On Saturday, September 26th, All Elite Wrestling returned to the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL, for its big event, “All Out.” The event streamed on HBO Max, as well as Prime Video, PPV.com, and YouTube. Additionally, the show was available on MyAEW outside of the United States and Canada. The eighth annual “All Out” event was headlined by Will Ospreay putting his AEW World Championship on the line against his “frenemy,” Jon Moxley. We also saw Cage and Cope put their AEW World Tag Team Championships on the line against The Young Bucks and FTR in a three-way ladder match.
Also, Thekla battle Willow Nightingale for the right to challenge Mercedes Mone for the AEW Women’s World Championship at “WrestleDream,” Swerve and The New Level put their AEW World Trios Championships on the line against Adam Page and Brodido, The Brawling Birds put their AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions on the line against the former champions, the Divine Dominion in a Chicago Street Fight, Kazuchika Okada put his AEW International Championship on the line against Tommaso Ciampa, Persephone put her AEW TBS Championship on the line in an Open Challenge, and so much more. So, what were the night’s top three moments?
3. Dani Luna Debuts
In the third match on the main card, we saw Persephone put her AEW TBS Championship on the line against a mystery opponent. Persephone won this title from Maya World back at “All In” on August 30th, in Wembley Stadium, with help from a returning Britt Baker. Now, Persephone issued an Open Challenge for “All Out” with one caveat. Maya World, Hyan, and Thunder Rosa. So, who did this leave left to challenge? A new face. A fresh face, if you will.
The open challenge was answered by none other than a debuting Dani Luna. While it may have been the worst-kept secret around today, it was still so awesome to see Dani Luna inside of an AEW ring. Luna made a name for herself here in the United States by competing on TNA. Unfortunately, she was never fully pushed to her full potential, and TNA ended up granting her release from the promotion back in early April.
This was a big loss for TNA, as they lost a young, talented wrestler in Dani Luna. However, one promotion’s loss is another’s gain. AEW was on top of that and swooped Luna right up. While she may have come up just short against Persephone, Luna has a very bright future ahead of her in AEW and is a surefire AEW TBS Champion, and potentially even an AEW Women’s World Champion. Welcome to All Elite Wrestling, Dani Luna!
2. The Young Bucks Make History
In the final match before the epic main event between Ospreay and Moxley, we saw Cage and Cope put their AEW World Tag Team Championships on the line against The Young Bucks and FTR in a dream three-way ladder match. Adam Copeland and Christian Cage first won the AEW World Tag Team Championships over 120 days ago at Double Or Nothing back in May against another tag team in this match, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood, collectively known as FTR.
Over the course of their 126-day reign, Cope and Cage knocked off the likes of The Dogs (Clark Connors & David Finlay), the Death Riders (Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta), another form of the Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli & PAC), and most recently The Young Bucks at “All In.” However, everything changed for Cope and Cage at “All In” as, following their match, some of the best tag teams AEW has to offer stepped into the ring to show that tag team wrestling is alive and well. This also painted a huge target on the backs of the champions.
The three-way ladder match was great. All three tag teams showed up and showed out. It never ceases to amaze me how well Adam Copeland and Christian Cage do in their 50s. They can still hang with the best of them. Ultimately, in the end, The Young Bucks would bring down the titles and begin their fourth reign with the AEW World Tag Team Championships, the first tag team in history to do so. Tag team wrestling is truly alive and well in All Elite Wrestling.
1. Will Ospreay Fends Off Jon Moxley
The main event of the eighth annual “All Out” event saw Will Ospreay put his newly won AEW World Championship on the line against someone who’s been both an enemy and a mentor to him, Jon Moxley. Regardless of how they feel about each other, it’s safe to say that Ospreay and Moxley truly do bring the best out of each other. This was yet another war between the two men; the only difference now is that they were fighting over the top prize in AEW.
Ospreay first won the AEW World Championship back in August at “All In” after a dream match with Kenny Omega. That was such a magical night, from the entrances to the match itself; it was a spectacle. However, in the one-month difference between then and now, we saw a lot change for Ospreay. Mainly, the fact that he is indeed starting his new United Empire team in AEW, with new acquisitions Francesco Akira, Andrade El Idolo, and most recently, ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey.
Ospreay and Moxley told an excellent story in the ring on Saturday night. The moment that will forever live in the heads of AEW fans was Ospreay pointing at Moxley, who had his back to him, and Moxley just laughing, seemingly accepting his fate. This was a beautiful touch in what very well may have been the final chapter of the Ospreay vs. Moxley story. Nonetheless, Ospreay did his job and was able to fend off Moxley to have a successful title defense for the first time. AEW remains in good hands with Ospreay leading the charge.
