Here we go, time for another wrestling list. This is an entirely subjective ranking, and anyone else could have a completely different opinion and be just as right. As a result, this was very difficult to put together, take it from me. Any one of these shows could lay a claim to being #1 on someone else's list for a variety of reasons, which I'm going to get into as well.
A couple years ago I did a Ranking the Top 40 Wrestlemanias list that took significantly longer than this, and remember thinking it would be cool to do the same for All In events. I just had to wait for enough of them to exist! Two All Ins later, I can finally do a ranking list. See you again for the Top Ten in a few years.
#5 - All In: Wembley II (2024)
Main Events and other notable matches:
-Swerve Strickland (C) vs Bryan Danielson (AEW World Title)
-Toni Storm (C) vs Mariah May (AEW Women's Title)
-Will Ospreay vs MJF (C) (AEW International Title)
Tickets Sold: 53,000
Wow, I hate to put this thing in last place of any list. It's Bryan Danielson's other career peak besides Wrestlemania 30 - and this time his kids were old enough to be there and see it. WM30 always had a dark cloud over it for Bryan personally; He lost his dad, and his little super fan Connor the Crusher, both within days after the event. Ten years later, Bryan's world title win over Swerve Strickland at this show was a sort of catharsis, a career-highlight match that perhaps lifted the cloud from the other peak. It allowed him to close the book on wrestling with a second chance at a defining moment.
As for his opponent, I'll repeat what I said in the "Ranking the AEW Champions" article about him: Swerve himself is one of the most legit craftsmen in this era of wrestling, a possibly-underrated performer who exudes equal parts fun and menace; his original theme music (sung by himself) could be played for both dancing... and stalking slowly down an alleyway. He's neither heel nor face, really - he's a real person who calls it as he sees it and bows down to no one. He's in that rarified Steve Austin group of "wrestlers who one company didn't see much in, so he went somewhere else and proved how good he was". (See also: Toni Storm in this same timeframe).
This was a "if Bryan loses, he retires" match, and with his retirement imminent either way, most people didn't expect Bryan to win. Well, win he did, to the delight of over 50,000 people at Wembley Stadium. Swerve Strickland lost absolutely nothing here by not taking Bryan's Quickening, and if anything he looked like even more of a beast after this match with the way he casually shrugged off one of Bryan's normally match-ending Busaiku Knees. Few matches induce goosebumps like this main event.
And then there's the rest of the show. It's fine, really. A solid show. However, nothing else on the show gets close to the level of the main event. 2024 was probably AEW's weakest year on the creative front, having sustained some damage from the yearlong Punk debacle fracturing the fanbase. It wasn't fun to follow along anymore with all the hate being flung AEW's way. Creatively the company seemed unable to put itself back together for a while. The crowds were dwindling, and even 2025 limped along until that year's All In. In short, late 2023 through mid 2025 was a big lull, and it's unfortunate that it started with backstage events that overshadowed their biggest show ever.
For matches at this event, MJF and Ospreay turned in a banger that functioned as the semi-main event for the menfolk, while Toni Storm and Mariah May capped off an excellent, sexuality-tinged feud with an excellent, sexuality-tinged match. The rest of the show was just there, and not as memorable as the rest of this list. There were a few really weak matches, like Hook vs Chris Jericho. Points for having two women's matches instead of the usual one on PPVs, but the second one (Britt vs Mercedes for the TBS Title) was another letdown; considering how anticipated that particular confrontation was, it was a plodding match that never really got interesting.
Lasting Impact: Mariah May leaving the company soon after... Well, it drags that match, and the importance it had at the time, down quite a bit. All the work they did on that feud was kind of wasted, as Mariah soon dropped the title right back to Toni before sodding off to WWE. Bryan, meanwhile, retired not even two months later, and his own torch-passing gave the torch to another guy on his level who didn't particularly need it. So this show didn't do much to pay it forward, but at least it was a solid way to give Bryan a moment he deserved.
This event could be #1 on someone else's list because: The main event is the most emotional of any of the main event matches on this list.
Grading on a curve for All In events:
Undercard: 6/10
Main Event: 10/10
Impact: 5/10
Overall: 21/30
#4 - All In (2018)
Main Events and other notable things:
-Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi vs Rey Mysterio, Bandido, Rey Fenix (The main event, oddly enough)
-Kenny Omega vs Pentagon Zero (IWGP World Title...not on the line, exhibition match)
-Nick Aldis (C) vs Cody Rhodes (NWA World Title)
-Tessa Blanchard vs Chelsea Green vs Madison Rayne vs Britt Baker
-First non-WWE event to fill a full-sized arena in the United States since 1999
Tickets Sold: 11,200
An awesome show that's hard to find nowadays (why isn't it on HBO Max?), this is an interesting one because it has several matches that could be considered main events. Technically the 3-on-3 is the final match of the evening, but the "real" main event was likely either IWGP Champion Kenny Omega vs Pentagon Zero in a non-title exhibition, or Nick Aldis vs Cody Rhodes for the NWA World Title. Both of those felt like legit main events and both were great matches.
Special note needs to be made of the Cody vs Aldis match. It was a "finish the story" situation for the younger Rhodes long before WWE did one, as Cody went for the NWA World Title that had been previously held by his dad. It was him living up to his dad by reaching that level, and it was a story that had to be built up on YouTube leading up to this grassroots show. After winning his dad's title back, it was probably just a matter of time before Cody went after the other world title, the one his dad didn't win. Or if we're being honest, probably never even challenged for. Well, all of that started here, along with many, many other things that had long-lasting ripples in the next decade of wrestling. If anyone ever bashes Cody or wonders why the audience has a connection with the guy, show them his reaction to winning the NWA Title here.
Less emotional, but probably a significantly higher match quality, we had IWGP Champion Kenny Omega vs Pentagon Zero in the banger match of the night, even if it was mostly just setup for Omega vs Jericho at a future - as of now up in the air - show. There was lots of other fun stuff here, like Jay Lethal defending the ROH Title against Flip Gordon (what ever happened to him?) and the oft-maligned MJF making his mainstream debut by curtain jerking...and losing. This show has a truly fantastic undercard, and the amazing thing is that they did all of this without the benefit of TV. All they had was YouTube videos, tweets, and word of mouth. Turns out, all of that was enough. The mainstream audience was just that thirsty for an alternative in the bleak 2018 wrestling landscape.
The women's four-way match felt like it was there to determine who would be the future face of women's wrestling outside of WWE, and in that sense might have been even more important than the main events. Tessa won, which made sense at the time, though in retrospect Britt Baker obviously should have won. Tessa seemed like the next huge superstar, but it was Britt who actually ended up being the face of non-WWE women's wrestling for the next several years.
"Hey guys, remember when we spent money putting up a billboard for a show that sold out in 30 minutes?"
While AEW wasn't a thing yet and there were no apparent plans for it at the time, there was a sense in the air that this was the beginning of something. We could all feel it. Labor Day is a good time to debut new products for a reason. Another company was on the way, or at least more independent shows with WWE-level production and hype, and anything was possible. The mood around this show, and the audience's excitement and anticipation, were perhaps the most intriguing parts of the show.
This was probably the best wrestling show of the year. As I mentioned, 2018 was a pretty bleak year in wrestling though. This show was entertaining from top to bottom though, outside of the final match being heavily rushed for time. They left a lot of meat on the bone here, with setup for the next show having Omega vs. Jericho among other things. The show being co-branded with Bullet Club shows how influential that group was in getting people to branch out and look at indies and New Japan in the 2010s. It was a cultivation of the fans that'd finally coalesce in the creation of a new company that kept the spirit of all of that going.
Lasting Impact: We got a new wrestling company. One with global reach that can actually compete with WWE on both salaries and presentation. The lasting impact of this show is actually off the chart.
Could be #1 on someone else's list because: It's the most historically significant show out of all of these.
\Undercard: 8/10
Main Event: 5/10
Impact: 10/10
Overall: 23/30
#3 - All In: Wembley (2023)
Main Events and other notable things:
-MJF (C) vs Adam Cole (AEW World Title)
-FTR (C) vs Young Bucks (AEW Tag Team Titles)
-Will Ospreay vs Chris Jericho
-Sold legitimately more tickets than any wrestling event to date outside of possibly Wrestlemania 32, depending on who you ask; first 70k+ crowd for a non-Wrestlemania show from an American promotion since SummerSlam 1992
Tickets Sold: 81,000
Outstanding show here with a packed Wembley Stadium, their largest crowd to date and a feat that hasn't been managed since. This made for a loud, booming, extremely vocal crowd. Everything that happened here was enhanced by the size and scope of the event/crowd. I could pretty much watch this show from top to bottom any time just to take in how amazing it all looks.
The main event was weak on paper compared to the other All Ins: MJF vs Adam Cole for the World Title was a terrific match with a great storyline, but on sheer starpower they could have put forward a much bigger main event if they wanted to. Still, this was a statement of intent; much like putting Hangman Page - who was largely new to the American audience - in the very first AEW World Title match, the composition of this main event was something that showed confidence in the youth and the future of AEW. Unfortunately, injuries took Adam Cole out of the picture soon after this, ending the ongoing main event storyline between him and MJF.
Unfortunately the women didn't have an amazing outing here like they did in all of the other shows on this list, giving us an alright four-way match with a baffling winner. That said, even this match is notable because it was the first time Toni Storm did the Timeless entrance on a major stage; it wasn't called that yet, didn't have the new music or the black and white, but it was unmistakably the proto form of what would soon become a full character reinvention into one of the most over acts in wrestling. Now that I think about it, this match being a four-way might have also been an homage to the four-way match on the original All In. It was fairly low on the totem pole for this show, however, and just doesn't hang with the incredible Women's World Title matches at the later shows.
There was lots of other good stuff here, and like I said, pretty much every match felt elevated. Speaking of elevated, Will Ospreay defeated Chris Jericho in a damn good match that signified that the NJPW prodigy was on his way to AEW. FTR and the Young Bucks fought for what seemed like the tenth time on PPV, finally settling their eternal struggle with one final, for the marbles, "who is truly the best tag team in the world" match. FTR took that one and the Young Bucks continued to be one of the more giving acts in wrestling when it comes to dropping matches they've got a claim to winning (Sting's retirement is another, and the Lucha Bros match at the launch of AEW).
Lasting Impact: Elevated the company to the next level; made it inarguably legitimate competition to the previous wrestling monopoly.
Could be #1 on someone else's list because: The size and scope of the event being so unparalleled.
Undercard: 8/10
Main Event: 9/10
Impact: 9/10
Overall: 26/30
#2 - All In: Wembley III (2026)
Main Events and other notable things:
-Kenny Omega (C) vs Will Ospreay (AEW Men's World Title)
-Willow Nightingale (C) vs Mercedes Mone (AEW Women's World Title)
-Kyle Fletcher (C) vs Konosuke Takeshita vs Kazuchika Okada (AEW International Title)
-Kevin Knight (C) vs Darby Allin (AEW TNT Title)
Tickets Sold: 47,000
If we're basing this list on main events alone, this is the hands-down winner. As incredible as the other main events have been, this one goes a step beyond with one of the best matches of all time with Omega/Ospreay, plus several very solid title matches. Personally, up until this show happened, I had the main events of All In '25 and Wrestlemania 40 tied as my two favorite matches of the modern era. Then this show's main event came along and passed them both up.
Everything about it reached a new level; we got a One Winged Angel kickout, considering it's the most protected wrestling finisher in a generation. We got multiple Hidden Blades and Stormbreakers. Kenny Omega went at full-tilt in a way he hasn't needed to against anyone in years. Will Ospreay put forth his best performance, though he always fights with a ton of fury and motivation. If this was Kenny Omega's sole All In main event, he set a hell of a precedent out of it and the bar is officially extremely high for next year.
Their previous matches were just as classic
Unfortunately, an incredible main event alone can't carry a show all the way. When I ranked the Wrestlemanias, I did weigh the main events particularly heavily when determining the standing of each show. However, the undercards accounted for probably 50% of the overall score. A great undercard goes a long way towards giving a show rewatchability and viability to hold up long-term. I particularly liked Wrestlemania 17's kind of "pyramid" structure to the undercard.
Well, this show didn't set up the undercard that well, in my view, with a number of obvious one-on-one matches thrown into the meat grinder of the Casino Gauntlet. MJF vs Andrade should have been the semi-main on the men's side, and Jericho vs Ciampa was another obvious one-on-one match. The International Title three-way should have gotten significantly more time, and the Tag Team Titles should have gotten significantly less time. All in all, I think that All In '25 had a better undercard by a good margin, while having a main event that wasn't TOO far behind this one.
Lasting Impact: Made a huge impression on a lot of people and seems to have changed public perception of Japanese wrestling tropes like odyssey matches and "fighting spirit" moments. Did a huge amount to elevate AEW in the public discourse.
Could be #1 on someone else's list because: Has the single best match and main event out of any of them.
Undercard: 7/10
Main Event: 11/10
Impact: 8/10
Overall: 26/30
#1 - All In: Texas (2025)
Main Events and other notable matches:
-Jon Moxley (C) vs Hangman Page (AEW Men's World Title)
-Kenny Omega (C) vs Kazuchika Okada (C) (AEW International/Continental Title Unification)
-Toni Storm (C) vs Mercedes Mone (AEW Women's World Title)
Tickets Sold: 24,000
Quite possibly the best PPV the company has ever put on. A triple main event, a terrific undercard, and probably the most beautiful set and stadium backdrop they've ever put together. The show is the longest out of all of these, clocking in at over 6 hours long WITHOUT the pre-show, and yet it somehow flew by for me. It's basically an awesome afternoon and evening of wrestling and feels like a true event.
We've got three main events and all of them are better than most regular PPV main events. Seriously, any of the three main events could have headlined any PPV and sold it on its own, and here we got them all back to back. Note: For scoring purposes, the first two main events count as undercard, and help catapult the undercard of this show to the clear winner out of all of these.
The stakes were high going into this show. If Hangman didn't win here, there was a sense that we would have been doomed to another year of Moxley keeping the world title in a suitcase until All In Wembley '26 rolled around. There was nobody else available at this juncture to rescue the title, nobody who wasn't tied up in something else anyway. It felt like Hangman's last shot and also the last shot for the fans to see something different any time soon. The best part? The difference-maker who saved Hangman from Death Rider interference at the 11th hour was his former sworn enemy, Swerve Strickland, who he had finally buried the hatchet with only a week earlier.
It's worth noting that everyone that ran in on Hangman's behalf didn't attack Moxley at all. They only counteracted the Death Riders interference. This is an important detail. The war that this turned into was the culmination of all of Hangman's feuds and all of the previous year's stories. It was, in a word, poetry. Very violent poetry, because damn if that wasn't one of the most violent matches I've seen in a while too. Moxley finally got to tell the bloody story he wanted to tell in front of a stadium crowd.
The only downside to this show, really, is that the crowd wasn't nearly as hot as the Wembley crowd for the years around this. They GOT hot by the end, and were on fire for the main event. However for a lot of the early parts of the show the audience was way too quiet, and compared to something like All In 2023 where the crowd was on fire all-throughout, the subdued feeling here hurt the show a bit. It might be the only thing that brings this show down at all, though. If one could put this show in front of All In 2023's crowd, it would be essentially a perfect show.
As for the rest, we got a lot of good matches on this show - Ospreay/Swerve vs Young Bucks was pure insanity - and the other two main events delivered just as much as the final match did. Omega and Okada put on a wrestling clinic that, while not as athletic as their NJPW matches due to a few years going by in the meantime, was still two masters of the craft delivering a competition to settle once and for all who was the better of the two. It ended up with some unexpected twists and turns. And then there was Mercedes vs Toni, which has my vote for the best AEW women's match of all time thus far. It felt like a real clash of icons, and could have main evented an All In on its own. It was an excellent, sexually-charged match that ended an excellent, sexually-charged feud. There seems to be a trend with Toni Storm and sexually-charged feuds/matches, but I don't think she'd have it any other way.
Lasting Impact: Led to what was essentially a company reboot. While the ball got rolling here, the reboot really kicked off the following April with Darby Allin's surprise title win and an incredible Double or Nothing '26 PPV. A lot of the storylines started on this show led to and culminated at All In 2026, so there was a ton of long-term storytelling going on here that boosted the next year's show.
Could be #1 on someone else's list because: It's the best show from top to bottom, having no weak points, and set the company up really well for the next year.
Undercard: 10/10
Main Event: 10/10
Impact: 7/10
Overall: 27/30
No comments:
Post a Comment