AEW Full Gear 2024 11/23/2024

AEW Full Gear 2024 11/23/2024

This show aired on a Saturday and therefore, Collision did not air.

Thoughts going into this: This is one of the weakest PPV's AEW has ever done. It's a pretty cold period for AEW with the Adam Cole vs MJF feud never really taking off and The Death Riders angle also not really taking off. It just doesn't really look like a typical AEW show. There's a ton of names missing from this one and not all of the reasons are really injury related. To be honest, QT vs AJ was the match I was looking forward to most and the match that got the most discussion online.

Pre-show: Big Boom AJ vs QT Marshall
 
The Rizzler is the bell ringer for this one. AJ had a long entrance where he high-fived almost everyone in the front row.

They got a lot of time for this one. The Rizzler got big chants here. They had a pretty even match. AJ can do everything safe but he's not exactly a text book worker and didn't have the cleanest punches. AJ was definitely a bit gassed here but he did good for his age and status as someone who doesn't wrestle regularly. QT went after The Rizzler at one point and Paul Wight stopped him. Aaron Solo came out to interfere for QT then Big Justice speared QT. AJ got the win here as expected.

It obviously wasn't a 5-star classic or anything but it was celebrity fun. Big Justice did a pretty good job as a face manager here and this was a success. 

Mercedes Mone runs down Kamille in the back and insults her. Kamille stands up to her some. Mone tells her she can watch her match from the back tonight and she will show her how a real woman gets the job done.

AEW Tag Titles - Private Party (c) vs The Outrunners vs The Kings of the Black Throne (Malakai Black and Brody King) vs The Acclaimed 

Private Party picked up the win in this one with a gin and juice on Max. HoB had a death metal band for their entrance. Max threw the mic at Bowens and Bowens missed it. Bowens and Max feuded some during this and Max tried to get Bowens to pin him at one point here. It was a typical four way with people coming in and out and people patiently waiting on the outside while 2 people fought inside. It wasn't anything great or memorable but it was fine.

Zay did his dance with what was probably one of his nephews after. 

Orange Cassidy is interviewed by Lexy. He says The Death Riders sent the message but they send a message back tonight. He says Private Party is like him and are the AEW tag champs now. He says AEW means everything to them like it does to him and the fans. He says Mox couldn't understand that as he never needed AEW. OC says he wouldn't exist without AEW. He says he will show Mox that AEW doesn't need him. He says he will become AEW champ tonight.

MJF vs Roderick Strong

This is a really weak match that continues the Cole/MJF feud that just won't go away. I don't know why we needed to see this.

MJF gets on the mic and makes a racial remark, calling Strong "White trash". He says he was shooting movies while Strong's mam shot his daddy.

MJF won with an armbar here. He worked the arm most of the match before tapping Strong out. I thought it went a little longer than needed and wasn't the most exciting match, but it made sense.

After the match, MJF stomped a chair into Strong's arm. Taven, Bennett, Cole and Kyle O'Reilly came out for MJF. Kyle pushed Cole over and Cole looked stunned. Kyle then helped Strong out to the back.

AEW TBS Title - Mercedes Mone (c) vs Kris Statlander

Mone hits forearms early and is thrown into the corner. Mone monkey flips her and hits mounted forearms. Kris gorilla press slams Mone, flipping sentons her then standing moonsaults her for 2. Mone hurricanrana's Kris off the apron then diving meteora's her off the apron.

Mone baseball slides her, sends her into the steps, then meteora's her into the steps. Mone running meteora's her in the ring for 2. Mone 2nd rope meteora's Kris for 2. I think they botched Mone escaping a powerbomb, but they sold it as a neckbreaker on Kris. Mone sunset flips Kris into the buckles then meteora's her on the buckles for 2.

Mone straightjacket chokes her while sitting on her back. Kris throws Mone off the ropes on a tornado ddt attempt. Kris catches Mone on a 2nd rope meteora and powerbombs her in to the buckles. Kris powerslams Mone.

Kris running knees Mone in the corner then chaos theory germans her for 2. Mone crucifix bombs her and crossfaces her. Mone flips out of a backdrop and backcrackers her for 2. Mone 2nd rope meteora's her for 2. Kris tilt-a-whirl backbreakers her then spinning lariats her for 2. Mone cradles her for 2 then Kris hits a ki krusher on her for 2. Mone ddt's Kris for 2. Mone hits 3 amigos then is caught off the buckles. Kris hits an F-5 for 2.

Kris misses a 450. Mone pounds on Kris' knee while she's down. Mone then splashes the knee off the buckles. Mone backstabbers her then does a twisting drop off the gori special for 2. Mone slaps her then Kris backslides her for 2. Mone drops her face first from the electric chair. Mone rolls her into the ropes off a springboard and pins her to win.

Thoughts: The finish was weak here. It got a little better towards the end but wasn't that good. Mone spammed the meteora at least 5 times. She worked the knee for a bit then stopped and Kris ended up losing this one as expected. I also thought this went longer than it needed to.

Jay White vs "Hangman" Adam Page

Page misses a shot and takes chops. Jay is thrown over the top. Page pounds Jay's knee then bangs his leg off the post. Page pounds the ankle and ddt's the leg. Jay hits chops then Page belly to belly suplexes him.

Jay hits punches and chops then dropkicks him in the knee. Jay hits chops then ddt's him. Page back body drops him then fallaway slams him into the buckles. Page top rope fallway slams him for 2. Jay bangs Page's leg off the post.

Jay superplexes Page for 2 then chop blocks him. They lariat each other at the same time and Jay flatliners him. Jay suplexes Page on the apron then on the floor. Jay is sent into the rails. Page stomps Jay's foot in the rails. Page ankle locks Jay then Jay dragon screws Page's leg between the ropes. Jay uranages Page for 2. Jay ddt's Page's leg then Page hits a deadeye.

Page hits another deadeye for 2. Page gets his buckshot lariat caught and Page ankle locks him. Jay hits a blade runner and wins.

Thoughts: Like their last match, it was slower and not the most athletically impressive match. I wasn't a big fan of it. They did a lot of leg work that ultimately went nowhere as the finish was blade runner. I felt like both guys needed to win here and I don't like Page losing again and again. Jay has not been a major player as of late and I don't trust AEW getting it right this time with him.

Page nails Jay on the apron after. Christopher Daniels and officials comes out to stop this. Page nails Daniels. 

Will Ospreay vs Kyle Fletcher

They trade shots then shoulder battle. Kyle shoulders him over. Will flying headscissors Kyle out then misses a plancha outside. Kyle sends Will into the rails. Will flying headscissors Kyle on the floor. Will is thrown hard into the buckles then Kyle hits a short ddt on him. Kyle then hits mounted punches.

Kyle brainbusters Will on the floor. Kyle kicks and stomps Will's neck. Will tries a handspring but his shoulder gives out. Kyle superkicks him in the back of the head then bridging ddt's him for 2. Kyle dragon sleepers him. 

Kyle blocks Will's ddt and hits a michinoku driver for 2. Kyle kicks him in the corner then Will facekicks him off the apron. Will corkscrew moonsaults him off the top to the outside. Will springboard forearms him.

They trade chops. Kyle superkicks him and his chest is bleeding from chops. Will superkicks Kyle against the top buckle then torture rack bombs him for 2. Kyle pump kicks him. Will flips out of a suplex. He high kicks and hook kicks him. Will does an os cutter but is neckbreakered. Kyle hits a sitout powerbomb for 2.

Kyle running facekicks him. Will hits a cutter out of the suplex. Will goes to springboard, is pushed over the top but headscissors Kyle down to the floor. Will tombstones Kyle on the floor. Kyle beats the count in and takes a top rope double stomp. Will hits a skytwister press off the buckles for 2.

Will hits a standing spanish fly for 2. Kyle flips him with a lariat. Will hits a flying hidden blade. Will hits a styles clash for 2. Will hits a hidden blade for 2. Will kics, stomps and punches Kyle while he's down. Kyle tombstones Will on the steps from the apron.

Kyle hits his forward leaning piledriver for 2. Will rolls up Kyle for 2. Will back elbows him. Will hits forarms and takes an armbreaker. Kyle kicks Will in the back of the head. Kyle facekicks Will in the corner. Kyle brainbusters Will on the top buckle and wins.

Thoughts: They did way too much as expected and didn't have a real smart match. People got tombstoned on the floor, on steps and took brainbusters on the floor yet they wrestled with no problems after. I'm not surprised. We knew what we were getting into here. I was surprised by Kyle winning. It's a way to push him but I'm not sure what's in store for either guy next.

Mark Davis checks on Will after. 

Mina and Mariah May come out for the championship celebration of Mariah May. Mina has pictures up and some champagne. May's eye is all messed up. May says this was all worth it and says there's not a single woman alive who can touch her. She says Mina's her one true friend. Mina grabs champagne and they toast.  They drink champagne and May says let's celebrate. Mina then does her dance and May tries to hit Mina with a champagne bottle. Mina kicks it away, which probably hurt since she's in heels. May spits champagne at her. Mina then spears her off the stage onto tables.

Mina's mouth is all bloodied and she bites May's head.

Thoughts: I didn't expect this. I guess this is to turn Mina face but it really does defeat half the purpose of bringing Mina in. We'll have to see where this goes. Mina getting her mouth messed up was not good.

We're at the 2 hour mark now (4 hours if you counted the pre-show). 

We get a video on Daniel Garcia in NY listening to a call from his mom while outside. We see videos of him as a baby. His mom talks about his traits and tells him he needs to do what's best for him and says that's the hardest thing to do. She says she will be praying for him and will see him later. We then see him in front of a crucifix.

AEW TNT Title - Jack Perry (c) Daniel Garcia

They lock up and back off. Jack goes out of the ring and stalls. Jade side headlocks him and goes out to stall again. DG goes after him and Jack goes back in. DG sends Jack into the rails. DG facekicks him over the rails. DG then pulls him by the hair over the rails. Jack bridging ddt's him on the floor twice. Jack springboard dropkicks him in the back of the head.

Jack side headlocks him and elbows him in the back of the neck. Jack chinlocks him. DG backdrops him. DG blocks punches and hits his own. Jack trips him then does an STF. Jack backdrops DG on the apron. Jack pushes Matt Menard at commentary.

Jack powerbombs DG through the timekeepers table and pours trash from a trash can on him. DG slides in. DG hits a big lariat. DG stomp flurries him in the corner then stands on his neck. DG double underhook suplexes him into the buckles. 

They trade shots on the buckles. Jack lawn darts him into the 2nd buckle. Jack then hits a sitout burning hammer for 2. Jack brings the title in and hands it over to DG, trying to get him to get himself DQ'd. DG gives the ref the belt. Jack low blows DG. Jack running knees him for 2.

DG jack knifes him for 2. DG does a foot-clutch piledriver on Jack for 2. DG hits a chop flurry on Jack. DG piledrivers him then pulls back on both of Jack's legs. DG submits Jack.

Thoughts: I kind of figured DG would win here as did a lot of people. It was kind of placed in the bathroom break spot on the show. I didn't think it was that interesting and the finish didn't have much to do with the rest of the match.

DG then leaves with an AEW flag on his shoulders. 

AEW International Title - Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs Ricochet 

They lock up and KT piefaces him on the ropes. Ric piefaces him and hits some armdrags and an armlock. He does this multiple times. Ric flips out of a hiptoss then backflips into a headscissors. Ric then dropkicks him. Ric is sent into the buckles face first. Ric 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him. Ric is stuck in the ropes and KT facekicks him down to the floor. Ric is sent into the rails then backdropped on the rail edge. KT backbreakers him and hits knees to the back. KT hits a blue thunder for 2.

Ric is sent hard into the buckles. KT throws Ric off the top. Ric rolls into a dropkick. Ric handspring back elbows him. Ric springboard lariats him. Ric enzugiri's KT on the apron then does a corkscrew flying space tiger drop. Ric springboard 450's him for 2.

Don Callis, who was on commentary, comes out to the ring area. Ric superkicks KT. KT catches a handspring with a blue thunder for 2. They trade forearms and Ric goes down. KT wheelbarrow germans him. Ric pumping knees him and flying elbows him.

Ric corner dropkicks KT. KT hits a top rope german then lariats him for 2. KT sentons him. Ric hits a top rope hurricanrana and a poisonrana. Ric hits a top rope SSP for 2. KT package tombstones him for 2. Ric spin kicks him then twisting suplexes him. Ric does a GTS with a kick to the head for 2.

KT 2nd rope falcon arrows him for the win.

Thoughts: They did too much here which wasn't a surprise. They did take it much easier than expected though and didn't go super crazy with it. The crowd was not as into it as expected and it really didn't have a bunch of nearfalls. It ended before I expected it to. You can pretty much kiss Ric's chances at being a main eventer goodbye with this loss.

Swerve Strickland vs Bobby Lashley

Swerve boots him and is lariated over. Bobby slams him and sends him into the post shoulder first. Bobby neckbreakers him then twisting drops him from his shoulder. Bobby suplexes him. Swerve hits some shots then is sent into the post again shoulder first. Bobby running powerslams him for 2. Bobby chinlocks him.

Swerve double boots him out of the corner. Shelton Benjamin gets on the apron and Swerve is distracted. Swerve is knocked down from the apron. Bobby runs over Swerve outside.

Swerve is sent into the rails. Shelton grabs Swerve's boot and is ejected by the ref for it. Bobby chokeslams Swerve on the apron and sends him into the rails. Bobby is pushed into the ring steps then sent into the post. Bobby's head is banged off the steps many times.

Swerve ddt's Bobby on the apron. Swerve runs up the steps and double stomps Bobby through the commentary table in a cool spot. Swerve hits a house call kick in the ring. Swerve top rope double stomps him for 2. Bobby goes out of the ring. MVP tells Bobby to get up. Swerve gets in MVP's face.

Bobby belly to belly suplexes Swerve on the floor. Bobby spears Swerve through the rails. Bobby spears Swerve then full-nelsons him. Swerve is out and Bobby wins.

Thoughts: This was a lose-lose match here. Neither guy needed to lose but someone had to. Bobby needed the win more. Swerve is supposed to be the biggest star in AEW and this isn't really a good look for that push. This was more of a WWE style match than AEW style match with a slower pace and use of tables and railings. The crowd wasn't that into it and I thought it was okay but not a classic.

Prince Nana is thrown into the ring after. Bobby puts the full nelson on him and Nana is out.

AEW World Title - Jon Moxley (c) vs Orange Cassidy

We see The Death Riders arrive in a truck and head to the ring. Shafir gives the ref the title, which is still in the briefcase and has a chain locked to it.

OC superman punches Mox before the bell three times. OC topes him outside and throws him onto the commentary tabnle. OC hits mounted forearms. OC bites him. Mox eye rakes him. OC is crotched on the rail.

They fight in the crowd. Mox sends OC back over the rails into ringside. Mox puts OC in a chair and facekicks him. OC is curb stomped into the steps and bleeds from it. Mox ddt's OC on the steps. Shafir boots OC outside.

Mox bites OC's head. Mox hits facewash kicks and gtoch style piledrivers him. OC pushes Mox into the commentary table  then Mox sends him into the steps. Mox boots him around in the ring. Mox release suplexes him then knocks him off the apron. Mox rakes his back on the buckles then OC does it back to him. OC goes to jump off the buckles and is forearmed down.

Mox headscissors OC while tying up the legs. OC hits a top rope diving ddt. OC ddt's Mox then Mox cutters him. They slap each other and forearm each other. OC hits his stupid weak kicks then hits orange punches. OC rolls him up for 2. Mox lariats him. OC hits an orange punch then beachbreaks him for 2.

Pac and Claudio get on the apron. The Conglomeration come out to fight them. Rocky ends up diving on everyone. Shafir gets in the ring then willoe spears and pounds on Shafir. OC hits Mox with the title briefcase for 2.

Mox has trouble getting up. Wheeler Yuta flying knees OC. Mox hits a high angle death rider ddt and wins.

Thoughts: They did what they were supposed to here, but it's Orange Cassidy and Mox. I don't buy OC as a tough fighter who can take out Mox and I really thought Mox should have just beat the crap out of him and won in like 5 minutes. Of course that was never going to happen. I didn't like OC doing his slow motion kicks and all the shenanigans didn't add much to this.

Yuta pours disinfectant in OC's face after then OC is booted out. Adam Page comes out and chairs Yuta. Page and Mox stare down. Christian Cage comes down and hits a killswitch on Mox. Page has Cage's title match contract and gives it to him after initially not doing so. Jay White then hits a blade runner on Christian. Pac and CC then beat up on Jay. Everyone then leaves.

We see The Death Riders go to the truck in the back. We then see a car smash into it. We then see The Death Riders take someone else's car. We then see Darby Allin yelling at them as he was the one driving the car. Darby then smashes the can he rammed into with a skateboard. Darby somehow got busted open during this.

Thoughts: The Christian/Jay thing would have been better if they had reminded us about it all this time. I know something happened between them but I don't really remember it and they only reminded us about it after Jay attacked Christian. Jay's been back for a while too so clearly it was not a priority for him. I kind of figured some kind of happening was going down after this match as Christian and Darby were missing from the card despite being on TV. I did like the ending here as it made you want to know what happens next.

Overall thoughts: It was a long AEW show as usual. I really don't know how people watch these in one sitting. I didn't really care for Ricochet/Takeshita, Ospreay/Fletcher, Garcia/Perry or Mone/Statlander. I didn't love the main as I can't buy OC as a serious threat to Mox but the match was set up the right way. Bobby/Swerve was a WWE style match where neither guy needed to take the loss. I thought they did an okay job with it though. MJF/Strong wasn't that exciting. I don't get May turning on Mina. I was okay with the pre-show match and the tag title match just what it was. It was about average. The matches were the things I didn't like due to the styles of the wrestlers though the stories and booking behind them made more sense than usual and they are definitely trying harder to put coherent storylines together. I would give this show a 5 out of 10 overall. I wouldn't recommend this one.