| All Out | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuringJon Moxley,"Hangman" Adam Page,Cody,Kenny Omega,Hikaru Shida, andBrian Cage | |||
| Promotion | All Elite Wrestling | ||
| Date | September 5, 2020 | ||
| City | Jacksonville, Florida Winter Park, Florida[a] | ||
| Venue | Daily's Place | ||
| Attendance | 700–750[2] | ||
| Buy rate | 100,000–110,000[3] | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| All Out chronology | |||
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The 2020All Out was the second annualAll Outprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byAll Elite Wrestling (AEW). It was broadcast duringLabor Day weekend on September 5, 2020. While the majority of the event airedlive fromDaily's Place inJacksonville, Florida, the Tooth and Nail match betweenDr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. andBig Swole was pre-taped prior to the event at Baker's real-life dental clinic inWinter Park, Florida. The event aired through traditional PPV outlets, as well as onB/R Live in North America andFITE TV internationally.
The event was originally slated to take place at theSears Centre Arena in theChicago suburb ofHoffman Estates, Illinois, where the previous edition of All Out was held. Illinois GovernorJ. B. Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation, the state's equivalent to a state of emergency, since March 9, which banned large public gatheringsdue to the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the state. As a result, the event was moved to Daily's Place, where all of AEW's events had been held since March. This was the first AEW PPV to have ticketed fans sinceRevolution in February, although the capacity of the venue was reduced due to the pandemic. Also due to the pandemic, this was the only All Out event to not take place in theChicago metropolitan area. Until All Out 2025, which occurred in Toronto, Canada.
Eleven matches were contested at the event, including two on The Buy In pre-show. In the main event,Jon Moxley defeatedMJF to retain theAEW World Championship. In the penultimate match,Orange Cassidy defeatedChris Jericho in aMimosa Mayhem match. In other prominent matches,FTR (Cash Wheeler andDax Harwood) defeatedKenny Omega andAdam Page to win theAEW World Tag Team Championship,Hikaru Shida retained theAEW Women's World Championship in an interpromotional match againstThunder Rosa of theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA), andMatt Hardy defeatedSammy Guevara in aBroken Rules match.
The event was met with mixed to negative reviews, in contrast to the praise that AEW's previous PPV events had received. Criticism was mainly focused on an accident that occurred in the match between Hardy and Guevara in which Guevaraspeared Hardy from ascissor lift through a table, accidentally causing Hardy to legitimately hit his head on the concrete floor underneath the table; he appeared to be knocked out and the match was paused, but Hardy was then allowed to continue the match. The accident notably led to AEW adding new protocols in case a similar incident happens, with referees gaining the ability to use two-way communication to call medical staff and stop matches when necessary. Criticism was also directed towards much of the undercard, but the three championship matches on the show were generally well received.
On August 31, 2019, the Americanprofessional wrestling promotionAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) held apay-per-view (PPV)event titledAll Out duringLabor Day weekend. The event was aspiritual sequel to the September 2018independently producedAll In show, an event that led to the foundation of AEW in January 2019.[4] While AEW President and Chief Executive OfficerTony Khan had stated that there would be a second All Out event, it was not officially announced until the2020 Double or Nothing PPV in May when a second All Out show was announced as occurring during that year's Labor Day weekend on Saturday, September 5, 2020, thus establishingAll Out as an annual Labor Day weekend event for AEW.[5] Khan later stated that All Out was considered as one of AEW's "Big Four" PPVs, which includesDouble or Nothing,Full Gear, andRevolution, their four biggest domestic shows produced quarterly.[6] On September 5, AEW aired an All Out Red Carpet Special and The Buy-In Pre-show on theirYouTube channel. Also on September 5,TNT aired a one-hour television special calledCountdown to All Out which averaged 357,000 viewers.[7][8][9]
All Out was originally scheduled to take place at theSears Centre Arena (renamed to Now Arena on September 1) in theChicago suburb ofHoffman Estates, Illinois on September 5, 2020, the same venue as the original show and All In before that.[10] Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the state of Illinois banned gatherings up to 50 people on March 17, amidst a March 9 declaration of a state of emergency.[11] A report from theWrestling Observer Newsletter noted that Illinois GovernorJ. B. Pritzker announced that larger events and conventions would not be allowed until there was a COVID-19 vaccine.[10][12] Due to the circumstances, AEW presented most of its programming and pay-per-view broadcasts atDaily's Place inJacksonville,Florida withno fans in attendance since the March 18 episode ofDynamite; AEW instead used non-competing wrestlers and other employees to serve as the live audience. On August 21, AEW began selling a limited number of tickets for events (10–15% capacity of the venue), allowing spectators to again attend shows, though with groups separated into their own pods in the upper balcony and face coverings required. On August 29, AEW announced that tickets for All Out would be available, thus marking All Out as AEW's first PPV to have live ticketed fans, though only at 15% of the venue's capacity.[13]
All Out featuredprofessional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds andstorylines.[14] Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television program,Dynamite, the supplementary online streaming show,Dark, andThe Young Bucks'YouTube seriesBeing The Elite.
On the July 29 episode ofDynamite, #1 rankedMJF, who had never been pinned or submitted in singles competition, began apresidential election-style campaign to become the nextAEW World Champion and held a "State of the Industry" address.[15] He said that it was now time for a new guard and that the old guard, referring to championJon Moxley, was failing as a leader to lead by example, and that he would be the one to lead AEW for the next 25 years.[16] MJF finished the speech by challenging Moxley, who also had never been pinned or submitted in singles competition, for the AEW World Championship at All Out. A few days later, it was announced that MJF would face the winner of a title match between Moxley and #5 ranked,Darby Allin, for the title at All Out.[17] On the August 5 episode ofDynamite, despite MJF attacking him with the championship belt during the match, Moxley defeated Allin to retain the championship, keeping Moxley as the defending champion against MJF at All Out.[18] On the August 27 episode, a contract signing for the match occurred and a stipulation was added in which Moxley could not use the Paradigm Shift. Another clause was also added into the contract in which MJF's lawyer, Mark Sterling, had to face Moxley in a match the following week or else MJF would not receive his title match at All Out.[19] The following week, although unsuccessful against Moxley, Sterling faced Moxley in order for MJF to have his title match.[20]
On night 2 ofFyter Fest on July 8,Chris Jericho defeatedOrange Cassidy.[21] Cassidy then wanted a rematch with Jericho, who eventually accepted after repeated attacks from Cassidy, including staining his white jacket with orange juice. Following a debate between the two that was hosted byEric Bischoff,[22] the two had their rematch on the August 12 episode ofDynamite that Cassidy won.[23] The following week, Jericho said that since they were tied, they needed to have one more match and he challenged Cassidy to a Mimosa Mayhem match at All Out, which could be won bypinfall,submission, or by throwing the opponent into a vat ofmimosa. After Cassidy accepted the challenge, he was attacked by Jericho andThe Inner Circle.[24]
On the August 22 episode ofDynamite,NWA World Women's ChampionThunder Rosa appeared for the first time in AEW and challengedHikaru Shida to a match for theAEW Women's World Championship at All Out, saying that she wanted to bring the AEW women's division some respect. It was then confirmed on the August 27 episode that Shida would defend the title against Rosa at All Out.[24][19]
On the August 22 episode ofDynamite, it was announced that four teams would take part in aTag Team Gauntlet Match on the following show to determine who would challenge theAEW World Tag Team Champions,"Hangman" Adam Page andKenny Omega, to a title match at All Out. On the August 27 episode, #1 rankedFTR (Cash Wheeler andDax Harwood) won the Gauntlet match by last eliminating #2 rankedBest Friends (Chuck Taylor andTrent) to earn the title match at All Out. #4 ranked The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes andQ. T. Marshall) and #3 rankedThe Young Bucks (Matt Jackson andNick Jackson) also took part in the Gauntlet match. During the match, Adam Page betrayed The Young Bucks by stopping Nick Jackson from breaking a pin on Matt Jackson. The Young Bucks, in turn, removed him fromThe Elite, of which Page's tag partner, Kenny Omega, is still a member.[24]
On the August 27 episode ofDynamite, theCasino Battle Royale was announced to be occurring at All Out, with the winner receiving a future title match for the AEW World Championship. During the same episode,Darby Allin,Lance Archer,Brian Cage,Ricky Starks,Penta El Zero M,Ray Fénix,The Butcher and The Blade, andEddie Kingston were announced as the first nine participants. On the September 2 episode ofDynamite,Austin Gunn,Billy,Jake Hager,Santana and Ortiz,Shawn Spears, andBest Friends (Chuck Taylor andTrent) were also announced for the battle royal. The remaining four participants were revealed at the event.[19]
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Jim Ross(PPV) |
| Excalibur(Pre-show and PPV) | |
| Tony Schiavone(Pre-show and PPV) | |
| Taz(Casino Battle Royale) | |
| Spanish-language commentators | Alex Abrahantes |
| Dasha Gonzalez | |
| Willie Urbina | |
| German-language commentators | Günter Zapf |
| Mike Ritter | |
| French-language commentators | Alain Mistrangélo |
| Norbert Feuillan | |
| Ring announcer | Justin Roberts |
| Referees | Aubrey Edwards |
| Bryce Remsburg | |
| Mike Posey | |
| Paul Turner | |
| Rick Knox | |
| Interviewer | Alex Marvez |
Before the event officially started, two matches were contested on the Buy In pre-show. In the first of these matches, Joey Janela (accompanied by Sonny Kiss) faced Serpentico (accompanied by Luther). Janela won after performing a "Top Rope Elbow Drop" on Serpentico.[25]
The second and final match on the pre-show saw Private Party (Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy) face The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver) (accompanied by 5 and 10). Private Party won the match after Kassidy pinned Silver.[25]
The pay-per-view opened with Britt Baker (accompanied by Rebel) facing Big Swole in a Tooth and Nail match. The pre-taped match, conducted as acinematic match, took place at Baker's real-life dental clinic inWinter Park, Florida.[1][26] Swole won the match after placing alaughing gas mask on Baker, causing her to pass out and allowing Swole to be declared the victor.[27]
After that, The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) took on Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy, accompanied by Marko Stunt). In the end, The Young Bucks performed the BTE Trigger on Jungle Boy to win the match.[27]
The next match was the 21-man Casino Battle Royale to determine the next challenger for the AEW World Championship.Matt Sydal was the "joker" entrant, but botched his shooting star press move and landed on the back of his head.Brian Cage retrieved a body bag filled with thumbtacks and placed Darby Allin in it before powerbombing him out of the ring to eliminate Allin. The final two wereEddie Kingston and Lance Archer.The Butcher andThe Blade interfered, butJake Roberts appeared with a bag containing a snake. This allowed Archer to eliminate Kingston to win the match.[27]
The following match was a Broken Rules match between Matt Hardy and Sammy Guevara. The rules were: The winner will be the Last Man Standing, determined when one man can not answer the referee's 10 count, falls count anywhere, there must be a winner (no draws), and if Hardy were to lose this match, he would be forced to leave AEW. Midway through the match, Hardy and Guevara fell from the top of ascissor lift through a table, with Hardy's head crashing against the concrete floor, knocking him unconscious. The match was initially called off, but was later resumed after it was determined that he could continue. Hardy and Guevara then climbed to the top of a scaffold. Guevara was thrown off the scaffold onto a platform below, and did not get up before the count of ten, meaning Hardy won the match.[27]
In the next match, Hikaru Shida defended the AEW Women's World Championship against Thunder Rosa. In the climax, Shida performed a "Running Knee" to win the match and retain the championship.[27]
Next, The Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) (accompanied by Alan Angels) faced Scorpio Sky, Matt Cardona and The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes and Q. T. Marshall) (accompanied by Allie and Brandi Rhodes) in an eight-man tag team match. Rhodes pinned Cabana with a roll-up to win the match for his team.[27]
Afterwards, Kenny Omega and Adam Page defended the AEW World Tag Team Championship against FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood). FTR performed two "Mindbreakers" on Page to win the match and championship. After the match, Omega abandoned an injured and exhausted Page as he walked backstage and left the arena in frustration.[27]
In the penultimate match, Chris Jericho faced Orange Cassidy in aMimosa Mayhem match, where the only way to win was by pinfall, submission or by knocking the opponent into a vat ofmimosa. In the end of the match, Orange Cassidy performed an "Pulp Punch" to Jericho, who was on the top rope, which knocked him into the mimosa and giving Cassidy the win.[27]
In the main event, Jon Moxley defended the AEW World Championship against MJF (accompanied by Wardlow). In this match, Moxley's finishing move, theParadigm Shift, was banned from being used. In the match's climax, however, Moxley performed theParadigm Shift on MJF while the referee was distracted to win the match and retain the championship.[27]
All Out received mixed to negative reviews from fans and critics. Justin Barrasso ofSports Illustrated reviewed the show, saying that "tonight’s All Out show did not meet that high standard of excellence, running into a litany of obstacles that included no singles title change, a limited live crowd dealing with intense humidity and a nearly disastrous spot involvingMatt Hardy".[28] Brent Brookhouse ofCBS Sports said that "while AEW All Out may have ended with a bang in the form of a competitive and entertaining world title match, the lasting memories from the show will likely be the things that did not go as planned. And, for the first time in company history, a pay-per-view event can be viewed as largely disappointing".[29] Will Pruett ofPro Wrestling Dot Net declared it as AEW's "first bad pay-per-view".[30]
Much criticism was given to the poor handling of Matt Hardy's injury during his match with Sammy Guevara (seeaftermath section). During the All Out post-show media scrum,Tony Khan spoke about the decision to initially stop the match, saying that "Matt had taken a fall in the match, and I stopped the match, paused the match, and sent the doctor to check on him. I was concerned that Matt could be hurt, so I rang the bell to stop the match". When asked about Dr. Michael Sampson's decision to let Hardy continue, Khan said that "when the doctor checked on him, the doctor passed him and cleared him on the protocol." He then added that "there was a good amount of time [to make that decision]. The doctor did clear him. Matt did not pressure him, and Dr. [Michael] Sampson would not be pressured into clearing anybody. He's pulled people from our shows without hesitation, whether it's been something with a blood test or with an injury. He's really strict about that stuff, and that's why when people have had injuries and he didn't feel comfortable about people doing physicality or wrestling, we never put those people out there. I never would have gone against the doctor's decision, and most importantly, Matt would not have been able to overrule the doctor's decision, not with the doctor himself or with me. That is what happened. The doctor cleared him, which is the first and foremost important thing. Matt also did want to continue, but the doctor cleared him".[28]
Hardy was injured during his Broken Rules match against Guevara after Guevara speared him from ascissor lift through a table, causing Hardy's head to hit the concrete floor underneath the table. The incident appeared to knock Hardy out and caused the match to be temporarily suspended. Although the match was eventually restarted, Hardy was taken to a hospital for further evaluation after the match had concluded.[31][32] Hardy passedMRI andCT scans, was not diagnosed with aconcussion, and was released from the hospital the following day.[33][34] He appeared on the following episode ofDynamite to address the incident. He stated that he is expected to make a 100% full recovery and would be taking some time off until he is cleared to return. He said his vendetta with Guevara was over and that when he returns, he would be setting his sights on winning his first AEW championship.[35]
All Elite Wrestling responded by adding new protocols in case a similar incident happens. Referees are now able to use two-way communication with medical staff to call medical staff when necessary and stop matches.[36] The procedure was changed shortly after All Out, but was formally announced just beforethe next pay-per-view. AEW used the protocol to abandon an October 22Dynamite match between Abadon andTaynara Conti was being taped for the subsequent (October 28) episode (during pandemic restrictions, AEW frequently did one live show and taped the next episode the next afternoon, giving staff 12 days between episodes). Abadon caught an elbow from Conti to the throat and had difficulty breathing, leading to the formal stoppage where Abadon was hospitalized. The match was declared a no-contest and edited out of the final broadcast, as it was during a Thursday taping.[37] Similarly, during an October 18, 2022, episode ofDynamite, referee Paul Turner is seen pressing a button to call medical staff after a lariat led to "Hangman" Adam Page being injured in his match against Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship. The staff came out immediately and ended the match.
On the following episode ofDynamite, it was announced that Lance Archer would receive his AEW World Championship match against Jon Moxley on the October 14 special anniversary episode ofDynamite.[35]
| Draw | Entrant | Order | Eliminated by | Eliminations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clubs | Trent Beretta | 9 | Lance Archer | 1 |
| Christopher Daniels | 2 | Jake Hager | 0 | |
| Jake Hager | 6 | Sonny Kiss | 1 | |
| The Blade | 1 | Will Hobbs | 0 | |
| Rey Fenix | 4 | Darby Allin | 0 | |
| Diamonds | Frankie Kazarian | 12 | The Butcher | 1 |
| Will Hobbs | 16 | Lance Archer | 1 | |
| Chuck Taylor | 5 | Santana and Ortiz | 0 | |
| Santana | 8 | Trent | 1 | |
| Ortiz | 10 | Lance Archer | 1 | |
| Hearts | Billy | 3 | Brian Cage | 0 |
| Penta El Zero M | 11 | Frankie Kazarian | 0 | |
| Ricky Starks | 13 | Darby Allin | 0 | |
| Brian Cage | 17 | Lance Archer | 3 | |
| Darby Allin | 14 | Brian Cage | 2 | |
| Spades | Shawn Spears | 15 | Matt Sydal | 0 |
| Eddie Kingston | 20 | Lance Archer | 1 | |
| The Butcher | 18 | Matt Sydal | 1 | |
| Sonny Kiss | 7 | Brian Cage | 1 | |
| Lance Archer | - | Winner | 5 | |
| Joker | Matt Sydal | 19 | Eddie Kingston | 2 |