AEW President Tony Khan reportedly considered various ideas for the Full Gear main event, but all ended with MJF defeating Jon Moxley for the AEW World Title.
In the Full Gear main event, William Regal turned on Moxley by giving MJF brass knuckles, allowing him to win. This resulted in a heated promo from Moxley to Regal on the post-Full Gear Dynamite, during which Bryan Danielson stood up for Regal, and a segment on this week’s Dynamite in which MJF left Regal lying down. Regal is reportedly returning to WWE, and you can get the most up-to-date information on his AEW contract status by clicking here.
According to a new report from the Wrestling Observer, different ideas were debated in the lead-up to Full Gear, including one favored by a number of key people, but all ideas involved MJF leaving Full Gear as the AEW World Champion.
One theory had Regal turning on Moxley, then turning back to set up Danielson vs. MJF, and thus Regal’s AEW departure. The other ideas did not feature Regal as much, but AEW officials knew they needed to leave him out of the storylines because he is returning to WWE. Other ideas included various explanations for how to end up in essentially the same place, with MJF as champion, Danielson as the next major contender, and Regal out of the picture.
PWMania.com reported earlier today how key people knew Regal was leaving AEW weeks before. Many AEW stars have reportedly questioned the decision to book Regal in the manner in which he was booked now that everyone knows he’s leaving.
While MJF will defend against Ricky Starks at the Winter Is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite on December 14, Full Gear is planning a “major program” featuring Danielson vs. MJF for the AEW World Title, with MJF acting as the catalyst. There’s no word on whether Danielson vs. MJF will headline the AEW Revolution pay-per-view on March 5 in San Francisco, which would mean the angle would take four months to get to the payoff, which seems excessive, or if they’ll do a TV match and use that to build to the pay-per-view match.
It was also mentioned earlier today in the Regal report that there is supposed to be a final piece of the MJF – Regal title change storyline, which may explain things further, but there is no word on what this piece will consist of as Regal has left AEW and is on his way back to WWE.
