AEW All In 2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s annual review of AEW All In, the show so long it actually bridged the gap between WWE's two attempts at counterprogramming — if you don't think we have anything to say about that in this column, you probably fell asleep before the main event, because you're dreaming! Obviously we will also discuss the biggest story coming out of the show — "Hangman" Adam Page winning the AEW World Championship for the second time — as well as other huge results like Kazuchika Okada beating Kenny Omega, Toni Storm becoming the first woman in AEW to defeat Mercedes Mone, and Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay removing the Young Bucks from their kayfabe positions of authority. And yes, we will deal somewhat with the fallout from the unfortunate Adam Cole situation, though it's safe to say we all hate it for him and wish him the best.

We typically warn you that we're not covering everything that happened in a given show in this column, but frankly we would hope that you don't need to be told that when the main card alone is six hours long. As always, feel free to check out our All In results page if you're needing something more comprehensive and/or less opinionated. If the WINC staff's opinions are what you're here for, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about AEW All In 2025!

I hate to be the one to continuously bring up the fact that AEW pay-per-views are absolutely way too long, but I think this afternoon-into-tonight's event really took the cake for long AEW events, at least since I've started watching consistently since Double or Nothing last year. I wont go into much about what matches could have been shorter, because, in all honestly, all of them could have been a lot shorter – outside of the women's matches, as we all know AEW doesn't often give women time on their shows. Call me bias because I'm a woman, but the women's gauntlet match was perfectly timed and the AEW Women's Championship match might not have felt so long if all of the other matches around it hadn't gone long as well. We also knew what matches were going to go long anyway, including Kenny Omega versus Kazuchika Okada, and it was always likely the main event was going to be an overbooked, wildly chaotic, bloody slugfest.

When the show started to creep toward 5pm EST, I had a strange feeling that AEW President Tony Khan was going to attempt to counter-program the counter-programming of WWE's Saturday Night's Main Event. I said it in our WINC work chat that I had the feeling we were looking at Texas Death starting right around 8pm when WWE's NBC special went on the air. I never like to be the one to say, "I told you so," because after already attempting to pay attention to two shows at once today, I really hoped I would have been wrong. That sadly wasn't the case, and I was looking forward to "Hangman" Adam Page's attempts to dethrone AEW World Champion Jon Moxley more than anything on the All In card. While I thankfully got to see Page win, holy crap, it felt as though I'd lived a second life by that time. It was almost jarring to see the Death Riders again so long after seeing them first thing in the afternoon.

I'm sure the show felt different for those in attendance, as the energy never felt like it left the crowd or even dropped in the slightest from start to finish from what we were seeing on television. I'm certainly glad for those folks in attendance, they sure as hell got their money's worth, as did those of us concerned about paying $50 for a pay-per-view. Including Zero Hour, tonight's show went eight hours, with the main card just minutes away from six. That's approaching WrestleMania 33 territory, if I may be so bold, and something I didn't think I'd experience again in wrestling after 'Mania split into two nights.

While I enjoyed All In overall, the pacing of the show was an issue, and that's consistent event after event with AEW. If WWE is going to continue its counter programming, AEW just needs to learn to ignore it, or I feel like they're going to turn off a lot of fans watching from home.

Written by Daisy Ruth

To be clear, this is not going to be about Adam Cole's situation. He seems like one of the nicest guys in the world and the fact that he has the worst luck of all time really does suck. Get well soon Chuggs, we're rooting for you.

This will be about the match to determine the new AEW TNT Champion. Kyle Fletcher was supposed to wrestle Cole at AEW All In Texas, so it seemed like a forgone conclusion that he would walk away with the win. This felt even more certain when his opponents were Daniel Garcia, a man who Fletcher has already beaten very recently. Dustin Rhodes, a legend of the business who quite literally wrestled on both the ROH Supercard of Honor show and the AEW All In Texas Zero Hour, and Sammy Guevara, who did the same thing as Dustin but with less face paint. However, it was "The Natural" who walked away with the title instead of "The Protostar," so what happened? 

For me, the biggest gripe I have with this match is Garcia, Guevara, and Rhodes all looked on the same level as Fletcher. His three opponents were made up of someone he's beaten already, and two guys who have wrestled two matches each in the span of 24 hours, they shouldn't be anywhere near Fletcher on a physical level here. They should all be trying to catch up to him, but instead, it was made into another fairly even contest which it simply didn't need to be. Had this match been between Fletcher and Cole, it really should have been a squash that a site like Cagematch can't track because it goes less than five minutes. But instead, it went on for nearly 15 minutes, and even then it didn't end with the guy the company has been grooming to be one of their next top stars winning the belt.

Instead, it went to 56-year old Dustin Rhodes. Don't get me wrong, I'm probably more of a fan of Dustin than some people are based simply on the fact that he brings an old school flare to his work that is rare these days. Seeing him get choked up after winning his first singles title in 26 years was great, and him celebrating with his nephews was even better, but this was not the place to do it. You could argue that it was purely because it was in Texas which I would understand, but not in a match is literally designed to strap the rocket to a young hot prospect.

A match between Rhodes and Fletcher will most likely be fun given their exchanges in this one, and maybe this can free Kyle up to move further up the card and into something more substantial heading towards the back end of the year. With that said, AEW didn't see that the obvious answer was also the correct one, and Fletcher should be the AEW TNT Champion right now, but sadly, he isn't.

Written by Sam Palmer

The stipulation for the match that saw The Young Bucks taking on Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay at AEW All In Texas always seemed like one that wasn't really going to work in the long run, no matter who walked away victorious. Matthew and Nicholas Jackson putting up their titles as Executive Vice Presidents, while Swerve and Ospreay put up their right to challenge for the AEW World Championship for one year, while also saying that they'd give the EVP titles to the fans if they won, which they did, which means you, YES YOU THE READER, you are now an Executive Vice President for All Elite Wrestling! What a moment this must be for you and all of us. In all seriousness, The Young Bucks losing this match feels like the greater of two evils getting the win here.

The reason for this is that, by having The Young Bucks win, you would effectively take out two of the company's biggest main event stars from the title picture. On paper, that sounds like an awful idea, and to Tony Khan that's probably what he thought too as he went with Swerve and Ospreay, but if you take those two guys out of that group of guys, what the company is forced to do is build new stars to fill that void. Take a look at the field for the Casino Gauntlet match and how many of the guys involved are people you look at and go "imagine what AEW could do with them if they were given a bigger role."

The likes of Konosuke Takeshita, Bandido, Brody King, Mark Briscoe, Josh Alexander, Roderick Strong, all of those guys could have benefited from Ospreay and Swerve not getting the chance to hog the spotlight for a full year. Up and down the card, Kyle Fletcher, Daniel Garcia, even Kenny Omega can fit into that category now that he's no longer a champion. The main event scene could have had a new injection of star power with Ospreay and Swerve out of the way, and considering the AEW World Champion is now Hangman Page, a babyface, it's not like those two challenging for the title right now makes any logical sense in the grand scheme of things.

As for Matt and Nick, which we can now call since they aren't EVPs, it sadly seems like we are nearing the end of The Young Bucks as a tag team, which is a loss not a lot people are ready for whether they know it or not. I'm sure it will all be made up for when vignettes and pre-tapes air of them begging for changes on the street to try and buy a new limo, all while Swerve and Ospreay are inviting fans to run AEW for the day down in Jacksonville, but I seriously doubt that will end up happening. Was the match great? Of course it was. But were the possibilities of where to go next even more interesting? Absolutely.

Written by Sam Palmer

It actually happened. Mercedes Mone will have to wait a little longer before she can call herself the AEW Women's World Champion as Toni Storm becomes the first woman in the promotion to defeat "The CEO" in singles action. 

Coming into the match, many expected for Mone to win the last championship that she needed for her collection, but unfortunately it would've meant that Storm would lose the title before reaching the 150-day mark in her reign. Additionally, where some fans have expressed their appreciation for Mone's impressive run, others already felt tired of her dominance heading into her battle with Storm. Therefore, AEW playing it safe by having Storm emerge victorious not only added an element of surprise, but also avoided fans reacting more negatively to the result. The decision also allows AEW to have flexibility from a creative perspective, as they could have Storm be Mone's ultimate kryptonite going forward, or eventually have the "The CEO" win the title in a rematch down the line.

Storm retaining also gives Mone the opportunity to hopefully drop some of her gold, without having the responsibility of being AEW's top women's champion. If the plan is for Mone to eventually defeat Storm or win the AEW Women's World Championship, I rather her prioritize the company's most prestigious belt in the division without trying to balance the weight of defending her other titles. For now, both women may go their separate ways, but hopefully AEW will eventually revisit their feud and crown Mone after a series of matches with Storm, especially since their first bout exceeded expectations.

Written By Julien D'Alessandro

This was always going to be the easiest "Loved" column to write for me, no matter who won. Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega met for the long-awaited fifth chapter in the saga that started it all, the real precursor to AEW. Without this series, Omega may not have reached the heights he reached alongside The Elite, and there could have been no AEW – love it or loathe it, AEW's existence is a fundamental positive for the industry. This was the first time in their singles saga that they wrestled outside of Japan, and it more than delivered, considering neither are the performers they once were. 

I am not gonna sit here and pretend that this was the best of the bunch, and it may not even crack the top three, but that is more of a testament to the sheer level of performers they were, are, and will always be known as; they managed to wrestle a match which stood head and shoulders above most others, even if it wasn't their best work. The story was crucial as well, told before the bout that this was Okada's ascension as opposed to Omega's, reinforced and layered within the action of the bout. For the first time in their rivalry, Omega was the A-side, and Okada was entering a bout he would do everything to win. He had been embarrassed by losing to Omega in Japan, and he wanted to replicate that feeling for his arch-nemesis at All In. Even still, in typical fashion it took a lot to take down Omega and truly keep him down. 

The Rainmaker was used liberally, but mixed with a combination of stiff offense directed at Omega's midsection, its usage fed into the gradual undoing of "The Cleaner." Omega had the match won, hitting the One Winged Angel for what would have been a three-count, had it not been for Don Callis pulling the referee out of the ring. Less was more, and the match wasn't exactly marred with interference; Rocky Romero ran down to the ring but was met by Kota Ibushi, who was cornering Omega for the bout, and this was pretty much the extent of Callis' interference. Omega had been cost, and from there he was chasing something he was never going to catch. The killshot had been landed and he simply didn't have it in him to go for it again. Ultimately, he fell to the Rainmaker both as a move and as an opponent, ending his International Championship reign in shame as the Continental Champion ascended to Unified status. The fifth chapter concluded and its glory belonged to Okada, time will tell whether the tale continues or not.

Written by Max Everett

Before I go on about the main event, a BIG shoutout to Athena for winning the women's Casino Gauntlet match, she gets my honorary fourth loved of the night (it was a near 8 hour show including Zero Hour, I'm allowed). Now, the Texas Death Match, good grief what a match.

A lot was riding on this match sticking the landing after the run of good form AEW had been on leading up to this show. Closing out pay-per-views with downer endings was something AEW looked to have mastered with All Out being harrowing, and WrestleDream being downright gruesome, but a lack of follow-up on the Death Riders storyline, combined with uninspired opponents and lack of knowing what the audience truly wanted caused Full Gear and Worlds End to fall flat, Revolution to be tarnished, and Dynasty to be downright hated by some corners of the wrestling fandom. However, Double or Nothing was a home run, and how fitting was it that they hit arguably the biggest home run in company history in a baseball stadium filled with more than 25,000 people?

Because so much was riding on this, the match is probably worth a second viewing just to see if it holds up, because it truly felt like a final showdown between an unstoppable force and immovable object. No matter how much blood he spilled, or how many grizzly instruments of torture he landed on, Jon Moxley bullied his way through this match in spectacular fashion. A true no-nonsense heel who dished out punishment as if every strike and slam was personal. He commanded attention and demanded Hangman Page to bow down to him for how vicious he has become. With that said, nothing was stopping Hangman on this night. Every move he executed caused a ripple effect through the stadium that made people believe, and once it set in that it was actually possible, it seemed like Moxley, a man who has dominated AEW for the better part of nine months, had finally been outmanoeuvred.

Some feared that it would turn into a Cody Rhodes/Roman Reigns-style encounter from WrestleMania 40, filled with run-ins and booking that wouldn't look out of place in an Avengers movie, and to an extent that did happen. The Death Riders were confronted by Will Ospreay, Bryan Danielson, Darby Allin, and most importantly Swerve Strickland, who knew that Page didn't want his help, but understood that he needed it. The run-ins weren't too over the top (even though Darby literally got lowered from the ceiling), and if anything, added to the experience.

This match won't be for everyone. It's violent, bloody, borderline disgusting at times. After all, Moxley's head ended up looking like a colander after Hangman was done with that fork. But it's what AEW has prided itself on, being the alternative that isn't afraid to make you watch a match through your hands, only to throw them in the air when you have someone like Hangman Page as the AEW World Champion.

Written by Sam Palmer