Summertime, and the living is easy for wrestling fans craving the grandeur of a big stadium event. This Sunday, August 30, is All Elite Wrestling’s fifth annual All In show emanating from Wembley Stadium in London, England. This is the event AEW was built on and is currently the biggest on the wrestling calendar. The crowd, tens of thousands strong, the big pyro, and the spectacle of the best wrestlers on earth clashing with one another in the squared circle all add up to the most exciting way to put a bow on the summer season. Your Sicko conglomerate of Jeffery X Martin, Josh Wallen, and Sachin Hingoo are here to run down the card and give their predictions! Hannah “Cootiebug” Martin brings a different, unhinged point of view. Cootiebug isn’t a Sicko (she draws the line at thumbtacks), but she knows more about AEW than some people. You’ll find her comments marked by CFC (“Casual Fan Cootie”). We also have a guest thought about a couple of matches, including the main event, from our pal and the Evil Overlord of the Cultural Gutter, Carol Borden (labelled CB)!
Zero Hour Preshow (Free on YouTube at 11:00 am EST):
TBS Championship Match: Maya World (c) vs Persephone
SH: This match feels a little more than perfunctory, having been announced just over 12 hours from the event itself, but as nice a story as they’ve told with Maya overcoming the odds, I think the time is ripe to put the rocket behind Persephone on a big stage, and there’s no bigger one in AEW than Wembley, even if it’s on the preshow. I’m going to make a bold prediction here that Persephone takes this one in an upset to kick off a show packed to the gills with surprises.
JW: I still don’t see what many other people see in Maya World. She’s a fine wrestler. Is she championship worthy? I don’t see it yet, but I also understand the value in putting a second-tier championship on someone to elevate them. Maya World is deserving of that opportunity… and so is Persephone. However, if they’re going to flip the TBS Championship, I don’t think it’s happening on Zero Hour. Give me Maya World in a match that didn’t need to be on this card for any other reason than to give some added value to those in attendance. Let’s see how vocal the early crowd is in Wembley…
JXM: Persephone is the Domme I never knew I needed. But Maya World has a rocket strapped to her back so firmly, she could bring Laika back from the skies alive, and I wouldn’t bat an eye. Let me flip the Coin of Justice. Okay, here we go. And New… Persephone is the Queen of All Promotions.
AEW Trios Roulette Royale Championship Match: “Hangman” Adam Page and Brodido (Bandido and Brody King) (c) vs. Jay White and the Bang Bang Gang vs. The Dogs (David Finlay, Clark Connors, and Gabe Kidd) vs. The Demand (Ricochet, Toa Liona, and Bishop Kaun) vs. The Death Riders vs. The Conglomeration vs. Wild Card (And This May Be the Longest Match Introduction We’ve Ever Written)
SH: I’m going to be honest, I’m writing this ahead of the go-home Dynamite, which could give some more clarity to what this match even is, but as of right now it sounds like a chaotic gauntlet with no clear rules or objectives. Fortunately, we’ve been there before with AEW, and it’s always worked itself out (more or less). That said, this is an intriguing way to do a few things at once: get a ton of guys on the show, give the Trios title a big boost in importance and prominence, and open up the PPV in an explosive way if this bleeds into the main card like the pre-show matches have been doing lately. Like most, I think this is a way to bring the (former) New Day into the fold with Swerve, but it seems odd to me to introduce these natural good guys as heels, like Swerve is heavily leaning right now. That’s why I think Page and Brodido take this, thanks to some friction between Swerve, Creed, and Kofi. That’d be a great feud to kick off their run, and there’s lots of life left in the Good, The Bad, and The Ugly as a team as well.
JW: According to the internet, this should be Kofi and Creed’s debut alongside Swerve. If that’s the case, I don’t think we’ll be getting any classic New Day antics. A reinvention alongside The Most Dangerous Man in AEW could be exactly what they need to remind everyone that they’re still one of the best teams in wrestling. I don’t think they need to leave with a W in their debut, though… I’ll take The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Page & Brodido) to retain on a card that could feature more than one title changing hands.
JXM: I understand the concept behind the Roulette matches. They are bright and colourful like a Saturday morning cartoon. They’re messy and loud. Most importantly, they allow a bunch of guys to hit the ring, lay their shit in for a couple of minutes, and get a PPV paycheck. Putting a Wild Card into a Roulette match throws a specific kind of spanner into the works. Wild Card teams are usually the last ones in, so they are fresh and not beaten down by a bunch of other competitors. Also, since they are the final entrants, Wild Card teams often wind up winning. Look around. Swerve Strickland doesn’t have a match at All In. Rumours have been swirling that the former New Day (Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah and Austin Creed) are headed to AEW. Could we see the rebirth of Swerve’s Mogul Embassy (without Trench, probably) as the Wild Card team? It makes sense to me, which means I’m probably wrong, but I’m going to roll with it anyway. Your new Trios Champions will be the Wild Card team, which may or may not be Swerve Strickland and Whatever Name Kofi and Austin Are Using in AEW.
Main Card (1pm EST on PPV)
Casino Gauntlet Match For a Future AEW World Title Shot: Andrade El Idolo (#1) vs. MJF (#2) vs. Tomasso Ciampa (#3) vs. “Dunkzilla” Mark Davis, Chris “Jericho” Jericho, and Probably Most of the Don Callis Family
SH: The clear focus of this match is Andrade and MJF, who’ll have a killer encounter to kick things off while keeping things spicy with the surprise entrants. Andrade checks all the boxes for wrestling right now – great in the ring, popular with the fans, a head of hair that just won’t quit, and a catchphrase that doesn’t make a single bit of sense in most situations. MJF is the perennial heel, detestable to the end and also latching onto one of wrestling’s classic tropes: proclaiming yourself the “real world champion” and walking around with a belt you didn’t earn. Sure, there’ll be a grip of other dudes in this match with at least one or two surprise debuts or returns, but no one’s more likely to take it home than Max or El Idolo. I think there’s still a lot of story to tell with those two, so I think Max costs Andrade the match just to get under his skin. I sure would love to see the likes of Ilja Dragunov, Sheamus, or some other surprises along the way, though.
JW: I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see the crowds taking to Andrade as much as they have. He and Max have some solid chemistry, and I could see that being a feud they go back to year after year. With that in mind, I think Max steals a victory from Andrade here, and they stay in each other’s orbit as Andrade costs Max his world title opportunity.
JXM: The best part about a Casino Gauntlet match is not knowing who is going to wind up in the ring. Even though the main battle seems to be between El Idolo and MJF, who knows who could roll under the bottom rope and start hurling punches? I’m guessing “Speedball” Mike Bailey and “Blackheart” Lio Rush will enter the fray, and they’ll be fun to watch, but they’ll be eliminated in the end. Who will win that coveted title shot? It will be whoever cheats. I believe that Maxwell Jacob Friedman will be in contention for the championship, but the real winner will be the Dynamite Diamond Ring.
CFC: I want to see my favourite Lycan, RUSH, in the match. It would be nice to see Ciampa win, but it’ll probably be fuckin’ MJF because he’s just skeevy enough to make it through that match.
AEW International Championship Match: Kyle Fletcher (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kazuchika Okada
SH: For a match centred around a title that’s nominally about the wrestling first and foremost, there’s a whole lot of outside-the-ring drama around this one. It could be argued that the KKK of the Don Callis Family – okay maybe let’s workshop that one – is one of AEW’s most compelling love triangles, but that all went up in smoke with “Protokada’s” betrayal of Takeshita. And there’s obvious friction between Okada and Fletcher as well, which is the biggest of the many cracks that make it feel like Don Callis’ stable could splinter apart at any moment. This is an incredible piece of booking though, featuring three of the best wrestlers on earth right now. I think Takeshita takes the win, boiling over the tension between Kyle and Okada and accelerating the dissolution of Don Callis’ group of toughs.
JW: Look, I’m here for the graps. If this match takes place in 5 Star Booker, it’s a certified banger. The problem for me is that the DCF Civil War should have kicked off with the departure of Takeshita. The fact we’re still playing the “Will they? Won’t they?” a few months later kinda takes me out of this match. I’ll take Kyle in what could be a classic, but will more than likely be a screw job DCF drama feuled disappointing finish.
JXM: This week on The Real Housewives of Jacksonville, the Protostar Kyle Fletcher must face the two men he has loved and betrayed, Konosuke Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada. Fletcher has formed tentative tag teams (Protoshita and Protokada) with both opponents, but Fletcher remains the International Champion. Takeshita and Okada want that title as much as they hate each other. Will the Protostar Kyle Fletcher and Okada, both members of the evil Don Callis Family, gang up on Takeshita to beat him down? Probably. But in the glorious world of professional wrestling, winning is the best revenge. By obtaining the title, Konosuke Takeshita will smack the Don Callis Family in their collective faces and flip a justified bird to Okada and Fletcher. Raise a Cinnabon to your new AEW International Champion, Konosuke Takeshita.
CFC: I wish Takeshita would take it, because I’m fucking bored with the rivalry between that menage-a-trois of testosterone. I feel like if Takeshita did win it, it would take the wind out of the Don Callis Family’s sails. Also: fuck Don Callis.
AEW Men’s World Tag Team Championship Match: Adam Copeland & Christian Cage (c) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)
SH: Under our noses, the AEW tag team division has been amassing some of the best talent of the past, present, and future. You wouldn’t really know it with Cope and Cage as the champions though, and I think it’s time for them to drop these belts and let the likes of the Bucks, FTR, the Motor City Machine Guns, Whatever The New Day is Called Now, and all the other potential contenders fight over them while Cope and Cage gear up for their last runs in the company and wrestling altogether. I’m a Toronto guy and will always be here for Adam and Jay, and I think both Cope and Cage still have something left in the tank, but to borrow a phrase, the Last Time Is Now.
JW: I thought this would have been a bigger spectacle pulling in FTR, Austin and Kofi and some Tables, Ladders and Chairs… but here we are… I love what C&C have been able to do in AEW… that being said, I’m ready for them to hand over the straps and ride off into the sunset. While the Bucks aren’t exactly the team I’d have pegged to put them out to pasture; they’re AEW through and through. Remember when there was a killer tag division? Can we have that back?
JXM: Is it time to pass the torch? Cope and Cage have been wrestling for a long-ass time. They’re legends. But, in their own way, so are the Young Bucks. Matt and Nick Jackson fought their way up from the indies to sold-out arenas, without the help of the WWE machine. If the Bucks win, it could be seen as Cope and Cage moving out of the way and acknowledging the Bucks’ greatness. That seems antithetical to Cope and Cage’s ethos. If Cope and Cage win, their reputation and legacy remain cemented as the greatest tag team of all time. It’s a hard call, but I don’t think this match ends without some shenanigans. I’m calling for The Young Bucks to win the titles, with some interference from the returning FTR and Big Stoke. With that old feud reignited, Cage and Cope remain relevant and active, and the Bucks will have their choice of challengers.
CFC: I know that Cope and Cage are still face, but they’re angry Gen X face. I know that the Young Bucks are still coming back from the fall from the top of the tower, their fall from grace, as it were. I think the Bucks are going to take this one. Let’s face it. Cope and Cage are old. The Young Bucks, well, they’re the Middle-Aged Bucks by now, but comparatively speaking, not as old as Cope and Cage. So give it to the Bucks, however old they are.
AEW Continental Challenge Cup Finals: Jon Moxley vs. Nigel McGuinness
SH: I was a little skeptical of the word salad of the Continental Challenge Cup Tournament when it was announced this spring, because the Continental Challenge Tournament that closes out the year for AEW has been so entrenched as the “American G1” for the past couple of iterations. That tournament has delivered some of the most compelling pairings and matches I’ve seen in AEW, and that’s really saying something. But this Continental Cup tournament has held up exactly as well, producing some outstanding TV matches and unexpected pairings with real emotion behind them. I’m a little sad Eddie Kingston didn’t go any further, but they’ve told a great story with Nigel overcoming injury at the same time. Mox always overdelivers in matches both big and small, and Nigel will be super motivated to kick things into another gear in front of the UK crowd at Wembley. Mox doesn’t need this win nearly as much as Nigel, and I think McGuiness comes out on top in a match filled with top-tier grappling.
JW: TK has been trying to give Nigel a Wembley moment for a few years now. While it might not be Bryan Danielson as his dance partner, Moxley is more than capable of delivering a classic. Give me more magic from McGuinness and let’s see where it goes.
JXM: This. This is the match I want to see. Here is where it can all come together. Jon Moxley, my favourite wrestler of all time. Nigel McGuinness, perhaps the greatest British wrestler since Johnny Saint. This is where fan service reaches its apex. Technical wrestling will meet brawling in an absolute dream match. Ankle picks. Chest chopping. Middle fingers. This is where the rubber meets the road, and I cannot wait, holy shit. I will break my diet, and I will drink beer and eat popcorn at noon on a Sunday, like a proper heathen, if that means I get to see the British fans lose their minds when this match ends as it should. I don’t just want Nigel McGuinness to win. I need Nigel McGuinness to win. Give the king of catch wrestling his flowers, and do it at All In.
CFC: I think Nigel is going to win, but why is he wrestling? What the frig is Nigel even doing? You can stop now. We look forward to having you back on commentary, buddy.
AEW TNT Championship Falls Count Anywhere Match: Kevin Knight (c) vs. Darby Allin
SH: As of this writing, this match is the only one with the potential for AEW’s monthly blood sacrifice to the Sickos, and there’s no one better than – this feels so exhilarating to say – former World Champion Darby Allin to deliver. There has been a LOT of fire-related frolics between Knight and Allin over the past few months, and I expect this one to get even more, ahem, heated. With this having the potential to go all over this massive arena and involve any number of the dastardly Don Callis Family and maybe even El Hijo Del Sting, who was teased last week, this is the chaotic deathmatch slot that I crave from AEW. I think Kevin Knight retains in a shenanigan-filled slopfest.
JXM: Throwing a Falls Count Anywhere match in a venue as large as Wembley Stadium is risky. It’s the kind of match that forces the live audience to pay attention to the video screens instead of focusing on the action in the ring. TV audiences may have a better chance at following the match than the people who paid for tickets, since the match could very well end backstage amidst a pile of furniture. There’s no question that Knight and Allin can bring it. Darby likes to jump off tall things. Kevin Knight has a great coast-to-coast. Darby Allin is a fan favourite, because all the Sickos love someone who will throw themselves through a flaming door studded with tacks, shattered glass, and hypodermic needles. But Kevin Knight is having a tremendous run as the TNT Champion, and it doesn’t feel like it is time to bring that to an end. Kevin Knight retains, hopefully with a clean pin in the middle of the ring, in plain view of all attendees.
CFC: I don’t really understand why Kevin Knight is getting a push, and I don’t really understand why he’s with the Don Callis Family. I think Kevin Knight is going to retain, but Darby’s going to hurt him. Darby’s gonna fuck him up.
AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship Match: Divine Dominion (c) (Megan Bayne & Lena Kross) vs. The Brawling Birds (Jamie Hayter & Alex Windsor)
SH: I’ve read this match described cheekily as “British DEI,” and, honestly, I get it. The Brawling Birds are a perfectly cromulent team, but they haven’t gotten either the in-ring reps or the TV time to feel like they’re about to take the tag titles off of Divine Dominion, who have been pretty dominant champions. In fact, the Birds seem like a team that was assembled entirely to get the famously rowdy British fans on their feet when they do exactly that at Wembley. But hey, Alex Windsor is a decorated athlete and current holder of the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship, and Jamie Hayter is a former AEW Women’s Heavyweight Champion as well, so it’s not like they’re any slouch when it comes down to it. The Birds win, and Wembley does one of its famously easy-to-remember and not-at-all-awkward-to-repeat chants in celebration.
JXM: AEW is known for “listening to the fans,” which sometimes results in pandering to the audience. This year’s All In is in England, and there are a lot Brits on the card. One expects the British wrestlers to get some wins in their home country. Those victories guarantee crowd pops and a degree of validation. But there has to be a swerve somewhere, because this is wrestling. Sometimes, you have to disappoint the crowd to push a storyline forward. The Brawling Birds (Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter) have built their entire characters on their Britishness. “Oi! Pints! Bar fights!” That’s exactly why they must lose this match. Look for Divine Dominion to retain the titles while building nuclear heat for destroying the Brawling Birds on their home turf.
CB: I think the Brawling Birds defeat the Divine Dominion, and that would be driven more by them winning in London and getting the tag titles moving around again.
CFC: [sound of disgust] Divine Dominion is probably going to retain, but that thought makes me want to shove toothpicks under my toenails. I really want the Brawling Birds to win this. It’s time for the Booty Brigade to get that gold. I bet they would both be great power tops. Divine Dominion is so one-note and flat, like Barbie dolls with feathers.
AEW TBS Championship Match: Willow Nightingale (c) vs. Mercedes Moné
SH: Unlike some people on this website, I’ve been a fan of Mercedes for years. But this new violent wrinkle in her character has made her even better to me. Of course, like everyone on this website, I’m a massive fan of Willow too and watching her rise from preliminary act to “solid midcarder” to the decorated champion of the division is AEW’s biggest success story. It’d be a feel-good story for Willow to win this one and retain, but I think Mercedes Moné snatches the victory away on the company’s biggest stage, kicking off a long reign of terror. Willow will have her time again, and how sweet it will be.
JXM: This may be the most interesting character clash in the whole card. On one side, you have the grinning nihilist (props to Josh Wallen for that description) Willow Nightingale, who has an infectious positive attitude about destroying her opponents. On the other side stands the petulant princess Mercedes Moné, who didn’t learn how to work different styles effectively until she left WWE. Both workers draw different kinds of fans, and it depends on which in-ring attitude you prefer. Personally, I’m a huge fan of Willow’s “splattering your ass on the mat makes me a happy girl” aura. However, I don’t think one is a better wrestler than the other. One hates to turn a match that will be well-executed and vicious into a popularity contest, but I honestly don’t know which way to fall. I’ll go with Willow Nightingale to retain the title, but I believe Mercedes Moné will have a more spectacular entrance.
CFC: Willow retains! That sparkly babe is a queen, and she deserves it.
AEW Men’s World Championship Match: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay
SH: Every single thing in the build to this match points to Will Ospreay taking the title from, for my money, the best active wrestler on earth today, Kenny Omega. It’s in his hometown, in front of his friends and family, and it’s the culmination of a journey that involved Ospreay overcoming a neck injury and skirting membership in a violent death cult. Every possible instinct tells me that Ospreay is winning here, but Kenny is my perennial favourite, especially in this heel persona he’s leaning into. I’m still picking Ospreay to win, even though I’d love to see Kenny hold the title a bit longer, especially considering that this is probably his last reign with Big Plat before he hangs things up. Either way, I’m pretty sure that we’re in for one of the best matches any of us will see in our lives.
JXM: Since returning from neck surgery, it has been pretty clear that the plan is to have Will Ospreay win the AEW World Championship Title in front of a shrieking English crowd at All In. There’s a YouTube documentary series about Ospreay’s surgery and his dramatic return to the sport. He has been doing the press circuit, promoting the show and making it clear that he was born to be the champion. Ospreay’s victory feels like a given. And that’s why I’m choosing Kenny Omega to retain the title. Think of it: the Best Bout Machine denies the Best Bruv Mate his greatest victory. Imagine the fallout. That storyline could go on for at least another year! I really like Ospreay, and I want to see him holding the biggest title in the company. But not here. Not now.
CFC: This one hurts my heart. It is my sincere hope that the Billy Goat pulls this one out, and that it sets him right. He’s been all kinds of mixed up since his injury. And I don’t like seeing him like that.
CB: I do think Will Ospreay will probably defeat Kenny Omega, even if I don’t want him to. I think narratively they get more out of Nuts Kenny if he loses the title. Though I trust them to work well with Nuts Kenny if he keeps it. I have to say, Kenny Omega’s had a Boromir level of sensitivity to the cursed AEW Men’s World Championship title. I also think Wembley is a nice place for Ospreay to win.
Predictions for Returns or Debuts
SH: Obviously, the one on everyone’s mind is the former New Day, Kofi and Creed. I would love to see some new life in the women’s division as well, with Kairi Sane, Kay Lee Ray, Nikki Storm, and maybe even a returning Timeless Toni and Thekla? That, combined with Mercedes (or, if I’m wrong, Willow) at the top of the division and folks like Kris Statlander, Athena, and the ultraviolent Skye Blue chomping at the bit, and you’ve got one of the best women’s rosters ever assembled. On the men’s side, maybe the newly freed Ilja Dragunov or Sheamus in the Casino?
JXM: Smart money says Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah and Austin Creed (formerly known as The New Day) will debut in AEW, possibly with Swerve Strickland. Is there a better place or time for Toni Storm to return than Wembley? We haven’t seen the Timeless One since this past March and, speaking for this house, she has been greatly missed. Wembley would melt to the ground if Toni Storm walked down the ramp. I’m pretty sure Thekla and FTR will also come back. And wouldn’t it be nifty if Kairi Sane made her AEW debut in London?
CFC: New Day! I just want to see Kofi in an AEW ring. He’s always been a favourite of mine. Born entertainer. I hope Toni does come back. I miss that tart. She gives good entertainment, bruv.
In the United States, you can order All In on HBO MAX, Prime Video, PPV.COM, YouTube, Fubo, DirecTV, Sling, Dish, and traditional cable and satellite providers. Canada and select international countries can order All In on MyAEW, Prime Video, Triller, PPV.COM, and YouTube. HBO MAX and TNT viewers can watch the Buy-In, a live pre-show beginning at 11:00 EST. All In begins at 1:00 PM EST and will very likely go past 1:30 PM EST. And that’s not even counting the post-show press scrum on YouTube afterwards.
