Chris Jericho and the Real Winners and Losers from AEW’s Fight for the Fallen

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For two weeks All Elite Wrestling presented Fyter Fest, pay-per-view caliber cards featuring all the brand’s top stars in competitive matches. All the top stars, that is, with one major exception—AEW champion Jon Moxley.

The former Dean Ambrose was forced to miss his appearance after his wife, WWE announcer Renee Young, tested positive for COVID-19. But if we’ve learned anything about AEW in the year its been a part of our lives, its that owner Tony Khan will move mountains to make sure fans get what they want.

Enter Fight for the Fallen.

After back-to-back extravaganzas, it might have been nice for AEW to take a breath and deliver a throw away show to allow talent to regain their equilibrium. Instead, they built a stellar card around Moxley’s much anticipated match with Brian Cage, creating a third show on free cable every bit as good as the pay wrestling offered anywhere else on the planet.   

Fyter Fest was a tough act to follow—but Fight for the Fallen somehow managed to usurp it, featuring the kind of incredible bell-to-bell action no one else in pro wrestling can match.

It was a big win for AEW generally. But not everyone can truly be a winner, even on a card this good. Some, even those who had their shoulders pinned to the mat, emerged more compelling than ever. Others, sometimes despite being the official winner, lost ground.

Click along as we break down the Real Winners and Losers from AEW’s Fight for the Fallen.

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After an incredible entrance alongside the Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleaders, Sonny Kiss managed to put his game face on and took the fight to AEW TNT champion in a way no one else has during Cody Rhodes’ short reign. Kiss may be best known for his dance moves and in-ring twerking—but when he wants to, the man can bang with the best of them. 

He took the fight to Cody with an aggressiveness we’ve never seen from him, even pushing the camera man at one point when his blood was really up. 

Though Kiss deserves the accolades that immediately found him on social media, the truth is that Rhodes shouldn’t have struggled this much with a wrestler who has failed over-and-over-again in undercard singles matches. As great as it was for Kiss, for Cody the night could only be a disappointment. 

Sure, he left with his TNT title. But how long will that be true considering his schedule, fracturing relationship with the other members of The Elite and a very frustrated Arn Anderson.

Cody earned a place at the top of the promotion with the best year of his professional career. But the rest of the AEW roster has risen to the occasion and upped their games to match him. Winning the TNT title was just the beginning—but keeping it may be task that hammers the final nail in the coffin of his career 

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From the first time Cody and the Young Bucks skewered them on Being the Elite, FTR has been an enemy of the state to many AEW fans. In the days (and years) that followed, they did interview after interview slyly criticizing the wrestling bonafides of our heroes. Worse, many in the fandom seemed to take their words to heart. 

As a wise man once said, “it’s still real to me, dammit!” With FTR, I can’t help myself. I’m a fan first and a journalist second. Partly because it’s quite possibly illegal here on the world wide web and mostly because I’m not smart enough to keep my story straight, I’m not going to lie to you—I wanted to hate them. 

Instead, after a month in the promotion, I find myself falling for them. The truth is, FTR is just as good in the ring as they say they are, a pleasant surprise in a world where loudmouths are often more sizzle than steak.

Better still, despite the harsh internet words, they are the perfect compliment for teams like the Bucks and the Lucha Bros, with whom they absolutely tore the house down here. 

At this point, I’d be a fool not to look at myself in the mirror and admit I was wrong. FTR is great. I hate them for it, but I’m man enough to take the loss here. Even better—their excellence is going to make it all the sweeter when one of my favorites finally knocks that smug look off their collective faces. 

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Yes, Chris Jericho stole the show once again on commentary. He managed to both coin a new nickname for himself (the “Demo God”) and get everyone in the ring over in a manner that was authentic to his character. It’s a tightrope—one he walks better than anyone else in wrestling.

But it’s hard to call a man a “winner” when he spends nearly an hour sitting in a $7000 jacket that’s been drenched in orange juice, forced to dry himself off with a towel bearing his arch rival’s visage.

Jericho may have won the match last week. This week, however, Orange Cassidy managed to one-up the AEW icon. 

I, for one, can’t wait to see what’s next between the promotion’s slacker hero and its over-achieving villain. 

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Poor Kenny Omega. He clearly thought this was going to be his night. He procured three beers to repair his relationship with FTR and came to the ring in a t-shirt, fully anticipating an easy win.

Instead, he ended up covered with beer and pushed to the breaking point by a Jurassic Express team that didn’t come to lay down easily for anyone.

Omega pinned Marko Stunt’s shoulders to the mat with the One Winged Angel. But the mental cost was perhaps too high and he lost the battle with his demons and attacked Marko after the match. 

You always get the sense that Omega is holding things together with a very thin thread. And that thread is getting more and more frayed by the week. 

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Vickie Guerrero has been spotted at AEW events for months and become a regular part of the promotion’s online life as one of its most prominent WWE converts. A formal role with the company seemed inevitable—and in Nyla Rose, AEW has found what looks like a perfect fit.

As lovely a person as they come behind the scenes, on camera Guerrero is a natural heel. By the time she left WWE, she’d forged a legacy of her own, her immortal husband Eddie now just part of a story she’s spent years telling.

While still a work in progress, the women’s division is quickly becoming a place where sports entertainment elements are going to be an important part of the storytelling.

Britt Baker has made herself one of the most compelling characters in all of wrestling with her new persona. With Guerrero by her size, it may be time for Rose to join her as the kind of enduring character that helps drive the division into the great unknown. 

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Things were looking really bad for Brian Cage. Trapped in a Jon Moxley armbar, the big man showed no inclination towards tapping out. And how could he? The stakes were as high as they get and Cage, like many top wrestlers, is too stubborn to quit.

Here’s the thing though—sometimes a fighter has to be saved from themselves. Cage didn’t want to quit. I respect that. But he needed to. An armbar is no joke and Moxley could have done the challenger serious, even permanent damage if he didn’t concede the match.

Luckily for Cage, the veteran Taz was there to rescue his fighter from harm. He threw in an orange towel to stop the match, showing more courage and honor than most MMA cornermen who seem all too happy to leave their fighter to their own devices.

No, Cage didn’t walk away with the victory. But he will be back to fight another day. And, for that, he owes his coach dearly.