After months and months of anticipation, AEW All In is officially here; soon, fans will find out if AEW truly delivers the biggest wrestling show of all time and if the hype surrounding the show will live up to fan expectations.
If it works out, AEW has a chance to truly establish itself as the 1B to WWE's 1A, leaving the challenger brand moniker in the past once and for all, and if it fails to live up to expectations? Well, fans will have something very interesting to talk about in a sort of Bash at the Beach 2000 sort of way.
Will it work? Will AEW pull it off, or will they fail spectacularly? Only time will tell, but here are 10 bold predictions for the show to hold you over until we find out.
10. MJF and Adam Cole become the new Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions
How awkward would it be to see MJF and Adam Cole become the Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions during Zero Hour only to then have to go to a war that will all but certainly feature hurt feelings from at least one of the parties when the match comes to an end?
If Cole and Friedman can hit a Kangaroo Kick on Aussie Open before All In officially kicks off at Wembley, fans may get to find out.
9. CM Punk retains his AXW Championship against Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe and CM Punk have been wrestling for 20 years, with their first match against each other coming all the way back in 2003 when the “Samoan Submission Machine” was the ROH World Champion, and yet, outside of a quick roll-up win in the Owen Hart Cup earlier this summer, Punker has never recorded a decisive win via GTS or submission.
Will that happen at All In? Considering his AXW World Championship is on the line, it certainly feels like that's going to be the case.
8. Will Ospreay adds another massive trophy to his case at All In
Look, should Will Ospreay be wrestling Kenny Omega at All In? Yes; win, lose, or draw, that would have had the potential to be an all-time great match in the realm of Omega-Okada IV at NJPW Dominion in 2018. Still, after beating both of those men this summer, adding Chris Jericho to his win list in front of 80,000 of his countrymen would be a pretty incredible accomplishment, as it would set him up for an even bigger come-up in the future.
If Ospreay is eventually going to become an AEW – or WWE – main eventer, big wins like that will go a long way in the negotiation process.
7. Sue's minivan makes a shocking appearance
When the Best Friends and Blackpool Combat Club went to war in the parking lot of Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, William Regal's former faction added insult to injury by destroying the minivan belonging to Trent Beretta's mother Sue.
At All In, Sue and her minivan should come back with a vengeance and chase Wheeler Yuta down like Kenny Omega's infamous golf cart or “Hangman” Adam Page's horse spot at the original Stadium Stampede. Book it, Tony.
6. Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega return to classic form
When Kota Ibushi made his AEW debut at Blood and Guts at the TD Garden earlier this summer, fans across social media commented on just how… off the “Golden Star” looked in the ring, with some going so far as to suggest that he looked like he was running in sand.
At All In, Ibushi returns to classic form and proves to fans why he is among the greatest performers in New Japan Pro Wrestling history, something all three of his opponents, “Switchblade” Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Konosuke Takeshita should fear immensely based on their shared history.
5. Billy Gunn retires for real at All In
When Billy Gunn left his boots in the ring after The Acclaimed's failed AEW World Trios match, it felt odd.
Sure, Daddy A** will turn 60 in November, and it's hard to imagine he expected to be working matches regularly when he signed up to be a producer in AEW back in January of 2019, but at some point, everyone has to leave the ring: what better place to do it than in front of 80,000+ screaming fans at Wembley Stadium?
4. Sting doesn't retire after all at All In
On paper, everything is set up perfectly for Sting to retire at All In; he'll be wrestling in front of the biggest audience of his career, working alongside two performers he has history with in Darby Allin and Christian Cage, and he's working a freakin' Coffin match, which is the closest thing to a Boneyard Match AEW could put together in front of a live audience.
Sting, however, has made it abundantly clear that he will only retire on his time, and it's hard to imagine that will happen at All In.
3. Saraya becomes the AEW Women's World Champion
Some wrestler-venue pairings are simply too good to pass up. When AEW goes to Canada, Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, and Christian Cage need to be featured prominently on the card. When AEW goes to LA, the Young Bucks had better be on the show too, especially when working their local shows in Ontario.
And when AEW goes to England, Saraya not only has to be on the card but needs to win the AEW Women's World Championship, especially since she can secure the W in a four-way match that doesn't require pinning fellow Outcast Toni Storm… unless TK wants to go that route, which is a very cool idea.
2. The Young Bucks become the AEW World Tag Team Champions
A month ago, FTR retaining the AEW World Tag Team Championship over the Young Bucks at Wembley Stadium made all the sense in the world; Nick and Matt Jackson are effectively made men due to their incredible efforts at popularising indie wrestling, their time in the Bullet Club, and their help in launching AEW.
But now, with Cash Wheeler's future very much up in the air, the prospects of keeping the titles on FTR become a whole lot more debatable.
Could FTR drop the titles to the Bucks in the future if Wheeler gets jail time? Sure, but why not make the change now, give Nick and Matt their moment, and allow CMFTR to challenge for the trios belts at All Out the very next week?
1. Adam Cole turns on MJF with some post-match help from The Kingdom
Poor MJF, after finally finding a friend, he's going to see his match at All In come to an end when a dagger in his back regardless of how his match ultimately ends.
Allow me to paint a picture for you: after working a fantastic effort, the match will come to an end one way or another, likely with MJF going over, but when he goes in for the hug, he will instead find himself stabbed in the back by Cole, who reforms The Kingdom with Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett.
A sad end to an incredible story of friendship? Eh, maybe a little bit, but if The Bloodline has taught wrestling fans anything, it's that a storyline can go on for a very, very, very long time if everything is clicking.