All Out (2021)

All Out is a pay-per-view (PPV) held annually during Labor Day weekend by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since 2019. It is one of AEW's "Big Four" PPVs, which also includes Double or Nothing, Full Gear, and Revolution, their four biggest shows produced quarterly.[3] Announced on May 31, 2021, the third All Out event was scheduled to be held on September 5 in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, returning the event to the Now Arena (formerly Sears Centre Arena), which is where the inaugural All Out was held.[4][5] It was AEW's first PPV held outside of Daily's Place and the adjacent TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, following AEW's resumption of live touring in July 2021.[6] Presale tickets were available July 8 before they went on sale on July 9 to the general public and quickly sold out.[7]

Following the September 3 episode of Rampage, TNT aired a half-hour television special called Countdown to All Out which averaged 361,000 viewers.[8] "Champion Sound" by Cypress Hill was the official theme song for the event.[9]

All Out featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[10] Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite and Rampage, the supplementary online streaming shows, Dark and Elevation, and The Young Bucks' YouTube series Being The Elite.

Kenny Omega has held the AEW World Championship since December 2, 2020, when he captured the title from Jon Moxley at Winter Is Coming.[11] In March 2021, when Christian Cage was about to make his first Dynamite appearance, Omega and his manager Don Callis interrupted the segment, eventually leading to a confrontation between Omega and Christian.[12][13] After Christian racked up eight wins, he was anointed in August 2021 as the number one contender for the AEW World Championship,[14] The match was subsequently scheduled for All Out.[15] Before the event, Christian defeated Omega to win the Impact World Championship on the debut episode of Rampage on August 13,[16][17] which was Omega's first singles loss since the 2019 Full Gear event.[18]

CM Punk wrestled his first AEW match at All Out, which was also his first professional wrestling match since 2014.

Beginning in July 2021, rumors began circulating that former WWE wrestler CM Punk, who had been retired from professional wrestling since 2014, had signed with AEW.[19][20] At Fight for the Fallen on July 28, Darby Allin announced that he wanted to face the "best in the world", a nickname Punk had used during his time in WWE.[21] At The First Dance on August 20, Punk made his highly anticipated debut for AEW and challenged Allin to a match at All Out.[22]

In September 2020, Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) started a storyline with Chris Jericho on whether MJF could join Jericho's faction, The Inner Circle.[23][24] At the Full Gear event on November 7, 2020, MJF defeated Jericho, thus per the match stipulation, he joined Jericho's faction.[25] On the March 10, 2021 Dynamite, as Jericho was about to eject MJF from the faction for plotting against him, MJF revealed that he had secretly built his own faction instead: The Pinnacle, which attacked and laid out The Inner Circle.[13] At Blood and Guts on May 5, The Pinnacle defeated The Inner Circle in a Blood and Guts match when MJF threatened to throw Jericho off a steel cage, leading to The Inner Circle surrendering. Despite this, MJF threw Jericho off the cage.[26] When Jericho pursued a singles match against MJF, the latter in July set Jericho a challenge to whereby MJF would choose Jericho's match-types and opponents in a five-match series, but Jericho could not lose any match if he wanted to face MJF in the fifth match.[27] In the "Labors of Jericho" storyline, Jericho beat Shawn Spears, Nick Gage, Juventud Guerrera, and Wardlow,[28] but lost the final match against MJF on the August 18 Dynamite, where everything "Judas" was banned, which included his signature move, the Judas Effect, which MJF used on Jericho.[29] The following week, Jericho challenged MJF to another match at All Out, stipulating that if Jericho lost, he would never wrestle another match in AEW; MJF accepted.[30]

At the inaugural All Out event in 2019, The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fénix) defeated The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) in a ladder match.[31] On November 7, 2020, at Full Gear, The Young Bucks captured the AEW World Tag Team Championship from FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler).[25] After The Young Bucks conducted several successful title defenses due to illegal interference by their faction, The Elite,[18] it was announced on the August 18, 2021 episode of Dynamite that The Young Bucks would defend the championship at All Out in a Steel Cage match to prevent any outside interference, and their challengers would be determined by an eliminator tournament consisting of four tag teams.[29][32] The following week, The Lucha Brothers defeated the Varsity Blonds (Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison) to advance to the tournament finals,[30] which occurred on the August 27 episode of Rampage, where The Lucha Brothers defeated Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) to qualify for the steel cage tag title match.[33]

On May 30, Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. defeated Hikaru Shida at Double or Nothing to win the AEW Women's World Championship.[34] Meanwhile, Kris Statlander returned to television in March 2021 after being out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury since June 2020.[35] Statlander went on a winning streak and eventually became the number one ranked competitor in the women's division; due to this, AEW announced on August 25 that Statlander would challenge Baker for the title at All Out.[36]

Miro defeated Darby Allin for the AEW TNT Championship on the May 12 episode of Dynamite.[37] On the August 25 episode of Dynamite, Miro, as "The Redeemer", challenged Eddie Kingston for being a "sinner".[30] On the August 27 episode of Rampage, after Miro attacked and unmasked Fuego Del Sol, Kingston attacked Miro.[33] A TNT Championship match between the two was scheduled for All Out.[38]

In February 2021, AEW was reported to have established a working relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).[39] On the August 25 episode of Dynamite, Jon Moxley said that he had sent out an open challenge to Japanese wrestlers, but only NJPW wrestler Satoshi Kojima had accepted, therefore he and Kojima would wrestle at All Out.[30][40]

On the August 11 episode of Dynamite, when Q. T. Marshall and his allies attacked the son of commentator Tony Schiavone, fellow commentator Paul Wight came to the aid of the Schiavones.[41][29] The following week, Wight announced he would face Marshall at All Out, marking his first match in AEW after having signed with the company as a commentator in February.[29][42]

On September 2, a 10-man tag team match pitting The The Best Friends (Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, and Wheeler Yuta) and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) against the Hardy Family Office (Matt Hardy, Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen), and The Hybrid 2 (Angélico and Jack Evans)) was announced for the Buy-In pre-show.[43]

On the August 11 episode of Dynamite, a match between Andrade El Idolo and Pac was scheduled for All Out.[44] On September 1, it was announced that the match would instead take place on a future episode of Rampage due to Pac having travel issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic in England.[45]

On the 'Buy-In' pre-show, Best Friends (Chuck Taylor, Orange Cassidy and Wheeler Yuta) and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) faced the Hardy Family Office (Matt Hardy, Isiah Kassidy, Marq Quen, Angélico and Jack Evans). Luchasaurus performed the Tail Whip on Angélico, after-which Jungle Boy locked Angélico in the Snare Trap hold for the submission victory at 9 minutes and 25 seconds.[46][47] Post-match, The Butcher made his AEW return by attacking Cassidy, And joining the Hardy Family Office.[47] Jurassic Express, Varsity Blonds, Dante Martin, and some Dark Order members saved Cassidy from a haircut by The Hardy Family Office.[47]

The commentators for the show were Excalibur, Jim Ross, and Tony Schiavone.[48] The event's ring announcer was Justin Roberts, while the interviewer was Alex Marvez.[46][48]

In the opening match of the pay-per-view, Miro defended the AEW TNT Championship against Eddie Kingston. When Miro performed a German suplex on Kingston, the latter pulled a turnbuckle pad off.[47] Kingston landed a DDT, but the referee was temporarily distracted by the turnbuckle pad, leading to Miro kicking out of the pin attempt.[47][49] The referee stopped Kingston from sending Miro into the exposed turnbuckle.[47] With the referee's vision obscured, Miro hit a low blow on Kingston.[47] Miro followed with a roundhouse kick and a Machka Kick (bicycle kick to the head), pinning Kingston at 13 minutes and 25 seconds to win and retain the championship.[46][49][50]

Next, Jon Moxley faced NJPW's Satoshi Kojima. Moxley avoided Kojima's lariat and twice performed the Paradigm Shift for the pinfall victory at 12 minutes and 10 seconds.[46][49] Following the match, Moxley was confronted by NJPW wrestler Minoru Suzuki in Suzuki's unannounced AEW debut.[47][51] They traded strikes before Suzuki eventually landed a Gotch-style Piledriver to put Moxley down.[49]

The third match saw Britt Baker (accompanied by Jamie Hayter and Rebel) defending the AEW Women's World Championship against Kris Statlander (accompanied by Orange Cassidy). Baker avoided Statlander's Area 451 splash and escaped the Spider Crab submission hold.[46][47] Statlander kicked out of two pins, one after Baker landed a Pittsburgh Sunrise, and one after Baker landed a curb stomp.[47] Baker applied the Lockjaw hold for the submission victory and successful title defense at 11 minutes and 25 seconds.[46]

In an interview, Andrade El Idolo hyped his future match against PAC.[49]

Rey Fénix and Penta El Zero M won the AEW World Tag Team Championship at the event.

Following this was the steel cage match where the Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defended the AEW World Tag Team Championship against the Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fénix). The former team were accompanied by Brandon Cutler and had Don Callis join commentary, while the latter team were accompanied by Alex Abrahantes and had rapper Muelas de Gallo perform their entrance theme live.[48][49] The Young Bucks performed More Bang for Your Buck on Fénix, but Penta broke up the pin.[48] The Young Bucks used a shoe covered in thumbtacks passed to them by Cutler, and then landed a BTE Trigger on Penta, but Fénix broke up the pin.[49] Fénix used the thumbtack shoe, then landed a Black Fire Driver on Matt, but Matt kicked out of the pin.[47][48] Fénix, Penta and Nick were bloodied.[46] The Lucha Brothers performed a diving stomp into a Fear Factor piledriver on Nick, but Matt broke up the pin.[48][49] Fénix dove off the top of the cage with a crossbody onto the other three men.[46][48] Finally the Lucha Brothers performed an LB Driver (aided piledriver) on Nick.[46][47] Penta pinned Nick at 22 minutes and 5 seconds, with Fénix restraining Matt.[46] As a result, the Lucha Brothers won the match and the titles.[46]

The next match was the 21-woman Casino Battle Royale to determine the next contender for the AEW Women's World Championship. The final entrant was Ruby Soho, making her unannounced AEW debut.[1][47] The final three women left in the match were Soho, Thunder Rosa and Nyla Rose; Rosa dropkicked Rose off the ring apron to eliminate Rose.[47] On the apron, Soho landed a jumping enzuigiri kick to eliminate Rosa at 22 minutes.[46][47]

The sixth match saw Chris Jericho facing MJF where Jericho's AEW in-ring career was on the line. Fozzy guitarist Billy Grey performed Jericho's Judas entrance. Jericho powerbombed MJF on the ring apron, damaging MJF's lower back.[46] Wardlow walked towards ringside but was attacked by Jake Hager, drawing out two other referees to stop the brawl, and distracting Aubrey Edwards, the referee in the ring. MJF hit Jericho with Jericho's baseball bat and then a Judas Effect. In a false finish, Edwards counted a successful pin for MJF because she did not see Jericho's foot placed on the bottom rope, but Paul Turner, one of the referees who had come out, corrected her error and the match was restarted. Jericho countered MJF's Salt of the Earth armbar, later placing MJF in the Walls of Jericho for the submission victory at 21 minutes and 15 seconds. The Inner Circle celebrated Jericho's win.[46][48]

Next, CM Punk faced Darby Allin, in Punk's return to the professional wrestling ring.[49] When Punk first hit the Go to Sleep, Allin fell to the floor and had to beat the count at nine.[48] Later, Punk sat up to avoid Allin's Coffin Drop, then kicked out of Allin's Last Supper cradle pin attempt.[47][49] Allin tried for a poison rana, but Punk countered into another Go to Sleep for the pinfall victory at 16 minutes and 40 seconds.[46][48] Post-match, Sting came out and shook Punk's hand, then Punk shook Allin's hand.[50]

In the penultimate match, Paul Wight faced Q. T. Marshall, who was accompanied by Nick Comoroto and Aaron Solow. Wight fended off Comoroto and Solow, then hit a chokeslam on Marshall, leading to a pinfall victory at 3 minutes and 10 seconds.[46]

Jon Moxley gave a speech hyping his future match against Minoru Suzuki, then Malakai Black gave a speech hyping his future match against Dustin Rhodes.[49]

Both Adam Cole (left) and Bryan Danielson (right) made their AEW debuts after the main event.

In the main event, Kenny Omega (accompanied by Don Callis) defended the AEW World Championship against Christian Cage. Christian speared Omega off the ring apron through a table.[47] When Christian applied a high-angle modified cloverleaf hold, Callis called for the Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) to interfere, but Christian fended off Anderson and caused Omega to knee Gallows.[47][49] Christian performed the Killswitch on Omega, but Omega kicked out of the pin.[47] When Christian tried for a Killswitch from the top rope, Omega raked the eyes and performed a One-Winged Angel from the top rope, then pinning Christian at 21 minutes and 20 seconds to win and retain the title.[46][48]

Post-match, Omega celebrated with the rest of the Elite, including the Young Bucks. When the Elite attacked Christian, Jurassic Express (including Marko Stunt) tried to help, but were overwhelmed. Omega proclaimed that the only people who had a chance of beating him were either not in AEW, retired, or already dead.[46][49] Omega was interrupted by Adam Cole in his unannounced AEW debut, who superkicked Jungle Boy and embraced the Elite; Cole declared that the Elite were unstoppable.[1][47] As Omega bid the crowd goodnight, he was interrupted by Bryan Danielson in his unannounced AEW debut, and his first appearance on television since April 30, 2021, who allied with Christian and Jurassic Express. This reignited a brawl. Omega fled and the Elite lost the brawl, culminating in Danielson's running knee to Nick Jackson's head.[1][46]

* although Riho was considered eliminated from the All Out battle royal by Jamie Hayter at the time of the event,[48] video evidence was shown during the November 24, 2021 Dynamite that Riho was not properly eliminated.[72][73]