2025, All In Texas continued the incredible wave of momentum that AEW has been on as of late.
