Yes.

Yes it was. Sorry…spoiler alert!

I have been very busy and needed to rewatch All Out all the way through prior to writing out my thoughts, but without a shadow of a doubt All Out 2021 was the single best pay per view All Elite Wrestling has aired. Let’s talk about it!

Buy-In: Best Friends/Jurassic Express vs. Hardy Family Office

To kick off the festivities we have an 8-man tag team match. This went exactly as expected. Large tag team matches promise to be action packed and fast paced, and this was exactly that. Just a fun match to get the crowd prepped for the dynamite card coming up. Jurassic Express and Best Friends win after Jungle Boy locks in the Snare Trap. Nothing special, just a good fun match!

After the bell, the Hardy Family Office takes them all out with a return from the Butcher! He looks great, and knocks out Orange Cassidy until Jurassic Express come back out for the save.

TNT Championship: Miro (c) vs. Eddie Kingston

The matches at All Out had a common theme: they told fantastic stories. I’m a sucker for a story, and this match had a story with possible long term ramifications.

This match was two brutes trying to kill each other. Miro is obviously a monster, but Eddie really showed how strong he was too with some impressive suplexes on the Bulgarian giant. This back and forth affair was Miro overpowering Eddie, despite Eddie’s best attempts to outsmart him.

Towards the end of the match, Miro took the turnbuckle pad off. Eddie took advantage and hit his spinning backfist and went for the cover. The ref was busy with putting the turnbuckle back on, which caused him to start counting late. Regardless if this was intentional or not, it was well done.

As a result of fifteen minutes of brutality, both men are visibly spent. Eddie was wobbly from many thrust kicks to the head, and Miro is battered and bruised by incessant chops of the Mad King.

The end of the match sees Eddie attempt to use the open turnbuckle from earlier, but the referee stepped in front. Miro took advantage, kicked Eddie below the belt, and hit him with double thrust kicks for the pinfall.

This match was amazing, and a fantastic start to this legendary pay per view. The end of the match leaves an opening for Eddie Kingston to get a deserved rematch.

I am very intrigued by the long term story that might be playing out here. AEW could be setting up a possible alley for a Miro loss. A lot of this match was Miro dominant, but when Eddie had the upper hand he targeted Miro’s upper chest or neck region. After Eddie hit his backfist, he gave Miro a brutal DDT which knocked Miro out. Miro is now susceptible to the DDT, and I believe he’s losing soon.

AEW always doing the little things to perfection.

Satoshi Kojima vs. Jon Moxley

Not much too this match, and very similar to the last match. Jon Moxley versus Satoshi Kojima was exactly what it was supposed to be: two dudes beating the hell out of each other.

The highlight of this match was when Moxley bit Kojima’s head, and then Kojima did the exact same to Mox. Most of the match was back and forth, and I’m amazed at how good the 50 year old looked. Not much here with this one. Just a good brawl. Moxley beats Kojima with two Paradigm shifts.

Good match here, with nothing to complain about. It did exactly what it needed to. The match itself was a little overshadowed by what happened afterwards.

After Moxley pins Kojima, he bows to the man and shows his massive respect to the legend. Music begins playing, and out comes Minoru Suzuki! Moxley looks terrified in the ring, and rightfully so. The two of them almost killed each other when Moxley was in Japan. Suzuki is a devilish badass, and he looks fantastic. Later in the night, it was confirmed that Moxley and Suzuki will face off on Dynamite this Wednesday!

Women’s Championship: Britt Baker DMD (c) vs. Kris Statlander

Britt Baker and Kris Statlander have phenomenal chemistry, and this was a great match. The story of this match was Statlander’s strength versus Britt’s technical ability and viciousness. There were a few times where Britt and Statlander traded submissions and their transitioning was flawless.

Statlander’s strength cannot be undersold here. She hit a superplex off of the top rope where she lifted Britt up, stalled her in midair, and then threw Britt over her head. My jaw was on the floor. The flips she added to her arsenal look devastating as well. I love the Area 451, but she didn’t hit it here.

In another feat of Superalien strength, Statlander got out of the Lockjaw by rolling through and squatting Britt off of the canvas. However, Britt took advantage on the outside with a curb stomp off of the steps. There was a cool moment here with Orange Cassidy motivating Statlander to break up the count out.

In one of the top moments of the night, and foreshadowing for the main event, Britt hits a Panama Sunrise as the crowd went wild. Statlander then kicks out, but Britt seamlessly transitions into the Lockjaw for the victory.

This match was flawless, and might have been Britt’s best match to date. From bell to bell, I loved every second of this. Never once did I believe that Statlander would win, but she kicked ass in this match as well. She has improved tremendously. She is in contention for most improved AEW Woman’s wrestler in 2021. This match was one of my favorites of the entire night on a massively stacked card. Good for these ladies!

Tag Team Championship Steel Cage: The Young Bucks vs. Lucha Bros

Absolute perfection.

That’s my review of this match. If you haven’t had the chance to watch All Out, but would like a recommendation for one match to watch from it, this is it. This is a match of the year contender, and is close to the top of AEW’s history.

It was amazing even before the bell rang, their grand entrance set the tone for the spectacle to come. I cannot do this match justice by explaining everything that happened. It was constant madness and chaos, with both teams hitting tandem cage moves and Rey Fenix continuously proving he’s unstoppable.

After the Jackson’s slowed the pace by low blowing the Lucha Bros, Brandon Cutler grabbed a bag and threw it to Matt Jackson. Inside the bag was a shoe with thumbtacks glued to it. The shoe looked absolutely terrifying, as did Matt licking it. He was about to superkick Rey Fenix in the face with the shoe, but Penta sacrificed himself for his younger brother. Just a wonderful moment in this crazy match.

After what seemed an inevitable end after a BTE trigger, the Lucha Bros kicked out and the crowd went wild. This started their comeback, which culminated in Rey Fenix jumping off of the Skyscraper-like cage onto the Jacksons. That nut case had to have been in the air for three seconds, it was such a long fall. The Lucha Bros pop up and hit their assisted piledriver and get the win! NEW CHAMPS!

There’s not much more I can say about this match. Everything about it was perfect. The entrances, the crazy-nonstop action, the emotion, and the ending were perfect. When the Bucks hit their BTE trigger after using the spiked shoe, you could feel the inevitability of them winning. After the Fenix kicks out, you can feel the electricity in the air as the tide turns. You really feel like they might beat the champs, and when they did it was so cathartic.

Match of the night.

Match of the year.

I loved it so much.

The Lucha Brothers deserve all of the titles in the world, they are so good. I cannot wait to see what their title run looks like.

Casino Battle Royale

The Casino Battle Royale was next, and it was a great call by AEW to follow that emotional rollercoaster with this. A long and easily digestible match with a beautiful surprise at the end.

I love how AEW has improved on their Battle Royales since their inception. This one was one of their best, but I still have a couple gripes with the format itself. I understand why they bring people out in groups of five. The Royal Rumble takes forever, and AEW doesn’t have that kind of time. I just feel like bringing so many people out at once takes away from each person. Someone gets glossed over by the cameras. They cannot catch everyone’s move.

It’s a small gripe, but it’s a common thread in all AEW Casino Battle Royales.

We even got a few feuds to start and a couple to continue coming out of it. Big Swole and Diamante couldn’t ignore their differences and were both eliminated because of it. Nyla Rose and Jade Cargill seem destined for a feud after Nyla betrayed Jade and eliminated her after working together.

The story of this match was always going to be the Joker card. Ruby Soho debuted as the Joker card, and her face instantly lit up. Everything I’ve seen from her exudes happiness and gratitude, which everyone could use more of.

The final three were Soho, Thunder Rosa, and Nyla Rose. After eliminating Nyla, Soho and Rosa had an awesome back and forth fight. AEW seems to book their battle royales this way. Whittle the competition down to two and let them battle.

Soho eliminated Rosa, and celebrated with referee Bryce Remsburg. This was adorable, and she just puts a smile on my face.

This was great! I wasn’t expecting the debuting person to win right off the bat, but inject Ruby Soho versus Britt Baker right into my veins.

A little personal note to AEW. The women’s division is STACKED now with television ready talent. There is no reason to not have multiple women’s matches and feuds on TNT now. That was my takeaway from this Battle Royale. Book it, Tony.

MJF vs. Jericho

Right off of the bat, I loved everything about this. MJF trolled us all with the Y2J countdown, which was hilarious. He is just a master heel, and he’s still incredibly young.

This match was another great story in the ring. MJF beat up on Jericho’s previously injured arm, and Jericho wore down MJF’s low back. This foreshadowed the finish brilliantly, as each move MJF did hurt his own back.

Towards the end of the match, Jericho hits a Codebreaker onto MJF and they both are down for the count. Wardlow has seen enough and walks down the ramp to interfere. Jake Hager comes running after him, and they brawl as the referees come down to break it up.

What you don’t see is MJF grabbing Jericho’s bat, “Floyd.” The referee is distracted with the pandemonium outside of the ring, and rightfully so. MJF goes dastardly heel and bashes Jericho on the head, and then hits him with the Judas Effect, for maximum troll heel. Referee turns around and counts to three for MJF, and he wins!

Or did he?

Jericho has his foot on the bottom rope at the count of two, but the referee didn’t see it. Fortunately Paul Turner, AEW’s head referee, had ran down to help break up Hager and Wardlow. He grabs Aubrey Edwards, and has her restart the match.

Jericho and MJF trade submissions, and MJF’s low back gives out to the Walls of Jericho. Jericho wins!

This was awesome, and the best bout between the two of them. The storytelling inside the ring was top notch, and the false finish wasn’t exactly necessary but a fun little addition. This is the amount of drama I love in my professional wrestling. Add to the feuds in small amounts, and allow the in-ring work do the story telling. Two thumbs up from me.

CM Punk vs. Darby Allin

He’s still got it, folks.

CM Punk absolutely showed that he can still go inside the squared circle, while also keeping up with the crazy Darby Allin in the process. Yes, he looked a little winded at times, but that didn’t hamper him at all. He also looks weird in tights instead of trunks.

The intensity of this match was palpable from start to finish. Punk kept trying to bully Darby with his size, but his toughness and speed kept him in the match. A few rest holds and submissions only kept Darby grounded for so long, as the Enigma hit a Stundog Millionaire and Code Red for a close two count. The pace picked up after that, which ended after Punk hit a GTS. This caused Darby to fall out of the ring, however.

My favorite part of this match was after Darby hit his crazy suicide dive, and then a flipping senton from the top rope onto the floor. Darby whipped Punk into the ring and attempted his Coffin Drop, but Punk just sits up and avoids it like he was The Undertaker. This was so cool, and he knew it too. The sly smile as he outsmarted Darby was amazing. I can’t wait for heel CM Punk.

After they trade moves back and forth, Punk lifts Darby over his shoulders and hits the GTS for the pinfall.

I keep saying this, but this was absolutely everything it needed to be and then some. CM Punk matches aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. They can be hit or miss for me, but this one absolutely hit it out of the park. This was the match on the card that prompted my rewatch, because there was a lot here to miss. Good stuff, and it makes me excited to see who Punk fights next.

Paul Wight vs. QT Marshall

After four emotional matches in a row, things came back down to Earth with a nice palate cleanser to calm the crowd down before the main event. Paul Wight and QT Marshall did what they needed to here, and it was perfectly fine.

It all started with the Factory attempting to overwhelm the big man before the bell. Wight would have nothing of it, and that was the story of the short match. QT and the Factory kept trying to interfere, and tall Paul shot them down. After a couple of fun corner wallops to QT’s chest, Paul Wight finished it off with a chokeslam.

Nothing wrong with this. The match was what it needed to be, and I enjoyed getting to see Paul Wight in the ring. Do I need to see it again any time soon? Not really, but I am interested to see why the Gunn Club destroyed Paul Wight on last week’s Dynamite since they didn’t show up here.

AEW World Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Christian Cage

These two would have never put on a bad match, but we got way more than I ever expected. After their classic on the debut of Rampage, this exceeded that and then some.

The entire match was a hard hitting affair, with Christian doing everything in his power to counter and avoid the One Winged Angel. Kenny was his cocky self, acting up like he’s the best in the world (he definitely is).

After the first few minutes started back and forth, trading blows, Kenny throws Cage over the ringside steps and then stomps a table over him. He proceeds to yell “DID I DO THAT,” like Steve Urkel, which made me laugh because I’m a child. Him and Callis also set up another table, which comes into play later.

With more Omega dominance, V Trigger after V trigger and Snapdragon suplexes. After countering a One Winged Angel, Christian ends up spearing Omega through the table left at ringside. Christian ends up taking the worst part of the table, as a metal leg shoots through the wood and gashes him in the ribs. You can see the wound in the picture above. It looked pretty brutal, and I hope nothing broke.

The Good Brothers come out to distract, but Cage beats them up and gets Kenny into the Killswitch but for only a two count. Kenny then hits a massive One Winged Angel from the top rope for the victory.

This was fantastic. Nobody in their right mind thought Christian was going to win, but the match itself was great. I loved the Rampage match, but this absolutely topped it. This Kenny Omega championship run is phenomenal, and will go down in history as one of the best. As will what happened after the match…

All of the Elite come down and celebrate with Kenny, and Kenny grabs a microphone to boast. He talks about how nobody is going to beat him, and how he’s beat literally everyone in the company. “The only people that could have a chance are not here, or dead.”

Then the lights go off. Everyone expected Bryan Danielson to be at All Out, but when Adam Cole blasts across the screen the crowd erupts! It’s awesome when AEW can surprise people in the day of the dirtsheets.

Adam Cole comes to the ring acting like he’s mad at the Elite, and he wants to fight. He quickly shifts and superkicks Jungle Boy, who had come out to help Christian. Cole has joined the Elite, which is just perfect and I love the possibilities.

Kenny goes back to boasting, and begins his “Goodbye and Goodnight,” diatribe.

“Flight of the Valkyries” blasts through the speakers, and the crowd goes nuclear. Bryan Danielson debuts and comes down for the save. It is absolutely crazy that this happened. He looked amazing, and he kicked the absolute crap out of Nick Jackson.

The show ends with one of the best endings ever.

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I cannot understate how good this show was. I have watched and rewatched it three times now, and it doesn’t get old. There was not a bad match on the entire card, and the worst match was a five minute pseudo-squash match that accomplished everything it set out to do.

The matches, emotion, technical prowess, and surprises combine to make this one of my favorite ppv’s ever, and absolutely AEW’s best. The only show I would compare it to was the first Double or Nothing. That show and this show are similar in scope of how important they were. Double or Nothing set the tone for how AEW was going to start, and All Out 2021 has set the tone for the next era.

The Era of the best professional wrestling in the world.

If I’m rating this show on a 5 point scale, it’s a 5.

10 point scale? 10.

Hell, I could even rate this a 10 out of 5. It was absolute perfection, and I cannot wait to see where AEW goes from here.

Verdict: 5/5 (Perfection)