Fantasy Booking All Out: Toronto

All Out: Toronto looks to continue AEWs streak of delivering high quality PPVs. Here is my stab at a few of the matches, with some interweaving storylines! 

Jon Moxley vs Darby Allin (In a Coffin match)

We kick off the bookings with Moxley vs Allin. We are going to subvert expectations and make this a technical bout between two respectful competitors! Just fucking kidding! Could you imagine?! No, this is a war that you would expect from two nut cases. (Surprise bonus booking - Daniel Garcia beat Katsurori Shibata on the pre-show.) Garcia gets involved to help Moxley, but Shibata isn’t far behind, sparking a brawl that soon draws in Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Samoa Joe. Amid the chaos, Moxley prepares to seal Darby in the coffin - but the lid bursts open to reveal Hook, who suplexes Moxley out of his boots. Darby takes advantage, sending Moxley crashing into the coffin for the win.

The fallout from this match has Hook and Darby form an alliance, with a connection to The Opps when needed, to face the Deathriders over the upcoming months. Maybe a certain title becomes available for Hook, Darby, and Daniel Garcia to have centered around their feud… I guess we will have to wait to see if anything happens later on, who knows…

MJF vs Mark Briscoe (In a Table n’ Tacks match)

Following from my Wrestlepalooza fantasy bookings, you know that I booked Cena to give Lesnar 17 AAs as a throw back to when Lesnar gave Cena 16 suplexes during their match. So how does AEW take this and make their programming the talking point instead? MJF takes 17 thumbtack bumps. Yes - 17 different thumbtack bumps, with the last one serving as a double revenge for Briscoe. To get back at MJF for nearly setting him on fire, Briscoe spears MJF through a table of tacks that has been set ablaze - channeling the notorious Foley / Edge Mania spot.

After the match, Briscoe leaves the ring victorious and MJF is being helped up by medical staff. MJF, despite losing in brutal fashion, demands his CMLL Championship so he can still feel like a winner as he’s leaving - when suddenly he is attacked by Mistico! Or at least a man in a Mistico mask, as commentary are quick to point out that he looks different. The man rips the mask off to reveal himself as Andrade. Andrade grabs the CMLL title and stands over MJF, making it clear that he has arrived to take the belt. (Now to clarify, this is Andrade appearing for CMLL - not AEW. Between the ‘failed’ runs at WWE and AEW in the past, I would have Andrade run the indies or Mexico circuit and only pop up for fun storylines when needed on AEW programming. No need to keep him there full time if they don’t have long terms plans but this is a good way to strength the AEW x CMLL relationship to the TV audience.)

Brodido vs Young Bucks vs JetSpeed vs Hechicero and Josh Alexander (For the AEW World Tag Team Championships)

As this match is underway, JetSpeed continuously foil the attempts of the Young Bucks winning. The Bucks become increasingly annoyed with each failed attempt, leading to them hitting a Meltzer Driver on Kevin Knight from the top of a ladder through a table. This effectively puts Knight out from the rest of the match and sets up a feud between JetSpeed and The Bucks coming out of All Out. 

Similar to the dynamic of JetSpeed and The Bucks,  Josh Alexander and Brody King get into it during the course of the match. They have a few classic “I’m the bigger man than you are” spots, like trading chops. One spot sees King suplex Alexander, who immediately recovers and returns a suplex of his own onto King. This type of tension between the two continues to mount. Hechicero is climbing the ladder to retrieve the titles when King and Alexander are again trading blows. In a haste, Alexander goes to suplex King but accidentally hits the ladder that Hechicero is on - sending him crashing through a ladder that has been laying from the ring to the ringside barricade. Alexander is stunned by this, allowing King to take the advantage and beat him down. Bandido climbs a new ladder to take down the belts - Brodido retains.

During a backstage interview with Mercedes Mone for her match later, Hechicero is seen talking to Konosuke Takeshita after the match. Hechicero and Takeshita shake hands before going their separate ways. (Gee, I wonder if we will find out what that is all about on this very PPV?!)

Hangman Adam Page vs Kyle Fletcher (For the AEW World Championship) 

Fletcher performs better than expected - getting the better of Hangman in almost every exchange in the beginning of the match. Hangman actually becomes a little dejected, which commentary picks up on, but he is able to rally himself back. He eventually is able to line up Fletcher for a Buckshot Lariat - when he is pulled off the apron by Hechicero. 

Hechicero attacks Hangman Adam Page and throws him back into the ring, seemingly for Fletcher to pin him. This is done very blatantly too - Hechicero doesn’t try to hide this attack, resulting with the ref calling for the DQ finish. Fletcher immediately starts freaking out. Commentary highlights that Hechicero’s involvement means Fletcher is now stripped of his TNT Championship. Soon after the match is declared a DQ, Hechicero disappears through the crowd. 

As the ring announcer announces Hangman as the winner by DQ, he also announces Fletcher has been stripped of the TNT championship, officially setting the title as vacant. Remember earlier that I said a title might be freed up? Well, here we are! (Gee, I wonder if we will find out what that is all about on this very PPV?!?!)

Kazuchika Okada vs Konosuke Takeshita vs Mascara Dorada (For the AEW Unified Championship)

Before this match starts, Don Callis confronts Konosuke Takeshita about his handshake conversation with Hechicero. Callis states “I was tagged in videos on social media! I saw what happened!”. Konosuke no sells this confrontation and makes his way past Callis, with his match coming up next. (I love that he was alerted by social media. I laugh whenever I think about it, I can't believe this isn't done more often). 

While the focus of the match may be the tension between Takeshita and Okada, Dorada is not forgotten at all during the action. Dorada often is the one winning exchanges between his two competitors, delivering a performance well worth a championship match. Hechicero makes his way down to ringside but Don Callis immediately runs out from the entrance ramp, as if he was on standby in anticipation. Callis is joined by an irate Kyle Fletcher, Josh Alexander, Wardlow, and Lance Archer. As the family are surrounding Hechicero, Lance Archer shockingly attacks Wardlow - the only "fresh" member since he didn't have a match tonight. 

Takeshita joins Archer and Hechicero in fighting with Fletcher, Wardlow, and Alexander up the entrance ramp and further and further away from the ring - where Dorada and Okada are getting back to their feet and exchanging blows. Surprisingly Dorada gets the better of Okada, laying him out on the mat for an Estrella Fugas. As Dorada climbs to the top rope, a man in a big hood hiding his appearance pushes him off and into the ring. The mysterious man attacks Dorada, leaving him incapacitated. He removes the hood and reveals himself to be Metalik - the original Máscara Dorada. Takeshita rolls back into the ring, having successfully beat down Fletcher, Wardlow, and Alexander. He positions Okada for a Zahi, hitting it perfectly and securing the win - Konosuke Takeshita is the new AEW Unified Champion. He stands tall in the ring alongside Lance Archer, Hechicero, and Metalik. 

A little “behind the booking” peak here but what I am aiming for with this is to break up the Don Callis family because eleven members is way too fucking much bro. Insane. So including the addition of Metalik, we now have two groups of four (with a group of four - Brian Cage, Trent Beretta, Mark Davis, Rocky Romero - currently out injured or off tv. I would have these four quietly leaving the faction upon their returns from injury). While Okada and Takeshita feud over the Unified Championship, Lance Archer and Kyle Fletcher race each other in contention to Hangman Page’s championship. Hechicero and Metalik face off against Josh Alexander and Wardlow in the tag scene. 

Another one done, Beach Bums!

AEW All Out Toronto has all the tools to outperform 

Thanks for reading - keep it beachy, baby!