AEW in September 2021: All Out, Adam Cole, Arthur Ashe, American Dragon

“Hey, listen. I’m trying to be a gentleman, but now you wanna be a tough guy!” – Taz to CM Punk

As soon as the bell rang to confirm Kenny Omega was still AEW World Champion, the rest of The Elite gathered in the ring for a celebration to conclude All Out.

Anyone at the NOW Arena anticipating the possibility of Bryan Danielson joining AEW began to… anticipate, and AEW rewarded them with the debut of sudden free agent Adam Cole (Bay Bay) to an outburst of shock and jubilation. He immediately reunited with his old buds and AEW used the occasion to drop a beat and debut the American Dragon too.

The crowd exited the arena with an energy that felt like everybody just got laid, and strangers in black t-shirts recounted all the major moments of the night: Cole, Danielson, Ruby Soho, that Cage Match, Minoru Suzuki. It was only September 5th, but wrestling Christmas had arrived.

Is that too gushy? Maybe. I don’t mean to be a propaganda artist for what’s going on here, and even I have to admit some of the praise quotes my eyeballs find on occasion feel like weekly episodes of AEW Redundancy and AEW Hyperbole.

Historical odds say pro wrestling will prove me wrong, but the willingness of AEW right now to “make wrestling fans happy” is appreciated. The First Dance was a product launch and All Out initiated the blitz. With new names introduced and motivations established at a rapid pace, the shows feel alive and the matches are pretty great too. I think they might’ve just taken the Chicago and New York territories from WWE too.

AEW in September 2021

September got pieces in place after all THAT happened at AEW’s best PPV ever, and a few weeks later they had their biggest crowd ever at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Here was a wrestling company striking while the iron was hot for the first time in I don’t remember how long. Bryan Danielson immediately challenged Kenny Omega and Adam Cole is suddenly a star, reuniting with The Young Bucks and helping establish the legend of young Jungle Boy. Between feuding with Christian Cage and The Good Brothers and Brandon Cutler relegated to background guys, The Elite found a voice besides Don Callis too.

CM Punk — just back in wrestling now — opened the first Dynamite of the month asking aloud if the crowd was sick of his homecoming entrances yet, enough self-awareness to reference how fleeting this all can and will be. He won at All Out, turned a “you still got it” chant into a hard sell for Moxley/Suzuki (9/8), and wrestled Powerhouse Hobbs at Arthur Ashe (9/24). He is both cooled down and ready to burst, doing his best Terry Funk in 1993 ECW right down to folksy commentary and matches with associates of Taz.

Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston took detours, Eddie going after Miro and Mox calling New Japan stars through that Forbidden Door. Kingston couldn’t wrestle the TNT Title from Miro, but at the end of the month Sammy Guevara did.

The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle have splintered into all sorts of stuff — both as a rivalry and individual groups — and most are emerging better for it. 

MJF had a quick and mostly effective angle with Brian Pillman Jr. for a couple weeks but ended the month with his eyes on Darby Allin, who was feeling kind of cooled down even if he and Sting were on TV every week.

FTR’s feud with Santana & Ortiz feud seemed to end for now with an awesome TV match that primed both for a run, and Chris Jericho evaded retirement but stepped back to team with Jake Hager and feud with Dan Lambert, Men of the Year, and like 20 other members of American Top Team.

Wardlow is still squashing people with Shawn Spears on Dark.

The women’s division only improves, Britt Baker a quality champion and Ruby Soho giving the “main event” women’s lineup a boost (including an actual main event between those two at Arthur Ashe). Kris Statlander couldn’t capture gold but found more friends, Riho came back (kind of?), and Skye Blue had a 3-night run for the ages.

Mini-feuds with Jade Cargill/Legit Leyla Hirsch and Big Swole/Diamante kept things cooking between everybody else doing squash matches on Dark.

Malakai Black continued his big introduction, taking down out rest of the Nightmare Family en route to another win over Cody Rhodes at Arthur Ashe. Cody and Brandi Rhodes‘ Rhodes to the Top reality show hit the airwaves too, maybe the reason for what felt like a rushed and unnecessarily dramatic return.

Andrade el Idolo and PAC finally had a match and Chavo Guerrero got randomly wrote off. This angle is still sorting itself, but hey — The Lucha Bros beat The Young Bucks for the Tag Team Titles! Their first defense was against… The Butcher & The Blade, like we all thought.

AEW aired a packed Dynamite on 9/15 then a week later they did a whole Wrestle Kingdom. AEW Grand Slam aired from Arthur Ashe Stadium over 2-nights and 4-hours and it was another big checkmark for a company capturing a moment. I saw so many cool crowd view pics of Arthur Ashe that it was almost underwhelming on TV, but now that I think about it maybe the crowd view being better than the TV one is some deliberate metaphor…

Grand Slam Dynamite opened with Danielson and Omega wrestling a 30-minute mission statement and closed with Baker vs. Soho the Women’s World Title. Grand Slam Rampage opened with Punk vs. Will Hobbs and closed with Homicide running out to save Eddie Kingston from Minoru Suzuki. It was a vibe.

Matt Hardy got obsessed with shaving Orange Cassidy‘s head, Fuego del Solo put his new car on the line, and Sonny Kiss kicked Joey Janela‘s ass. The Billy Gunn Club turned on Paul Wight (9/1) too. They even followed up on it a couple weeks later.

Despite the triumphant return of Anna Jay (9/1), the Dark Order Civil War made it all the way to the ring (Dark 9/7) and it got messy. Relationships seem to be repairing headed into October, a certain cowboy still missing and Full Gear ahead…

Top 20 Matches

1. Steel Cage Match – AEW World Tag Team Title: The Young Bucks [c] vs. The Lucha Bros (All Out 9/5/21)
2. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega (AEW 9/22/21)
3. TNT Title: Miro [c] vs. Eddie Kingston (All Out 9/5/21)
4. CM Punk vs. Darby Allin w/ Sting (All Out 9/5/21)
5. Adam Cole & The Young Bucks vs. Christian & Jurassic Express (Rampage 9/24/21)
6. PAC vs. Andrade el Idolo w/ Chavo Guerrero (Rampage 9/10/21)
7. AEW World Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega [c] vs. Christian Cage (All Out 9/5/21)
8. TNT Title: Miro [c] vs. Sammy Guevara (Dynamite 9/29/21)
9. Santana & Ortiz vs. FTR w/ Tully Blanchard (Dynamite 9/1/21)
10. Dustin Rhodes vs. Malakai Black (Dynamite 9/8/21)
11. If Jericho Loses, He Retires: Chris Jericho vs. MJF (All Out 9/5/21)
12. AEW Women’s World Title: Britt Baker [c] vs. Kris Statlander (All Out 9/5/21)
13. Homecoming Match: Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki  (Dynamite 9/8/21)
14. Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima (All Out 9/5/21)
15. Lights Out Match: Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston vs. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer (9/24/21)
16. Sting & Darby Allin vs. FTR w/ Tully Blanchard (Dynamite 9/22/21)
17. AEW World Women’s Title: Britt Baker [c] vs. Ruby Soho (Dynamite 9/22/21)
18. Jungle Boy vs. Adam Cole (Dynamite 9/29/21)
19. Red Velvet vs. Skye Blue (Dark 9/4/21
20. Darby Allin vs. Daniel Garcia (Rampage 9/3/21)

1. Steel Cage Match – AEW World Tag Team Title: The Young Bucks [c] vs. The Lucha Bros w/ Alex Abrahantes (All Out 9/5/21) – I overheard two old-timers at the concessions after this match recalling the experience like they just got back from the Boston Garden, genuine excitement as one proclaimed (and the other agreed) it was “the greatest Cage Match” they ever saw. I think I agree. One-on-one fights can rule, but this was a trip to steel cage outer space and it was magnificent: Elite high-flying, wrestling drama, even a well-timed shot to the balls. They began punching and bumping right away and didn’t really stop, only slowing down for bleeding or mask-ripping or rubbing faces into sneakers that had thumbtacks glued to the soles. Two tag team dynasties swung their dicks out and had a serious, fun, jaw-dropping, bloody and badass wrestling classic.

2. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega (AEW 9/22/21) – A half-hour of brilliant pro wrestling, a teaser trailer for a future match that was a whole classic match in itself. Bryan is pure Jesus in his first non-WWE match in a decade and they cut an incredible pace while popping in everything that is good and fun about them as wrestlers. Danielson rolled the back of his neck down the ramp off a Dragon sleeper, contorted over the top to the floor off a buckle bomb… the man is nuts and the man is back. Even with no title on the line the draw genuinely surprised me, and the finish coming right at the end of the beginning of a boo/yay strike exchange was such a beautiful way of saying they have a lot more.

3. TNT Title: Miro [c] vs. Eddie Kingston (All Out 9/5/21) – Miro and Eddie opened All Out delivering a 90s Japanese heavyweight battle that had 80s WWF heat. The crowd was firmly in Eddie’s corner as they battered each other with snug strikes, suplexes, and slams. Plenty of genuine wrestling brilliance puts this over the top, from the build to Eddie’s backdrop suplex to the pop when Eddie gets to the ropes in the Accolade.

4. CM Punk vs. Darby Allin w/ Sting (All Out 9/5/21) – CM Punk’s return to pro wrestling felt a little like his take on an Antonio Inoki match, and not just because of the cobra twist — he’s got a style mismatch of an opponent and there are plenty of chinlocks to fill in the gaps because what he lacks in variety and gracefulness he makes up for in being giving to his opponent and just being over as shit. Darby Allin is pretty great too (have you heard?), and he looked even more like a pro here slowing down just a step for Punker. Quality return match, engaging story, and great post-match vibes.

5. Adam Cole & The Young Bucks vs. Christian Cage & Jurassic Express (Rampage 9/24/21) – Adam Cole and The Young Bucks have been really good at trios matches anywhere they’ve been, and their reunion was blessed with a stadium atmosphere and babyface opposition up to the task. Jungle Boy brought the selling, Luchasaurus the spots, and Christian not only kept up but might’ve been the best guy in the match.

6. PAC vs. Andrade el Idolo w/ Chavo Guerrero (Rampage 9/10/21) – Just a marvel of a wrestling match between two of the more athletically impressive guys in this biz-ness, a 15-minute stream of awesome and occasionally straight-up dangerous wrestling.

7. AEW World Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega [c] vs. Christian Cage (All Out 9/5/21) – Christian goes through his (very good) routine and begins to rope the people in until Kenny just starts rocking him with V-Trigger knees. Christian sells them like a guy who is really good at this – maybe one of the best! Danielson was rumored to show up after this match, but quality work ensured the people reacted and paid attention.

8. TNT Title: Miro [c] vs. Sammy Guevara (Dynamite 9/29/21) – Miro and Sammy shipped one more great TV main event before the end of the month, monster vs. babyface 101 with a big time ending.

9. Santana & Ortiz vs. FTR w/ Tully Blanchard (Dynamite 9/1/21) – Their first match together felt more like a preview, but this is a whole wonderful match with excellent tag tropes and big near falls. Given the positioning I assume they’ll see each other again down the line, but you could run this exact match in every state and probably heal the nation.

10. Dustin Rhodes vs. Malakai Black (Dynamite 9/8/21) – For some reason WWE stopped running matches like Sheamus vs. Goldust, a new guy brawling with a credible vet and everyone better for it. This was based mostly around them smacking each other and Dustin selling his leg, though they also build to and deliver a Canadian Destroyer. Black looks like a killer, Dustin shows the kids how to do it,  and I am supremely entertained.

11. If Jericho Loses, He Retires: Chris Jericho vs. MJF (All Out 9/5/21) – Starting with MJF’s troll Millennium Countdown entrance, ignoring the awkward instrumental “Judas” entrance, and ending with a potentially annoying but well-executed restart finish, these two put on a good show. Like a pair of professionals they used arm work, signatures, and a few pieces of bullshit to weave a crowd-pleaser of a tale. It was basic but productive and seemed like something WWE could’ve done one day if the Performance Center wasn’t so whatever it is.

12. AEW Women’s World Title: Britt Baker [c] vs. Kris Statlander (All Out 9/5/21) – What could’ve easily been relegated to a match in a “tough spot on the [All Out] card” ended up delivering another great match. Statlander showed off her power early and often while the word that comes to mind for Baker is confidence, which certainly helps her out offensively. The Panama Sunrise was a tremendous bit too — little did we know…

13. Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima (All Out 9/5/21) – They kept this to Kojima’s speed so it read a little like 12 minutes of Greatest Hits, but the hits still work folks. When Kojima hits that superplex… chef’s kiss.

14. Homecoming Match: Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki  (Dynamite 9/8/21) – Mox returned to Cincinnati and wrestled Minoru Suzuki in a 10-minute G1 Climax night 4 match 4 type of match with stiff elbows, over signatures, and general badassery. Blood too. The dream match delivered.

15. AEW World Women’s Title: Britt Baker [c] vs. Ruby Soho (Dynamite 9/22/21) – This headlined the Arthur Ashe Dynamite and was good, though their promo the week prior might have more staying power. The last time I got to see a Ruby Soho showcase was like a PPV match with Charlotte Flair a few Road to WrestleMania’s ago though, so this was appreciated.

16. Red Velvet vs. Skye Blue (Dark 9/4/21) – The crowd sided with hometown girl Skye Blue pretty quick here and they pivoted by having a great match. Heel Red Velvet is a revelation and they build to some great near falls off cradles, a moonsault, and a freaking Iconoclasm.

17. Jungle Boy vs. Adam Cole (Dynamite 9/29/21) – Maybe one of the only genuinely fun things about the last year of Adam Cole’s WWE run were the random matches he’d have with some of their new guys, just casually stringing together something exciting with their varied movesets. Here he opened up a Dynamite wrestling a guy growing before our eyes into the best babyface in wrestling and it was a lot of fun.

18. Lights Out Match: Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston vs. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer (9/24/21) – Four brawlers freaking brawled, man. Then Homicide ran out. All the fun.

19. Sting & Darby Allin vs. FTR w/ Tully Blanchard (Dynamite 9/22/21) – Speaking of all the fun, here’s some more wild and crazy pro wrestling. Just the idea of this match is great, and it’s actually pretty great too.

20. Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Wheeler Yuta, Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus vs. Matt Hardy, Private Party & The Hybrid2 (All Out 9/5/21) – Pitch perfect is a term of hyperbole but here we were, a 10-man tag team match that as a live attendee I can guarantee you was pitch perfect. Still means like 3.25 stars max, but still: they kept it moving or at least interesting, and both Jungle Boy and Orange Cassidy continued looking like megastars.

Other Cool Matches

• Frankie Kazarian vs. Adam Cole (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• Daniel Garcia w/ 2point0 vs. Lee Moriarty (Dark: Elevation 9/13/21)
• Joey Janela vs. Lee Moriarty (Dark 9/7/21)
• Riho vs. Skye Blue (Dark: Elevation 9/6/21)
• Ricky Starks vs. Darius Lockhart (Dark 9/28/21)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Malakai Black (Dynamite 9/22/21)
• Cody Rhodes & Lee Johnson w/ Arn Anderson vs. Matt Sydal & Dante Martin (Dynamite 9/29/21)
• Brian Pillman Jr. w/ Julia Hart vs. MJF w/ Wardlow (Dynamite 9/22/21)
• AEW World Tag Team Title: The Lucha Bros [c] vs. The Butcher & The Blade (Dynamite 9/17/21)
• CM Punk vs. Powerhouse Hobbs w/ Hook (Dynamite 9/24/21)
• Dante Martin vs. JD Drake (Dark: Elevation 9/6/21)
• Dante Martin vs. Powerhouse Hobbs (Dynamite 9/8/21)
• The Lucha Bros & Jurassic Express vs. The Young Bucks & The Good Brothers (Dynamite 9/1/21)
• Ruby Soho, Riho & Kris Statlander vs. Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter & Rebel (Rampage 9/10/21)
• Evil Uno w/ Stu Grayson and Colt Cabana vs. Alan “5” Angels w/ John Silver and 10 (Dark 9/7/21)
• Legit Leyla Hirsch vs. Jade Cargill (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• The Hybrid2 & Jora Johl vs. Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor & Wheeler Yuta (Dark 9/14/21)
• Legit Leyla Hirsch vs. KiLynn King (Dark 9/14/21)
• Daniel Garcia w/ 2point0 vs. Alan “5” Angels w/ Dark Order (Dark 9/21/21)
• FTR vs. Stallion Rodgers & Anthony Greene (Dark 9/21/21)

Best Angles and Promos

• Daniel Garcia and 2point0 attack CM Punk until Darby Allin and Sting make the save (Dynamite 9/1/21)
• Eddie Kingston/Miro video promos (Dynamite 9/1/21)
• Darby Allin video promo on CM Punk (Dynamite 9/1/21)
• Dustin Rhodes challenges Malakai Black (Rampage 9/3/21)
• Eddie Kingston interrupts Miro and lays him out (Rampage 9/3/21)
• Darby Allin & Sting and Daniel Garcia & 2point0 pre-match interview (Rampage 9/3/21)
• CM Punk and Jurassic Express send the crowd home happy (Dark 9/4/21)
• Minoru Suzuki confronts Jon Moxley (All Out 9/5/21)
• Jon Moxley promo on Minoru Suzuki (All Out 9/5/21)
• Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson debut after the main event (All Out 9/5/21)
• Max Caster rap before The Acclaimed vs. Captain Shawn Dean & Robert Anthony (Dark 9/7/21)
• Sonny Kiss attacks Joey Janela (Dark 9/7/21)
• The Lucha Bros promo on winning the AEW Tag Team Titles (Dynamite 9/8/21)
• Team Taz interrupts CM Punk (Dynamite 9/8/21)
• MJF insults the Pillman family and is confronted by Brian Pillman Jr. (Dynamite 9/8/21)
• Anna Jay & Tay Conti tell Dark Order to figure it out (Dynamite 9/8/21)
• Tully Blanchard backstage interview on Sting (Dynamite 9/8/21)
• The Elite introduce Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson interrupts (Dynamite 9/8/21)
• CM Punk enters for commentary (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• Adam Cole challenges Christian Cage & Jurassic Express to a trios match (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• MJF in-ring promo on Brian Pillman Jr.; Pillman Jr. attacks (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• Christian Cage and Jurassic Express backstage interview on Adam Cole (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer promo on Jon Moxley (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• Chris Jericho and Jake Hager interrupt Dan Lambert and Men of the Year (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• Taz and Hook confront CM Punk and Powerhouse Hobbs attacks (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• FTR spike piledrives Sting (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• Kenny Omega accepts Bryan Danielson’s challenge for Arthur Ashe (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer attack Moxley and Kingston (Dynamite 9/15/21)
• Britt Baker/Ruby Soho Face-to-Face (Rampage 9/17/21)
• CM Punk in-ring promo on his return and Team Taz (Dynamite 9/22/21)
• Darby Allin interrupts MJF (Dynamite 9/29/21)
• Arn Anderson criticizes Cody Rhodes (Dynamite 9/29/21)
• Bryan Danielson challenges Kenny Omega (Dynamite 9/29/21)
• Promos from backstage at Arthur Ashe Stadium (Dark: Elevation 9/27/21)

Areas of Excellence

1. With an established tone and more established wrestlers, in-ring wrestling is consistently a lot better.
2. The tone of their TV vignettes and promos can vary but everything remains consistently pro wrestling.
3. Colors! Intensity! Spanish! Challenges! Tag teams! The Lucha Bros title win promo ruled
4. Suddenly, Adam Cole is a superstar. Also the Super Elite is clicking and they went right to Omega/Danielson
5. CM Punk is being all folksy with just enough self-awareness.
6. AEW Dark is now filmed at Universal Studios.
7. Every decision around Daniel Garcia and 2point0
8. Hook eating chips and wearing leather pants
9. Using CM Punk to introduce Linda Pillman to setup the MJF/Pillman angle later in a show
10. The use of the Hardy Family Office as this meta undercard heel hoarding stable

Favorite Parts

1. When I saw Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, Ruby Soho and Minoru Suzuki show up at All Out (9/5)
2. The Rochester Show (9/29)
3. CM Punk’s entrances for commentary, especially that one where a guy offered him a beer (9/3)
4. That night they decided to say “shit” a bunch and made references to NXT (9/15)
5. Orange Cassidy beat Jack Evans during a commercial (9/1)
6. When they uploaded an episode of Dark with 14 matches and a 1:47 runtime (9/21)
7. Eddie Kingston and Miro’s tremendous go-home promo that also re-established the DDT for a near fall (9/3)
8. Cody’s “he would, wouldn’t he?” Triple H near fall with Crossroads on Malakai Black (9/22)
9. These jobbers flexed at John Silver then turned around into a double clothesline from 10 (9/6)
10. Thunder Rosa won with a Gannosuke-style Fire Thunder Driver at Arthur Ashe (9/27), then the Peruvian Choke at Universal Studios (9/28)

Favorite Things

1. 2point0’s double flapjack
2. Daniel Garcia’s “yeah I fuckin’ did that” look after his matches
3. Malakai Black’s entrance
4. Bryan Danielson’s plain white t’s
5. Thunder Rosa’s Arthur Ashe pop
6. Austin Gunn’s Kendall Windham crossbody bump
7. Riho’s sell of Skye Blue’s superkick
8. Kiera Hogan’s spinning PerfectPlex
9. Dante Martin’s backflip off of JD Drake’s back
10. The overhead camera shot of Miro’s Accolade

HWL’s AEW Power Rankings: 9/1/21 – 9/30/21

1. Kenny Omega [3]
2. The Young Bucks [1]
3. Miro [2]
4. Britt Baker [6]
5. MJF [10]
6. Malakai Black [-]
7. Darby Allin [7]
8. Jungle Boy [-]
9. The Lucha Bros [New]
10. CM Punk [New]

HWL’s AEW Movers & Shakers: 9/1/21 – 9/30/21

1. Adam Cole
2. Bryan Danielson
3. Sammy Guevara
4. Ruby Soho
5. Powerhouse Hobbs
6. Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky
7. Chris Jericho
8. Dante Martin
9. Tay Conti & Anna Jay
10. Varsity Blonds

HWL’s Dark All-Stars: 9/1/21 – 9/30/21

1. Daniel Garcia
2. Lance Archer
3. 2point0
4. Eddie Kingston
5. Emi Sakura
6. Wardlow
7. Lance Archer
8. Skye Blue
9. Orange Cassidy
10. QT Marshall