10 Match Star Ratings For AEW All Out
1. Hangman Page Vs. Chris Jericho - AEW World Championship Match
This was a very good match, but it could have been a great match under different circumstances.
Some reckoned this was cold before the show, but the crowd were up for it initially. Hangman Page literally threw himself into it, taking a disgusting back-first bump into the barricade, and for a while, Jericho performed as the best version of his reinvented post-WWE self: his physicality served the veteran versus prospect dynamic wonderfully, an early dropkick looked dynamic and forceful, and his timing was incredible - far better than at Double Or Nothing. It also served a purpose, so it needed to be: he was telling the story of an instinctive, tenured major league player, and he told it expertly.
The poetry of his blade-job was tremendous, but it didn't help the atmosphere; fans, already high on the heel's showmanship and charisma, seemed to be unnerved by it. It wasn't received as the poetic retribution it was pitched as, anyway, as sound as that pitch was.
Jericho's transitions looked slow, which is another issue he suffers from in these otherwise deeply impressive twilight years, and it compounded what was too long a run-time. The duration didn't consider how long and how heavy-hitting the show was at large, but the timing on that Judas Elbow finish was magnificent.
As was Jericho's hilariously belligerent post-match promo. Shave five minutes off his main events, and AEW has itself the perfect inaugural World Champion.
Star Rating: ★★★¾