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It seems like Jon Moxley didn’t read that world title contract very closely. Did you know he broke the only major rule of the title match on Saturday Night at AEW All Out?
AEW All Out 2020 will certainly go down as one of the most controversial and polarizing pay-per-views of this very depressing calendar year. It will likely be remembered for some botches and a scary moment involving Matt Hardy. It was certainly a rough start to the show on a humid September night in Jacksonville.
With that said, AEW delivered a good wrestling show on Saturday. There was some solid night of in-ring action with good tag team matches, an excellent women’s title match, an interesting debut, and new champions were crowned, as well.
While we try to figure out why Darby Allin keeps doing really stupid things, here's a list of the most surprising moments from AEW All Out.
#5. Lance Archer wins the Casino Battle Royale at AEW All Out
The battle royal came down to Eddie Kingston and Lance Archer. After several attempts to cheat on both sides, Lance Archer pulled out the victory at AEW All Out.
This was certainly a surprise. Archer came into AEW as a force and destroyed all his competition until he lost to Cody at AEW Double or Nothing in finals of the TNT Championship tournament. Afterward, he simply disappeared from AEW Dynamite for weeks. After so much time away from the spotlight, it is nice to see him portrayed as a monster heel yet again, especially considering who his opponent will be for the AEW world title.
#4. Thunder Rosa impresses in defeat at AEW All Out
The AEW women’s division is easily the weakest point of the entire roster. A combination of injuries and a lack of meaningful television time truly hurt the division in recent months.
Hikaru Shida, an excellent wrestler in her own right, needed a credible challenger for AEW All Out. It was a true shock when that challenge would come from the NWA World Women's Champion, Thunder Rosa. Could she hold her own on her biggest stage yet at AEW All Out? The answer was a resounding yes.
The women’s title match was one of the strongest matches on the card for AEW All Out. Hikaru Shida and Thunder Rosa worked well together. The pacing and near falls were believable throughout the seventeen-minute match.
Thunder Rosa brought in a unique style that AEW desperately needed. It certainly made a lot of sense for the outsider to lose the title match on Saturday night. Shida looks like a far more credible champion and she does have some strong AEW heel challengers set for the near future.
Thunder Rosa looked strong in defeat as well. Surely, AEW fans would like to see her again, but AEW’s loss is currently NWA’s gain.
#3 The entire Matt Hardy situation at AEW All Out
Matt Hardy is a risk-taker. This has been well known for over twenty years in the professional wrestling world. So when he likely decided to take a pretty big risk and do a dangerous table spot with only a cement ground to break his fall at AEW All Out, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise to many wrestling fans. What happened after that spot was one of the most surprising and controversial professional wrestling moments of the year.
It was early in his Broken Rules match at AEW All Out when Sammy Guevara and Matt Hardy executed a table spot. Sadly, they missed most of the table and Matt Hardy’s head and shoulders hit the cement floor hard. It was clear right away that the fall had really affected Matt Hardy and within a few minutes it seemed like AEW called the match off. It was unfortunate but if someone was hurt, then the right thing to do was end the match.
Then, Matt Hardy came into the arena and the match actually continued. They climbed a 15-foot scaffolding and Sammy Guevara feels off quickly to end the match at AEW All Out. This was outrageous. If Matt Hardy suffered a concussion, then this was beyond dangerous to continue. According to Dave Meltzer, Matt Hardy is ok but this moment will raise questions going forward.
#2. Orange Cassidy wins his first pay-per-view match over Chris Jericho at AEW All Out
Orange Cassidy has one of the most unique gimmicks in professional wrestling. It seemed like he was destined to be a comedy wrestler with his slacker character. Then a funny thing happened during the pandemic, he started a feud with Chris Jericho.
After two solid matches on AEW Dynamite, he is quickly becoming one of the most popular wrestlers in the company. Orange Cassidy has shown a more serious side during the feud as well. Their final match was a Mimosa Mayhem Match at AEW All Out.
The match was what you would expect from this style of match. It involved several moments where a wrestler almost fell into the vat of Mimosa. Cassidy and Jericho still managed to deliver some exceptional in-ring work, as well.
After some close calls, Cassidy hit Jericho with an Orange Punch to knock him into the Mimosa and win the match. It was surprising to see Chris Jericho, professional wrestling legend, lose so definitively to Orange Cassidy at AEW All Out. It is very rare to see an older talent put over a young one in this way. It will do wonders for Cassidy’s career.
#1. Jon Moxley retains the title with the Paradigm Shift at AEW All Out
After a long night, it was nice to see a solid main event end the show. MJF is clearly the future of the company. He is one of the best in the world on the mic and his in-ring work continues to improve, as well. Jon Moxley seems to be enjoying his AEW run and he has been doing some great work between the ropes also. It led to one of the better matches of the night with a unique finish at AEW All Out.
The ending of the match was a surprising moment. MJF went to cheat yet again with the diamond ring but he bobbled it. While Wardlow inadvertently distracted the referees, Jon Moxley hit the Paradigm Shift and retained his AEW World Championship at AEW All Out. The exact thing he wasn’t supposed to do according to the contract. MJF will probably have something to say about that soon.
Assuming MJF doesn’t get another AEW title shot, Jon Moxley will move on to a match with Lance Archer. If their encounter in New Japan Pro Wrestling is any indication of what we are in store for, then it could be a brutal feud.
