10 Ups & 8 Downs From AEW Fight For The Fallen

2. Best Bout Machines

Fight For The Fallen needed the real Kenny Omega. It needed 'The Best Bout Machine.' He performed well at both Double Or Nothing and Fyter Fest, but not at the level that brought him into the "best in the world" conversation a few years ago. For his sake and the show's, this was the night for him to come out like that state-of-the-art, cutting-edge pro-wrestler his supporters purport him to be.

Did he pull it off?

Yes. To an extent.

Omega vs. CIMA doesn't belong in either man's top five, but it was a great match, and the best thing on the show up to that point.

Fans knew it was going long when Justin Roberts announced it would have a 30-minute time limit, not the standard 20 that the show's other matches adhered to. That's exactly how it played out. The opening act was slow and methodical. It was very New Japan-like in its escalation of violence, and exploded to life as CIMA dived from the stage on the 15-minute mark, hitting Kenny with the Meteora.

Two springboard Meteoras followed. CIMA was in the ascendancy until Omega hit the V-Trigger, and the "fight forever" chants came soon after. Having been ignited by several awesome sequences, it became a bruising, pulse-racing encounter typical of Kenny's biggest bouts, until he finally "went for the nuclear option" (thanks, Excalibur) in the One Winged Angel, scoring the win.