AEW Double or Nothing 2021 is still warm, but before we know it, September 5th will come along and it’ll be time for All Out 2021. As this is the biggest event of the year (at least in theory) for All Elite Wrestling, we can assume Tony Khan and the brass have some ideas in mind of what they’d like to see on the show.
Of course, there will be some malleability. The card is always subject to change. Injuries, people/stories getting hot or cold in the meantime, and even new signings can greatly alter the lineup.
However, the best case scenario is that AEW has a game plan and will be building toward something in particular over the coming months, rather than scrambling at the 11th hour to throw some random matches onto the event like WWE sometimes appears to do.
Assuming that’s the case, what could be in store for the card? Let’s take some educated guesses and try to predict the lineup!
AEW World Championship Match
This absolutely has to be Kenny Omega defending against “Hangman” Adam Page. Unless you can get Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe or Kazuchika Okada, I’m not entertaining any other option. And no, I don’t think CM Punk is going to show up, either.
Page makes the most sense. It would make his journey come full-circle from having lost the title match at the first All Out. He’s the No. 1 contender in the rankings now and he’s over as hell with the audience.
You might think they can’t stretch things out this long, but we know Jungle Boy will get a title shot first. That’s happening next week and it means we’re already almost in mid-June. I’d assume Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen will happen in the meantime before All Out. The way I see it, one of those is where Christian Cage gets his title shot to eat up more time.
Page and Omega have been tag team partners and enemies. This is the match to do unless you can get one of the other names that can draw based entirely on being a dream match scenario.
Frankly, I don’t think that’s happening. I’m expecting Daniel Bryan to stay with WWE, I don’t know if Samoa Joe will ever get cleared and if New Japan and WWE have a partnership, that would stop Okada.
Put the belt on Page. Make it the feel-good end to Omega’s run.
AEW Women’s World Championship Match
The women’s division isn’t strong enough to say any particular wrestler is going to be a good enough match for Dr. Britt Baker, assuming she’s still champion. For that matter, I do believe she’ll be holding the title and it’s just a matter of who her opponent will be.
If we stick to people definitively on the roster, I’m at a loss. A rematch with Shida after so many months does nothing for me, personally. Rose, Statlander, Swole and others seem like they wouldn’t come off as potential winners. Thunder Rosa, maybe, if they want to go back to that?
More so, I think we’re getting someone new by this point. Mickie James could be a great opponent and I’d love to see her fill that role. I don’t know if that’s just wishful thinking, but I have a stronger gut feeling about that than any random woman on the roster right now.
Women’s Casino Battle Royale
Tony Khan has already said this is going to happen, so we can cross that off our list. Put all the women in there that aren’t in the title match: Hikaru Shida, Big Swole, Penelope Ford, Tay Conti, Riho, Serena Deeb, Red Velvet, Nyla Rose, Rebel, Leva Bates, Jade Cargill, Allie/Bunny, Abadon, Kris Statlander and so on. Obviously, toss in some other names like KiLynn King who may not be officially signed, but might as well be. Then, add some outsiders for good measure, like Thunder Rosa.
This is a match that you can’t call the winner this far ahead. It entirely depends on who is in the match and what is going on at the moment. However, if I were to venture a total shot in the dark, I’d say Cargill wins.
AEW Trios Tag Team Championship Match
The amount of times these titles have been teased means it is definitely going to happen and I’d imagine here is the event they’ll settle who the new champions are.
At the moment, here are some of the potential options for teams that could fight for these belts:
- Death Triangle
- Jurassic Express
- Private Party and Matt Hardy
- The Factory
- The Inner Circle (though I doubt it)
- The Pinnacle (though I doubt it)
- Team Taz (Ricky Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs, Brian Cage and Hook if you need to put him in there instead of Starks)
- Best Friends and Orange Cassidy
- Pretty Peter Avalon with Cezar Bononi, JD Drake and/or Ryan Nemeth
- Dark Order could have some combos
- The Gunn Club
My guess is there’s a tournament leading up to the finals here. Death Triangle against either Best Friends or Jurassic Express. Lucha Bros and PAC walk out with the titles.
AEW World Tag Team Championship Match
This is really tough. I think The Young Bucks could very well still be holding these titles, but it’s not a guaranteed. In fact, there could be a scenario where Santana and Ortiz are champions fighting for or defending the titles with The Young Bucks in some other match, maybe teaming with The Good Brothers in an eight-man tag match.
It’s not like there aren’t plenty of teams that aren’t even in the trios setup that could take part in this.
The Acclaimed. Bear Country. The Butcher and The Blade. Top Flight. Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky. TH2. Moxley and Eddie Kingston (doubt they’ll still be teaming necessarily, but it could happen). Chaos Project. Matt and Mike Sydal.
That’s a lot to play around with and that doesn’t even name them all. There’s no shortage of options.
Gun to my head, I’m taking Santana and Ortiz against The Young Bucks, but I don’t feel confident about it at all.
AEW TNT Championship Match
This is a title I’d imagine there are no plans for right now. Miro could still hold it, or it could go to any number of others.
In fact, I’d lean more heavily toward Miro not still being champion. TNT title reigns haven’t lasted super duper long in comparison to Shida’s year-long reign, for instance. Plus, there are just too many other people who could hold the title and do just as much, if not more with it.
For instance, MJF, Shawn Spears, Sammy Guevara, Chris Jericho, Orange Cassidy, Jon Moxley, Lance Archer, Matt Hardy, and all the new signings that come about could all be in the mix.
There’s no way of guessing any direction. Part me wants to say Cassidy is holding the title. Another part of me says Moxley is the one to beat Miro and he’s defending against someone not even in the company at the moment. Yet another part of me says this is some “throw everyone in there to get them on the card” match and it’s a ladder match with this belt on the line similar to how we had the Face of the Revolution match on the same card as the Casino Tag Team Battle Royale.
Gun to my head? I’m going with the ladder match idea and that it incorporates Moxley, Cassidy, Archer, Miro, Christian Cage and either Scorpio Sky/Ethan Page or Brian Cage (we’ll get to him later)
Some Other Feuds
- MJF has to be up to something, as will Chris Jericho, but I don’t know if Pinnacle and Inner Circle will still be feuding by then. If so, I’d imagine it’s a group affair.
- If Moxley doesn’t get tossed into a ladder match or something, he’s got his own feud on the side.
- Cody Rhodes always has a featured spot in some fashion. I’m starting to think there will be a big tag team match of sorts where he’ll team with Sting, Darby Allin and some others. Against who? Not The Factory, that’s for sure. Maybe they’re feuding with Pinnacle by then, especially if Inner Circle splits in the summer.
- They have a lot of legends on the roster. Not just Sting, but Matt Hardy, Christian Cage, Mark Henry, Paul Wight, Dustin Rhodes and some outliers like Arn Anderson and company. Maybe this is factored into the Rhodes setup. It could be Rhodes and Allin teaming with Sting, Christian, Henry, Wight and Rhodes against a team like Pinnacle, if Inner Circle has disbanded. I’m also imagining there could be a situation where Henry and Wight either team up together separately and face a team or they just don’t compete at this show because there’s a limited amount of spots and they’re not the prioritized talent, but there for other roles. Sting will compete, though, and I used to think he’d face Rhodes, but I’m not sold on that anymore. Then again, Sting against Cody Rhodes is a marquee match and neither has to turn heel for it to happen, so maybe we get that and some random assortment of other people in a multi-man tag team match, where Allin just gets tossed into the ladder match for the TNT title or something.
- Brian Cage will have split from Team Taz by now. If Ricky Starks is able to perform, we could see Cage/Starks. If not, maybe Cage against Powerhouse Hobbs.
All in all—or should I say All in All Out—here is what I’m tentatively imagining we get for this show:
- Kenny Omega vs. Adam Page for the AEW World Championship
- Britt Baker defends the AEW Women’s World Championship against someone not on the roster right now.
- The Young Bucks against Santana and Ortiz for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
- Death Triangle against either Best Friends or Jurassic Express to be crowned the first AEW Trios Tag Team Champions
- A ladder match for the TNT Championship.
- Women’s Casino Battle Royale
- Sting against Cody Rhodes
- Brian Cage against a member of Team Taz
- A multi-man tag team match possibly featuring legends.
- Something focusing around MJF and/or Chris Jericho.
What matches do you think will be at All Out 2021? Do you have a fantasy card in mind you’d like to see? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
