10 ALL IN Impulse Reactions

10. Flip The Script

The collected adulation of the ALL IN audience following Flip Gordon's unmasking at the climax of the Over Budget Battle Royal immediately justified the hard work Cody had done playing pr*ck tease for so many months.

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Though the increasing aura around the event gave each performer at the top table a certain working class gloss, Flip became the human interest story amongst his 'Elite' chums destined for greatness on their big night out. That he made it through using old-fashioned wrestling ingenuity did much for his cause as the forgotten son of the family.

Crucially, it furnished an audience-killing Battle Royal with a vitally-needed killer finish. 17 minutes of banter were (just about) paid off by a final pairing of sentimental favourite Colt Cabana and Bully Ray battling it out, before a long-destroyed (but not previously eliminated) Chico El Luchador unmasked as the plucky friend of the stars.

ALL IN hadn't rocketed out of the blocks in either its Zero Hour pre-show nor opening effort, but the Gordon reveal was at least a sign that those in charge knew exactly what they were doing with the booking.

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