AEW has produced many PPVs over the years that can make the claim for being the greatest in the promotion's short history, but for most fans, the gold standard event remains All Out 2021. There were, of course, the top-tier matches, such as The Lucha Brothers, Penta and Rey Fenix, defeating the Young Bucks to capture the AEW World Tag Team Championships, and CM Punk's return to wrestling, defeating Darby Allin. But a lot of All Out 2021's reputation is built on the surprise debuts of three former WWE stars. The most talked about to this day remain Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson, who both showed up in the show's closing angle. The third came earlier in the show, when Ruby Soho was the final entrant in the Casino Battle Royale, winning it to secure an AEW Women's World Championship shot.
Much like with Danielson and Cole, Soho's AEW debut was hotly anticipated, as many fans felt she'd have a point to prove after a WWE run many felt was lacking, and that she could be the catalyst for an AEW women's division that was still considered more of a weakness than a strength. Alas, a quick glance at Soho's overall run with AEW would lead many to conclude that things didn't quite work out the way everyone expected. While the AEW women's division has flourished, an argument can be made that Soho had little to do with it, as her AEW run to date features no runs as AEW Women's World Champion, nor the AEW TBS Championship. And it didn't seem that was in the cards prior to Soho going on maternity leave, as she was involved in a romance storyline with real-life partner, Angelo Parker, that was largely confined to the now-defunct "AEW Rampage."
Those facts don't tell the whole story of Soho's AEW run. While she may not have held a championship so far, Soho was a frequent contender for both the Women's World Championship and TBS Championship from 2021 to 2023, including making it to the finals of the tournament to crown the first-ever TBS Champion, which she lost to Jade Cargill. In fact, getting to tournament finals and losing has kind of been the story of Soho's AEW run; in addition to the TBS Title tournament, she was also the finalist in the 2022 and 2023 Women's Owen Hart Cup finals, falling to Britt Baker and Willow Nightingale. But even outside title contention, Soho was often prominently featured, more so after she turned heel and joined the ill-fated Outcasts stable alongside Saraya and a pre-"Timeless" Toni Storm.
Thus, when you combine all that info on Soho's AEW run to form a nuanced take, the question of whether her run has been worse than expected is answered with a...maybe? It all depends on the eye of the beholder. If you expected that Soho would come in, change the AEW women's division overnight, and become a multi-time champion, it's understandable why her time would be seen as a disappointment. In comparison to her WWE run, however, it's hard to argue that things haven't gone better for Soho; she's been featured more, she's been in title contention, and aside from her pregnancy, she hasn't disappeared from TV for long stretches. Has it been perfect? No. Has it been awful? No. In the end, Ruby Soho's AEW run has been what many would call a mixed bag. I'll leave it up to you to decide how disappointing that is.
