The sixth edition of AEW Full Gear is in the books, and it was yet another gem of a PPV. Tons of good-to-great wrestling, lots of storyline advancement, and yet another Match of the Year contender from Will Ospreay. Aside from the Newark crowd being rather languid for a lot of the show, this was a helluva PPV.
The action started with the 4-way party match, as AEW Tag Champs Private Party defended against Kings of the Black Throne, The Acclaimed, and fan favorites The Outrunners. This was your usual nonstop action opener, all four teams got some time to shine. The bigger story was the teased dissension of The Acclaimed, as Max Caster was acting very heelish and getting booed. At one point Caster tried to get Anthony Bowens to pin him so they'd win the match. Bowens obliged and the ref counted to two before the pin was broken up. Not sure why the ref would agree to count that, but WWE's done the same thing in the past (so everyone up in their feels about this spot can relax). Anyway, Caster and Bowens not being on the same page ultimately cost them as Private Party was able to hit Gin n' Juice on Caster to retain. Good fast-paced opener. ***1/2
Next was the MJF-Roderick Strong match, and while the crowd clearly wanted MJF-Cole instead (which is obviously being saved for the anniversary of Cole's reveal as The Devil), both these guys worked hard to get them on board. MJF did lots of trash talking and worked over Strong's fingers, at one point shoving them through the turnbuckle and trying to break them. Strong made a comeback with his myriad of suplexes, but Max was able to lock in Salt of the Earth and pull on Strong's injured hand to get the tapout. Max then proceeded to Pillmanize (crazy that we're still using that term 28 years later) Roddy's arm, which brought out the rest of Undisputed Kingdom. Max took a powder and then Kyle O'Reilly ran down and shoved Adam Cole to the mat, following up on his promo last week that Cole's vendetta against MJF is getting his friends hurt. Very good match. ***3/4
The first great match of the night was Mercedes Mone vs. Kris Statlander for the TBS Title. This got 19 minutes and both women put in arguably their best respective performances in AEW to date. The story was Statlander's power and resiliency against Mercedes ring generalship. Mercedes worked over Kris's knee, which paid off later. Tons of close nearfalls, including a Statlander F5 and a Money Maker. Statlander went for Saturday Night Fever but Mercedes bit her bad leg and rolled her up in an airtight cradle for the pin. Excellent match and one of the best women's bouts in AEW history. ****1/2
Hangman Page and Jay White had an unenviable task following the TBS Title match and their bout started off slow, with both guys working each other's legs. Page targeted White's ankle, while White went after Page's bad knee. The crowd was very quiet for the first half but their energy picked up as the match progressed. The action spilled to the outside and Page locked in an anklelock and held onto it until the ref counted to nine, hoping to get a countout win. But White made it back at the last second. Page kept going for the anklelock and the match built to a great finishing sequence with counter after counter, until White rolled through the anklelock and hit a Bladerunner to get his fifth win over Page. Hangman attacked White on the ramp, which prompted Christopher Daniels to come out and try to break it up. But Page clocked Daniels to likely set up a match. This was good but not on the level of their WrestleDream match. ***3/4
The next match blew everything else out of the water. As expected, Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher had an absolute banger of a match, chalking up yet another classic for Will and a star-making performance from Kyle. Fletcher targeted Will's bad neck, hitting just about every head and neck-centric move under the sun, including a Tombstone and brainbuster on the floor. Will did his signature spots and comebacks but late in the match Kyle hit another Tombstone from the apron to the ring steps, which easily could've gone horribly wrong. Fortunately they nailed it safely. Kyle taunted Will and kept hitting him with more offense, and Will's comebacks became weaker and weaker until they had no effect at all. Ospreay hit a desperation Hidden Blade but he was too weak and the move had no effect. Kyle hit a Helluva Kick and a turnbuckle brainbuster for the clean win. Amazing match with the correct result. *****
They smartly didn't try to follow this up with another match, and instead put the Mariah May Championship Celebration on next. Mina Shirakawa introduced Mariah and the two had a champagne toast, but as Mina turned her back, Mariah prepared to hit her with the bottle. Mina turned around and kicked the bottle away, and speared Mariah off the stage through a table on the floor. No Toni Storm return yet, but Mariah vs. Mina should be a helluva feud.
The next match was Jack Perry vs. Daniel Garcia for the TNT Title. These two had a really good match where Jack continued to try to bait Garcia into turning to the dark side, at one point handing him the TNT belt and daring him to deck him with it. Perry hit a low blow and a running knee for a nearfall, but Garcia hit a piledriver for two. They had a chop battle until Garcia hit another piledriver and locked in his sharpshooter. Perry touched the ropes but Garcia pulled him off and sank way back for the submission win, which got one of the biggest pops of the night. Daniel Garcia is finally a champion in AEW. Really good match. ****1/4
Another title match followed as International Champion Konosuke Takeshita defended against Ricochet. This was the type of match you'd expect, with Takeshita using his power and athleticism against Ricochet's wild aerial moves. The crowd was very quiet for this but they perked up later. Excellent back and forth action here and while not on the level of what they're capable of, this was really good. Lots of nearfalls at the end with Ricochet kicking out of Takeshita's signature moves. Ricochet got caught on the top rope and Takeshita hit a Falcon Arrow from the second rope for the win. It was a much-needed good night for the Don Callis family. ****
The semi-main slot went to Swerve Strickland vs. Bobby Lashley, and they had a pretty good match with a couple WWE-esque spots. Lashley dominated much of the action but Swerve kept coming back. The most memorable spot was Swerve getting on the ring steps and hitting a double stomp on Lashley through the Spanish announce desk. Lashley later speared Swerve through one of the security railings, which I think is the second time they've done that in AEW? Lashley hit another spear in the ring and then locked in the Hurt Lock, and Swerve passed out. It made sense for Lashley to win in his first real match and I'm sure there's more to this feud. Maybe a trios match? ***3/4
The main event was of course Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy for the AEW Title, and the crowd was pretty ramped up for this one. Much like their All Out 2023 match, this was all about a dominant Moxley bloodying a defiant and heroic Cassidy. Mox hit a stomp on the ring steps which busted Cassidy open, and later hit a Paradigm Shift on them. Cassidy bled all over the place and Mox had literally blood on his hands. Cassidy kept coming back and they had a striking battle until Cassidy put his hands in his pockets and suckered Mox in long enough to hit two Orange Punches for a nearfall. Cassidy hit a third punch and the Beach Break, teasing their finish from Full Gear 2023. Claudio and Pac came from the crowd but were stopped by the Conglomeration. Marina Shafir got in the ring but a returning Willow Nightingale ran her off. With the referee distracted, Cassidy hit Mox with his briefcase for a nearfall, but Wheeler Yuta ran in with a busaiku knee, and Mox hit a Deathrider for the win. Mox and Wheeler double-teamed Cassidy and poured cleaning fluid on his forehead cut, but Hangman Page of all people ran down and took out Yuta. Mox and Page had a staredown until Christian Cage came from behind and hit a Killswitch. Cage teased cashing in his title match contract but Jay White broke it up. Claudio and Pac attacked White and ran away. White chased them all into the back with a chair, and before the Death Riders could get in their truck a car smashed into it from out of nowhere. They commandeered another getaway car and Darby Allin emerged from the first car, bleeding from the forehead, and smashed Moxley's truck with his skateboard. Really good main event and lots of stuff afterward to set up the next few weeks of TV. Hangman Page and Christian Cage clearly have an arrangement where Hangman helps Christian win the title and in return gets the first crack at him. Page probably should've won on this show. ****1/2
Once again an excellent showing for AEW on PPV. No one does it better right now. A lot of heel wins on this show, but that's to be expected with the story they're telling; the entire company is under siege and a hero needs to step up and save the day.
Best Match: Ospreay vs. Fletcher
Worst Match: 4-way tag, by default
What I'd Change: I wish the crowd had been more energetic throughout the show.
Most Disappointing Match: I expected more out of Hangman-White, but it was still good.
Most Pleasant Surprise: I guess I was fearing that one or both of the Don Callis guys would lose, when they both need to be racking up wins.
Overall Rating: 9/10
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