Ryan Silapan: AEW All-In Texas was entertaining and very long but it delivered

Published 7:01 pm Monday, July 14, 2025

ARLINGTON — All Elite Wrestling capped off the company’s biggest week in the company’s six-year history with its longest, highest attended American audience and biggest show to date with their All-In Pay-Per-View.

Fans from all 50 states and 29 countries gathered together at Globe Life Field — home of the Texas Rangers — as nearly 30,000 people watched the wrestlers from AEW put on their biggest show in America.

Was it entertaining? Yes.

Did the wrestlers make this event feel special? Yes.

Did AEW send the fans happy and cheering? Somewhat — I’ll get to that later.

Was the show long? It was incredibly long to the tune of surpassing WrestleMania 35 as the longest wrestling PPV ever. The show ran just a shade under six hours.

That doesn’t include a two-hour preshow and a nearly two-hour press scrum that featured Dustin Rhodes, Toni Storm, Athena, Hangman Adam Page and AEW CEO/Founder/President Tony Khan.

My hats off to everyone that put on this spectacle that took place in a baseball stadium and had all the feelings of a big time show. From the massive amounts of pyro for the wrestlers entrances, the incredible entrance stage that was the best one of any of the PPV’s they have done and the wrestlers going above and beyond to entertain the fans.

The first memorable moment came when TNT champion Adam Cole who just prior to the PPV going to air was announced that he will not be competing and relinquishing the title. A four-way match for Cole’s now vacant TNT title was added instead of Cole facing up-and-comer Kyle Fletcher.

Prior to the match Cole — a massive fan favorite — came to the ring and I was perplexed because he had just been announced as not being medically cleared to wrestle.

Cole came out and gave a heartfelt speech about not feeling well and that he was dealing with an injury that according to sources is related to a concussion and that he may never wrestle again.

“Thank you for making AEW what it is,” Cole said. “Thank you for making AEW so special. And thank you all so damn much for changing my life. I love you always.”

Some in the crowd started crying and even I got a bit misty-eyed because Cole is truly a good guy who loves this business. After being greeted by longtime friends Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly Cole left the ring before the match got underway.

The four-way featured Fletcher taking on Daniel Garcia, Sammy Guevara and Texas legend Rhodes.

Coming into the match I expected Fletcher to defeat Cole and in the four-way I still expected the young 26-year-old from Australia to come out winning his first AEW title. In a finish very few saw coming, the veteran Rhodes got Garcia in a small package for the 1-2-3.

Rhodes — a 36-year veteran who has wrestled in five different decades — was competing in his third match in less than 36 hours. Rhodes completely spent sat in one of the corners of the ring as tears started to come down his eyes and many in the crowd.

The Austin native has given his heart and soul to this business and has been with AEW since the company started six years ago captured the company’s second biggest prize on the biggest show at the age of 56.

The tears of sadness for Cole turned into tears of joy for Rhodes who even at the age of 56 can still go in the ring.

In the match of the night in my opinion the team of Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay defeated the Young Bucks in a match if Strickland and Ospreay lost neither could compete for a world title for a year and if the Young Bucks lost they would lose their roles as Executive Vice Presidents in AEW.

From overzealous entrances, massive pyro, the Bucks having a ridiculous fake boat entrance to so many close false finishes I couldn’t keep count.

Myself being a lifelong pro wrestling fan I often can tell when the finish to the match is going to take place but I was fooled not once, not twice but three times. Credit to all four men because the match was fluid, they had the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands and when Strickland and Ospreay hit a House Call/Hidden Blade combo to Matt Jackson for the 1-2-3 it was a standing ovation.

The main event was a Texas Death Match for the AEW world title as champion John Moxley took on No. 1 contender Page.

Page a cowboy-like character who has dabbled as both a babyface and a heel had been angling towards the babyface side coming in against Moxley the biggest heel in the company.

The challenger came out to his old babyface theme song and out of the babyface side of the stage as the crowd roared for the cowboy in his attempts to take down the dastardly Moxley.

This match was like a death match as within the first 10 minutes both wrestlers were bleeding buckets.

This match featured chairs, chairs wrapped in barbed wire, broken glass, tables, tables with barbed wire, a chain and a fork — yes a fork that Page used to cut open Moxley’s forehead — along with a ton outside interference.

The weapons and outside interference was all legal because in a death match there is no rules and the only ways to win are by submission or knocking your opponent out so badly that they could not answer the referee’s count of 10.

After both guys beat each other to bloody pulps the match concluded when Page grabbed control of a chain — that was left to him by former arch nemesis Strickland — that he used to hit Moxley with several times to gain control. After hitting his finisher the Buckshot Lariat one Moxley, Page hung Moxley over the top rope with the chain forcing Moxley to tap out.

Moxley was awarded the AEW championship belt that Moxley had under lock and key in a briefcase for over seven months and held it high as the fans were ecstatic.

Remember when I said fans were happy and cheered I wasn’t because I’m not a big Hangman fan, never have been.

If it were me it would’ve been Strickland who had been the one to defeat the big bad wolf that Moxley turned into the last eight months.

The fans were happy, the show was long and All-In Texas was one that will be remembered.

I was there and enjoyed the show even if it was a very, very long show.