The biggest AEW show of the year is in the books and per usual, jaws of wrestling fans all over the world are being scrapped up off the floor.
Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay for the AEW World Championship in the main event was a five-star classic. It more than delivered on the insane expectations the match had going in. Incredible action, but even better storytelling that made the audience feel something.
When the main event of a show is as much of a success as this one was, the issues around other portions of the card matter a lot less. There were some issues with the show, but those are for another time.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. One brass ring = bad. Five brass rings = epic, all-time greatness, and perfect.
AEW Roulette Royale - AEW World Trios Championships
This wasn’t a pristine in-ring classic or anything like that, but it was an exciting opener than kept the crowd hot from the Buy-In and into the main card. All of this was built around the debut of The New Level — formerly known as New Day in WWE. Once they appeared alongside Swerve Strickland, they were the focus and why would you go anywhere else? Kofi and Austin Creed hit their spots and came across like an upgraded version of New Day. Hence, the New Level, so the name plays. AEW hit a home run on the production of their debut entrance — not something that would’ve happened two years ago. The question now? Is Strickland with The New Level moving forward, or was this a one time thing?
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/4
Divine Dominion vs. The Brawling Birds - AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championships
Hard-hitting as advertised. This match was always going to need time in order to really land as a major match on the show and something to remember it by. It was a good match, but never got to that level. The time was there, but the action stalled out in third gear. Why are we doing double pins still? Get off my lawn, I know, but c’mon. That’s not legal and The Birds won the titles that way?
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Jon Moxley vs. Nigel McGuinness - AEW Continental Classic Cup Finals
Much better than anticipated. McGuinness hasn’t looked great throughout this tournament, but he and Moxley used that to their advantage. Moxley worked the injured McGuinness ankle for nearly the entire match and then it was that injury that forced the submission at the end. Keeping that as the focus, alleviated the need for McGuinness to have to do a lot on the bad foot. The audience played right into their hands. The hometown nature of the crowd for McGuinness gave a little extra juice to the near falls, but it was the relentlessness of Moxley and Nigel’s selling that put the entire story over.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO
Kyle Fletcher vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. Konosuke Takeshita - AEW International Championship
Incredible action as expected. The pace was wild and everyone had a moment or two with something really unique. They missed on the story. Going in, the narrative was about Fletcher and Okada working together in order to keep the title in the Don Callis Family. From the jump, they didn’t work together. Because they eliminated that tension right out of the gate, nothing else that was supposed to be dramatic between those guys throughout the match landed. Same thing with the finish. Had Okada and Fletcher kept it together only for Okada to sneak a pin on him, that would’ve articulated a better shock moment for the story. Instead, they did the spot after the audience was already conditioned to accept them fighting. Not a ton of consistency there, but it seems like we’re headed for a Kyle Fletcher babyface run. That doesn’t make much sense either, given you likely are crowning a new top babyface in the main event with Will Ospreay.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 3/4
Casino Gauntlet AEW World Championship Number One Contender Match
The first real come-down match of the show. A shame that it included such a big star like MJF, who came across a bit as a fish outta water. In a good way, because he presented as a much more important talent than everyone else. The action was fine, but less exciting than similar stuff that was featured in the opening battle royal. Andrade securing the victory and earning a world title match is a surprise. MJF against Kenny Omega or Will Ospreay is a layup main event, so going the other direction means there is something else at play here. Look for Andrade and MJF to have a singles match for the number one contendership on an upcoming episode of AEW Dynamite.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 1/2
Adam Copeland and Christian Cage vs. The Young Bucks - AEW Men’s World Tag Team Championships
A really good match. A really awful finish. Cage cheated straight up to win. Not only that, he used a wrench to cheat and then nobody sold it. Not the announce team, not Adam Copeland, not The Young Bucks. That finish was immediately buried in favor of a post-match angle that saw all the top AEW tag teams get in the ring and confront one another. Big deal. What was billed as a dream match ended with a whimper and without solving anything. The tag team division is loaded with talent, but the titles are weakened severely when finishes like this one are deployed and then not followed up on in any meaningful way.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/4
Kevin Knight vs. Darby Allin - Falls Count Anywhere TNT Championship
Slow to start, but scorching to finish. The audience came across as very tired at the beginning of this match and didn’t react to the early big bumps and violence — including Allin bleeding from the back of the head. They came alive when all the interference happened. The Don Callis Family running out was booed, but Steve Borden and Sting making the save popped them. Borden had a very nice showing and looked comfortable. Obviously, we are going to see more of him. Then, Darby went full Darby. He jumped off the damn staging set and onto Kevin Knight with a Coffin Drop. Pure insanity. The spot looked great. It was shot well and production captured the height successfully. Kinda feels like a been there done that with Allin as the TNT Champion, but if this was the match they were going to do, he had to win it.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO
Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Mone - AEW Women’s World Championship
Fantastic and exactly what I’d hoped it be. Vicious Mercedes Mone — only that viciousness was compounded because she was bleeding from the damn nose. Mone targeted Nightingale’s broken hand on more than one occasion and used weapons on it. That narrative was there for the taking and they ran with it. Nightingale and Mone beat one another to a pulp and the match felt like a title fight because of it. Mone as world champion opens up numerous opportunities moving forward in the women’s division. If Nightingale is taking time away to heal, hopefully she gets back soon because she’s become a top player.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay - AEW Men’s World Championship
Incredible. You won’t find a better pro wrestling match than that one. Setup, story, and execution were all perfect. That perfection cultivated a crowd reaction worthy of the moment that was Ospreay winning the world title in his home country.
The entrances were the tone-setter. Ospreay got his narrated by his mother and he walked past old haunts of his past as he got ready to walk to the ring. As for Omega, it was an entrance fitting of a world champion.
The start of the match was the key to it’s success. They hit early with a flurry of quick-paced action, but then slowed it down once Omega took over the offense. He was relentless in that effort. Omega’s slow and stalking approach forced the audience to feel with Ospreay and pulled in a loud negative response for Omega. At that time with every step Omega took, he ushered in intense anticipation for the eventual Ospreay comeback.
Ospreay was a damn menace. The way he was able to sell all of Omega’s striking and V-Trigger’s with his eyes glazed over was pivotal in building up the audience’s sympathy for him. When it came time to fire up, everyone was ready — including him.
In the end, Ospreay took the shot head on and crushed Omega with a Hidden Blade for the win. Poetic storytelling. All around, just wonderful work start to finish and a match that will help define the company’s future. Ospreay is the guy and there is plenty on deck for him to do now that he holds the top prize.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOOO
What was your favorite match on All In this year? Let us know in the comments!
Subscribe to the Brass Ring Media Newsletter HERE.
Follow Zack Heydorn on Bluesky @zackheydorn.bsky.social.