Cook’s AEW Full Gear 2021 Review

Hey kids! Tonight, AEW presents their latest wrestling PPV event of 2021, Full Gear. I’m glad you’ve chosen 411mania.com for your live coverage needs, and invite you to follow me on Twitter @stevecook84 if you aren’t already. If you are, I have no other invitations at this time. AEW invites us to watch this show, so let’s see what happens…

After various pre show video packages readying us for tonight’s show matches, Tony Schiavone is joined in the ring by Dante Martin. His advisor of late Lio Rush is at home due to the loss of his grandmother. Team Taz made him an offer last night, and they’re up in a skybox. Tony asks Dante if he’s thought about the offer. Before he can answer the question, the Acclaimed come out. Max Caster lays some rhymes. Something about Lio Rush and his 15th retirement, and Team Taz being the only people on TV less than them. Dante’s the only good person in this depressing town, and they want him in their ranks. The crowd tells them to shut the f up, but Anthony Bowens has a lot of s to say. Dante is either with them or against them, and we all know he’s against them, so let’s skip to the part where Martin does a dive onto them. Dive!

Nyla Rose (w/Vickie Guerrero) & Jamie Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida & Thunder Rosa: Our Buy-In Match features four of the women active in the TBS Women’s Championship Tournament. Thunder & Nyla start us off. Jamie standing in front of the hard cam is quite the distraction, and I guess somebody told her to move. Nyla gets an early advantage with her power, but Rosa gets the first near falls with her agility. Tag to Shida, both women hit jumping knee strikes in the corner & Shida does the 10 punches in the corner. Nyla suplexes both women & dropkicks them down. Tag to Jamie, who stomps a mudhole in Thunder in the corner & chokes her in the other corner. Chops exchange! Boot scrape in the corner by Hayter. Tag to Shida, Hayter avoids a big move but not the roundhouse kick. Nyla lowers the rope so Shida can take a tumble. Tony points out Serena Deeb at ringside, who has a bit of an issue with Shida. Shida has bigger problems at this moment though. Hayter works Shida over in the ring, can’t quite get the three from referee Mike Posey. Nyla tags in, hits a suplex and taunts Thunder. Double chokeslam gets two, and Hayter keeps working Shida over. Shida finally responds with a vertical suplex, but is a dumb baybface and runs into a backbreaker for two instead of going to her corner. German suplex from Hayter puts both women down. Nyla & Thunder tag in, and Thunder is ready to go. Kicks the camera! Double knees in the corner, dropkick to Hayter. Dropkick in the corner to Nyla. Cover gets two. Shida with a hard knee to Hayter, and Thunder already tags out. Seems ill-advised, but they do both dropkick their opponents out of the ring and hit diving crossbodies. Shida stares Deeb down at ringside, which leaves her prone to a kendo stick shot by Vickie to Shida’s knee. Jaime follows Shida up, hits a superplex, putting Shida in position for a frog splash from Nyla! We know she learned that from Vickie. Thunder makes the save with a top rope move of her own. Shida fights out of the Beast Bomb and rolls up Nyla for three.

Winners: Thunder Rosa & Hikaru Shida
Match Rating: **1/2

Serena Deeb does not approve.

Tony is with Orange Cassidy & the rest of Best Friends. OC gets to pick a partner for next Wednesday night. Orange wants to give his Best Friends the night off on Wednesday. He asked Jeeves who was in CHAOS, this group he’s in now, and he says he’ll bring one of his dogs.

Jim Ross comes out! The Sooners lost earlier, so we’ll see what kind of mood he’s in tonight.

Cook’s AEW Full Gear 2021 Review

Darby Allin vs. MJF: MJF talks to Justin Roberts, and apparently MJF can beat Darby with a headlock takeover. Well, if that’s the finish it’ll be something else. Then we get a Darby entrance video with him & MJF wrecking a car, and Darby setting it on fire. It’s a thing. Sting walks out with Darby on the stage, but leaves his protege to handle his business on his own. MJF going for that headlock takeover, and hits it a couple of times, but yet no three count. Shoulderblock from MJF. Nice cartwheel from MJF, followed by a nice arm drag from Darby, and now we’re doing simultaneous bridges. I like these guys working the ol’ World of Sport style. Some trading of moves and an Indy Standoff! Getting flashbacks to the 2000s here. MJF hits the cheapshot and now we’re back in the present. And now he’s strutting on the outside, so we’re actually going back to the 1970s. Now he’s calling somebody “Fatboy”, and Darby hits a crazy fast tope suicida. Now Darby wants to do the PCO bump, so he misses the Coffin Drop on the apron. MJF shows Matt Hardy how to hit an elbow drop, it gets 2. Bow & Arrow by MJF, Darby gets out, but MJF hits a backbreaker for two. He throws Darby into the corner while the announcers debate whether or not MJF was home-schooled. I agree with Tony, MJF’s parents didn’t want him in the house more than necessary. MJF channeling Roderick Strong with the backbreakers. Darby takes a bite out of MJF while they’re perched on the top. DIAMOND DUST by Darby! MJF avoiding that Coffin Drop. He goes for that headlock takeover, it gets two. Powerbomb on the knee by MJF gets two. Both these guys fight dirty, and MJF gets the thumb to the eye. High angle powerbomb from MJF gets two. MJF locks in the Sharpshooter! Or maybe the Scorpion Deathlock, call it what you will. Darby gets out and targets MJF’s possibly injured knee. MJF with a double stomp to Darby’s arm. But Darby keeps going to that knee, and he locks in the Figure Four! MJF reverses it, which I have seen done 10,000 times or so. Did Justin Roberts do a time announcement? Apparently so, as JR points out this has a 30 minute time limit. MJF hits a Tombstone on the apron, which also hurts that balky knee of his. Both men beat the 10 count. See, that’s why you need a 20 count. People can sell moves better that way. MJF goes for the suplex, but Darby reverses into a cradle for two. We’re inside cradling all around the ring now. Headlock takeovers abound! Code Red by Darby gets 2.999! These boys wanted to prove they can rassle tonight! MJF avoids the Coffin Drop temporarily, but then Darby hits the damn thing on the floor. Back in the ring, Darby tries it again & hits knees, but MJF has a bad knee so it’s a thing. Shawn Spears & Wardlow were wandering towards the ring, but Sting is there to take them out. Some near-falls, MJF’s knee is balky, a Fight Forever chant, MJF has Darby’s skateboard. He rolls it to Darby, asking him to hit him. Mind Games! Aw shit, Darby was dumb. He gave the skateboard to Bryce Remsburg, but didn’t keep an eye on MJF, who had that Dynamite Diamond Ring. MJF floors Darby with it, then hits that headlock takeover! Three count!

Winner: MJF
Match Rating: ***1/2

Team Taz is shown in their skybox.

AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero Miedo w/Alex Abrahantes) (c) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler w/Tully Blanchard): The FTR Midnight Express ripoff theme is the shit, and if you don’t agree with that you are wrong. All four men active as we start. Seems like it’ll come down to Penta & Dax to start. They laying some strikes into each other. Then some near-falls, and a standoff. FTR rocking those US & Mexico knee pads. Cash Wheeler & Rey Fenix tag in. Cash smacks Fenix down, and Fenix retaliates. Penta comes in for the double team, and FTR evades. They also evade the Lucha Bros on dives. Back in the ring & Fenix plays the Ricky Morton role except Ricky never would have worn a mask and deprive the people of seeing his pretty face. Fenix with some big kicks on Dax, evades a wild move from Cash and tags Penta. Some sling blades. Now everybody is legal, leading into an assisted cannonball senton in the corner, then stereo superkicks getting two. Rick Knox is the referee, so we all saw this coming. Penta working over Dax’s knee, Cash comes in, Fenix comes in, and now we’ve got stereo submissions. After that schiznit settles down, Tully gets his boys in control, and now Penta’s mask is tied to the ropes. Knox unties it, but Dax still stomps him down. I am all about JR giving this man some shit. We are dropping some names on commentary tonight! Much love to Lord Alfred Hayes. Penta getting worked over here. Backdrops out of a piledriver and tags Rey, but hey, Knox didn’t see it. Penta hits a DDT on Harwood after a monkey flip by Wheeler. Tag to Fenix and now some shit gonna go down. Double Stunner by Fenix, count on Harwood gets two. I can’t call Fenix stuff, whatever he did there got two. Just being honest, folks. Fenix hits the AAA belt, Harwood hits the brainbuster and somehow it gets 2! Looked like a finish to me, those AAA belts are hard. Fenix firing away on FTR, assisted backdrop by FTR gets 2. The Big Rig gets blocked and Penta gets tagged in. Penta’s taunts take too long, which seem like his downfall. Dax with a big right, shakes his hips, and he’s gonna do the Three Amigoes! These fans not buying that from him, but they’ll buy it from Penta! They chant “Eddie” while Penta hits his three. Fenix got that tag, hit the frog splash & only got two! That should have been the finish if the Lucha Bros are winning. Spike Piledriver from FTR to Rey gets 2. Lucha Bros get a nearfall. They go for that Fear Factor again, hit pinfalls on both FTR members and get 2. Woah, We’ve got Cash putting a mask on, then putting the feet on the ropes. Knox saw it. Lucha Bros spike piledrive Wheeler for the three count. He wasn’t the legal man apparently, but who can keep track of that at this point? Especially if the man has a mask on?

Winners: Lucha Brothers
Match Rating: ****

AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament Final: Bryan Danielson vs. Miro: To butcher a quote from the late, great Mark Nulty: Who do you not root for in a match like this? These boys about to mess each other up. Bryan extends the hand, but Miro never wrestled in a place with Honor. Miro does have the strength advantage, but that right quad is taped, so we’ll see how that goes. Bryan with some strikes, but Miro knocks him outside. Miro isn’t over confident, he’s supremely confident. Hard shot to Bryan’s body in the corner. Miro had that backflip in the corner scouted, but Bryan still gets some kicks. Miro with a hard shouldertackle. Bryan hits a hard clothesline, then knocks Miro outside. Miro knocks Bryan out before he can hit the dive, then hits the overhead suplex on the floor. Aubrey Edwards administering the count, but I don’t think we have to worry about the countout here. Miro gonna punish this man, as he does on the outside. Back in the ring, vertical suplexes by Miro. Miro working Bryan over here in the ring. He’s selling that quad though, which I can’t help but believe leads to a finish. Miro even taunts the Yes chants, which gives time for Bryan to fight back. Miro hits the Samoan Drop for two. Back outside, Miro has the advantage for awhile but then Bryan hits that running knee off the apron. Back in the ring, Bryan hits that top rope dropkick and kips up. Time for some Yes Kicks! Miro blocks the last one, gets rolled up and then into a knee bar. That looked like a tap but apparently wasn’t. Miro finally rolls out of it and Germans Bryan. Another one. Bryan gets out of a back suplex and kicks Miro for two. Now he’s driving knees into Miro. Now he’s gonna kick his f’ing head in! He does that, and sets up for the Bushiaku knee, Miro catches him, powerbombs him for two. You know Miro has scouted Bryan. Setting up for the Game Over, almost locked in! But Bryan gets to the ropes before Miro can completely lock it in. Back in the middle of the ring, Miro with some stomps so he can go back with it, but Bryan reverses it! Almost has that LeBell Lock in! Bryan can’t quite get it. Miro fights out. Bryan goes to the triangle, then the elbows! Miro goes to the eyes, he scouted that too! Bryan landing some shots on foot, and Miro is like “give me some more”. Miro lands a kick more lethal than Bryan’s couple of kicks. Miro lifts Bryan on his shoulders, tries to go up top, but Bryan elbows his way out of that. Strike exchange on the turnbuckle. DDT off the top by Danielson, then the Guillotine choke! It’s over! Good match.

Winner: Bryan Danielson
Match Rating: ****

Falls Count Anywhere: Christian Cage & Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) vs. Superkliq (Adam Cole, Nick & Matt Jackson): It’s a pier-six brawl as we start. Rick Knox is the referee here, so we know thats an advantage for the Bucks & Cole. Luchasaurus hits the moonsault off the apron. Christian & Cole in the ring, which would be a fine singles match. Jungle Boy hits some moves on Cole, the Bucks go in to exchange moves with Jungle Boy. Luchasaurus takes them out, but then gets hit with a chair by Adam Cole. Tony tells Jungle Boy to hit Cole with the chair. Finally he does, kinda. The Bucks set Jungle Boy up for a move, he sits on the chair as they fly out of the ring. I mean, there’s a lot of action in the ring for a “falls count anywhere” match, so I’m not sure why we insist on doing everything in the ring here. Jungle Boy does a few dives and eventually gets blocked by a trash can. Luchasaurus gets a cover for two. We put Adam Cole in a spot for a conchairto, Christian hands the chair to Jungle Boy, it gets broken up. Cole has that crimson mask going. Superkick party. Feels like Jungle Boy is a bit too slow for double teams, but he can hit things like a top rope rana through a table. Matt Jackson can elbow drop Luchasaurus through a table. Brandon Cutler misses with the mist. Christian climbs up and up and up, he’s out of his damn mind. Nick Jackson still kicks out. These guys aren’t taking a bump down the steps, probably smart. Christian takes the Cactus Jack bump on the stairs. Luchasaurus taken out as well. Jungle Boy alone in in the ring with these three degenerates. They feeding him some thumbtacks! A kiss from the Bucks to Cole, then the superkicks! Christian makes the save! Now the Bucks have a ladder. The fans say this is awesome. Christian fighting them off with the trash can, then gets suplexed on the ladder. Luchasaurus back in the ring delivering some moves. He sends Adam Cole into the ladder. Bucks miss with the chairs. They can still break up the three count. Luchasaurus no-sells a Buck superkick with a 1 count. Matt is running up the ramp, but there’s Jungle Boy with a snare trap, but Cole breaks that up. Christian gets superkicked before the Killswitch. Luchasaurus gets low blowed, everybody gets low blowed. Lotta stuff going on here. Cole hits the Panama Sunrise on Jungle Boy on the stage, that gets two. Now there’s a lot of superkicks. Cole’s got some thumbtack kneepads. Going for the BTE Trigger on Luchasaurus, they hit it, and Jungle Boy makes the save! Wait a minute, the faces are coming back here! Luchasaurus sends Cole into the Bucks and Brandon Cutler, then hits the shooting star press onto the floor! What the hell is going on? Now we got Christian, Jungle Boy, Matt Jackson and two chairs. Jungle Boy wants to hit the Conchairto, he does it and gets the three.

Winners: Christian Cage & the Jurassic Express
Match Rating: ***1/2

Pac & Cody Rhodes (w/Arn Anderson) vs. Malakai Black (w/assistant) & Andrade El Idolo: Andrade & Pac go at it early on. Malakai tags in to work with Pac. I think both of these guys enjoy working with a wrestler. Cody tags in, and Andrade tags in. Both guys flip over the ropes and fight on the apron. Jose grabs Cody’s boot. So Cody hits a dive onto Jose and powerslams Andrade. The fans don’t like it. Pac tags in. Malikai tags in. Arn scares Andrade’s assistant off without his glock. Andrade with a dive onto Pac on the outside. He & Malikai work over Pac. Pac looking for the tag, but Cody’s getting checked on by the doctor. So Andrade spikes Pac on the apron. Pac hits Malakai with a thrust kick, and Cody is on that apron. And Cody & Andrade get the tag. Cody laying waste to his opponents. Cody going for the reverse superplex and hits it! Two count! Cody gets that figure 4 on Andrade, Pac tags in, hits a 450 on Andrade but El Idolo grabs the ropes! Uh oh, Pac dives onto Cody! Doesn’t matter, Cody breaks up the count. Malakai kicks Cody into the front row. Pac counters Andrade’s DDT, hits a poison rana then goes up top…Black Arrow gets 3!

Winners: Pac & Cody Rhodes
Match Rating: **1/2

AEW Women’s World Championship Match: Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. (c) vs. Tay Conti: I’m wondering if Ricky Morton was involved in Dr. Baker’s entrance. Tay locks Britt in the bow & arrow, Britt fights out, and there’s a standoff. Britt takes the advantage while Paul Turner tries to intervene. Britt taking shots at Tay, with little defense from the challenger. The challenger does kick out from those near-falls. Tay fighting back. Pump kick in the corner, and two more. High cross-body gets two. Tay hits a German for two. Britt hits a neckbreaker out of the corner for two. Britt with a stomp for two. She gets Rebel to give her that glove. Tay with an Ace Crusher for two. Tay goes for the Gotch piledriver on the apron, Britt counters with the Emerald Flowsion! It only gets two? Britt with a backslide for two. Tay-KO gets two! Kick exchange! Tay hits the Gotch Piledriver and it gets two! Britt with a quick rollup for two. Rebel with the distraction, and Jamie Hayte sends Tay into the steps. Britt with another move into the steps, then the stomp, and then the lockjaw, but Tay rolls into the ropes. Britt misses the stomp on the apron, Tay kicks her outside. Tay goes up top, moonsaults Britt’s entourage, then hits a move on Britt on the outside. DDTay! Only 2! OK, I don’t know what’s ending this. Kicks from Tay. Britt reverses into the Lockjaw, Tay counters, then Britt counters into a pinfall.

<b.Winner: Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D.
Match Rating: ***

CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston: PUMP THIS INTO MY VEINS! Good luck, Bryce! SPINNING BACKFIST BEFORE THE MATCH STARTS! Punk looks rocked, but he wants to go on, and the bell rings! This crowd is split and I love them for it. Punk with a knee in the corner. Kingston with an exploder. Punk fights back! Hits some kicks! King wih a poke to the eyes! They fighting on the apron. Punk with a couple of kicks knocking Kingston to the floor. Kingston gets into the ring to break the count, and Punk’s been busted open, and Bryce Remsburg can do little bit look on at this point. Punk wearing that crimson mask. He hits a dive onto Kingston. Back into the ring. Shoulder tackles, then a Protoplex by Punk! Wait a minute! Punk punches down on Kingston for a few seconds. An Eddie chant starts, and Punk goes for his own Three Amigos. Hits them, a tribute to a man Punk considers a mentor. Eddie hits Punk on the top rope. Eddie clubbers away on Punk. Superplex! JR acting like a time limit matters at this point, it absolutely doesn’t. And they charge each other with strikes! Eddie motioning for a Go To Sleep, Punk hits it! He’s letting Bryce decide this thing, that son of a gun! Bryce is gonna let Eddie go. King goes for the backfist, misses, Punk hits some strikes, some knees, hits the Go To Sleep! 3 count!

Winner: CM Punk
Match Rating: ****

Eddie got to beat up CM Punk. Punk wants the handshake now, and Kingston backs out of the ring. That’s a shame, but people will tell me that Eddie shouldn’t have followed the Code of Honor. Some real fireworks in that match.

Baron Von Raschke showing off the claw!

Minneapolis Street Fight: The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager, Santana & Ortiz) vs. Men of the Year (Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky) & American Top Team (Andrei Arlovski, Junior dos Santos & Dan Lambert): Sammy & Scorpio starting things off. Sammy hits a near-fall off an arm drag! Ortiz in with Scorpio, and I’m just here wondering why we’re doing a traditional match when it’s supposed to be a street fight. Are we working Verne Gagne rules here? JDS dropping Jericho with some slams, looking pretty good. Hits the standing moonsault for two. Dan Lambert gets the tag. Seems ill advised. Now everybody jumps into the ring, which is ok since this is supposed to be a street fight. Ethan Page takes a hockey stick to Jericho. Santana & Ortiz hit some dives. Hager wants to hit a top rope dive and he does. This has completely broken down. Jericho hits Scorpio Sky with the foreign object. A lot of stuff happens that involves the heels getting their asses kicked. Ortiz gets singled out by Page & Arlovski, but Hager breaks it up. Jericho comes in with a waterski. What is this, CZW? Lambert takes Jericho outside. Sammy hits a double stunner to the Men of the Year, then a senton to Scorpio for two. A lot of stuff happened, then Baron Von Rashke gave Ethan Page the claw. Santana jumps into the crowd to take out Ethan Page even more. Dan Lambert is in the ring. Jericho is behind him. He wears out Lambert, pays homage to Eddie Guerrero, hits a splash and gets 3.\

Winners: The Inner Circle
Match Rating: ***

So OC will be teaming with Ishii against the Butcher & the Blade. What hath God wrought?

Tony introduces Jay Lethal, the GOAT of Ring of Honor, who is now All Elite. He wants a piece of Sammy Guevara on Wednesday night. Here’s Sammy Guevara. He’s ok with that. I like that.

AEW World Championship Match: Kenny Omega (c) (w/Don Callis) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page: HERE WE GO BABY! Omega dominates the early portion of this match, which makes sense considering the self-doubt of our Hangman. The fans chant about the cowboy shit. Hangman catches Kenny for the fallaway slam. Then Hangman dives onto Kenny on the floor a couple of times.BRAIN BUSTAA gets 2. Kenny gets the upper hand and hits that V-Trigger, Page gets a nearfall for two, then Omega hits a nearfall for two. Omega hits some strikes. Kenny gets crotched up top. Some biting going on up top, Page hits the fallaway moonsault like he’s Bandido for two! Then we got Hangman driving Omega through a table! Lots of stuff going on here. Page has Omega set up for a second, but Omega gets out of the way. Series of reversals. Pop-up powerbomb, then the refereee takes the Buckshot larait. Oh boy. Here comes some carny shit. Hangman hits the deadeye on Kenny, and Aubrey Edwards gets the 2.99 count. Kenny fires away on Hangman. Hangman catches the knee, but Kenny responds. Strikes! LARIATO from the Hangman! The Young Bucks wander down to the ring, which is the last thing we need at this point. Hangman with the German suplex. Page & Omega counter each other, Page hits the One Winged Angel on Kenny and gets two. Page with the Buckshot Lariat to Kenny one time, then two times! WE GOT A NEW CHAMPION.

Winner: “Hangman” Adam Page
Mstch Rating: ****

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Pretty stacked card from top to bottom. There are some issues I'd like to pick, but they're minor. I wouldn't say anything on this show was perfect, but they got as close as they could. Great effort from AEW tonight.