wrestling / TV Reports
Sambus’ AEW Full Gear 2023 Review
Image Credit: AEW
Loading...Hey friends! AEW Full Gear is in the bag, so here’s another take on the show from 411’s resident “Collider”. Much like my review of WrestleDream in October, this will be more focused on analysis and live thoughts as I’m watching, rather than the full play-by-play I usually give with my Collision coverage. The beers are loaded up, the snacks are in easy reach…on with the show!
Zero Hour:
We’ve got a pretty stacked line up for the Zero Hour tonight, highlighting the depth of the roster and how the build for this event has been better than usual.
ROH World Championship: Jay Lethal vs Eddie Kingston (c)
I was expecting this to be the main event of ROH Final Battle next month, so it’s semi-jarring to see it on the Zero Hour pre-show. Unless they’re going for an indecisive victory tonight and we get a Fight Without Honor at Final Battle? Having Stokely Hathaway on commentary here is a great addition, you honestly can’t have too much of him. As expected, it doesn’t take long for Jeff Jarrett to get involved, Sonjay Dutt adding his two cents shortly thereafter.
Overhead belly to belly suplex from Lethal sends Kingston hard into the buckles. Haha Tony almost cursing out Lethal and Excalibur admonishing him as they’re live on Youtube – I love these guys. Eddie fires up and delivers the machine gun chops in the corner. Nice rollup exchange from both guys coming out of Lethal’s elbow drop attempt. Lethal Injection countered into the Saito suplex, and Kingston clocks Dutt to take him off the apron. Both men down with stereo lariats and here comes Karen Jarrett and Satnam Singh to distract the referee. But Ortiz is here! He takes out Dutt HARD with a guitar shot, allowing Eddie to hit the backfist on Lethal for 3 at 10.51.
Your winner and STILL ROH World Champion: Eddie Kingston
Rating: **3/4 – Perfectly fine as a zero hour opener, and nice to see some continuation of the Kingston/Ortiz story as it looks like they’re going to pair up again for the foreseeable future. I can dig that.
Buddy Matthews vs Claudio Castagnoli
I was so happy to see this match made last night at Collision, this looks great on paper. And yes, off to a hot start. Huge uppercut from Claudio, and he goes for the Swing early but Matthews gets out and heads outside the ring. Uppercuts against the barricades from Claudio, who has the crowd solidly behind him tonight.
Claudio went charging around the ring but Matthews launched off the steps to take Castagnoli out. Meteora off the top once they’re back in the ring, but Claudio kicks out at 2. We get a sequence of uppercuts vs knee strikes, until Claudio hits a big lariat, allowing them both to take a breather. Running uppercut in the corner, big boot from Big Swiss, and now he looks for the Swing but again Matthews gets out with a pinning combination. Elevated uppercut gets a 2 for Claudio. He’s looking for the Neutralizer, avoided, Meteora attempt again but Claudio catches him straight into the Swing, niiiice. Claudio with headbutts while Buddy is seated on the turnbuckle, but Buddy slips out and gets a Cheeky Nandos, followed by a running powerbomb for 2. Jackhammer!! 1, 2, no, but straight into the crossface. I love that that entire sequence was Matthews stealing other people’s moves. TKO from Claudio, diving European uppercut only gets 2. Ricola Bomb! And into the Sharpshooter…but Matthews is fighting it. He nearly gets the ropes but Claudio drags him back to the center of the ring and Matthews has no choice but to tap at 10:31.
Your winner by submission: Claudio Castagnoli
Rating: ***1/4 – No surprises here, these guys matched up VERY well and I would love to see this as a TV main event. This was a good preview of what they’re capable of together, and while they weren’t exactly holding back, you can tell they have a lot more in them.
Post-match, Claudio looks for a handshake but Matthews brushes him off.
ROH World Tag Team Championships: The Gunns vs MJF & Samoa Joe
I’m not wild about the pairing of MJF and Joe, specifically Joe’s offer to help, as I don’t see it fitting with the Joe who was so adamant about making MJF’s life miserable back at Grand Slam. That aside, the substitute partner story could be all kinds of greatness once Cole is healthy. That’s assuming MJF can make it out tonight with the tag titles, of course.
The Gunns get a nice cheap shot on MJF while he’s strutting, they won’t be pushovers tonight. Joe tagged himself in as MJF says he doesn’t need his help, interesting. Big time dive to the floor by Joe to take out Austin & Colten. Joe seems to be having fun in this one, playing more of a face than usual. The Gunns call for a Double Clothesline and the crowd boo mercilessly, amazing.
Heat sequence on MJF as he tries in vain to make the tag, and the Gunns keep firm control. Finally gets the tag and Joe is a house of fire. Powerslam and a tight cover but Austin kicks out. Muscle Buster attempt…but MJF tags himself in…and HE goes for the Muscle Buster!! But Colten interrupts it and knocks Joe off the apron. Double DDT from MJF! He’s thinking Kangaroo Kick…but Joe tags himself in now. CAN THEY CO-EXIST?! But they decide to go for stereo muscle busters…no, the Gunns escape. 3:10 to Yuma on Joe! But he rolls near the ropes and MJF pulls Colten off Joe. The Gunns bounce MJF’s head off the steps. Back in the ring they are looking for the 3:10 to Yuma again on Joe…WHAAAAT, Adam Cole’s music hits!!! HE’S HERE! On crutches but still. With the distraction, Joe applies the Kokina clutch, and the Gunns have to tap at 10:19.
Your winners by submission and STILL ROH Tag Team Champions: MJF (& Samoa Joe)
Rating: *** – This was decent, and Cole appearing was a nice surprise. Joe helped MJF retain, so now MJF will have to live up to his promise and give Joe another title match.
The Gunns attack MJF for a post-match beat-down, pillmanizing the ankle. This puts MJF in doubt for tonight’s main event as he is stretchered out, loaded into an ambulance and taken off, giving Cole instructions not to let them take his title from him. The plot thickens!
AEW Full Gear 2023 – Main Show
Oh my god this is the greatest opening ever…the acapella kids’ choir doing Christian Cage’s theme tune. And here comes the FATHER OF THE YEAR along with Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne.
Ric Flair makes his way to ringside as well. Nigel McGuinness with the line of the night already, saying that Flair is just as welcome as herpes.
Trios Match: Christian Cage, Luchasaurus & Nick Wayne vs Sting, Adam Copeland & Darby Allin
Wayne & Darby begin this one, setting a fast pace, which is smart as the older chaps will no doubt want to slow things down a little. Damn, Sting whips Wayne into the barricade and Wayne hits hard, bouncing off it. Cage in, and now a tag to Copeland, here we go! Nope, Cage tags out to Luchasaurus, classic. Good God, Luchasaurus chokeslams Darby over the top rope to the apron, and Darby spills to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Ohh Nick Wayne just became my hero, doing a strut while locking eyes with Flair, tremendous. Amazing that this kid is in this position, look at the experience in that ring! Such a huge opportunity for him, and so far he’s smashing it. Code Red off the top from Darby to Wayne! Dastardly Cage appears from under the ring on the opponents’ side to take out Copeland and prevent Darby making a tag. Cage tags in and taunts Darby as no one is there to make the tag.
This has been really smartly worked, with Darby taking the brunt of the work. Tag to Copeland and Cage desperately hightails it. Impaler DDT to Luchasaurus, spear on the apron, and a press slam on Wayne to the outside, allowing Darby to flip out of nowhere with a suicide dive. Sting is up on the apron and dives with a crossbody to take out Wayne & Luchasaurus. Tandem Scorpion Death Drop, followed up by a triple team suplex with Darby hitting a crossbody. Flair has taken his jacket off and now he lights up the chest of Christian! But Cage with a low blow to Flair! Cage with the TNT title, accidentally takes out Luchasaurus. Copeland makes a run for Cage but Cage leaves the arena through the crowd! Spear to Luchasaurus and the Coffin Drop allows Copeland to pick up the pin for his team at 15:09.
Your winners by pinfall: Sting, Darby Allin & Adam Copeland
Rating: ***1/4 – Did exactly what it needed to do, and massively protected Copeland vs Cage for their eventual singles match, as they barely touched. Flair’s contribution was pretty minimal, which is probably for the best but you have to question if it was worth it in the first place.
Sting gets a nice moment post-match as this is his last time wrestling in California. Production allow a good bit of time for the fans to show their appreciation, nice touch.
Tony Schiavone has an update for us on MJF. First, Jay White makes his way out. Schiavone tells us that unfortunately MJF is injured and he is unable to defend the title later tonight, so the main event has been cancelled. By default, your new AEW champion…
YOU KNOW IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BOOM! Adam Cole comes out on crutches, fuming. Cole says there is not a shot in hell that Jay is leaving with Max’s belt. Cole already talked to Tony Khan. If MJF can’t defend…Cole will do it for him! On one leg, it will be Jay White vs Adam Cole!! What the HELL?! Jay says he must have hit his head, or maybe he just has trouble remembering anything these days. White will take him out for good if he shows up to the main event.
Well count me intrigued, where are they going with this? I assume Cole attempts the match but MJF makes a miraculous return and takes over? This is good stuff.
AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy vs Jon Moxley
They go straight to the outside and battle by the announcer’s desk, before Mox hangs Orange out to dry on the barricade. Back inside the ring with a release suplex. They are laying their shots in here, definitelty creating a more violent atmosphere in a step up from their last encounter. Texas Cloverleaf from Mox, Orange makes his way out of it though. Mox bites the nose of Cassidy as they trade fingernail rakes of the back, and Orange returns the favor, biting Mox’s nose. For those counting, Mox is busted open at 5:12 into the match. Cassidy with the diving DDT, and a satellite DDT to follow up but Mox kicks out with force.
Multiple elbow suicidas from Cassidy. Stundog Millionaire but Mox counters into the anvil elbows, and some ground and pound punches. Orange has to cover up, but Mox locks in a bulldog choke. They’ve kept up the intensity throughout here. Piledriver attempt, no, PK from Orange! Redrum by Orange, Hook approves! Bryce breaks it up when Mox reaches the ropes, Mox pulls the buckle padding off – Chekhov’s Turnbuckle. Cutter out of nowhere and the Gotch-style piledriver gets 2. Face first into the buckle goes Moxley, and Orange dropkicks him face first into it again. Orange Punch, and again! One more! No, Moxley up to his feet! Orange Punch!! Once again, that’s 5 Orange Punches. A sixth and the Beach Break finally does it, and Orange Cassidy retains at 12:04.
Your winner by pinfall and STILL AEW International Champion: Orange Cassidy
Rating: ***1/2 – Intense from the opening bell, and they didn’t let up. Really good stuff here, and while SIX Orange Punches might seem like slight overkill, this is Moxley we’re talking about, one of the gatekeepers of the company, so it makes sense that it would take above and beyond the usual to keep him down. It’s a big redemptive win for OC, and now the question will be how will he make this title reign different from the last?
Mark Briscoe is your next entrant in the Continental Classic. A proper singles run for Briscoe makes more sense than putting him in random pairings, so I’m down for this.
AEW Women’s Championship: Toni Storm vs Hikaru Shida (c)
Toni Storm has a script but tears it up as the bell rings, she’s going off-book! Storm is all marked up from her match with Emi Sakura on Rampage last night, so Shida targets the chest, slapping and chopping the already raw area. Toni has an exaggerated wind-up to hit a big forearm, and it works so well as she fully commits to it. She’s really found her calling here.
Shida with a big running knee to the face. Shida to the apron but Toni pulls her in the hard way. Luther hands Storm the shoe, Aubrey takes it, but Toni had a second and smacks Shida with it! Just a 2 count. Shida with a Storm Zero! But she can’t cover. Hard clubbing blows by Shida, and a Falcon Arrow, she did the deal! 1, 2, no. Storm avoids a Meteora, and counters into an ankle lock. Hikaru makes the ropes…but Storm pulls off Shida’s boot! Storm sent to the outside, Shida grabs the kendo stick but Luther takes it, until she low blows him and hits him repeatedly with the kendo stick. Meanwhile Storm is shown grabbing something and sticking it down the back of her tights. Katana attempt, no, rollup by Shida for 2. Deadlift German by Toni Storm! Toni sets up in the corner for the hip attack, and she has that metal tray or mini colander stuffed down her tights, hanging out over her ass…she charges, hip attack connects, Shida’s face straight into the metal. 1, 2, 3, we have a new champion at 10.26.
Your winner and NEW AEW Women’s Champion: Toni Storm
Rating: *** – The timing was right for the title change, as Storm has a ton of momentum behind her and the gimmick is OVER. Good work in striking while the iron’s hot. Bulk of the match was pretty good – that weapon spot finish didn’t quite work as fluidly as they would have hoped, but it was pretty unique, I’ll give them that.
Renee Paquette is with Eddie Kingston backstage. What does he have his sights set on now? Kingston makes no bones about it, he wants in the Continental Classic. He wants to put his ROH and NJPW Strong Openweight titles on the line in every tournament match he appears in. Therefore, the winner of the tournament will become the first ever triple crown champion. He implores all the other competitors to make this the best, most prestigious pro wrestling tournament in the world.
AEW World Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: LFI vs Kings of the Black Throne vs FTR vs Ricky Starks & Big Bill (c)
Chaos to begin, except for Big Bill and Brody King who face off toe to toe, until FTR blindside them. King creates a ladder bridge between the ring and the time keeper’s area. Meanwhile Black pendulums a ladder into Dax’s face. Somewhere, Joey Mercury just cringed. Rush and Cash climb a ladder but stop, return to the mat and start teeing off on each other. Cash with a suicide dive to the outside to take out a ton of guys. Dralistico follows up with a huge tope con hilo. Starks to the top rope now but Black cuts him off, heads to the top himself and nails a moonsault to the outside. Starks again tries but Dax follows him up…..SUPLEX to the floor on top of all the other guys.
Bill and King face off again as the MEAT chants start up. Dax and Rush sandwich them between ladders though. Dax wears a ladder around the neck and swings round to take guys out but Dralistico dives in with a dropkick to put a stop to that. Dralistico climbs and is the first to get dumped. Despite the chaos, Rush takes a moment to Tranquilo pose before taking on Cash, but Cash nails him with a powerslam. Cash climbs, Malakai in to put a stop to it. Malakai slingshots a ladder into Cash’s face, bouncing it off the ropes, that was sweet.
Cash and Black on the buckles with a ladder propped under them. Low blow by Cash! SHIT, a piledriver out of the corner onto the wedged ladder!! King goes to dive to the outside by Bill throws a ladder at his head as he dives, yikes! Starks in the ring now, taking on all comers. Spear to Rush! Spinning DDT to Dax. Traps the arm of Cash, walks the ropes and takes out Dax before flipping Cash with an armdrag.
Malakai thrown overhead into a ladder by Ricky, then King does the same to Dax. Cannonball on Dax on the ladder! Brody King is busted open and the visual of that blood in his face paint looks amazing. King climbs the ladder but Bill lifts it from the bottom, sending King backwards into the propped up ladder. Lungblower to Bill by Dralistico. But a chokeslam in return! Rush has Bill in the corner, trapped by a ladder…Bull’s Horns, sending the ladder into the face of Big Bill.
3 ladders are set up together in the middle of the ring now, 2 bigger than the other. They all climb until Brody King enters to rearrange the furniture. Poisonrana from Dralistico to Black! Brody and Dralistico on the apron…AHHHH GONZO BOMB ON THE LADDER BRIDGE!!! That hurts everywhere. Cash heads up to the top rope…DIVES onto King who is still laid out on the ladder from before!! Good Lord.
Starks was almost pushed off the ladder but Big Bill was there to prop him back up. Cash and Starks battle atop the ladder, Cash pushed off, allowing Ricky Starks to retrieve the belts at 20:49.
Your winners and STILL AEW Tag Team Champions: Ricky Starks & Big Bill
Rating: **** – Chaotic in the best possible way, a decent amount of insanity with a few memorable spots; no easy feat when we’ve seemingly seen this kind of thing a hundred times before. I felt Starks and Bill slightly played second fiddle here, as the other teams had a larger role throughout the match, but it’s a good victory for them to establish that they’re not transitional champs.
TBS Championship Three-way: Julia Hart vs Skye Blue vs Kris Statlander (c)
New screamo music for Skye Blue! And a new presentation, with a crown instead of the baseball cap. Let’s see if it helps her pick up the victory. Statlander welcomes both of them to make the first move, and counters their offense, body slamming Hart onto Blue. Blue has a rollup on Stat, Stat kicks out and Blue locks eyes face to face with Hart, sharing a moment of some kind. Blue with a step up knee to Statlander, and Hart follows up with a rolling senton off the apron. Hart and Blue appear to be working together, but Stat gets a double suplex on them on the floor. Back in the ring, tandem thrust kicks keep the champion down…and now Hart and Blue get into it. Blue offers the hand, Hart shakes it…but then attacks and bounces Skye’s head off the mat.
Statlander boots Julia away, gets a pin on Blue but Hart comes back with a senton to break it up. Twisting neckbreaker from Blue, and Hart gets a back elbow. All three are down, giving them a breather. Hart up top but Blue cuts her off. Cheeky Nandos! Statlander gets a lariat on Blue and the Fisherman’s Driver for 2 on Julia. Blue goes for a top rope hurracanrana but Statlander catches her and dumps her in an electric chair facedrop.
Julia boots Blue to the mat, moonsault! 1, 2, nooo Statlander pulls her out of the ring. Powerslam on Julia on the floor outside. Wow huge running kick by Blue as Statlander gets on the apron. Rollup avoided, CODE BLUE, 1, 2, NO!! Everyone bought that, great nearfall. She goes for another but Hart kicks her away. Hartless Lock to Blue!! Stat with a deadlift German on Hart to break it up. German to Blue, another to Hart, this is a German train!
Saturday Night Fever connects on Skye Blue…but Julia Hart clotheslines Statlander away, and covers Skye Blue herself! 1, 2, 3!! NEW CHAMPION crowned at 11:21.
Your winner and NEW TBS Champion: Julia Hart
Rating: ***1/2 – Huge props to Hart & Skye here who delivered on the big stage, although that’s not to take anything away from Statlander who has been consistently giving it her all at every stage for a while now. I enjoyed the build to this match and thought it would be a fine outing, but this exceeded expectations big time! These women put the work in, hats off to them.
Tony Schiavone is in the ring for the big contract signing. The newest member of All Elite Wrestling… “Elevated” hits! It’s Will Ospreay! Ospreay is All Elite. This makes total sense – AEW is a natural home for Ospreay, and there are still some huuuuuge singles matches for him here.
Will signs the contract and Tony asks how it feels. Ospreay is happy to be part of the team but he’s not gonna be here just yet. He’s committed to Japan for 8 years – he asks AEW fans to let him finish up his commitments, and then he’ll be on the road to Revolution. Then he’ll be All Elite bruv! And he’ll show us all what Elite really looks like.
Texas Deathmatch: Swerve Strickland vs Hangman Adam Page
I’m STOKED for this one. Sorry, but watch Swerve’s entrance and try and tell me that man is NOT a star. He just oozes charisma and feels ‘must-see’ right now. And here comes Page, not even waiting for his entrance!! He dove straight into the ring while Nana was doing the ‘Whose House?’ shtick.
Buckshot lariat connects! This is wild already. Page brings duct tape into the ring, before throwing a chair right in the face of Swerve. Page duct tapes the hands of Swerve together. Page has a staple gun and staples the chest of Swerve! He continues to staple him all over! He even staples a finger painting to Swerve’s face! Ahhh and then he yanks it off with his hands. Swerve is bleeding like hell, so Page holds his own face under Swerve’s and lets his blood drip into his mouth!! Bleurgh!
Barbed wire chair is brought into play but Swerve low blows Page before he can use it. Nana gets Swerve out of the duct tape. Page continues to staple gun Swerve’s chest but Swerve shrugs it all off! My God, that blade job is Muta level from Swerve, he is pouring blood. He smiles and staple guns himself in the chest!! He wedges a barbed wire chair into the buckles and sends Page careering head first into it.
Swerve has loose barbed wire and drives it into the skull of Page. He pulls pit a cinder block from under the ring! They battle with Page in the ring and Swerve on the apron…Swerve pulls Page to the apron too. DVD ONTO THE CINDER BLOCK ON THE APRON!! Page is out!!
They battle on the barricade, balanced on top, oh FUCK a piledriver on TOP of the edge of the barricade to Page! This is mad. Page is badly busted open at the back of his head too now, these guys are both in a bad way. They make their way into the ring and trade blows. Fallaway slam but Page can’t kip up like usual. Another fallaway slam to Swerve. Barbed wire crown of thorns applied to Swerve, before Page wraps it around Swerve’s midsection…a THIRD fallaway slam with the barbed wire adding extra punishment.
Page has the barbed wire moonsault and heads to the top rope…MOONSAULT to the outside with the chair!!! Back in the ring, Page may be looking for a Buckshot lariat again. Swerve avoids, Page grabs the barbed wire chair again but Swerve kicks it into his face. Tombstone attempt…Page reverses, gets a tombstone of his own on the barbed wire chair. Swerve is down as the referee makes the count. He makes it to his feet at 9 and the crowd are INTO IT.
Chairshot from behind, again with the barbed wire wrapping. JEEZUS Swerve hit Page with the barbed wire chair while he was on the top turnbuckle, and one of the strands got wrapped around Page’s face and throat. Powerbomb onto the barbed chair, Swerve follows up with the stomp on top of the chair too. Page broke the count but then collapses again.
Swerve grabs a bag from under the ring…BROKEN GLASS. He tips it all over Page’s back and HITS A 450 SPLASH ON TOP!! IS THIS MAN UNHINGED?! JML Driver!! Somehow Page still makes it to his feet to beat the count. They are on opposite sides of the ring, completely spent…Swerve nails the Cactus Jack over the top rope clothesline, taking both men to the floor.
Nana pulls out a barbed wire board and slides it into the ring as Swerve sets up some chairs, placing the board on top. They battle to the top rope…I’m nervous…Fallaway Moonsault slam off the top through the barbed wire board! Page straight back up, powerbomb on the barbed wire….and a Deadeye! He wraps barbed wire around the face and mouth of Swerve and heads to the apron…Barbed wire Buckshot Lariat!! Paul Turner makes the count…we’re up to 7….Nana in and pulls Swerve to the floor to break the count!!
Brian Cage comes out of nowhere to take out Page, powerbomb in the center of the ring, and a buckle bomb. Deep Sea Diverticulitis. Cage pulls out a table and sets it up outside the ring. Page gets out of it though, wraps barbed wire around the fist and takes Cage out with it.
Nana comes in and this Page with a chair…Page grabs him and gets him on the apron. Nana tries to dance his way out of it. DEADEYE OFF THE APRON THROUGH THE TABLE! NANA IS DEAD.
Swerve has the remnants of the cinder block and shatters it over Page from behind. Swerve pulls out a chain and wraps it around the neck before looping it over the top turnbuckle, he’s hanging Page! Page is choked out as Paul Turner begins the count. No signs of life from Page. He looks like he’s getting to his knees at the last moment but Turner makes the 10 count and this one is over at 29:46.
Your winner: Swerve Strickland
Rating: ****3/4 – Fittingly brutal for such a personal feud, although that’s almost an understatement as this was on another level. This was incredibly extreme and will likely prove a bit ‘too much’ for some people. They walked a thin line at the end as you started to wonder what they’d actually have to do to put each other down. But what an incredible performance from both guys who utterly put their bodies on the line here. Huge respect to both men as they didn’t flinch from anything and threw themselves 110% into this. This is the kind of match that both men end up walking away from a little brighter in terms of star power, but Swerve in particular HAS to slide into the main event picture STAT because he is an asset to this company. This was surely the most violent match in AEW history. Side note to all aspiring wrestlers: please do not try and top this.
Golden Jets (Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho) vs The Young Bucks
Mega tough to follow that deathmatch, but these are the four to do it if any! Kenny knows Nick’s offense very well and puts a stop to his top rope spinning arm drag, that’s a nice touch.
Nick goes to moonsault to the outside but Jericho hits his springboard dropkick to cut him off. Nick traps Jericho’s arm between the ring steps and ringpost and kicks it, attempting to take out the Judas Effect from Jericho’s arsenal. Good plan! The Bucks continue the assault on Jericho’s arm, and his arm is bleeding a little now. Missile dropkick from the middle rope gives Jericho the chance to tag in Omega. Snap dragon to Matt! You Can’t Escape…but Nick does! You Can’t Escape to Matt, connects, and Omega follows up with a backstabber to Nick. Moonsault to the floor on Matt.
Backslide into a rising knee by Omega, tag to Jericho. The Ocho hits the Lionsault on both men! Nick grabs the arm of Jericho and hangs it over the top rope, allowing Matt to take control. Matt goes for the Walls! Jericho counters into a pin attempt for 2. Jericho accidentally takes out Omega. Jericho with the Walls on Matt, locks it in properly. Nick tries to springboard in but Omega catches the legs and pulls him back outside. Matt might tap! But he kicks Jericho away, hammering on the injured arm.
Matt gets the Northern Lights suplex in tandem on both guys, and Nick Jackson Germans Omega on the apron! Bulldog by Jericho on Matt, goes for another Lionsault but Nick catches him. Senton atomico gets a 2. Jericho takes Matt up to the buckles, hurracanrana off the top. Nick with a low blow to Jericho! Omega takes issue with that…Matt low blows Kenny!! Tag to Nick, JUDAS EFFECT ON JERICHO! Omega breaks it up though. Nick with a dive to Omega on the floor and both Bucks target Jericho. BTE Trigger connects, 1, 2, JERICHO KICKS OUT.
Jericho gets a superkick to Matt but Nick superkicks Jericho’s arm. Low blow to Nick Jackson. Omega tagged in….but Jericho is down by the ropes and Omega looks like he’ll give him the V Trigger…no, he runs past him and hits the V Trigger on Nick. One Winged Angel, reversed into a poisonrana. Matt Jackson hits the One-Winged Angel on Kenny, 1, 2, NO!
Codebreaker cuts off the Meltzer Driver! Croyt’s Wrath on Matt but Matt kicks out. Superkick countered with a left-handed Judas Effect. Ripcord V trigger on Matt and a One Winged Angel… 1, 2, 3. The Golden Jets are victorious at 20:52 and can challenge for the tag titles whenever they please.
Your winners by pinfall: Golden Jets
Rating: ***1/2 – For a match that had some pretty lacklustre build, they did a great job at making us care during the match, and this got pretty damn good by the end. I liked the arm work on Jericho and how they kept coming back to that throughout, resulting in Jericho having to hit a left-handed Judas Effect near the end. Not sure what this means for the Elite going forward, but interesting to have the Golden Jets properly in the tag division.
Post-match, the Bucks are throwing a fit, they are furious with how this has gone down, throwing a tantrum and smacking chairs against the ringpost.
AEW World Championship: Adam Cole (substituting for MJF) vs Jay White (w/ The Gunns)
Cole slowly makes his way to the ring on crutches, I love how they’re playing this up that he is absolutely in no condition to compete. Cole even has to sit on the apron to do his ‘BOOM’ pose as he can’t stand.
As Cole prepares to fight, we hear sirens, and here comes MJF, driving the ambulance!! MJF’s music hits and he hobbles down to the ring as producers desperately try to stop him. Jay White is loving it, he thinks he has an easy night ahead of him.
AEW World Championship: MJF (c) vs Jay White (w/ The Gunns)
White goes straight for the leg, working over the knee and quad. He suplexes MJF into the buckles, the legs of MJF hitting the buckles hard. MJF is thrown to the floor and the Gunns attack like rabid dogs. Cole on crutches can’t do anything. Bryce catches the Gunns with a chair poised to take out MJF, so he ejects them from the ringside area.
MJF tries to rally back, gets a body slam but it puts pressure on the leg, slowing him down. He signals for the Kangaroo Kick…manages it and kips up, fired up, but the leg lets him down. Max goes to do a dive to the outside but Jay runs back in and nails a dropkick to the leg and a snap DDT to win back control. White tries to whip MJF into the corner but MJF collapses.
White runs in again but a mule kick from MJF while White was elevated catches him off guard. Again, it affects the leg however. Uranage by White gets 2. White dumps MJF over the top rope to the floor, and the spill causes the champion to land on his already injured leg. They battle on the floor until MJF fires off a DDT to keep White down for a moment. MJF clears the announce table, tries to roll White on top but it collapses already! MJF climbs the top rope anyway…elbow drop off the top rope to White on the FLOOR below, no table to break the fall! That had to suck for both of them.
Back in the ring, White uses a dragon screw on MJF as he climbs in the ring, and then gets him in the tree of woe. But MJF reaches up and pulls White overhead in modified suplex. White back up and punches out the leg before hitting a TOP ROPE SPINNING URANAGI!!
Release German suplex on MJF, goes for a Bladerunner but MJF into a rollup with rope assistance. Tombstone to Jay, and he landed a little awkwardly on his neck! But up to his feet all fine thankfully. MJF with a diving stomp to the arm on Jay, but obviously that hurt the legs. Heatseeker pushed away…with Jay on the apron, MJF takes a run up, clears the top rope and hits a CUTTER TO THE FLOOR!! WHAT THE HELL!
Returning to the ring, MJF’s leg is giving him trouble and he can barely stand. Jay is out of it too. Doc Samson enters the fray to assess MJF but the champion sends him away. Jay capitalises with a dragon screw, and again. Figure Four! Cole is preparing to throw in the towel but MJF shouts at him not to. Jay pounds on the knee with the hold still applied…but MJF is edging nearer the rope. Jay pulls him back to the center, but MJF wills himself to flip the hold…he makes the turn to reverse the pressure. Jay reaches the ropes in front of Cole…Clole grabs the ROH tag title and tries to hit Jay with it but Jay grabs it and nails MJF instead! 1, 2, NO!!! MJF KICKS OUT. We get a ref bump as MJF kicks Jay into the ref accidentally, but this allows Cole to slip MJF the Diamond Dozen ring….wait, no, Jay takes it instead. Jay goes to hit MJF with it but Maxwell low blows him! He takes the ring back but here come the Gunns. MJF takes them out in quick fashion but White is up for the Bladerunner…avoided! Maxwell cracks White with the ring! Referee recovers slowly…1, 2, 3. MJF retains at 30:07.
Your winner and STILL AEW World Heavyweight Champion: Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Rating: **** – I’m sure it’ll be a divisive match, but they got me, I was IN from the get-go. Jay White was the perfect foil for all of this, and he loses nothing in defeat. Having a very clear heel/face dynamic worked wonders in this, as the crowd were seemingly 100% behind MJF and invested in every nearfall and tease. The Devil storyline has got people hooked, and it’s paying off inside the ring, as evident here. Admittedly, it was rather overbooked – we didn’t need that last bit of interference from The Gunns, and it felt like they wanted to throw everything in this to make it feel epic. There’s an element here that reminded me of the Backlash 2000 main event, with all manner of overbooking, but occasionally it just works. For me, it worked tonight.
