AEW ALL OUT 2019 has wrapped up, which means it’s review time. Standard operating procedure here in that I’ll be tossing out my general “quicker than a hiccup” thoughts on each match, followed by my regular Smack Talk Pay-Per-Viewpoint post-show podcast at the end of the post, which reviews the event in more detail.
Let’s dive into it!
21-Woman Casino Battle Royale:
I enjoyed this, but it wasn’t great. There were plenty of sloppy aspects to it, like the cartwheel kick. Some of the surprises landed well (ODB) and others fell super flat (Nicole Savoy). I really want Mercedes Martinez in WWE, not AEW, so I’m hoping that’s not a sign for the future of her career, but I do hope Tenille Dashwood joins the roster.
Teal Piper was a let down. The women’s title is ugly. I loved how they kept the feud going between Britt Baker and Bea Priestley. Not a fan of Nyla Rose winning as I think she needs a lot of work.
Private Party vs. Angélico and Jack Evans:
This was a solid enough match that also had its sloppy moments. I feel like that’s going to be a theme in AEW that I repeat often.
I’m glad Angelico and Evans firmly established themselves as heels and I’m glad Private Party won.
SoCal Uncensored vs. Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus and Marko Stunt:
Luchasaurus continues to be the biggest surprise star out of this company, in my mind. That guy is awesome and I loved all of what he did, including even the entrance camera shake (which of course, he had nothing to do with, but I liked that touch with his character).
Marko Stunt is someone I can’t get into. I just can’t suspend my disbelief enough to think he’ll ever be a wrestler I can take seriously. Jungle Boy is small, but he’s not THAT small, so it’s easier to enjoy his work without thinking to myself that I’m being asked to be more flexible than I should be.
I enjoyed this. Good opening contest.
Pac vs. Kenny Omega:
Good, but not the best match I’ve ever seen like I’m sure some people are making it out to be.
They were working with the complete lack of a storyline to build from, but somehow, I feel like even if they did have that going into this match, they would have wrestled exactly the same, because I think that’s Kenny Omega’s plan for every single match, and I’m already getting burned out on it before TV has even started.
But hey, I enjoyed it enough to be up for seeing another go-around. Hopefully, when these two have another match, it’ll be enough in the distance that it won’t feel like they’ve already run it into the ground like Young Bucks / Lucha Bros.
Cracker Barrel Clash: Darby Allin vs. Joey Janela vs. Jimmy Havoc:
This was awesome and a lot of fun to watch, even if I winced from time to time at what they were doing.
There are equal parts of me saying they should do one of these every event and another aspect saying I want everyone to be safer and not keep trying to one-up themselves.
Since I enjoyed this more than a lot of the card, I’m leaning more toward the “Cool! Again!” side of things, though, and if they can keep doing innovative things like putting thumbtacks in Jimmy Havoc’s mouth and taping it shut, I’ll end up making those matches highlights every time.
Best Friends vs. The Dark Order:
This was my least favorite segment of the night. I couldn’t get into this match, I’m not into Dark Order at all, and I think I would have rather enjoyed getting that time back and not having this on the card.
Orange Cassidy is fun, though. His appearance was easily the best part of this block of time.
Riho vs. Hikaru Shida:
This was alright, although I think the wrong woman won. Riho being so small and going up against Nyla Rose just screams disappointing to me, and I think Hikaru Shida would have made a better potential first champion than either of those.
Cody vs. Shawn Spears:
Good match that told a great story and was a change of pace from what we had seen in the other matches that were pretty much just a series of moves.
Pharaoh shouldn’t be brought out like that if it makes him uncomfortable. Poor guy.
The Star Trek stuff left me puzzled, but I guess that’s going to be a thing going forward with AEW where they’ll just cosplay and do references with little to no tie-in. At least it’s kind of fun and not something to complain about.
Arn Anderson’s surprise was interesting and I was surprised Cody got the win, but I don’t dislike it.
AAA World Tag Team Championship Escalera De La Muerte: The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Brothers:
Best match of the night. This was a lot of fun and brutal to watch to a point where I thought they were being way too unsafe and need to reassess how they do things going forward.
In particular, that fall I believe Nick Jackson took onto the outside where he misjudged and got his foot caught up in the ropes was rough and could have ended much, much worse.
Pentagon’s Canadian Destroyer was maybe my favorite move of the whole night and I’m glad The Lucha Bros won.
AEW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Chris Jericho vs. “Hangman” Adam Page:
Thoroughly underwhelming. This was fine, but “fine” isn’t what AEW should be producing for its main event to set the standard for the entire top of the company going forward while crowning the first-ever champion.
I’m glad Jericho won, but I can’t remember anything that happened in the match and I don’t feel enthused about anything. This was a lackluster way to end the night and was outclassed by many things that preceded it.
For more opinions on the show as a whole, check out the latest edition of the Smark Out Moment wrestling podcast SMACK TALK as the panel reviews SummerSlam with our immediate reactions following the event before the dust has fully settled.
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