Welcome everyone to the first #MouthingOff pay-per-view review of the latest AEW pay-per-view, Full Gear. I’m gonna break down (to the best of my ability) all the matches that took place tonight on the show, so let’s get right into it. Also unlike the Dynamite reviews since the pay-per-views are mostly all matches that are culminations of storylines so my thoughts during talking about the matches will suffice and won’t need to talk about it further after the rating.
NWA World Women’s Championship: Serena Deeb (c) vs. Allysin Kay
This was a hell of a match on the buy-in, that to me and a lot of people is evident of what AEW thinks of their own women’s divsion. This match was an AEW wrestler defending the NWA title against a former NWA wrestler whose now a free agent. It was a super enjoyable match, that is going to lend itself to the theme of this show, well paced matches with definitive finishes.
This match was very good, both ladies looked great in the ring, the chemistry between the two was there. Serena further proved how good she is. She was methodical in this match, she was calculated. This further proved my thoughts on her and Allysin Kay, if you haven’t seen her matches in the past she is a pretty much earned herself a job with AEW and she is someone they absolutely need to sign.
The finish was a nice sequence, after Kay hit the AK-47, Deeb instinctively rolled out of the ring, and when Kay sent her back in the ring, and Deeb caught her and hit a dragon screw on the ropes, hurting the knee. Then Deeb hit’s a piledriver face-plant, but Kay was too close to the ropes, and Deeb locks in the serenity lock to get the submission finish, Serena retains.
Post match, saw the return of Thunder Rosa, who came out for a stare down with Serena setting up their rematch that will probably take place on an AEW show.
Match Rating: 6/10
World Title Eliminator Tournament Finals: Kenny Omega vs. “Hangman” Adam Page
One cliché in wrestling that will never go away is, “if you’re not in the main event, you want to be the opener.”, the opener sets the tone for the entire show, to say this one did would be an understatement. When this match was officially announced nobody was concerned that Omega and Page wouldn’t have a classic, and we weren’t disappointed at all. This was a classic that wasn’t too long either, because it didn’t need to be.
One thing that AEW does better then anyone is leave you wanting more and even though this was probably the match of the night, because it wasn’t 20+ minutes they said “we can top that one day” and they will, and there will be a title on the line in a main event the next time. Page doesn’t look bad for losing here because it’s gonna build the sympathy that he already has even more to the point of him being undeniable down the line.
There was so much great spots, sequences and maneuvers in this match, that it was almost impossible to pick one particular thing that stood out. Both guys were on top of their game, both guys wanted to be the best and it showed. They pulled out all the stops, Page even hit a deadeye which he only pulls out on very rare occasions, but it wasn’t enough to put down Kenny Omega. This match ended like most Kenny Omega matches, nobody kicks out of the one-winged angel, and once he hit it the match was over, your new number one contender, Kenny Omega.
Match Rating: 7.5/10
John “4” Silver vs. Orange Cassidy
When this match was moved from the Buy-In to the main show I was so happy for John Silver. He has gotten himself over the easiest way, by being himself. We all knew going in what this match would be. Orange Cassidy doing what he does best, sloth style at it’s finest, and he turns it up when he has to. Silver being the only Dark Order member with a match tonight says a lot about how high everyone is on him. He plays the small powerhouse so well especially against someone as good as Cassidy.
The spot of the match, was when Silver was getting frustrated when Orange kept putting his hands in his pockets, so he ripped them off, so Cassidy couldn’t do that anymore. It was the right amount of comedy and the right amount of wrestling. The right person won as well. The finish came after Silver hit the spin doctor for a near fall, he was unsure what to do next because he felt he gave Cassidy his best at that point, which gives Cassidy the opportunity to fire up once more and he hits the orange punch followed by the beach break for the victory, Orange Cassidy with the victory, which he needed a lot more then Silver who for now is a tag team guy.
Match Rating: 5.5/10
TNT Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Darby Allin
This is the third time these two have faced off, and it was easily the best one. It was clear from the get go, this was going to be a star making performance for Darby Allin. Cody came off as if he was taking Darby for granted for sure, every time they met Darby was never able to get the win, so to him it came off as even though Darby is tough and takes Cody to the limit every time Cody, wasn’t taking him seriously. Coming into this match Cody said he was the one who bet on Darby, but not when he faces Cody.
It was clear what story they were telling here, Cody was acting cocky for the most part and that pissed off Arn Anderson, who just wanted to Cody to capitalize on every opportunity. The moment of the match, came after both guys seemed like they exhausted everything, Cody hits a cross rhodes off the top rope. The one thing that stood out about this was that they protected it by not having Darby kick out of it, because he shouldn’t that’s a move you don’t kick out of. It was justified as being a very painful move, when Darby was launched all the way across the ring and his arm just so happened to be under the rope. This was done masterfully and clearly frustrated Cody.
The finish came after an extended back and forth, Cody hits a pump kick, goes for another cross rhodes but Darby turns it into a roll up and after a back and forth counter or roll ups Darby catches Cody with another roll up for the surprise victory, Winner and new TNT Champion, Darby Allin.
Cody tried to argue with the referee at first, but it sets in that Darby caught him, and Cody grabs the belt and kneels and hands it to Darby and raises his hand. After the match we are interrupted by Taz, he makes enough of a distraction for Brian Cage and Ricky Starks to attack both men. Both of them pick up the TNT Championship and sort of do a little tug of war, creating some tension there of who in team Taz will challenge for it. Taz directs traffic and tell them to finish Darby, they throw him through a set piece, then they try to slam Darby’s arm in the car he made his entrance in, but he is saved again by Will Hobbs, who Taz has been trying to recruit for over a month.
Match Rating: 6.5/10
AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Nyla Rose
If you saw the match at Double or Nothing between these two, six months ago, and said “oh I’m not worried I saw the first match.”, boy were you wrong for thinking that. This match was sloppy beyond sloppy. The chemistry you expected from these two just wasn’t there at all. The thing that immediately stuck out, was Shida getting her leg worked on through out the match, presumably to prevent her from using her knee strikes, and her not selling her knee at all, not even a little bit.
It didn’t make any sense at all, and to say this match lived up to it’s build which was presumably nothing, makes too much sense. AEW needs to do something to fix this division big time, put the same emphasis on it that your putting on tag team wrestling because you said you would be different. AEW has the worst booked women’s division in all of wrestling, there’s no comparison. Shida would successfully retain her title as we all expected, there was some miscommunication between Vickie Guerrero and Nyla, Shida won with multiple knee strikes, to retain her title. This was sloppy, and just sad. After the match Vickie was yelling at Nyla. Something needs to be done big time, put the belt on Britt Baker, she’s a star, she’s the star in this divsion, and sign more American talent.
Match Rating: 3/10
AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (c) vs. The Young Bucks
This match, lived up to expectations, this match was a homage to tag team wrestling. Was it the best tag team match ever, no it wasn’t and to put that on the match like most did was wrong, but it was a master class. This match just like all the top matches, did everything it was supposed to, slowly built to a definitive finish, and told a story. Matt Jackson had a legitimate injury, and they played into that perfectly. So because of that Nick did most of the work, and that played into the style of FTR. There was a lot of double teams done by classic, and recent tag teams. The Young Bucks did the 3-D of the Dudleys, and the Twist of Fate followed by a Swanton Bomb, by the Hardys. FTR did the Steiners, Doomsday Bulldog, a Hart Foundation, Hart Attack, .and the DIY, Superkick and knee strike combo. Some standout spots, was Dax taunting Matt to use a chair to lose and adhere to their stipulation and Matt fighting it off, Nick taking a very hard looking powerbomb on the time keepers table, while Matt took a tombstone.
The teams would hit their own signature moves and they were some of the closest pinfall break ups you can see. The big story of this match, was everyone knows FTR as the “no flips, just fists” team, that doesn’t go against that to win their matches. However, Cash Wheeler went there and it ended up being his teams downfall. With Tully Blanchard being banned from ringside, they I guess they felt they had to go out of their comfort zone. Cash Wheeler, hits a superkick, and follows it up by attempting a springboard 450 splash, he misses and receives a bare foot superkick from Matt Jackson for a three count, winner and new AEW World Tag Team Champions, The Young Bucks. I’d like an explanation as to why a bar foot superkick would finish someone off more then a regular one with a boot, but that’s a nitpick I can see past.
Following the match, we see Kenny Omega come out for the celebration and in the distance, we very clearly see “Hangman” Adam Page, standing in the tunnel but not the stage, but commentary plays it off as not knowing who it is. Some more notes for this match, known Clipper fans, The Young Bucks came out in Laker’s inspired gear, and FTR came out in Celtics inspired gear and they treated the celebration like they won the world title, it was treated as a big deal, because the guys who should have been on top from day one, finally are, and I appreciate that. I will say lastly the build to this match was not great, the stipulation The Young Bucks put on themselves, the same exact stipulation Cody put on himself exactly one year ago, was forced, and made this match very predictable, which for me and a lot of other people was part of the problem. Unlike Cody, The Young Bucks couldn’t lose here, because nobody wants to see them as single competitors, maybe down the line after a lengthy tag team run in this organization in at least a decade. The Young Bucks are a tag team, simple as that.
Match Rating: 7/10
Elite Deletion: Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara
This match, was not for me, the problem is, I don’t know who it was for. I understand what they were going for, this was supposed to be a fun cinematic, we all know what it was meant to be. To me none of it really worked. This feud has been snake bitten from day one, Matt Hardy’s run here has been snake bitten from day one. Guevara, is good we know he’s good and he didn’t need to continue this feud to get him over, he’s already over. Matt Hardy is Matt Hardy and he didn’t need this match to further try to get his character over.
Proud and Powerful, and Private Party got involved (presumably the only thing that made sense here, probably to start a feud between the two teams), they shot fireworks at each other, there was cameos from Gangrel and The Hurricane, calling back to previous deletion matches. There was call backs to bad spots in previous Hardy/Guevara matches, none of it was necessary. Was it good for what they were trying to do? Absolutely, but to repeat myself, was it necessary, absolutely not.
Sammy Guevara, will be fine from this obviously, but this feud needs to be over forever, he needs to just be a good wrestler, and a good character, and even a face turn could help to get him to a new level that we know he can get to. The match it self, finally turned into a wrestling match after about 15 minutes of all that other stuff, in a warehouse with a ring and a ladder, and this is where we saw Guevara speared of the apron through two tables, calling back to Hardy’s fall at All Out that legitimately hurt him, not a good look. Then Hardy throws a chair at Guevara’s face, another call back, then hits a laid out Guevara in the back of the head with a chair on a concrete floor, pinning him and winning the match, then Hardy and Private Party “take out the trash” and put Guevara in a garbage pale and load it on a truck, driven by Hardy’s father in-law, Senior Benjamin.
Match Rating: 4/10
MJF vs. Chris Jericho (If MJF wins, he’s in the Inner Circle)
From day one it’s been very clear to me, this match was between two guys who were too alike, so alike that it’s impossible for them to “jell” and have a “classic”. Was this a bad match? Absolutely not. Was this a great match? Absolutely not. The thing that stuck out to me was, MJF was basically working from behind from the beginning, and had to find a way to one up Jericho and do some things that caught Jericho off guard, and that’s kind of what happened. A lot of this match was MJF using cunning reversals and his character to get the upper hand and sometimes that was his downfall.
Some stand out spots, where MJF, yelling “Oh shit!” while receiving a back body drop, that was entertaining and just enough of being so MJF. Jericho making mistakes presumably lead to his downfall, going for the Judas Effect early and hitting the ring post, making the arm and the elbow a target for MJF’s Salt of the Earth Fujiwara armbar. Jericho got rammed into the corner on a bulldog attempt further hurting the arm. Wardlow gives MJF his ring and he goes to use by punching Jericho, but he misses, then Jericho asks for his bat but MJF pretends like he got hit, which leads to an argument with the referee, and a surprise roll up with tights, by MJF for the pinfall, and the win, MJF is now in the Inner Circle. Jericho welcomes him and Wardlow in the Dark Order with a hug to MJF and celebration.
Match Rating: 6.25/10
AEW World Championship (I Quit Match): Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston
This match was very hard hitting, very personal, the story coming in was masterfully told. Eddie Kingston has nothing else in this world but wrestling, and he needed this win to validate everything he’s ever done, for his mother to be proud of him. Jon Moxley being one of his oldest friends, unfortunately for Kingston, knew what that meant but knew Kingston wouldn’t be better then him on this night, it was poetic in a way.
The match however was hardcore, it was as I said before hard hitting, they were beating the crap out of each other throughout. They used a bunch of weapons, barbed wire bats, chairs, thumbtacks. They just kept building and building to more painful spots as the match went on. Moxley gets slammed into the pile of thumbtacks. A gnarly spot that followed came when Kingston used a single strand of barbed wire to cut Jon Moxley, then he poured rubbing alcohol on him, to cause further pain with the sting of the alcohol. If you’re not a fan of hardcore wrestling this probably isn’t for you but when it’s done right, and the story is right, it comes off as a beautiful work of art like this. It wasn’t too much, it wasn’t over produced. It felt right.
Moxley would fire back after, presumably almost being choked out, he hit a Paradigm Shift, and followed that up with a bulldog choke, while the arm doing the wrenching of the choke was wrapped in barbed wire. Kingston would say I quit under his breath while in the choke, winner and still AEW World Champion, Jon Moxley. After the match, Moxley would help Kingston up but Kingston doesn’t want help, he tells Kingston its over, and Kingston says “it’s never over” and he walks off. During the celebration Kenny Omega would appear and stand on the apron, they trade words before their inevitable clash for the title, and Omega walks off closing the show.
Match Rating: 6.75/10
What are your thoughts on AEW Full Gear? Do you think these matches are rated well? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @SLTDWrestling.
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