Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Adam Cole successfully defended the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships for the first time in the opening match of AEW All Out. After the match, however, things got dire for MJF. Ring of Honor World Television Champion Samoa Joe appeared, attacking MJF, focusing on the champion’s now-vulnerable neck.
Prior to that, as the match began, MJF acknowledged that Reynolds played a role in training him and shook Reynolds’ hand. Both men attended the Create-A-Pro wrestling school on Long Island, New York. Shortly after that, however, MJF rolled out of the ring and began selling his neck, with the villainous Dark Order taking advantage of the situation by attacking Friedman. An assault with a chair led to the AEW World Champion being helped to the back, leaving Cole to face Silver and Reynolds alone. While Cole was able to put up a fight, the interference of Evil Uno made things even more difficult for the champion, almost turning the match into a three-on-one.
After Cole spent some time getting teamed up against, MJF finally returned to the ring as referees tried to hold him back. Cole tagged the AEW World Champion in and, while still holding his neck in pain, MJF turned the tide back in favor of the champions. With fans chanting for the duo to deliver a double clothesline, MJF tagged Cole in and they delivered, with Cole pinning Reynolds. Silver and Reynolds previously qualified for the match by winning a tag team battle royale on AEW Rampage, but were unable to turn the opportunity into a title victory.
It now appears that Samoa Joe has his eyes on the AEW World Championship held by MJF. As announced on AEW Dynamite earlier this week, a tournament will soon take place to determine the number one contender for the AEW World Championship held by MJF, with Roderick Strong becoming the first to declare himself. Whether he enters the tournament or bypasses the process altogether, it now seems inevitable that Joe and MJF will clash in the near future. In the minutes following the MJF-Cole match and the pull-apart, Joe was able to defeat Shane Taylor to retain the Ring of Honor World Television Championship.