All Elite Wrestling was back on pay-per-view just three weeks after All Out with Wrestle Dream, a show that I wrote about last week, citing the lack of a proper build, which was more or less impossible, given the short amount of time they had to promote it on television. I asked if it was worth putting this show on pay-per-view or if it would be counterproductive in the grand scheme of things? After the show went off the air after midnight on the east coast, because it’s not an AEW pay-per-view unless it goes over the four-hour mark, I’m still not sure there’s a solid answer to that question. Generally speaking, Wrestle Dream had the usual mixed bag of what you get from the promotion. There was some quality, some overkill, and some completely unnecessary segments.

Mercedes Mone beat Thekla at the 15-minute mark to retain the AEW Women’s championship. This was a solid bout, it was well-wrestled and well-paced to maximize the time that they were given. It had enough time to get into second gear, but didn’t overstay its welcome, which wasn’t the case for some of the other matches later in the night. I have to be honest, this was another example, similar to some of her other matches earlier this year, where Mercedes finally looks like the quality worker that she claimed to be upon her arrival in the organization a few years ago. For whatever reason, maybe it was past injuries or truly getting her footing in a new promotion, Mercedes was a lot more sizzle than substance for the first few years of her All Elite tenure. Thankfully, she seemed to have turned the corner on that, and this was another quality bout. As much as the women’s division was directionless at several points in All Elite history, something that was a problem with the entire company at times, the division has really found itself in recent months between Willow Nightingale’s contributions, as well as the previously mentioned Thekla and Mone. Even Marina Shafir, who was once a caricature of a pro wrestler, has found herself this year to be a positive addition to the division. Despite Thekla doing the job here, I don’t think she loses any momentum as a character, simply because she always maximizes her minutes so to speak, which is a very valuable skill. As I said, this match didn’t overstay its welcome, it got in the ring, did business, and got out of there while there was still steam behind it. More matches on this card should’ve used that approach.

While I’m guessing that Tony Khan used the cut and paste approach for how to format the line-up, another bout that was also given 15-minutes and got out of there before it was stale was the Chris Jericho vs. Nick Wayne bout. We’ve said many times that Jericho is in a league of his own in many ways, and while The Learning Tree stable was ultimately a miss that set the stage for Jericho’s extended absence as somewhat of a reboot, this current run is definitely more productive. Part of the issue before was that there’s only so much even Jericho could do, and before that hiatus, for the first time in his career, the audience seemed to have a level of “Jericho fatigue” so to speak. That’s not a knock on him either, but rather to point out that there’s only so much new territory that you can cover after more than 35 years in the game. The match itself was structured to favor Jericho’s strengths, which is should’ve been, considering that at 55, he’s not going to trade high spots with someone more than half of his age. Nick Wayne took some brutal bumps in this segment and made Jericho look good in the process. Ultimately, Wayne used heel tactics to win the bout, which made sense since a Jericho victory does nothing for his status, he’s always going to be over as a legendary star, whereas this gives Wayne more to work with as he develops his heel persona down the road. If Tony Khan properly follows up on Wayne’s victory is anyone’s guess.

The AEW Tag Team championship match was the 20-minute dazzling spot fest that we thought it was going to be. The athleticism was incredible, and even though it was basically a thrown together tag bout with Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight as challengers to give The Young Bucks a pair to work with, everyone shined in this segment. The tag rules were ignored, which is irritating, but if there was going to be a fireworks segment on the show with numerous high spots in a row, this delivered. This was a thrilling contest that could represent the positives of this type of style for the All Elite brand. The problem is, this format was duplicated a few other times on the show, and the overkill led to a rather tedious viewing experience later in the night. Sometimes endless moves are better summarized in a two-minute highlight package than 20 or 25 minutes for a match on PPV. The biggest issue is that once you see this type of non-stop style on the card, another else that replicates it is just a retread so there’s no actual drama. You know the pin fall attempts aren’t going to be the finish ten minutes into the contest because everything is given more time than that so it’s not a false finish since nobody believes it’s possible that it could be the conclusion. However, this tag match should’ve been the designated car crash segment on the show because it was very well done. The Young Bucks retained.

Speaking of diminishing returns, the next match on the card, the four-way bout for the TBS championship, was a prime example of that. After the audience just saw a tag bout that ignored the rules so it turned into a free-for-all, this four-way match was essentially the same thing. There was a lot of action, but no drama since it was basically each performer waiting their turn to do their planned spot. It wasn’t a subpar segment, it was just very tame in comparison to the 20-minute spot fest the viewers just watched. Persephone retained the belt.

Andrade El Ídolo vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the National title had it’s moment of superb pro wrestling, but ultimately missed the mark when some of the attempts at comedy during the segment caused a conflicting narrative that hindered the presentation. A championship is on the line, and Ciampa decides to beat up Andrade’s pants, allowing the champion time to recovery. It just makes Ciampa look completely foolish and almost sends the message that the match nor the belt are important. Furthermore, is Ciampa a heel or a baby face? He was a heel during the feud with Jericho, and seems to work in the ring as a heel, but was taking pictures with his family at ringside. Clearly, Tony Khan wants to push Andrade, which is an interesting choice since there was a time that he specifically wanted to leave the company before his return to WWE fizzled out. That being said, if Andrade is the choice to push a Latino star further up the card, especially with the company’s partnership with CMLL, he’s a stellar athlete that brings a lot of talent to the table. Andrade retained the championship.

The Trios title match, despite the title change to the team of Adam Page, Brody King, and Bandido, could’ve been saved for television. It was another 25 minutes of a free-for-all with endless moves without logic or a pace to the contest. This was a lesser version of the tag team title match from earlier. There isn’t much to say beyond that since it was an exhibition of maneuvers, not a match with drama toward the finish.

Jon Moxley retained the Continental title against Mark Davis, another match that went almost 25 minutes. The in-ring work was fine, but it went so slow and deliberate that after 11 PM, this just become a chore to watch rather than an entertaining viewing experience. I know that much seem too negative, but in short, if this bout wasn’t on the card, it wouldn’t have made a difference in the overall quality of the show.

The main event could’ve been in danger of being too convoluted, and after several multi-man matches on the same show with a similar match structure of no tags, this bout could’ve been very stale, but the quality of the performers made it work. I still think the rules are too complicated for most of the audience, at least the crowd in the building, to truly follow, but the set up for this championship match was very well done. The eliminations from the first round kept things unpredictable so there was a reason to stay invested in the entire match rather than just the last few minutes. Ospreay winning the deciding fall with just seconds to spare was done in a more organic manner than something that seemed too staged or phony. Samoa Joe looked like an absolute monster in this contest and continues to prove why he’s such a solid commodity for the promotion. This gimmick match was kept simple and with the way it was presented, they probably got the most out of it, which should be a lesson to simplify more of the product. This was at risk of being a train wreck, but it was very well done, and Ospreay looked like more of a main event star after the conclusion of the show.

Until next week
-Jim LaMotta

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