Whether it was because their main event of Fyter Fest had to be pushed back due to COVID-19 possibilities or whatever else, All Elite Wrestling ran Fight For The Fallen last night. That event was a pretty significant one, but hopefully it leads to the return of our regularly scheduled programming this upcoming Wednesday. The event went smoothly, but didn’t necessarily feel like a big event. After running three straight weeks like this, the fatigue of “big TV event” was setting in. In reality, Fight For The Fallen was a bigger event than it seemed. Storylines were furthered. Characters showed some of their true colors. Finally, we saw what could be a heel turn incoming for AEW’s most “under-utilized” (more on this later) superstar. Let’s get to the show.
Fight For The Fallen: Cody Rhodes Shows A More Aggro Side
The TNT Title has been one of the best parts of AEW programming. From the tournament for the title, to all the matches that Cody has had for it, the title is really showing how much Cody can do to get others over. It doesn’t matter that Cody keeps winning these matches. It matters that all of his opponents have looked like studs. Sonny Kiss was no different last night. Both competitors showed a more aggressive side to the match. With Sonny Kiss shoving a cameraman out of the way, and Cody verging on heel tactics to take the match. Of course we had a show of respect afterward.
This all adds up to a moment when eventually one of these mystery challengers is going to beat Cody for the title. That moment will be huge and I can’t wait to see where they go with it from here. This was a great opener for the show.
Fight For The Fallen: FTR vs. The Lucha Bros
Outside of the main event, this was the match I was most looking forward to. The styles of FTR and the Lucha Bros don’t seem like they should mesh. When you get two of the best tag-teams in modern memory in one ring, they should always produce magic. This match was very obviously a TV match. These two put on a very good match, but not the instant classic that we all wanted. AEW is definitely saving that one for a PPV down the line. That’s okay, because this match is a great preview for whenever that clash comes down the line.
Ray Fenix is a budding star in the making for AEW. Whenever his singles run comes in the company, it’s going to be gigantic. I wouldn’t mind seeing him challenge Cody for the TNT Title. The finish to the match was unexpected but allowed for the Lucha Bros to look good in defeat. FTR’s tension with Omega could finally be boiling over.
Fight For The Fallen: Jericho Declares Himself The Demo-God And OJ
This segment was funny, but it was out of character for all involved. Orange Cassidy doing some Looney Tunes style tricks on the Inner Circle isn’t something that fits his character. Jericho coming out and proclaiming TV ratings feels forced. They shouldn’t care about TV ratings on the actual program. Just have him come out and make a snide comment about WWE or NXT, not the actual “well actually we’re leading in the 18-34 demographic” stuff. The nickname of “Demo-God” is gold though, so I guess that’s one good thing to come out of this. Also a rematch between Orange Cassidy and Jericho should also be great at some point.
Fight For The Fallen: Jurassic Express vs. The Elite
I’ll start off with what I didn’t like about this match. Marko Stunt. It’s great that someone who’s 5’2 can have a job in pro wrestling. Just keep him away from the top stars of the company. It’s embarrassing having him go toe-to-toe with someone like Kenny Omega. It just shouldn’t happen. Now, with that being said, the Canadian Destroyer he hit on Matt Jackson near the end of this match was awesome. Everything else, I can do without though.
Now for the good of this match! It was an awesome showing for Jurassic Express against three of the top stars in AEW. Luchasaurus showed just how agile and quick he is for a big man. Jungle Boy is a future star for AEW. It was just a great match overall. What really got the juices flowing was Kenny Omega’s attitude during the whole thing, however.
Kenny has been a smiling, babyface, his entire time in AEW. During this match, and especially after, you saw the heel side of his character come out. Kenny needs this turn to cement himself as the wrestler we all knew he could be when he signed with AEW. It’ll be a great couple months to get there, especially with some tension coming from Hangman Page.
Fight For The Fallen: Nightmare Sisters vs. MJ Jenkins and Kenzi Page
This was a pretty throwaway match for the tag team of Allie and Brandi. It was a squash that’s showing how the two might be able to actually work together despite their desire to take the spotlight from one-another. Hopefully MJ Jenkins and Kenzi Page get some actual time to wrestle in the future because they’ve now been squashed by this tag-team and Nyla Rose in consecutive weeks.
Fight For The Fallen: Nyla Rose Finds Her Manager
Those of you who guessed Vickie Guerrero as her manager get a gold star. Nyla having a manager could be a godsend for her, but she really should just be smashing people in the ring. It’s another issue for AEW because she’s the number one contender for Shida’s title, but she can’t really do anything outside of the title picture because she’s so dominant. It’s a corner they’re going to have to book themselves out of, or just give the title to Nyla Rose again. We’ll have to see how this pairing works in the coming months.
Fight For The Fallen: Jon Moxley vs. Brian Cage Succeeds Massively
I was someone who thought that this Jon Moxley vs. Brian Cage match got booked into a corner. You don’t want to have the guy coming in as a free agent to the company getting a title immediately. The FTW Championship thing felt silly and forced. And it was just hamstrung by outside circumstances due to COVID-19.
Well AEW found a way to not only have a great main event style match between these two. They showed fans just what Brian Cage can do in a one on one match. It’s a lot like the hopes and dreams that fans have for Brock Lesnar. They just want him to turn back the clock and put on a great match. Brian Cage has the size, the physique, and he also has the agility for that role. The action in this one was fast and physical. It told a great story of Cage’s arm and Moxley’s aggressive strategy of targeting it. Cage didn’t officially lose or tap out, so his heat is still there, and Moxley is still the champion. (Huge Moxley mark over here by the way).
The real cherry on top was the reappearance of Darby Allin.
Darby Allin Makes The Save And Sets Up Power Vs. Force Of Will
Darby vs. Brian Cage should be electric. It’s what the company probably wants most out of a match right now. It gives Cage a reason to want to destroy Allin, it gives Moxley the space to move to a new challenger, it’s pretty perfect booking. It might even give us the deranged mirror match with Moxley vs. Allin at some point.
Overall, Fight For The Fallen was a great show for TV, but I’ll be happy to go back to the normal Dynamite for next week. It furthered storylines more than a normal TV show would, and it sets up AEW for the coming months with plenty of feuds that all feel big.
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Credits: All Elite Wrestling
