How AEW Will Deliver The Biggest (And BEST) Wrestling Show EVER In 2024
...this year's event has one massive thing going for it: The CM Punk/Jack Perry madness looks to finally have been put behind all involved. Sort of.
Was there really any need to show off the footage of 'The Best in the World's scuffle with the one-time Jungle Boy at All In 2023 on Dynamite heading into this year's Dynasty PPV? It did help heat up a returning Perry a little, admittedly.
But for many it just felt like Tony Khan and co. clinging onto one of the most disappointing happenings in company history, and evaporated some of the "feeling" that had been restored in the months post-Punk exit.
Though it did take a while for the news of the Punker and the eventual Elite member's altercation to make its way into the crowd that night in Wembley, a bit of the wonder was zapped out of that packed environment the second it did.
Instead of completely focusing on the gifted talents trying to steal this seemingly once-in-a-lifetime show, a lot of the fans plugged into the wrestling news cycle couldn't help but ponder if they'd actually just seen the last of the former AEW World Champion in a wrestling ring.
It was an unwanted distraction. But it's thankfully one that will not be repeated come August 25, 2024 now that the 'Chick Magnet' is very much doing his thing elsewhere again. Fingers crossed AEW are wise enough to distance themselves from this particular dark cloud going forward, too.
And with fans' attention hopefully being totally glued to a ring where "the best wrestle" and not on the drama occurring backstage when All In makes its Wembley return, Khan needs to rectify another jaw-dropping blunder from the prior edition.
One of the major criticisms during the build-up to, in the middle of, and coming out of All In 2023 was the fact this historic show was largely made up of matches designed to set-up the next PPV.
An event going down in front of at least 70,000 people somehow wasn't the destination or the climactic chapter for pretty much every single feud on show. Not to be that person, but it's hard to imagine a WrestleMania being generally used to just set-up matches for Backlash, for example.
Instead of witnessing Kenny Omega and Konosuke Takeshita produce a masterclass under the Wembley arch, the two were unforgivably chucked into a trios to build to that singles bout a week later. The Stadium Stampede insanity, while obviously a riot, was just there to give as many names as possible something interesting to do - whilst also keeping Eddie Kingston & Claudio Castagnoli and Jon Moxley & Orange Cassidy's ongoing feuds cooking.
Even the main event didn't feel like the real peak of a storyline, with MJF and Adam Cole's best friends saga continuing to simmer on long after London and eventually going out with a whimper at World's End.
Put simply, TK needs to chuck a ton of actual "dream matches" and bouts that feel like the culmination of stories onto this mega-card this year.
Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness finally locking up in-between the ropes after a year of heckling from the latter, a number of beloved heroes lifting titles, genuine stars with a capital S like Kazuchika Okada, Swerve Stickland, Toni Storm, Adam Copeland, Jon Moxley, Hangman Page, and Omega all getting the singles showcases their talents deserve are absolutely musts for All In 2024, if possible - and will all likely go a long way towards making this Wembley sequel the actual greatest show on earth.
It's not just improved matchmaking that will make all the difference this time around, though...