The 2023 All In, also promoted as All In: London at Wembley Stadium or simply All In: London, was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It was the first edition of All In produced by AEW and second overall after the independently-held inaugural All In event in September 2018. The event took place on August 27, 2023, at Wembley Stadium in London, England, coinciding with the United Kingdom's August Bank Holiday weekend.
The event marked AEW's debut in the United Kingdom, their first PPV event held outside of North America, and their first event held in an association football stadium. All In was the first professional wrestling event held at the current Wembley Stadium and first held at the venue in over 30 years, after WWE's SummerSlam in 1992, which was held at the original stadium. First day ticket sales alone broke AEW's live attendance record and ticket revenue. Although the promotion stated a total attendance of 81,035, the total turnstile count reported by local government data logged an actual attendance of 72,265.
Eleven matches were contested at the event, including two on the Zero Hour pre-show. In the main event, MJF defeated Adam Cole to retain the AEW World Championship. In other prominent matches, Will Ospreay defeated Chris Jericho, Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo, Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta), and Orange Cassidy defeated Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta), Mike Santana, and Ortiz in a Stadium Stampede match, and CM Punk defeated Samoa Joe to retain the "Real World Championship". This would be Punk's final match in AEW as he was fired following a legitimate backstage altercation at the event.
Production Background
The inaugural All In was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event that was independently produced by members of The Elite in association with Ring of Honor (ROH) and held in September 2018 at the former Sears Centre Arena (renamed to Now Arena in September 2020) in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The event was notable for being the first professional wrestling event in the United States not promoted by WWE or World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to sell 10,000 tickets since 1993. The success of the show would lead to the formation of the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in January 2019, with The Elite becoming executive vice presidents of the company. On the first anniversary of All In, AEW established a spiritual successor titled All Out. In March 2022, AEW president Tony Khan announced his purchase of ROH, in turn obtaining the rights to All In, which were owned by ROH.
On the April 5, 2023, episode of AEW Dynamite, AEW announced that they would revive the All In name for a major event to be held at Wembley Stadium in London, England during the United Kingdom's August Bank Holiday weekend on August 27, titled "All In London at Wembley Stadium". The event marked AEW's debut in the United Kingdom and was the promotion's first PPV event to be held outside of North America. AEW had originally planned to host the 2020 Fyter Fest as a PPV in London at nearby Wembley Arena, which would have been the promotion's UK debut, but the COVID-19 pandemic canceled those plans. This also marked the first professional wrestling event to be held at present day Wembley Stadium, with AEW promoting the event as the first in over 30 years at the venue, after WWE's SummerSlam in 1992, which was held at the original Wembley Stadium. The stadium itself promoted it as part of the 100th anniversary of Wembley. This was also AEW's first event to be held in an association football stadium. The event aired live at 1 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) through traditional PPV outlets, as well as Bleacher Report, FITE, and YouTube, and it was preceded by a Zero Hour pre-show at 11 a.m. ET. AEW wrestler Chris Jericho's band Fozzy performed their song "Judas" live at the event for Jericho's ring entrance.
Tickets went on sale on May 5, 2023. During the pre-sale on May 2, the show sold over 36,000 tickets, garnering $4.7 million in revenue, setting AEW's records for attendance and live gate. Those numbers reached over 43,000 and $5.7 million, respectively, the next day. After sales opened on May 5, ticket sales hit 60,000 with $7.7 million in revenue. By July 28, prior to any matches being announced, the event had sold 70,400 tickets with a gate of $9 million. AEW initially stated that the event set a new record for the highest number of paying fans at a professional wrestling event, with 80,846 people in attendance. However, this statement was later revised to clarify that 80,846 tickets had been distributed as of August 18.
Storylines All In London at Wembley Stadium featured 11 matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds and storylines. Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision.
In June, AEW World Champion MJF started a rivalry with Adam Cole, who he faced on the June 14 episode of Dynamite in a World Championship Eliminator match, which ended in a 30-minute time-limit draw, thus ruling Cole out of a future championship match. The two were then paired together in the Blind Eliminator Tournament to receive an AEW World Tag Team Championship match on the July 29, 2023, episode of Collision. They won the tournament, but failed to win the tag team titles. During this time, MJF and Cole would become friends, much to the dismay of Cole's old friend Roderick Strong, and MJF promised Cole that regardless of the outcome of the tournament, he would give Cole a match for the AEW World Championship. On the August 2 episode of Dynamite, MJF followed through with his promise, giving Cole a contract which scheduled the championship match as the main event of All In. The following week, in addition to their AEW World Championship match, Cole—who still felt he and MJF could be a championship caliber tag team—challenged Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) for the ROH World Tag Team Championship to take place on All In's Zero Hour pre-show. Aussie Open accepted the challenge on that week's Rampage.
Following FTR's (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) defense of the AEW World Tag Team Championship on the August 5 episode of Collision, they stated they had unfinished business with The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson). They subsequently made a challenge for All In with the AEW World Tag Team Championship on the line. The Young Bucks accepted the challenge on Dynamite on August 9, marking the rubber match between the two teams, being tied at 1–1, where The Young Bucks won their first matchup at Full Gear in November 2020, while FTR defeated them on the April 6, 2022, episode of Dynamite.
At Dynamite: 200 on August 2, Hikaru Shida defeated Toni Storm to win the AEW Women's World Championship. The following week, it was announced that at All In, there would be a four-way match for the championship with the participants determined by a single-elimination tournament. Shida was already scheduled to defend the title against Anna Jay that night and defeated her to retain her spot as defending champion at All In, while Storm exercised her rematch clause to receive a bye and automatically be entered into the four-way. Saraya then qualified by defeating Skye Blue during the August 11 episode of Rampage. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. secured the final spot by defeating The Bunny on August 16 at Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen.
Darby Allin and Swerve Strickland have had a years long on-and-off rivalry predating AEW, going back to their days wrestling on the independent circuit in Seattle, Washington, of which Allin is a native, while Strickland hails from nearby Tacoma. The feud intensified on the August 2 episode of Dynamite when Strickland and Mogul Embassy teammate AR Fox (who himself had a history with Allin that also predated AEW) attacked rookie wrestler Nick Wayne—who Allin had taken under his wing as Nick's late father Buddy Wayne trained Allin—at Nick's home gym in Seattle. On the August 9 episode, Allin confronted Strickland and Fox (along with the rest of Mogul Embassy), and Allin's longtime friend/mentor Sting helped Allin fend off the group, setting up a tag team Coffin match at All In, pitting Allin and Sting against Strickland and Fox. On August 23 at Dynamite: Fyter Fest, after Fox and Swerve lost a tornado tag team match to Allin and Wayne with Fox taking the pin, he was kicked out of the Mogul Embassy. After that, Strickland introduced Christian Cage, who Allin had been feuding since late July after he won a shot at Cage's ally Luchasaurus' TNT Championship at All Out, as his new partner for the match.
During the 2023 Owen Hart Cup tournament on the July 8 episode of Collision, CM Punk defeated Samoa Joe for the first time in his career. On the August 5 episode, Joe recapped their rivalry, going back to their time in ROH, and he challenged Punk to a rematch at All In so that he could prove that he was better than Punk and gave him one week to answer. Punk did not answer Joe, who escalated the matter by attacking Punk during Punk's match the following week. During Collision: Fight for the Fallen on August 19, a disguised Punk attacked Joe and accepted the challenge, which was made official with Punk's "Real World Championship" on the line.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRoleNameCommentatorsExcalibur Tony Schiavone Taz Nigel McGuinness Jim Ross Don Callis Ring announcersJustin RobertsDasha GonzalezRefereesAubrey EdwardsBryce RemsburgPaul TurnerRick KnoxStephon SmithInterviewerLexy NairPre-show panelRenee PaquetteAnthony OgogoKip SabianPaul Wight
Zero Hour During the All In Zero Hour pre-show, Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh came out to insult the crowd. Paul Wight, Anthony Ogogo, and Grado then came out to attack Jarrett, Satnam, and Sonjay, with Grado hitting Jarrett with a guitar. Wight then delivered the WMD to Satnam and chokeslammed Jay Lethal.
There were also two matches that took place during Zero Hour. In the first match, Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) defended the ROH World Tag Team Championship against Adam Cole and MJF. Before the match started, Aussie Open attacked Cole and MJF. Cole then delivered a superkick to Fletcher, but Davis then performed a lung blower to Cole for a two-count. As Cole attempted the Panama Sunrise, Davis escaped, but Cole then delivered a superkick. Aussie Open then delivered the Aussie Arrow to MJF for a two-count. MJF then performed a double Kangaroo Kick. MJF and Cole then delivered a double clothesline to Fletcher and pinned him to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions. With this win, Cole became an ROH Triple Crown winner.
In the second and final match on Zero Hour, Jack Perry defended the FTW Championship against Hook in an FTW Rules match. In the closing stages, Perry delivered a suplex, a Rolling Thunder, and a draping DDT to Hook on top of a car. Hook then delivered a T-bone suplex to Perry on the top of the car. Hook then performed a German suplex for a two-count. Perry then executed three German suplexes and a Tiger Driver for a two-count. As Perry attempted a moonsault, Hook moved out of the way and locked in the Red Rum, forcing Perry to tap out and win the FTW Championship for a record-tying second time.
Preliminary matches