It's almost been a week since AEW's All Out, which can only mean one thing: Dave Meltzer has officially dropped his Wrestling Observer star ratings. That's right, though the medium has changed ever so slightly, as few fans actually get the Observer in the mail anymore, fans still eagerly comb through the newsletter to see how Meltzer rated each match and hopefully secure some insight into each rating too, if possible.

Unfortunately, All Out 2022 was featured far more prominently in the news section of The Observer than in the review section, as the fallout from the event has pretty much clogged up the inner workings of the professional wrestling world and brought the machine to a screeching halt.

Still, even though everyone was talking about the fight in the back that almost certainly featured biting but not from Larry the Dog, there was still plenty of impeccable in-ring action that deserves some flowers, too, even though Meltzer curiously opted against handing out a single five-star match, let alone the sort of scale-breaking numeral many were hoping to see from The Elite versus Dark Order with “Hangman” Adam Page in their corner.

And yet, three matches did earn 4.5 star rating: The Elite-Dark Order, Eddie Kingston-Tomohiro Ishii, and Swerve in our Glory-The Acclaimed. How did these three matches, which had very little in common, earn the very same rating? Let's attempt to find out.

Dare Meltzer's surprising thought process on AEW All Out‘s top-3 matches.

3. The Elite vs. Dark Order and “Hangman” Adam Page – 4.5 stars

One of the more unfortunate aspects of All Out is that all of the post-show shenanigans, suspensions, and title vacating have completely overshadowed what was one of the best trios matches in recent memory in The Elite versus Dark Order and the “Hangman”.

This match had excellent in-ring work, was absolutely over with the crowd, and most importantly of all, further progressed The Elite storyline that has been the source of many of AEW’s best matches and angles. Omega was in full form, the Bucks and Hangman gave it their all, and John Silver and Alex Reynolds managed to hold their own and then some with The Elite, becoming not weak links, but an important and compelling aspect of the story being presented.

What’s interesting is that Meltzer seems to agree with everything above, simply having a problem with the lack of build-up to the match and any post-match angles. While it is fair that the weight of Hangman joining Dark Order and facing off against his friends-turned-enemies-turned-possible friends did deserve more build-up on television, The Elite’s relationship storytelling is often more about slow burn, and the match was clearly meant to also be about the triumphant return of Omega at full strength with the Bucks, which was an aspect that was heavily built up on television and in Omega’s post-show semi-kayfabe speeches.

While this match certainly didn’t reach the 6-star masterpiece of Revolution 2020, the callbacks, emotion, and athleticism from bell to bell absolutely deserve a proper five.

2. Eddie Kingston vs. Tomohiro Ishii – 4.5 stars

Buy-in matches can be hard to rate. They’re usually a means of continuing storylines that didn’t make the Pay-Per-View, present wrestlers that are popular but should not take up a coveted spot on the main show, and can have surprises but shouldn’t go too far.

Meltzer himself did not seem to have a great time with the pre-show, with star ratings ranging from 1.5 to 2.75 stars, stating that the crowd wasn’t really into the matches as well.

However, what’s surprising is that the final match of Eddie Kingston versus Tomohiro Ishii, despite being a pretty quickly put together affair due to backstage issues, tied the Elite and Acclaimed matches in terms of star rating.

As widely reported, Kingston was meant to keep feuding with Sammy Guevara. However, a backstage incident caused Kingston to be suspended, thus killing any chance to get the feud together for an All Out match. However, Kingston’s absolute star power still necessitated a match, so Tony Khan presumably called Rocky Romero to set up an Ishii rematch.

It is absolutely true that the in-ring work was brutal and stellar with chops and suplexes all around, bringing in a feud developed in New Japan was a good idea, and there was indeed a post-match angle. However, rating the match on the same level as two main show bouts that had more weight and insane crowd reactions is surprising.

1. Swerve in our Glory vs. The Acclaimed

If Meltzer truly only based his ratings on the in-ring reactions to each match without watching them back on television, it's hard to imagine Swerve in our Glory vs. The Acclaimed getting anything less than a perfect rating.

Taking the ring for their first pure two-on-two tag team match on an AEW Pay-Per-View, The Acclaimed earned cheers from the audience on par with local legend CM Punk and held the crowd's interest for the entirety of the match. Fans gasped when the duo of Max Caster and Anthony Bowens were almost pinned, cheered as they attempted to secure the win, and ultimately made their displeasure known when Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee pulled out the win. Even if the match's in-ring work wasn't technically perfect and the decision not to put over The Acclaimed was probably a mistake that will be corrected at Grand Slam, this match had everything Meltzer wanted in The Elite-Dark order match, but even that storytelling simply wasn't enough.