All Elite Wrestling pulls no punches when they plan for a huge show, as every show feels larger than the last one. Full Gear felt like AEW’s most ambitious show to date with three Championship matches, an Eliminator final, multi-man matches, and what has become a blood feud between Eddie Kingston and CM Punk.

Did the show exceed its lofty expectations or fall on its face?

Let’s find out!

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THE BUY-IN

We start the Buy-In with a rare segment of Tony Schiavone standing in the ring. He brings out Minneapolis’s own Dante Martin for an interview on his impending decision to whether or not join Team Taz. Before he can give a true answer, The Acclaimed interrupt the young flyer to offer him a spot in their group. Dante refuses and brawls with them until the segment is over. All of these factions vying for Dante makes him feel like a coveted free agent in AEW.

Nyla Rose/Jaime Hayter vs. Thunder Rosa/Hikaru Shida

Our first match of the evening is a tag match between Nyla Rose and Jaime Hayter taking on crowd favorite Thunder Rosa and Hikaru Shida. It was a good match, nice and slow, and both teams were able to showcase what they bring to the table. Overall, it was a great way to start off the pay per view.

The story of the match, and a continuing story, was Shida’s knee. Nyla and Jaime did a good job isolating Shida and doing damage to the already injured knee. The match picked up with a flurry of offense from Thunder Rosa, but the intriguing part came from outside the match.

Towards the end of the match, Shida had the upper hand outside the ring. Serena Deeb happened to be sitting in the front row. Shida was still peeved about Deeb causing her injury, got in Deeb’s face, and Vicki Guerrero took advantage with a Kendo shot to the knee. Nyla proceeded to hit a Five Star Frog splash on Shida, but it was for naught as Shida reversed the Beast Bomb into a surprise rollup pinfall. How does this result play into their respective TBS title matches? I’m enjoying this little mini-feud between Shida and Deeb. I’d bet that Deeb causes Shida to lose against Nyla. Good match.

3.5/5

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MJF vs. Darby Allin

The official show starts with a fascinating match between two ‘pillars’ of AEW’s future. MJF and Darby Allin showcased what AEW is all about: unbelievable wrestling. Darby always puts on a show and Maxwell is no slouch, but this match was on another level for both men. This match had everything: unbelievable chemistry, psychology, high spots, and character.

The overall story of this match was that Darby wasn’t good enough to match MJF in actual wrestling. Before the match even started, MJF made Justin Roberts declare that he was going to beat Darby with a simple headlock takeover. However, as the match got going the story wasn’t how good MJF was at wrestling, it was how good MJF kept up with Darby’s speed. MJF is not known for his workrate in AEW, but he absolutely killed it. There were multiple back and forth exchanges that impressed me wholeheartedly.

It was a back and forth affair with some quintessential Darby nasty falls. I winced as he missed a Coffin Drop and hit the apron spine first. There was also a brutal Tombstone piledriver by MJF onto the apron. Remember, the apron is the hardest part of the ring.

The match took an interesting turn as MJF hit a backbreaker and seemingly injured his knee. Every offensive maneuver by MJF hurt his own knee and Darby would take advantage by targeting it. Darby even locked in a nice Figure Four to punish the Salt of the Earth. His knee even played into the finish of the match.

The Pinnacle tried to help MJF, but STIIIING would have none of it and neutralized Spears and Wardlow with the bat. MJF was sick and tired of playing by the rules, so he grabbed Darby’s skateboard at ringside and tried to win by disqualification. Darby didn’t go for it, but the distraction was enough as MJF punched Darby in the face with his diamond ring and pinned him after a….Headlock takeover. He called his shot at the beginning of the match and did it. Finally, I’m not sure whether or not it was on purpose or not, but the pinfall looked weird. Darby’s shoulders were not fully on the mat and commentary didn’t mention it.

Ultimately it doesn’t matter because the match was phenomenal. I loved every minute of this match and it was one of my favorites on the entire evening.

4.5/5

AEW Tag Team Championship: Lucha Bros (c) vs. FTR

After that crazy match we have another one with the Lucha Brothers defending their AEW Tag Team titles against FTR. This clash of styles was a wild one with your usual frantic Lucha bros style meeting the tough and slow FTR style. It was a great match up until one specific point, but our lovely AEW Champs retain in a fun match.

Like most Lucha Bros matches there really wasn’t much story. I love the tag team, but the psychology in their matches lacks behind their peers. FTR kept trying to heel their ways to victory by cheating and bending the rules, but the Luchas were having no part of it. Even Tully Blanchard tried to get involved with no success.

As is the case for Lucha Bros matches, Rey Fenix does the unimaginable. My favorite spot of the match saw Pentagon holding Dax Harwood up for the Lucha package piledriver. Rey stomps on Dax as Penta delivers the piledriver and simultaneously soars through the air with a crossbody onto Cash Wheeler. It must be so fun thinking up spots like this and seeing what crazy thing he could do next.

The match turns a little weird after that crazy spot. For some reason, Cash Wheeler decides to put on the Green masks from “Los Super Ranas” and tries to steal the pinfall. The referee catches him trying to cheat and the Luchas hit their elevated spike pile driver for the victory. I’m not exactly sure what FTR was trying to convey, but it did not come across well. Other than that, I really liked this match. The story was lacking, but I can never argue with the fun I have watching the Lucha Bros.

4/5

Eliminator Final: Miro vs. Bryan Danielson

Up next we have the anticipated battle between Miro and Bryan Danielson, and a battle it felt like. Miro spent a majority of this match tossing around Danielson like a ragdoll. Bryan continuously attempted to attack the neck and taped leg of Miro, but the big man would quickly swat away the attacks.

My favorite part of the match was when Bryan was wrenching on a Knee Bar and Miro was able to stand up and gut wrench suplex Bryan over his head in the middle of the submission. God’s Favorite Champion has unreal amounts of strength.

Towards the end of the match, Bryan started targeting Miro’s neck and head with stomps. It is such a good idea to establish a dominant monster with weaknesses. Miro feels like such a big deal until someone like Danielson is able to use his abilities to target the weakness and it still protects Miro. Both men attempt their finishing submissions to no avail and proceed to kick the hell out of each other. Miro looked Bryan straight in the face with an evil look and kept asking him to kick him. He’s gone insane and I love it. Bryan is able to hit an awkward looking Tornado DDT and finished Miro with a Guillotine choke.

The crowd seemed a little subdued after the first two crazy matches and the match suffered a little bit. The pace was slow, but that was a great choice for these two brawling behemoths. I’m a little concerned of where Miro goes from here, but having Bryan face the winner of the championship match is a GREAT idea.

4/5

Falls Count Anywhere: Superkliq vs. Jurassic Express & Christian Cage

Up next we have an absolute car crash disguised as a trios match between the Superkliq and Jurassic Express with Christian Cage. There were Tables, Ladders, Chairs (oh my), and kneepads bedazzled with thumbtacks. The match was a whirlwind of chaotic moves that it was difficult to keep up.

Furthermore, can I just give a kudos to the Young Bucks and Christian Cage. The Bucks always look ridiculous, but they took it to one hundred tonight. Their bright pink outfits were one thing, but Nick Jackson dyed his hair and beard pink as well. They might be the best tag team in the world, but they are so good cocky heels that are totally okay with looking ridiculous. Props to Christian Cage as well. That man is 47 years old and he was taking fifteen foot bumps off of ramps and he voluntarily jumped off of a platform in the crowd.

The chaos reaches its pinnacle as both teams brawl on the rampway. They all trade insane maneuver after insane maneuver, culminating in an absolutely insane Shooting Star Press by Luchasaurus. Finally, Jungle Boy becomes Jungle Man and delivers a Conchairto to Matt Jackson for the victory.

This match was the perfect type of chaos for me. I really enjoyed how it varied from crazy to insane levels, but I felt it last just a little too long. The Thumbtack kneepads were cool, but should have ended the match. It ended up being too much for me and I like my chaotic matches. The pacing was a little wonky towards the end and would have been better if it ended five minutes earlier.

4/5

Andrade el Idolo/Malakai Black vs. Cody/PAC

Next is a match that absolutely baffled me. The amount of knowledge I have about the four participants prior to the match is equal to the amount I have following the match. Cody and PAC have obviously been targets of Malakai Black and Andrade el Idolo for some time, but what was I supposed to take out of this? The only story beat of the match were these three words: “CAN THEY COEXIST?” The word coexist was said about five hundred times in this fifteen minute tag match and the automatic pro wrestling answer to that question is always, “no.”

The members of both tag teams forcefully tagged themselves into the match at random times. Everyone in the match seemed annoyed and there was no actual working together as a team. Maybe that was the point trying to get across, but why do this at a pay per view? This could have easily been done on next week’s Dynamite.

Mismatched tag team matches are a common trope of WWE and it drives me crazy. I’m not exactly sure why AEW attempted to force feed us an angle like that, but I hope they don’t do it again. The original promising story between Cody and Malakai has become a mire of unanswered questions, theories, and bad booking decisions.

The match itself was fine, but it felt uncoordinated and rushed. All four guys had a little time to showcase their offense. Malakai knocked Cody out with a Black Mass, Andrade hit an apron draping DDT, and Cody went for a crazy hot tag after being taken out by Malakai. Arn Anderson even had some fun by taking out Andrade’s assistant, Jose. There was a cool spot where Malakai kicked Cody’s head off and they both went spilling into the crowd.

In my opinion, the one star of the match was PAC. He was the most consistent, hit his usual devastating moves, and had the most ring time because of Cody being knocked out. After Malakai and Cody neutralized each other, PAC hit the Black Arrow onto Andrade for the victory.

In conclusion, I enjoyed the match but don’t understand what we were trying to accomplish. It didn’t feel like a tag match and could have been on Dynamite. I like that PAC picked up a victory, but we’re falling into 50/50 territory with all four stars being drug through the mud. It’s time to move on or choose a side.

3.25/5

AEW Women’s World Championship: Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Tay Conti

The Women’s title match between Conti and Baker follows, and it was better than I originally thought it would be going in. Both ladies left everything they had in the ring, albeit slightly uncoordinated at times. The reign of Britt Baker feels simultaneously like it just started and has been going on forever. She feels like a women’s champion without any peers capable enough to take the belt from her. Tay Conti put up a valiant effort, but in the end it wasn’t enough.

The story of the match was Tay Conti giving Britt everything she had and the champ overcoming regardless. Britt’s entourage obviously got involved a couple of times, as they are one to do. For instance, Britt was able to take advantage of a distraction by viciously Curb Stomping Tay’s head onto the stairs. In spite of all of the distractions, Tay was able to overcome and hit Britt with her best maneuvers. She hit the DDTay and the TayKO, but ultimately wasn’t enough as the Doctor managed a high stack rollup pinfall for the victory.

Like I alluded to earlier, there were a few instances of incoordination towards the beginning and a little at the end, but it didn’t affect my opinions of the match overall. It’s incredible of the growth that Britt and Tay have shown in two years time. Britt has evolved into a true champion and Tay could absolutely become that if she grows at the same pace she showed the past year. Solid match between two mainstays in the women’s division.

4/5

CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston

The seething rivalry between CM Punk and Eddie Kingston is next and was everything I expected. It was a hard hitting and fierce affair between two dudes who only wanted to hurt each other. The intensity ramped up past 9000 before the bell even rang as Eddie Kingston hit Punk with his spinning backfist before the bell even rang. It was a pure blind shot that dropped Punk out cold. Referee Remsburg made sure Punk was alive prior to ringing the bell and Eddie continued the assault.

The bitter rivalry turned into a literal blood feud as Punk was busted open and Eddie painted his own face in it. The craziness of both guys makes me want to see this feud continue forever. It brings the best out in both of them.

Towards the end of the match we took a journey into crazy town as CM Punk emulated the moves of John Cena and even threatened to hit a five knuckle shuffle. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The style of this feud is supposed to remind us of the Punk and Cena feud from 2011, but I wasn’t expecting an actual moveset emulation! Pro Wrestling in 2021 is wild.

Finally, after ten brutal minutes of chaos, CM Punk hits two Go To Sleep’s to take out Eddie Kingston. A fantastic match, albeit a shorter one. A fresh kind of fight that we don’t really see too often on AEW pay per views. This felt like a brawl from start to finish and Kingston never really even attempted to pin CM Punk. I am intrigued as to where both men go from here. Does this feud continue? If not, what’s next for Kingston? One would expect an unbeaten CM Punk start to creep into title conversations now, but TNT or World? Questions for another day. Regardless, phenomenal match and one of my favorites of the evening.

4.25/5

Minneapolis Street Fight: Inner Circle vs. Men of the Year and American Top Team

Our penultimate match of the evening is another baffling one, but was a lot more fun than the previous baffling match from earlier. The Minneapolis Street Fight between the Inner Circle and the Men of the Year with American Top Team was wild, wonky, and totally not a street fight. In AEW, there is no difference between a street fight, falls count anywhere, or any kind of match that allows for hardcore rules. It’s semantics really, but it bothers me because Proud and Powerful and the Best Friends put on one of the best actual Street Fights last year. That might have been because of Covid, but still.

Anyway, the match itself started a little weird with both teams tagging in and out. This was a little odd because it’s no DQ, but I assume they were trying to limit the amount of exposure for dos Santos and Orlovsky. It quickly broke down into absolute craziness.

I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by the abilities of Orlovsky and dos Santos to be adequate in the ring. Orlovsky had some devastating right hands and Junior dos Santos even hit a standing moonsault on Jericho. I was not expecting that. On the other hand, Dan Lambert was perfect in his over the top obnoxious way and acted like he was king of the world in the ring. He’s really good at what he does in the Pro Wrestling sphere.

The match picked up after everyone started ignoring tags and jumped into the ring. We finally got some clarity from commentary on what makes it a ‘Minneapolis’ Street fight:

“All of the plunder to be used was invented in Minnesota.”

Cool.

There was a Prince sign, a toaster, all kinds of hockey equipment, and various usual street fight weapons. It was fun, silly, and a nice break in between big feud blow offs.

We proceeded towards the finish with Sammy Guevara taking out Scorpio Sky with a monster swanton from the rafters and Santana throwing Ethan Page into the crowd. We were left with Dan Lambert taunting in the ring until Jericho ceremoniously knocked him for a loop and finished the match with an Eddie Guerrero 5 star frog splash. It was nice to see how many matches had homages to the late great Guerrero on the anniversary of his death.

In conclusion, the match was silly and a good change of pace from the previous and final match to come. It wasn’t five stars by any means, but it wasn’t supposed to be. I had fun watching it and that’s all that matters.

3.75/5

AEW World Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Hangman Adam Page

It happened! The Cowboy did it! We have a new champion! Hangman Adam Page did a whole bunch of Cowboy Shit and won the AEW World Title in an absolutely phenomenal match with his bitter rival, Kenny Omega. The match was a back and forth 25 minute affair loaded hard hitting action and emotion.

As they are one to do, Kenny Omega used Don Callis for a good portion of the beginning to take advantage. Hangman would have none of it by overcoming every attempt at dirty heel tactics by the champion. There was a really scary spot where Hangman was stuck on the top turnbuckle and Kenny reversed into an avalanche springboard Liger Bomb. Hangman almost landed on his head, but thankfully he was okay.

Usually, Kenny Omega matches are dominated by the Cleaner until his adversary eventually succumbs to the One Winged Angel. However, the story of this match was solely about Hangman having literally every single answer for Kenny Omega, his shenanigans, and every move he attempted. AEW has done a magnificent job of presenting Hangman since he returned from Paternity leave. Everything was leading into this match where he had all of the answers. He escaped the One Winged Angel twice and even blocked a V-Trigger.

The match took a very interesting turn in the middle as Hangman attempted a Buckshot Lariat and Kenny pulled referee Paul Turner into the move. Don Callis took advantage and tried to hit Hangman behind the back with the belt, but Hangman was prepared and caught him. The Cowboy had enough of Callis and knocked him out, hit Kenny with a Deadeye piledriver, but Kenny kicked out at a close two. Paul Turner was knocked out of the match and it was funny watching replacement referee Aubrey Edwards run down the ramp to save the day even though Kenny kicked out at two.

Finally, towards the end, the match took one last VERY interesting turn that I really loved. After being told to stay in the back by Hangman, the Young Bucks slowly walk down the ramp to support Kenny. They watched as Hangman escaped a One Winged Angel attempt and hit a One Winged Angel of his own. Hangman proceeded to hit a Buckshot lariat and the Bucks didn’t interfere. Matt Jackson gave Hangman a nod of approval as the Cowboy hit a second Buckshot for the victory. AND NEW!!!!

The crowd erupts as Hangman checks on Kenny. After all of this Hangman still cares about him and hopes he’s okay. The Dark Order comes down to celebrate and they all hug in the ring. Someone must have been cutting onions around me…

This match, the story, emotion, and everything surrounding it was perfection. Chef’s kiss levels of perfection. I cannot describe this match and everything else about it as anything but perfection. Adding in the Young Bucks at the end was such a minor touch that added to it. Matt Jackson went to Hangman’s corner to give that nod of approval after not being in his corner for his first title shot. Great stuff. This match deserves my first perfect score.

5/5

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And that’s it for Full Gear! It was a great show that culminated in one of the best long term wrestling stories of all time. The fall and rise of the Anxious Millennial Cowboy is a story that will be told for years. Obviously the main event grabs Match of the Night honors.

Match of the Night: Hangman Adam Page def. Kenny Omega

My other two favorites were MJF vs. Darby Allin and CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston. Both matches were great matches that would have a quality shot at receiving match of the night on any given night.

In conclusion, Full Gear was a great show to end a year of great shows by AEW. The future is incredibly bright for the young promotion and I cannot wait to see where they are by next Full Gear.

Verdict: 4.75/5 (Amazing)