How I Went All In On AEW…Because Of All In
I should preface this article by noting that I have been a wrestling fan for more than 20 years. Now, to be clear, I have been WATCHING wrestling for about 20 years solid, but my parents note that I used to like a certain wrestler when I was younger and I even had a suitcase with that wrestling “running wild” on it. I was told in my teens though that I shouldn’t watch wrestling…but I watched it anyway. I came into WWE when the brand split happened after the Attitude Era was over.
I watched as Eric Bischoff took over Raw and Stephanie McMahon took over Smackdown and slowly grew to like certain wrestlers, hate certain wrestlers and thought WWE was all there is. Then, through a stroke of luck, I found out about TNA Wrestling, back when it was the “60 minute adrenaline rush”. Suddenly, I had two wrestling shows to watch, and each one had pros and cons compared to the other.
Years past, my liking of TNA waned when certain wrestlers were relegated to horrible storylines and they left the channel that I could watch them on, and I learned of something called Lucha Underground”. It was here that I truly started to understand what wrestling REALLY meant. And for 4 seasons I watched every episode with bated breath to see what matches would shock me. Around this time as well, I started to watch NXT back when it was the “Future Is Now” version that would wow us almost every night and the stars fought to prove that they were better than the main roster…and were right more times than they were wrong.
So you might be reading this and going, “Wait a minute, why are you talking about the other brands when you are supposed to be talking about AEW and All In?” Because not unlike some of those brands, the only reason I knew about All In…was because of luck.
Before 2018, I knew of Ring of Honor, and I had heard of New Japan, and I loosely knew about the Bullet Club, but that was outside my “sphere of influence” if you will. Then, one day, a friend of mine named Mario revealed to me that Fite TV was going to have a Ring of Honor PPV on for free. He said I should watch it to see “The Elite” and the Bullet Club and so on and so forth.
I watched it, I really liked it, it was good to see Cody Rhodes doing well after leaving WWE, and I liked wrestlers like Flip Gordon, The Young Bucks, and more. So I watched Ring of Honor when I could, and then all of a sudden I hear about something called “ALL IN’.
I only really knew about it because after starting to watch ROH I learned about Being The Elite, and I started to hear about how this event was about “proving the industry wrong” in regards to indie wrestlers like the Elite and others selling out the show. And yet, I still wasn’t sure if it was something to pay attention to.
Again, this was early in my ROH/New Japan days, and while I had heard of some of these wrestlers, others I didn’t. But then, they announced the show would be in Chicago at the Sears Centre. I was like, “Hmm…maybe I should go.” And then, at a press conference, they delivered the thing that sold me.
Rey Mysterio was going to be there.
I know that may not sound like a selling point. But for me, Rey Mysterio was (and is) legend. I loved him in WWE, then he did some great things in Lucha Underground, and if HE would come to an indie show like this? That meant I had to pay attention.
The tickets went on sale, and both me and my friend Mario tried to get tickets. By the luck of the Irish, wrestling gods, or whatever you want to call it, I got a ticket. I was going to my FIRST LIVE WRESTLING SHOW…and I was pumped. Especially when they started to fill out the card and I realized just how special the night was going to be.
Especially when I found out some of the wrestlers I knew from other brands were going to be there. Like…
Oh yeah, you’re looking at a guy who’s full “Cero Miedo!!!!”
Anyway, as time went on and the hype built, I found myself getting more and more pumped for the show. Cody was going for the NWA world championship. There was going to be an epic 4-way women’s match, Jay Lethal (who I knew from TNA) was going to be defending the Ring of Honor title, and more!
But more than that, via Being The Elite, I saw more and more what this event meant to Cody and the Young Bucks. This wasn’t just a show, this was vindication. This was proof that they truly meant something BEYOND just being in the Bullet Club, BEYOND just being in The Elite. This was them showing that their names carried weight, and that other wrestlers would follow them into the unknown (cue Frozen 2!) to do something that truly had never been done to this scale before.
Their passion, their drive to make it work, their desire to give the fans one of the greatest wrestling nights ever…it inspired me.
And then, the day came, and I went to Chicago…and it was showtime…
Yes, my fro is awesome, thanks for noticing.
Anyway, as I got to the show, I was nervous as heck, especially because of the Chicago area traffic but that’s another story. Anyway. I got to the show, got parked, got lined up, and it was immediately clear…that I was surrounded by fans that were pumped.
I got into numerous conversations with people about the show, the wrestlers, and more. It was great! I rarely had conversations like this because I didn’t know too many wrestling fans in my personal Inner Circle (see what I did there?). So hearing their love for The Elite, for Bullet Club for other wrestlers, it was awesome.
Once I got into the arena and got to my seat (see picture above) I honestly had a great view of just about everything.
The clock winded down, and the show started, and we were in for such a treat.
I won’t break down all the matches because you can still watch it yourself online if you know where to look. But from the outset we were in for a night of action and surprises. From SCU starting off the show hot, to Flip Gordon winning a title shot against Jay Lethal, to Adam Page and Joey Janela almost bringing down the house, Tessa Blanchard showing why she’s one of the most dominant women in the world, and more.
I’ll also never forget the moment that Okada came out. I knew of Okada and his rivalry with Kenny Omega in New Japan. But I was curious to see how he would be received here. When the coin dropped for his opening video? The whole place EXPLODED. I swear it was louder than anything that was done all night.
Add to that Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon and an epic 6-man tag match and I, like many, didn’t want the match to end.
Oh, and did I mention The Arrow, Stephen Amell was there? Because he was, and it was awesome! He did NOT fail this city.
If the night had just ended on wrestling (and fans know it had to end early because of time restrictions) the night would’ve been enough to win many over.
But after the show was “over”, The Elite came out and Cody made a passionate speech about what ALL IN meant to everyone. And as he so eloquently put, “No man, no entity, no company….owns pro wrestling. WE. OWN. PRO WRESTLING!!!”
And as the group promised to stay together and not go to WWE, the crowd made their own allegiances clear when they cried out, “All In 2! ALL IN 2!” And yeah, I was one of them.
I had seen some of the best wrestling of my life on that night, and I wanted more of it.
Which was good, because a few months later, the rumors started to emerge. The Elite wanted to make their own brand. The teases were there in BTE, the trademark filings began to arise and then on January 1st, 2019, it was made real, All Elite Wrestling.
I knew from the MOMENT they announced it that I had to be a part of this revolution. I watched their show in Jacksonville where they revealed that a lot of talent from ALL IN were coming to their new company. SCU, MJF, Joey Janela and Penelope Ford, Chris Freaking Jericho! And that was only the beginning.
As Double or Nothing came around, more announcements came, big shockers happened, but the passion…the passion to make this work and make this WANT to work…that never died.
When DON dropped and we got epic matches like Lucha Bros/Young Bucks and Cody/Dustin and Kenny/Jericho II and then Jon Moxley stunned the world by saying he was All Elite “this is what you call…a paradigm shift…”, you knew…you KNEW…that this would be special.
And here we are. Over a year after the original Double or Nothing and All Elite Wrestling continues to amaze. Their tag team division is the best in the world. They have shown the beauty and wonder of the Joshi style of women’s wrestling while also creating stars in ladies like Nyla Rose and Kris Statlander. They have the future of the industry with people like Jungle Boy and recent signing Ricky Starks.
Oh, and the Elite are there too and are making the business look better than ever.
But the irony of this, the TRUE irony of this is that none of this would’ve happened…without ALL IN. They know, we know it.
ALL IN wasn’t just a game, it was a fight for the soul of the wrestling industry. It was there to try and prove that things could be different that they COULD be better that they COULD listen to the fans and make a better product…and they did.
I and MANY others follow All Elite Wrestling BECAUSE of what they did at ALL IN and beyond. And while MANY thought they would fail, they’ve done nothing of the kind.
Did they make mistakes along the way? Of course they did, they’re only human. But the thing is, they adjusted because they LISTENED to the fans. Something you don’t see all that often.
Now I honestly can’t look at WWE the same way because I’ve seen what TRUE wrestling can be, and it’s AEW. Yes, WWE and NXT still put on great matches, but they’re not what they used to be. I used to look forward to EVERY NXT Takeover, but lately? They just felt…tame. They don’t feel like they did when they were WOWING the world like AEW is doing now.
If I can only watch one wrestling brand for the rest of my life, it’s AEW. Because they have a passion and a fire and a true desire to make wrestling as amazing and beautiful and epic as possible. They went from undesirable to undeniable and I will support them in any way I can.
I went to ALL IN in 2018…and I’ve been all in with them ever since.
By Todd Black Source: https://beatemupwp.com/
