All Elite Wrestling will present its highly anticipated All Out PPV on August 31st, and with only one day until the big event, the rumor mill is in full swing heading into Saturday night.
Below is the final card for the PPV taking place at The Sears Centre in Chicago, IL. The pre-show, known as the Buy-In, features...
-Casino Battle Royale with the Winner Receiving a Future AEW Women's Title Shot. Participants include:
- Allie
- Yuka Sakazaki
- Britt Baker
- Nyla Rose
- Brandi Rhodes
- Teal Piper
- Ivelisse
- Jazz
- Big Swole
- Sadie Gibbs
- Awesome Kong
- Shazza McKenzie
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-Private Party vs. Angélico and Jack Evans
The main card will then feature:
-Riho vs. Hikaru Shida
-SCU vs. Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy, and Marko Stunt
-Cracker Barrel Clash: Joey Janela vs. Jimmy Havoc vs. Darby Allin
-Winner Gets A First-Round Bye In The AEW Tag Team Tournament: The Dark Order vs. Best Friends
-Escalera De La Muerte For The AAA World Tag Team Championship: The Lucha Bros (c) vs. The Young Bucks
-Cody vs. Shawn Spears (with Tully Blanchard)
-PAC vs. Kenny Omega
-AEW World Championship Match: Hangman Page vs. Chris Jericho
Let's take a look at 5 rumors you must know heading into the first-ever AEW All Out PPV.
#5 Will CM Punk show up?
This time last year, rumors began circulating that CM Punk might be willing to consider a return to pro wrestling as Cody Rhodes and The Elite geared up for the inaugural All In PPV event.
The show came and went, and Punk was nowhere to be found at the show and now, one year later, the Punk rumor mill is once again in full effect.
In the past year, Punk has stated that he has no intention of returning to the ring, but did admit in an interview that he received an offer, via text, to sign with AEW. Punk indicated he had no interest in the offer, but with AEW now a fully-established promotion, is Punk working the fans and planning on making a return at All Out? Only time will tell.
#4 Update on the first-ever AEW Women's Champions
All Elite Wrestling will soon crown its first-ever Women's Champion, and at All Out on Saturday, a Casino Battle Royale match will take place to name one of the contender's to the new title.
Per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, the current plan in AEW is to have the winner of the Casino Battle Royale match face the winner of the Riho vs. Hikaru Shida match, which is also taking place at All Out.
As for possible Casino Battle Royale match winners, current bout favorites are Britt Baker and Brandi Rhodes, as AEW has been teasing that Rhodes, who is the Chief Branding Officer for the company, could become the first-ever AEW Women's Champ. With names such as Awesome Kong in the match, she certainly has to be a favorite to win the bout. Additionally, Kylie Rae, who was replaced at Fyter Fest by Allie with no explanation from AEW, could possibly make her surprise return to AEW in the Casino Battle Royale and pick up the match win.
#3 PAC had secret plans at All Out prior to Jon Moxley injury
Former WWE star Neville, now once again known as PAC, has had an interesting relationship with All Elite Wrestling since his departure from WWE.
When PAC was officially granted his release from WWE, one of his first high profile matches was announced for AEW's Double or Nothing PPV which took place over Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas.
At the PPV, PAC was set to face Hangman Page. However, creative issues forced PAC off the Double or Nothing card, and the match was scrapped. Instead, Hangman Page entered the Battle Royale match and emerged victorious, earning a shot to become the first-ever AEW Champion against Chris Jericho at All Out.
With Jon Moxley recently announcing he will be unable to compete at All Out due to injury, PAC will step in and replace Moxley at All Out in a match against Kenny Omega.
According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, PAC was possibly booked to do a run-in during the main event of All Out before it was announced that he would be replacing Jon Moxley, meaning PAC might be in-line for some type of title shot after the PPV this Saturday.
#2 Will Tony Schiavone be replacing Alex Marvez?
Earlier this week, All Elite Wrestling officially announced that former WCW announcer Tony Schiavone had signed a deal with AEW, and the company noted the following in a press release:
Tony Schiavone, widely considered to be one of the most important voices in professional wrestling, joins AEW’s television broadcast team of Jim Ross and Excalibur. Schiavone will also serve as a senior producer for AEW events.
It's interesting to note that the above press release does not list Alex Marvez as part of the current AEW announce team, despite Marvez calling the action for previous AEW events. With Schiavone joining the announce team it remains to be seen whether or not he will be replacing Marvez at the announce table, or if Schiavone will be handling other duties for the company such as backstage interviews.
It was also noted this week that Shiavone had previously been negotiating with WWE before he decided to sign with All Elite Wrestling instead.
#1 Top All Out match in jeopardy?
The Young Bucks are set to face The Lucha Bros, consisting of Pentagon and Fenix, at All Out on Saturday night, however, the match might be in jeopardy due to injury.
The Bucks are one of the premiere duos in All Elite Wrestling, not only being top stars in the company, but also serving as Vice Presidents and co-founders of the AEW promotion.
Last week it was reported by The Wrestling Observer that Rey Fenix suffered an undisclosed injury during a match featuring The Lucha Bros vs Juventud Guerrera and Teddy Hart for Big Time Wrestling.
The report added that Fenix went to lift up Guerrera, but collapsed and was spotted holding his leg. Fenix then rolled out of the ring and signaled for help, and the match quickly came to an end.
As of this writing, AEW has made no official announcement regarding Fenix's status for All Out, and the match is still scheduled to be taking place.
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