Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.
This week, Dallas Allsopp, Greg Coleman and CJ Brown review AEW All Out 2021.
All Out was a fantastic wrestling pay-per-view, which genuinely felt like the start of a wave of change for AEW. Which match took home the honours of Match of the Night? Should Ruby Soho have won the Casino Battle Royale? And just how big was the impact of Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson's AEW debuts?
Question 1: Which match was your favourite on the night? Did any match underwhelm?
ALLSOPP: I know the AEW Tag Team Championship match was a spectacle, but for me as a CM Punk fan, I have to choose his contest with Darby Allin as my favourite of the night. That is not to say it was the best, but it certainly was a highlight for me to see The Best in the World in a wrestling ring again.
I also feel that no match underwhelmed, as every contest served it’s purpose on the card well.
COLEMAN: The Young Bucks vs Lucha Bros was my favorite and best match of the night. Whenever those four men share a ring together, just forget about winning match of the night. The Lucha Bros winning was a pleasant surprise, and I can’t wait to see the matches they have with a deep AEW roster of tag teams.
No match in particular underwhelmed. I believe the matches on the card were sequenced and booked really well, and the right person won every night. AEW had an excellent outing on Sunday!
BROWN: The Lucha Bros vs The Young Bucks absolutely stole the show. They put on a fantastic match. It was brutal, inventive and emotional. The Lucha Bros deserve to reign supreme in the tag division for a good while. Surely, if the pandemic hadn’t occurred, we would have seen them capture gold much sooner. So I am very excited to have them at the top of the tag division taking on all challengers!
I understand it’s purpose and placement on the card, but I could have done without the Paul Wight vs QT Marshall match. I appreciate everything that Wight has done within the industry, but I have zero desire to see him wrestle. A Chokeslam or Knockout Punch here or there is one thing, but a match on a pay-per-view in 2021 does not interest me in the slightest.
Question 2: Was Ruby Soho the right choice to win the Women’s Casino Battle Royale? Should AEW have gone with Thunder Rosa instead?
COLEMAN: It’s hard to make a debuting star feel like a big deal if they lose their debut match, so I understand why Ruby Soho won the Casino Battle Royale. It was the right choice. I believe you can still get to Thunder Rosa vs Britt Baker for the AEW Women’s Championship. Soho losing her debut match wouldn't have been good.
BROWN: I am very happy for Ruby Soho! I did not follow her indie career, but based on her WWE tenure, I believe she has a lot more to offer. Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker already had a great rivalry. I would love for them to revisit that feud at a later date. AEW has a ranking system which prevents someone coming in hot and going straight into a program for any of the championships. But that is what makes the Casino Battle Royale so important! It allows anyone to jump the line.
Soho going over was the right move in my opinion. It gives her a great opportunity right out of the gate, and gives the joker card aspect of the Battle Royale some much needed importance after others have not faired so well in that position. I don’t believe she will win, but it establishes her as a big player in the women’s division for the foreseeable future.
ALLSOPP: Personally, I would have had Thunder Rosa go over, but Ruby Soho gives a level of legitimacy to the joker element of a Casino Battle Royale. I was a fan of Ruby Riott, so I do not doubt that she will do well in AEW. I just feel that Rosa has the momentum at the moment to adequately challenge Britt Baker, especially as she has one over The Doctor with her victory in their Lights Out match. I would have been impressed if they gave the win to Jade Cargill, but admittedly, that would be a push too soon for That Bitch!
Question 3: Who had the more impactful debut - Adam Cole or Bryan Danielson? Out of the two, who are you most looking forward to watching over the next 18 months?
BROWN: Anyone who follows wrestling rumours and gossip knew that Bryan Danielson would be making his debut at All Out. Adam Cole joining AEW seemed likely, but was not certain. I am thrilled that both will be given a new life in AEW, but Danielson making the jump feels way more impactful. This man is a living legend and quite possibly the best professional wrestler of this or any generation.
Both men will do great things working against the talent in AEW. Danielson has proven that he is incredibly generous and willing to build up and fight for young or underused talent. He proved as much by requesting matches with Mustafa Ali and Drew Gulak (even though the company failed to capitalize on either of those spotlights). The roster will grow leaps and bounds working against a talent like him and soaking up what advice he can offer backstage. Cole’s debut has me very intrigued about how his relationship and status within The Elite will play out, but Danielson’s debut has created an immediate impact and will surely bring more eyeballs to the product.
ALLSOPP: This comes down to personal preference, as I am a much bigger fan of Adam Cole Bay Bay, so I genuinely feel that he made the more impactful debut. Hear me out here, if you will. He is arguably at his prime, whilst Bryan Danielson is in the twilight of his career, which means his defection to AEW means more. It can be noted that Danielson is a bigger name, but his move to AEW had been telegraphed for quite some time. I expect Danielson to achieve more initially, but Cole could easily become the face of the company in a long running feud with The Elite. I hope both men succeed, but I cannot see past Cole becoming a strong AEW World Champion.
COLEMAN: Adam Cole’s debut was more impactful than Bryan Danielson by a hair. And that hair being it was totally unexpected at that moment. When those lights went off based on what Kenny Omega just said, I think everyone in the building and at home was expecting Danielson.
I am most looking forward to watching Danielson over the next 18 months because if you’ve been watching NXT, you have seen Cole have classic matches with Johnny Gargano, and great matches with Ricochet, Tommaso Ciampa, Finn Balor, and Kyle O’Reilly. We haven’t seen Danielson share a ring with other great pro wrestlers who are his size where they can go All Out in the ring without the constraints of having to conform to the WWE style. I can’t wait to see what AEW does next.
Those are our thoughts on the issue, but where do you stand?
Let us know your answers to these questions in the comments below!
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