But now I am somehow an adult with an adult piggy bank and adult aspirations and an adult thirst for the graps. No longer do I need to dream of hours long road trips to watch the best wrestlers in the world perform, I can fly anywhere in the world I want to go to make the dream a reality. And fly I do because sitting in a car for hours on end are for people in their 20s, I'm too old for that shit. Luckily I have my riding partner with me in the form of my son who decided we would do this trip to Dallas/Arlington (Not Houston which I almost bought flights to and not Lubbock like the flight attendant proudly announced to the flight-goers when we landed and created a momentary panic as they, like I, still don't fully understand Texas geography and thought they fucked up, yet again) because for his birthday, he wanted to go ALL IN for ALL IN~! So bright and early at 8 AM, we grab our suitcases that I packed very late the night before and he packed and re-packed over the period of a week to make sure he had the right Jazwares action figures and Upper Deck cards for the meet and greets and we headed out. I had fully charged the Tesla so that it could be prepared to spend a few days at the airport so that it could get us home and we arrived in the airport parking lot a little past 8:30 for our 9:25 boarding. As a veteran of traveling now, I think I have finally been able to idenfity the sweet spot of arriving to the airport in order to allow for minimal waiting and as we didn't have any checked bags (Thanks Southwest for your updated policies that are likely hurting your business right now), we got to the boarding area with about 10 minutes to spare.

Outside of the flight attendant's mishap after we landed, the flight itself was pretty uneventful. I used the 1 hour 40 minute flight both thankful that Denver is pretty central to the entire country making for relatively short flights to most places and reading the masterpiece that is Phil's latest book Way of the Blade: AEW Edition on my Kindle while my son watched downloaded TikTok's which I wasn't aware that was something a person could do. We kept ourselves distracted, I got to reminisce about how great Cody/Dustin was live and the absolute goosebumps I got at the end of that match with Cody's promo and then we landed which means it was time to get an Uber, find lunch, and get ready for the show later that night at the Curtis Culwell Center.

As you can imagine, Dallas is typically pretty warm. My previous experiences here have all been from previous Manias in 2016 and whatever the later one was as all these years after COVID seem to run together. Those were some pretty warm days but nothing could prepare me for the heat and humidity of a July day in Dallas. My shirt had sweat puddles I've rarely experienced before only minutes after exiting the front door of the airport. The Uber to get us to the hotel showed up shockingly quick compared to all of the other people waiting and with a quick drop of our bags in the trunk, we were off. Garland is a bit of a trek from the airport so this time is spent with the usual pleasantries that you have to make with your Uber driver. He was very nice and cordial and as often happens when you have an older driver and are in a place that had a bustling territory, when they ask why you are here and you mention wresting, they always have a great story and this exchange was no exception.

BL: Yeah, we flew in to go to the pro wrestling happening at Globe Life Field.

UD: Pro wrestling! Oh, I used to love going to those shows when I was young! I went to school in southeastern Oklahoma and we would travel down often to see the Von Erichs. They were so fun to watch!

This carried on for a bit more as we talked about the unfortunate fates of many of the Von Erichs. He said Kevin was always his favorite with his bare feet and flying abilities. He knew Kerry and Mike had died but had started to fade out of it in the later 80s so didn't know the circumstances. One thing he was absolutely sure of when attending the shows though was that the local crowds were certain that David died of a drug overdose. They clearly were not buying the official story either which continues to add to the mystery of it. He then told me about one of his friends who was a Middle Eastern drug dealer and would often sell drugs to the wrestlers. He then began naming names of the wrestlers he remembered his friend interacting with at the shows. After that fun walk down memory lane, he started mentioning that he didn't think the Von Erich boys really traveled at all after what happend to David which was when I got the opportunity to stick my foot in my mouth.

BL: They still traveled quite a bit after David. They went to other territories still and they ended up being huge in Isreal.

UD: Israel?

BL: Oh yeah! Apparently Israel got a hold of World Class and they fell in love with the Von Erichs and they did tours there! Kind of crazy if you think about it.

UD: Well if Israel love the Von Erichs and the Von Erichs love Israel then I hate the Von Erichs now! I am Palestinian!

Way to go Ben. This is why you don't get a cool nickname like Pogo Pete. He said this mostly in jest and we ended up having a pretty enlightening conversation over the history of Israel and Palestine and I got to learn a bit more about what actual Palestinian's are going through before arriving at the hotel. Politics and pro wrestling, what an adventure, right?

The Curtis Culwell Center ended up being directly across from our hotel. I love it when the venue is a short walk from where I'm staying as it takes out the need for transportation, mental gymnastics of when to leave, and the fun 21st century issue of hoping your phone battery makes it through the show if you still haven't outgrown the 90s and enjoy having a fancam of matches for later viewing. Our hotel would have all the necessities needed for a fun few days: Free breakfast, a pool, nearby restuarants, and close proximity to the arena (as previously mentioned). And some beds, I guess. We decided to make use of the close restuarants and go to the Buffalo Wild Wings for a quick bite before spending the afternoon at the pool. Now, I know how hard it is to find people that want to work in restuarants nowadays but I was not expecting the scene when I walked in. There was a sign that just said "seat yourself" and as we walked into the dining area (with only a few tables of diners), leftover food sprawled across every booth and some of the tables. I looked for the most habitable table and opted for that, grabbing a (hopefully) clean napkin and wiping away a bit of food residue. We were then greeted by a very nice man who I am assuming was the manager and he handed us some menus and asked if the table worked for us or if he could clean off another table. I told him we were good and then he took our drink orders. There were only about 5 people working in the restuarant and most people seemed to be doing double duty (including the manager who started an interview with a potential hire in the middle of serving us. I'm pretty sure she got the job.). It was an interesting experience but everyone was friendly otherwise and me and my son ate our chicken wings like kings before retiring to the pool.

Or at least I wish I could have retired. Dropping a ten year old in a pool is like dropping in a live wire. I had dreams of roasting myself in the hot tub in the sweltering heat but those dreams were dashed as my son immediately attempted his first RKO on me into the pool. What resulted for the next two hours was a David and Goliath battle on par with what an iron man match between Big Show and Rey Mysterio would have looked like (Rey being flashy, Show throwing Rey around, and then asking for numerous restholds after gassing out 10 minutes in). We had the crowd of locusts in the nearby trees going crazy!

At this point, it was finally time for us to head to the show. It was hard to determine when doors actually opened until we finally found a subnote on the website stating they would open one hour before the show started which was 5:30 PM. We walked over at 5:25 PM and were in line right at 5:30 PM. It is always interesting to see the can and can not's for what you can bring into an arena. This particular venue would not let you bring in most things. People were getting vapes, lighters, and chewing gum confiscated and thrown away along with being told to turn around to take purses and fanny packs back to the car. I felt like an international smuggler with my son's Skittles in my back pocket until I was stopped for setting off the alarm. I'm never quite sure what sets some of these alarms off as they told me not to remove my wallet but it set it off. They wanded over it and asked what was in my pocket. When I told them it was my wallet and I started to pull it out, they told me not to worry about it. Crazy rules.

AEW's merch stands always perplex me as well. Not that it is bad but how little inventory they always seem to bring. I understand not wanting to lug it all around but they are here for what is essentially a four day residency in Dallas/Arlington and they managed to run out of trading cards and programs during the show. I assume they'll have trucked over more for the Collision show but they're leaving money on the table for the people getting turned away. My son got a box of Upper Deck AEW cards and I picked up the Timeless Toni autographed poster because I think she is the best character in pro wrestling today.

Okay, okay, I know that was a lot to do about nothing. Lets actually talk about the show. We got to our seats and the arena was set up for Ring of Honor. We sat and BSed a bit with the people around us while the VIP people got their pictures around the ring. The arena was about half full but it was still early so we figured it might fill up a bit more throughout the night which it did but not by much.

This was set up for Ring of Honor but there were no commentators and the camera guys barely moved from their corner so I'm going to assume this might have just been a dark match. Booker came out doing the classic heel stuff going for high fives and then pulling away or fixing his hair. Lethal came out to an immediate and loud reaction. Who would have thought that his lasting legacy wouldn't be Ring of Honor luminary but his ability to channel the spirit of the Macho Man. Lean into what works I guess but I loved his run on top with Ring of Honor personally. This is great fun though and him and Satnam play off each other well. 2025 is a whole different time though as Satnam would have been a monster heel in the 80s that would have got a run on top with Hogan for a few months and now he is just an addition to Lethal. Lethal in the ring is always solid and this is no different as he leads Booker along for a fun match. Booker within a few minutes goes from old school heel to over the top indie heel as he transitions to telling Lethal to "fuck off" and then telling Satnam to "suck his dick". The finish comes with Booker tries to knock Lethal off the ring apron with Satnam catching him and then going outside to stop the cheating only to get hit by a Jay Lethal dive on the outside. Lethal rolls him back in and hits the Macho Man elbow for the win. This was a great way to start off the show as Lethal is over with the crowd and knows how to get them on their feet.

I meant to write down the other guys' names but I forgot and now I can't remember. Honestly I didn't even realize that Serpentico and Angelico were still around. And they're still using the Spanish Announce Project name which definitely isn't a rip off of the SAT name. Angelico has always been hit or miss to me and Serpentico still hasn't moved out of "I recognize the name" to me. This match was fun for what it was though, another dark match to heat up the crowd. The two other guys were great foils to Angelico and Serpentico's high flying offense though. For a second I wondered if it was actually Jack Evans under the mask after hearing the voice but obviously it probably isn't but shows how much I see Serpentico wrestle. They hit some great moves and kicks and the like before taking the win.

The ring crew run out and begin hanging Mone's belts on the ropes during the introduction. Mercedes comes out to a mixture of some loud cheers from mostly women and a louder chorus of boos from a louder majority. I think that Mercedes is one of the few who has not benefitted from fully rehearsed promos as there are a lot of flubs and less believability in what she is saying. She was great at the Sasha Banks character with a lot of confidence and attitude but here she seems to have issues thinking on her feet and really seems to lack confidence in what she is saying. But hey, she has a lot of belts so what she is doing seems to be working so maybe I'm in the minority. On the other hand, I absolutely love what Toni is doing. She is so believable in the character that I do wonder if she might actually be insane. Which is what is so weird to me because the way she gives her lines makes it feel like this is completely scripted and Mercedes' constant flubs are even weirder so either Toni is the greatest in the world at improvisation or they were using real alcohol during the toasts. Either way, Toni cooked Mercedes on the mic with my favorite line being in the final diatribe when she said Mercedes "had the emotional depth of a kiddie pool" and saying while Mercedes "feared dying having lived an ordinary life that dying an ordinary life was the only thing that Toni feared". Absolutely masterful way to build this for the big show in Arlington, I can't wait for this match because say what I will about Mercedes on the mic, she still delivers in the ring. Toni chugs the champagne at the end and rides the bottle around like like Pepe was making a return to take us to commercial.

Bandido comes out first and is super over and then Brody King comes out shortly after and is even more monsterously over. Takeshita comes out by himself and it is clear that he is going to be one of the biggest stars in wrestling whether it happens here or if New Japan can lure him back over to Japan (which they sorely need). His presentation and the way the girls swoon and the guys give nods of appreciation is something not a lot of other heels get. Fletcher comes out with Callis to massive boos and comparisons of Pepto Bismol with his pink gear. All four of these former PWG regulars when PWG was the measuring stick for what was cool jump out of the Globe Theater to this stage but don't miss a step as the first few minutes of this match have that exact pace and get the same amount of enthusiasm from the crowd. This match was unbelievably good with all these guys going all out and in full gear (Revolution and WrestleDream or something too, right?). It also has to suck to be Dunkzilla as his injury really derailed is career because Aussie Open was one of the best tag teams in the world but Fletcher's break out puts him in limbo because Fletcher is going to be a singles star. Takeshita and Brody's dives especially are always scary with how brutal they look. The finish was completely unexpected in how it occurred but really well done with Takeshita catching Bandido out of mid air and hitting his Raging Fire for the win. Awesome build for their match at Supercard of Honor and awesome match that you should go out of your way to see. Coach Tony K is cooking on all these builds.

For some reason everybody decides to stand during the backstage promo with the Patriarchy and FTR but I choose to sit. They said stuff. During the commercial Justin Roberts is going around reading signs and reads a sign from the second row that an old man William had just turned (I'm going to get this wrong) 96? And came to see All In from Virginia. I think his son brought him and that is just amazing. I hope to live to 96 and hope to still be watching wrestling and going to wrestling. I better make this trip good so that my son will take me to All In in 2083. Justin gave him a signed program which was also super cool. These are better commercial breaks than showing the same promotional material over and over again for a few hours and Justin Roberts really knows how to work the crowd.

Blake got the dark entrance during commercial. Commercial break comes back with Ricochet's entrance. His heel gimmick of him being bald is over with the crowd. Both guys come from the heel entrance and Blake normally plays smarmy heel well but Ricochet has so much heat he is even starting to turn Blake who was a great heel GCW champion. He is getting turned to the point that people started chanting "All Heart". Okay, I started chanting "All Heart" and a few people joined in. This is another great paced match with both athletically inclined guys hitting fast moves to get the crowd into it. It slows down a bit when the Gates of Agony show up and put Christian between them and Ricochet. Christian starts to get really over with the crowd with his offense and the fact that they like chanting Bald at Ricochet. The finish is fun with Christian countering the attack on Gates of Agony and doubling them over with offense until he ends up standing on the barricade. He then used them as platforms to run back to the apron which you think is going to set up Ricochet taking him out but he manages to thwart Ricochet's attack and has you thinking for a minute that Christian might actually do this until Ricochet gets the referee distracted and Gates of Agony wipe Christian out. It was really well done and sent the crowd on a few seconds of a rollercoaster. Ricochet finished off Blake with whatever his non-top rope finisher is and then celebrates with the Gates of Agony which would make this nearly a half dozen guys that they've had lead them at this point which isn't a good sign for either side but maybe this one will work out.

Mark Briscoe comes out for the talky talk and then brings out MJF. Mark is good here and while he doesn't quite hang with MJF (Which, lets be honest, who can when MJF is in perfect form) but is good here. MJF's lines on Mark's meth lab and chicken farms with his hundred kids eating boot leather sends me into a laughing fit. Mark calling MJF was a surprisingly great comeback though and has me engaged in where this is going. Of course they manage to bring Jay's name into this which is a slippery slope with MJF's normal shock factor. He goes a completely different direction though and mentions how great of a wrestler and human being Jay Briscoe was and then says Jay probably also wishes it was Mark that died. There it is. This would be great if this was a one on one match but you also have MJF feuding with Mistico so I feel like a lot of this is getting wasted on something that can't have a good payoff with them competing in the Men's Casino Match and the separate Mistico inclusion. Mark trying to hit the Jay Driller would have been a great payoff for him to hit in the match to beat MJF with but I don't see Mark winning the match so I think the only way it could work would be another tease during this match and a build to actually hitting it later in an official match. But again, the Mistico inclusion just confuses things. This further breaks down with Hurt Business coming out to help followed by Jetspeed and the Patriarchy and the Hurt Business getting beat down by both teams while MJF and Mark fight to the back. If I have one complaint it is that there are too many breakdowns for the builds to feuds and starts to feel a bit repetitive.

These four are great. I only get to see part of the match as my son is hungry and needs to go to the bathroom. I remember seeing Queen Aminata last year on an ROH taping at the Collision before Double or Nothing and thinking she had a great look but was missing something. She has found it with this run as she is violent and has found her aura. Megan Bayne won with something which makes sense because she is definitely someone you can build the division around but this match seemed to be on the quicker end as it was ending by the time we made it back to our seats. Thekla's entrance was so cool also and the spider walk into the twist and spear is unique.

Work Shirt Guy who I haven't seen personally at a show I've been at for a while returns in perfect form with the Yuta sign. Samoa Joe is Samoa Joe. This guy has such an unmatched aura around him that I would pay just to watch him stare holes through people. I still say that it should have been Joe that dethroned Brock during that run years ago when they had that throwaway match at WWE Great Balls of Fire. He is on my list of greatest wrestlers of all time. This is no different. It looks like he says something to Yuta at the beginning about chaining and gets a huge grin on his face and they go for a second before Joe takes him down and Yuta scurries to the ropes. This is pretty much all Joe hitting his walk away for a dive not once but twice with the second one being amazing as Joe acts like he didn't even mean to on the second one of the outside and just staring at Yuta and then the ceiling like he legitimately fell from the sky. The finish is also amazing as Yuta goes for a German Suplex, bites Joe as a weardown tactic, and then thinks better and tries a rollup but ends up getting his legs kicked out and falling into the Coquina Clutch for Joe to get the win.

During the match AEW security was communicating with the security in front of us which had the section speculating about who would likely be coming out. Were the Deathriders going to make their entance for the main from our section? Would Mox or Claudio make a run-in at the end of the match? Was security warning them that a guy in the third row had a prohibited vape and they needed to handle it? It ended up being Gabe Kidd coming out and attacking Joe. This is surprisingly a match I had never thought about wanting to see until Gabe's first shot on Joe and now I want to see them beat the shit out of each other. Shibata and Hobbs both come out for the save and send Kidd and Yuta scurrying. They then just stay in the ring through the commercial break for the main event.

Coach Tony K has also been adopting these big multi mans into his builds which feel like a combination between old territory wrestling and the lead ins from New Japan. They work and can be well done if you don't let the top guys touch which mostly happens here with Mox backing away. This is just as fast paced as the opener with everybody hitting moves on everyone else. It is crazy to think how upset I was that I selfishly thought that I would never see Shibata live again after his injury in that Okada match to getting goosebumps seeing him win the ROH Pure Title in LA, to now regularly seeing him in AEW. I don't think he will physically be anywhere near where he was in 2018 but it is still great to see him regularly able to wrestle. This was fun and everybody got their stuff in. Hobbs gets put through a table by Claudio and Mox while the Bucks hit Shibata with an EVP Trigger. Mox slides in and puts a choke on Shibata to win the match. Immediately after this turns into, you guessed it, a breakdown with the heels beating down all of the faces until Swerve appears on the screen. He wrecks the Bucks' limo and sends Matthew and Nicholas running to the back which gives the faces an opportunity to recover and for Joe to help. The heels escape while the Bucks are on the screen invetigating the damage. Swerve takes the out jumping off something outside and then appearing in the arena. The faces all celebrated while we get a long distance staredown between Hangman and Mox. Hangman is an interesting character right now as there are little nuances that put him into that anti-authority role where he will beat up women, use weapons, and still comes out of the heel side of the entrance. I really hope he wins at All In but of course this could all be the vehicle for the Darby Allin return. I guess we will wait and see as well as wait to see if Hangman doesn't go over how this impatient generation (me included) deal with another heartbreak and Mox retaining.

The faces leave and the absolute madman Will Ospreay leaps into our section in the 100s and riles up the entire section. He is so great, it was amazing both athletically and just the energy he brought.

Coach Tony K comes out to close out the show but instead introduces Big Boom AJ who makes his way around ringside while the crowd just starts exiting the arena. He may be over and a great promotor but Big Boom AJ could not keep the crowd there a minute longer. He introduces The Conglomeration with Mark Briscoe, Hologram and ISHII~! making their way out. He said some stuff about Don Callis before getting interrupted by the Frat House. There is some sort of back and forth while additional people filter out and then the faces send the heels running and I can't help but shout Brodie's immortal words "WHO THE FUCK IS GRIFF GARRISON~!" to end the show.

And that was it for the first day. Fun show leading into Collision. We stopped at the Wal-Mart next door for drinks and salads and went home to open cards (We got a Dazzlers Roddie Strong, a Timeless Toni Storm, and some other cards), eat, and fall asleep. Onward~!

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RESPECT TO THE DEATH VALLEY PLAYAZ~!

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