Biggest Winners and Losers from AEW Fight for the Fallen

All Elite Wrestling finished another chapter in its short history with Fight for the Fallen, the promotion's third event.

We saw plenty of familiar names on the card Saturday, with almost every announced participant having played some role in Double or Nothing and/or Fyter Fest.

We're witnessing AEW transition from the introduction of their roster to legitimate storylines, which makes for an especially exciting time to follow the company as it prepares for its weekly show this fall.

There were several aspects of the show at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, that caught the attention of fans at the weekend.

Here are the biggest winners and losers from AEW's Fight for the Fallen, with the highly anticipated All Out show coming up next on August 31.

Winner: Showdown of Kongs

AEW

Managing to solidify Awesome Kong as the women's division's most notable heel through a surprise appearance to help Brandi Rhodes would have been a win in itself.

Her relationship with Rhodes as the duo's muscle and also a source of guidance for the AEW chief brand officer's ring work is quite an interesting aspect to their partnership that's worth exploring.

But to also set up Aja Kong as a genuine threat to Awesome Kong gives fans a feud to look forward to down the road whether their match takes place at All Out on August 31 or in the more distant future.

Although Aja's work may be unfamiliar to most American wrestling fans, her dominance in Japan has often been compared to Awesome, who she used to team with when both competed in Asia.

Even if each woman is past her prime, they showed during their respective matches at Double or Nothing that both can still work through a bout with aplomb.

Two of the most dominant wrestlers in history squaring off again after years of competing in separate promotions is a mouth-watering proposition and sets up the first legitimate rivalry in AEW's women's division.

Loser: Britt Baker Overshadowed

AEW

Since the inception of AEW, Britt Baker has received more spotlight than any other member of the women's division as she's expected to be arguably its top star.

However, the real-life dentist's thunder was stolen during her tag team match by partner Riho and debuting opponent Bea Priestley, who looked terrific and received positive reactions from the crowd throughout the match.

There's something to be said for a wrestler like Riho, whose work rate consistently stood out in all three of her matches with AEW. She's quickly establishing herself as one of the better workers in the company and is clearly a veteran in the business despite only being 22. Her ceiling with the new promotion is high.

Priestley's natural heel instincts also earned her a mix of cheers and boos from the Jacksonville crowd which seemed very familiar with her capabilities.

The aftermath of their tag team match hinted at a feud between Priestley and Baker down the line which is telling of the AEW brass' opinion of the former if they're willing to pair her with the American this early into her time with the company.

However, Baker's in-ring performance seemed to fall flat when not working with Priestley. This could have contributed to the crowd's lack of reason to invest in her up to this point aside from the down-to-earth day job. She will certainly benefit from mic time with the audience once the weekly show begins in a few months.

Winner: Tag Team Wrestling

AEW

With the Young Bucks serving as two of the four vice presidents of AEW, an emphasis is always going to be put on tag team wrestling as one way of differentiating the young promotion. 

"We want to focus on a serious main event picture both in the singles and tag team divisions," AEW President Tony Khan said on The Steve Austin Show. "I'm not going to pretend that we are not serious about building the (men's and women's) tag team division."

Well, they're off to a tremendous start. In what may have been the match of the night, The Dark Order defeated the teams of Angelico and Jack Evans as well as Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy. It's rare to see three tag teams come out of a match better perceived than they were going into it, but that's exactly what happened here.

The Dark Order, whose disruptive appearances at the two previous shows left many fans skeptical of their gimmick, were able to suppress their critics with a standout showing at Fight for the Fallen.

Angelico and Jack Evans also improved from their showing at Double or Nothing, while Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy had the crowd in the palm of their hands throughout the match.

Add in another good showing from The Lucha Brothers, SoCal Uncensored, The Young Bucks and the newly formed "Brotherhood" team with Cody and Dustin Rhodes, and AEW's tag division might just be the strongest in the business.

Losers: Adam Page, Young Bucks Struggling to Get over

AEW

Kenny Omega finally gained some ground with the AEW audience after his show-stealing match against Cima captured the kind of performances we came to expect from the man known at New Japan Pro-Wrestling as The Best Bout Machine. 

The same can't be said for fellow Elite members Adam Page and The Young Bucks, who still lack a connection to the audience despite some strong performances.

In Page's case, it was obvious once the crowd thanked Chris Jericho for ambushing The Cowboy that he isn't getting over like the AEW brass would want.

Similarly to Britt Baker, it could be another case of the audience not being terribly familiar with his work before AEW and therefore not understanding why he's being pushed as hard as he is.

"Hangman" has barely spoken a word since joining AEW, so fans not being completely sold on him and his AEW World Championship title shot makes sense.

As for The Young Bucks, it seems that much of their shtick has fallen flat despite the enormous amount of talent they have. It doesn't help when all the momentum you gained from a great match against Cody and Dustin Rhodes is suddenly stopped in its tracks by a promo being cut short due to time constraints (we'll get to this later).

For Page and The Young Bucks, good matches aren't going to be enough for fans expecting more from wrestlers who will consistently be in the main event picture. They will also rely on the forthcoming weekly show to better connect with the audience.

Winner: Resonating Talent

AEW

It's simple really, fans are no longer cheering and jeering wrestlers based solely on intrigue in AEW. They know who the wrestlers are, and that bodes well heading into All Out and the weekly show.

Naturally, this is going to happen the more shows a promotion puts on, but a national audience being able to see a crowd's understanding of the roster grow in front of their own eyes in such a quick amount of time is rare and unique.

Fans in attendance reacted to the gimmicks of notable wrestlers such as MJF, SoCal Uncensored, Lucha Brothers and Luchasaurus, and it was refreshing to hear and see after two events where we all just wanted to know what everyone had to offer.

The wrestlers are resonating now, and that's growth.

Loser: AEW Show-Runner

AEW

One has to feel bad for The Young Bucks, who appeared to be on their way to building on the main event win against Cody and Dustin Rhodes with a promo giving credit to their two opponents as well as potentially announcing them as an official tag team in the division and/or discussing their ladder match against The Lucha Brothers.

Their time on the mic had a lot of potential and ultimately ended abruptly as music played over them to signal a time constraint.

Members of the roster awkwardly came down to celebrate the event's donation to charity amid The Young Bucks' confusion, and the show ended with no conclusion to what they were going to say.

With any young promotion, show aspects such as timing of the events are a work in progress. However, it seems AEW bit off more than it could chew at Fight for the Fallen by going nearly four hours on the main show and close to five including the Buy-In.

It's always concerning and tiring to a viewer when the event is close to overlapping into the morning of the following day.

Timing cannot continue to hinder talent once the weekly show begins, so hopefully it's only AEW taking liberties with non-televised events until then.

Winner: Cody's Spot Atop AEW

AEW

Despite the clunkiness of how they got to Cody's closing promo, one thing is clear at this point: He's the most well-received member of the roster.

Three terrific matches in a row, memorable moments in all three events up to this point, and a clear passion for the company he's vice president of make Cody an obvious choice for the face of AEW so far.

He comes off as genuine and level-headed, and the cut to the head he received from Shawn Spears' chair shot at Fyter Fest as well as his relationship with Dustin has him atop the list of most interesting talent by a wide margin.

It goes to show that it's not all about results to get someone over, as Cody has only won one of his three matches. The American Nightmare instead has full control and understanding of his character, and it's all coming naturally to him as well as the audience. 

The sky's the limit for Cody, and his character arc is already must-see for wrestling fans.