10 Best AEW Matches Ever (According To The Internet)
5. The Young Bucks Vs. The Lucha Bros. - AEW All Out 2021 (9.50)
The idea that aerial excitement and storytelling and emotion are mutually exclusive is a pitiful and shallow take, and this stunning Match of the Year proved it. Cagematch has it at 9.50, and rightly so: it was phenomenal.
It stands up as evidence that the Young Bucks are foundational to the success of All Elite Wrestling. On a night when the promotion promised to enter a dream period that was in fact too good to be true, the Young Bucks stole it.
Their match against the Lucha Bros. at All Out 2021 was the in-ring peak of the show. Before the emotional apex was reached, the two teams had a wild time playing with the cool bit of a cage match that is weirdly under-served these days: executing immensely satisfying flailing bumps into the mesh. The failed dives and last minute counters into the walls felt like gratuitous video game violence in the best possible way.
And that emotional apex, Christ.
Both teams cultivated in an incredible, über-rare atmosphere. After Matt Jackson went on a thumbtack sneaker rampage, they made it feel like the Lucha Bros. needed the support of the crowd. The flippy guys told the oldest and best story and updated it to incorporate a demented take on the modern athletic standard. They orchestrated such a level of emotion that the match finish felt like an audible. The image of a blood-soaked Penta, his mask torn, face punctured by tacks, looking vulnerable for possibly the first time in his career, was that powerful.
No audible had been called: the heat segment was simply so excellent that anything but the babyface win would have felt like an injustice.