The infamous All In event helped spark the early stages of what became AEW. Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks wanted to prove to the wrestling world that they could sell out a huge venue. Only WWE had that kind of success to sell out arenas with over 10,000 fans. Ring of Honor was doing well, but their record was in the 4,000 range.All In turned into a bigger event featuring the entire wrestling industry outside WWE. Talents from ROH, Impact Wrestling, New Japan, AAA, PWG and many other companies were represented at this event. Quite a few stories and backstage news have come out about the event that are even more relevant today after Tony Khan purchased ROH.
10 ROH Production Ran Event
Few fans knew at the time that Ring of Honor had a presence in the running of the All In event. The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes were the ones to have the idea and were still under contract with ROH when allowed to do it.
However, ROH became involved when wanting to provide the production of the event since Cody and the Bucks couldn’t do that on their own. The event was booked mostly by Cody, Matt and Nick, but they had help making it a successful streaming show.
9 Was Huge Part Of Why Tony Khan Purchased ROH
Ring of Honor technically owned the rights to All In due to their production being responsible for the streaming event. The company uploaded a couple of matches from the show on YouTube and had it in their valuable library.
Tony Khan buying ROH allowed him to have the ownership of the show that fans associate with the start of AEW. WWE potentially buying ROH would have made that element a huge negative for AEW to have the unofficial start of “the movement” in Vince McMahon’s library of footage.
8 Tony Khan Scouted Talent For AEW
Tony Khan claimed that he was planning to start a wrestling promotion before All In, but he certainly used the event as a blueprint for the future. All In proved that a wrestling product outside WWE could make huge money with live show and telecast interest.
The show featured many wrestlers on the event getting signed in the early stages. MJF, Britt Baker and the Lucha Brothers were just some of the early signings for AEW after this show. Even the referees from the event and Excalibur on commentary were used in the start of AEW.
7 Cody & Bucks Avoided Mentioning ROH Involvement
The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes never referenced Ring of Honor producing the event during the build to the show. All three wrestlers received the credit for their creative involvement and for having the guts to move forward with such a project.
ROH becoming involved in the background saw the members of The Elite keeping a distance from admitting that. The fan support of a wrestler-run show could have lost some luster if ROH’s involvement was referenced.
6 MJF Actually Lost His Match
The opening match of All In featured MJF having one of the first big matches of his career. MJF was making a name on the independent circuit and even appeared on Steve Austin’s podcast in full heel character to sell the gimmick.
Independent wrestling veteran Matt Cross was the opponent of MJF as a feel good story. The show was meant to be a one-off, so Cross winning was booked to have the hated heel get his comeuppance. MJF didn’t suffer from the loss and is now one of the most effective heels in AEW today.
5 ROH & The Elite Agreed On Flip Gordon Getting Title Shot
The presence of Ring of Honor on the show mostly saw the ROH World Championship on the line with a battle royal on the pre-show naming the #1 contender. Flip Gordon trying to get on the card against Cody Rhodes’ wishes became a running angle on the Being the Elite YouTube show.
Both ROH and the trio of wrestlers agreed on the creative direction to have Gordon win the battle royal under a mask and challenge Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship. Lethal retained the title, but it was the mutual agreement for a ROH belt to be defended without taking away from the show.
4 Marty Scurll Vs Kazuchika Okada Went Way Over Time
One of the biggest controversies from All In was that the show almost was pulled off the air before finishing. Marty Scrull and Kazuchika Okada went long over their allotted time in the semi-main event of the night.
The main event of the Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi vs Rey Fenix, Bandido and Rey Mysterio was cut for time and had to hurry up before reaching the approved PPV time. A finish came just a minute or two before the telecast went off the air.
3 Stephen Amell Wrestled Against Studio’s Wishes
The friendship between Cody Rhodes and Stephen Amell has seen the actor wrestling on a couple of events. Amell had matches in WWE and Ring of Honor before his third was booked for All In against Christopher Daniels.
Future interviews after the show saw Amell admitting that the people behind the scenes of Arrow were unhappy with him putting his body at risk. The show was reaching the end, and an injury could have harmed the series since he was the lead actor. Amell’s desire to wrestle at the event saw him going through with that risk and having a strong outing.
2 First Major Sign Of Greatness For Hangman Page
The potential of Adam “Hangman” Page was always there, but he didn’t become a top star until AEW formed. Ring of Honor was using Page as a respected mid-carder around the time that All In was getting booked by Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks.
Hangman entered a feud with Joey Janela that paid off with a hardcore wrestling match. The brutal brawl was arguably the best match of the night and had fans looking at Page differently. Hangman’s pops grew in ROH moving forward and helped set him up for massive success in AEW.
1 Chris Jericho Used Tony Khan's Jet To Attend Show
The early stages of AEW were truly shown when Tony Khan and Chris Jericho worked together to make an epic surprise happen at All In. Jericho had worked his NJPW program with Kenny Omega, but he still claimed he would not wrestle outside WWE in the United States.
That ended when he appeared dressed as Pentagon Jr. to attack Kenny Omega.
The surprise was even more unexpected since Jericho’s band Fozzy was touring at the time. Jericho later admitted that Khan let him use his private jet to travel to the show and to his concert in another state after the event.