The SmarK Rant for AEW All In Texas 2025 – 07.12.25

The SmarK Rant for AEW All In Texas 2025 – 07.12.25

(Originally started writing 07.13.25 although who knows when it’ll be finished)

So yeah, I didn’t watch the show live on Saturday because where I come from, Canada, we have exactly one nice day per year and I was out doing stuff with the family and didn’t get home until 9:00. So I thought I’d throw on the show and watch it before bed but WHOA NELLY when I saw the runtime I pivoted to SNME first. But I’m 100% spoiler free aside from the Adam Cole deal, so much like reruns on Must See Thursday, it’s all new to me!

For reference, I’m tired of doing the VPN thing with Triller, so this is ordered on Amazon Prime Video, which cost me $55 and gave me a $10 credit back, making for the best deal. And the picture looks great and there’s no streaming issues like I was running into with Triller. Recommended.

Live from Arlington, TX

Your hosts are Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness

AEW World Trios titles: The Opps v. Gabe Kidd, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta

Everyone brawls to start as Shibata trades chops with Kidd as neither guy goes down. Until they both do. Shibata is up first and puts the boots to Kidd, which Tony advocates for. You don’t hear many babyface announcers encouraging people to “kick him when he’s down!”. Joe comes in and works a headlock on Yuta and slugs him into the corner. Hobbs comes in with a delayed vertical suplex, so delayed this should call it my review of this show, and Shibata beats Yuta down for two. The Opps beat on Yuta with chops in the corner and Yuta suffers a satisfying amount of pain from that and then finally escape and gets Claudio into the match. Claudio and Shibata trade forearms and Shibata hits him with the corner dropkick and a butterfly suplex for two. Joe drops an elbow for two, but gets distracted by Gabe Kidd and the Death Riders attack and take over behind the ref’s back. To be fair, the Opps spent a couple of minutes distracting the ref and torturing Yuta first. Claudio dropkicks Shibata off the apron and goes to a chinlock, but Joe fights out of that and Hobbs gets the hot tag. Spinebuster for Claudio for two as Yuta saves, but Claudio gets the pop up uppercut for two and they try a Doomsday Device on Hobbs, but Hobbs catches Yuta in mid-air and powerslams him for two. So the Opps triple-team Yuta and Shibata boots him for two, but Claudio makes the save. Then he hits Hobbs with a Giant Swing on the floor, into the railing, and some guy at ringside yells “Jesus Christ!” I feel ya, bro. Back in the ring, Shibata comes back on Kidd, but Gabe gives him a brainbuster and it only gets one. Back to Joe, who powerslams Kidd for two, but the Death Riders save and put the boots to him. Riders with the Fastball Special, but Hobbs smashes them to break it up, leaving Yuta by himself for a Muscle Buster. And it’s goodnight Wheeler at 14:30 as the Opps retain. Good solid opener and Gabe Kidd just slots in perfectly. ***1/2. We get the sportsmanship beatdown from the Death Riders, removing Samoa Joe from being able to help Hangman later in the show.

Men’s Casino Gauntlet:

We’ve got Mark Briscoe as #1 and MJF as #2 of course. MJF tries a quick series of cradles for two, but Mark beats him down, so MJF whips him into the corner and gives him the crotch attack. Briscoe thankfully no-sells it and beats on MJF with chops as Ricochet is #3 at 2:00. MJF offers a truce and they double-team Briscoe but Bandido is #4 at 3:39. So MJF immediately turns on Ricochet and leaves him alone with Bandido. Bandido with the one-armed press on Ricochet and Briscoe dumps Ricochet to the floor and drops an elbow off the apron before flowing into a blockbuster on MJF. Takeshita is #5 at 6:00 and he runs wild and hits Ricochet with a Blue Thunder bomb for two. Bandido trades boots in the corner and hits Takeshita with a poison rana, but MJF nails Bandido from behind and powerbombs him on the knee for two. He goes for the mask, but Mistico is #6 at 8:25 and he probably won’t like that. Mistico tries to get the crowd to sing his song but that kind of falls flat. He sends MJF to the floor and we get a showdown with Bandido before hitting everyone with a dive to the floor. “He might have had a couple of drinks” notes MVP as Mistico takes a couple of tries to hit it. Dude doesn’t even have a MOUTH, what’s he talking about?

Back in the ring, everyone gangs up on poor MJF with armbars until Josh Alexander is #7 at 11:27. He hits everyone with suplexes, but Takeshita clears the ring as Anthony Bowens is #8 at 13:10. He runs wild for a bit and trades shots with Briscoe but he gets taken out by the Callis team and they hit an incredible Doomsday jumping knee on Ricochet for two. Roderick Strong is #9 at 16:10, but Callis Family double-teams him and Alexander puts him down with a backbreaker into a powerbomb from Takeshita that gets two. Brody King is #10 at 17:33 and he fights off Takeshita and Alexander on his own and hits Ricochet with a Bossman slam. MJF rolls him up for two, but King sends him to the apron for the choke and MJF escapes that. Bandido hits Ricochet with a frog splash, but the ring gets cleared and Ricochet is by himself as JUICE ROBINSON returns at #11 at 21:10. And he’s clean shaven and jacked up! He biffs and boffs Ricochet and clotheslines him for two, but the Gates of Agony run in on behalf of their boss and take out Juice, allowing Ricochet to hit a shooting star press for two. But that brings out the Gunns to help and they hit Ricochet with the 3:10 to Yuma, allowing Juice to get two. Kota Ibushi is #12 at 24:38, and he goes after everyone with kicks and moonsaults Bowens for two.

The Beast Mortos is #13 at 26:45, sure to turn the tide in this thing. He hits Ricochet with a backbreaker and spears Brody, but Strong comes in for a hug and Mortos hits him with a headbutt. You don’t hug THE BEAST MORTOS! Mortos goes to the top and Mistico brings him down with a rana for two, but Ricochet gets a standing shooting star for two. Bandido tries the 21 Plex on Ricochet, but Takeshita suplexes BOTH of them, and Strong powerbombs Takeshita for two. Alexander with a rack bomb, but Briscoe breaks it up with a froggy bow as it feels like they’re building to the big finish. Everyone hits their big moves and MJF gets an Alabama Slam on Strong for two. And amazingly we get another guy, with Max Caster at 14 at 33:18. He doesn’t even make it to the ring before Bowens takes him out on the floor while Strong slugs it out with Briscoe. Jay Driller on Strong, but MJF steals the pin at 34:50 to earn the title shot, HORRIFYING the crowd. Well I think we knew that was coming. After the talk of booking one to go short, this was the one that they chose to go long! *** This was a really fun match with a few good surprises, but it was indeed too long.

TNT title: Dustin Rhodes v. Sammy Guevara v. Kyle Fletcher v. Daniel Garcia

Obviously it’s time to get this belt on Fletch. Cole comes out first to give up the belt and actually talks about how he might need to retire based on whatever removed him from the match. Glad to see he at least got the stadium to give him an “Adam Cole BAY BAY” before leaving. Sounds like it might be concussions that finally got him, which sadly isn’t surprising given the style he worked over the years. Daniel trades takedowns with Sammy to start and they do some dancing. Fletcher takes them both out and clears the ring, and then goes to work on Dustin’s leg while Sammy takes Garcia off the apron with a Spanish Fly. Fletcher with a Michinoku driver on Dustin for two. We get stereo figures-four and everyone slugs it out as the crowd does not care about this match particularly. Sammy dives onto Fletcher outside, but he goes up again and Garcia brings him down with a superplex that he turns into the rolling version. Fletcher tries to break it up and Daniel hits both guys with a superplex as a result. Dustin with the destroyer and Crossroads on Fletcher for two. But then he sets up for Shattered Dreams and Garcia takes the shot instead. And then Sammy takes HIS shot, before Dustin finally gets to deliver the big one himself. Garcia tries the Boston Crab on Sammy, but he breaks free and hits the GTH for two, only for Dustin to save. So we get some drama between the ROH tag champions before Sammy misses a frog splash on Garcia and the Dragon Tamer follows. Fletcher breaks it up and takes out Garcia and Sammy on the floor, and then heads in to try to finish Dustin. Sammy saves with a flying cutter and Garcia puts the Dragon Tamer on Dustin now…and Dustin reverses to a cradle for the pin and the TNT title at 15:34?! I am legit shocked at that one, but he of course deserves to finally get a singles title in AEW. ***. Also wouldn’t this be the first ever case of someone holding a singles title, tag team title, and Trios title at the same time? He’s a Triple Threat!

The Young Bucks v. Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay

Bucks put up the EVP titles against the babyfaces not challenging for the World title for a year, which feels like an easy decision here. Especially since we’ve already got a challenger determined. Will Ospreay gets to sell out to Ubisoft again with an Assassin’s Creed entrance that makes no sense for him aside from being “The Aerial Assassin” I guess, but at the rate they’re going Tony Khan can probably buy Ubisoft pretty soon too. I saw a YouTube video called “What if Ubisoft made Red Dead Redemption 2?” and it just DESTROYED them. The Bucks chase the babyfaces to the floor right away, and then back in the Bucks school them again with double-teams and chase them to the floor again. Back in, they get their shit together this time and Ospreay moonsaults Matt off Swerve’s back for two. The Bucks regroup and counter Will’s Ozcutter with the senton on the ropes, and they take him to the floor and do it again. Swerve tries to save and accidentally lands in a double superkick. Back in the ring, the Bucks work on Ospreay in the corner and Matt goes to a chinlock as this is taking a little bit to get going.

Ospreay with a double stomp on Matt, but Nick cuts off the tag, so Ospreay hits them both with a handspring kick and it’s hot tag Swerve. Pop up powerslam on Nick gets two and the faces clear the ring to set up stereo dives outside. Then we get stereo Sky Twisters as Swerve gets two in the ring. Bucks regroup with a sliced bread on Ospreay and the double stomp powerbomb for two. Ospreay fires up and Matt puts him down again, and we get a Young Buckshot lariat from Nick, which Ospreay blocks and reverses. Suddenly the match goes NUTS and they trade stuff at a million miles per hour, with everyone hitting destroyers and then a Hidden Blade / House Call combo for a double down. Swerve and Ospreay go to the top and the Bucks cut them off, but the faces hit stereo Styles Clashes for two. Swerve Stomp into a Stormbreaker on Matt gets two. Nick takes out his frustations with a superkick on Nana and Matt rolls up Ospreay with his feet on the ropes, for two. And they hit a low blow on Ospreay because Rick Knox remains either a moron or paid off by the Bucks, and then Nick hits his own Hidden Blade on Ospreay and More Bang for Your Buck gets two. Ospreay escapes the EVP Trigger once, but a second one hits for two. Maybe if they didn’t have to yell “EVP TRIGGER” before the move every time?

Swerve makes the save and he’s fired up, allowing Ospreay to roll up Matt for two, but the faces collide and Ospreay takes out Swerve by mistake. EVP Trigger again on Ospreay gets two. TK Driver gets two. The Bucks take turns superkicking Will on the ropes, but Swerve puts himself in the way again and he takes the superkicks for his partner. But he catches the EVP Trigger and the faces hit a tombstone / double stomp on Matt for two. Swerve, just an incredible fired up babyface, tells Will to hit Hidden Blade on Matt, and Nick makes the save there. So they get rid of Nick and hit Matt with a House Call Hidden Blade and pin him at 26:17. Another one I didn’t see coming at all, as the Bucks lose the EVP titles thanks to an absolutely incredible babyface performance from Swerve Strickland. Him yelling at Ospreay to hit the Hidden Blade made me want to jump off the couch and suplex my dog or something. And he’s a Husky so that’s tough. ****1/2

Women’s Casino Gauntlet:

We’ve got Kris Statlander at #1 and Megan Bayne at #2. They do the test of strength to start and Bayne tosses Stat around outside, but Stat hits an F5 of her own as Willow Nightingale is #3 at 2:24. She immediately slug it out with Statlander and hits a spinebuster, but Bayne takes her out with a flying clothesline. Tay Melo is #4 at 4:00 and she manages to put Bayne in a Rings of Saturn right away, but Penelope Ford saves and then Harley Cameron returns with a face mask and takes out Ford, before teaming up with Anna Jay to chase her back to the dressing room. Thekla the Scary Spider-Lady is #5 at 6:30 and she goes after Willow with kicks and then dives onto the others while yelling “Fuck you”. Back in, she kicks Statlander down for two. Tay with the TayKO on Thekla and Willow breaks it up with a pounce and powerbombs Thekla for two. Statlander saves that and Julia Hart is #6 at 8:50. And she brings Skye Blue with her before moonsaulting Statlander and Bayne to take them out. Julia and Skye double-team Bayne for the hell of it, but Tay piledrives Julia for two. Queen Aminata is #7 at 10:50 and she attacks Thekla as they slug it out. Aminata with a neckbreaker and some other Queen-related moves, but Willow breaks it up and then gets double-teamed by Skye and Julia. Mina Shirakawa is #8 at 13:18. Apparently she is Interim ROH Women’s TV champion, which might be the lowest designation of championship in any promotion at the moment. I mean that’s like the saddest shit I’ve ever heard. She puts Skye in the figure-four and taps her out, but Skye of course isn’t in the match so it doesn’t count. Athena is #9 at 15:10 and she gets a giant pop and runs wild, but Thunder Rosa is #10 at 16:30 and goes after her right away. We get all kinds of headscissor takedowns, but Syuri is #11 at 18:20. I’m not familiar with her but that’s why Excalibur is here. She trades kicks with Mina and wins that battle. Alex Windsor is #12 at 19:58 after being rumored for a long time. She hits Syuri with slams and a Blue Thunder bomb and they do a little mini-match with Syuri hitting a knee strike for two. This prompts everyone to run in and slug it out like a battle royale, with Julia and Thekla doing Tarantula holds and then Willow hits Athena with a death valley driver on the apron. Statlander powerbombs Bayne on a pile of women on the floor, which is likely #2 or 3 on Kat Bourne’s bucket list, leaving us with Mina and Rosa in the ring. They do a sloppy exchange of shots and Mina wins that battle, but Athena comes out of nowhere with the O Face on Mina to finish at 27:00 and earn the title shot. Match was long and kind of a mess at times but it was fine overall. **1/2

(This ends the morning session of All In Texas, as I take a break of about 5 hours and make base camp while waiting for the weather system to pass and the wild animals to disperse. My party has begun discussing cannibalism, which is weird because we still have three days’ worth of hard shell Doritos Locos tacos for sustenance and plenty of Baja Blast Mountain Drew to wash it down. I send up a flare to make sure the path is clear to proceed as my guide warns me not to attempt to ford the three-way tag team title match. The sunset is beautiful, and I wonder if I’m ever going to see my wife and child again, and if they’ll recognize me when I return, mostly because I’ve taken to wearing a La Parka mask while reviewing these. It feels like all I’ve ever known or ever will know is Globe Life Field in Arlington TX, like I was born there and I’ll die there. But I must endure and finish this show before bed. Godspeed, and don’t forget to search “shop the show” on Amazon for merchandise after we come to the end. Sponsored by Draft Kings.)

AEW World tag team title: The Hurt Syndicate v. Jet Speed v. Christian Cage & Nick Wayne

FTR joins us on commentary after beating the Outrunners in the pre-show and thus declaring that feud OVER. Everyone brawls on the floor to start while MJF takes out Bailey. And then the Syndicate takes turns tossing Bailey into the barricade and back in the ring as they take over. Bobby with a delayed suplex on Bailey, so delayed they should call it the second half of this review, but Bailey kicks out of it. So an annoyed Bobby hurls Christian into the ring instead and Jet Speed clears the ring for a double dive. Back in, they go to work on Nick with kicks and Knight gets two off that while Dax complains about Kevin Knight stealing all their flips and dives and such. Lashley tosses Knight back to the floor and they pop him up and onto the stairs, which only turns them even more babyface with the crowd. Bailey gets a tag and beats Wayne down with kicks, and the standing shooting star gets two. Over to Cage, but Shelton comes in and beats on both Bailey and Cage before dumping him to the floor. So the Hurts double-team Bailey and smash him, and then Shelton sends Bailey over the top with a german suplex and onto the pile. That was a crazy spot. Back in the ring, Lashley pounds on Bailey in the corner and a snap suplex gets two. Shelton throws Bailey around with FULL BODY LIFTS AND SLAMS and a backdrop gets two. Benjamin misses a knee in the corner and Bailey kicks him down, but Lashley cuts off the tag and slams Bailey for two. Christian tries to spear Lashley, but he gets caught, and Bailey breaks that up for a double down. Knight gets a hot tag and hits Christian with a backbreaker. Shelton goes up and Bailey tries to bring him down with a rana, and Shelton blocks it with his power. So Knight pops up and hits BOTH of them with a rana from the top, which gets two on Shelton. Jetspeed with stereo springboards onto the Syndicate for two, but Shelton just keeps suplexing Knight. Nick Wayne flies in with a cutter on Knight and Wayne’s World on Bailey on the corner, but Christian splashes Knight and MVP takes the ref to prevent the count. Back to Lashley, and he beats on Knight and Christian at the same time and flattens Wayne with a Dominator. He comes back with a dragon suplex on Knight and tries a poison rana on Bailey, but Knight dropkicks Nick off of Bailey’s shoulders and out to the floor in another mad spot. Jet Speed with dives onto the pile, and Lashey goes to start some trouble with FTR at ringside. So they get involved, and Lashley runs Christian into them and spears him for the pin at 19:00 to retain. Well at least it was more competitive than their usual squash wins. Bailey and Knight were flying all over the ring carrying this thing and did a great job here. ***1/2

Afterwards, FTR goes to have more words with Christian, but the Patriarchy runs interference to save him…and then turns on him, as Nick Wayne hits Christian with his Killswitch and then Mother Wayne directs them into a Conchairto as FTR watches with admiration. And then we get another big return, with COPE making the save to finally proceed towards the C&C v. FTR tag team match they’ve been building for months. But this time, Cope tells Cage to “Go FIND yourself”. Come on, you two, we need Canadian unity these days! Don’t be Alberta!

AEW Women’s World title: Toni Storm v. Mercedes Mone

The entrance filter for Toni is low key amazing, as they remove all the colors but red on the fly, leaving everything else in black and white. The crowd is actually divided to start as they fight for the lockup and Toni smells Mercedes’ hair. And gives us some poses. Mone spins into a rollup for two and another rollup gets two. She tries for the Statement and Toni playfully escapes that with a spank and chases her to the floor. Toni teases a dive and Mone covers up, so Storm does the Mone dance while Luther tries to psyche Mone out as well. Back in the ring, Mercedes kicks Toni off the apron and into the arms of Luther, and then dives onto both of them with double knees. Back in the ring, Mercedes brings Toni in with a sunset bomb and then another one into the buckles and a powerbomb onto the floor from there. Back in the ring, Mone with snapmares and a meteora for two. She goes to a headscissors on the mat and follows with a german suplex, and a running knee gets two. Toni with the fisherman’s suplex for two and short powerbomb for two. Mone tries the Fujiwara armbar and uses some SMALL JOINT MANIPULATION before taking her down for a cross armbreaker. Storm catapults her under the bottom rope to break, but Mercedes gets the Three Amigos to annoy the crowd again. She goes up with the frog splash and hits knee, and the BIG PACKAGE gets two. Toni comes back with german suplexes to set up the hip attack and Storm Zero, and that gets two. Toni goes to PROCURE THE CHICKEN WING next, but Mercedes bites the arm to escape and then reverses a tombstone into an anklelock. Toni makes the ropes and they exchange kicks for a double down. Mone rolls her into a cradle for two and a rollup gets two. Moneymaker gets two. Mone tries a kiss and then goes for another Moneymaker, but Toni flips her over into a powerbomb for two. Toni with a snap suplex, but Mercedes holds the wrist and turns it into a kimura, and then runs Toni into the buckle. Meteora misses, however, and Storm hits a flipping slam for two. Mone with the backstabber and she tries the crossface, but Toni blocks it and counters to her own. Mone makes the ropes, so Storm rolls her into a Storm Zero, NOT ONCE, NOT TWICE, BUT THRICE, and somehow that only gets two. Not sure how she’s gonna top that one. She sets up for the hip attack, but Mone catches her in a small package for two, and then grabs the Statement and switches to an STF and crucifix for two. Toni powers up, so Money hits a backstabber again, and staggers back to the corner, where Toni hits her with a hip attack. They head to the top, but Toni flattens her out and gets her own kiss, and then delivers Storm Zero from the top rope, and THAT finishes at 25:14 to retain. The buildup wasn’t great at times, but they absolutely delivered here and it was time for someone to finally beat Mone. ****1/2

AEW Unified title: Kenny Omega v. Kazuchika Okada

JR joins us on commentary as the crowd gives this a bigtime feel. They trade chops and Kenny boots him down and follows with a bulldog. Okada bails to the floor and Kenny hits him with a dive. Back in, Kenny misses a crossbody and lands right on his diverticulitis, which allows Okada to go to work on it. Kenny tries You Can’t Escape, but that just hurts his midsection and Okada viciously beats on him again. Flapjack and senton follows and he takes Kenny to the floor and rams his midsection into the railing, which allows Callis to leave the desk and deliver some devastating shots. I’m constantly impressed that Callis such a worker that he COULD hit the babyfaces with effective strikes, but chooses to hit like a complete pansy because he gets more heat that way. Okada with a DDT on the desk, and after Kenny crawls in, Okada hits him with a second DDT for two. Omega tries for an armbar, but Okada drops an elbow on the gut to break that up and chops him down for two. Kenny fights back with a rana to put Okada on the floor for the Terminator Dive. I rewatched Terminator Salvation last week for the first time since the theater, by the way. Surprisingly underrated entry in the series. It’s certainly not complete nonsense like Genisys was, and I think if it was called anything but “Terminator”, it would be more well regarded. Anyway, moving on, Omega comes back in the ring with a missile dropkick for two, but Okada puts him down with a death valley driver. Okada to the top and Kenny chops him down again and brings him down with a superplex for two, using some impressive core strength despite the diverticulitis. Okada dodges the V-Trigger and hits Kenny with the german suplex, but Kenny cradles, and Okada reverses for two. Kenny with the snapdragon, but he walks right into the Okada dropkick and that was PURDY. Not as pretty as Kota Ibushi, but that’s a high standard to meet. Okada with the John Woo dropkick into the corner and he goes up for the flying elbow, but he wants a tombstone and Kenny blocks that, only for Okada to hit a gutbuster to put him down again. Back to the top for another elbow and he just keeps hitting Omega with knees to the gut. Kenny slugs back and guts through a powerbomb and V-Trigger, however, and that gets two. Another V-Trigger gets two. A third V-Trigger in the corner and he goes up with a dragon suplex off the top, but Okada escapes the One Winged Angel and follows with a lariat for two. Omega tries the Angel again, but then goes with a bridging german suplex instead, for two. This brings out the Callis Family, as Rocky distracts Omega, only for Kenny to hit the One Winged Angel for two, with Callis pulling out the ref and stomping him down. Omega with another V-Trigger, but Okada reverses the Angel into the Rainmaker for two. Kudos to Aubrey for doing the Charles Robinson sprint there. They slug it out and Okada hits him right in the gut in a dick move and follows with the dropkick, but Kenny counters the Rainmaker into a small package for two. But then Okada hits a spinning slam and pops up with the RAINMAKER to finish at 30:40 and claim both titles. Man they must be building Okada up to something really big. Back to the drawing board for Omega as he’ll need to find another gear to beat Okada, which will probably be the CC final this year if I’m guessing right. Oh yeah the match also ruled. *****

AEW World title, Texas Death: Jon Moxley v. Hangman Adam Page

They slug it out to start as I ponder what a long strange trip it’s been for the Hangman since his status as a meme last year. Page gets distracted by Marina and Mox quickly pulls out a fork and goes to work, but Hangman produces his own fork and forks the shit out of Mox’s head in a horrifying scene. Well there was a reason that Tony didn’t book any blood or weapons on the rest of the show. Page grabs some barbed wire and they fight over that, with Hangman taking it on the face while Marina bites his forehead for good measure. So we got blood, and Mox finds a barbed wire chair and slams Page on that before beating on him with crossfaces and taking him to the top rope after setting up a table at ringside. Page escapes that, so Mox hits him with a cutter and Marina finds a bucket of broken glass under the ring, as you do. Mox piledrives Hangman on the shards of glass in what we’ll call the Annie Lennox, as I really hope that’s some kind of sugared glass. Another piledriver to cut off Hangman’s comeback and the ref lays the count on him, but Hangman makes it up again. So Moxley sets up a pair of chairs and takes Page to the middle rope, but Hangman fires up, so Moxley grabs barbed wire and rakes the back with it. The backstage planning sessions for this match must have been quite the scene. But then Page switches the chairs around so that the backs are together, and powerbombs Moxley onto those to put him down for a count. Page with a barbed wire lariat, but Wheeler Yuta runs in and attacks for our first Death Rider. Page gets rid of him and hits Moxley with Angel’s Wings to set up the buckshot, but Marina gets on his back, so he puts her through the table at ringside and hopefully gets rid of her for good. Back in the ring, Page runs Mox into a chair and hits a Deadeye on the glass, but Claudio runs in and beats on Hangman next. So Will Ospreay comes out to save, but he falls victim to a gang beating and Gabe Kidd piledrives him on the floor. And Claudio Pillmanizes the neck to remove Ospreay from the board. Moxley chokes Page out on the apron and teases a Death Rider through barbed wire tables, then delivers a suplex instead and they both go through for another count. Back in the ring, they slug it out as Hangman gets fired up, but Moxley bites him in the head and puts him down with a lariat and Gotch piledriver to set up the bulldog choke. Moxley decides to let it go early and lets the ref make the count, but Hangman is up at 9. So Moxley grabs a chair and delivers a sickening Death Rider onto the open chair and Mox is confident this time that he’s got it wrapped up. But once again, Hangman is up at 9. So this time, Yuta comes in with the plastic bag…but Darby Allin appears on the screen with a promo from the top of Mt. Everest and then Bryan Danielson hits the ring and takes out the Death Riders as the crowd goes apeshit! And then Darby rappels from the top of the stadium, and Moxley is so shocked that he doesn’t see the Buckshot lariat coming. A second one follows while Danielson clears away the Death Riders with Darby’s help, but Mox won’t go down, so Page takes him to the apron and puts him through a table with the Deadeye. But this time Marina helps him up to save him at 9, and now the Bucks come in and take out Hangman with the EVP Trigger. So Moxley finds a bed of nails under the ring and delivers a curb stomp onto that, and a Paradigm Shift, but Page is up AGAIN and he will not die. So this time Moxley demands the briefcase, but Marina goes to retrieve it, and Prince Nana handcuffs her to the table. And then SWERVE hits the ring and kicks some Young Bucks ass and gives Hangman the chain, and Page is fired up and beats on Moxley before hanging him in the ropes and delivering a buckshot lariat onto the bed of nails. And he hangs Moxley on the ropes with the chain again, and Mox has no friends left and goes down tapping like a little bitch at 36:10, finally making Hangman Page the World champion again. And indeed, Page retrieves the belt from the case to pay all this shit off once and for all. Good lord I need a cigarette. That was incredible. *******. This is why I love wrestling and I love this promotion. The only way it could have gone was Moxley tapping away his title after all his backup was wiped out by AEW banding together at last.

I know the talking point is that this was the longest PPV in history, but it absolutely did not drag for me at any point, and the main event was one of the greatest spectacles and best payoffs ever. The buildup might have stalled a bit in the last week, but they nailed the landing and delivered exactly the finish that we all wanted to see.

Thumbs up!