The 2021 Fight for the Fallen was the third annual Fight for the Fallen

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

charity event produced by

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, w ...

(AEW). The event aired on

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

as a

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning t ...

of AEW's weekly television program, '' Wednesday Night Dynamite''. For the event's charitable cause, it helped support victims of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. It was also the third and last event in AEW's "Welcome Back" tour, which celebrated AEW's resumption of live touring during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The event was held on July 28, 2021, at the

Bojangles Coliseum Bojangles Coliseum (originally Charlotte Coliseum and formerly Independence Arena and Cricket Arena) is an 8,600-seat multi-purpose arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which als ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. Six matches were contested at the event. In the main event,

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jeri ...

defeated

Nick Gage Nicholas William Wilson (born September 22, 1980), better known by his ring name Nick Gage, is an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), where he is the current GCW World Champion i ...

in a No Rules match. In other prominent matches,

Lance Archer Lance Hoyt (born February 28, 1977) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Lance Archer. He also makes sporadic appearance for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is also known for ...

retained the

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The current champion is Will Ospreay, who is in his first reign. History Backgr ...

against Hikuleo, and The Elite (

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name Kenny Omega, is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. Omega is an executive vice president of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in which he also performs. Omega is a former one-time ...

The Young Bucks The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team and promoters, consisting of brothers Matthew and Nicholas Massie, who are known by their ring names Matt and Nick Jackson, respectively. They are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW ...

(Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), and

The Good Brothers The Good Brothers are a Canadian country, bluegrass and folk music group originating from Richmond Hill, Ontario. The band's core members are Brian Good (guitar), his twin brother Bruce Good (autoharp) and younger brother Larry Good (banjo). B ...

(

Doc Gallows Andrew William Hankinson (born December 22, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Luke Gallows. Hankinson began his career in 2005 and participated i ...

and

Karl Anderson Chad Allegra (born January 20, 1980), better known by the ring name Karl Anderson, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he performs on the Raw brand. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), whe ...

) defeated

Adam Page Stephen Blake Woltz (born July 27, 1991), better known by his ring name "Hangman" Adam Page, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former AEW World Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champ ...

and

The Dark Order The Dark Order is a professional wrestling stable, currently performing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The stable consists of Evil Uno, John Silver, Alex Reynolds, and Brodie Lee Jr. The group debuted on the inaugural Double or Nothing pay-per- ...

(

Evil Uno Nicolas Dansereau (born July 20, 1987), better known by the ring name Evil Uno, is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Dark Order. Formerly known as Player Uno, he re ...

Stu Grayson Marc Dionne (born January 25, 1989), better known by the ring name Stu Grayson, is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he was a member of the Dark Order stable. Formerly known as Stu ...

, John Silver, and

Alex Reynolds Alex Reynolds and John Silver (wrestler), John Silver, formerly known as the Beaver Boys, are an American professional wrestling tag team currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as members of The Dark Order. They are also known for their app ...

) in a 10-man tag team elimination match, preventing Page and The Dark Order from challenging for the

AEW World Championship The AEW World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Unveiled on May 25, 2019, it is the promotion's top championship for male singles competitors, an ...

and

AEW World Tag Team Championship The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a standard tag team championship, being contested by teams of two wrestlers. ...

, respectively.

Production

Background

Fight for the Fallen is a charity event held annually in July by

(AEW) since 2019. For the 2021 event's charitable cause, which was the third Fight for the Fallen event, AEW partnered with Safe Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing hope and healing for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. In addition to AEW donating

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

100,000 to Safe Alliance, a percentage of proceeds from the limited-edition Fight for the Fallen T-shirts were also donated. Due to the

that began effecting the industry in mid-March 2020, AEW held the majority of their programs from

Daily's Place Daily's Place is an amphitheater in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. The venue is connected to the south end of TIAA Bank Field and shares space with a "flex field" indoor practice facility for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It opened in May 2017 and ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

; these events were originally held without fans, but the company began running shows at 10–15% capacity in August, before eventually running full capacity shows in May 2021. Also in May, AEW announced that they would be returning to live touring, beginning with a special episode of ''

Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

'' titled Road Rager on July 7, which kicked off the "Welcome Back" tour. Fight for the Fallen was scheduled as the third and last event of the "Welcome Back" tour and like the 2020 event, it was held as a special episode of ''Dynamite''. It took place on July 28, 2021, in

at the

Storylines

Fight for the Fallen featured

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portray

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character as ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television program, ''Dynamite'', the supplementary online streaming shows, ''

Dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lum ...

'' and ''

Elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

'', and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

series ''

Being The Elite The Elite is a professional wrestling stable currently appearing in U.S. based Professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). As of December 2022, the line-up has consisted of Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), ...

''.

Event

Preliminary matches and segments

The event opened with The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) taking on Adam Page, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, John Silver and Alex Reynolds in a 10-man tag team elimination match. Kenny Omega and The Elite entered in basketball jerseys, as the "Elite Squad", to "

Get Ready for This "Get Ready for This" is a song recorded by Belgian/Dutch music group 2 Unlimited. It was released in 1991 as the lead single from their debut album, '' Get Ready!'' (1992). Originally, the single was produced as an instrumental, titled the "Orc ...

" in reference to ''

Space Jam ''Space Jam'' is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka, with animation sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone, and written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel We ...

''. Since The Elite won, Adam Page could not challenge for the

. According to ''

'', the special entrance was a gift to

Nick Jackson Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Pla ...

, who celebrated his birthday the day of the show. After the opening match,

Taz Taz or TAZ may refer to: Geography *Taz (river), a river in western Siberia, Russia *Taz Estuary, the estuary of the river Taz in Russia People * Taz people, an ethnic group in Russia ** Taz language, a form of Northeastern Mandarin spoken by ...

held a championship celebration for

Ricky Starks Richard Starks (born February 21, 1990), is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He also serves on the commentary team for AEW's sister streaming television program, ''Elevation''. Starks is also known ...

, with a band playing live music. The celebration was interrupted by

Brian Cage Brian Christopher Button

. Next, FTR faced Santana and Ortiz. The match had to finish early after

Cash Wheeler Daniel Marshall Wheeler (born May 17, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Cash Wheeler. Wheeler is also known for his time in WWE, under the ring name Dash Wilder. ...

suffered an injury. After that,

Tony Schiavone Noah Anthony Schiavone (, ; born November 7, 1957) is an American sports announcer, professional wrestling commentator and podcaster currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a play-by-play commentator and senior producer. He has pre ...

announced '' AEW Rampage: The First Dance'', to be held at the

United Center United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is named ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on Friday, August 20; sparking rumors of an appearance by

CM Punk Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by the ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler, sports commentator, actor, and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Best known for ...

. Later, Hikuleo (accompanied by

King Haku Tonga 'Uli'uli Fifita (born 10 February 1959) is a Tongan professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as Haku. He is also known for his time in World Champions ...

) faced Lance Archer for the

. Archer retained, after which

Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavywei ...

challenged him to a championship match at

NJPW Resurgence Resurgence was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It was held on August 14, 2021, at The Torch at LA Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. Wrestlers from U.S. partner promotions All Elite ...

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (''né'' Runnels; born June 30, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Rhodes is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW ...

was interviewed before being attacked by

Malakai Black Tom Budgen (born 19 May 1985) is a Dutch professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Malakai Black. He is also known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Aleister Black from 2017 ...

. The fight went on from the backstage area into the stage in front of the crowd, until Black knocked Rhodes out on the entrance ramp and several wrestlers and officials ran out to Rhodes' aid. In the fourth match, Christian Cage and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) beat the Hardy Family Office (Angelico and Private Party), accompanied by

Matt Hardy Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his time with WWE. With his real life brother Jeff, Hardy gained notoriety in WWF's tag team d ...

. After the match, Christian was attacked by The Blade. In the penultimate match, Thunder Rosa beat Julia Hart, in her first match after officially signing with AEW.

Main event

In the main event,

faced

in a No Rules match as part of ''"Labours of Jericho"'' set up by

MJF Maxwell T. Friedman (born March 15, 1996), better known by his ring name Maxwell Jacob Friedman (often abbreviated to MJF), is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the current AE ...

, who joined commentary for this match. Match included many dangerous spots involving light tubes and glass but in the end, Jericho won. MJF then announced that next week, Jericho will face

Juventud Guerrera Eduardo Aníbal González Hernández (born November 23, 1974) is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Juventud "Juvi" Guerrera. Guerrera is best known for his appearances with the Mexican professional wrestling promot ...

. ''After show'' After the main event (after the show went off-air),

Tony Khan Antony Rafiq Khan (born October 10, 1982) is an American businessman, promoter, and sports executive. He is known for his involvement in American football, professional wrestling and soccer. He is best known as the founder and co-owner of All E ...

made an appearance in front of the crowd. The 100th episode of ''

AEW Dark AEW or aew may refer to: * Airborne early warning, airborne radar system for detecting aircraft * Aerosvit Airlines, an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine (ICAO airline designator: AEW) * AEW Capital Management, a property investment management company ...

'' was filmed that night as well.

Reception

Attendance and television ratings

Two days before the event, '' PWInsider'' reported that the show was nearly sold-out. According to ''WrestleTix'' on Twitter, the show in Charlotte was attended by nearly 7,000, making it (at the time), third biggest TV taping in AEW history, behind the debut episode in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and October 16, 2019 taping in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Fight for the Fallen averaged 1,108,000 television viewers on

, with a 0.45 rating in AEW's

key demographic The key demographic or target demographic is a term in commercial broadcasting that refers to the most desirable demographic group to a given advertiser. Key demographics vary by outlet, time of day, and programming type, but they are generally co ...

. The show's audience peaked at 1,240,000 million, highest since the debut episode of ''Dynamite'', which aired in October 2019.

Domino's Pizza commercial controversy

During the main event match, Nick Gage attacked Chris Jericho with a

pizza cutter A pizza cutter (also known as a roller blade) is a utensil that is used to cut pizzas. History The first pizza cutter in its modern form was invented by David S. Morgan which he patented on September 20, 1892. However, it was not directly meant ...

, before the show coincidentally went into a commercial for

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...

. A spokesperson for Domino's indicated that the brand may pull their advertising from ''Dynamite'', stating they "are assessing our advertising presence on it going forward". While speaking on the

Sean Waltman Sean Michael Waltman (born July 13, 1972) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under the ring names 1–2–3 ...

podcast, Gage stated that "I didn't even know about Domino's until it was over and someone told me... I started laughing. What a coincidence." Nick Gage would also take to

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

to write: "sorry dominos didnt mean to offend you guess im too ultraviolent for tv oh well ". Fellow AEW wrestler

Jon Moxley Jonathan David Good (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Jon Moxley. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro-Wr ...

would also label the occurrence as "a coincidence", and suggested that Domino's "needs to chill out". One of the most subscribed

rs,

PewDiePie Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg ( , ; born 24 October 1989), better known as PewDiePie ( ), is a Swedes, Swedish YouTuber known for his Let's Play videos and comedic formatted videos and shows. Kjellberg's popularity on YouTube and extensive media co ...

, included this incident at the end of his "Bad Commercial Timing..." video.

Results

Tag team elimination match

References

External links

* * {{All Elite Wrestling events, Fight for the Fallen

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

2020s American television specials 2021 American television episodes 2021 in North Carolina 2021 in professional wrestling Events in Charlotte, North Carolina July 2021 events in the United States Professional wrestling in Charlotte, North Carolina Professional wrestling controversies