All Elite Wrestling

Full Gear

November 9, 2019

Royal Farms Arena

Baltimore, Maryland

Watch: PPV & B/R Live in USA & Canada, Fite internationally

Meet our reviewers:

Griffin Peltier: I watched WarGames matches all day and am excited for this show. Excalibur could probably beat me up. Check out my Tweets @Hollywd12 and follow my AEW Be The Booker series if you want!

Suit Williams: GEAUX TIGERS. Follow me on Twitter @SuitWilliams and listen to/follow my podcast @SmarkSports.

Sean Sedor: It’s been awhile since I’ve done a PPV review of any kind for the site (it probably hasn’t been that long, but with so much wrestling going on in any given week, it certainly feels like an eternity since the last review I did), but I’m back in the saddle for AEW’s first PPV since the premiere of Dynamite on TNT. You can follow me on Twitter @SASedor2994, and you can check out my Extreme Warfare: Revenge diary (where he takes over WCW in 1998) on the Voices Of Wrestling Forums at this link (haven’t had a new post in a bit, but I will update it soon!).

BRITT BAKER D.M.D. DEF. BEA PRIESTLEY (BUY IN)

Griffin Peltier: Did you know that Britt Baker is a f~cking dentist? Quick aside, the Full Gear set is incredibly gorgeous. This match? Definitely did not look good. I don’t know if it’s because Britt had the flu, they don’t have chemistry, or Britt is still green as grass, but this was clunky and went by real slow (most likely the last point). Bea tried her best. It picked up a little bit at the end but went back to being slow. Baker won with her lockjaw submission. This went too long, wasn’t intense enough for a grudge match, and the wrong person won if you’re looking to find somebody to build a division around. Awesome Kong, with Brandi by her side, came down after the match and hit the Implant Buster on Bea and had a knife. The whole Kong/Bea interaction post-match was better than this match. If the tape went missing and this became the Lost Battle of Baltimore, it’ll definitely be a holy grail. *1/4

Suit Williams: We’ve got Excalibur, Goldenboy, and Taz on the call for this one. Taz is in contract season, and he has been very good in his couple appearances for AEW. This was fine. Britt came out ready to fight, but Bea controlled her by going after her back and kicking her in the head. Britt came back and got the win with Lockjaw. Post match, Brandi Rhodes led Awesome Kong out, and she laid out Bea with an Implant Buster. **

Sean Sedor: The issues between two got started all the way back at Fight For The Fallen in July, when Bea Priestley gave Britt Baker a concussion very early on in a tag team match on that card. After a couple of encounters on Dynamite and Dark (once again in tag team bouts), they finally had their singles encounter, and it was…..ok, I guess. I appreciate the fact that they, at the very least, treated this like a grudge match. They went right after each other, as opposed to just locking up like a normal match. The final stretch had some entertaining moments, but as a whole, this was an average affair. Britt getting the submission win wasn’t exactly a shock, though it should be interesting to see what she does from here, since she just challenged Riho for the AEW Women’s Title a few weeks ago. Awesome Kong came out afterwards and attacked a prone Bea Priestley. With the help of Brandi Rhodes, she cut off a piece of her hair. **1/2 

Proud and Powerful (SANTANA & ORTIZ) DEF. THE YOUNG BUCKS (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)

Griffin Peltier: The start of this match was a lot slower than I expected. Both teams are fantastic and can do some wild stuff in a fast-paced sprint, but the beginning felt a little slow to me. As soon as I type that, however, Matt Jackson yeets himself out of the ring onto Ortiz and it picked up. Putting my expectations of a classic Bucks sprint to the side when it became clear that this wasn’t going to be that type of match, this was a good traditional tag team wrestling match with some high points and good story work with Nick Jackson’s shin injury eventually costing his team. Nick Jackson is very good and took some sick bumps and his style reminds me why I loved Jeff Hardy and the Hardy Boyz as a youngster. Good stuff and post match the Rock N’ Roll Express saved The Young Bucks from an attack by PNP and Sammy Guevara. Personally hoping we get that all-out sprint in the near future. ***1/2

Suit Williams: Starting off hot! The Rock and Roll Express are in the crowd, hopefully here to stick the winners of the tag title match later. Rock N’ Roll forever! You see these two teams, and you expect a fast-paced affair, but we got a more deliberate match than you would think. PNP controlled Nick Jackson and his leg, and wore him down. That plan ended up working as after the Bucks made their comeback, Nick’s leg gave out when he went for the Meltzer Driver. They couldn’t get More Bang For Your Buck started, and PNP was able to isolate Nick again and hit the Street Sweeper for the win. After the match, Sammy Guevara came out to celebrate and help PNP beatdown the Bucks before the Rock N’ Roll Express jumped in for the save. RICKY MORTON CANADIAN DESTROYER! SIGN THEM, YOU COWARDS! A bit of a subversion of expectations for this match, but a good one nonetheless. ***1/4

Sean Sedor: You should always try to kick off your PPV with an action-packed match that will get the crowd fired up and excited. In that regard, The Young Bucks vs. Santana & Ortiz was the perfect choice for the PPV opener, on paper. While this ended up being a great tag team bout (as expected), it didn’t exactly go the way many of us expected. Instead of being non-stop insanity, with all sorts of tag team craziness, we got a longer, more methodical affair. The first portion of the match saw the two teams go back and forth, but Santana & Ortiz managed to gain control after Nick Jackson injured his leg after hitting the ring post (he was trying to deliver a kick to Ortiz from the apron). From there, The Young Bucks fought with everything they had, but the injury that Nick Jackson suffered to his leg was just too much to overcome. Santana & Ortiz picked up the win with the Street Sweeper. It looked like The Young Bucks were going to get beaten down afterwards (Sammy Guevara had come out at this point to assist Santana & Ortiz in their post-match attack), but The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express made the save (they were in the front row), and the babyfaces stood tall in the end. Ricky Morton hitting a Canadian Destroyer and a big dive to the floor got a massive reaction. As for this opener, it wasn’t the spectacular tag team match we were expecting, but it was still very good. ***3/4

“Hangman” ADAM PAGE DEF. PAC

Griffin Peltier: PAC and Page both have great grasps on their character work and used that to their advantage to build this match. The match started off hot with Page in control, but PAC grabbed the advantage and slowed things down. I love how PAC has genuine heel heat despite being universally loved for his ring work. The pace was up and down throughout the bout, always building up to a ton of fun and different spots. I really enjoyed the callbacks to both guys’ past matches in the company. Page caught a low blow that led to the finish with the Dead Eye. I love when wrestlers aren’t made to look stupid. This was a very good match but was a little too slow for my taste. I would love to see a rematch in a few months and see what these two can do to build on this match. ***3/4

Suit Williams: PAC took control by slingshotting one of the ropes into Hangman’s eye. PAC is so good at controlling the crowd and getting his character over. PAC kept staying one step ahead of Page, cutting off his momentum at every turn. The big shutdown spot was PAC leveling Page with a brainbuster onto a chair on the floor. They got me with a nearfall when PAC reversed the Dead Eye into the Brutalizer submission, but Hangman dived into the ropes to break the submission. Black Arrow misses, and the ref gets tied up with them. Hangman catches PAC going for a low blow, and levels him with a forearm before putting him away with the Dead Eye. A little long, but there were good callbacks, and it resulted in a good win for Page. ***1/2

Sean Sedor: We got another fiery start to a match on this show, as Page went right after PAC to get this one started. The first couple of bouts on this PPV (three in total if you include Britt Baker vs. Bea Priestley from the Buy In) have featured wrestlers with a lot of animosity towards each other, so it makes sense that their matches would start off that way! Page was in control during the early moments of the bout, but PAC soon gained the advantage via nefarious means, and tried to grind things to a halt. The pace eventually picked back up again after some big offense from both men (a moonsault from top rope to the floor by Page, a crazy brainbuster on a chair by PAC, and a top rope fallaway slam by Page). The final moments saw some great callbacks from previous PAC matches in AEW. First, Page was able to survive PAC’s Brutalizer long enough to get to the ropes (PAC applied it in the same way that led to him beating Omega at All Out). Then, in a callback to the match these two had on the first Dynamite show in DC, PAC went for the low blow with the referee distracted, but Page had it scouted this time, and hit a quick flurry of offense before putting PAC away with the Dead Eye. A really good match between these two. Much like the opener, it wasn’t particularly outstanding, but it had a lot of cool moments, including those awesome callbacks at the end. ***3/4 

SHAWN SPEARS DEF. JOEY JANELA

Griffin Peltier: There was a pretty cool spot where Spears tied Janela’s hair in the tag rope. Other than that and a few other spots where Janela nearly killed himself to get the crowd invested, this was a nothing match. Tully Blanchard and Spears hit a spike piledriver on the outside that led to Spears hitting his finish for the win. This would’ve been better if left to something like AEW Dark and not on pay-per-view. *1/2

Suit Williams: Shawn Spears is a wrestler’s wrestler. It’s just a shame that he’s not an interesting wrestler. This is a match that wasn’t built up much on TV, with two guys who haven’t been highlighted on TV very much. I get rewarding Joey for his Lights Out matches with Moxley and Omega, but this may have been a better spot for Darby Allin coming off of his title challenge. I just watched the match, and I remember nothing but the spike piledriver finish. Perfectly perfunctory, but too long, and the wrong guy won. **

Sean Sedor: So this is a match that perfectly defines the “well, that escalated quickly” meme. It started with a brief bit on Being The Elite that saw Joey Janela put out his cigarette in Tully Blanchard’s Diet Pepsi. A few weeks later on Dark, Shawn Spears and Tully attacked Janela in the parking lot, and forced his mouth open with pliers as they attempted to stuff a lit cigarette down his throat. This had some cool spots scattered throughout (Spears tying Janela’s hair to the tag rope, with Janrla having to pull himself free), but this was definitely the worst match on the PPV main card thus far. It wasn’t a horrible match or anything. It just wasn’t memorable. I like the fact that Joey Janela got a spot on this card, though is putting Shawn Spears over really the best use of him? Granted, it was far from a clean victory (it took a spike piledriver on the outside with Tully Blanchard’s assistance), but still. The commentators made sure to point out that Spears now has three wins in a row, so I’m guessing that’s going to lead somewhere. **1/4  

AEW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: SCU (Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) © DEF. LUCHA BROS (Rey Fenix & Pentagon Jr.) & PRIVATE PARTY (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen)

Griffin Peltier: This felt a little flat until they started doing dives to the outside. The tag work was well worked but nothing seemed to stand out. I thought there would be a lot more cool spots throughout, but nothing really happened. Fenix had a few good dives that woke the crowd up but the crowd wasn’t there for the rest. Decent but could have used a lot more energy to boost it up to the next level. ***

Suit Williams: This match finally woke the crowd up to an extent, as the dives from everyone got some energy back into this show. Fenix in particular was incredible, with a double springboard dive that was absolute madness. Private Party had their shine and nearly won, but SCU scouted out Gin & Juice and hit SCU-Later for the win. Post match, the Lucha Bros laid out the champs before Christopher Daniels, disguised as another Pentagon, took them out. Good, but every match has lacked some juice. ***

Sean Sedor: This show was off to a relatively good start, but it definitely needed an injection of energy (particularly after that Shawn Spears win over Joey Janela). This match accomplished that, to a certain extent. The action throughout was really entertaining, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, but at the same time, it felt like it didn’t truly get into a higher gear until the final few minutes, when we got a sequence of dives that concluded with Fenix connecting with an insane springboard dive onto everyone. SCU eventually retaining their titles after they managed to hit SCU-later on one of the members of Private Party. Afterwards, a Pentagon Jr. doppelganger appeared, and it turned out to be the returning Christopher Daniels, who went after Pentagon Jr. and Fenix. As a whole, this was an entertaining match that ultimately served to continue the feud between The Lucha Bros and SCU. That being said, this definitely could’ve been better, especially considering who was involved. ***1/2 

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: RIHO © DEF. EMI SAKURA

Griffin Peltier: Jesus H. Christ, Riho hit a double stomp onto the apron and it was sick. I do like that Riho is one of the most over acts on this entire show. The Baltimore crowd has been flat for a lot of the other wrestlers but are popping big for Riho. Emi did a Vader stomp right onto Riho’s arm and it was disgustingly beautiful. Both Emi and Riho were smooth and didn’t take the night off. They threw their best shots and some of the spots looked brutal. They managed to grab the crowd’s attention at the end with a tremendous finishing stretch. Riho is very good and while they’ve used the size disadvantage story for all of her matches so far, it works so well and it connects with the fans. Great stuff. ****

Suit Williams: This was fantastic. Riho and Emi hit double stomps that I thought broke bones in the other person. They got a crowd that has been tepid to say the least into the match, and absolutely delivered in this spot. The finishing sequence was great, with Riho countering the Magistral cradle that pinned her on Dynamite and catching Sakura with her own rollup for the win. Match of the night so far. ****

Sean Sedor: Great to see that we got a video feature on this match before it got started (which briefly detailed the history between these two), though it would’ve been nice if we got to see it before the PPV. When the dust settled, this ended up being a very strong women’s match. In fact, I would say that it was the match of the night, up to this point! Of course, these two have wrestled each other countless times, so it’s no surprise that it was as good as it was. Emi Sakura dished out a ton of punishment throughout, nailing Riho with backbreakers, Vader Bombs, among other moves. However, Riho managed to persevere, and went to her arsenal of double stomps to fight back. There were a couple of really cool exchanges towards the end, but Riho caught Sakura in a pin, and secured the win. A great teacher vs. student battle, and another successful title defense for Riho. ****

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: CHRIS JERICHO © DEF. CODY

Griffin Peltier: The three judges for this match, should it go broadway, are Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson, and The Great Muta. Judas is a banger, don’t @ me. Cody got busted up hardway on the ramp and the match picked up. It’s a huge gash. The start of the match was all Jericho, slowing down the pace to allow Cody to build some heat for some babyface comebacks. Jericho, however, cut him off to keep things on his side. Cody’s been fighting from underneath ever since eating shit on the ramp. The crowd popped huge when Aubrey threw Jake Hager to the back. A counter of the Judas Effect into the Cross Rhodes got a very good nearfall and woke up the crowd to great effect, followed up with a Bionic Elbow for another great nearfall. The match was super hot in the end with Cody playing a great babyface but MJF threw in the towel when Jericho locked in the Lion Tamer. Cody can no longer challenge for the AEW World title. I really enjoyed this match but I don’t agree with the finish. Not a fan of the towel being thrown. MJF then kicked Cody right in the Rhodes’ and became one of the biggest heels in the company. Fans started throwing trash at MJF as he walked up the ramp. Hate the finish, love the angle even if its way too early. ****1/4

Suit Williams: When the video came up for this match, I was stunned we were already at the main event matches. The three judges are Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson, and The Great Muta. Awesome to see Muta. Cody is rivaling Kevin Nash on 1/4/99 with the amount of pyro he’s got. MJF is cornering Cody, and I’m worried. Cody’s mom is in the front row, and my turn detector is now at Defcon 1. This match picked up steam when Cody busted his face open on the ramp. I got shivers and flashbacks to the Luger/Flair commision stoppage in Baltimore. Jericho got in Momma Rhodes’s face, and she slapped him right in the face. Hager got involved and got ejected from ringside, but the distraction allowed Jericho to hit Cody with the belt for a nearfall. Cody countered the Judas Effect into the Cross Rhodes for another damn good nearfall. A top rope rana gets countered into the Walls of Jericho, and the crowd is on their feet. Jericho gets the Liontamer in, and MJF has a towel. THAT MOTHERFUCKER MJF THREW THE GODDAMN TOWEL. Jericho retains, and Cody is shit outta luck. AND THAT NO GOOD PIECE OF SHIT JUST TURNED ON HIM. GODDAMN IT MJF. The crowd needed Cody to win, and MJF stole it from them. We have ourselves a money match folks. ****

Sean Sedor: Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson, and THE GREAT MUTA are the three judges for this AEW World Title bout. Yes, you read that correctly. Seeing The Great Muta was certainly a pleasant surprise. Meanwhile, MJF came out to be in Cody’s corner, while Jake Hager was in the corner of Chris Jericho. After the initial exchanges, Cody went on an offensive flurry, but that all changed after Cody landed face first on the elevated rampway when Jericho avoided his dive attempt. This busted Cody open, and Jericho gained firm control over the challenger. Once Cody started to regain his composure, and we got some back and forth between the two. The middle portion of the match featured some shenanigans, with Cody’s mom (who was in the front row) slapping Jericho, Jake Hager getting involved (then ejected), and Jericho using the AEW Title as a weapon. The action picked up again in the final moments, and the defining moment of the match came when Jericho trapped Cody in the Lion Tamer. He really wrenched back on the hold, and began stomping on Cody’s head. MJF, feeling like he had no choice at this point, made the decision to throw in the towel. Afterwards, MJF tried to beg for forgiveness, and it looked like Cody was about to forgive him, but then the turn finally happened. MJF kicked Cody in the balls, and was showered with a chorus of boos. As far as the match goes, it wasn’t as great as the Cody/Dustin match from Double Or Nothing, but it was certainly better than the Cody/Shawn Spears match from All Out. They told a good story throughout, and it culminated in the long awaited MJF turn. I know many people have suggested holding off that turn for as long as possible. While I don’t necessarily disagree with that point, I don’t really mind that they made the decision to do this turn now. Jericho remains the AEW Champion, while Cody is probably going to have a long feud with MJF. ****

NON-SANCTIONED, LIGHTS OUT MATCH: JON MOXLEY DEF. KENNY OMEGA

Griffin Peltier: Omega is in full gear when he should be wearing jeans, cowboy boots, and a tank top. Moxley entered through the crowd and he looks like a bad ass MF’er – and not a Mattitude Follower! Mox hit a Black Hole Slam and went right for the plunder. It didn’t take long for the action to spill around the arena and for Mox to introduce a barbed wire bat. Jon got a good cut on the back of his head after being hit with the barbed wire broom and we have some good crimson! Kenny got launched onto a BOARD OF MOUSE TRAPS and this match is awesome. Omega brought out the broken glass from the table Mox DDT’ed him through on Dynamite and then proceeded to do the paper cut in the fingers spot using the shard of glass! Moxley kicked out from a sitout spinebuster onto the shards of glass. The crowd is into this and this match has been great. Omega had The Elite bright out a BARBED WIRE SPIDER WEB AND THEN MOXLEY SUPLEXED HIM INTO IT! THIS IS VIOLENT AND I AM HERE FOR IT! A quick Paradigm Shift onto the glass shards only gets a nearfall! OMEGA MISSED A PHOENIX SPLASH AND CRASHED FACE FIRST ON THE EXPOSED WOOD OF THE RING! HOLY SHIT! PARADIGM SHIFT on the WOOD BRINGS AND END TO THIS MATCH. What a brutal match. I loved every single of it! Great stuff. I loved it. ****1/2 

Suit Williams: Jesus fucking christ. Jon Moxley promised beautiful pro wrestling violence, and these two absolutely delivered. The stakes rose higher than we may have ever seen in mainstream American pro wrestling. From the normal pro wrestling fare of tables and chains, to the broken glass from the table Moxley put Kenny through a few weeks ago and a spider web of barbed wire. Absolute mayhem, enthralling chaos, and a definitive end as Moxley damn near drove Omega through the exposed ring with a Paradigm Shift. VIOLENCE! BRUTALITY! HATRED! THIS IS WHY YOU PAY $50! ****3/4

Sean Sedor: I’m a big fan of the long pants that Jon Moxley was wearing here. I’m a bigger fan of this attire over the more traditional wrestling gear that he’s worn since his WWE departure, but that’s just me. It didn’t take very long for this one to get out of control. They brawled on the floor for a bit, which culminated with Omega hitting a big double stomp off a railing onto a prone Moxley. From there, they returned to the ring, and a variety of weapons were brought out. Trash cans, tables, the barbed wire bat, the barbed wire broom, a table, a board of mouse traps (yes, you read that correctly….mouse traps), a giant gold chain, and broken glass from the glass table they broke on the first Dynamite. This was an absolutely violent affair that featured a plethora of brutal. Seeing the mouse trap board actually used was crazy. Omega locking Moxley in a sharpshooter, thus forcing Moxley to crawl through the shards of broken glass to get to the ropes. Moxley suplexing Omega off the entrance ramp onto a giant bed of barbed wire was pure insanity. The punishment that these men went through was just unreal. Moxley eventually tore up the mat to reveal the wooden boards underneath, and we got a couple of spots on these exposed boards to close out the match. Omega tried to channel Kota Ibushi with a Phoenix Splash, but Moxley got out of the way, and he crashed into the exposed boards below. Moxley followed up with the Elevated Paradigm Shift, and that was it. This was a very long match (I think it went even longer than the World Title bout), but it certainly lived up to the violence that was promised beforehand. Easily the best thing on the show, and a ton of credit goes to both guys for putting their bodies through absolute hell. ****1/2