All In main event cements MJF and Adam Cole as one of wrestling’s best stories

It all came down to this.

The story started with Maxwell Jacob Friedman denying Adam Cole five more minutes in an Eliminator match for a shot at his AEW World title. They were then paired up as blind tag partners and became one of the most beloved teams in recent memory, winning the Ring of Honor Tag Team championship on the All In pre-show. Then in the main event, they faced off again — this time with MJF’s belt on the line.

Friendship was the story at the start. Each entered for the main event of the historic show at Wembley Stadium with the tag title they’d won earlier on Aug. 27. They paused after their introductions to don their Better Than You BAY BAY team merch. But after getting a “sportsmanship” chant going among the more than 80,000 in attendance, he poked his best friend in the eye… and Cole’s demeanor changed in an instant.

Cole began to cut corners himself at that point, which confused Max. He seemed to think he could talk his partner back from the edge, but when Cole screamed that he was beter than MJF and ripped the merch off his back, the champ realized what he was dealing with.

Before long, he punctuated a series of punches in the corner by biting Cole’s forehead.

MJF didn’t totally revert to heel form, however. At the fans encouragement, he took an uncharacteric dive. And it worked!

Even Cole seemed to question what he was doing after hitting Friedman with a brainbuster on the corner of the steel steps.

Wooziness from that helped save him from a Panama Sunrise, and gave MJF an opportunity to put Cole away on the announce desk. But he couldn’t do it, declining to hit the man who taught him about friendship with a piledriver onto the steel surface of the desk. Cole had no such reservations.

By the time he got the champ in the ring, Max had recovered to kick out of a pin. It led to both men pulling themselves up with the ropes for a version of their tandem finisher. They hit the DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE, and with their arms draped over one another we got a DOUBLE PIN!

Referee Bryce Remsburg had no choice but to call it a draw, but this time when Cole asked for five more minutes, Max did even better. He declared they would go as long as it takes to get a winner in “FUCKING WEMBLEY”!

Remburg was bumped after a series of roll-ups started extra time. The ROH Tag champs tossed a steel chair back and forth, each wanting to frame the other when Bryce recovered, Eddie Guerrero-style. It allowed MJF to heat Heatseeker, but Cole kicked out. The champ couldn’t pick up his opponent for a suplex on the apron due to back & neck issues he’d been selling since the pre-show, and took one from Cole… and a follow-up Panama Sunrise on the floor.

Friedman still managed to kick out by the time they got back in the ring.

A follow-up Panama Sunrise in the ring was thwarted when MJF pulled Remsburg in to take the move. With the ref down again, Max pulled his Dynamite Diamond Ring out of his trunks…

… but again he couldn’t do it! It was then that Roderick Strong showed up to hit MJF with a low blow. Cole didn’t seem to be on board, but that didn’t stop him from hitting another Panama Sunrise and a BOOM knee.

Remsburg recovered, but was still slow to make a count. That allowed MJF to kick out, much to London’s delight.

Strong slide Cole the World title belt, imploring him to use it by saying he was Cole’s best friend. But at this point Cole chose friendship, throwing the belt at Roddy and telling him to get out. He then went to pick up Max… and got rolled up for three.

The champ and his partner were each distraught after the bell, sitting in opposite corners of the ring. MJF tried to console Cole, bringing him their ROH belts to say we still have these. Cole threw them away, which led a Max to break down and tell his partner to just take the World title and hit him in the back with it. Strong was back to tell his old friend to do it…

…but Adam couldn’t.

One of the biggest shows in wrestling history ended with a hug, and one of the best stories in wrestling today continues.

Get complete All In results and coverage of the entire show here.