8. The Forbidden Door Should Be Open.
The forbidden door is a term used when discussing talent signed with one promotion working for another. Most notably when discussing talent from Japan working in North America and vice versa. On Sunday the 5th of September we witnessed something quite unique. Jon Moxley walked out like the absolute rock star he was. Fresh off winning the GCW championship with said company’s hoodie on, walking out to take on a Japanese talent who has never step foot into an AEW ring. It became pretty clear the forbidden door should be opened. It added a level of intrigue to the event. Who is this Kojima? What style of match are we about to get? Does this build to anything? That last question got answered in a huge way with Minoru Suzuki walking out to challenge Moxley. It feels like a lot of the discussion around opening the forbidden door has to do top level talent and champions facing champions, but to utilize the talent to help build up the mid-card of an event. That is the niche it could fill easily. If you simply make the forbidden door about giving the fans what they want and ignore involving each companies’ champions – essentially the wrestlers who can’t take the loss then it becomes a win win. All Out was enriched by the door opening. There was no pissing contest about which promotion is better. Fans just losing their minds seeing performer they thought they never get to see. All Out’s fan approval was as high as it could be and opening that forbidden door play a big part.
7. Eddie Kingston Is A Made Man.
Eddie Kingston has had an impressive run in AEW so far. The run continued on All Out. That opening match was a great way to open the show. Eddie Kingston has always been a favourite. But I’d be lying if this was expected. All Out’s opening match could have fit on any card in any promotion. Kingston isn’t just a member of the death match society. He doesn’t just melt the microphone any time he chooses to bless us with a sermon. The man is putting it together in the ring. A bigger competitor without any outside assistance didn’t seem like a wise choice by the AEW bookmakers. But Kingston came through. It might be the colour choice of the mad king or his hardcore background but I was getting some flashbacks of my idol Cactus Jack. Cactus Jack before he become a shoe by Travis Scott was a hardcore legend but he never got his dues as one hell of an in ring performer. It is time the mad king, Eddie Kingston gets his.
