10 Things We Learned From Attending AEW All In 2023
The biggest takeaways from inside the biggest wrestling event of all time.
The one thing everybody could say with confidence before AEW's first ever UK event and first ever stadium supercard was that All In London would be a special, special show.
The much-hyped Wembley debut had been subject to heated debate before showtime thanks to a lacklustre build and the lack of significant singles competition for several of the company's top and/or legacy stars. That said build was creatively par for the course for the company in general was less than ideal too; the sinking feeling that an ostensibly special show could only paper wrestling's craics rather than decorate its past and future with legendary action was impossible to shake.
But then, with every passing segment and match on a balmy evening in North London, the special, special show fulfilled its stunning destiny. The sweeping glimpses of the 81,000+ in attendance weren't just to pad out time or obscure a cold card - they were there to exemplify the scale of happy customers you can create when an audience feels like they got their money's worth.
The planning was simply too impressively lofty for the execution to fail. This much we all knew before a punch was thrown. What came as slightly more surprising news though, was when...
10. It's Still Possible To Pull Off THIS Unconvincing Spot
There's a reason why so many wrestling conventions were conventions before the crash TV and super-service eras greedily subverted and blew through them in an effort to score bigger ratings and even bigger contracts.
The core tenets of pro wrestling have to exist in order to not completely demolish suspension of disbelief, but such matters were once deemed trivial. Maybe that won't always be the case though, particularly if a match that was undercooked on the build delivered one of the best ever versions of a trademark shortcut.
Both Toni Storm and Saraya were vying for Hikaru Shida's AEW Women's Championship alongside Dr Britt Baker D.M.D, and as deluded heels often do in this situation, never once vocalised a plan should both be in a position to win. This is common fodder for three and four-ways and is never not a little dumb, but an early-match shoving contest between the two expertly hid the implosion to come.
Despite the early struggles, Storm's collaboration with Saraya begat the spot in which she inadvertently leathered her partner's mother right in the face. It triggered a sequence that even fellow Outcast Ruby Soho couldn't fix, and ultimately moved Saraya to spraypaint the eyes of her own partner when the match-winning opportunity showed itself.
When we talk/fantasise about "peak AEW", this is what we mean.