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Why MJF why? AEW Full Gear was the third pay-per-view event of All Elite Wrestling. It was the first pay-per-view show since the weekly television show, AEW Dynamite, began. Would Full Gear be worth the hype and cost? You could make the case it was the best AEW pay-per-view so far.
Full Gear was full of many nice surprises. We had a shocking ending to the AEW Championship match, some exciting tag team matches, a well-deserved heel turn and a hardcore match for the ages. All Elite Wrestling has set itself up nicely for 2020.
With the thoughts of worrying about the health of the Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega in my mind, I present my list of the top five most surprising moments of AEW Full Gear:
#5 The executive vice presidents all lose
Professional wrestling has had a long history of active wrestlers being in control of creative decisions in the company. This leads to all sorts of problems when they push themselves and their friends at the expense of the company’s long term growth. At AEW Full Gear, this didn’t seem to be the case. The four Executive Vice Presidents - Cody, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson and Kenny Omega, all lost their matches clean at AEW Full Gear.
The Young Bucks had one of their best technical matches of the AEW career. A lot of people accuse them of not properly selling in their matches. That was not the case at Full Gear, where they sold their injuries against Proud and Powerful. It was a hard-hitting and exciting match that mainly stayed in the ring. It puts over the new team in a big way.
Cody added the stipulation to his match that he wouldn’t get another AEW World Title shot if he lost. Thanks to MJF, he did lose his match. It would seem one of the most popular faces in the company is out of the main event picture.
Finally, we have Kenny Omega. He is regarded as one of the best wrestlers in the world. While his matches have been excellent, it is strange to see him on the losing end of virtually every major match. It seems The Elite is supporting the notion that they are not bigger then the company they run.
#4 No title changes
At least we know that AEW isn’t going to hotshot their titles.
All Elite’s longest reigning champion is Chris Jericho. He won his Championship on August 31st. He has been the perfect cocky heel to hold the company’s biggest prize but a lot of people worried with Cody’s stipulation that he might lose it this early. Thanks to an MJF towel throw, Le Champion will continue his reign.
The AEW Women’s Division needs some work. Riho, the first champion, has seemed to really disappear since winning it on October 2nd. She hasn’t had much quality time or a meaningful feud since then. She had a good match with Emi Sakura at AEW Full Gear. Hopefully, they will build better quality opponents for Riho going forward with television time on Dynamite to back it up.
The newest title is the AEW Tag Team Championship. SCU won the title in a wonderful tournament on October 30th. They defeated Lucha Brothers and Private Party at AEW Full Gear by a sudden finisher on Private Party.
The crowd seems to be behind the Lucha Brothers but they didn’t win on Saturday night. It might be for the best that AEW seems to be supporting long title reigns to make the changes more meaningful.
#3 Pac loses clean
Pac is a real hard-nosed wrestler. I just didn’t expect him to lose to Hangman Page this early in his All Elite Wrestling career.
Pac finally joined AEW in August, 2019. He has been on a roll as one of the best heels, defeating the likes of Kenny Omega and Hangman Page. He is one of the best all-around performers in the company and has been pushed as a main event player on the roster at every opportunity.
Pac and Hangman Page have very good chemistry together and that continued with Saturday night’s strong pay-per view match. It runs the risk of being overshadowed by the main events but was a strong showing.
Hangman has also had a lot of success in AEW. He won the first Casino Battle Royal and was build up as a major challenger to win the first AEW World Championship. Then he lost to Chris Jericho clean.
It seemed Page needed a major victory if he was going to remain an important part of the promotion’s future. Just having it occur at the expense of Pac was a surprise. I am sure the feud will continue in the near future.
#2 MJF throws in the towel and turns heel
Was that beer-throwing fan a plant? It seemed almost too perfect to be by accident. But the fans have always hated MJF. It is time he actually embraces his dark side in All Elite Wrestling.
Cody versus Chris Jericho was an emotional World Title match. Cody has become one of the most sympathetic baby faces in pro wrestling. Adding the lack of future world title chances stipulation seemed to get the crowd behind Cody in a major way.
The match picked up when Cody got a brutal cut above his eye brow. It became a case of Chris Jericho repeatedly trying to put away Cody, who refused to give up. Time and time again, Jericho failed at getting the third count on Cody.
Until he put on the Liontamer Submission and MJF literally threw in the towel on Cody’s behalf. Thanks to MJF, Cody will never get a title shot again.
Then, as Cody and MJF discussed the ending in the ring, the expected finally happened. MJF turned on his “best friend” Cody. It has been a slow-brewing angle and one that could led to some amazing matches in the months to come.
#1 Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega are insane
How is the barb wire table spot not the finish?
Jon Moxley seems to be reinvigorated following his move away from WWE. I don’t know how many people would miss doing matches with lots of thumb tacks but Moxley is a very unique man. How would he perform in this main event slot at his first AEW pay-per-view? That answer is in some very, very violent ways.
This was one of the most brutal hardcore matches in quite a while. We had table spots, garbage cans, mousetraps, lots of barb wire, gold chains, broken glass, a table of barb wire, falls through the set and using the exposed wood under the ring. I am pretty confident that both wrestlers are going to need some well-deserved rest after Saturday night.
The ending made sense. Kenny Omega missed his Phoenix Splash and landed on the wooden mat face first. Ouch! This naturally led to the ending with Jon Moxley picking up a win with his finisher. Moxley seems to be enjoying his time in AEW.
Kenny Omega can’t seem to catch a break. He has lost all three of his AEW pay-per-view matches. It will be interesting to see where Kenny goes from here. Moxley, on the other hand, seems to be having the time of his life hurting people. Good for him, I guess.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
