AEW All Out Roundup: AEW delivers an underwhelming pay-per-view highlighted by an unbelievable ladder match
Between another instant sellout and an enviable run of successful pay-per-views, AEW All Out had lofty expectations. Unfortunately, the budding promotion fell short of meeting these expectations as All Elite Wrestling delivered an underwhelming but not terrible offering with its latest showcase.
After a hot start pitting certified pros SoCal Uncensored against the increasingly popular Jurassic Express, something seemed off when Kenny Omega vs. Pac was surprisingly slotted as the second match on the show.
Fans in the Sears Centre tried as best they could to get behind the dream match, but with no build and undesirable circumstances of Pac being a replacement for Omega's original opponent in Jon Moxley, it fell short of the match of the year candidate it would have been nine out of 10 times. Multiple botched spots throughout didn't help either.
Following an entertaining Cracker Barrel Clash that was exactly what it should have been, All Out hit a wall as Riho vs. Hikaru Shida and Dark Order vs. Best Friends was met with indifference from a surprisingly checked-out crowd.
Cody and Shawn Spears predictably won them back, but still they slightly disappointed with an underwhelming matchup where Cody's win over Spears rendered what could have been a blood feud into more of a one-off. The matches highlight had nothing to do with either of the principles, but rather a surprise run-in from wreslting legend and AEW producer Arn Anderson.
An excellent Ladder Match pitting The Young Bucks against The Lucha Bros was the only match on the show that overachieved expectations. Even the crash-and-burn spots enhanced the match, which told a coherent story amid car crash spots that dazzled the fly-in crowd. In fact, Escalera De La Muerte was so good, it inevitably hurt the night's main event despite the crowd's best efforts.
Chris Jericho's AEW World Championship victory, while the right choice, was placed in the wrong spot on the show as Jericho and Page worked a relatively timid match compared to its predecessor. Page is not quite ready to be a consistent main eventer, and it showed as fans gave little reaction to his comeback in the climactic stages of the match. To be fair, the match was doomed from the start for the reasons stated above.
Jericho as a world champion should be loads of fun, but AEW will certainly have room for improvement as it looks ahead to its next pay-per-view Full Gear.