AEW All Out 2025: Draws And Duds

Thanks to the magic of rebranding, welcome to what is technically the first edition of Wrestling Inc.'s new feature, Draws and Duds! We did a version of this recently for WWE Clash in Paris, but it's a new name and a new month, and it's time to cross the battle lines over to the AEW side of the industry, where Tony Khan's latest PPV offering comes to us this Saturday from Toronto in the form of All Out 2025!

AEW cards are always way bigger than WWE cards, and Khan has seemed pretty aware of the looming threat of Wrestlepalooza running later the same day. Between the five titles on the line, Eddie Kingston's return, Cope and Christian vs. FTR, and whatever a "Tables n' Thumbtacks" match is, the WINC staff had a number of options to choose from when deciding which match they were most excited about — and which match isn't really doing it for them. It's time to find out the biggest draw and the biggest dud in terms of our personal hype levels as we head toward Toronto!

Mercedes Moné has had 20 title defenses of her TBS title and will have held the title over 480 days by All Out (she's set to surpass Jade Cargill's reign next month, if she's still champion). She's beaten some of the biggest names in AEW, save only for "Timeless" Toni Storm, the current AEW Women's World Champion. One woman she's never beaten, however, is a woman she's never faced one-on-one: the first AEW Women's World Champion, Riho.

Eighteen months ago, Moné introduced herself to Riho on her first night in the company, shaking her hand and wishing her luck. That was their last interaction until Riho returned two weeks ago to save Alex Windsor from getting a beatdown from the champion; a match was announced immediately for All Out. The two faced each other for the first time last week in a tag match when Riho teamed up with Windsor, while Moné chose Riho's teacher, Emi Sakura. Some have questioned why Riho is getting an automatic title shot, but let's not forget what the first champ has done for a women's division she ushered through its early growing pains. If not for injury, she'd very likely still be a featured player in the division, especially because history has shown that anytime Riho is on TV, ratings go up. Why wouldn't you put her on a card that's being counterbooked by WWE?

Should Moné defeat Riho, she will have defeated every former women's champion she's faced, but Riho should be seen as a legitimate threat to Moné, especially if she's back full-time. Should she win, she'd be the first woman to have held both the Women's and TBS Championships. This first-time-ever dream match is AEW history either way — how much more excitement can you ask for?

Written by Samantha Schipman

It feels like it should be some kind of illegal to call a "Timeless" Toni Storm match a "dud," but here we are. Storm has run through every one of her challengers, from TBS Champion Mercedes Mone, to Megan Bayne, to ROH Women's Champion Athena. Not a single woman has been able to dethrone her, despite many fans, myself included, thinking it would be either Moné or Athena. Now, she's facing three women at All Out, and I can't say I'm excited for the match. While the in-ring action will more than likely be good, it seems like the outcome is going to be extremely predictable and it honestly just feels extremely thrown together.

Storm is going up against Thekla (who is getting her first shot at the gold), Jamie Hayter, and Kris Statlander, and I think this match is a dud because I don't believe any of these women can stop Storm. Statlander is the most convincing out of the three due to her ongoing "will she or won't she join" storyline with the Death Riders. While I think I can speak for quite a few of us here at WINC that we believe Statlander is amazing, her winning the title off Death Riders interference, almost right after the Death Riders main storyline takeover with Jon Moxley and the AEW World Championship, would just not work. And, if Marina Shafir or Wheeler Yuta cost her the title, that's also going to suck, as that storyline just doesn't need to continue.

Thekla may have Julia Hart and Skye Blue in her corner, but she just hasn't been built up to seem like a formidable challenger to Storm. I feel the same way about Hayter. While she's a former women's champion herself, she's just been out a little too long for me to think she has any shot at defeating Storm in a fatal four-way.

I don't want to seem like I'm blaming AEW by any means, but they could have anticipated WWE's counter-programming a bit better. They made the right move by changing the pay-per-view time, but I think Tony Khan could have spiced up this match, and others, a little more. Storm just basically said she wanted to face all of these women on an episode of "AEW Collision" a few weeks back for no real reason other than they were all brawling in the ring together, with Hayter running out to help.

It's so unclear who defeats Storm right now and I hate that I'm losing interest in her story and the championship as a whole. This dud of a match isn't doing anything to help that. I hope I'm proven wrong by the in-ring action, but with fatal four-way rules, there's bound to be plenty of interference from the Death Riders and the Triangle of Madness, and it has the potential to be sloppy. I hate doubting women's matches, especially in AEW, but this isn't one I'm looking forward to at All Out.

Written by Daisy Ruth