Post by sethisthegoat on Sept 16, 2023 14:06:56 GMT -5
AEW All Out
Sept. 9, 2023
Pre-Show - The Beautiful People (Angelina Love & Madison Rayne) w/ Velvet Sky vs. Beth Phoenix & Alexa Bliss
Bliss twisted her knee during the match, leaving Phoenix to fend off the Beautiful People on her own. The numbers game gets to her, until Bliss returns to the apron to a big ovation and Phoenix comes to her for a tag, only for Bliss to pull her hand away. The Beautiful People capitalize and double team Phoenix, eventually getting the win in 8:10. After the match, Love and Rayne hold Phoenix up while Bliss grabs a kendo stick from under the ring and smashes Phoenix in the face with it. She whispers something in Phoenix’s ear, then walks off along with the rest of the Beautiful People, to a stunned crowd.
—
All Out begins properly with Coach and Pat McAfee running down the card, while wondering what has gotten into Alexa Bliss. Coach asks McAfee which match he’s looking most forward to, and he eventually lists them all, which Coach makes fun of him for.
They talk specifically about the title matches — Can the Chosen Bros keep it together to defend against Diesel and Razor Ramon? Will Ronda Rousey be able to defeat Paige VanZant finally? And, will this be the final night we see Cody Rhodes in an AEW ring? We kick it to the ring, where Diesel and Razor Ramon make their entrance.
Match 1 - AEW Tag Titles - Chosen Bros. © (14-2) vs. Diesel & Razor Ramon (7-3)
The Bros seem to work well for the early part of the match and give Diesel and Razor a lot to handle. They work to double team the bigger men and wear them down. Diesel builds a little momentum with a boot to Riddle and clothesline to Cobb.
Later in the match, Riddle and Cobb regain control and hit a Double DDT on Razor. Riddle stops to pose, which draws an angry look from Cobb. Cobb stomps on Razor, then heads to the apron.
Razor gets enough time to recover and hits an elbow to Riddle’s face before a hot tag to Diesel, who hits the Jackknife Powerbomb on Riddle. A pinfall attempt gets 2 before Cobb breaks it up. Riddle gets a hot tag to Cobb, who hits a massive Tour of the Islands on Diesel and goes for the pin. 1…2…Diesel kicks out!
The match ends when Riddle tries to kick Diesel from the corner, but accidentally hits Cobb in the face instead. Cobb stumbles back and gets caught in a Jackknife. Diesel boots Riddle off the apron, then pins Cobb for the win at 14:10, as Diesel and Razor Ramon become AEW Tag Team Champions.
Riddle tries to console Cobb after the match, but Cobb storms off to the back. Riddle starts up the ramp, but remembers to grab his scooter at the last moment and scooters off to the back, while the new champions celebrate.
—
Tay Melo gives a brief promo before her match with Britt Baker. She says she’s going to take care of the good dentist, then shift her focus back on the TBS Championship and defeating Sasha Banks.
Match 2 - Tay Melo (14-5) w/ Sammy Guevara vs. Britt Baker (2-1)
Melo works with her kicks, up against some mat wrestling from Baker, who tries to get lock in the Lockjaw early on.
Baker nearly has the win after hitting a Fisherman’s Neckbreaker, but Guevara pulls the ref out of the ring and argues with her. Baker yells at Guevara, only to get rolled up for a 2-count.
Baker stands and gets hit by a Pump Kick, then a Tay-KO that gets 2. Melo holds her down with a sleeper hold. Baker gets a second wind and stands, hitting a snapmare and applying the Lockjaw!
Melo struggles for a bit, but is able to grab the ropes. She rolls to the outside and regroups, chatting with Guevara, who slips something to her.
Back in the ring, Melo and Baker circle each other, while Guevara gets on the ring apron and distracts the ref. Melo punches Baker and knocks her clean out, then tosses Guevara’s Dynamite Diamond Ring down. She hits another Tay-KO as the ref turns around, and Melo gets the pinfall victory at 8:31. Melo and Guevara celebrate briefly, then get to the back before Baker gets up.
—
The camera is following Jeff Cobb backstage as he is leaving the arena with his duffel bag. Matt Riddle is trying to catch up to him on his scooter.
Riddle - “Jeff! Jeff! Slow down, bro! I got us a rematch against those outlaws.” Cobb - “Outsiders?”
Riddle - “Yeah, yeah, whatever man. The big dude who helped me move DDR a few weeks ago. I’m sorry I kicked you in the face and made you get pinned. But we can fix this! And we can become the first two-time bro team champions! We’ve got a shot at Grand Slam later this month.” Cobb tags a team breath and says “okay” and fist bumps Riddle before walking off.
—
Match 3 - Lumberjack match (Bloodline and Apex as lumberjacks): Roman Reigns (1-1) vs. Jeff Jarrett (12-5)
Jarrett keeps his distance from Reigns early in the match, and frequently rolls out of the ring to talk with the Apex members at ringside. Reigns lounges in the corner, waiting for Jarrett to get back in the ring. When Jarrett finally does, Reigns explodes and hits a Superman Punch right away! Reigns goes for the pin, but Jarrett is able to get a foot on the ropes. He rolls back out to regroup.
After this, the match carries on like normal for a bit — Jarrett rakes Reigns’ eyes and hits a dropkick. Reigns fights back, and they exchange blows. Reigns tries for a Spear, but Jarrett ducks out of the way and is able to get Reigns to spill to the outside, where JBL, Shaun Spears and Wardlow are waiting. They beat him down before rolling him back in, where Jarrett hits the Stroke! A pinfall attempt gets 2.
Later, Reigns gears up for another Superman Punch, but Jarrett rolls out of the ring. Only this time, he’s on the wrong side of the ring and the Usos confront him. Jarrett reluctantly climbs back in the ring, where he gets hit by a Drive By (running knee strike). Reigns hits the Moment of Silence (backside suplex) and gets the pinfall at 15:32. The Bloodline celebrates briefly, as The Apex pulls Jarrett from the ring and slinks to the back. Jarrett tells Reigns that this isn’t over yet.
—
Match 4 - Casino Battle Royale
Entrants: Sammy Guevara, Mick Foley, Brian Cage, Karl Anderson, Rob Van Dam, Jake Hager, John Bradshaw Layield, Hook, Rey Mysterio, Big E Langston, MVP, Davey Richards, Dustin Rhodes, Eric Young, Wardlow, Luchasaurus, Shelton Benjamin, Solo Sikoa, Malakai Black and two surprise entrants.
The match starts with Sammy Guevara, Karl Anderson, Jake Hager, Eric Young and Hook. Hook and Anderson square off; Hager and Young square off; and Guevara sticks to the periphery. Just before the next group comes out, Hager is able to toss Young out.
Next 5: Rey Mysterio, Big E, Dustin Rhodes, Wardlow and Brian Cage
The three big guys - E, Wardlow and Cage - exchange blows, while Mysterio goes after Guevara. Hook and Rhodes team up to toss Anderson out; then Hager sneaks behind and dumps Hook out, just before the next group.
Next 5: Cactus Jack, RVD, Shelton Benjamin, Luchasaurus and Malakai Black
Cage goes on a little bit of a run, tossing out Hager, Big E and RVD in quick succession. Cactus Jack goes straight for Guevara, and is able to toss him over! Guevara is livid. He re-enters the ring, where Black is fighting with Jack, and Guevara helps Black to eliminate Cactus Jack! Black hits Guevara with the Black Mass, and rolls Guevara out.
Next 5: Solo Sikoa, Davey Richards, MVP, JBL and Carlito!
The crowd goes wild as Carlito comes out. The Caribbean superstar spits his apple in JBL’s face and tosses him out right away. This draws Wardlow over, who hits a huge powerbomb and tosses out Carlito. Wardlow then tosses Rey Mysterio and MVP before the Joker’s music hits…
The Joker - Coach introduces UPW star Shinsuke Nakamura, that promotion’s Paramount Champion! And the crowd goes wild.
In the ring: Nakamura, Wardlow, Sikoa, Richards, Luchasaurus, Black, Dustin Rhodes, and Cage
Cage goes on another brief run, tossing Luchasaurus, Black and Richards before Nakamura sneaks behind him and dumps Cage out. Rhodes takes advantage and eliminates Nakamura.
Nor it’s Rhodes, Wardlow and Sikoa. The feuding members of the Apex and Bloodline go after each other, and Sikoa holds his own against the bigger man. As they’re fighting by the ropes, Wardlow tries to wrangle Sikoa out. As it is happening, Sikoa catches Wardlow’s neck in leg scissors and pulls him over with him, as Rhodes helps it happen. Both Sikoa and Wardlow fall to the floor outside the ring…and Dustin Rhodes has won the Battle Royale in 18:304! He will have a shot at the AEW World Championship at Grand Slam later this month!
—
Match 5 - Kenny Omega (1-1) vs. Harley Race (1-0)
The match starts with both men circling each other cautiously, then locking up. They exchange holds and reversals, then Race gains the upper hand and pushes Omega to the corner. Race whips Omega into the ropes, but Omega counters with a dropkick to the knee. He then hits Race with a series of kicks to the head and chest. Omega signals for his finisher: The One-Winged Angel. He lifts Race up for it, but Race fights back and pushes him off balance.
Race gets the upper hand and lays into Omega with a series of chops and punches, before hitting a belly-to-belly suplex. Race keeps up the onslaught with a Fisherman’s Suplex, before locking in a Figure Four leglock. Omega struggles in it for a long while, then is able to turn it over and break the hold.
Omega favors his legs for the rest of the match. He goes for a diving elbow drop (Omega Bomb), but slips off the top and crumbles to the mat. Race capitalizes and hits a Texas piledriver! Instead of going for the pin right away, Race heads to the top rope. This brings out the Young Bucks, who rush to the ring. Race gets down off the ropes, then intercepts the Bucks as they enter the ring with elbows to the head (channeling his old rival, Dusty Rhodes). He tosses the Bucks from the ring. This distraction allows Omega to recover.
Omega hits a missile dropkick to the back of Race’s head, then runs the ropes and hits a V-Trigger to knock Race down. As race rises, Omega hits a Kotaro Krusher (Leapfrog into a one-handed bulldog) before going for the pinfall. Race kicks out at 3.1, giving Omega the win in 18:48. Race is livid, and Omega scatters with the Bucks to the back.
—
We get the first big-match video of the night, highlighting VanZant and Rousey’s nearly yearlong rivalry. We see early footage of VanZant winning her first professional MMA fight, intercut with Rousey winning the Strikeforce Bantamweight title at the same time, before moving on to the UFC. VanZant had early success in MMA, while watching Rousey have meteoric success in UFC and professional wrestling. She looked up to Rousey and decided to make the jump to AEW.
Rousey served as something of a mentor when she was brought into AEW…until Rousey blamed VanZant for Rousey losing a match to Beth Phoenix, then attacked and broke VanZant’s arm. VanZant defeated Rousey in a “Lions Den” match at February’s Revolution PPV, and made Rousey tap out again during the match when VanZant won the AEW Women’s Championship. Rousey is relentless in her pursuit of beating VanZant, who now challenged Rousey to an “I Quit” match in what should be the end of their feud.
Match 6 - AEW Women’s Championship - “I Quit Match” - Paige VanZant © (15-4) vs. Ronda Rousey (8-4)
VanZant starts fast and angry, while Rousey takes a more measured approach. Rousey rebuffs a few early takedown attempts, and VanZant starts to get frustrated. She rushes in again, and Rousey catches her with a knee to the chin that sends her crumpling to the mat. Rousey immediately locks in an armbar. She yells at VanZant to quit, but once she comes to, VanZant grabs the rope and is able to pull herself to the side. Rousey lets go and VanZant rolls to the outside.
Out of the ring, the match turns more into a brawl. They spill into the crowd and fight up one aisle and down another. VanZant grabs a fan’s can of beer and smashes Rousey in the face with it, showering the audience with beer. (Coach - “I’m pretty sure that’s a health code violation!”)
They get back to ringside and Rousey whips VanZant into the steps, before searching under the ring and bringing out a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Rousey has a wicked smile on her face as she tells VanZant that she came prepared. Rousey swings the bat fully at VanZant’s face, but she ducks and the bat hits the steel steps, hurting Rousey’s arms.
VanZant spins Rousey around and hits the Pedigree on the floor, before locking in an armbar of her own. Rousey struggles, but VanZant won’t let go. Eventually, Rousey is able to just reach the baseball bat. She grabs it and scrapes VanZant on the face, causing VanZant to break the hold and bleed.
They both stand, and Rousey attack’s VanZant’s wound, bringing more and more blood out. She hit’s the Piper’s Pit on the mat and yells at VanZant to quit. VanZant responds by spitting blood in Rousey’s face, which draws a vicious uppercut. Rousey tells VanZant that she needs to quit before something worse happens; Rousey deserves to be the champion, and won’t be thwarted by someone like VanZant.
She takes too long, letting VanZant recover. VanZant is able to get her hands on a steel chair and hits Rousey on her back, repeatedly. They get back in the ring, where VanZant hits another Pedigree, this time on the steel chair. She initially goes for a pin, before remembering that there are no pinfalls. She wraps Rousey’s arm in the chair and stomps, sending Rousey writhing in pain. She puts the chair on the arm again and asks if Rousey quits; Rousey declines and VanZant stomps again, but this time Rousey gets her arm out. While VanZant’s foot is on the chair, Rousey grabs it and sends VanZant tumbling down. Rousey gets on her and starts pounding her already bloody face, asking if she quits.
VanZant declines. Rousey lifts her up and places her in a tree of woe position in the corner. VanZant is unable to get her legs free as Rousey grabs the barbed wire bat. Rousey asks VanZant if she quits. The champion shakes her head, so Rousey buries the bat in her stomach and rips it out, drawing more blood. She asks VanZant again if she quits. This time, VanZant closes her eyes and says yes, she quits. Rousey wins to become AEW Women’s Champion after a 23-minute match.
—
Another pre-match video for the upcoming triple threat recaps when Ken Shamrock was hit by a car. Dean Malenko later admitted to driving the car and to also injuring Miro. Both Shamrock and Miro have wanted to get their hands on Malenko, who has done his best to try to avoid getting back in the ring with them. There’s no more avoiding it: Dean Malenko vs. Miro vs. Ken Shamrock is tonight…but can Miro and Shamrock put aside their differences enough to teach Malenko a lesson?
Match 7 - Dean Malenko (9-13) vs. Miro (3-0) vs. Ken Shamrock (1-1)
Malenko spends the early part of the match staying away from the other two, who also initially decline to fight each other. After about 90 seconds of this, the ref tells all three of them that if someone doesn’t hit someone in the next 30 seconds, the match will be over and they’re all suspended.
Malenko reluctantly gets in the ring, where he gets attacked by Shamrock. Shamrock and Miro pass Malenko back-and-forth, each hitting him with moves that get continually bigger, until Miro eventually locks in the Game Over Camel Clutch. Shamrock shakes his head and kicks Miro in the face. Now Shamrock and Miro are fighting, while Malenko rolls to the outside to recover.
Miro and Shamrock trade moves with each other. Sharock hits a belly-to-belly; Miro hits a jumping side kick and a running elbow drop; Shamrock responds with a snapmare into a sleeper hold; Miro breaks out of it with a back-body drop, and so-forth. The end of the match came when Miro hit a superplex on Shamrock off the top rope that both men were hurting from. Malenko, who stayed on the outside for the rest of the match, pulled Miro onto the floor and slid into the ring. He lifted Shamrock up and hit a Northern Lights Suplex before going for the pin and getting the win at 14:12. Malenko ran off quickly as Miro slid in the ring and angrily looked on.
—
Big match video. We revisit the 1990s footage of a young Cody Rhodes idolizing Bill Goldberg. Then fast forward to AEW, when Goldberg attacked Rhodes last December in making his debut. Goldberg’s stated goal? To demolish Cody Rhodes and end his dream of being World Champion. All because Cody’s dad didn’t like Goldberg back in WCW. We see Goldberg mercilessly attack Dustin Rhodes earlier this year, then win the title at Revolution in dominant fashion. It’s been a long and winding road since February. Cody was aligned with the Young Bucks, who eventually turned on him and brought in Kenny Omega.
Cody, Dustin and Harley Race have been feuding with The Elite through the summer. Omega defeated Cody early on, but Cody got his win back and their trio was able to beat The Elite last month at Summer Smash. All the while, Goldberg has continued to needle Cody. Now Cody finally has his rematch, which Goldberg only agreed to on the condition that Cody put his career on the line. He wants to rid professional wrestling as a whole from the Rhodes family.
Main Event - World Title vs. Career - Bill Goldberg © (9-0) vs. Cody Rhodes (17-4)
Goldberg explodes right away for a spear, but Rhodes is able to just dodge out of the way and send Goldberg into the post in the corner. Goldberg is upset at himself and favors his shoulder for the remainder of the match.
Rhodes channels his dad with 3 quick jabs, followed by an elbow to Goldberg’s head. He kicks Goldberg in the gut, then falls to the mat and hits Goldberg with an uppercut that sends the champion to the ground, where Rhodes locks in a submission that puts more pressure on Goldberg’s shoulder.
Goldberg works his way up and twists around to hit a monster clothesline on Rhodes, using his right arm. He keeps moving and tosses the challenger into the turnbuckle. As Rhodes stumbles back, Goldberg collects him in a body slam. Goldberg hits a spear! But he seems to have bothered his shoulder and isn’t able to capitalize on the situation.
Rhodes attacks Goldberg’s legs and gets him back to the ground, where Rhodes stomps on Goldberg’s shoulder again. Then he goes for a Figure Four, but Goldberg boots him away, stands, and explodes for another spear, this time hitting it with the opposite shoulder. He lifts Rhodes up for the Jackhammer, but can’t hold it as Rhodes flips over and lands on his feet, turns and lifts Goldberg up for a huge German Suplex that draws cheers from the crowd, and Rhodes is pumped up.
He lifts Goldberg up and hits a CrossRhodes that gets a nearfall. Rhodes hits another CrossRhodes, and Goldberg kicks out at 2.9. Rhodes looks frustrated and lets Goldberg back into it. Goldberg hits a third spear! This time, Goldberg lifts Rhodes up for another Jackhammer; this time he connects…but he can’t falls back and holds his shoulder. Goldberg rolls back over and drapes his arm over Rhodes. 1…2…No! Rhodes just kicks out. Both men are exhausted as Coach notes that Cody Rhodes has just become the fourth person to kick out of the Jackhammer — joining Hulk Hogan, the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar.
Both men are standing in the center of the ring, and they exchange punches. The crowd cheers when Rhodes connects and boos when Goldberg connects. Rhodes aims at the shoulder, which makes Goldberg wince. Rhodes slips behind him and connects with another CrossRhodes; keeps it locked in for another before letting go and heading to the top rope…where he jumps off for a backwards moonsault that connects! Rhodes goes for the pin. 1…2…3! Match time: 11:18. Cody Rhodes has defeated Goldberg to regain the AEW World Championship!
As Rhodes celebrates, Dustin comes out to join him. Goldberg gets to the championship belt first and re-enters the ring where he’s face-to-face with Cody. He holds the belt out to Cody and nods at him before walking off. Cody and Dustin celebrate the championship as the show comes to a close.