AEW FULL GEAR

 

Newark, New Jersey

ORANGE CASSIDY, ROCKY ROMERO, TRENT BERETTA, CHUCK TAYLOR & DANHAUSEN vs. QT MARSHALL, AARON SOLO, LEE JOHNSON, & NICK COMOROTO & COLE KARTER (11:55): This was another, stuffed to the brim, 5 hour AEW PPV. It was very entertaining, though, and it probably helped that I watched the first five matches on Saturday and then watched the last 8 matches on Sunday. You definitely got your money's worth, anyway. The one negative on the show was the dead crowd. Sure, they were hot as magma for the Young Bucks match and for a few spots here and there, but for the most part they were sitting on their hands. That didn't help. The last three AEW PPV's had the hottest crowds ever in Chicago and Vegas, so maybe I was just used to seeing a raucous, rowdy, insane crowd for these big shows. This was also the first PPV since the infamous self immolation of CM Punk. Ratings haven't plummeted, though the attendance at Dynamite have been pretty sparse lately. Is AEW dead? There was a moment, after All Out last year, when it felt like AEW had surpassed WWE and things were changing. Now, things are more clear: AEW will always just be the more entertaining, hardcore wrestling fans type of promotion. It's not going to be the WWE juggernaut. This PPV showcased how great wrestling can be. But the WWE, for whatever reason, is just more mainstream and friendly and thus, will remain the bigger brand. It's kind of like how indie movies are typically much, much better than dumb Marvel movies yet the Marvel movies make a billion dollars more. You can't fight safe mediocrity for whatever reason. The pre-show opened with this fun ten man. Danhausen didn't come out until the end and got a huge reaction. He was "evil" Danhausen. He delivered big moves, used a jar of teeth and a spike, and got the pin. This was probably the most wrestling he's ever done in AEW and it was like twenty seconds. Entertaining opening match. **1/2

RICKY STARKS vs. BRIAN CAGE (10:00): This was the semi-finals of the world title tournament. This was entertaining. Cage, for whatever reason, disappeared for like a year then re-emerged as a ROH guy. Cage is such a pure, WWE wrestler that I can't believe he's not in that company. He's huge and decent in the ring but will never be in a four star masterpiece. He's kind of like...Bobby Lashley. Starks was, at one point this year, super popular and super over. That's kind of faded a bit. I'm expecting Starks to win this tournament but MJF vs. Ricky Starks isn't exactly a match I care about. **1/2

EDDIE KINGSTON vs. JUN AKIYAMA (10:30): This is Kingston's dream match. I never even heard of Jun Akiyama until I reviewed DDT's tournament two years ago and Akiyama beat Takeshita in the finals. Funny, because Takeshita and Akiyama teamed together on Rampage the night before this. I watched that whole DDT tournament and didn't really like any match Akiyama was in. Granted, he's in his fifties now, so maybe 25 years ago he was awesome. AEW hasn't really done much with Kingston lately, even though he's super over with the fans. This was pretty basic and just okay. **

JUNGLE BOY vs. LUCHASAURUS "STEEL CAGE MATCH" (18:42): This was great. Luchasaurus threw Jungle Boy into the cage like a thousand times. He slammed him onto a chair. The big move was Jungle Boy jumping off the top of the cage and dropping an elbow onto Luchasaurus on a table. Jungle Boy was a bloody mess. Christian stole the key from the ref to open the cage, thus letting Luchasaurus bring a table and chairs into the ring. The dead crowd was hot for this match. This was a stellar way to open the PPV (the first 3 matches were on the free pre-show). ***

DEATH TRIANGLE vs. THE ELITE (18:43): I'm not sure I've ever seen a PPV that started with 2 great matches like these two. Maybe Forbidden Door, which I recall started out so great I was thinking: will this be the best show of all time? It wasn't. This wasn't either, though this match was the most entertaining and exciting match you might ever see in your life. It doesn't get better than this match. Yeah, this didn't have the high drama of a main event, title match. But it had non-stop action, insane moves, a lightning-fast pace, and a crowd that went fucking ape shit (they actually woke up for this one). This match was so good, they announced that this would be the first in a Best of 7 series. Hell, why not? The big, insane move of the match was one of the Bucks and Penta standing on the top rope and the Buck giving Penta a Hurricanrana to the floor onto everyone. Everyone looked superior in this, especially Omega (who's wrestling Ospreay at Wrestle Kingdom in January). Fenix ended up cheating and using the hammer on Omega at the end to win. This was bliss. **** 

JADE CARGILL vs. NYLA ROSE (7:59): Good luck following that! I knew that this show might be in trouble considering there would be 3 women's matches. At least one of them turned out to be good. This, obviously, wasn't it. Jade definitely has the look. Even training with Bryan Danielson hasn't helped her in-ring ability. There were two times when she was supposed to be knocked out but she still fixed her outfit. You're on camera, you idiot! Nyla has been in good matches before...but those were years ago against Riho. This just didn't work at all. *

CHRIS JERICHO vs. BRYAN DANIELSON vs. CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI vs. SAMMY GUEVARA (21:42): This started a bit slow but turned into a great match. Sammy eventually turned on Jericho and Bryan and Claudio beat each other up. Jericho retained the ROH title. That was kind of obvious since the whole reason to give Jericho the title was so he can be on an ROH PPV and the next one is in two weeks. Jericho is also facing Ishii on Dynamite this week for the title. ***

SARAYA vs. BRITT BAKER (13:25): I figured this match wouldn't be good and I was correct. First off, Britt Baker is never in good matches. The only two good ones were the two hardcore matches against Thunder Rosa. Saraya hasn't wrestled in 5 years and wasn't exactly great or exciting in WWE. This was just boring. The crowd did have a few dueling chants during this match, but for the most part they were silent. It just seemed like they were moving around too slow, and there was no excitement. Saraya won, which I guess she had to since she's new. *

SAMOA JOE vs. WARDLOW vs. POWERHOUSE HOBBS (9:54): This was a little sloppy. It wasn't fantastic or anything but wasn't terrible. Wardlow was giving Hobbs a bunch of power bombs when Joe snuck in to win the TNT title. **1/2

DARBY ALLIN & STING vs. JAY LETHAL & JEFF JARRETT (10:59): This was a typical, Darby Allin & Sting clusterfuck match. Maybe it's time to, like, give Darby some singles matches instead? Darby did a coffin drop off of a ladder on the stage but Sihng, the big Indian dude, caught him. Jarrett hit Darby in the back with a guitar when Darby was doing a Coffin Drop off the top rope. Sting jumped from the stands onto everyone. They brawled through the crowd. It was fun, though nothing special. I kind of don't want to see Jeff Jarrett anymore. And when the hell is this Sihng guy going to wrestle? **1/2

JAMIE HAYTER vs. TONI STORM (15:16): This ended up being the best women's wrestling matches in AEW in a very, very long time. Of course it was, though, because Jamie Hayter was in it. I've been saying this for a long time that she's the best AEW woman wrestler. Eventually, the crowds figured this out and started cheering her even though she's a heel. They popped big when she won and there was some terrific near falls at the end of this. Both Britt Baker and Ruby interfered in this. Jamie and Toni worked so fast in this it felt like that Saraya vs. Britt match was in slow motion. Saraya and Britt should take notes: this is how wrestling is supposed to be! Not that dull, slow, plodding snooze fest. It's strange that Jamie is now the 2nd "interim" champ. Maybe stop using the "interim" moniker if you're already on your 2nd interim champ. ***

THE ACCLAIMED vs. SWERVE IN OUR GLORY (19:38): I'm not sure why Billy Gunn wasn't out for this match. He did show up to stop Swerve from using pliars to break the fingers of one of the Acclaimed. Then he went away. Maybe that's why the crowd wasn't too hot for this match? The crowd for the match at All Out was the greatest a crowd could ever be. What happened, Newark? This wasn't that good, either. It was standard stuff. Keith Lee didn't want to cheat, so he left the ring and Swerve got beat up and pinned. **

MJF vs. JON MOXLEY (23:09): These two wrestled before, for Moxley's title, in the main event on a PPV. It was so great I forgot it happened. Granted, it was at All Out 2020 during the Pandemic, so that meant Jacksonville and very few fans. Still, these two don't have any chemistry. This wasn't very good. It was a basic match. Moxley gave MJF a piledriver through a ringside table. William Regal handed MJF a pair of brass knuckles. MJF knocked out Moxley to win the title. Does that mean The Blackpool Combat Club is over? It kind of just started, didn't it? MJF as champ is good, though, because the crowds adore him. They even booed Moxley during this match, but maybe that's because MJF is from the area. Or maybe not. MJF is great on the mic but hasn't been in a great match yet in AEW...has he? I kind of want a champ that'll be in 4 star, epic, main events. Like Adam Page. Like Omega. But MJF as champ will give AEW a boost for awhile, anyway, because his promo's are awesome and he's a fan favorite. This wasn't the best AEW PPV of the year (that's Revolution), but it's probably the 2nd best. Good show. Definitely had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows...but it was very entertaining. **