5 Biggest Headlines From AEW All Out 2020
Not their finest hour, to put it mildly...
Usually when I write these post-show headlines pieces, I focus on the "kayfabe", the storyline matters that keep the content moving, and try not to stray from that. Make no mistake, AEW All Out was filled with story goodness and interesting developments. But a lot of that gets overshadowed by a bit of ugliness that was bad when it happened, and made worse by what took place in the aftermath.
By now, you've probably heard the story: Matt Hardy landed badly during a high-risk spot in his match with Sammy Guevara, and was clearly in a different time zone as a result. The match was halted, but then inexplicably continued, just so they could hastily do the finish, where Hardy prevailed. In storyline, had Hardy lost, he'd be done in AEW, but that's still hardly an excuse for having a clearly-injured man continue working, even if it's just a few moves.
It's happened far too often in wrestling, matches continuing just because somebody wants to gut it out, or because there's a finish or moment they need to get to. Whatever the case was here, I just hope Hardy's okay, and that those with control in AEW understand that this just can't happen. People will understand a stoppage for an emergency. It was warranted here, it didn't happen the way it should have, and hopefully they do better going forward.
The rest of this feature will focus on the storyline happenings from All Out. It was an uneven pay-per-view, due in large part to the aforementioned incident, but as far as positives go, there are a few worth noting.
5. Hikaru Shida Retains The AEW Women's Title
The three title matches were the high points of the evening, beginning with one of the better women's matches in an AEW that's still trying to build a viable division. They have an excellent champion in Shida, and here, she had a top-shelf opponent in Thunder Rosa.
The NWA Women's champion was everything she was built up to be, in a match that was as gritty as it was well-wrestled. Shida retained over an "equal" from another promotion, and here's hoping that Rosa comes back for more. She wouldn't be the first NWA'er to make a full jump.
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.