Jake St-Pierre’s AEW Full Gear 2020 Review

We are LIVE from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL.

Your hosts are Excalibur, Jim Ross, and Tony Schiavone. Don Callis joins in on commentary for the opener, surprisingly.

Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Adam Page
While this didn’t quite reach the Match of the Year Candidate heights its existence suggested, it was an outstanding opener and a totally suitable first match for what is clearly going to be a sprawling rivalry for AEW. As you’d imagine given the build-up, this wasn’t hate-filled or a fight to the death. It just wasn’t supposed to be. Instead, Hangman and Kenny had a physical, spirited competitive affair with career-altering stakes and wrestled the match exactly as that description would imply.

But even though they didn’t go out and there and annihilate one another, the match wasn’t without its fair share of intensity and struggle. Both desperate to escape the shadow of the other for one reason or another, and both equally as desperate to fulfill the dream they had when AEW first started up. They played up their familiarity as the match wore on – and as was said in Hangman’s interview with JR – and weaved that into a match that didn’t quite go balls to the wall, but still had a fair enough share of stakes and psychology to make it worth the audience’s while. We saw the cradle that Okada pinned Omega with in the first fall of their gargantuan 2/3 Falls match, the continued countering of the Snap Dragon or the Buckshot, and even the finish with Hangman’s fantastic struggle taking the V-Trigger. It was a whole lot of moves sure, but they created a narrative around that and rewarded the viewer for watching it.

The match was something of an existential (in wrestling, albeit) crisis for Hangman Page, whose career seems to be pointed nowhere after the loss. He faced the dissolution of his championship tag team and the loss of his good friends, and now has lost clean in the middle to his ex-partner who spent two months slating Page for being only a tag team wrestler. Page even lamented the idea of a loss in his sit-down interview with Jim Ross, drawing parallels to his unsuccessful bid to become the first AEW World Champ. That and his ensuing inconsistency as a singles wrestler pushed Page to find a bit more of an edge and finally win gold alongside Omega… but now, he doesn’t have that to fall back on. It’s going to be an interesting road from here as the increasingly smug Kenny Omega soldiers on with his perpetually hapless former partner in the background. The winding, continuous road of this storyline remains – to me at least – the single most impressive creative output of AEW’s brief history, and it continued wonderfully with an excellent first bout. ***3/4

Orange Cassidy vs. John Silver
As expected, this match ended up being a ton of fun. Frankly, if I was the one putting the card together, this was the easiest pick for an opener on the card and after seeing how quality it was, I still agree. It had the silly comedy you’d want out of this duo with the highlight spot being Silver daring to rip the pockets out of Orange’s pants. But crucially, that didn’t take up the entirety of the match. It gave you enough of a taste without sacrificing the integrity of the show, and as you’d expect again, the match itself ended up being quite damn good too.

The match’s body didn’t feature a whole heck of a lot of psychology to be fair, but what we got instead was an excellent sprint that did exactly what it needed to; give Orange Cassidy a win while also showing John Silver’s outrageously high entertainment value. I’ve been quite a fan of the guy since I first saw him in EVOLVE way back in 2011 and it’s incredibly refreshing to see a guy’s hard work push him to a platform where he can flesh it out and show people what he’s really about. A lot of us grew up on a wrestling product where that was strongly discouraged, which makes me happy to report Silver took the ball and ran with it. Not to say he’s a top guy or anything, but AEW has the richest midcard in wrestling and he’s a damn welcome addition to it. I hope to see more of a non-BTE spotlight on him in the months to come, because he has more than enough in the ring to complement his delightfully wacky persona. This was good, good stuff top-to-bottom. ***1/2

AEW TNT Title: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Darby Allin
This may sound hyperbolic, but stick with me here; in every facet of pro wrestling, this match was a rousing success. That’s not just talking about the in-ring content, but we can start there. By some divine intervention, Cody Rhodes has turned into a legitimately world class wrestler after what felt like years of not really being there. I could honestly not pick out a single overly memorable match of his prior to AEW’s formation, but since the company formed, he’s just been a treat to watch. His command as the defacto heel in this match was tremendous. His work on the arm was laser-focused, his cocky mannerisms were just subtle enough to turn the crowd all the way for Darby, and his psychological stroke through every moment of the match was on point.

That psychology manifested itself in several different ways, but they all made complete sense within the framework of the match they’d built. In a broad sense, it was the bigger Cody having his way with the smaller Darby by muscling him around. But every now and then we would get a smattering of frustration from Cody as Darby scouted him. At points it was no longer Cody toying with his faster, younger foe. It was Darby making him look silly with the speed disparity and will to fight. That’s when Cody got too full of himself, began taunting, and moving away from the gameplan Arn Anderson was preaching to him at ringside. The moonsault felt completely out of character for the match, but it was supposed to. It was one of the first big mistakes Cody made en route to losing, all by the explosion and speed of Darby Allin that they established in the opening exchanges. It was centipede where the shoes continued to drop for Cody, much to the chagrin of his manager.

One of my favorite bits of the match was the management of Arn Anderson. It outlined such a crucial part of the match without smacking you across the face with it or insulting your intelligence. When Cody would powder, Arn would frustratedly belt out to Cody to throw him around and use his strength. When Cody would deviate, Arn would scold him as it would lead to increasingly dire straits for him as the moments wore on. This was complemented gorgeously by the commentary, whose knowledge of previous Darby/Cody battles, the bulking up of Cody, as well as their continued emphasis on Arn at ringside made this match into a real story. It felt legitimate and tactical, much like the commentary and corner work in an MMA fight.

So it goes without saying that I absolutely loved this match for a multitude of reasons. Its depth, narrative merit, and dramatic flair really made everything feel significant. It was 100% the correct booking move on the part of AEW and one that I’m actually somewhat relieved that they made, and seeing Darby Allin finally get a big win really makes his character feel justified after such a thorough thrashing from Cody in the heat segments. They even referenced growth in Darby’s mental game as he didn’t let himself get pinned off the Coffin Drop like he did in their last match! It’s wrestling like this that makes me glad I invest my time into it, and AEW seems to have a knack for doing that. ****

Post-match Cody gives the belt to Darby on a knee and celebrates, but Taz isn’t having it and comes out to have it out with them. Of course, it’s just a ploy for Ricky Starks and Brian Cage to attack everyone. Cage and Starks have a tug of war over the TNT belt, but Taz diffuses it and sends Cage after Darby to throw him through the Full Gear setpiece at ringside. Starks and Cage try to break Darby’s arm with a car door, but WILLY HOBBS~! saves the day for the new champ.

The Natural Nightmares cut a promo backstage, cutting a promo on The Butcher, The Blade, and The Bunny and telling them their match on the next Dynamite is a Bunkhouse Match. That oughta be wacky.

AEW Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Nyla Rose
Unfortunately for the members of its roster, the women’s division in AEW has consistently been one of the least interesting portions of the shows they run. As has been said before, some of that is out of their hands given the pandemic’s stranglehold on travel. But another part of that is the barebones booking, poor average match quality, and a general lack of emphasis. This match’s build was no different and with Shida being one of the least compelling champions to me in wrestling, I wasn’t particularly excited to watch this despite their surprisingly solid brawl at Double or Nothing.

While neither woman completely blew the roof off of Daily’s Place, I think they overcame an apathetic audience and really dragged something good out of one another. Not that either are bad whatsoever, but it’s difficult to dig yourself out of that hole and I feel like Nyla and Shida did that. The finishing stretch was really cleverly crafted, with some personal jabs being thrown, some fighting spirit spots, and a tremendous finish that gave Shida some depth in the ring for the first time in a long while. I don’t think it was all that memorable but I’m definitely impressed with what they laid out here. I just wish the booking for the division gave me a reason to really like it. ***1/4

Vickie Guerrero makes the mistake of telling Nyla Rose off and slapping her for losing, but Nyla backs down after the slap and essentially cowers.

AEW Tag Titles: FTR (c) vs. The Young Bucks
This match has been building in some form since 2016 or so, and I’m just enamored to report to you that it was worth every single second of that wait. This was absolutely stellar from beginning to end and if that Bucks tag with Hangman and Omega didn’t happen at Revolution, we’d likely be talking about this as AEW’s Match of the Year. It was that good and for the first time since this pandemic started, it truly felt like a match in front of a crowd that loved it. How could they not? This was everything we thought it would be and more.

As with any FTR match, there were just tons and tons of uber-entertaining tag team tropes here. That’s to be expected, but what I absolutely adored in the first half of this match was the story they told about their influences. We saw Harwood and Wheeler use the finishers of Power and Glory and the Hart Foundation to inflict punishment on the Bucks, and while they’ve undoubtedly done that before, it had a legitimate meaning here. The Bucks used their idols’ finishers, the Dudley’s 3D and the Hardy Boys’ Twist of Fate/Swanton combo. It was a fantastic way to tell the audience that this is a fight between traditionalists and the visionaries of tag team wrestling. It reminds me a lot of Kenny Omega using every Bullet Club leader’s finishers to win the 2016 G1 Climax. That was just a gorgeous piece of storytelling that announcer Excalibur deserves tons of credit for bringing up.

In the broad sense, you could not have asked for a better styles clash here. That “traditionalists vs. visionaries” idea I mentioned earlier clearly doesn’t come from nothing, and it worked in spades. The opening minutes with the Jacksons clearly having scouted FTR’s early tricks was a good flip on that, but once the match became about Matt Jackson’s injury, it very much morphed into your requisite FTR heat segment. That’s not to decry its predictability or anything; their heat segments are usually great and this was no exception. Matt’s selling was perfect and his occasional adrenaline bursts into significant offense felt earned and logical. These aren’t the 2009 Young Bucks who wrestle the same match over and over. They clearly have earned their way into the constant accolades they receive, and selling like that is a prime example of why.

While I wouldn’t call this the Match of the Year just quite (the Revolution match and Dragunov vs. WALTER are a tad ahead) it may have had one of the most exciting finishing sequences I’ve seen in ages. Every second of Cash’s Too Sweet and “fuck the Revival” superkick, the desperation springboard 450 backfiring, and the lone superkick finishing things were just scintillating pro wrestling. It was FTR’s constant belittling of the flippy wrestlers, the spot monkeys, and the like that made them natural rivals to the Young Bucks. But the pussy, hypocrite, cowardly heel in Cash Wheeler just had to go for that flip and he completely ruined the match for his team. If there was ever a category for Finish of the Year, it would take a nuclear bomb to defeat the last minute of this match. It was perfection.

This felt like one of the first matches during this pandemic to at least kind of feel like things were back to normal. What was there of the crowd was absolutely rabid, the heat felt legitimate and tense, and there was an air of prestige and significance to this match. Many people, including myself, have been puzzled by the build to this match but with the Bucks finally getting over the hump and getting the tag belts, it all makes sense. Does that make it worth it? It’s hard to say without seeing what happens next. But even if you didn’t like what led to it, the match itself delivered in absolute prime form. You can’t ask for much better than that, right? ****3/4

After the match Kenny Omega comes to the ring to celebrate with the Bucks as Hangman Page broods in the aisleway.

Elite Deletion: Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara
It started off a little meandering with the punch-kick brawling in the opening minutes, but once it moved into the cheap pops, wacky cameos, and Broken Universe lore this was everything you could want. Sure, nothing is ever really going to live up to the blockbuster that Final Deletion was in TNA, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of entertainment value to be had. Really, with Matt as hobbled as he is, you’re likely not to find him in a better match than this. Not that he doesn’t have a lot to offer – he clearly does – but this is the perfect way to cover up his limitations and make the most of this last career renaissance.

For what it’s worth, even though we had a fair amount of the wacky comedy here, I really did like the serious turn it took at the end with Matt braining poor Sammy with the Conchairto after everything Sammy had done to him physically. It was a good touch to keep some semblance of their rivalry intact and credible, and I appreciated that they were able to bring that home in the midst of everything. I’m going to give it a star rating just for solidarity’s sake, but it’s not going to tell you about much. You’ll know if you want to see this before it even comes on, so go into it as you will. I had a heck of a time, but results may vary. ***1/2

We get an awesome back alley promo with Lance Archer and Jake Roberts. They’re seriously one of the most underrated acts on the entire roster.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Chris Jericho
Despite this being pretty clearly the weakest in-ring bout on this PPV, I still liked a good amount of what it brought to the table. In a match that I thought would closely mirror the Shawn Michaels vs. Rick Martel match from Summerslam 1992, with two image-obsessed heels trying to protect themselves at the expense of a true, gritty encounter. What we got was Jericho playing the babyface which probably should have been obvious from the outset, but nostalgia gets the best of me sometimes.

Instead, they wrestled a hard-fought encounter that made it feel like being in The Inner Circle was a true honor. I think that’s what they needed to do here to make the stakes worth the dog and pony show that the program has been to this point. It was a little slow paced, but the novelty of Jericho playing such a stark babyface is still fresh in AEW and the crowd’s love for him carried this the whole way. The finish means we get more goofiness from this duo and quite frankly, I’m totally okay with that. I just don’t know that they have the finest chemistry as opponents. It was good, but not that good, ya know? ***

After the match, Jericho offers his hand and welcomes MJF to the Inner Circle with Wardlow. Hager and Wardlow stare at each other the entire time though. DISSENSION.

Dasha interviews Orange Cassidy but he only gets a sentence out before Kip Sabian, Miro, and Penelope Ford interrupt them. Cassidy gets slapped, so he just walks away. Cool.

I Quit for the AEW World Title: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Eddie Kingston
Well, more often than not, when AEW advertises something, they deliver. And for better or worse, they did not buck that trend here. One of Eddie Kingston’s best attributes as a worker is his ability to realistically cultivate everything he does. Everyone praises his promos – and rightly so – but he does a fabulous job in the ring of creating an environment that makes wrestling look like a disastrous struggle of hurt and urgency. He was given the main event spot, with all the toys in the sandbox, and as such delivered with Jon Moxley a delightfully ugly fight that did justice all the classic promo work their rivalry featured on television.

This match can be called something of a spotfest and to some extent, there’s something to that label. But what makes both of these men consummate pros and truly great workers is how well they built everything. The escalation of violence was engrossing because it didn’t feel like Mox or King did something for the sake of it. It felt like one of the men had to bring out plunder and weaponry because there was nothing he could do with what else was in his arsenal. The spots became more sadistic and uncomfortable as they pushed each other, and that’s the beauty of an I Quit match. You need that escalation to really sell the stipulation and this match followed that blueprint excellently.

This wasn’t some kind of epic on par with the huge Lights Out match Moxley had with Omega at last year’s Full Gear. Frankly, I’d have been disappointed if it had been. I got everything I wanted out of this and more, and not only does it make Jon Moxley look like a badass for withstanding everything, he also looks like a babyface with something of an empathetic streak for his fallen friend. He didn’t wanna hurt Kingston but he had to in order to get this horror over with, and even though it was a clean finish that made a devastated Kingston quit, we still got a gigantic glimpse into Eddie’s toughness. It’s a display of why clean finishes don’t always have to hurt the loser, as I felt Eddie’s stock still rose after this performance. So all around, I can’t complain a single bit with what we got here. It was a gross, mean guy match with all the blood and thunder you could ask for, and a fitting main event to a stellar pro wrestling event. ****

Eddie Kingston doesn’t take the respect of Jon Moxley, storming off. That brings out Kenny Omega to stare him down, and there’s your Revolution main event.

9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

It's been a while since I've seen either 2019 version of All Out or Double or Nothing so maybe I'm speaking a little out of school here, but my first impression after finishing this show was that it was clearly the best PPV All Elite Wrestling has ever put on. Anything with a match as good as The Young Bucks vs. FTR likely gets a thumbs up on that alone, but there was so much undeniable quality up and down this card that it was effortless to watch this in one sitting. The Darby Allin title change rocked my world, Hangman vs. Omega delivered, and the main event was exactly what you'd want from how it was billed. The rest of the card was a delightful breeze to watch, featuring everything from wacky Broken Matt Hardy shenanigans to a great babyface/heel story in the women's match. It's impossible to watch this show and feel disillusioned. After a fairly rocky build-up, AEW rebounded by knocking it out of the park with Full Gear 2020 and I'd beg you to steal money to watch this if you haven't yet.