15 Match Star Ratings For AEW All Out 2022

11. Casino Ladder Match

Jon Moxley CM Punk
AEW

The Casino Ladder match is a fundamentally flawed concept, and this should be the last we see of it.

There is no drama whatsoever before the Joker arrives. The match will never end before that moment. Not to be the worst kind of old school wrestling head grifter, but f*cking hell: if you're going to encourage talent to take outrageously risky bumps, make it make sense. The action, while it lasted, was electrifying - in that modern turn-taking way that requires rather a lot of generosity from the audience. Dante Martin was on unbelievable form spring-boarding from the top rope to climb for the opportunity. Claudio Castagnoli displayed his supernatural strength. Andrade took a sickening (awesome) Canadian destroyer bump on a suspended ladder.

Very little of this mattered in the end because the big angle, while intriguing, made no sense. In this context, anyway.

At one early point in the match, Andrade and Rush had a clear run at the poker chip. They had almost a full minute - with their opponents either incapacitated or waiting in the wings - to just...climb the ladder. What if they did?

Wouldn't MJF et al. have looked like a right group of morons backstage?

Thinking about it - and AEW is ordinarily great because it encourages you to think - the big reveal angle literally only worked because wrestling is fake.

Star Rating: ★★½

 
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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!