- Kenny Omega defeated Cima
Fight for the Fallen 2019: Good Wrestling Stretched Beyond Its Best Length
The factual record, historical context, match-by-match analysis, and WrestleFile verdict.
- PROMOTION
- AEW
- DATE
- July 13, 2019
- VENUE
- Daily's Place
- LOCATION
- Jacksonville, Florida
- ATTENDANCE
- Not yet verified
- EVENT TYPE
- PPV
Fight for the Fallen 2019 is a respectable early AEW card whose biggest enemy is accumulation. The event contains several worthwhile matches, keeps important stars moving toward All Out, and uses the charity setting without letting it overwhelm the wrestling. Yet too many bouts ask for similar amounts of time and attention, so the crowd and the show both lose sharpness as the night continues.
Read the Full FileContinue the event-level analysis
The Young Bucks against Cody and Dustin Rhodes gives the event a recognizable main event, but the overall package is stronger in pieces than as one continuous watch.
Event ContextBackground, stakes & historical setting
AEW was still operating without weekly television, which meant every summer event carried extra responsibility for keeping stories alive between Double or Nothing and All Out. Fight for the Fallen does that work across a broad card. MJF, Sammy Guevara and Shawn Spears share a six-man match that keeps several developing personalities visible. Brandi Rhodes and Allie receive a featured singles spot. Kenny Omega continues his singles path against CIMA, while the Lucha Brothers and SoCal Uncensored keep the tag division active.
The main event pairs the Young Bucks against Cody and Dustin Rhodes, linking the company's two most visible families and giving the show a headline attraction that is easy to understand. The charity context adds meaning to the night, but the wrestling card remains the core product. The recurring problem is pacing. Many matches are given room to breathe, and taken individually that can be a strength. Across a full event, however, the sameness in length and escalation creates fatigue before the closing stretch can fully capitalize on its importance. The card's breadth is therefore both its strength and its structural problem: AEW has many people to establish, but not yet enough weekly television to distribute that work across multiple nights.
Watch, Skim or Skip?
- Bea Priestley and Shoko Nakajima defeated Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Riho
- MJF, Sammy Guevara, and Shawn Spears defeated Darby Allin, Jimmy Havoc, and Joey Janela
- The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) defeated Angelico and Jack Evans and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) - Three-way tag team match; winner advanced to All Out for an opportunity at a first-round bye in the AEW World Tag Team Championship tournament
- Adam Page defeated Kip Sabian
- The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix) defeated SoCal Uncensored (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky)
- The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated The Brotherhood (Cody and Dustin Rhodes)
- Sonny Kiss defeated Peter Avalon
- Brandi Rhodes defeated Allie
The Card, On the Record
01Sonny Kiss defeated Peter AvalonC-
Sonny Kiss pinned Peter Avalon following a split-legged leg drop in the Fight for the Fallen Buy In. Kiss entered with the Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleaders before facing Avalon's Librarian act, which also featured Leva Bates in his corner. The brief opening singles match provided a lively entrance and a direct finish rather than a championship or title-qualifying stipulation. Avalon was the wrestler pinned; Bates accompanied him but did not join the legal contest. The modest score reflects the short, character-focused match as an opening attraction, not a controversy over who won or which move completed the result.
Sonny Kiss puts Peter Avalon away with a split-legged leg drop; a character-led Buy In opener with a decisive singles finish.
02Bea Priestley and Shoko Nakajima defeated Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and RihoC
Shoko Nakajima pinned Riho following a step-up hurricanrana, giving Nakajima and Bea Priestley victory over Riho and Britt Baker in the Buy In tag match. The contest also displayed the wrestlers' links to Japan: Priestley appeared with STARDOM championship gold and Nakajima with her Joshi-Pro title, neither of which was being defended. Nakajima's late attack on Riho settled the official result. Baker and Priestley continued fighting after the bell until officials separated them, extending their rivalry but not altering the recorded pin. The women's tag had a decisive result and a distinct postmatch incident rather than a generic pre-show showcase.
Shoko Nakajima pins Riho with a step-up hurricanrana for the win, while Britt Baker and Bea Priestley continue fighting after the bell.
03MJF, Sammy Guevara, and Shawn Spears defeated Darby Allin, Jimmy Havoc, and Joey JanelaC+
Shawn Spears pinned Darby Allin following a running Death Valley Driver in a six-man victory alongside MJF and Sammy Guevara over Allin, Jimmy Havoc and Joey Janela. The winning team carried friction into the match because MJF supported Cody Rhodes, whom Spears had bloodied with a chair at Fyter Fest only two weeks earlier. Their uneasy cooperation added a specific storyline to otherwise rapid exchanges between six competitors. Spears, not MJF or Guevara, made the deciding cover, and Allin was the wrestler beaten. No title changed hands, and the tension between the teammates remained part of the setup rather than overturning their win.
Shawn Spears pins Darby Allin after a running Death Valley Driver, making the uneasy MJF-Guevara-Spears alliance victorious.
04Brandi Rhodes defeated AllieD
Brandi Rhodes pinned Allie after a Bionic Spear, taking advantage of Awesome Kong's presence in her corner. Kong's appearance before the match altered the odds: Allie had to account for an intimidating ringside ally while competing against Brandi in the ring. The two continued attacking Allie after the decision, until Aja Kong arrived to confront Awesome Kong and officials separated them. That surprise confrontation was an aftermath angle rather than a second contest or an official change to the result. The win was a Brandi singles pinfall in a match whose outside presence drew more attention than its technical exchanges.
Brandi Rhodes pins Allie after a Bionic Spear, with Awesome Kong at ringside before Aja Kong appears in the aftermath.
05The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) defeated Angelico and Jack Evans and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) - Three-way tag team match; winner advanced to All Out for an opportunity at a first-round bye in the AEW World Tag Team Championship tournamentB-
Evil Uno pinned Jungle Boy after the Dark Order's Fatality, giving Uno and Stu Grayson the three-way tag victory over Angelico and Jack Evans and the Jungle Boy-Luchasaurus pairing. A place at All Out against Best Friends, with a possible first-round bye in AEW's upcoming tag championship tournament, was at stake. The crowd saw different styles of tandem offense from each team, but it was the Dark Order that found the deciding combination on Jungle Boy. Luchasaurus and the other team were not eliminated separately; one legal pin concluded the multi-team encounter. The match advanced a tournament route without creating tag champions on the night.
Evil Uno pins Jungle Boy after Dark Order hits Fatality, advancing toward an All Out match for a possible first-round tag-tournament bye.
06Adam Page defeated Kip SabianC+
Adam Page pinned Kip Sabian after the Dead Eye with less than a minute left on the twenty-minute clock. Page was already booked to meet Chris Jericho at All Out for AEW's first world championship, but Sabian made this singles encounter a genuine test rather than an automatic warm-up. Page's injured knee complicated his offense as the time limit approached, raising the prospect of a draw before the winning move. Jericho attacked him after the bell while disguised as a Dark Order creeper, leaving Page bloodied from a Judas Effect. That assault was a separate development in their approaching title rivalry, not interference that caused Sabian's official loss.
Hangman Page pins Kip Sabian with Dead Eye before the twenty-minute limit; Chris Jericho attacks him only after the match.
07The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix) defeated SoCal Uncensored (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky)B-
Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix defeated Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky when the Lucha Brothers connected with a double foot stomp into a package piledriver on Sky. Christopher Daniels accompanied SoCal Uncensored but did not wrestle, and the pairing of both teams' fast combinations made the result competitive until the final exchange. This was a non-title match with a conventional pinfall on Sky, not a championship change or an elimination. The next rivalry began immediately afterward: the Lucha Brothers challenged the Young Bucks to make their scheduled All Out rematch a ladder match. The result therefore both established a tag-team victory on this card and announced a higher-risk chapter for August.
The Lucha Brothers beat Scorpio Sky with their package-piledriver combination, then challenge the Young Bucks to an All Out ladder match.
08Kenny Omega defeated CimaB+
Kenny Omega defeated CIMA with the One Winged Angel after a 22-minute singles match that showcased two experienced wrestlers using different offensive rhythms. CIMA repeatedly attacked with Meteoras, while Omega answered with V-Triggers and snap dragon suplexes; their exchanges also spilled toward the timekeeper's table. AEW's event report identified this as their first singles meeting anywhere, which gave the non-title encounter its own attraction beyond building a win-loss record. Omega's decisive One Winged Angel and pin were legal in-ring results, not an intervention from the Young Bucks or an All Out championship stipulation. The demanding sequences help explain the match's high evaluation, while the lack of a title or immediate tournament consequence is worth keeping distinct.
Kenny Omega withstands CIMA's Meteoras and wins with One-Winged Angel in their first singles meeting, with no title on the line.
09The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated The Brotherhood (Cody and Dustin Rhodes)B
The Young Bucks defeated Cody and Dustin Rhodes when Matt Jackson hit Cody with Cross Rhodes, then teamed with Nick to finish the move sequence using the Meltzer Driver. Both sides were sets of brothers, giving this non-title tag main event a direct family-versus-family identity. The Bucks had mocked the Rhodes brothers on Being the Elite beforehand, and their use of Cody's own Cross Rhodes in the closing stretch turned that rivalry into a specific in-ring finish. Dustin's performances after his emotional Double or Nothing match gave the bout another personal thread. It lasted more than half an hour at the end of a long show, which explains some pacing reservations, but the recorded victory was a Young Bucks pin on Cody, not on Dustin and not a tag-title switch.
The Young Bucks beat Cody and Dustin Rhodes, using Cody's Cross Rhodes before Meltzer Driver ends the brothers' non-title main event.
BOOKING VERDICTC+
The event advances the right people and protects the promotion's important relationships, but it rarely creates a sense that a result has transformed the landscape. Omega, the Lucha Brothers and the Young Bucks all receive useful victories, while younger or secondary acts get meaningful exposure. The booking is competent rather than electric. There are few disastrous choices, yet there are also few moments with the immediate consequence of Jericho-Omega at Double or Nothing or Cody-Darby at Fyter Fest. That keeps the event functional but limits its ceiling. The lack of a single transformative angle also explains why the event feels more like connective tissue than destination viewing. AEW accomplishes useful maintenance across several divisions, but the show rarely creates the sense that the promotion looks dramatically different when the night is over.
CROWD & PRESENTATIONB-
Daily's Place gives the event a distinctive environment that later becomes deeply associated with AEW, but this early appearance also highlights the challenge of maintaining energy through a long card. The crowd responds when given a clear reason, especially for established stars and the main event, yet the show does not consistently build from one peak to the next. The charity presentation provides purpose and identity, though the broadcast still feels like a young promotion learning how much content a single night can comfortably hold. The audience remains engaged enough to support the key matches, but the lengthy card makes sustained escalation difficult. By the closing stretch, strong work has to overcome accumulated fatigue rather than benefiting from a steadily rising atmosphere.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCEB
Fight for the Fallen is historically useful because it captures AEW before television, when the company was still establishing relationships, venues and expectations in public. Daily's Place would become far more important during the pandemic era, which gives this 2019 event added retrospective interest. The show also continues the road to All Out and keeps several foundational wrestlers visible. Even so, its importance is contextual rather than transformative. It helps explain AEW's early development more than it defines the company by itself. The event also shows how quickly AEW was building a recognizable ecosystem before Dynamite existed. Wrestlers who would become central to the weekly product are already interacting in combinations that preview later rivalries and alliances. For that reason, Fight for the Fallen works as connective tissue between the launch at Double or Nothing and the more formal championship era that begins around All Out and weekly television.
WHAT AGED WELL
- The early use of Daily's Place as an AEW home base
- Kenny Omega and the tag division continuing to establish in-ring identity
- The clear charity purpose without sacrificing the event's wrestling focus
WHAT AGED POORLY
- A runtime and match-length pattern that creates crowd fatigue
- Too few results with major immediate consequences for the promotion
RESEARCH VERDICTWhere the Evidence Lands
Fight for the Fallen is easier to appreciate when separated into individual matches than when consumed as one uninterrupted event. The upper half of the quality range is legitimately good, and nothing about the card suggests a company without capable wrestlers. The problem is editorial discipline: too many bouts receive similar treatment, making the show feel flatter than its strongest performances deserve. That combination supports a score above average but below the level of AEW's genuinely memorable early pay-per-views. The main event and Omega-CIMA still give the show enough upper-card quality to justify selective viewing, while the broader card explains why the overall score stops short of the promotion's stronger 2019 pay-per-views.
RESEARCH SOURCESSources & Methodology9 sources
These sources support the event record, historical context, critical reception, and streaming information used throughout this Event File.
- All Elite WrestlingOfficial event recap; card/results and charity/event context
- TheSmackDownHotelEvent identity, card results, and historical context.
- WikipediaEvent identity, venue/city/date, historical context and reference discovery
- Bleacher Reportmatch_card_results;historical_context;match_quality
- Bleacher Report - Highlightsmatch_quality;historical_context
- CAGEMATCH - Three Way Tagmatch_quality;stipulations_titles
- Pro Wrestling Dot Netmatch_card_results;stipulations_titles;historical_context
- Pro Wrestling Dot Net - Event Detailsevent_identity;historical_context;attendance_business
- TrillerTV / FITEavailability
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