ALL IN 2018: Star Ratings For All 9 Major Matches
A searing night at the Sears Centre.
The buffering Zero Hour stream UK viewers had to make do with made it difficult to award the two preliminary matches.
From what could be made out, SCU Vs. The Briscoe Brothers was a dramatic and heated match wrestled with the flawless, seasoned work you'd expect from four men who, having made a considerable impact on the scene this show sought to celebrate and blow up, earned the spot.
The Battle Royale probably didn't make that much more sense, even if the feed didn't drop out every other minute. It was a wild, non-stop hive of action spanning generations and styles. Bully Ray looked like a right ornery pr*ck brutalising the tiny Marko Stunt, which was obviously amazing; Brian Cage and Jordynne Grace almost stole the whole thing in a power move game of oneupmanship; Billy Gunn and Tommy Dreamer played into their knackered old vets role in an intentionally half-ar*sed suicide dive fake-out spot; and Flip Gordon removed the roof from the Sears Center in the one ALL IN scenario nobody actually fantasy booked.
As a spectacle, ALL IN looked great. The arena was lit brightly enough to reveal the vista of fired-up fans without looking garish, and the set design was classy and minimalist.
As a main card of action...
9. MJF Vs. Matt Cross
This was about the only misjudged segment of a card that proved, if the action is good, conclusive, and different enough, North American audiences are capable of sitting through a five hour epic. The opener however was unannounced, unmemorable and, gauging by the confused crowd reaction, unwanted.
At best, it was a nice nod in recognition of the victorious Matt Cross, whose painstaking graft over two decades paved the way for this exciting new road ahead. Counterproductively, much of the action once it heated up felt familiar, with Cross borrowing from the generation he inspired, which didn't really put him over to the new, huge audience as a trailblazer. Funnily enough, given it was the match nobody expected or really wanted, the storytelling felt unearned. MJF spat at Cross at the halfway point in a spot usually reserved for the heated grudge match which, again, underscored a lack of imagination.
We can't begrudge the work - there's a reason Cross has carved out such a tenured career - it was just fine. It was a back and forth effort typical of the Independents; fine, but a strange choice for an opener that was never above suspicion.
Star Rating: **1/2