Can't Knock The Hustle: AEW Full Gear 2024 Review

11/24/2024 12:03 AM

I feel like I say this a lot, but this is a really interesting time in AEW history. New rights deals and MAX streaming spots in the future are mixed with dwindling television viewership and live event numbers. Many AEW diehards are even saying that the on-screen product isn’t quite at the level of years past.

However, no matter what is going on in the world of AEW, the company almost always seems to deliver in spades when it comes to their pay-per-view events.

So… here we are, with AEW’s next-to-last pay-per-view of 2024, Full Gear. In years past, Full Gear has played host to memorable events like the Texas Death Match between “Hangman” Adam Page and Swerve Strickland, an Unsanctioned Lights Out Match between Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega, a love letter to tag team wrestling between FTR and The Young Bucks, “Hangman” Adam Page defeating Kenny Omega for the AEW World Title, and much more.

What does this year’s edition of Full Gear have in store for us?

Let’s find out together, shall we?

Private Party vs The Acclaimed vs The Outrunners vs Kings Of The Black Throne – Four-Way Match for the AEW World Tag Team Titles

My, my, my… what an interesting group of teams. Also an interesting placement on the card. I thought we would start the main show off with Roderick Strong vs MJF, or maybe even Swerve Strickland vs Bobby Lashley, but here we are.

We need people like Tony Khan and Paul Levesque to come together and ban the use of spray tans in the sport of wrestling until these goofy fuckers figure out how to use it right. Truth Magnum, Max Caster, and Anthony Bowens are all several different shades of orangey yellowy brown.

There are over 10,000 fans in attendance at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It’s good to see that.

AEW’s continued obsession with making their Referees look mentally handicapped is a strange one. We just saw Caster drop down and tell his tag partner to pin him to “win” the match. Just as commentary talks about how that isn’t legal, Bowens goes for the pin and Rick Knox starts his pin. Why? What is the fucking purpose of making your Refs look that stupid on a weekly basis? In absolutely no world is that even close to legal, logical, or good thinking.

The match was fine for what it was. Non-stop action, as you would expect with multi-team matches in AEW. Unlike a lot of the other AEW matches of this type, though, a lot of the action was merely decent, and that prevented the match from reaching another gear, no pun intended. Private Party retain their titles, but the tag scene isn’t exactly on fire right now. 3 Stars

Roderick Strong vs MJF

I was happy to see that MJF, perhaps the worst spray tan user in the sport, toned it down a lot tonight. Then, Roddy Strong made his entrance and is the same color as an Oompa Loompa. Jesus Herbert Christ. Even the palms of his hands are orange.

MJF looks insane right now. He has a little bit of the weird spray tan making his face and body look a certain color, but he also has some of the worst bacne that you’re ever going to see, and now, his chest is all sorts of black, blue, and red because of the usual stiff strikes from Roddy.

This was good. Not quite to the level of great, but both men worked hard, as would be expected. After picking up the win, MJF puts Roddy’s arm inside of a steel chair and then stomps on it. Only after the attack did we get the arrival of Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett. Way to just sit back and watch Roddy get his arm broken before you ran out, dickheads.

After MJF is sent packing, we get more drama between Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly, as KOR shoves Cole to the mat and yells at him for a few seconds. As I’ve said before, it has to be in their contracts that they have to team together or feud against each other in perpetuity. It feels like they’ve been connected for 15 straight years now. 3.5 Stars

Mercedes Moné vs Kris Statlander – AEW TBS Title Match

We’re only a few minutes in, and this might be the best match Mercedes has had in AEW against an AEW contracted wrestler. Take that for whatever you will.

Oh yeah, we’re definitely seeing “Sasha Banks” in this one. This is as good as Mercedes has looked in a long time, and to her credit, Stat is matching her spot-for-spot.

You want reversals? Counters? Innovative offense? Lots of aggression? A major battle between speed and power? If so, you’re going to like this one.

One of the best “regular” women’s matches in AEW history. By that, I mean it was a pure singles match, with no stipulations added, no blood, and so on. They had 20 minutes of match time to work with, and they used every second of it well. 4.25 Stars. Mercedes looked extra motivated, ready to show a lot of her detractors that she can still dazzle in the ring. Like I said earlier, this was a flashback to her Sasha Banks days. Really fun stuff.

“Switchblade” Jay White vs “Hangman” Adam Page

I guess it makes sense that we would get a slower, methodically paced match after the previous one we got. The story being told so far is Hangman working over Switchblade’s ankle, effectively making White a one-legged man, hobbling all over the place.

It’s still slower in pace, but that isn’t really a complaint. I don’t need every match to be pedal-to-the-metal, and at least we’re getting a logical story reason for things. Page is focused on hurting White, and White is trying everything he can to continue fighting without having his ankle broken.

A fun match with a really fun final stretch, including Switchblade countering and reversing multiple Buckshot Lariat attempts before catching Hangman with a Blade Runner out of nowhere for the win. 3.5 Stars

After the match, Page attacks White on the stage and then punches Christopher Daniels, who tried to intervene, square in the face.

Will Ospreay vs Kyle Fletcher

Here. We. Go. If this ends up being anything less than great, I will be stunned.

I don’t understand how Ospreay works at the speed and pace he does. Every single time you see him in the ring, it’s like watching a brand new, expensive supercar roaring down the Autobahn, and it doesn’t stop until the final bell. I don’t think Ospreay is fully human.

This is another one of those “AEW Specials” that makes me happy I don’t have to do play-by-play for these columns. There isn’t a chance I’d be able to handle that. These two are going nuts.

Fletcher’s chest is bloodied, bruised, and battered. He has more bruises and welts on his thighs and knee. Ospreay is beating the holy hell out of him.

Fletcher just delivered a jumping Tombstone Piledriver from the ring apron onto the ring steps. For the love of fuck, that looked brutal.

At this point, the damage to Fletcher’s thigh looks like he fell off of a bicycle onto gravel after jumping a ramp. It’s gnarly looking.

Wow. I don’t even know what else to say. Wow. After the Tombstone to the ring steps, Fletcher completely took the match over, and he had Ospreay looking completely out on his feet multiple times. He picked up the upset win after NAILING Ospreay with a disgusting Brainbuster from the top rope onto the top turnbuckle. Ospreay sold it like death, but I’m not sure he was selling it. That’s how insane the spot looked. Ospreay kept going and going and going until he simply had nothing left to give. This might be a star-making performance for Fletcher. Wow. 4.5 Stars

Instead of a match, we’re getting a segment next. Mina Shirakawa is out wearing more body glitter than anyone has ever worn before, and she introduces the AEW Women’s World Champion, Mariah May, for a “championship celebration” on the stage. Mariah’s left eye is a rough looking combination of several colors. That’s a wild looking black eye.

As the two women dance and celebrate, Mariah goes to hit Mina with a bottle of champagne from behind, only to be caught. Mina hits the champ with a Spear, sending them both off the stage and through a table below. That was cool and all, but it was a bit of a time waster on pay-per-view. It should’ve been on television instead.

Jack Perry vs Daniel Garcia – AEW TNT Title Match

Do we really need Matt Menard on commentary for all of Daniel Garcia’s matches? Not only is he not adding anything to Garcia’s presentation, but he’s actually taking away from it. It’s not necessary, especially as AEW is trying to present Garcia as someone on the verge of becoming a major star.

Even after all this time, I still can’t take Perry seriously as a heel. He doesn’t look tough, and he doesn’t wrestle tough, but he keeps trying to act tough. He was so much better off as a face with Luchasaurus.

Related to the previous paragraph, it’s an interesting choice to have Perry physically dominate such a large portion of the match so far.

Overall, this was good. It wasn’t great, but it was more a focus on getting Garcia to a title win as a “feel good” moment for everything he’s done. I’m a lot more interested in the TNT Title now that it’s draped over Garcia’s shoulder. Well, outside of having to hear Matt Menard on commentary some more. 3.5 Stars

Konosuke Takeshita vs Ricochet – AEW International Title Match

If Ricochet dabs like a cornball again, I’m automatically giving this match negative stars. Fair warning.

I don’t know if it’s because they’re tired or if they just aren’t connecting to Ricochet in his early stages with the company, but the crowd has been pretty quiet for this one so far.

It has been an interesting decision to have this match feature a slower pace, as well. We know what Ricochet’s specialty is, and we know that Takeshita is capable of going crazy, too.

Things picked up a bit… and only a bit… by the end, and Takeshita retains his title. Things were good, sure, but they didn’t quite “click” the way I expected them to. That’s a shame. This had the potential to be something special. Instead, I’ll give them 3.25 Stars and move on.

Swerve Strickland vs Bobby Lashley

We’re moving in the wrong direction after that Ospreay vs Fletcher match. Can Swerve and Lashley turn things around? Here’s hoping so.

The early minutes of this one have been smartly put together. Bobby Lashley is such a physically dominant human being, and he’s using his size and power advantage to the fullest here. Swerve, on the other hand, is known for being able to take ungodly amounts of punishment and continue fighting. That’s what he’s doing here. If he can keep fighting after Adam Page tried to murder him on multiple occasions, he can handle a few suplexes and slams from Lashley, right? Right?!?

Another match that was good, but couldn’t quite get anywhere beyond that. In this instance, it isn’t a major problem, because the match was merely designed to make Lashley look like an unstoppable monster. He sure did. Lashley should be involved in the World Title picture much sooner than later. 3.25 Stars

After making Swerve pass out in the Hurt Lock, Lashley puts Prince Nana in the hold and makes him pass out, too.

Jon Moxley vs Orange Cassidy – AEW World Title Match

I have to say… I’m not a fan of this storyline at all. Jon Moxley and the Moxlies haven’t exactly been dealing with AEW’s biggest and best, and all these “rah rah” speeches that the faces have been delivering are pretty lame. The company is trying to treat this like more of a “takeover” than it really is.

LOL @ Claudio Castagnoli driving a pickup truck into the parking lot, and then Pac getting out of the truck in his full ring gear for no fucking reason whatsoever. Pac’s dedication to wearing as little clothing as possible for as much of his life as he can should be admired.

After getting stomped on the ring steps, Orange Cassidy’s forehead comes up bleeding. I’m actually surprised at the lack of blood we’ve seen tonight, outside of a bloody chest or two because of some stiff chops.

Mox is actively biting at OC’s bloody forehead, because fuck you, that’s why.

It looks like a crime scene out there. OC is an absolute bloody mess, and his blood has stained the mat and all around ringside. Mox has OC’s blood all over his face, chest, arms, and stomach. Marina Shafir even has some of OC’s blood on her hands. OC’s white shoes have bloodstains all over them.

Cassidy is taking a crazy amount of punishment, and not only is he still fighting, he’s kipping up as he does so.

Claudio and Pac make their way through the crowd and come to ringside, but they’re interrupted by Kyle O’Reilly, Tomohiro Ishii, and Rocky Romero. They all brawl at ringside, and just as Shafir is about to hit OC with the briefcase, Willow Nightingale runs to the ring to stop her. OC gets the briefcase, hits Mox with it, and gets a 2.99999 count. That was a very well done spot. As OC is ready to finish things off, Mox distracts Bryce Remsburg, allowing for Wheeler Yuta to sneak in and lay OC out. Mox picks up the win and successfully defends the AEW World Title.

Lots of drama here, although the match was pretty one-sided for large chunks. 3.75 Stars, with the drama helping to add to the rating.

After the match, the Moxlies pour chemical cleaner on OC’s face and down his throat. Well, that wasn’t pleasant. Adam Page makes his way to the ring and takes Wheeler out with a chair. As Mox and Page go face-to-face, Christian Cage runs out and attacks Mox. Just as Christian is about to cash in on his World Title shot, he is attacked by Jay White, who is then attacked by Claudio and Pac. LOTS going on here.

Adding to it, we get Moxley and the Moxlies making their way back to their truck, only for the truck to get run into by another car driving at high speed. The driver of the car is revealed to be Darby Allin, who is bleeding and asking where the fuck Moxley is going as the heels steal an SUV and drive off.

Pretty chaotic stuff there.

Overall, this was a good show. A lot longer than it needed to be, but you can say that about almost every AEW pay-per-view that has ever taken place. No bad matches on the show, which is always nice, but there were a handful of matches that I think most people wanted more out of. All in all, this still gets a recommendation from me, if you haven’t already checked it out.

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