Csonka’s AEW Full Gear 2019 Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the AEW Full Gear 2019 PPV event. The show will feature The Young Bucks vs. Santana & Ortiz, Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega, AEW Champion Chris Jericho vs. Cody, and more. So today I will breakdown and preview the event. Feel free to make your picks in the comment section. Thanks for reading! It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.”

Buy In Match: Dr. Britt Baker vs. Bea Priestly: One of the aspects of AEW that has unfortunately fallen by the way side and needs improved immediately is the booking of the women’s division. They haven’t gotten a ton of TV time in any way, their AEW Dark stuff has been rough and it feels like a forgotten aspect of the promotion Dr. Britt Baker vs. Bea Priestly does have a story behind it as they feuded over the summer and Bea legit gave Britt a concussion, which they played up as a part of the build on dark. It’s just a shame the one women’s feud that actually had some story behind it is completely under developed and stuck on the pre-show. They have a lot of hope in making Britt a star, she has a great look and I think will time will get there. Bea… Bea is ambitious in the ring, but her ambition and led to sloppiness, and injuring others. I do not think she’s that good at all, so this one could be really rough if things don’t go well. I think rebuilding Britt up for another title shot down the line is the play here and she wins. WINNER: Dr. Britt Baker

Shawn Spears vs. Joey Janela: A while back, Joey Janela met with Shawn Spears and Tully Blanchard and disrespected Tully by putting a cigarette out in Tully’s beer. On this past week’s AEW Dark, Spears got back on track with w win over Michael Nakazawa, and at the end of the show had a confrontation with a smoking Janela, which ended with Tully & Spears attacking and prying his mouth open with pliers and shoving the cigarette into his mouth. On Dynamite, Spears defeated Brandon Cutler and looked to add more punishment post match until Janela made the save and ran him off setting up this match. I like the addition to the show, both guys have been good and I think that they have a good match here. I think this is the first match in the feud and that Spears picks up the win as he’s been picking up momentum as of late. WINNER: Shawn Spears

Women’s Champion Riho vs. Emi Sakura: Speaking of the underdeveloped women’s division, this match of the student champion defending against her teacher is really a story that should have been properly explored and told on TV instead of rushed to and bowing to the pressure of having to have a championship match on PPV. The only saving grace to this is the fact that Riho has been really good and gotten over more than anyone expected. Sakura is really good, has gotten over with the AEW crowds and has a ton of history with Riho. So while the build has been completely lacking, I do expect them to have a really good match. With the lack of build, a tile change doesn’t feel right as I feel that there is too much meat left on the bone in regards to the Riho title run, which makes me feel that Riho retains here. WINNER: Riho

Tag Team Champions SCU vs. Private Party vs. Lucha Bros: I like this addition to the card instead of doing a straight SCU vs. Lucha Bros rematch. SCU are the reliable veterans who have done nothing but delivered so far and are over. The Lucha Bros are great and have been killing it and always impress, while Private Party are the new stars bring made. This will likely be a ton of fun and be really good, just give them 12 to 15 minutes to do their thing. I could see the argument for a quick title change here, but I’m not feeling it. So with that being said, I think SCU retains here and moves onto face off with Santana & Ortiz down the line. WINNER: SCU

THE BASTARD Pac vs. Hangman Page: These two were originally set to face at the Double or Nothing PPV, but VISA issues/Pac not wanting to lose as Dragon Gate champion ruined that. They then met on the October 2nd debut of Dynamite, and Pac defeated Page in a really good match via referee stoppage. Two weeks later, Adam Page & Kenny Omega defeated Jon Moxley & Pac in a tag match when Moxley walked out on Pac. Page has slowly gotten some momentum going and is starting to again feel like that hot young prospect they want him to be. Pac has been great so far in AEW, so I am looking forward to this rematch as I feel it has a ton of potential to deliver. You can easily make the argument for Page to win here, because they want him to become a babyface star and so far he’s failed. But then you have Pac, who’s been absolutely great, comes off as a star and has been intertwined in the Moxley vs. Omega feud, which I feel that they will continue to explore. I think that Page loses here and goes heel shortly after. WINNER: THE BASTARD Pac

The Young Bucks vs. Santana & Ortiz: Following a successful run in Impact as the new version of LAX, Santana & Ortiz made their AEW debuts at All Out, attacking the Bucks following their ladder match loss to the Lucha Bros. Their signing added more depth to an already strong tag division, and the Bucks vs. LAX on a major stage has been a tag team dream match for some time. The feud intensified as part the Cody vs. Jericho feud, when Santana & Ortiz joined Jericho’s Inner Circle. They’ve built the match up well, and judging by what we know about both teams, there is a high possibility that this is snot only great, but possibly steals the show. While I am sure that you can make the argument for either team to win here, I think that it makes the most sense for Santana & Ortiz to win here. It’s only their second match, officially, in AEW in a regular tag team setting, they are heels and the win puts them on a path to go after the tag team titles and add more power to the Inner Circle. WINNER: Santana & Ortiz

Unsanctioned Match: Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega: This match was originally scheduled for All Out, but Moxley injured his elbow and picked up a staph infection working the G1 and had to miss time, so it was cancelled. The good news is obviously that Moxley is ok, and that they managed to keep the heat going really well for this, so just like the first time around, I am really excited for this one. But I do have some minor issues with the stipulation choice…

1.) This is the third unsanctioned match in AEW since May, and the first two really didn’t need to be labeled as such and just could have been street fights, hardcore matches or no DQ matches to avoid what almost feels like diminishing returns here.

2.) Next, the lights out/unsanctioned match, has historically been a “last resort” feud ending style of match, when the guys got too out of hand and the promotion felt that the only way to end it would be to go hands off and let them fight but also take no responsibility in the match or results. I think the feud has been well done, but don’t quite feel we’re at that level just yet, and again, seeing that we’ve already seen two of these matches, and that Moxley & Omega were each involved in one, that again goes back to the diminishing returns argument.

3.) Finally, it honestly feels like a bit of a cop out on the win/loss record deal since unsanctioned matches don’t count on the win/loss records because they don’t want one of these guys taking an “official” loss.

So those are my complaints, which I feel are fair. But with all of that being said, I am really looking forward to this, It has been built well, Moxley has been great post WWE and delivered big time and we all know that Omega delivers in his big matches. LAX vs. the Bucks will be great, but I really feel that this is the one that will steal the show. You can make the argument that either guy could win with ease, but Moxley feels like the hot hand and I think you should ride with him. With it being unsanctioned, I could see Pac getting involved as he’s been tied with both and has an axe to grind with Moxley especially. But since I am forced to make an official pick here, I am going with Moxley; it just feels right. WINNER: Jon Moxley

AEW’s Le Champion Chris Jericho vs. Cody: And here we come to the big championship match, and while there were a lot of concerns over making Jericho the first champion, I think we can all agree that he’s been great, especially for being able to actually draw real; heel heat this deep into his career when he’s so respected and loved. Meanwhile, in a chain of events I didn’t see coming, Cody has become one of if not the biggest babyfaces in all of wrestling. There are two stipulations here, the first being that it has a 60-minute time limit and If they go 60. there will be three judges that determine the winner. I pray that this is just a red herring and that they do not go anywhere near 60-minutes, because I think that this would be an absolutely horrible idea because Cody is better in matches that go 20-25 at most, and in 2019, Jericho doesn’t need to go anywhere 60. The other stipulation is that if Cody loses, he can never challenge for the championship ever again. I am not a fan of that because it feels like something that should have been built up with Jericho screwing Cody repeatedly and then Cody pulling this out as a last resort. The good news is that this has been built up really well, will likely be over huge n the building and I think they will deliver. But now we have to consider who will win. The first thing to consider is that Cody made the big babyface proclamation that he would win, and traditionally when the babyface does that it comes true. The second thing is that Jericho is scheduled to work Tanahashi at WrestleKingdom, and I doubt he’s winning that so AEW won’t want their champion to lose, especially since there is almost no chance of a return match in AEW where jericho gets his win back. In that regard it makes sense for Jericho to lose here. But while Cody winning makes complete sense, I also feel that it’s way too soon to take the title off of Jericho. I feel like I’ve been over this match and the various scenarios a thousand times since Wednesday night, and I can see both men winning and it working, but the name of the game is making decision on the winner. I think it’s too soon for Cody to win and also too soon to be breaking stipulations because Cody likely gets screwed here, and will obviously have to find a way to still be able to challenge for the title down the line. Since I have to make a call, and I may be very wrong, I will go with Le Champion. WINNER: Le Champion Chris Jericho

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 65. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Steve Cook review week 6 of the AEW vs. NXT Wednesday night war and then preview Saturday’s AEW Full Gear PPV. The show is approximately 96-minutes long.

* Intro
* AEW Review 11.06.19: 10:55
* NXT Review 11.06.19: 33:50
* The Head to Head Comparison: 54:00
* AEW Full Gear Preview: 1:01:00

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.