Quick Thoughts: AEW Fight for the Fallen
AEW returned for their third PPV outing with Fight for the Fallen. First thing that struck me was how nice this set up looked. This is a unique venue which means that they couldn't use the full set up they have the previous set up but the whole venue and set up had a very WCW like feel. It's a different venue from what I am use to seeing from the majority of companies. However, while the action of the pre-show was good (and I'll dive into that in a bit) it suffered from a large number of technical issues between the signal dropping out and close captions appearing on screen throughout the majority of the women's pre-show match. While good this errors did not appear on the main show as well it is still a bad look for anyone looking to watch in the end. It should be stated the rest of the show lacked those production issues, thankfully.
As far as the librarian stuff goes it was the best it's been, the gimmick got the heat needed and was kept quick in the opening promo to not drag it out. Peter Avalon is good in the role as the heel of this match. I have to wonder the end goal of the Librarian gimmick, I've seen a lot of people suggesting it's to lead to Marty Scurll's debut to finger snap the ssh motion but bar that not a lot of ideas about it have been seen. Sonny Kiss done well in the match as well, was good to see him get as good of a reaction as he did with the limited amount of time he has had in an AEW ring.
This is my first time seeing Shoko Nakajima, I really liked her look and gimmick. All four of these women worked well in the match. I was really surprised that Shoko picked up the win for her team, I hope it means we will see more of her going forward. Bea Priestley and Britt Baker continued to fight after the match I wonder if this will lead to anything between the two going forward. One thing showcased in this and the women's singles match on the main card it shows to good depth in their women's division. I wonder how they will go about crowning the first Women's champion, with them doing a tournament for the tag team championship if they'll go about the Women's title in a different way.
The main show began with Jimmy Havoc, Joey Janela and Darby Allin against Shawn Spears, MJF and Sammy Guevara. Despite the odd pairing of MJF and Shawn Spears they justify their paring as an executive committee putting them together, the two did well in their interactions with each other, they didn't look to work together and were happy seeing each other get hurt. I don't really get Sammy Guevara's gimmick, he's a great wrestler but I'm lacking a connection to his character and why I should boo him as it stands. I don't think it's fault but more of a lack of weekly TV to build him up and get the character over, I imagine he'd be a lot better once they hit TNT in October as he will have time to flesh the gimmick out. Liked the 'chair-man' nickname for Shawn Spears, I'm a sucker for cheap heat and this was it, adds another wrinkle to his and Cody's feud. Darby's match with Cody done wonders to get him over as stated last time and the crowd cheered heavily when he was tagged in, while this wasn't as big of a showcase for him as Fyter Fest the audience is still engaged in his character and his wrestling. I really enjoyed this opener well, each guy had time and moment in the match to get over, I felt that Havoc had his best AEW showing here to date. In the end was very smart to have Shawn Spears pin Darby, the man Cody couldn't beat to work into their feud. I imagine over the next few weeks Spears vs. Cody will be announced for All Out.
Next was Allie vs. Brandi. The match set up and then execution confused me, the promos from Brandi were for her to come across as a face but she turns back to being a heel right away, I'd much prefer her to be a manager. It was nice to see Awesome Kong back, looks like she will be a part of AEW going forward rather then a one time appearance at Double or Nothing I would've preferred if this was Allie vs. Awesome Kong but with that being said this was probably the best match I've seen from Brandi. The post match stare down between Awesome Kong and Aja Kong however has me excited, hope this is a match for All Out as it is something I have wanted to see in AEW since they both appeared at Double or Nothing, should be a good match.
Following that was the tag match between The Dark Order, A Boy and his Dinosaur (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) and the team of Jack Evans & Angelico. I found it a bit odd Marko Stunt came out with Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus but I guess he's signed now, which is nice he has a different feel to other wrestlers on the roster but will be interesting to see his role and stories in the company, the elevation Luchasaurus got on Stunt on the elevation. The match was set for the Dark Order to win to face Best Friends as has been set up since Double or Nothing, I was however surprised that they took as much offence as they did, I thought they were set up to be dominant but I guess that isn't the case. With that being said, Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus were the MVPs of the match, I don't expect them to win the tag titles I would change my plans to have them go far in the tournament, they have the crowd support and are great wrestlers. Not only them but all 3 teams show such great double team moves and offence, it is really refreshing to see teams with offence set to being tag teams and not 2 singles guys put together. AEW's tag division I'd argue is the strongest part of their product.
I wasn't a fan of Hangman Page vs. Kip Sabian. Love both guys but this match ran at such a slow pace with Hangman selling his knee. The powerbomb onto the ramp was a brutal spot which was nice but not enough for me to enjoy match. Kip is great but as I said in the thoughts for Double or Nothing that Hangman needed big wins against big names to set him up as a real threat to be champion. As it stands I just don't see him winning. Jericho should win not just for the name value going into TNT but that Hangman isn't ready to be world champion, in a year with good build yes but not right now. I did like Jericho's attack in a mask which is just his way of attacking people now. It's good to see them finally do something together to build the match is good.
With Lucha Bros vs. SCU I'm reminded again why I love Pentagon Jr he is clearly a star and should be pushed as one, such a unique look and gimmick. Not to do a disservice to his brother Fénix who is also great but Pentagon might be one of my top 3 favourites in the company. These teams worked really well together was impressed with Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky keeping up the pace with The Lucha Bros. The crowd was really into this match with all of these talents great at hooking a crowd in. Much like the other tag match this showcased the great tag depth in the AEW roster. The right team won again, Lucha Bros needed a win but I still say that once the tag title tournament is over they should be solo stars. I did enjoy referee Aubrey Edwards missing the glove catch first time, it made me a fun unintentional spot.
The post-match attack with the ladder was odd to begin with. My first question was why a ladder but it made sense in the end. The Lucha Bros challenged Young Bucks to a ladder match for the AAA tag team championships. I had wondered before the show what the Young Bucks would be doing at All Out and this is a good match. It makes sense to have this be a ladder match to give this match a new feel with the teams facing off in two of the three shows beforehand, with this being AEW's first ladder match I am intrigued to see what they do to make it memorable.
I enjoyed the match between Kenny Omega and Cima. While the match did not have a lot of story going into the match or build the match delivered on the night. Similar to the Lucha Bros the focus was on Kenny needing a win, a predictable win for Kenny but much needed going into All Out. The diving Meteora onto the timekeeper table was a very nice spot. I hope to keep seeing Cima in AEW I've enjoyed him in all of his matches so far.
While not his best promo I thought Jericho's prom was good. He got the crowd to boo him no matter how cheap and sold his match with Hangman as well as he could to get the crowd behind Hangman. However, as stated before there needs to be more to make Hangman Page seem a real challenger for Jericho. As I stated before I think Jericho should win and go into the weekly show as he has the name value and I don't think enough has been done to make Hangman a real world champion. With All Out over a month away a lot of promotional material needs to go into elevating Hangman for this match.
I found the main event a bit weird, I know Young Bucks have been mocking The Brotherhood on Being the Elite but I found them working heel odd in this match especially when the Lucha Bros are to heels in their feud and that is still going on it was even weirder with the superkick to the back of Cody's head where he was odd with the whole post match dealings to follow and known to be friends. It was a good match but 3 out of the 4 have bigger things booked for All Out which overshadowed this match. An enjoyable main event but I have preferred the main events of the previous 2 shows as they ended up helping to build the product as a whole more than this one.
Overall as a show I enjoyed this more than Fyter Fest (while preferring the main event of Fyter Fest) but Double or Nothing remains my favourite of the three AEW shows as they stand. The difference between Fight for the Fallen and All Out is that All Out is the main show to build to whereas a lot of the matches at Fight for the Fallen had matches that seemed just thrown together. I found this to be a solid B grade show that helped build to the top show. If anything I'm looking forward to All Out and what the full match card will be now, just interested to see more of the build to it. As it stands the All Out card has the following
Each of these matches has had a build and has a reason to happen. I imagine Spears and Cody will have a match with some sort of stipulation as well as at least Aja Kong vs. Awesome Kong but only time will tell.
As far as the librarian stuff goes it was the best it's been, the gimmick got the heat needed and was kept quick in the opening promo to not drag it out. Peter Avalon is good in the role as the heel of this match. I have to wonder the end goal of the Librarian gimmick, I've seen a lot of people suggesting it's to lead to Marty Scurll's debut to finger snap the ssh motion but bar that not a lot of ideas about it have been seen. Sonny Kiss done well in the match as well, was good to see him get as good of a reaction as he did with the limited amount of time he has had in an AEW ring.
This is my first time seeing Shoko Nakajima, I really liked her look and gimmick. All four of these women worked well in the match. I was really surprised that Shoko picked up the win for her team, I hope it means we will see more of her going forward. Bea Priestley and Britt Baker continued to fight after the match I wonder if this will lead to anything between the two going forward. One thing showcased in this and the women's singles match on the main card it shows to good depth in their women's division. I wonder how they will go about crowning the first Women's champion, with them doing a tournament for the tag team championship if they'll go about the Women's title in a different way.
The main show began with Jimmy Havoc, Joey Janela and Darby Allin against Shawn Spears, MJF and Sammy Guevara. Despite the odd pairing of MJF and Shawn Spears they justify their paring as an executive committee putting them together, the two did well in their interactions with each other, they didn't look to work together and were happy seeing each other get hurt. I don't really get Sammy Guevara's gimmick, he's a great wrestler but I'm lacking a connection to his character and why I should boo him as it stands. I don't think it's fault but more of a lack of weekly TV to build him up and get the character over, I imagine he'd be a lot better once they hit TNT in October as he will have time to flesh the gimmick out. Liked the 'chair-man' nickname for Shawn Spears, I'm a sucker for cheap heat and this was it, adds another wrinkle to his and Cody's feud. Darby's match with Cody done wonders to get him over as stated last time and the crowd cheered heavily when he was tagged in, while this wasn't as big of a showcase for him as Fyter Fest the audience is still engaged in his character and his wrestling. I really enjoyed this opener well, each guy had time and moment in the match to get over, I felt that Havoc had his best AEW showing here to date. In the end was very smart to have Shawn Spears pin Darby, the man Cody couldn't beat to work into their feud. I imagine over the next few weeks Spears vs. Cody will be announced for All Out.
Next was Allie vs. Brandi. The match set up and then execution confused me, the promos from Brandi were for her to come across as a face but she turns back to being a heel right away, I'd much prefer her to be a manager. It was nice to see Awesome Kong back, looks like she will be a part of AEW going forward rather then a one time appearance at Double or Nothing I would've preferred if this was Allie vs. Awesome Kong but with that being said this was probably the best match I've seen from Brandi. The post match stare down between Awesome Kong and Aja Kong however has me excited, hope this is a match for All Out as it is something I have wanted to see in AEW since they both appeared at Double or Nothing, should be a good match.
Following that was the tag match between The Dark Order, A Boy and his Dinosaur (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) and the team of Jack Evans & Angelico. I found it a bit odd Marko Stunt came out with Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus but I guess he's signed now, which is nice he has a different feel to other wrestlers on the roster but will be interesting to see his role and stories in the company, the elevation Luchasaurus got on Stunt on the elevation. The match was set for the Dark Order to win to face Best Friends as has been set up since Double or Nothing, I was however surprised that they took as much offence as they did, I thought they were set up to be dominant but I guess that isn't the case. With that being said, Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus were the MVPs of the match, I don't expect them to win the tag titles I would change my plans to have them go far in the tournament, they have the crowd support and are great wrestlers. Not only them but all 3 teams show such great double team moves and offence, it is really refreshing to see teams with offence set to being tag teams and not 2 singles guys put together. AEW's tag division I'd argue is the strongest part of their product.
I wasn't a fan of Hangman Page vs. Kip Sabian. Love both guys but this match ran at such a slow pace with Hangman selling his knee. The powerbomb onto the ramp was a brutal spot which was nice but not enough for me to enjoy match. Kip is great but as I said in the thoughts for Double or Nothing that Hangman needed big wins against big names to set him up as a real threat to be champion. As it stands I just don't see him winning. Jericho should win not just for the name value going into TNT but that Hangman isn't ready to be world champion, in a year with good build yes but not right now. I did like Jericho's attack in a mask which is just his way of attacking people now. It's good to see them finally do something together to build the match is good.
With Lucha Bros vs. SCU I'm reminded again why I love Pentagon Jr he is clearly a star and should be pushed as one, such a unique look and gimmick. Not to do a disservice to his brother Fénix who is also great but Pentagon might be one of my top 3 favourites in the company. These teams worked really well together was impressed with Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky keeping up the pace with The Lucha Bros. The crowd was really into this match with all of these talents great at hooking a crowd in. Much like the other tag match this showcased the great tag depth in the AEW roster. The right team won again, Lucha Bros needed a win but I still say that once the tag title tournament is over they should be solo stars. I did enjoy referee Aubrey Edwards missing the glove catch first time, it made me a fun unintentional spot.
The post-match attack with the ladder was odd to begin with. My first question was why a ladder but it made sense in the end. The Lucha Bros challenged Young Bucks to a ladder match for the AAA tag team championships. I had wondered before the show what the Young Bucks would be doing at All Out and this is a good match. It makes sense to have this be a ladder match to give this match a new feel with the teams facing off in two of the three shows beforehand, with this being AEW's first ladder match I am intrigued to see what they do to make it memorable.
I enjoyed the match between Kenny Omega and Cima. While the match did not have a lot of story going into the match or build the match delivered on the night. Similar to the Lucha Bros the focus was on Kenny needing a win, a predictable win for Kenny but much needed going into All Out. The diving Meteora onto the timekeeper table was a very nice spot. I hope to keep seeing Cima in AEW I've enjoyed him in all of his matches so far.
While not his best promo I thought Jericho's prom was good. He got the crowd to boo him no matter how cheap and sold his match with Hangman as well as he could to get the crowd behind Hangman. However, as stated before there needs to be more to make Hangman Page seem a real challenger for Jericho. As I stated before I think Jericho should win and go into the weekly show as he has the name value and I don't think enough has been done to make Hangman a real world champion. With All Out over a month away a lot of promotional material needs to go into elevating Hangman for this match.
I found the main event a bit weird, I know Young Bucks have been mocking The Brotherhood on Being the Elite but I found them working heel odd in this match especially when the Lucha Bros are to heels in their feud and that is still going on it was even weirder with the superkick to the back of Cody's head where he was odd with the whole post match dealings to follow and known to be friends. It was a good match but 3 out of the 4 have bigger things booked for All Out which overshadowed this match. An enjoyable main event but I have preferred the main events of the previous 2 shows as they ended up helping to build the product as a whole more than this one.
Overall as a show I enjoyed this more than Fyter Fest (while preferring the main event of Fyter Fest) but Double or Nothing remains my favourite of the three AEW shows as they stand. The difference between Fight for the Fallen and All Out is that All Out is the main show to build to whereas a lot of the matches at Fight for the Fallen had matches that seemed just thrown together. I found this to be a solid B grade show that helped build to the top show. If anything I'm looking forward to All Out and what the full match card will be now, just interested to see more of the build to it. As it stands the All Out card has the following
- Hangman Page vs. Chris Jericho to crown the first AEW Championship
- Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley
- The Young Bucks vs. Lucha Bros in a Ladder match for the AAA Tag Team Titles
- Dark Order vs. Best Friends for a first round bye on the AEW Tag Title Tournament
Each of these matches has had a build and has a reason to happen. I imagine Spears and Cody will have a match with some sort of stipulation as well as at least Aja Kong vs. Awesome Kong but only time will tell.
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