All In (2018)

Background In May 2017, a fan asked Wrestling Observer Newsletter journalist Dave Meltzer on Twitter if Ring of Honor (ROH) could sell 10,000 tickets and Meltzer responded: "Not any time soon." Cody Rhodes took Meltzer's remark as a challenge and responded: "I'll take that bet Dave." Eventually, the idea evolved from an ROH show to a self-funded event (with ROH's official sanctioning), It was later announced that Kenny Omega, Brandi Rhodes, and actor Stephen Amell would be participating in the event. was held at the Sears Centre Arena (renamed Now Arena in 2020) in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois. On December 31, 2017, Cody and The Young Bucks announced on the Bucks' YouTube channel, Being The Elite, that they were looking at different venues to hold the event. It was later reported by Pro Wrestling Insider that the event was set to be held in Chicago. On January 10, 2018, it was announced that the event would take place on September 1, titled All In. On March 5, All In's venue was revealed as the Sears Centre Arena located in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Over the coming weeks, independent wrestlers would be announced to take part in the show, including Penta El Zero, Rey Fénix, Kazuchika Okada, Deonna Purrazzo (though she would later be removed after signing with WWE), Tessa Blanchard, Jay Lethal, Chelsea Green, Marty Scurll, and Hangman Page. Additionally, it was announced that to coincide with the event, Conrad Thompson would hold Starrcast, a fan convention which would feature numerous wrestlers and wrestling and podcast personalities including Jeff Jarrett, Eric Bischoff, Bruce Prichard, Diamond Dallas Page, and Macaulay Culkin. During the All In press conference on May 13, it was announced that Rey Mysterio and NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis would be taking part in the event. Tickets for the show were put on sale on May 13 and sold out in less than 30 minutes despite Cody and The Young Bucks announcing only one match for the show. In the months leading up to the event, more wrestlers were announced to be "all in", including Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Madison Rayne, Kota Ibushi, SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky), Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Barreta), and The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe). During this time, Cody and The Young Bucks started a YouTube series called All Us, chronicling the lead-up to the event. On July 13, it was announced that Alicia Atout, Bobby Cruise, Don Callis, Excalibur, Ian Riccaboni, Justin Roberts, and Sean Mooney would serve as All In's broadcast team, with Brent Tarring being announced as a commentator on August 27. Bandido was announced for the show on July 25. On August 6, it was announced on Being The Elite that All In's main card would broadcast on pay-per-view and Fite TV, with an hour-long pre-show called Zero Hour airing on WGN America at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time. Additionally on August 6, Jordynne Grace, Moose, Rocky Romero, Colt Cabana, and Ethan Page were announced for the show. From August 15 until August 18, Brian Cage, Billy Gunn, Jimmy Jacobs, and Marko Stunt were announced for the show. On August 23, Brandon Cutler was announced for the show. Punishment Martinez was announced for the show on August 27. On August 29, it was announced that All In would be available for on demand viewing on NJPW World, after being broadcast live. On September 1, Tim Storm was announced for the show. Wrestler Adam Birch was scheduled to be a producer on the show, but in the early morning hours of September 1 he was arrested in Schaumburg, Illinois after police noticed him sleeping in his car and discovered he had an outstanding warrant in Florida. Storylines All In comprised 11 professional wrestling matches, including two on the Zero Hour pre-show, that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Storylines were produced on The Young Bucks' YouTube series Being The Elite, the NWA's Ten Pounds of Gold documentary series, Cody's Nightmare Family YouTube series ALL US – The All In Story, and at various shows produced by the promotions involved. On April 10, Joey Ryan was (kayfabe) killed on Being The Elite by a mystery assailant in a Japanese hotel room. On June 4 on Being The Elite, Japanese police arrested Arrow star Stephen Amell for Ryan's murder. On July 16, it was revealed that Christopher Daniels had framed Amell for the murder. On August 6 on Being The Elite, it was announced that Amell, who had recently been released from prison, would face Daniels at All In. , who challenged Nick Aldis for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship at All In During the May 13 All In press conference, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) president Billy Corgan announced that Nick Aldis would defend the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against Cody. If Cody were to win, he and his father Dusty Rhodes would become the first father-son duo to win the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. During ROH's Honor United tour in London on May 27, it was announced that if Cody was able to reclaim the ROH World Championship before All In, then the match would become a Winner Takes All match for both the NWA and ROH world championships. Cody received his ROH World Championship match on June 29 at Best in the World, but he failed to capture the title despite Aldis trying to help him to win the match. Cody would receive a second title opportunity during the June 30 tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling, but lost again. The match, now solely for the NWA title, was officially sanctioned by NWA management on July 31. On September 1, it was announced that former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Tim Storm would be in Aldis' corner. On July 5, it was announced that Marty Scurll would be taking on Kazuchika Okada at the event. Over the subsequent episodes of Being The Elite, multiple wrestlers would dismiss Scurll's chances of defeating Okada, including The Young Bucks, Jack Swagger, Rey Mysterio, Zack Sabre Jr., and Okada himself. On August 27 on Being The Elite, Scurll responded to all doubts, stating he would defeat Okada at the event. On July 23, it was announced that Joey Janela would face Hangman Page at All In. Later that day on Twitter, Page would send a warning to Janela and proclaim himself a Joey Killer. On August 12, on Being The Elite, Page had a nightmare with his cowboy boots telling him that he would kill another Joey, referring to Joey Janela. On July 30, it was announced that Bandido, Rey Fénix, and Rey Mysterio would take on The Golden Elite (Kota Ibushi, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) in a six-man tag-team match. During Being The Elite on August 27, Mysterio and actor Theo Rossi mocked The Young Bucks. Shortly after, SoCal Uncensored started training for their match against The Briscoe Brothers at All In. On August 7, it was announced that Jay Lethal would defend the ROH World Championship against the winner of the battle royale. On August 12, it was announced that IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega would face Penta El Zero at All In in a non-title match. == Event ==

Pre-show Two matches were contested on the one-hour-long pre-show, called Zero Hour, which was shown live on WGN America. Cody and The Young Bucks appeared on stage to start the event, offering to the live audience free merchandise, which was distributed by staff from Hot Topic and Pro Wrestling Tees. Road Warrior Animal made a cameo appearance. At the start of the match, outside the ring, Bully Ray powerbombed the masked El Hijo De Chico through a table, incapacitating El Hijo De Chico for most of the match. After this, Dr. Britt Baker, Chelsea Green, Madison Rayne and Tessa Blanchard faced off in a four corner survival match. In the climax, Blanchard performed the hammerlock DDT on Green to win the match. After the match, the four embraced. Next, Nick Aldis defended the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship against Cody. As Aldis went to the top rope to perform a diving elbow drop, Cody's wife Brandi Rhodes tried to plead with Aldis to not do it. However, Aldis did the move and as soon as he jumped Brandi lay across Cody, taking the bulk of the hit. Aldis then pinned Cody, but he kicked out. Cody performed a Beautiful Disaster and then the Cross Rhodes on Aldis for a near-fall. Cody and Aldis attacked each other with punches and then Cody hit a vertebreaker on Aldis, but Aldis reversed it. In the end, Aldis tried to steal Cody's finisher, but Cody reversed and Aldis tried to pin him. However, Cody countered into a sunset flip to win the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. With this win, Cody and his father Dusty Rhodes became the first father-son duo to win the championship. In the next match, Hangman Page faced Joey Janela in a Chicago street fight. In the end, Page performed the Rite of Passage on Janela from the top of a ladder through a table to win the match. After the match, the lights went out. Similar to The Undertaker, druids appeared, but instead of druids it was men in inflatable penis costumes. Joey Ryan, thought to be dead, appeared and Page tried to attack him, but Ryan attacked Page and performed a superkick and Page was carried out of the arena. Next, Jay Lethal defended the ROH World Championship against the over budget battle royale winner Flip Gordon. Lethal came out in his Black Machismo gimmick. During the match, Gordon performed a Stardust Press on Lethal for a near-fall. Lethal tried to perform a diving powerbomb, but Gordon reversed and Lethal performed a Lethal Injection II on Gordon. In the end, Lethal executed the Lethal Injection on Gordon to win the match and retain the title. After the match, the two showed mutual respect for each other. Bully Ray then came out and attacked both Lethal and Gordon. Chicago's own Colt Cabana appeared to make the save and then the three performed a triple powerbomb on Ray through a table. Next, Kenny Omega faced Penta El Zero in singles match. Omega tried to perform the One-Winged Angel, but Penta reversed into The Sacrifice. Penta executed the Fear Factor on Omega for a nearfall and later Penta tried to perform a lariat, but Omega performed the V-Trigger followed by a reverse frankensteiner. In the end, Omega performed another V-Trigger and then the One Winged Angel to win the match. After the match, the lights went out. When they came back on, Penta got up and attacked Omega with the Codebreaker. Upon closer examination, it was a second Penta El Zero, who unmasked to reveal himself as Chris Jericho, and challenged Omega to a match at his Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea cruise. In the penultimate match, Kazuchika Okada faced Marty Scurll in a singles match. In the end, Scurll provoked Okada and tried to break his fingers, but Okada reverted into the Rainmaker followed by a second Rainmaker to win the match. Main event In the main event, The Golden Elite (Kota Ibushi, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) faced Bandido, Rey Fénix and Rey Mysterio in six-man tag team match. Bandido hit Matt Jackson with a backflipping backbreaker. Nick Jackson hit Bandido with a superkick. The Young Bucks also hit a superkick on both Fenix and Mysterio. Ibushi and The Young Bucks performed the More Bang for Your Buck. with Ibushi pinning Bandido for a nearfall. In the end, The Young Bucks performed the Meltzer Driver on Bandido to win the match. == Reception ==

All In received near-universal acclaim, with Sports Illustrated calling a "near-perfect pay-per-view debut". John Moore of Pro Wrestling Dot Net recommended the event, but pointed that it "suffers [from] that ROH and New Japan problem of having too many matches". The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship match went six minutes shorter than originally planned. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson praised Cody for his championship win on Twitter two days after the event. Wrestling Observer Newsletter journalist Dave Meltzer said the event was a "great success" and "he was happy for losing the bet" [...] the event exceeded his expectations especially the over the budget battle royal, which he called the "best laid out battle royal he had ever seen". Jesse Collings from Wrestling Inc said "the most important thing for the group was to put on a memorable show that satisfied the hardcore fans [...] while also entertaining more casual fans who were seeing a lot of the wrestlers for the first time and were not watching Being The Elite every week". Griffin Peltier from Voices of Wrestling said "All In was not only a great PPV but a historic event in pro wrestling history. Everything on the show felt fresh and felt rewarded as a viewer". Writing for The Ringer, Mike Piellucci praised All In, calling it "one of the greatest wrestling shows in recent memory". Dave Meltzer gave six matches on the card four stars or higher. Despite the main event being significantly cut short due to time constraints, Meltzer gave that match a -star rating. == Aftermath and legacy ==

Four months after the event, Cody and The Young Bucks, with several others, left Ring of Honor. WWE purportedly also offered Cody, The Young Bucks, and Hangman Page contracts, but they rejected the reported offers. On January 1, 2019, Cody and The Young Bucks founded their own promotion, All Elite Wrestling (AEW), with backing of billionaire businessmen and owners of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham F.C., Shahid and Tony Khan, the latter becoming the President and chief executive officer of AEW, with Cody and The Young Bucks being executive vice presidents. Their inaugural event was announced as Double or Nothing to be held in May. Kenny Omega also became an executive vice president for AEW. In 2019, a plaque commemorating All In was established outside the Sears Centre's entrance. During Double or Nothing on May 25, 2019, AEW announced that the Sears Centre would host All Out, the company's second pay-per-view event, on August 31, 2019, the day before the first anniversary of All In. All Out was established as a spiritual successor to All In, and is held every September in the Chicago area. AEW owner Tony Khan had wanted to use the All In name at this time but did not want a lawsuit as Ring of Honor retained the rights to All In and its footage as a condition for Cody and The Young Bucks to promote the event. Those rights were acquired by Tony Khan following his purchase of ROH in March 2022. On April 5, 2023, AEW announced that they would revive the All In name for a pay-per-view to be held in London, England on August 27, 2023, titled "All In London at Wembley Stadium", which was the promotion's debut in the United Kingdom and one of the biggest professional wrestling events ever. All In would subsequently become an annual summer PPV and AEW's biggest event of the year, similar in comparison to WWE's WrestleMania, supplanting Double or Nothing as the company's marquee event, and becoming one of AEW's "big five" PPVs, along with Double or Nothing, All Out, Revolution, and Full Gear. == Results ==