411’s AEW All Out Preview

Hello 411 guys, gals, enbies, and everyone else! Welcome to 411’s AEW All Out preview! I’m Jeremy Thomas, and boy howdy, are the comments gonna be fun for this PPV. AEW presents its big Chicago show with a lot of surprises promised, some major title matches, and some tatted-up local guy from the area who used to wrestle a while ago working a match. I forget his name. Anyway, we have a big card that should make for a fun show. There’s a lot to get into so let’s just jump in without preamble.

The Buy In
Orange Cassidy, Wheeler Yuta, Chuck Taylor & Jurassic Express vs.
Matt Hardy, Private Party and TH2

Our Buy In match this time around is a 10-man tag team match that teams the Best Friends and Wheeler YUTA with Jurassic Express against Matt Hardy and his Hardy Family Office. The original Buy In match was the Women’s Casino Battle Royale, which is now a main card match after PAC vs. Andrade had to be delayed due to travel issues. This match is going to be much less impactful, but it should get people jazzed for the show which is what the Buy In match is supposed to do. I expect that this will be a polarizing bout; people have strong and divergent opinions on the various members of Team Babyface, and 2021 Matt Hardy is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. But the AEW faithful should dig it. I could see this match go either way in terms of a result; a loss would play into some BTE things and position Private Party and TH2 as potential contenders if the tag titles change hands, but a win would do the same for Jurassic Express and Best Friends and also starts the show off in a way that will pop the crowd. I’m going to lean on the Team Babyface side, but I wouldn’t say I’d be totally shocked if I was wrong.

WINNER: Team Babyface

Women’s Casino Battle Royale

The Women’s Casino Battle Royale deserves its spot on the main card, so I’m happy to see it get moved. AEW has done a lot of work in the last year to build up their women’s division after a shaky start, and this match has the potential to showcase that. There are a lot of potential winners in here. Tay Conti would be a great challenger to Britt Baker, Thunder Rosa is always a threat, and don’t count out Jade Cargill considering how much AEW has been pushing her. But then there’s also the Joker, where a mystery name will come in. Everyone’s eyes are on Ruby Soho to make her debut here and it does seem likely, though I don’t think we should take that as a given; there are many big name talents out there who could easily debut here. Rosa should probably get her ultimate title shot a little later and Cargill could still stand to be built up a bit, so for me it comes down to Conti or whoever the Joker is (I’m assuming Ruby for this). And the idea of Baker facing someone newly-arrived in AEW with a lot of hype seems to be the way to go, so we’ll go with the Joker.

WINNER: Ruby Soho (or whoever the Joker is)

Paul Wight vs. QT Marshall

Paul Wight’s AEW in-ring debut is definitely the match I’m least excited about on this card. While that is because of how good the other matches have the potential to be, it’s also a testament to how little I honestly care about this match. Listen, I think Wight is a great choice as a commentator and personality in AEW. I don’t have a desire to see him in the ring anymore. And QT Marshall is fine, but there’s very little he’s done that I remember with excitement. While I think the smart thing to do would be to put Marshall over here — Wight can take the loss without issue as a part-time guy and there needs to be something that happens with The Factory to make people care about them — this match does seem designed to give Wight a big moment. If that’s the case (and I’m assuming it is), I just hope they keep this short and have Wight get the knockout punch win without flattening every member of The Factory in the process.

WINNER: Paul Wight

AEW TNT Championship Match
Miro vs. Eddie Kingston

Miro vs. Eddie Kingston is a match that has the opportunity to deliver some very hard-hitting action. It’s been an absolute delight to see Kingston be given the chance to shine in AEW; he’s the kind of talent that probably would have never gotten his opportunity in WWE, and he’s making the most of it in AEW while being as entertaining as we all know he can be to boot. And Miro has, after his run as Kip Sabian’s muscle, been tearing it up as TNT Champion. So I have some pretty high expectations that this match will deliver on the action front. That said, I don’t think there’s much mystery as to how this turns out. Kingston is a credible challenger to Miro, but the champion should be running with the title a little longer than he currently has and there are still plenty of other people for him to face. This will end with Miro’s hand raised, but Kingston should give him a good run for his money.

WINNER: Miro (STILL AEW TNT Champion)

AEW Women’s World Championship Match
Britt Baker vs. Kris Statlander

While this is obviously a big stylistic difference to the TNT Championship match, they have a lot of similarities in terms of how I view the match. Baker is the star of the women’s division and has been of course tearing it up, while Statlander is someone I love who has been able to succeed in a big way in AEW. They should be able to deliver in a big way, but I think it almost goes without saying that Statlander is not the woman to take the title off the good Doctor. Baker has a long way left to go before she cedes the championship to someone else (probably Rosa), and so while I am going to enjoy seeing our favorite alien get a chance to shine on the big stage, she will ultimately be another notch in the win column for Baker.

WINNER: Britt Baker (STILL AEW Women’s World Champion)

Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima

It feels kind of weird not to have Jon Moxley in a major title program coming into All Out, and yet it also feels right. Moxley is filling a particular niche right now and seems to be having a lot of fun, facilitating the Forbidden Door arrival of NJPW talent like Yuji Nataga back in May at Double or Nothing and now Satoshi Kojima. The story here almost speaks for itself, with Kojima being an absolute legend in Japan and the next step on Moxley’s path to Hiroshi Tanahashi who is the current IWGP United States Champion after he beat Archer, who beat Moxley for the title. This should be a violent affair that ends with Moxley picking up the win and moving on in his quest toward getting the US Title back. Sounds like a winner to me.

WINNER: Jon Moxley

AEW World Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match
The Young Bucks vs. Lucha Bros

Any match involving the Young Bucks is going to come with a lot of opinions across the spectrum. I am a fan of the team, even as I recognize why people don’t like them and can absolutely see what drives them so crazy about this team. Either way, I think they’ve had a respectable and lengthy run as tag team champions since they won the belts at Full Gear last November. Meanwhile, the Lucha Bros are two of the best luchadors on the planet, especially when it comes to those with exposure here in the US. Put these four together and you’re going to have a match that has every opportunity to steal what is a very loaded show. The Bucks’ title reign is coming up on a year now, and I think that the time is ripe for a change. I could see them waiting until November to pull the switch, but Fenix and Penta also seem very much like the guys to put the titles on and I don’t think they should wait to pull that trigger. This match should get everyone riled up, both good and bad, and in the end I do think they go with the switch here to crown new champions.

WINNER: Lucha Bros (NEW AEW World Tag Team Champions)

Jericho Must Retire If He Loses
Chris Jericho vs. MJF

The Jericho vs. MJF feud has gone on a little too long at this point for me. Don’t get me wrong; it’s been very entertaining. And I thought the Labors of Jericho were pulled off very well overall, no matter how offended Domino’s got. But while I understand the need to blow this off with one final match at a PPV, I think it was one too many. That said, these guys can absolutely go against each other and it’s entertaining seeing them in the ring together. I do feel like the stipulation gives this away pretty significantly, though. I don’t think anyone believes Jericho is going to call it quits, and AEW has been kept to most of their stipulations thus far. That means I’m pretty sure we do see a Jericho win here, which is fine because MJF doesn’t get hurt badly by a loss. It’s not how I would have liked to see this booked, but it should at least be a solid match.

WINNER: Chris Jericho

AEW World Championship Match
Kenny Omega vs. Christian Cage

While I think there was some understandable concern about Christian Cage being pushed into a title feud too quickly when he debuted in AEW earlier this year, I also think that the company did an okay job of holding off long enough that it didn’t feel rushed. Cage’s first few months in the company didn’t necessarily set the world on fire, but he has remained a great performer who has done some good work in his matches with the roster. Cage’s elevation to the #1 contender did kind of come out of nowhere, but they upped the ante when he beat Omega for the Impact World Championship on the debut episode of Rampage. That helped position him as a guy who can potentially get the title off of Omega, which adds some intrigue to this match. These two delivered well in their first bout and I expect them to up the ante here. Omega’s title run isn’t over yet by a long shot though, and I don’t see Christian taking the AEW World Title off of him just yet. In the end, this should be a great match that sees Omega still champion once the bell rings.

WINNER: Kenny Omega (STILL AEW World Champion)

CM Punk vs. Darby Allin

And here we have the match that everyone’s eyes are on, and that frankly needs to be the main event even if there are no titles involved. CM Punk’s return to wrestling with AEW sparked interest like nothing I’ve seen in years. Punk is energized, he’s enjoying himself, and he’s brought a ton of interest and eyeballs to AEW’s product. The big question now is, can he still go in the ring? We’ve only seen a few bits of physicality from him and he does have a bit of ring rust, so this will be a question mark coming into the match. That said, Darby Allin is the perfect opponent because they fit thematically as opponents, and Allin will bump his ass off to make Punk look like a million dollars. To say I’m excited for this is an understatement, though there’s no way you have Punk lose his first match back in seven years even if Punk might want to put Allin over. Punk wins to stand tall and give AEW a major (probably) closing moment of the PPV.

WINNER: CM Punk

And that’s all we have for AEW All Out 2021! This is a packed show that has every chance to deliver for its fans and potentially bring new audience members in, resulting in major business as long as it doesn’t trip itself up. Thanks once again for reading, and remember that we will have live coverage of the show courtesy of Mr. Scott Slimmer right here on 411mania.com. I’m off, but you know what? CM Punk is feeling generous, so if you will, Mr. Punk…