11 Match Star Ratings From AEW All In
6. Stadium Stampede Match
— Tweet
Stadium Stampede was a blast live, even if it was impossible to follow. You miss the odd spot in Anarchy In The Arena live, but that's more feature than bug. The chaos, the idea that you sacrifice a weapon shot to watch a high spot, creates the illusion that everybody in the match wants to kill each other so much that they don't care who's watching. It's a performance and a fight at the same time. In Wembley, it was easy to lose track of story beats.
Very few people realised that Penta had been brutalised and ostensibly removed from the match. When he made his triumphant return as Penta Oscuro, many if not all people thought his music had been played accidentally. That didn't matter. The action was so gross and committed and nasty and thrilling that everybody just went along with it. A skewer spot in Wembley man, Jesus Christ. That is a spot people should remember, including your writer, when AEW misses on TV at times. Perspective should never be lost. It's insane and awesome that such a thing could happen on that stage.
This was peak AEW at its peak.
In every plunder match, including this one, weapons suddenly materialise. It's a bit contrived, if you're pedantic. Here, when Sue drove into town, Trent used the baking sheet on which Sue had made cookies for the roster to beat up the Blackpool Combat Club. It was silly, but warm - an only-in-AEW spot that was actually really, deceptively clever. The baking tray had a reason to be there!
On the subject of Trent, he was incredible. He took a sickening amount of punishment in various, exhilarating sequences of ultra-violence.
In the end, after it almost backfired, Orange Cassiy won the match by learning the arts of the Tai Pei death match. The glass-assisted Orange Punch was wonderful.
The uncharacteristic badass spot brought the house down in a match overflowing with the thought and creative expression that separates this company as the best of the best on its day.
Star Rating: ★★★★½