AEW Full Gear 2024

AEW Full Gear 2024

Newark, NJ - November 2024

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, the AEW World Champion was Jon Moxley, the TNT Champion was Jack Perry, the International Champion was Konosuke Takeshita, the Continental Champion was Okada, the Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and PAC) were the World Trios Champions, the AEW Tag Team Champions were Private Party, Mariah May was the Women's World Champion, and the TBS Champion was Mercedes Mone. 

Full Gear 2024 kicked off with the AEW World Tag Team Champions, Private Party, defending their titles against the House of Black's Malakai Black and Brody King, The Acclaimed, and the fan favorite throwback team, The Outrunners. The House of Black stood out a bit here as they are the most "serious" team and while seeing Black and Brody perform is almost always a treat, it felt like they were kinda miscast here. Private Party disappeared aside from a double 450 splash spot; giving them the titles seems like the right move at the wrong time as I don't hear or see the audience reacting to much of anything they do. The most notable thing about this match was the teasing of a split between The Acclaimed with Bowens getting babyface pops and Max Caster receiving "Fuck You Max" chants. Their impending feud should make for some good TV if done correctly, but I'm not sold on either guy as having the potential to break out as a singles star. Time will tell there. (2.5/5)

Roderick Strong vs. MJF followed and I'm not sure if it was just a relatively "cold" crowd (despite MJF trying his best to build-up the heat with his pre-match promo) or the fact that the storyline between MJF, Strong, and Cole is something that the majority of the audience has moved on from but this did not connect with me or with the fans in Newark. They built the match around MJF working on Strong's hand and arm which should've made the finish - MJF's dreaded armbar - work...but it didn't because Strong had blasted MJF with multiple high-impact moves just seconds before. It felt out of place and abrupt to me. I also didn't like the timing of the post-match segment as Adam Cole was way, way late getting to the ring as MJF "Pillmanized" MJF's forearm with a chair, but so were Strong's right-hand men (I'm too uncaring to look them up, but I think Mike Kanellis is one of them?). A disappointing match that needed something special to make it stand out, but didn't offer anything really memorable. (2/5)

Mercedes Mone defended her TBS Championship against Kris Statlander in the next match. If the execution and timing of this match wasn't at the same level as MJF/Strong, what Mone and Statlander did do was load this match up with high impact, hard-hitting spots that popped the crowd and built suspense. Mone's Meteora onto Stat into the steps was insane. Her sunset flip powerbomb in the corner looked a bit off, but more violent because of it. I thought her neckbreaker counter at one point was also a bit sloppy but arguably more impactful because of it. I loved the front-facing electric chair that Statlander hit towards the end as it looked like it could've broken Mercedes' nose for real. This was an absolute war and arguably Mone's best match since joining AEW. I wouldn't necessarily say that she and Statlander have the same chemistry as Mone had with Charlotte or Bayley, but Statlander is also not as good a worker with a fraction of the shared training experience that the 4 Horsewomen had with each other in NXT. The best match of the night up till this point by a healthy margin. (3.5/5)

Jay White vs. Adam Page was next. I'm a Jay White fan and I've seen Page have some great matches too, but this was another misfire in my eyes. They told a somewhat simple story of Jay White suffering an ankle injury early, but at a certain point, Adam Page's attacks on the ankle felt "weak" to me as he was unable to actually put the Switchblade away. If the story of the match is that someone might have suffered a major injury - not that this was that, but it was borderline - then a "killer" like Adam Page attacking the injury should almost automatically lead to a victory, not a 20+ minute battle. Like the Strong/MJF match, it felt like they lost the crowd at times, though things got noticeably better after White hit a ridiculous back suplex on the apron and they went to the entranceway. I think this match would've worked better with 4-5 minutes shaved off of it and I'm also not sure what the intention is behind the finish. (2/5)

Kyle Fletcher vs. Will Ospreay was next. Fletcher’s new gear and look is an improvement in my eyes as he looks more “main event” now. The crowd woke up a ton for this match, which started hot with Ospreay hitting a hurricanrana off the steps on the floor. Fletcher gained control with a DDT before attacking Ospreay’s upper back and shoulders. Ospreay and Fletcher ended up on the apron which led to a devastating brainbuster on the floor from Fletcher (and a “Fuck Don Callis” chant). Fletcher continued his attack with kicks and stomps to the upper back and then some more to the chest. Ospreay caught his foot and attempted one of his handspring moves, but Ospreay crumpled to the mat. Good sell there. Fletcher applied a Dragon Sleeper but Ospreay wrestled out with a bridge. Ospreay went for a Tornado DDT but Fletcher countered it into a Michinoku Driver. Crazy sequence there. Fletcher got booted to the floor and Ospreay went to the top, hitting a Skytwister to the floor that caught Fletcher perfectly. I don’t usually love moves like that, but it looked great and, more important, looked like it actually hurt the recipient more than the guy delivering the move. Back in the ring, Ospreay hit a Phenomenal Forearm and then looked to be going for a piledriver but Fletcher resisted and had to eat some Kawada Kicks instead. We had a chop battle next, Fletcher practically begging Ospreay to bring the goods. Ospreay braced himself for another, but Fletcher hit him with a superkick instead. Ospreay hit his spinning powerbomb for 2. Anyone expecting a “hate-filled brawl” was wishing for snowfall in Aruba. Fletcher countered an Os Cutter and then hit a Last Ride powerbomb but only got 2 in yet another ridiculous sequence. Ospreay hit a running boot in the corner and attempted a brainbuster but Ospreay countered it and both men ended up in the ropes soon after. They were clearly going for what would’ve been absolutely disgusting piledriver from the apron to the floor, but they botched it so, instead, Ospreay hit a piledriver on the floor instead. When Fletcher crawled back in, Ospreay delivered an awesome dropkick and then another high-flying whatsamacallit for another nearfall. Ospreay called for the Hidden Blade but Fletcher avoided it and we got another ridiculous sequence full of counters and then a Spanish Fly from Ospreay. Fletcher countered another Hidden Blade with a big clothesline but Ospreay was back on his feet and ended up catching him with one anyway! Tony Schiavone called it the “show stealer” at this point and he wasn’t wrong as the energy of this match was on another level from anything before it. Ospreay went to the top but Fletcher shoved him and he landed hard on the top rope. Fletcher looked to be going for a superplex but Ospreay countered it into a Styles Clash for 2! Again, the athleticism by Ospreay there was just incredible. Ospreay hit a Hidden Blade soon after and got 2.9999! Great false finish there with a clever “weak” pin by Ospreay as he didn’t hook a leg or really pin Fletcher’s shoulders to the mat (as noted on commentary). Ospreay, clearly frustrated, struck Fletcher with a series of punches and then looked to end him with a Tiger Driver on the apron but Fletcher continued to resist. He hoisted him up but Fletcher flipped over Ospreay and hit him with a piledriver off the apron and onto the steps! Well, that was insane. The crowd chanted “You Sick Fuck” as Fletcher taunted Ospreay and rolled him back into the ring, refusing to accept a would-be victory by countout. With Ospreay selling serious shoulder damage, Fletcher struck him with another big kick and then another piledriver in the middle of the ring…but Ospreay kicked out! Fletcher went for another Tiger Driver but Ospreay countered it into an inside cradle for 2. Ospreay tried another Hidden Blade but it had little effect. Ospreay continued to fight, but Fletcher delivered two armbreakers and then another stiff clothesline. Fletcher hit another big kick in the corner and then a running boot and a brainbuster on the top turnbuckle to end the match. Wow. This is how you put someone over as Kyle Fletcher looked absolutely TERRIFIC in this match and Ospreay sold the beating perfectly. The “right guy” doesn’t always win, but this time he did. An easy Match of the Year contender in my book. (4.5/5)

The Champagne Championship Celebration followed starring Mariah May and Mina Shirakawa. I liked that AEW put some variety in this show as they don’t always provide that on their PPVs, tending to just sequence the show match-to-match-to-match without giving the crowd much time to “cool down.” May looked like she was about to attack Shirakawa, but Mina caught her and then speared her through a table off the entranceway! Dang. This was really well-executed and didn’t eat up a ton of time. Mina getting up from the table with blood dribbling down her mouth was a great visual. Between the previous match and this segment, the show definitely turned a corner from a not-so-hot beginning.

What can one say about Jack Perry vs. Daniel Garcia aside from it being another underwhelming contest aside from Perry's impressive powerbomb on Garcia halfway through. Perry and Garcia got plenty of time, but neither seems truly capable of carrying a match without a better, more experienced worker to help them out. I strongly disliked the sequence in which Perry tried to goad Garcia into bashing him with the championship as a ploy to distract the referee and get a cheap shot in. It was somewhat clever, if not super original, heeling...but because it didn't win the match for Perry, it made him look impotent (something an undersized worker with credibility issues already doesn't need). Garcia had a decent performance but, again, I'm not sure what going back-and-forth in a 50/50 match with Perry is expected to do for him. Now that he's TBS Champion, I'd love to see him get a decent run...but when there are guys on the roster like the members of House of Black, Shelton Benjamin, and Claudio, I'm not sure why Daniel Garcia is being booked as a "top guy" when, ultimately, the crowds just don't stay hot for him from bell-to-bell. (2/5)

Ricochet vs. Takeshita followed for Takeshit's International Championship. This was an improvement from the previous bout, but not as great as I - and many other fans - really wished considering the talent level. I'm not sure what didn't "work" here, but this was good-not-great aside from a handful of nifty spots. On Cagematch, the word "methodical" came up a bunch in the reviews, but I wouldn't necessarily call this "slow" as much as it was start-stop and arguably too long, with certain sequences looking wonderful and other ones seeming like they were copied directly from other, better matches. As was the case with most every match on this card, the dead crowd was a major issue too. I still think they did just enough to push this slightly above-average, but only slightly. (3/5)

Bobby Lashley made his AEW debut in an excellent match against Swerve Strickland. This wasn't as "cutting edge" as the Fletcher/Ospreay fireworks show, but it might have been my Match of the Night anyway - even if that goes against my own rating. This match clicked with me because of the story and the selling and Swerve's bumping and facial expressions and the fact that we saw Bobby Lashley take a ridiculous double stomp through a table and also a pretty gnarly DDT on the apron. I loved the finish too. It may have been a bit straightforward but on a show like this, it was a real breath of fresh air to see someone actually get an outright "dominant" win. Lashley looked amazing here, but Swerve looked great too and like he "belonged" with a multi-time WWE Heavyweight Champion (emphasis on heavyweight). This match didn't go too long either and felt like it left plenty on the table in terms of building to a rematch, which is not something one could necessarily say about some of the other matches on this show. (4/5)

Main event time - Jon Moxley defending the AEW Championship against Orange Cassidy. This was as violent and bloody as expected without descending into "death match" territory, which worked for me because it was the story here that really kept the crowd engaged. Mox dominated most of the match and some of his "newer" offense (at least to my eyes), including a back-raking that looked particularly brutal, really helped establish that this is a different and more vicious Moxley than ever before. I loved Cassidy's defiance and refusal to be anyone but himself (even if, long-term, I do hope that we see new wrinkles to his character). I thought the interference and heel tactics of Moxley were smart too. If the audience is expected to boo Moxley, they need to consistently have him do things not to bolster his credibility, but to detract from it. The crowd responses to this match made it painfully clear that this was the "hottest" story of the show - even if certain parts of the IWC believed the Deathriders angle to be DOA - and they bit on multiple nearfalls (especially the one that came after OC hit Mox with the briefcase, giving this match more suspense than any other on the card. Once again it was Yuta who screwed OC, a recurring theme that makes a ton of storyline sense even if Yuta doesn't feel like he is remotely on the level of anyone else in the stable. Personally, if I were TK, I'd be doing a bit more to get Claudio and PAC involved than Yuta, but I understand the kayfabe reasoning behind Yuta/OC having more "juice" due to their history. I liked this main event a good bit, but wouldn't necessarily call it a "must see." (3.5/5)

The post-match, on the other hand, felt like AEW being AEW and I'm here for it. Was it messily "overbooked"? Sure. By the time the bell rung to signal Mox's victory, we'd already had EIGHT people interfere in the match, including a returning Willow Nightingale. Count em': Willow and Marina, PAC and Claudio, Yuta, and the three members of the Conglomerate. It was bedlam. Then out comes "Hangman" Adam Page and Christian and, sooner than later, Jay White. People complained about everyone "ignoring" the Deathrider story, but my issue wasn't necessarily that - wrestlers ignore other folks' storylines all the time - as much as it was that Mox's AEW World Championship was being forgotten by multiple former AEW World Champions who all have valid reasons to be demanding title shots. Then, when the Deathriders tried to make their getaway, Darby Allin T-boned their truck! It was a great big stunt to cap off the show and it was very much a return to what AEW once did so well - throw a bunch of craziness at the audience at such a breakneck pace that you really had no time to worry about the logic. I dug it. (+1)

With a Kwang Score of 3.11-out-of-5, Full Gear 2024 started a bit slow with two somewhat disappointing matches, but picked up a bit with Mone/Statlander and got really, really good in its final 40-45 minutes. Fletcher/Ospreay was incredible and, from a move-for-move/workrate perspective, was an easy Match of the Year contender and a huge coming-out party for Fletcher. Still, it was Swerve/Lashley that I found myself enjoying the most due to the star power of Lashley and Swerve's charismatic selling. The main event told a good story and the post-match was thrilling and has me curious about where multiple storylines are going.