On Sunday, Aug. 25, AEW held its biggest show of the year, “All In.” The show came to us live from Wembley Stadium in London. It was headlined by a huge Title vs. Career match which saw Swerve Strickland put his AEW World Championship on the line against Bryan Danielson. We also saw Mercedes Mone put the TBS Championship on the line against Britt Baker, and so much more. So, what were the top three moments of the show?
3. Jamie Hayter returns … on Zero Hour?
It’s been over a year since Jamie Hayter had appeared on AEW TV. At Double or Nothing 2023, Hayter dropped her AEW Women’s Championship after 190 days to the current champion, Toni Storm. Unfortunately, this came after Hayter suffered a rather serious injury at the hands of The Outcasts.
At the end of the pre-show Saraya, alongside Harley Cameron and the Knight family, made her way down to the ring. She was vocal about demanding her moment on AEW’s biggest show of the year, and she wouldn’t leave the ring until she got it. And then, we got one of AEW’s biggest returns of the entire year.
Hayter’s music hit and the pop was crazy. However, it was a bit of a headscratcher on how Hayter returned, however. She returned and kicked everyone’s butt in the ring, taking out Saraya and standing tall. But on the pre-show? While fans were still filing in, Hayter’s music hit.
This wasn’t the best way to bring back one of your current top women’s talents, especially, one that is homegrown. There were endless possibilities to have Hayter return on the main card. She could have helped Britt Baker against Mercedes Mone and Kamille, or could have just copied and pasted what actually happened on the pre-show, on the main card. Regardless, to have one of your top talents show up on the pre-show after a year away was rough.
2. Ricochet debuts in the Casino Gauntlet Match
Towards the middle of this very fun show, we saw a 21-man Casino Gauntlet match. The winner of this match gets a future shot at the AEW World Championship. Fans knew to expect some surprises, and Ricochet’s name seemed like a given. Mainly because it’s widely known that he signed with AEW officially on a multi-year deal.
Orange Cassidy and Kazuchika Okada started the match at one and two. Over time, more and more competitors joined the match. We saw our fair share of surprises including Nigel McGuiness, and Zack Sabre Jr. However, everything changed at #11 when Ricochet made his AEW debut.
He immediately mixed it up with “Hangman” Adam Page, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong. Ricochet wasted little time showing his high-flying abilities in front of the AEW audience, landing a huge shooting-star press to the floor on a sea of competitors. Ultimately, the match ended when only 13 competitors of the 21 made it in. Christian Cage pinned O’Reilly thanks to help from KillSwitch.
This was a fun match with a bit of an anti-climatic ending. However, it suited Ricochet’s strengths and was a great way to showcase his talents. Even though he lost, the main story coming out of this match was Ricochet’s debut. Despite the fact that it wasn’t much of a surprise, it was still very fun to see Ricochet back doing what he does best. Ricochet in AEW makes sense for everyone, and hopefully he will get the chance he deserves.
1. Bryan Danielson wins the AEW World Championship
In the main event of the night, we saw Swerve Strickland put his AEW World Championship on the line against the “American Dragon,” Bryan Danielson. This wasn’t just an ordinary match though, it was a “Title vs. Career” match. This means if Bryan Danielson wasn’t able to win the one World Championship which alluded him his entire career, he would be forced to retire.
This was an interesting concept with many knowing what Danielson’s feelings on wrestling are. He’s obviously getting to the age where he will start to slow down, but retiring seems like a whole different beast. Some of his locker room counterparts, don’t think he’ll ever retire, and it’s easy to see why. After all, it is professional wrestling. Does anyone really ever retire?
The match itself was an amazing main event to cap off AEW’s biggest show of the year. Strickland and Danielson left it all out in the ring. Ultimately, the conclusion of the AEW All In main event saw a bloodied and battered Danielson forced Strickland to tap out, winning the AEW World Championship in the process. Of course, this came thanks to some help from “Hangman” Adam Page.
Danielson now sits atop the AEW mountain, after years of helping to put All Elite Wrestling on the map. At this point, it’s fair to say nobody in AEW currently deserves the World Championship more than the “American Dragon.” While a long reign probably won’t be in the cards, Danielson is going to have some absolute banger matches as the AEW World Champion.
