13 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW All Out

6. Pure Pantomime

While a clear notch or two below Cody's epic Double Or Nothing clash with brother Dustin Rhodes, 'The American Nightmare's' showdown with Shawn Spears was a strong, pantomime-driven bout laid out by a man who has mastered this style since AEW's formation.

Cody and Spears worked a bout perfectly suited to their strengths. It started hot, with Rhodes leaping out of the ring to attack the former Tye Dillinger before dropping Tully Blanchard with a single punch. A fired-up crowd-brawling sequence commenced before Cody and Spears left the rabid fans to return to the ring, with all kinds of shenanigans commencing thereafter.

Blanchard was phenomenal here. Full of life, he was clearly relishing his return to televised performing and was heavily involved throughout, whether he was distracting Earl Hebner or handing Spears a belt behind the ref's back. Said belt saw Cody briefly transform into Tomohiro Ishii as he defiantly rose through Shawn's whipping shots. This drew another big pop, though not the match's biggest: that belonged to Arn Anderson.

A sensational interference saw the former Horseman march down to the ring, sending the building into raptures as he nailed a perfect Spinebuster on Spears. His stomp to the backstage area prompting a disbelieving Blanchard to do the same. Moments later, Tully fell to a chair-assisted Disaster Kick.

This bout got the night's loudest crowd reactions up to that point for a reason: the sublime build on the Road to All Out YouTube series. Professional wrestling need not be complicated.