10 Ups & 8 Downs From AEW Fight For The Fallen

1. The Worst Ending Imaginable

Article lead image
AEW

Fight For The Fallen's closing five minutes were embarrassing. Legitimately embarrassing.

The Young Bucks were on the microphone after their victory over the brothers Rhodes, paying tribute to Cody and Dustin's effort in defeat. They were clearly going for a big handshake/hug/coming together, but Kenny Omega's music hit when it wasn't supposed to, prompting Matt to say "we ran out of time."

Out came Omega with Brandi Rhodes, Luchasaurus, several other roster members, and Shahid Khan holding a big cheque. Having improved the "respect" angle while this was going on, Cody introduced Tony Khan Sr., then revealed that they'd raised $150,000 for their charitable cause. An excellent gesture, but an awkward, stunted angle.

Things got worse from there. Cody handed the microphone to Omega so he could close it out, with Kenny revealing that he couldn't use his old "goodbye and goodnight" catchphrase from NJPW. "Seeing as we're no longer on the air, let's have some fun with it," he said, while still on the air. In the background, Jim Ross could be heard asking "are we off?".

... and then Fight For The Fallen faded to black out of nowhere.

There's no way to dress this up: this was a complete and utter shambles. It was bush league stuff from a promotion that wants to be the big league, and there can be no excuse for it.

Advertisement
Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.