‘AEW: All Out 2021’ PPV Review
Welcome to Nerdly’s All Out 2021 pay per view review. The hype was real, the hype was massive… Did the sold-out show live up that hype? Read on to find out!
Buy-In Match: Best Friends and Jurassic Express def. Hardy Family Office
My Thoughts: What an opener for the PPV; superb action, amazing fan interaction and another stellar performance from Orange Cassidy and Jungle Boy in particular. A massive excitement builder for the main pay per view!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #1: Miro def. Eddie Kingston
My Thoughts: Opening with the TNT title match? With Eddie Kingston? Way to rile up the audience for this PPV. These two went for it big time. This is the kind of match that played with the audiences emotions – highs and lows, hopes were raised then dashed. Total rollercoaster. Eddie looked like he was going to win it but it was not to be. We need a rematch at the Arthur Ashe show later this month. Seriously.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #2: Jon Moxley def. Satoshi Kojima
My Thoughts: This was a hard-hitting “strong-style” match with both Moxley and Kojima seemingly not pulling their punches (literally you might say). For most of this match this was hard to call, both men got the advantage at times in a match that was, surprisingly for a Moxley fight, very evenly balanced. It took TWO Paradigm Shift’s to finally put Kojima down!
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #3: Britt Baker def. Kris Statlander
My Thoughts: These two went at it hard. This looked like a battle of wits as much as skills, so much so that even Orange Cassidy got mad at Statlander in order to motivate her to keep going. I may sound like a broken record but this was another match that was hard to call, honestly. Kudos to Britt Baker for tipping that hat to her partner Adam Cole, with a “Pittsburgh Sunrise” that was the beginning of the end for Statlander.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #4: Lucha Brothers def. The Young Bucks
My Thoughts: First off, GODDAMN! What a spectacular entrance for the Lucha Brothers; and those head dresses? Stunning. This one was fast and furious from the get-go, with the Luchas Brothers turning it up to 11 straight away. Eventually the momentum swung to the Bucks and thats how the match would continue – a back and forth with each team getting the upper hand at times and each time just showing why each team are considered two of the best in the world. This match got dark when Penta was busted open and THEN attacked with a thumb-tacked boot! Nasty-looking stuff as Penta did NOT stop bleeding for the rest of the match. This, like the Kingston/Miro match, was a total rollercoaster ride – close calls, near falls and everything in between. I don’t say this often but… instant classic!
My Score: 5 out of 5
Match #5: Women’s Casino Battle Royale
My Thoughts: This nicely continued a myriad of feuds that have been running in AEW recently all the while keeping the Battle Royale format going until THAT Joker card entrant. Yes, Ruby Soho herself came in as the final entrant and set the building alight, with a pop that was almost, almost, as loud as CM Punk’s pop on Rampage a couple of weeks ago. All the participants had a good showing with all the women getting physical, my only real qualm was Jade Cargill’s wardrobe – she spent more time sorting it out than wrestling in this match! Great final pairing of Thunder Rosa and Ruby Soho in a tease for what, hopefully, will be a future feud (there was a nice post-match shot of Thunder Rosa saying “it should’ve been me”).
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #6: Chris Jericho def. MJF
My Thoughts: The sixth match of the night, and the one with the biggest consequence turned out to be, up to that point, the weakest match of the night. Too much “suffering” from moves and too much dragging the match out made this one feel like it was going at a snails pace – especially compared to everything that had come before. This was easily the least of all the MJF/Jericho matches we’ve seen in AEW. And that hokey false finish was, as Excalibur put it on commentary… bullshit. What was the point? Just to tease/annoy fans?
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #7: CM Punk def. Darby Allin
My Thoughts: Punk telegraphed a couple of calls in this match on more than a few occasions, seemingly calling the match on the fly. Otherwise this one was pretty technical – at least at the outset, with more traditional moves and holds on display; that was until Darby Allin managed to up the pace and score a couple of near falls. Punk hit a GTS on Allin which pleased the crowd but wasn’t effective, having hit Allin all the way out the ring. The match then went back and forward with each man hitting their moves, sometimes countering the other, the pace upped from the opening, till eventually a second GTS put Allin away. Nice show of respect at the end of the match too.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #8: Paul Wight def. QT Marshall
My Thoughts: Why the hell was an AEW: Dark level quasi-squash match on this card? This was the low point of this PPV that looked even worse when compared to everything that came before and after. OK, I get putting Paul Wight on a PPV might have been good for the guy but when you had Malakai Black appear on Rampage and only on this pay per view via a video promo this made no sense. Even moreso considering that this match did not feel anything like a PPV-worthy fight.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #9: [Main Event] Kenny Omega def. Christian Cage
My Thoughts: Broken record time… This was a hard fought match that saw both men take risks – some paid off, some didn’t. Hopefully Cage’s rib/abdomen injury (clearly visible seconds after a table spot) isn’t too serious. Cage has not looked better in AEW than he did here, even though he lost – taking an epic one winged angel off the top rope! Of course we had shenanigans from the Elite during the match AND after the match, but that led to… well two appearances that will probably change the future of AEW.
My Score: 4 out of 5
News of the Night:
- Dan Lambert from American Top Team turned up, MMA fighters in hand, to once again taunt AEW fans and threaten the AEW roster alongside the Men of the Year.
- Minoru Suzuki came out after the Moxley/Kojima match to face-down Moxley and then beat him down!
- Rubny Soho made her AEW debut as the 21st entrant in the Women’s Casino Battle Royale.
- It was announced Jon Moxley would face Minoru Suzuki on Dynamite on Weds night.
- Adam Cole made a shock debut afrter the Omega/Cage match, reuniting with old Elite cronies!
- THEN Bryan Danielson debuted…. WHAT A NIGHT!!!!!!
Final Verdict: 4/5
My first thoughts when this was all over was not how great the show was but more “What was with the TWO dodgy ref calls on this pay per view?” I hope to god that’s not a sign of shitty “storyline” refereeing coming in future. That’s the VERY last thing AEW needs. Other than that, and a couple of weak matches (Jericho’s and QT Marshall’s) this was an excellent night of wrestling. EXCELLENT. Who’d have thought we’d get one of the best tag team matches EVER, along with the debut of Ruby Soho, an appearance from Minoru Suzuki AND the first match from CM Punk in 7 years all on one card? Wrestling fans dream come true IMHO. Oh, and did I mention Adam Cole AND Bryan Danielson also debuted to close the PPV?!?! All Out literally was a [wrestling cliche time] “game changer” for AEW.
