A look at the Three Stars Of The Night for September 1’s ALL IN!

After months of anticipation, building, and a convention that likely set many a wrestling fan back several months financially, ALL IN is in the books! The show was good overall, great at many points, but wasn’t without faults. It’s a wrestling show, that is going to happen.

Who stood out in Chicago on Saturday night? That’s a tough order to sort through, but I slept on it and am ready to stick to my guns. It’s the three stars, BAY BAY!

The Third Star:
Penelope Ford

.@JANELABABY is out of his mind in the best way possible. #ALLIN

➡️ https://t.co/2AEuPvrsmg
➡️ https://t.co/mNpVzZkjg8 pic.twitter.com/bWJ59sTjLk

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) September 2, 2018

Adam Page and Joey Janella are two insanely over performers, and they were given a gimmick that can really excel with the Chicago Street Fight. the match devolved into “too many dangerous spots,” including an ill advised toss powerbomb from the catwalk ramp to the table/stairs/floor. The Rite Of Passage from the ladder (through a table) looked bad, a you had a phone and talking boots to play into the Being The Elite storyline.

Then you had Joey Ryan and the giant inflatable dicks. And people say Vince McMahon is sophomoric?

.@thePenelopeFord is a bad, bad girl! #ALLIN

➡️ https://t.co/2AEuPvrsmg
➡️ https://t.co/mNpVzZkjg8 pic.twitter.com/VJrdAC6JMV

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) September 2, 2018

Thank god for Penelope Ford. Not only is she low key the hottest woman in wrestling, but she was everything good in this match. Not because she’s good to look at, but her performance IN THE RING. She killed it, more than once, and if I’m ROH, I’m scooping her up for the Women Of Honor–she’s exactly what the division is missing.

The Second Star:
Marty Scurll

BRAINBUSTAAAAA!! @MartyScurll has Okada on his heels! #ALLIN

➡️ https://t.co/2AEuPvrsmg
➡️ https://t.co/mNpVzZkjg8 pic.twitter.com/q5KLcevhgX

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) September 2, 2018

Despite being the “heel,” in this match, Marty Scurll was playing the underdog babyface. In all honesty, there wasn’t a heel, and there didn’t need to be. Scurll was the underdog against the mammoth resume and experience of Kazuchika Okada, and that story was huge in this match. As Andrew Balaz will tell you (and did in his ALL IN Ratings & Review…CHEAP POP!), Scurll is often criticized for not being the best worker. I disagree, he’s one of the best workers around–when he chooses to be. His interview with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin shed some light on that for me a while back: he’s going for less is more. Unfortunately for him, he tends to take that too far, getting into “less is less” territory.

Scurll delivered in a big way in this match. He worked his ass off, and told the story of being able to hang with Kazuchika Okada. If the former remains without a championship, I’d suggest ROH call in a huge favor and have Okada put Scurll over in Madison Square Garden during the G1 Special (another huge sellout for ROH!).

Marty delivered an amazing performance, one that stood out in a sea of great performances.

Honorable Mentions:

• The Young Bucks (for trying to keep that match together)
• Rey Mysterio (for trying to keep that match together)
• Christopher Daniels (for trying to keep that match together)
• Flip Gordon (for trying to keep that match together)

Go read Andrew’s Review and Mitchell’s Report to see what I mean!

And now… a distinction usually reserved
for the top performer of the night …the first star!

The First Star:
Cody Rhodes & Nick Aldis (tie)

Nick Aldis is so underrated. #ALLIN #UseYourHead

— Greg DeMarco (@ChairshotGreg) September 2, 2018

During the NWA Worlds Championship Match, I composed the above tweet because it was so apparent to me how much Nick Aldis was making this match. He deserves so much praise, because the match–the moment–doesn’t work without the job Aldis did. He was the glue that held the whole thing together.

This is big time. Awesome, awesome moment for @CodyRhodes and @TheBrandiRhodes! #ALLIN

➡️ https://t.co/2AEuPvrsmg
➡️ https://t.co/mNpVzZkjg8 pic.twitter.com/I44cWaTcwu

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) September 2, 2018

Cody Rhodes was the star of this match, and of this entire show. ROH and The Young Bucks don’t do this without Cody, the ex-WWE superstar who happens to be the son of the son of a plumber in the legendary Dusty Rhodes.

I can’t say enough about the moment provided here. It’s easy to say “Cody booked himself to win the championship,” but I am 100% sure this was a Billy Corgan/Dave Lagana decision. They get a reprieve as the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship can be defended on ROH events for the time being, and when the time is right they can move the championship back to Aldis (or to someone else). Maybe they wait for the G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden, maybe they don’t. Contract negotiations play into that, but I think the success of ALL IN might mean Cody and The Bucks stay with ROH or actually go out on their own in the next year.

This match had everything to pull on your emotions, and it was largely booked like a WrestleMania main event. A WrestleMania main event booked by Dusty Rhodes. It told a perfect story, had the right ending (even if I didn’t expect Cody to win), paid off literally years of build.

Crimson mask soaking into the ring canvas… but @CodyRhodes makes it to the ropes and @TheBrandiRhodes! #ALLIN

➡️ https://t.co/2AEuPvrsmg
➡️ https://t.co/mNpVzZkjg8 pic.twitter.com/vs2JwYa3dR

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) September 2, 2018

If I had one gripe, it’s that this match went on fourth. I get how bad it would have looked if this closed the show (time/spacing issues notwithstanding). But dude, fourth?

Regardless, hats off to Cody Rhodes and Nick Aldis for this match, this show, and this story. Job well done gentlemen.

Who are your Three Stars of WWE Monday Night Raw? Comment on social media @ChairshotGreg, @theCHAIRSHOTcom, and use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

In hockey, a game’s “Three Stars Of The Night” represent the top three performers of the night. For more clarification, I defer to this Pittsburgh Gazette explanation:

“The tradition dates to the 1936-37 season, when Imperial Oil became the principal sponsor of Hockey Night in Canada radio broadcasts and was seeking a way to promote one of its products, Three Star gasoline. The idea of doing so by selecting the top three performers in a particular game purportedly came from a Canadian advertising agency.

Many clubs do recognize the player with the most three-star selections with an award or trophy, usually in conjunction with a corporate sponsorship, at the end of the season (or sometimes, each month). All six Canadian franchises, for example, have an affiliation with a well-known brewery.

The NHL keeps track of its own Three Stars Of The Night selections, but that is done on a league-wide basis. The league employs a system that awards 30 points to a first star, 20 to a second star and 10 to a third – a running total can be found on the league’s website – but it does not present an award based on them.”

In hockey tradition, the first star represents the best of the three, but all three are considered to be receiving a high honor.