Fight Forever Match of the Week: Adam Cole vs. Frankie Kazarian

Welcome to Wrestlevolve’s Fight Forever Match of the Week. Here we’ll highlight one match from the week in professional wrestling and talk about why it was one of our favorites. It could be a 30-minute epic or the exciting culmination of an entertaining feud. It might be a pay-per-view bout or a really solid TV match. Wrestling resonates with everyone differently, so feel free to let us know what your match of the week was in the comments!

This match of the week is admittedly a bit conflicting. On one hand, it was pretty obvious that Adam Cole was going to win his AEW debut against Frankie Kazarian. That’s just how wrestling works most of the time — wrestlers, especially those the magnitude of Adam Cole, win their debut matches. Sometimes they take on “local competitors,” while other times they take on established veterans who can afford the loss. Kazarian is the latter, even though he’s a fantastic wrestler who’s a lot of fun to watch and likely has plenty of great matches in store for the future.

That said, as predictable as the outcome may have been, there’s just no denying that Adam Cole vs. Frankie Kazarian on the September 15, 2021 edition of AEW Dynamite was a great deal of fun.

For starters, this wasn’t a squash match — and really, it shouldn’t have been because Kazarian is as accomplished in that ring as they come. Instead, AEW told an interesting story, putting the debuting Cole against a day one AEW wrestler in Kazarian. The match had a “big test” feel about it, pushing Cole to the limit in a match where both competitors traded powerful offense as well as high-flying moves. There were superkicks, springboard leg drops, and lariats thrown everywhere as both men wore each other down.

Interestingly, though Kazarian was the face, the heel Cole was getting cheered by the crowd. This type of reaction definitely makes sense, though, when you consider just how popular Adam Cole is. As such, I don’t think people were booing Kaz because they don’t like him, but rather because he was going up against a fan favorite and easily one of the best wrestlers going today.

The match was built up quite effectively, with Cole teasing his Panama Sunrise signature move a couple times during the match. When he finally pulled it off, he lowered his knee pad and hit the Last Shot, nailing Kazarian in the back of the head and putting him down for the one-two-three.

I hope this isn’t the last time we see Cole and Kaz duke it out in an AEW ring. Kazarian has been feuding with members of The Elite for some time now, and with this loss to another member of that faction, it may only be a matter of time before The Elite Hunter finds himself some partners to take on Cole and the Young Bucks.

What was last week’s best bout? Click here for more Fight Forever Match of the Week awesomeness!