Recap and Review of AEW: All Out 2021
When you think of great pro wrestling towns, you think of New York, Philadelphia and Toronto. Then there is Chicago. The city of Chicago has a rich history when it comes to pro wrestling. Many great moments and matches have happened in Chicago. Tonight, one of the most anticipated pay-per-views took place in Chicago. Tonight, AEW presented All Out and you could feel landscape of pro wrestling changing right before our eyes. Here is what went down All Out.
-The Jurassic Express, Chuck Taylor, Orange Cassidy and Wheeler Yuta defeated Matt Hardy, Private Party and TH2
-Miro defeated Eddie Kingston to retain the AEW TNT Championship
-Jon Moxley defeated Satoshi Kojima
-Britt Baker defeated Kris Statlander to retain the AEW Women’s Championship
-The Lucha Brothers defeated The Young Bucks to become the new AEW Tag Team Champions
-Ruby Soho won the Women’s Casino Battle Royal to become the #1 Contender to the AEW Women’s Championship
-Chris Jericho defeated MJF
-CM Punk defeated Darby Allin
-Paul Wight defeated QT Marshall
-Kenny Omega defeated Christian Cage to retain the AEW World Championship
The Buy In Show featured a massive 10-man Tag Team Match. On one side you had Jurassic Express, Orange Cassidy, Wheeler Yuta and Chuck Taylor. The other side had Matt Hardy, Private Party and TH2. This was a lot of great talent to showcase to get the crowd fired up. There were so many different personalities and styles in this match which made it very interesting to see them interact. It also showcased the depth of the tag team division with teams like The Jurassic Express, Private Party and TH2. I also loved the beef going on between Matt Hardy and Orange Cassidy, which continued after the match when the Hardy Family tried cutting Cassidy’s hair.
In the opening match of All Out we saw Miro defend the TNT Championship against Eddie Kingston. This was a slugfest from the opening bell. There were many times that Kingston had Miro beat, but Miro was very resourceful on his way to another victory. I have to say that this one of Kingston’s best matches that he’s had during this stage of his career. Miro ha been unstoppable since he’s come to AEW and he’s successfully defended the championship against Lance Archer and now Eddie Kingston. I will be very intrigued to see who steps up to Miro next.
Following the first title match of the night, we were treated to Jon Moxley facing Japanese Legend Satoshi Kojima. The reason this match came together was because Moxley wanted competition from New Japan Pro Wrestling. No one answered the challenge until Kojima came knocking at the door. Moxley has been hitting on all cylinders as of late in AEW and other promotions that he’s been appearing at. I love that Kojima gave Moxley a fight, because Mox was talking about Kojima’s age prior to this match happened. This was a dog fight between two grizzled veterans and it did not disappoint. Moxley ended up winning the match, but it was after the match that more fireworks ensued. Minoru Suzuki came down to confront Moxley, which ended up in a wild brawl with Suzuki standing tall.
We move on to the second championship match of the night with Britt Baker defended the AEW Women’ Championship against Kris Statlander This was a Women’s Championship that was highly anticipated because Statlander is an excellent wrestler and Baker continues to get better in the ring. Baker’s biggest strength is her character and her promo skills. She can talk up a feud and a match better then any women in pro wrestling right now. Statlander really shined in this match and proved why she was put in this spot. Baker may have won the match, but I have no doubt that Statlander is a future AEW Women’s Champion.
Another championship match followed with the Young Bucks defending the championships against The Lucha Brothers. These two teams have always delivered every time they are in the ring together. They have been in Ladder Matches, Street Fights, and now inside a steel cage. The Young Bucks have fended off a lot of challengers since become champions last year. It was great to see the Lucha Bros in this match because many feel the Tag Team Division has had a hard time finding their direction. There are so many great tag teams in AEW that need to be positioned into the championship picture. This match was an excellent showcase of tag team wrestling inside of the cage. This match was as wild and crazy of a tag team match as I’ve seen, but at the end of it The Lucha Brothers dethroned The Young Bucks to become the new Tag Team Champions. With new Tag Team Champions, I hope we see some new tag teams in the spotlight contending for those championships. This was a well-earned win for the Lucha Brothers.
The Women’s Casino Battle Royal was next with 21 women trying to earn an AEW Women’s Championship. This match was originally going to be on the Buy In, but due to PAC and Andrade being postponed it was moved to main part of the show. I love the concept of AEW’S Battle Royals because it shakes up the order of things. The joker which is the wildcard pick ended up being Ruby Soho. She is an excellent addition to the Women’s Division. She’s bringing a ton of experience and has been in some very high caliber matches. Soho was among the final three women came down along with Thunder Rosa and Nyla Rose. Soho and Rosa had an amazing back and forth between before Soho ultimately eliminated Rosa to win the match.
One of the most heated rivalries that’s taken place since AEW has started has been between Chris Jericho and MJF. We’ve seen the Inner Circle against the Pinnacle. We’ve seen the Five Labors of Jericho. All of this led to the culmination of a feud where if Jericho lost, he would have to stop wrestling for AEW. Even MJF mocked Jericho’s WWE debut with a countdown of his own before the match. Both men pulled a lot of different things in their arsenal to try and win this match. This match told a great story of one man trying everything he could to end a career and the other man just trying to hang on to hold on to his career. There was so much drama in the match that we even thought for a moment that Jericho lost due to an official making an error.
For seven long years, pro wrestling fans waited for the return of CM Punk and it happened tonight against a fast-rising star in Darby Allin. I wondered how CM Punk was going to do in the ring, but those doubts were ultimately laid to rest as he looked great. The contrasts of styles were very apparent in this match. Allin has a fast pace and high impact offense and Punk worked a slow methodical style to contain the innovative Allin. The longer this match went, the more I knew Punk prepared very hard for this match. He didn’t half heart his training. I think his pace and tempo will only getting better the more matches he has. CM Punk is back and fans have a lot to look forward to with how great Punk looked in the ring.
Before the main event, Paul Wight made his AEW in-ring debut against QT Marshall and it was a short match like many expected. It was great to see The Giant get a nice little moment, but most will tell you it was a filler to calm the crowd down from CM Punk vs. Darby Allin. The Main Event featured Kenny Omega defending the AEW Championship against the current Impact Wrestling Champion Christian Cage. It was Christian Cage who defeated Omega for the Impact World Championship during the build up of this match. Cage is another performer who was for a long period of time and his career has been resurrected in AEW. Christian Cage has proven that he is still a championship main event wrestler. Even though Cage lost the match, it did not hurt his momentum at all. As Kenny Omega and the rest of The Elite were celebrating, Adam Cole made his AEW debut and rejoined The Elite. While The Elite stood tall, the “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson: came in for the save. The show ended with Danielson standing tall with Christian Cage and Jurassic Express.
All Elite Wrestling definitely went all out for this pay-per-view. The card was wonderful from top to bottom with some moments and great surprises. You could feel the landscape of wrestling change as the progressed. Just look at the reactions on social media. I’ve not seen so much positive reaction for a pay-per-view like this in a long time. I have to give All Out a 9 out of 10. It was almost flawless. Tonight, AEW went all out, but on November 13th they will kick it into full gear.
