As I begin writing this, it's 8:30am on the day after All In. And I feel like going back through and collecting some additional thoughts on the show, match by match, and discuss what generally worked and didn't work in each match. Was the show as great as I thought it was initially? Read along as I work through this.
(Note: For the initial review of All In, click on this link: ALL IN (9/1/18)- TRULY BEING THE ELITE.)
- I thought that MJF vs. Matt Cross was a good appetizer for the main show and a smart way to start it off. I am not a fan of just going for broke right out of the gate on a PPV. Instead, give one of your undercard matches the hot crowd. This was a solid, well executed match between the two, even with the production snafus that happened on Honor Club's stream during the match. MJF can be a bigger deal in wrestling with more experience. I was impressed by what I saw.
- I am again amazed by the legit athleticism of Stephen Amell as he continues to shine as a celebrity wrestling attraction. I dare say that he may be among the best celebrity wrestlers ever. It takes a lot to do what he did at such an inexperienced level. The Van Terminator and table spots are not things celebrity wrestlers do. And again, Christopher Daniels proved again that he is still underrated as a performer. Daniels in his late 40s kept up toe to toe with Amell's athleticism and helped guide the pace of the match at key moments. Again, this was another great match on this card.
- One match I probably should revise my thoughts on is the Four Way Women's Match. The match was still a bit sloppy, but the amount of effort put in by all four women did supercede that. And I probably undervalued the match as a result. I still won't give it an A, but I am going to bump up my thoughts on the match to a B+. I get the hype for Tessa Blanchard. She was incredible. I was also impressed with Baker and Green as well. And Madison Rayne was her usual solid self.
- One match I will stand by and defend my grade and thoughts for is the Aldis vs. Cody match. That was an A+ for a lot of reasons. The key reason though is EMOTION. This match was built on the emotion of the moment. The work in the ring built up on the emotion. And the crowd's reaction to everything happening bumped this up to the next level. You add in well-worked shenanigans in the match (the DDP cameo, the fact that each man had an entourage of people who've been on the journey with him, Brandi taking the elbow drop for her husband) that only heightened the emotions of this show. Both men kicking out and escaping each other's signature holds in a logical way and the finish of the match itself (along with the visual of Cody holding the belt his father held) together created this magical presentation. This is every bit of an A+. And I'll defend that against anyone who wishes to challenge it. Great matches don't have to be over the top athletic. These guys did the work to make the match live up to the moment.
- Another match I will defend my initial thoughts on is Page vs. Janela. I've never seen Janela (or Ford) before, and I was impressed by what I saw. These guys destroyed each other in this match and delivered a great Street Fight. The Rite of Passage off the ladder through the table at the end was insane. But then again, a move as simple as the moonsault off the top to the floor by Page was insane (and I've seen that a lot of times). And Ford, Janela's manager, was beyond impressive here with her sequence against Page. It was a mix of Flip Gordon, Trish Stratus, and Lita all in one. But all that paled in the light that was the pop that the cursed boots got from the audience. The audience definitely knew the story of Page's "murder" storyline with Joey Ryan.
Speaking of Ryan, I was NOT a fan of the Ryan stuff after the match. I'm just not a fan of his schtick. So, I should have probably just used that as a bathroom break because it's exactly what I thought of that entire 5 minute part of the show. To me, it was the worst part of the show by far. Then again, I'm not going to destroy it because I know that it's over with a large portion of the fans, and it obviously worked for what it intended to do.
- I really enjoyed the Black Machismo/Jay Lethal vs. Flip Gordon match, although it was in the worst position on the card as a match. Lethal's interactions with Brandi were hilarious as he played with her as if she were Elizabeth. The part that put it over the top was Flip doing the Hulk Hogan impersonation. In any other moment, that would be completely hated. Here against Black Machismo, it was perfect!
As for the Bully Ray stuff, I'm still over it. The crowd popped big for Colt Cabana beating up Bully and putting him through the table. So, it worked too.
- Best Match of the Night Honors belong to Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon Jr./Penta El Zero. I may have to start watching Impact to see Pentagon's stuff. This was incredible. Omega could wrestle a cardboard cutout and make it great. But Penta was amazing in the stuff that he was doing as well. Omega took some sick bumps for a guy with a world championship. The ending was in doubt a few times as Kenny kept taking bump after bump. And that speaks volumes for what happened as logic would suggest that Kenny wouldn't lose at a show which he's such a prominent part of.
The aftermath with Chris Jericho dressed as Pentagon Jr. was one of the big highlights of the night. I never thought Jericho would show up and do something outside of WWE in America. Well, that definitely ended here. When he did that Codebreaker, the pop from the crowd was insane. There were some who got the picture before that happened, but once he hit that move, that pop was undeniable. I wish I had the money to go on the Jericho Cruise to see this play out.
- Another excellent match for a completely different reason was Marty Scurll vs. Kazuchika Okada. They moved at a much slower pace, but it definitely worked for the performers involved. Scurll shined in this match with several great nearfalls and staying toe-to-toe with Okada. The Umbrella/Rainmaker from Scurll sequence was such a great moment as I bought that being a possible finish. They made each other look great in this match, and Okada is still one of the greatest wrestlers "walking God's green Earth" (to borrow a phrase).
- Here's where the pacing of the show played a big factor: the main event. First, it was obvious that the luchadors weren't ready for the main event as there was a long wait for all three to come out to the ring. Then, once that match started, it hit that higher gear in a hurry. It went so fast that I couldn't even keep up. And as I said yesterday, I felt that the faster pace actually helped the match as they had to go for broke quickly. The finish came in a hurry though as they had to get the Meltzer Driver spot in instantly for the 3. It was 10-15 seconds later that we saw the credits roll. Other all, this was a great, though rushed, main event.
- A final minor complaint that I have is that we didn't get the post-main event curtain call after the match. I wish there would have been one put on one of the streams, but I digress.
Overall, this still lives up to what I initially thought. This has to be the show of 2018. If I'm ranking them, ALL IN is #1, Dominion is #2, and NXT Takeover New Orleans is a very close #3. What they achieved here was nothing short of extraordinary. I'm just worried that in 6 months, most of these guys are going to be bought out by WWE when Vince starts spending some of that Fox money towards getting more talent. I know The Bucks, Cody, Kenny, and Page have promised to stick together, but Vince McMahon is literally The Million Dollar Man. And as everybody knows, "Everybody's Got a Price for The Million Dollar Man. (Evil laugh)"
Will this be a blip on the radar looking back in history as these talents get swallowed up by the WWE machine, thus killing the movement before it can truly get its feet going? Or will these guys keep going on the independent scene, helping to create true alternatives to WWE for wrestlers to make money? Time will tell.
I hope you enjoyed this second look at ALL IN. Leave a comment on what you thought about the show or this post below. Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
(Note: For the initial review of All In, click on this link: ALL IN (9/1/18)- TRULY BEING THE ELITE.)
- I thought that MJF vs. Matt Cross was a good appetizer for the main show and a smart way to start it off. I am not a fan of just going for broke right out of the gate on a PPV. Instead, give one of your undercard matches the hot crowd. This was a solid, well executed match between the two, even with the production snafus that happened on Honor Club's stream during the match. MJF can be a bigger deal in wrestling with more experience. I was impressed by what I saw.
- I am again amazed by the legit athleticism of Stephen Amell as he continues to shine as a celebrity wrestling attraction. I dare say that he may be among the best celebrity wrestlers ever. It takes a lot to do what he did at such an inexperienced level. The Van Terminator and table spots are not things celebrity wrestlers do. And again, Christopher Daniels proved again that he is still underrated as a performer. Daniels in his late 40s kept up toe to toe with Amell's athleticism and helped guide the pace of the match at key moments. Again, this was another great match on this card.
- One match I probably should revise my thoughts on is the Four Way Women's Match. The match was still a bit sloppy, but the amount of effort put in by all four women did supercede that. And I probably undervalued the match as a result. I still won't give it an A, but I am going to bump up my thoughts on the match to a B+. I get the hype for Tessa Blanchard. She was incredible. I was also impressed with Baker and Green as well. And Madison Rayne was her usual solid self.
- One match I will stand by and defend my grade and thoughts for is the Aldis vs. Cody match. That was an A+ for a lot of reasons. The key reason though is EMOTION. This match was built on the emotion of the moment. The work in the ring built up on the emotion. And the crowd's reaction to everything happening bumped this up to the next level. You add in well-worked shenanigans in the match (the DDP cameo, the fact that each man had an entourage of people who've been on the journey with him, Brandi taking the elbow drop for her husband) that only heightened the emotions of this show. Both men kicking out and escaping each other's signature holds in a logical way and the finish of the match itself (along with the visual of Cody holding the belt his father held) together created this magical presentation. This is every bit of an A+. And I'll defend that against anyone who wishes to challenge it. Great matches don't have to be over the top athletic. These guys did the work to make the match live up to the moment.
- Another match I will defend my initial thoughts on is Page vs. Janela. I've never seen Janela (or Ford) before, and I was impressed by what I saw. These guys destroyed each other in this match and delivered a great Street Fight. The Rite of Passage off the ladder through the table at the end was insane. But then again, a move as simple as the moonsault off the top to the floor by Page was insane (and I've seen that a lot of times). And Ford, Janela's manager, was beyond impressive here with her sequence against Page. It was a mix of Flip Gordon, Trish Stratus, and Lita all in one. But all that paled in the light that was the pop that the cursed boots got from the audience. The audience definitely knew the story of Page's "murder" storyline with Joey Ryan.
Speaking of Ryan, I was NOT a fan of the Ryan stuff after the match. I'm just not a fan of his schtick. So, I should have probably just used that as a bathroom break because it's exactly what I thought of that entire 5 minute part of the show. To me, it was the worst part of the show by far. Then again, I'm not going to destroy it because I know that it's over with a large portion of the fans, and it obviously worked for what it intended to do.
- I really enjoyed the Black Machismo/Jay Lethal vs. Flip Gordon match, although it was in the worst position on the card as a match. Lethal's interactions with Brandi were hilarious as he played with her as if she were Elizabeth. The part that put it over the top was Flip doing the Hulk Hogan impersonation. In any other moment, that would be completely hated. Here against Black Machismo, it was perfect!
As for the Bully Ray stuff, I'm still over it. The crowd popped big for Colt Cabana beating up Bully and putting him through the table. So, it worked too.
- Best Match of the Night Honors belong to Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon Jr./Penta El Zero. I may have to start watching Impact to see Pentagon's stuff. This was incredible. Omega could wrestle a cardboard cutout and make it great. But Penta was amazing in the stuff that he was doing as well. Omega took some sick bumps for a guy with a world championship. The ending was in doubt a few times as Kenny kept taking bump after bump. And that speaks volumes for what happened as logic would suggest that Kenny wouldn't lose at a show which he's such a prominent part of.
The aftermath with Chris Jericho dressed as Pentagon Jr. was one of the big highlights of the night. I never thought Jericho would show up and do something outside of WWE in America. Well, that definitely ended here. When he did that Codebreaker, the pop from the crowd was insane. There were some who got the picture before that happened, but once he hit that move, that pop was undeniable. I wish I had the money to go on the Jericho Cruise to see this play out.
- Another excellent match for a completely different reason was Marty Scurll vs. Kazuchika Okada. They moved at a much slower pace, but it definitely worked for the performers involved. Scurll shined in this match with several great nearfalls and staying toe-to-toe with Okada. The Umbrella/Rainmaker from Scurll sequence was such a great moment as I bought that being a possible finish. They made each other look great in this match, and Okada is still one of the greatest wrestlers "walking God's green Earth" (to borrow a phrase).
- Here's where the pacing of the show played a big factor: the main event. First, it was obvious that the luchadors weren't ready for the main event as there was a long wait for all three to come out to the ring. Then, once that match started, it hit that higher gear in a hurry. It went so fast that I couldn't even keep up. And as I said yesterday, I felt that the faster pace actually helped the match as they had to go for broke quickly. The finish came in a hurry though as they had to get the Meltzer Driver spot in instantly for the 3. It was 10-15 seconds later that we saw the credits roll. Other all, this was a great, though rushed, main event.
- A final minor complaint that I have is that we didn't get the post-main event curtain call after the match. I wish there would have been one put on one of the streams, but I digress.
Overall, this still lives up to what I initially thought. This has to be the show of 2018. If I'm ranking them, ALL IN is #1, Dominion is #2, and NXT Takeover New Orleans is a very close #3. What they achieved here was nothing short of extraordinary. I'm just worried that in 6 months, most of these guys are going to be bought out by WWE when Vince starts spending some of that Fox money towards getting more talent. I know The Bucks, Cody, Kenny, and Page have promised to stick together, but Vince McMahon is literally The Million Dollar Man. And as everybody knows, "Everybody's Got a Price for The Million Dollar Man. (Evil laugh)"
Will this be a blip on the radar looking back in history as these talents get swallowed up by the WWE machine, thus killing the movement before it can truly get its feet going? Or will these guys keep going on the independent scene, helping to create true alternatives to WWE for wrestlers to make money? Time will tell.
I hope you enjoyed this second look at ALL IN. Leave a comment on what you thought about the show or this post below. Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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