ALL IN REVIEW

TheDaily Powerbomb
Sep 2, 2018 · 10 min read

The following post is about the recent event “ALL IN” in which it shall be reviewed purely on a non-biased relation that will allow comfortable reading for all types of audiences that follow wrestling.

Last night was a moment of history that will be embedded into the realms of wrestling legend for time to come. Last night a wrestling based pay-per-view took place with the name ”ALL IN” which carried a uniqueness like no other pay-per-view has ever had in the history of professional wrestling, it carried the power to change the world of professional wrestling on the “indie scene” and the corporate scene.

The “ALL IN” pay-per-view was merely something of a dream in wrestling with the big franchise of WWE throwing its weight around for the past 50+ years. This wasn’t a problem as such until recent years where the WWE product has gone stagnant which led the audience to find a different means of entertainment. This led to the meteoric rise of the indie circuit which, of recent, is finally getting the acknowledgement it deserves. Companies such as Ring of Honour (ROH), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Lucha Underground, just to name a few have rose to become household names associated with the indie market.

However, thanks to the help of key members of NJPW/ROH’s Bullet Club and Being The Elite — the dream of a major PPV outside of WWE was brought to life with figures like Cody Rhodes and Matt and Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks pitching for a revolution and change for pro wrestling. ALL IN was the dream to begin the revolution and show everyone that there is an alternative. With the backing of Bullet Club’s international fan base and Being The Elite’s following they decided to book out the Sears Centre in Chicago which held a 10,000+ capacity crowd.

With the venue set the card began to role out:

  • SoCal Uncensored (SCU) vs The Briscoe Brothers
  • Over The Budget Battle Royal
  • MJF vs Matt Cross
  • Christopher Daniels vs Stephen Amell
  • Britt Baker vs Madison Rayne vs Chelsea Green vs Tessa Blanchard
  • Cody Rhodes vs Nick Aldis
  • “Hangman” Adam Page vs Joey Janela
  • Jay Lethal vs Battle Royal Winner
  • Kenny Omega vs Pentagón Jr
  • Marty Scurll vs Kazuchika Okada
  • Kota Ibushi and The Young Bucks vs Rey Mysterio, Fénix and Bandido

The huge names and dream matches called for a night to be remembered which did not fail to please with the venue selling out in under 30 minutes of being on sale.

***********************SPOILERS AHEAD***************************

As the full capacity crowd at the Sears Centre began to settle down from the hype and buzz in anticipation for a night of history, the starting match up on the kick off show was SO-CAL Uncensored (SCU) vs The Briscoes.

This match included Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky from the tag team trio SCU up against Mark and Jay Briscoe and was a thrilling match to start the night. The fight between SCU and The Briscoes was a pace setter for the rest of the night as it mainly functioned to get the crowd ready for a main card later on in the show. This match was hard hitting and with the aggression from The Briscoes beating down however, SO-CAL Uncensored came up with the victory after an innovative counter which led to a quick 1,2,3.

Following this match was the comically named “Over Budget Battle Royal” in which the winner would face the Ring of Honour champion Jay Lethal later in the night. This match starred a number of characters which ranged from household legends to new up coming stars and in-between. The competitors in the match were as follows: Moose, Jordynne Grace, Colt Cabana, Ethan Page, Rocky Romero, Brian Cage, Billy Gunn, Jimmy Jacobs, Marko Stunt, Brandon Cutler, Punishment Martinez, Austin Gunn, Tommy Dreamer, Bully Ray, The Hurricane, Cheeseburger, Chuck Taylor, Trent Barreta and Flip Gordon.

This match was full of suprises with Tommy Dreamer, Bully Ray and Hurricane being put on hold till last minute. With this in mind there was multiple spots in the match which had the crowd going into a frenzy however, timing of these spots slightly devalued the performance of the battle royal but there wasn’t much to grumble at with Tommy Dreamer adding the hardcore element to the match by bringing trash cans into the mix. There was a lot of talent that showed promise and mixed well with the legends of the wrestling scene in which a shout out to Jordynne Grace must be given as she was sporting a “Women’s Revolution” of her own being the only female competitor in the match. After a number of eliminations we were left with just two competitors in the ring where Flip Gordon posed as another wrestler unmasked himself to the dazed and surprised Bully Ray who thought he had won the match where Flip followed up with a super kick and eliminated Bully to become the contender for the ROH title later on in the night. This was a massive suprise which brought an uproar to the crowd as the fan favourite Flip Gordon had battled his way to get into the ALL IN event without any prevail until this moment.

Now with the crowd having a taste of what was to come, the first of the main show matches was about to come up with MJF vs Matt Cross. This was simply a match of experience and raw talent which did not fail to impress. Matt Cross is a 20 year veteran of wrestling where he came up against the relatively new MJF who recently started his journeyman career 3 years ago, with this in mind it was a fantastic match that set the bar for the rest of the night as it had everything a wrestling fan would want. The amazing stunts and flips of Matt Cross wowed many a fan in the audience however, this would soon be shut down by the loud mouth MJF and his technical wrestling ability via working in the arm of Matt Cross throughout the match. None the less, Matt Cross fought through and showed his experience to be valuable as he picked up the win with a quick flurry of moves followed by a shooting star press.

The next match on the list included one third of SoCal Uncensored Christopher Daniels vs Stephen Amell who has shown us that he can act as Green Arrow but did he show us he can lace a pair of boots and put up a fight in the ring? This match had a lot of hype from Youtube series Being The Elite and even had Jerry Lynn as special guest referee. As the match went on, Stephen Amell was putting on a clinic despite being relatively new via taking spot bumps through tables and holding himself against the ring general Christopher Daniels. Despite holding himself well, there were a few botched moments in the match that seem mistimed and a moment of confusion set in but this was only a minor fault in which otherwise was an average match. I feel that the crowd played a role in making this match what it was as they backed both competitors and really got behind the booking. Jerry Lynn even got involved in the match as he refused to have the match result in a double count out, eventually Christopher Daniels got the victory with a final nail in the coffin by finishing the match with the BME aka Best Moonsault Ever.

The next match was a fatal 4-way styled event in which we had guest commentators Tenille Dashwood and Mandy Leon. This match was an all woman match which involved Tessa Blanchard, Britt Baker, Madison Rayne and “Hot Mess” Chelsea Green. This match was absolutely amazing where all fans in attendance were glued to their seats or were on their feet in appraisal for what they witnessed. The match was slowly paced in which it grew in speed throughout and all four particpants put in their best efforts for this match to put the “WWE Women’s Revolution” to shame where they succeeded in my opinion. The match came to an instinctive finish with a hammerlock DDT that got Tessa Blanchard the victory at the end of the night.

The next match was for the NWA championship which many in attendance may have turned up for. One of the creators of the ALL IN pay-per-view Cody Rhodes faced Nick Aldis for the title. As Cody entered the arena, the crowd went wild as he was accompanied down to the ring via legends such as Tommy Dreamer and DDP. Nick Aldis also entered the arena accompanied by legends alike. This match was of monumental proportion and meant so much to those involved. As the fight got underway, you could sense the tension and hype in the air which gave it that big match feel but along with the big match feel you get big match expectations, ones of which were blown out of way as this match was exceptional. This was a back and forth affair in which Cody snuck a victory in cheap but smart fashion by rolling up Aldis and locking him down for the 3 count where Cody shed literal blood, sweat and tears. In addition, this match was officiated by controversial referee Earl Hebner.

The following match was a Chicago Street Fight where Bullet Club member “Hangman” Adam Page faces Joey Janela. This match was an all out fight in which I felt it heavily relied on the street fight aspect to be successful. This contest was full of dangerous spots, most notably the ramp running powerbomb. This contest did not have much sway to it in audience engagement as the storyline was somewhat comical and unprofessional but never the less was a joy to watch. Once the match ended with Hangman as the winner, the lights went out with Joey Ryan returning from the dead with phallic druids where he “dick flipped” Adam Page in which he was carried out of the arena by the phallic druids. This match was clearly a card filler in my eyes which provided a great viewing.

The next contest was for the ROH championship that involved Jay Lethal and the winner of the Over Budget Battle Royal, Flip Gordon. The match paid tribute to wrestling legends such as Macho Man Randy Savage as Jay Lethal gave everyone a nostalgia trip with his Randy Savage like gimmick making a return on behalf of Savage’s brother. This match was an absolute wrestling clinic with two fan favourites going head to head for the prize of the ROH title. The match really engaged with fans and had them rooting for both contestants as they took fans through another nostalgia trip by mimicking an iconic moment in wrestling history within their match. This was one of the better matches on the card.

Following this match was Kenny Omega vs Pentagón Jr which I had high expectations for but I felt fell below par. I feel this because the star power and talent of Omega and Pentagón Jr was enough to blow the roof off but the match did not really have much to it with hardly any explosive moves and limited moves. The most explosive thing about this match was Kenny Omega’s repeated knee triggers however, this is not to knock the match as it was fantastic but it could have been something more. Kenny Omega picked up the victory with his One Winged Angel finisher after surviving the Fear Factor from Pentagon Jr on the hardest part of the ring. Once the match was over the lights went out and after a while it came back on with Pentagon Jr attacking Omega which was later revealed to be Chris Jericho continuing his story for his match on the Jericho Cruise.

The following was the second to last match of the night that was billed to be an instant classic with the star power of Marty Scurll and Kazuchika Okada however, it was anything but. This match was billed to be something special but just didn’t live up to expectations that I thought it would have done. This match was exceptionally slow paced and slightly dragged out. The match had some good spots such as the rainmaker reversed into finger snap that caught my attention but I feel the size difference between Marty and Okada is what limited the options for the match. With the match playing out as it did you could argue that it was one of the best matches on the card due to its story telling aspect. Unlike any other match this could have been the best on the card for storytelling as we saw Marty fight for strength against the big man Okada.

Finally, we reach the show closing match! This included the team of Kota Ibushi and the Young Bucks vs Fénix, Bandido and Rey Mysterio Jr. This match was on fire and was everything a main event should be! The high velocity paced action and death defying moves caused this show closer to be possibly one of the best matches on the card with all competitors going on a limb to put something special on for the fans which we all can agree was superb. The intensity and non-stop action of the match kept everyone on the edges of their seats until we saw a winner. With a 5-star Meltzer Driver the match came to an end with Ibushi and the Young Bucks coming up with the victory. This match led many wanting more.

Overall, I would say ALL IN is a piece of history that will not be forgotten anytime soon as it has shown the wrestling world that there is an alternative and an outlet to other promotions. This event was such a success that many are already asking if there is going to be another and rightly so! Thanks to the Young Bucks, Cody and others that this event was possible and the future of wrestling is now!

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