AEW All Out 9/5/21 Pt. 2

Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Kris Statlander

PAS: Baker has to be one of the most improved wrestlers I can remember. I would watch AIW shows where she looked like the worst wrestler on the roster, and she looked way over her skis in the early part of AEW. Now she has turned into someone who is as over as anyone in wrestling and who can be a part of a really compelling match. There were parts of this with some warts on it, but they hit the big moments cleanly and Statlander had some nifty power spots. Her missed moonsault off the apron was a big bump and I liked how they just had Baker clean her out, rather than do a bunch of 2.9 counts. 

ER: I was excited for this one, and while it had a couple of sketchy moments I thought they moved past them so easily that it made the messiness work. Baker is a star and she really has blossomed over the past year plus. She was so strong at getting into position for Statlander's fun offense, and both have such good body chemistry that some of their exchanges kind of just willed themselves to work. Baker is great at ragdolling on Statlander's slams, and Statlander is also great at falling, good at smacking into things. Baker keeps working more stiff the deeper the match gets, and she was really wailing on Statlander's right jaw and orbital bone after breaking a submission with hard kicks. Statlander's missed moonsault to the floor was sick, but she also tried to scorpion herself on a spike DDT. Baker's curb stomps kept landing more viciously, and I loved the use of the Pittsburgh Sunrise (hit stunningly better than I've ever seen Cole hit his) to set up another stomp and then the Lockjaw. They fought to have a good match and that fight came through. 

Lucha Brothers vs. Young Bucks

PAS: This was the most "not for Phil" match on the card, and while it definitely lost me at points, it did have some stuff to recommend. Hell of a Fenix performance as he was flying all over the cage, kick flipping off it, doing a big dive, taking big bumps, reminded me of a Elimination Chamber Rey Jr. performance. I actually liked the stuff with the tack shoe a bunch as it caused them to slow down and actually build towards a comeback instead of just doing a million spots. I mean you had two different spots where teams violently collided with missed superkicks, the announcers mentioned how that could have caused a broken ankle and both times the wrestlers just went right back into flipping and spinning. Take a moment and let something sink in. Still it did feel like a real moment when the Lucha Brothers won, and it worked for the crowd even if it did not really work for me.

Casino Battle Royal

PAS: It's a Battle Royal so you know what you are going to get, and I don't think the AEW Women's division is deep enough to support a Battle Royal's worth of wrestlers. The Ruby Soho debut was pretty perfect. She felt like as big a deal as Danielson, Cole, and Suzuki, and the stuff with Thunder Rosa was some of the cooler AEW women's wrestling I've seen. 

Chris Jericho vs. MJF

PAS: I think the layout of this was pretty good, but it was hurt by relatively subpar execution. Lots of punches and elbows which looked kind of crappy, lots of OTT mannerisms by MJF, etc. The big strokes were good, the powerbomb on the apron by Jericho setting up MJF's bad back, the powerbomb off the top rope which MJF hit jarring his back, the well executed Dusty finish leading into a cool nearfall section by MJF (using the Fujiwara arm bar and getting reversed into the Walls). It does feel a little like both guys are relics of an earlier era of AEW, and I am not sure where either guy fits in the current scene.