It’s almost time for AEW All Out!
All Elite Wrestling presents their latest pay-per-view event this Saturday at Chicago’s Now Arena in Illinois. The PPV portion for All Out begins at 8pm EST. AEW hasn’t announced a pre-show at the time of this writing.
Fans in the United States can order All Out through B/R Live/TrillerTV. With that said, let’s jump right into our preview and predictions for AEW All Out.
Will Ospreay (c) vs. PAC – AEW International Championship
Backdrop: PAC won a fatal four-way match to earn a shot at the AEW International Championship on 7/10 Dynamite. Ospreay dropped his title to MJF, who subsequently renamed it the American Championship. The Aerial Assassin regained the title at All In. After Ospreay showed up to welcome Ricochet on AEW television, he was attacked by PAC with a poisonrana on the stage to keep their feud heated.
Prediction: This match has MOTY written all over it. PAC and Ospreay are two of the most talented professional wrestlers walking the face of this earth. Both men know each other’s offense all too well. Those who’ve been following their careers may know the classic they had against each other at RevPro back in 2019. Ospreay regained his title two weeks ago so I’m not expecting him to drop it to PAC this Saturday. The winner of this match could very well end up facing Ricochet at a future AEW show.
The Young Bucks (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta – AEW Tag Team Championship
Backdrop: The Young Bucks retained their tag team titles in controversial fashion at All In. The pair, alongside Okada and Jack Perry, jumped Blackpool Combat Club previously on Dynamite. Claudio Castagnoli told the Bucks to put their titles on the line against him and Yuta at AEW All Out. The match was subsequently made official.
Prediction: The Bucks probably needed a break from their feud with FTR and The Acclaimed that’s why they booked this match for All Out. Castagnoli, Yuta and PAC won the trios tag team titles at All In. I don’t think AEW needs more double champions. Matthew and Nicholas Jackson need to retain their titles in order to set up a feud with Grizzled Young Veterans.
Willow Nightingale vs. Kris Statlander (with Stokely Hathaway) – Chicago Street Fight
Backdrop: Statlander betrayed her tag team partner at AEW Double or Nothing. The pair went back and forth over the following weeks. Willow and Ishii went over Statlander and Hathaway in mixed tag team action at All In pre-show. The win allowed Willow to pick Street Fight as the stipulation for her match against Statlander at AEW All Out.
Prediction: You can’t have a PPV in Chicago with a Chicago Street Fight. Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander have been feuding for the past couple of months. The animosity has to come to an end this Saturday. Stokely’s presence would, no doubt, cause some major distraction for Willow, but the former TBS Champion walks out with a W.
Fatal 4-Way match for the Continental title at AEW All Out
Backdrop: Kazuchika Okada successfully retained his title against Kyle Fletcher on 9/4 Dynamite. The commentary team noted during the match that the Rainmaker would defend his title in a fatal four-way match at AEW All Out. Okada’s opponents were set to be determined through a series of qualifying matches featuring Orange Cassidy, Bryan Keith, Konosuke Takeshita, Beast Mortos, Mark Briscoe, and Lance Archer on 9/6 AEW Collision.
Prediction: I’ve enjoyed Okada’s run as Continental Championship. The Rainmaker has put on some great title defenses. He’s character work has been terrific as well. As far as the winner goes, I think it’s time Tony Khan puts the belt on Archer (assuming he’s one of the three challengers in the match-up) to maintain his momentum from all the havoc he’s caused on national television. If not Archer then Takeshita would make for a solid new champion as well.
MJF vs. Daniel Garcia
Backdrop: MJF spiked Daniel Garcia with an avalanche piledriver on the road to AEW All In. DG would end up costing Max his American Championship against Ospreay at the London PPV event. Garcia said he wanted MJF at AEW All Out the following week on Dynamite. Max would bust Garcia wide open during their confrontation this past Wednesday in Dynamite.
Prediction: Danial Garcia needs this win more than MJF. A lot won’t hurt Max in the least. DG has slowly build himself up after what was an underwhelming run as Chris Jericho’s lackey. Garcia could go after one of the many singles titles following his feud with MJF. The former AEW World Champion, on the other hand, could run it back with Bryan Danielson.
Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Hikaru Shida – AEW TBS Championship
Backdrop: Hikaru Shida survived a fatal four-way match to emerge as the number one contender to the TBS Championship on 8/31 AEW Collision. Authority figure Christopher Daniels announced Mercedes Mone’s enforcer Kamille would be barred from ringside for the title match between Mercedes and Shida at AEW All Out.
Prediction: Shida and Mone had a great match for the TBS title at AEW Dynamite#254. She gets another opportunity to take the title from the CEO. Shida is a former multi-time AEW Women’s World Champion. She’s more than capable of winning the TBS title on her own. That said, I smell a conspiracy from the reigning champion this Saturday.
Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Jack Perry – AEW World Championship
Backdrop: Danielson became the AEW World Champion at All In by beating Swerve Strickland for the title. The American Dragon told the world he’ll put an end to his active in-ring career if he loses the title. Danielson then announced an open challenge for AEW All Out, which was answered by Jack Perry with an assault.
Prediction: Perry is an underwhelming first opponent for Danielson. It seems they want to slowly build Danielson’s run by having him take on young stars before a scrap with the veterans. Perry has done some solid work over the past couple of months, but he isn’t walking away with the title come Saturday. On the contrary, he’s getting his head kicked in by the Bearded Goat.
Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland – Lights Out Steel Cage match at AEW All Out
Backdrop: Strickland beat Page in their first AEW singles match at WrestleDream 2023. He emerged victorious in their brutal Texas Deathmatch at Full Gear as well. Neither man was able to beat Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship at Revolution. Page returned to AEW during the Owen Hart Tournament, but lost to Bryan Danielson in the finals on 7/10 Dynamite. However, the ‘Hangman’ tried to interfere during the main event at All In allowing Danielson to defeat Swerve for the title. Page and Strickland agreed to face each other for the final time at AEW All Out. The Cowboy didn’t show up to the contract signing because he pulled up to Swerve’s childhood home and burned it down on live television.
Prediction: I had this rivalry behind MJF versus CM Punk as my favorite AEW rivalry. But then Page literally burned Strickland’s childhood home, and this became my favorite rivalry. These two men have delivered every step of the way. They had one of the best AEW PPV matches of 2023 at Revolution, which was too violent even for my taste. Page’s obsession with Strickland has led him to a path he knew existed, but didn’t want to take because of the horrors it contained. The Hangman’s monologue from this week’s Dynamite made for excellent TV as well. Page said he wanted Strickland at his mercy this Saturday. I want the ‘Hangman’ to win because if he doesn’t, neither will this rivalry.
WrestleZone will have full coverage of AEW All Out as it airs.
