Big weekend for eclectic sports fans, yo. Iga Swiatek won her first career Wimbledon. Golberg retired. Lol. But AEW All In Texas was easily the biggest event of them all.
Let’s just get right into the meat of this shit.
Here’s my All In: Texas review
AEW World Trios Championships — The Opps (Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs & Katsuyori Shibata) (c) def. Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) and Gabe Kidd via pinfall
Admittedly, I missed most of this match trying to figure out how to work my illegal live stream.
But I caught the tail end—including a brief but exciting one-on-one between Samoa Joe and Gabe Kidd—before Joe hit the muscle buster on Wheeler Yuta (duh) to retain the titles.
The Death Riders then cracked Joe’s neck to eliminate him from interfering in the main event later.
Loved the somber, soft speaking from the commentary team as Samoa Joe gets stretchered out right before they read a DraftKings ad.
I love wrestling.
This is the dumbest shit ever.
There’s nothing better, man.
Personally, I hope they extend this injury storyline—allowing the trios championships to quietly disappear.
I understand Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks believing American audiences hadn’t seen how great 6-man tag matches can be—like they are in Japan—but the titles were ultimately just a vanity project—almost immediately devalued by a Best-of-7 series against the Death Triangle—a series that were bathroom breaks after match 1.
Let’s get Powerhouse Hobbs back as a singles performer and Ring of Honor can be the home of trios champions, if it’s so important to them.
Okay, going forward, I had the stream working and actually watched the matches.
Let’s get it.
MJF wins Men’s Casino Gauntlet
Let’s quickly run through the order of every participant’s entry into the match:
- Mark Briscoe
- MJF
- Richocet
- Bandido
- Konosuke Takeshita
- Mistico
- Josh Alexander
- Anthony Bowens
- Roderick Strong
- Brody King
- Juice Robinson
- Kota Ibushi
- Beast Mortos
- Max Caster
This match had several purposes to serve.
The gaunlet needed to get pops for a ton of guys who worked their ass off all year—earning the right to compete in the biggest show on the calendar.
It had to show a little love to their CMLL partnership with a Mistico appearance.
And it had to convince you that someone other than MJF could win this match.
The latter never occurred.
This was a crowning of MJF for months. And in a match where guys took turns taking one kick to the face and then falling out of the ring—over and over and over—no tension was built before that crowning.
MJF hardly participated.
I would’ve loved to see Takeshita hit MJF with one of those bridging German suplexes—to at least provide the false hope of a surprise victor.
Nothing.
Sure, the match dragged on and too many wrestlers came out to do nothing, I’ll always appreciate these gauntlets and their ability to allow guys like Roddy Strong to come in and stand amongst the best wrestlers in the world, where they belong.
Roderick Strong is one of the best in-ring performers ever and he’ll never get that recognition until he’s gone.
These showcases do so much in reminding the world what he’s capable of.
Again, still, the match was way too long—but some cool shit happened.
Josh Alexander and Takeshita had an unbelievable 2-man game.
They were Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray out there.
At one point, they took turns ubering Anthony Bowens to suplex city.
There was this backbreaker/powerbomb combo move on Roddy. Alexander and Takeshita were a dynamic wrecking crew, in a match that desperately needed dynamism.
- Juice Robinson returned, looking like an AI composite image of every WCW jobber’s face combined.
Juice Robinson is back!
Watch #AEWAllInTexas LIVE on PPV right now!https://t.co/JlBXZPLNGj pic.twitter.com/DJNwd9NnKj
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) July 12, 2025
It looks like Ricochet and the Gates of Agony will start a feud with the returning Juice Robinson with the Gunns.
Just when you think you can escape the trios division, AEW drags you back in.
I have to quickly give credit to Max Caster for fully embracing a storyline in which he gets his ass beat and embarrassed on a weekly basis.
Miro would’ve brought a gun to work if Tony Khan ever pitched him that shit.
Congrats to MJF and maybe in the next men’s gauntlet match, guys will actually wrestle each other.
Who knows?
The bar has been lowered.
Vacant TNT Championship — Dustin Rhodes def. Daniel Garcia, Kyle Fletcher and Sammy Guevara via pinfall
Tough to start a match after a beloved wrestler cries, announcing a potential career-ending injury before vacating the championship and hugging his friends in the center of the ring.
I can say I’m not the biggest fan of Adam Cole while acknowledging his impact on fans—specifically kids.
I didn’t experience that NXT era like the rest of y’all.
I was outside.
Super outside.
But I imagine doctors informed Cole it was a bad idea to continue getting concussions every day and he should retire before the CTE kicks in and he murders his family or whatever.
An emotional Adam Cole say’s he’s dealing with health issues and as a result will be gone for a while.#AEWAllInTexas
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) July 12, 2025
On one hand, it sucks to see someone who appears to be a good guy, lose his life’s work. But on the other hand, I’m excited to see who will step up as the new main character of Collision.
(I fear the answer to that question was answered at the end of the Tag Team Championship match.)
Daniel Garcia was the star of this match—telling the story of feeling rejuvenated by this second chance to win the chip after failing to win the no. 1 contender’s match against Kyle Fletcher on Collision.
If Garcia was around when my old ass was coming up, he and Brian Kendrick would be having 5-star matches on Velocity every week.
Hilarious spot where DG and Fletcher had Sammy and Dustin in figure-four leg locks at the same time, while slapboxing each other.
I think I caught one of them smirking when it started. It’s cool to see your faves have fun.
I love Kyle Fletcher and I hope he wins the TNT Championship in like, an 8-second squash match—but after an emotionally gutting moment, it made sense to give the belt to Dustin Rhodes—in his home state—in what will inevitably be the final singles title of his career.
When a guy is forced to retire unexpectedly, I imagine it makes someone like Tony Khan want to give Dustin Rhodes his flowers before his time is up, too.
Full post-match celebrations for Dustin Rhodes’ emotional TNT Championship winpic.twitter.com/Ri64mGoNms
— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) July 12, 2025
It’s insane that Dusty Rhodes’s children are still competing for titles.
It’s even more insane that fucking GOLDUST has THREE CHAMPIONSHIPS RIGHT NOW.
Vince McMahon would literally make you kiss his bare ass on national television if you came to him with this idea in 2002.
But I reckon, Vince would make you kiss his bare ass on national television for his own personal pleasure.
Is he in prison yet?
Do you think Cody asked Triple H if he could do a belt collector story yet? And how quickly did Triple H mockingly laugh before escorting him out of the room?
Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay def. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) via pinfall
Anddd this is when the night turns a corner.
No more of that cute shit.
We’re done with heartfelt goodbyes and obligatory appearances.
It’s time to hoop.
You wouldn’t know that from Jojo Offerman singing Chaka Khan karaoke before Swerve’s entrance or the Founding Fathers crossing the Delaware in an extruciately long entrance after a pretty slow start to the PPV—but I promise, once all the silly fanfare and pageantry is over, these 4 men sprint to the finish line for the next 25 minutes.
If you spend too much time on the internet, you will absorb its inherent negativity—convincing yourself the Young Bucks suck, when in reality, they’re probably the best tag team ever.
Touching 40 years old, these two men still glide—almost teleport from spot to spot—effortlessly launching their bodies and smoothly landing on their feet.
The Bucks are at their best when they decide to pick up the pace.
But this time, Swerve and Ospreay can match them.
This is one of the greatest sequences I’ve EVER seen🤯 #AEWAllInTexas pic.twitter.com/bBPwtbxQi5
— #WeWantCody (@WeWantCody_) July 12, 2025
This sequence is why I’m here instead of watching Goldberg limp through a retirement match that should’ve occurred during the Obama administration.
At one point, Swerve and Ospreay jumped off the same top turnbuckles, one hitting a moonsault in the ring and other hitting one outside. Their tag team chemistry was unexpected, to be honest. The Bucks seem like they read each other’s minds but Will and Swerve were right there, move-for-move, with two of the quickest wrestlers ever.
The ending of this match must be studied for future generations. THIS is how you do near-falls. It’s not John Cena hitting 5 fucking Attitude Adjustments and CM Punk kicking out every time because they have to wait for the Seth Rollins interference angle. Those near-falls felt like true, authentic struggles, including a save where one of the Young Bucks were being held back and literally threw himself on top of the pin to save his brother.
WILL OSPREAY AND SWERVE STRICKLAND WIN IN AN INSTANT CLASSIC WITH A HOUSE CALL AND HIDDEN NLADE COMBO!!!!!!!
THE YOUNG BUCKS HAVE BEEN STRIPPED OF THEIR EVP TITLES! #AEW #AEWAllInTexas
— 🅰️🅾️ (@KXNGAO) July 12, 2025
Going into the match, the stipulation seemed almost silly.
Of course the Young Bucks will remain as EVPs and Ospreay and Swerve will have to spend a year away from the world title.
But all 4 men made you feel like this was the most important stipulation ever created. There was a desperation and exhaustion to the ending that made the Ospreay and Swerve win feel like they defeated Darth Vader and The Empire.
Women’s Casino Gauntlet
- Kris Statlander
- Megan Bayne
- Willow Nightingale
- Tay Melo
- Thekla
- Julia Hart
- Queen Aminata
- Mina Shirakawa
- Athena
- Thuder Rosa
- Syuri
- Alex Windsor
As expected, the women’s gauntlet was better than the men’s.
While the fellas seemed out there to receive praise and paychecks but not actually work—quickly falling out of the ring any time anyone laid a single punch on them—the women restored my faith in the match type.
People have always sort of ducked out of the ring—waiting for their turn to show and prove—but more importantly, they were ducking out to allow for these random 1-on-1 face offs like Thekla vs. Megan Bayne or Alex Windsor and Syuri deciding to just have a rock fight towards the end of this contest.
Syuri vs. Mina reminded me of when Will Ospreay and Jay White first appeared in the ring together in a gauntlet match, gave the fans a moment and then beat the dog shit out of each other.
Love me some Syuri graps pic.twitter.com/mk40Ws0ojS
— Isaiah 👑 (@HoodieIsaiah) July 12, 2025
Like Josh Alexander and Takeshita being the bullies in the men’s match, Kris Statlander and Megan Bayne double chokeslammed Willow Nightingale like the Brothers of Destruction.
Oh, there was a sick headscissors takedown spot where each woman ran into the ring and did that same move to the next woman over and over, ending with Megan Bayne’s big ass leaping in the air and hitting a fucking hurricanrana.
I loved the sequence where all the women got in the ring together and just brawled. AEW matches are at their best when all the performers have a true sense of urgency, like, they need to win. (Not lying on the outside waiting for their turn to do a clothesline and then lie outside again).
I’ve never been a big Tay Melo guy but I’m realizing she has a pretty sick moveset. Like, I want her and Thunder Rosa to trade ring psychologies so badly.
Athena was the next home state winner—announcing after the event that she will finally compete on AEW television weekly.
I have no idea how they intend on telling a world title story, TBS title story, continue to push Megan Bayne and Thekla, while introducing Alex Windsor and Athena and keeping the day-oners like Anna Jay and Skye Blue on TV every week.
Stokely Carmichael MUST have his 8 minutes to call Tony Schivaone names.
AEW World Tag Team Championships — The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) (c) def. JetSpeed (“Speedball” Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight) vs. The Patriarchy (Christian Cage & Nick Wayne) via pinfall
This match could’ve been a clusterfuck so easily.
The Hurt Syndicate comes out with MVP, MJF, Westside Gunn and Smoke DZA.
MVP rapped a verse.
Crazy to give MVP the DMX spot on a track but I get the feeling Smoke DZA didn’t have to run back to the booth and re-record his verse in fear of being treated like Jay-Z on Renegade.
The full Patriarchy came out together—Mother Wayne and Kip Sabien amongst them.
And yea, JetSpeed of course.
Oh, and FTR and Stokely Carmichael were on commentary.
There were 7 characters actively working outside of the ring while 6 wrestlers were competing inside of it.
I am shocked this match wasn’t a total pile of overbooked dogshit.
But then you remember the talent involved.
FTR are legends who used their commentary to manage the chaos with levity.
Kip Sabien served as a base to help catch guys doing outside dives.
He was like the lifeguard of the match.
MJF is the best at what he does—yucking it up with fans, clapping and slapping the mat when it was time to get the crowd involved.
MVP was sort of the Paul Heyman/Don Callis—instructing the Hurt Syndicate from ringside.
Mother Wayne has this appeal to sort of draw your eyes to her while nothing was happening and guys were getting into position for their next spots.
The Hurt Syndicate hurt people.
Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight displayed all the tools to be future world champions anywhere in the world they want.
Nick Wayne is so fucking good—especially in contrast to watching Sammy Guevara earlier in the night—who was the previous snot-nose, cocky punk kid doing flips and overselling big moves.
Knock down the AEW “pillars” and replace Sammy with Nick Wayne.
I should probably say something about Edge returning to save Christian.
I will not be doing that.
AEW Women’s World Championship — “Timeless” Toni Storm (c) def. Mercedes Mone via pinfall
This match was for the Undertakers and old school grumpy assholes who miss the days of a good ol’ 5-minute rest hold.
Normally, I think this type of in-ring storytelling is antiquated and adds nothing to the match—existing exclusively to feed the talent’s egos—making them feel good about themselves because they had the longest match time despite nothing really happening but sleeper holds and abdominal stretches.
But Toni Storm is incapable of having boring matches.
I KNOW DAMN WELL??? 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/MHsjYoK67e
— sᴏᴜʟ ❦ (@ERAOFMONE) July 12, 2025
Shit, even the existence of Luther provides a free idea for Toni matches.
Whether he puts Toni on his shoulders for a big clothesline off the apron or a woman powerbombs him through a table—so many Toni Storm matches have a built-in, fun moment ready to go at any time.
It sucks that the camera crew cannot help themselves from zooming in while Mercedes talks to Toni—but I geuninely love that she has this Eddie Guerrero mentality of calling it all in the ring, on the fly.
Sure, I’d prefer she bury her mouth in someone’s hair so cameras can’t catch it but it’s clear in all her matches, she and her opponent are choreographing in real time.
Despite Mercedes winning all of her matches, that inherent spontaneity in the ring provides a level of unpredictability.
Every wrestler has their string of signature moves and certain locations where they want to set their opponents up for the big finale but Mercedes never predictably places women in, obvious to the fans, spots.
You do not know if she’s ever going to get the win off that armbar—or the crossface—or the double knee—or the backstabber—or the Mone Maker.
If she can’t get you to tap in one move, she’s aggressively onto the next submission hold.
If any of the double knees don’t get the 3-count, she’s flipping you on your face for the submission.
Which perfectly melds with Toni Storm—who famously ends matches with random, sudden, small package roll-ups.
I loved everything Toni Storm and Mariah May did together but I loved, more so, seeing her win a straight-up wreslting match where you’re gonna have to reversal a reversal a reversal.
Basically, everyone you predicted would win at All In, won—except Goldust.
I did not predict Goldust would be TNT champion.
My bad.
But I was shocked that Toni Storm got that 3 count.
#AndStill AEW Women’s World Champion, TIMELESS TONI STORM 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥#AEWAllIn | #ALLIN | #AEWAllInTexas https://t.co/yqbiZywOXb pic.twitter.com/uQ1GETrEfF
— AEWBlog (@AEW_Blog) July 12, 2025
And she absolutely deserves it.
This Timeless story isn’t over yet.
She might be the most beloved character on the show.
This, in no way, feels like a hijacking of a world championship like Roman Reigns or Triple H.
Someone has to come prove they can carry the entire women’s locker room on their back and take this from Toni.
I would have been okay with Mercedes winning but I hope she goes back to the drawing board and works on defining—more specifically—what this “CEO” character actually is and what they ultimately want because at a certain point, when you’re ringside eating steaks, ignoring the match in front of you, that dismissiveness becomes less and less interesting—especially while other women are ferociously fighting for your spot.
To “not care” only lasts so long before you need your MJF rare glimpses of sincerity—like in his feuds with Punk and Danielson—to keep me engaged with your character.
Unified Championship — Kazuchika Okada (c) def. Kenny Omega (c) via pinfall
These two men haven’t wrestled one-on-one since 2018.
After three classics—each setting the new standard for what modern professional wrestling is—they reunited to play the hits like that time I saw The Scorpions play “Rock You Like a Hurricane” at Jones Beach and we all pretended like that guy could still sing.
Respectfully, this was neither of these men’s best showing—well, until the heat-up.
Like the Bucks or 35+ year old Justin Verlander, Kenny Omega knows how to throw 100mph in the 9th inning of a match.
I’m out on the constant diverticulitis/mid-section attacks on Omega.
I’m already bored with it.
My stummy hurts too.
You’re not special, Kenny.
I’m curious to see where Okada and this new Unified Championship go.
If Kenny is approaching the finish line, I’d like to see him against more unique opponents.
Don’t ever wrestle Okada again.
Please.
AEW World Championship Texas Death Match: Jon Moxley [c] vs. Hangman Page
This is the best main event in AEW history.
Everyone knew the stakes and rose to the occasion.
Everyone.
This match was shot beautifully—including close-ups of the mat and Moxley’s boots stomping the glass bottles and the zoom in on all the glass in Hangman’s back.
Marina Shaffir—a woman who wouldn’t be here if Moxley didn’t see something special in her—took that trust and maximized the moment, looking like Jon’s equal—providing him with weapons and helping him set up tables.
I just watched Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair nervously fumble through a one-on-one match at Mania and those are two of WWE’s best performers. Marina looks like a veteran who’s been in main events her whole life.
Moxley and Hangman don’t even get into a ring together unless they’re prepared to stab each other with forks and roll in each other’s blood.
I’m sure we will spend the next year praising Hangman Page’s title defenses.
He’s too good not to.
But I want to take this moment to give Jon Moxley every fucking flower he deserves.
He could be in WWE cashing in the easiest Shield reunion checks—wrestling CM Punk and John Cena in slow motion—with fans all across Saudi Arabia singing his theme song when he comes to the ring.
He joined this startup at sort of a low point in his wrestling career—and immediately met Kenny Omega at the top of Mount Olympus—demonstrating an ability to hang in the ring with arguably the greatest ever.
Time and time again, Moxley has come to the rescue—carrying AEW through weird CM Punk shit and a sad, sudden Bryan Danielson retirement.
Over the last month or so, Moxley has become this combination of like, ECW Cactus Jack—in his ability to sell a match by standing in an empty corridor with just a camera in his face and a message to tell.
He also embodies ECW Raven in his sort of sharp, focused seriousness and proclivity for violence. While also modernizing the Stone Cold character from this rebel giving his boss the middle finger to a revolutionary taking the power and flipping off anyone who wants to take it back.
His once, sort of goofy manerisms, like his walking while rolling his shoulders like he’s mimicking what a bad guy should be, has transformed into this late 80s/early 90s Mike Tyson “I’m the baddest motherfucker on the planet and no one can beat me” character—translating into a Texas Death Match totally conducted by Moxley to hurt Hangman.
All of the terms in this match were dedicated by Moxley’s cruelty and wickedness, subjecting Hangman Page to various tortures, as if to make him earn his spot at the top back.
Obviously, I love Bryan Danielson returning and Darby Allin parachuting in. O
f course, the closure of the Swerve/Hangman relationship.
All of the shenanigans worked and added to the finale as opposed to obstructing it.
But to me, this match was Jon Moxley planting his flag as one of the best to ever do it.
This is probably his last real big run as the top guy.
Maybe he’ll get a farewell run like Danielson or Dustin Rhodes right now but Moxley created a solar system around himself and was the star that every character in AEW orbited around for almost a year.
Jon Moxley is a fucking legend and I’m ready to see what this Adam Page title run is about to look like.
Thanks for reading.
Let me know your thoughts on AEW All In Texas. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee.
