| All In | |||
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| Date | September 1, 2018 | ||
| City | Hoffman Estates, Illinois | ||
| Venue | Sears Centre Arena | ||
| Attendance | 11,263[1] | ||
| Buy rate | 50,000[2] | ||
| Tagline | The Biggest Independent Wrestling Show Ever | ||
| All In chronology | |||
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The 2018All In was anindependentprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV) event promoted byCody Rhodes andThe Young Bucks (Matt Jackson andNick Jackson) in association with the American promotionRing of Honor (ROH).[3][4] At the time, Rhodes and the Jacksons had been a part of theBullet Club ofNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and ROH. The event took place duringLabor Day weekend on Saturday, September 1, 2018, at theSears Centre Arena in theChicago suburb ofHoffman Estates, Illinois. The event airedlive on traditional PPV outlets,FITE TV, andHonor Club, but it was later made available foron-demand viewing on theNJPW World streaming service.[5] The event includedZero Hour, an hour-long pre-show that aired onWGN America. While independently produced, the event featured wrestlers from ROH, NJPW,Impact Wrestling,Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide,Major League Wrestling, and theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
The event had 11 matches, with two being on the pre-show. The show'smain event was asix-man tag team match which sawThe Golden Elite (Kota Ibushi, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) defeatRey Fénix,Bandido, andRey Mysterio.[6] In the penultimate match,Kazuchika Okada defeatedMarty Scurll. On theundercard, Cody defeatedNick Aldis to win theNWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship,Jay Lethal successfully defended theROH World Championship againstFlip Gordon, andIWGP Heavyweight ChampionKenny Omega defeatedPenta El Zero in a non-title match.
The event was notable for being the first non-WWE orWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) promoted professional wrestling event in the United States to sell 10,000 tickets since 1993.[7] The success of the event inspired the formation ofAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) in January 2019, withThe Elite (Rhodes, The Young Bucks, and Omega) becoming executive vice presidents of the company. AEW would subsequently establish aspiritual successor to All In entitledAll Out, which was also held during Labor Day weekend (until 2024) and considered one of AEW's "big four" annualPPV events. After AEW presidentTony Khan acquired ROH in 2022, obtaining the rights to All In, AEW revived the event in2023, withAll In becoming an annual summer PPV for AEW and their marquee event, similar in comparison to WWE'sWrestleMania, joining AEW's "big four" as the "big five".
In May 2017, a fan askedWrestling Observer Newsletter journalistDave Meltzer onTwitter ifRing of Honor (ROH) could sell 10,000 tickets and Meltzer responded: "Not any time soon."Cody Rhodes took Meltzer's remark as a challenge and responded: "I'll take that bet Dave." Eventually, the idea evolved from an ROH show to a self-funded event (with ROH's official sanctioning),[8] promoted by Cody Rhodes andThe Young Bucks (Matt Jackson andNick Jackson).[7][9] It was later announced thatKenny Omega,Brandi Rhodes, and actorStephen Amell would be participating in the event.[10]
On December 31, 2017, Cody and The Young Bucks announced on the Bucks'YouTube channel,Being The Elite, that they were looking at different venues to hold the event.[11][12][13] It was later reported byPro Wrestling Insider that the event was set to be held inChicago.[14] On January 10, 2018, it was announced that the event would take place on September 1, titled All In.[15][16][17] On March 5, All In's venue was revealed as theSears Centre Arena located in the Chicago suburb ofHoffman Estates, Illinois.[18][19] Over the coming weeks, independent wrestlers would be announced to take part in the show, includingPenta El Zero,Rey Fénix,Kazuchika Okada,Deonna Purrazzo (though she would later be removed after signing withWWE),Tessa Blanchard,Jay Lethal,Chelsea Green,Marty Scurll, andHangman Page.[20][21][22][23] Additionally, it was announced that to coincide with the event,Conrad Thompson would holdStarrcast,[24] a fan convention which would feature numerous wrestlers and wrestling and podcast personalities includingJeff Jarrett,Eric Bischoff,Bruce Prichard,Diamond Dallas Page, andMacaulay Culkin.[25][26][27][28] During the All In press conference on May 13, it was announced thatRey Mysterio andNWA Worlds Heavyweight ChampionNick Aldis would be taking part in the event.[8]
Tickets for the show were put on sale on May 13 and sold out in less than 30 minutes despite Cody and The Young Bucks announcing only one match for the show.[29][30] In the months leading up to the event, more wrestlers were announced to be "all in", includingMaxwell Jacob Friedman,Madison Rayne,Kota Ibushi,SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels,Frankie Kazarian, andScorpio Sky),Best Friends (Chuck Taylor andTrent Barreta), andThe Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe andMark Briscoe).[31][32][33][34] During this time, Cody and The Young Bucks started a YouTube series calledAll Us, chronicling the lead-up to the event.[35] On July 13, it was announced that Alicia Atout, Bobby Cruise,Don Callis,Excalibur,Ian Riccaboni,Justin Roberts, andSean Mooney would serve as All In's broadcast team,[36] with Brent Tarring being announced as a commentator on August 27.[37]Bandido was announced for the show on July 25.[38] On August 6, it was announced onBeing The Elite that All In's main card would broadcast onpay-per-view andFite TV,[39] with an hour-long pre-show calledZero Hour airing onWGN America at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time.[39] Later that day, it was announced that the event's main card would also broadcast on ROH's streaming serviceHonor Club.[40] Additionally on August 6,Jordynne Grace,Moose,Rocky Romero,Colt Cabana, andEthan Page were announced for the show.[41] From August 15 until August 18,Brian Cage,Billy Gunn,Jimmy Jacobs, and Marko Stunt were announced for the show.[42][43][44][45] On August 23, Brandon Cutler was announced for the show.[46]Punishment Martinez was announced for the show on August 27.[47] On August 29, it was announced that All In would be available foron demand viewing onNJPW World, after being broadcast live.[5] On August 31, Austin Gunn, son of Billy Gunn, was announced for the show.[48] On September 1,Tim Storm was announced for the show.[49] WrestlerAdam Birch was scheduled to be a producer on the show, but in the early morning hours of September 1 he was arrested inSchaumburg, Illinois after police noticed him sleeping in his car and discovered he had an outstanding warrant inFlorida.[50]
All In comprised 11professional wrestling matches, including two on theZero Hour pre-show, that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds andstorylines.[51] Storylines were produced on The Young Bucks' YouTube seriesBeing The Elite, the NWA'sTen Pounds of Gold documentary series,[52] Cody's Nightmare Family YouTube seriesALL US – The All In Story,[53] and at various shows produced by the promotions involved.
On April 10,Joey Ryan was (kayfabe) killed onBeing The Elite by a mystery assailant in aJapanese hotel room.[54] On June 4 onBeing The Elite, Japanese police arrestedArrow starStephen Amell for Ryan's murder.[55] On July 16, it was revealed thatChristopher Daniels had framed Amell for the murder.[56] On August 6 onBeing The Elite, it was announced that Amell, who had recently been released from prison, would face Daniels at All In.[39] On August 27 onBeing The Elite, Daniels and Amell would have their final confrontation before the event, with Amell warning Daniels that he would put him through a table just like he did during his debut in Ring of Honor.[57]
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During the May 13 All In press conference,National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) presidentBilly Corgan announced thatNick Aldis would defend theNWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship againstCody.[58] If Cody were to win, he and his fatherDusty Rhodes would become the first father-son duo to win the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.[59] During ROH's Honor United tour inLondon on May 27, it was announced that if Cody was able to reclaim theROH World Championship before All In, then the match would become a Winner Takes All match for both the NWA and ROH world championships.[60] Cody received his ROH World Championship match on June 29 atBest in the World, but he failed to capture the title despite Aldis trying to help him to win the match.[61][62] Cody would receive a second title opportunity during the June 30 tapings ofRing of Honor Wrestling, but lost again.[63] The match, now solely for the NWA title, was officially sanctioned by NWA management on July 31.[64] On September 1, it was announced that former NWA Worlds Heavyweight ChampionTim Storm would be in Aldis' corner.[49]
On June 8 at a WrestlePro event,Madison Rayne and Maxwell Jacob Friedman defeated Brandi Rhodes andFlip Gordon to qualify for All In.[31] On the August 7 episode ofAll Us, afour corners match between Rayne, Dr. Britt Baker,Chelsea Green andTessa Blanchard was announced.[65]
On July 5, it was announced thatMarty Scurll would be taking onKazuchika Okada at the event.[35] Scurll began training with Nick Aldis to become a heavyweight onBeing The Elite in preparation for the match against Okada.[66][67] Over the subsequent episodes ofBeing The Elite, multiple wrestlers would dismiss Scurll's chances of defeating Okada, including The Young Bucks,Jack Swagger,Rey Mysterio,Zack Sabre Jr., and Okada himself.[67][39][68][69] On August 27 onBeing The Elite, Scurll responded to all doubts, stating he would defeat Okada at the event.[57]
On July 16 onBeing The Elite,Joey Janela greeted Matt Jackson and Marty Scurll, immediately drawing the ire of Jackson.[70] On July 23, it was announced that Joey Janela would faceHangman Page at All In.[71] Later that day onTwitter, Page would send a warning to Janela and proclaim himself a Joey Killer.[72] On August 12, onBeing The Elite, Page had a nightmare with his cowboy boots telling him that he would kill another Joey, referring to Joey Janela.[68] On August 27 onBeing The Elite, Janela would provoke Page during an autograph session.[57] On August 29, it was announced that the match would be aChicago street fight.[73]
On July 30, it was announced that Bandido,Rey Fénix, and Rey Mysterio would take onThe Golden Elite (Kota Ibushi, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) in a six-man tag-team match.[74] DuringBeing The Elite on August 27, Mysterio and actorTheo Rossi mocked The Young Bucks.[57]
On August 6, it was announced that the Over Budget Battle Royale and atag team match betweenThe Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe andMark Briscoe) and SoCal Uncensored (Frankie Kazarian andScorpio Sky) would occur on theZero Hour pre-show.[75][41] Shortly after, SoCal Uncensored started training for their match against The Briscoe Brothers at All In.[76] On August 7, it was announced thatJay Lethal would defend theROH World Championship against the winner of the battle royale.[77][78][79]
On August 12, it was announced thatIWGP Heavyweight ChampionKenny Omega would facePenta El Zero at All In in a non-title match.[80]
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Ian Riccaboni |
| Excalibur | |
| Don Callis | |
| Dalton Castle (Over Budget Battle Royale) | |
| Tenille Dashwood (women's match) | |
| Mandy Leon (women's match) | |
| Brent Tarring "Timmy Baltimore" (NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship match) | |
| Ring announcers | Justin Roberts |
| Bobby Cruise | |
| Referees | Earl Hebner |
| Jerry Lynn | |
| Paul Turner | |
| Rick Knox | |
| Tiger Hattori | |
| Todd Sinclair | |
| Interviewers | Alicia Atout |
| Sean Mooney |
Two matches were contested on the one-hour-long pre-show, calledZero Hour, which was shown live onWGN America.[81][82] Cody and The Young Bucks appeared on stage to start the event, offering to the live audience free merchandise, which was distributed by staff fromHot Topic and Pro Wrestling Tees.[83]Road Warrior Animal made a cameo appearance.[84]
The firstZero Hour match was a non-title tag team match between SoCal Uncensored (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) and ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe).[81] Near the end of the match, the Briscoes performed on Kazarian aJay-Driller and aFroggy Bow, but Sky stopped the Briscoes' subsequent pin attempt.[81][83] Jay hoisted Kazarian on his shoulders for adoomsday device attempt with Mark diving towards Kazarian, but Kazarian countered by catching andpowerslamming Mark.[81][82] Kazarian successfully pinned Mark to win the match as Skykneed Jay to prevent interference.[81][82] After this match, Kenny Omega was interviewed backstage by Alicia Atout.[81]
Next, the Over BudgetBattle Royale took place with 19 participants vying to face Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship on the main card of All In.[83][85] At the start of the match, outside the ring,Bully Raypowerbombed the masked El Hijo De Chico through a table, incapacitating El Hijo De Chico for most of the match.[81][85] Over the course of the match, Bully Ray eliminatedTommy Dreamer,Austin Gunn,Marko Stunt,Jordynne Grace and finallyColt Cabana to appear to win the match.[81] However, El Hijo De Chico returned andsuperkicked Ray, then unmasked himself revealingFlip Gordon.[81][85] Gordon eliminated Ray to win the match and the ROH World Championship opportunity.[81][85]
The first match on the main card was unadvertised and saw MJF facing Matt Cross.[81] MJF repeatedly targeted one of Cross' arms and then executed arope-assisted piledriver on Cross for a two count.[81][82] Cross came back with acutter and ashooting star press on MJF and won the match.[81] After this match, Nick Aldis was interviewed backstage by Sean Mooney.[82]
Next, Christopher Daniels faced Stephen Amell in a match refereed byJerry Lynn.[81] Daniels executed theBest Moonsault Ever for a two count.[82] Amell attempted adiving elbow drop but Daniels dodged, causing Amell to crash through a table on the floor.[81][82] Lynn moved Daniels and Amell back into the ring to avoid the match ending via count-out, drawing Daniels' ire.[81] Lynn pushed Daniels, so Amell took advantage with aschoolboy pin for a two count.[81] Amell countered Daniels'Angels' Wings with abridging pin for a two count.[81] Daniels used auranage and a secondBest Moonsault Ever to prevail over Amell; both shook hands post-match.[82][84]
After this, Dr. Britt Baker, Chelsea Green, Madison Rayne and Tessa Blanchard faced off in a four corner survival match. In the climax, Blanchard performed thehammerlock DDT on Green to win the match. After the match, the four embraced.
Next, Nick Aldis defended the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against Cody. As Aldis went to the top rope to perform a diving elbow drop, Cody's wife Brandi Rhodes tried to plead with Aldis to not do it. However, Aldis did the move and as soon as he jumped Brandi lay across Cody, taking the bulk of the hit. Aldis then pinned Cody, but he kicked out. Cody performed aBeautiful Disaster and then theCross Rhodes on Aldis for a near-fall. Cody and Aldis attacked each other with punches and then Cody hit avertebreaker on Aldis, but Aldis reversed it. In the end, Aldis tried to steal Cody's finisher, but Cody reversed and Aldis tried to pin him. However, Cody countered into asunset flip to win the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. With this win, Cody and his father Dusty Rhodes became the first father-son duo to win the championship.
In the next match, Hangman Page faced Joey Janela in a Chicago street fight. In the end, Page performed theRite of Passage on Janela from the top of a ladder through a table to win the match. After the match, the lights went out. Similar toThe Undertaker, druids appeared, but instead of druids it was men in inflatable penis costumes.Joey Ryan, thought to be dead, appeared and Page tried to attack him, but Ryan attacked Page and performed asuperkick and Page was carried out of the arena.
Next, Jay Lethal defended the ROH World Championship against the over budget battle royale winner Flip Gordon. Lethal came out in his Black Machismo gimmick. During the match, Gordon performed aStardust Press on Lethal for a near-fall. Lethal tried to perform a diving powerbomb, but Gordon reversed and Lethal performed aLethal Injection II on Gordon. In the end, Lethal executed theLethal Injection on Gordon to win the match and retain the title. After the match, the two showed mutual respect for each other. Bully Ray then came out and attacked both Lethal and Gordon. Chicago's own Colt Cabana appeared to make the save and then the three performed a triple powerbomb on Ray through a table.
Next, Kenny Omega faced Penta El Zero in singles match. Omega tried to perform theOne-Winged Angel, but Penta reversed intoThe Sacrifice. Penta executed theFear Factor on Omega for a nearfall and later Penta tried to perform a lariat, but Omega performed theV-Trigger followed by areverse frankensteiner. In the end, Omega performed another V-Trigger and then the One Winged Angel to win the match. After the match, the lights went out. When they came back on, Penta got up and attacked Omega with the Codebreaker. Upon closer examination, it was a second Penta El Zero, who unmasked to reveal himself asChris Jericho, and challenged Omega to a match at hisRock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea cruise.
In the penultimate match, Kazuchika Okada faced Marty Scurll in a singles match. In the end, Scurll provoked Okada and tried to break his fingers, but Okada reverted into the Rainmaker followed by a second Rainmaker to win the match.
In the main event, The Golden Elite (Kota Ibushi, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) faced Bandido, Rey Fénix and Rey Mysterio in six-man tag team match. Bandido hit Matt Jackson with a backflipping backbreaker. Nick Jackson hit Bandido with a superkick. The Young Bucks also hit a superkick on both Fenix and Mysterio. Ibushi and The Young Bucks performed the More Bang for Your Buck. with Ibushi pinning Bandido for a nearfall. In the end, The Young Bucks performed the Meltzer Driver on Bandido to win the match.
All In received near-universal acclaim, withSports Illustrated calling a "near-perfect pay-per-view debut".[86] John Moore ofPro Wrestling Dot Net recommended the event, but pointed that it "suffers [from] that ROH and New Japan problem of having too many matches".[87]
Larry Csonka of411Mania gave the event a final score of 8/10, saying "I found All In to be a tremendously fun show, with a lot of good to great wrestling and an absolutely great atmosphere".[88] During the final matches, the production found time problems so the main event was shortened almost 12 minutes.[88] TheNWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship match went six minutes shorter than originally planned.[88] Many wrestling personalities such asTazz andDaniel Bryan praised the event and its production and the quality of matches.[89][90]Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson praised Cody for his championship win onTwitter two days after the event.[91]Wrestling Observer Newsletter journalistDave Meltzer said the event was a "great success" and "he was happy for losing the bet" [...] the event exceeded his expectations especially the over the budget battle royal, which he called the "best laid out battle royal he had ever seen".[92]
Jesse Collings fromWrestling Inc said "the most important thing for the group was to put on a memorable show that satisfied the hardcore fans [...] while also entertaining more casual fans who were seeing a lot of the wrestlers for the first time and were not watchingBeing The Elite every week".[93] Griffin Peltier fromVoices of Wrestling said "All In was not only a great PPV but a historic event in pro wrestling history. Everything on the show felt fresh and felt rewarded as a viewer".[94] Writing forThe Ringer, Mike Piellucci praised All In, calling it "one of the greatest wrestling shows in recent memory".[95]
Dave Meltzer gave six matches on the card four stars or higher. Despite the main event being significantly cut short due to time constraints, Meltzer gave that match a4+1⁄2-star rating.[96]
Four months after the event, Cody and The Young Bucks, with several others, left Ring of Honor.[97][98]WWE purportedly also offered Cody, The Young Bucks, and Hangman Page contracts, but they rejected the reported offers.[99] On January 1, 2019, Cody and The Young Bucks founded their own promotion,All Elite Wrestling (AEW), with backing ofbillionaire businessmen and owners of theJacksonville Jaguars andFulham F.C.,Shahid andTony Khan, the latter becoming the President and chief executive officer of AEW, with Cody and The Young Bucks being executive vice presidents. Their inaugural event was announced asDouble or Nothing to be held in May. Kenny Omega also became an executive vice president for AEW.[100][101] In 2019, a plaque commemorating All In was established outside the Sears Centre's entrance.[102]
During Double or Nothing on May 25, 2019, AEW announced that the Sears Centre would hostAll Out, the company's second pay-per-view event, on August 31, 2019, the day before the first anniversary of All In.All Out was established as aspiritual successor to All In,[103] and is held every September in the Chicago area. AEW owner Tony Khan had wanted to use the All In name at this time but did not want a lawsuit as Ring of Honor retained the rights to All In and its footage as a condition for Cody and The Young Bucks to promote the event.[104] Those rights were acquired by Tony Khan following his purchase of ROH in March 2022.[105] On April 5, 2023, AEW announced that they would revive the All In name for a pay-per-view to be held inLondon, England on August 27, 2023, titled "All In London at Wembley Stadium", which was the promotion's debut in the United Kingdom and one of the biggest professional wrestling events ever.[106]All In would subsequently become an annual summer PPV and AEW's biggest event of the year, similar in comparison to WWE'sWrestleMania, supplanting Double or Nothing as the company's marquee event, and becoming one of AEW's "big five" PPVs, along with Double or Nothing, All Out,Revolution, andFull Gear.
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