AEW All Out opened with a fantastic TNT Championship match that ended with Miro retaining over a fiesty and competitive Eddie Kingston. The story of the match involved Kingston targeting Miro’s neck and upper chest, which he claimed was Miro’s kryptonite. Meanwhile, Miro attempted to use brute force to overwhelm Kingston, but simply couldn’t beat down Kingston despite some pretty devastating strikes. In the end, it turned into a bit of fluky finish, with Miro taking advantage of some ref distractions to retain.
The ending of the match was set up when Kingston accidentally pulled off the protector off a top rope buckle. Shortly after, Miro managed to get Kingston in the infamous Game Over submission, but Kingston managed to escape by grabbing the top rope. Kingston almost immediately scored a DDT on Miro but didn’t earn the victory as the referee was distracted by trying to get the protector back on the buckle. The referee then prevented Kingston from throwing Miro into the exposed buckle, which gave Miro the opening to land a low blow and then a devastating kick to the neck.
Miro has been TNT Champion since May, when he beat Darby Allen on AEW Dynamite. Since he claimed the belt, Miro had transformed himself into the “Redeemer,” a preacher-style gimmick that claimed to be “God’s Favorite Champion.” The Redeemer gimmick has given Miro the chance to show off his promo skills, which has led to some amazing and hilarious lines.
The ending of the match does provide Kingston with an opening for a second challenge, especially as he technically was on top of the champion for more than 3 seconds. AEW is heading to Arthur Ashe Stadium later this month, and it seems like a match between native New Yorker Kingston and Miro would be a great headline match.
