What a night! What a show! AEW’s All In at Wembley Stadium was something else.
All In was AEW's first pay per view event held outside of North America, and the first professional wrestling event held at Wembley Stadium in over 30 years. The event attendance figure of 81,035 broke the paid attendance record for a professional wrestling event, with All In generating a record live gate revenue for a non-WWE professional wrestling event of over $10 million. In short, lots of positive and record breaking stats.
The event card/ matches for All In were:
AEW World Title: MJF vs. Adam Cole
Singles Match: Will Ospreay vs. Chris Jericho
AEW Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida vs. Britt Baker vs. Toni Storm vs. Saraya
Stadium Stampede: Eddie Kingston, Orange Cassidy, Best Friends and Penta vs. Blackpool Combat Club, Santana and Ortiz
AEW Trios Titles: House of Black vs. Billy Gunn and The Acclaimed
Coffin Match: Darby Allin and Sting vs. Swerve Strickland and Christian Cage
AEW Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Young Bucks
Tag Match: The Golden Elite vs. Konosuke Takeshita and Bullet Club Gold
‘Real’ AEW World Title: CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe
Zero Hour for FTW Title: Jack Perry vs. Hook
Zero Hour for ROH Tag Team Titles: Aussie Open vs. MJF and Adam Cole
While I got my ticket as part of the presale months ago, we didn’t know when exactly our baby would arrive and what the birth experience would be like. Because of this I was unsure until maybe a week before the event whether I was actually going to be able to attend or not. Fortunately we were in a place where I could go, because wow!
Like all wrestling events I’m sure there’s bits that could have been better or done differently. The first couple of segments on the pre pre show could have worked a bit better with an MC or host, as we were a little unclear on what was happening and when. But once the actual show started it was all amazing.
I attended the event solo which sometimes means you end up talking to more people. But throughout the day/ night the crowds were very friendly environments, and I think I'd have talked to a few people either way. I was seated in 500 seats, the top tier section; next to two guys from France and a couple of friends from Milton Keynes.
Having battled the hell that is Ticketmaster for presale tickets, I was really pleased with my seat. I was in the rear stand facing the stand where the cameras where positioned. It was a real effort to make sure not to have a seat in a corner, where I think the view would have been blocked fairly often. While I was preparing to spend more on my ticket, the view from the slightly closer lower tier didn’t seem worth it to me. Unless you’re going for floor seats, but that comes with a price. The atmosphere looked even ‘more’ in those sections ground seats. So I’d consider that next time (price dependent) along with the top tier seats.
There was a great range of moments: The Kangaroo Kick, Jack and Hook suplex on the limo, Joe throwing Punk around, booing Don Callis, Mox getting skewered, Saraya and Toni fighting, Jericho giving the finger as he’s finished, and everything MJF and Adam Cole; from zero hour (pre show) to main event.
During the night between booing and cheering I was reminded of what wrestling has been for me. It’s been an opportunity to escape, it’s been an opportunity to release emotion, it's been an opportunity to enjoy stories, characters and amazing athleticism.
It’s hard to say something is niche when you’ve just been to a 81,000+ attendance show, but that’s what professional wrestling is, particularly in the UK. Having the opportunity to go to an event like this in Europe/ the UK is very rare. Even more so if like me you don’t follow the bigger company WWE. A combination of getting bored of their shows, stories and a lot of backstage stuff just turned me off that company.
AEW was exciting because it was new, with many fresh faces it had to ‘make new stars’ and tell new stories. You can still find fault if you want to, I’m sure most entertainment companies have their issues. But seeing interesting long term stories and character arcs is something I’ve so enjoyed. Pairing that with the awesome athletic and sometimes violent action makes for incredible entertainment. Being at a large wrestling event was something else.
I did miss two entrances I’m gutted to have missed, Jericho’s and Young Bucks. But, you’ve got to get food, water and visit the restrooms at some stage when you’re in the stadium for almost 7 hours.
Having arrived outside the stadium at around 2pm, I got a wrap and drink then looked around the stalls, took photos, had a couple of conversations and entered the stadium at 3.45-4pm. After a slightly disjointed pre show, once the actual show started around 5.30pm, the time surprisingly went really quickly. The show finished at 10pm and the journey back to the hotel began. This took longer than expected, but given the high from All In and the closing part of the event; I was grateful for the time to wind down before trying to sleep. All in, All In was an amazing show. It was fantastic to have been there and been part of this first UK show; to have seen these wrestlers live (I tried to limit the time I looked at the screen and focused on watched the 'real' people, while they where a distance away you could see most of what was happening), to have been part of the crowd cheering and booing... it was great! I have loved watching AEW on ITV (in the UK), but being able to go to a live show, and one on this scale was something else. It really felt like a once ever sort of event. That said the night finished with the announcement that AEW will be back in August 2024, so I'm already mentally preparing for Ticketmaster stress. But being there for the first one felt special.
Mega well done and thank you to everyone involved in hosting this event.
