By Austin Gonzales
CHICAGO – The roaring crowd in the United Center egging on for Ricky Starks to tap out, as a leather strap is wrapped around his neck by “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson. Both men were covered in crimson masks, nearing the close of their 22-minute battle inside the squared circle of All Elite Wrestling’s (AEW) premiere pay-per-view event of the year, All Out. Danielson ended the Strap match by rendering Starks unconscious, earning a raised hand before the die-hard audience in a match that wasn’t originally supposed to be. “It was amazing to see Danielson return! The Strap match is what we are excited about most.!” Emma Phillips, of Flint, told the Collegiate before a wrestling night full of surprises for die-hard fans in Chicago.
“Meat,” “This is Meat”, and “Meat Forever” were all chanted by the rambunctious Illinois audience while Powerhouse Hobbs and Miro slapped and slammed the hell out of each other in the ring. Ignoring the missing void of a top star, CM Punk, fired the night before. Chicago, Punk’s hometown, usually would react unpredictably, and they did not disappoint. Making virtually no chants about Mr. Phillip Brooks, the Chi-town would continue in meat-engaged action and chants throughout the night but also bring the loudest energy they could muster for AEW’s first pay-per-view one week after their last major show that was held in Wembley Stadium.
The talent onboard worked tenfold to engage the audience in the best wrestling show. Many gathered here to show their love for other AEW stars. Abel C is showing his fandom by dressing in full Darby Allin cosplay! “Luchasaurus is going to get his butt kicked tonight!” Hopefully, Abel is doing alright because, unfortunately, Luchasaurus did not get his butt kicked.
The audience was in a common comradery, putting aside all the backstage drama to indulge in the sudden friendship between Adam Cole and AEW World Champion MJF. The duo was surpassingly set up in a blind tag team tournament and would have weekly segments on TV that audiences would positively react to, especially during matches. Known as ‘Better Than You BayBay,’ Cole and MJF captured the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship just a week prior. They would successfully defend their gold in a match that featured many callbacks to vignettes, segments, and matches featuring the pair. Such as the crowd calling for the team’s deadly ‘Double Clothesline!’
The night ended with ‘Freshly Squeezed’ Orange Cassidy unsuccessfully defending the AEW International Championship against the vicious, violent Jon Moxley. Beaten, bruised, bloodied, and battered, Cassidy recouped in the ring to all the love and admiration from a vocal Chicago crowd. Despite the news of a firing and riding off the waves of the highest-paid-attended wrestling show in history, the talent of AEW still went all out.
