All Elite Wrestling presented its latest pay-per-view offering, Full Gear, an event that I wrote an article about earlier this week in terms of selling the show to the audience, is in the books. Depending on your perspective, the PPV delivered where expected, and also misses where expected.
The tag team opener was fun for what it was. It was difficult to build specific momentum with four teams involved and just 12 minutes given to the segment so this was basically a high spot spirit of a bunch of moves, which is fine if this was designed to kickoff the event. The crowd was energetic for this bout, and when Private Party landed their finisher to retain the belts, there was a solid reaction to the finish. Still, I think a lot more work needs to be done to get Private Party into the position where they are marketable stars for the organization. For way too long they were overlooked and underutilized so this sudden jump into the title picture won’t be enough on its own to establish them. This bout was booked more or less to shoehorn as many wrestlers on the card as possible so hopefully, Private Party can get a storyline with some substance to solidify them in the future. They have the talent, but definitely need to be presented in the right fashion to be considered a top team in the company. A feud with FTR could be very helpful if highlighting Private Party is a priority for AEW management.
As much as the crowd was energetic for the opener, they were also equally as quiet for Roderick Strong/MJF that followed it. Don’t get me wrong, this was quality pro wrestling, everything they did was crisp and smooth, but this was also a textbook example of misguided booking. As I wrote previously, the argument could be made that the audience has minimal interest in anything further between Adam Cole and MJF after the reveal last year flopped so there was barely any interest in a match only designed to build up the confrontation mentioned prior. MJF vs. Strong would’ve been a tremendous television main event, especially considering that TV is obviously used to build the pay-per-views, but in this setting, the audience just didn’t care because the result was obvious without anything at stake. The feud is between MJF and Cole, not Strong so what exactly, beyond Tony’s flimsy explanation with disjointed booking on Dynamite, was the point of this match on pay-per-view? Rodrick Strong is as consistent as anyone in terms of quality bouts and one of the best utility workers in the business, but he was positioned as a lame duck in this angle so the crowd just didn’t care about the segment. MJF won, and unfortunately, the storyline with Cole looks like it will continue on AEW programming.
The crowd was still mostly quiet for the TBS title match, particularly because Mercedes Mone hasn’t been known to rejuvenate the crowds so far in her AEW tenure. That being said, this match built really well and by the midpoint in the contest, the audience followed the action. This became a really solid contest and arguably the best match Mone has had since she debuted in the company. Kris Statlander deserves a lot of credit for someone that was put into a relatively brief feud, but was able to create a few occasions where it looked like the title might change hands. The back and fourth action with a series of counters allowed for peaks and valleys that translated to an entertaining segment. Mercedes retained the title with a flash pin, which was smart since kick outs are often telegraphed in AEW.
Adam Page vs. Jay White was solid, but I have to be honest, I expected a little more from this contest. If I had to pick the specific aspect that took away from the match, it was the extended time outside of the ring that slowed the segment down and prevent any true momentum to be built for a portion of the segment. That being said, there was a brilliant series of counters that led to the finish when White landed the Blade Runner for the victory. This was given 20 minutes, but in the grand scheme of things, it went about five minute too long. Unfortunately, Full Gear fell into one of the misguided Tony Khan booking tropes of using a copy and paste format of 20 minutes for most matches on the card without the consideration of if those bouts should’ve been given 20 minutes or if the angle justified that time frame.
Next up, Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher had a 25-minute dazzling spot fest, and for the All Elite audience, this was exactly what they look for in a pay-per-view bout. It was total fire works with high spots and risky bumps. There was sporadic selling and minimal overall psychology, which depending on your perspective either added to or completely hindered the presentation. The athleticism was incredible, but after someone takes a tombstone from the apron to the steel steps and then a pile driver in the ring, it just jumps the shark when they not only kick out, but then land a few more high impact maneuvers. I understand why Tony put Fletcher over, but I’d still say it was the wrong decision. In my opinion, everything that Ospreay is involved in should be designed to push him as the franchise guy of the company, and anything outside of that is counterproductive. Still, this had every daring maneuver in the book and it was tailored to the All Elite audience.
The downside of throwing everything but the kitchen sink on-screen for Ospreay/Fletcher is that it becomes very difficult for anyone else on the card to follow it after the audience, both viewing at home and in the building, just saw an entire encyclopedia of moves done over the course of one segment. Daniel Garcia/Jack Perry was fine, nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible either. However, it seemed rather ordinary after the previous high spot bout. Garcia won the title, but with Perry in a lame duck position, I’m not sure how much cache the title win will bring for Garcia. Another match that fell into the same category was Ricochet vs. Konosuke Takeshita because it was essentially a lesser version of the Ospreay/Fletcher match that the crowd saw about 30 minutes earlier. I don’t know if Ricochet and the Japanese star fell short of expectations or if it was a situation where most of what they did was a retread because of how many spots the Ospreay/Fletcher segment had. Takeshita retained the title.
Bobby Lashley beat Swerve Strickland in a rather basic match, but it was solid for what it was. The double stomp through the announce table was a highlight of the match. Lashley won with the Hurt Lock submission, and there wasn’t anything wrong with this match, but it was at this point of the four-hour marathon show that it becomes a very tedious viewing experience, especially after some matches went longer than they should’ve so the broadcast dragged at a few points.
I’m probably being too pessimistic when I say this, but in my honest opinion, the main event was 20 minutes of fluff. Nobody in the building or watching the pay-per-view believed that Orange Cassidy was going to win the title, especially after the seeds were already planted for a Darby Allin/Moxley bout for the title. The match wasn’t terrible, but there was no drama or anticipation because the comedy guy was miscast in the main event role. The run-ins almost emphasized how out of place Cassidy was as the challenger because a slew of directionless mid-cards were there to even the odds against Moxley’s group. So, it was no surprise when Moxley won, but everything for the post-match segment was bizarre and fell flat. They could’ve had something with the Christian cash-in, even though it would’ve been against a heel, at least it could’ve given the show a spark before the conclusion. Adam Page’s cameo was odd and the same can be said for Jay White’s random appearence. The crowd seemed to be confused, as the arena was mostly quiet, and it’s still puzzling what exactly Tony was trying to accomplish with this segment. Darby hitting the truck with his car isn’t exactly a major way to go off the air since the heels left without any confrontation and Moxley is still the champion.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
