Full Gear will air live tonight from The Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD. 5 weeks after Dynamite weekly show premiere, plus another AEW Dark on YouTube, the company entered the Wednesday Night War like a cannonball. For the fans, Full Gear is at the same point a good following of the before-Dynamite PPVs and, at the same time, of all the momentum created by Dynamite and Dark week after week. All the Champions have been crowned now and will defend tonight.
Full Gear has been an issue of choice here over the last few weeks, as news has never stopped flowing and the card has taken an interesting twist day after day, until the last minute. As we’re just hours away from it, it’s time to refresh everyone’s mind and tell even more things you really need to know about this event.
What?
Full Gear is definitely a different PPV because now the belts are on the line and the weekly shows are in. With the dual stipulation of the 3 judges in case of a tie after the 60-minute time limit and Cody losing every chance at the title ever again if he loses tonight, let’s say the stakes are more than high for Cody. Despite Jericho’s Inner Circle and Cody’s friends of The Elite, the judges’ effect should prevent them from interfering as it could affect the decision of the judges.
AEW Women’s World Champion Riho will face off her mentor Emi Sakura in her first PPV defence. Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega will try to put an end to a feud that has started at Double or Nothing. Same for PAC and Hangman Page who have been chasing each other for months and months. Freshly crowned, AEW World Tag Team Champions SCU, Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky will have to defend the belts not only against The Lucha Bros but also Private Party, 2 teams that proved they know how to play the game and be innovative in the ring.
Who?
Only one match announced for The Buy In, but what a match as Britt Baker will wrestle the hyper-aggressive Bea Priestley one-on-one. Baker suffered a real-life concussion at the hands of Priestley during a tag team match back at Fight for the Fallen. Baker got some momentary payback when she eliminated Priestley from the Casino Battle Royale at All Out, though it was short-lived, as an irate Priestley then caused an outside distraction, which cost Baker the victory. At Full Gear, these two bitter enemies finally meet one-on-one, and it promises to be a savage showdown.
Sometimes conflict arises simply because of a cigarette. Shawn Spears did not take kindly to Joey Janela disposing of a cigarette butt in Tully Blanchard’s water bottle a few weeks back. And on this week’s AEW Dark, the self-proclaimed “Chairman of AEW” took a pair of pliers to Janela’s tongue as he forced a cigarette down his throat. While Janela has been trying to move away from hardcore wrestling in recent weeks, the heinous attack from Spears has undoubtedly unleashed The Bad Boy’s wild side once again. This match could turn violent quickly, which is right in Janela’s wheelhouse.
The Joshi standout Riho knocked off the imposing Nyla Rose on the debut episode of Dynamite to become the first-ever AEW Women’s World Champion, and since then, has successfully defended the title against Britt Baker. Riho is now looking for a new challenger for Full Gear, and she’s found that in her former mentor, the legendary Emi Sakura. The 24-year veteran of the wrestling industry is a charismatic performer who has won championships all over Japan. In 2006, she even founded her own promotion, Ice Ribbon, a company where Riho has been a multiple-time champion. Given their combined experience and the number of times they’ve wrestled each other in the past, this could be a surprise show-stealer on the night.
After becoming the first-ever AEW Tag Team Champions last week, the unstoppable So Cal Uncensored prepare for their first title defence in Baltimore as they take on the Lucha Bros and Private Party in three-way action. Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky had to overcome several setbacks and obstacles on their road to the tag titles. But there is no time to take the foot off the pedal when it comes to AEW’s incredible tag team division. Despite a losing effort to SCU in the tag tournament final, Fenix and Pentagon Jr. still have one of the best win/loss records in the company. Meanwhile, Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen earned their way into the title match on this week’s Dynamite with a big victory over the Dark Order. Expect a fast-paced, high-flying match. Well, another potential match-of-the-night contender.
Another plausible show-stealer with The Young Bucks vs Santana and Ortiz. Despite getting knocked out of the Tag Team Championship tournament in the first round, in what many considered an upset, the Young Bucks are still considered the top of the tag team food-chain in AEW based on reputation alone. That notoriety makes the Bucks a prime target for those looking to make a quick statement, which is precisely what Proud-and-Powerful did back at All Out when they blindsided the Jackson brothers. Having since aligned themselves with the Inner Circle, Santana and Ortiz have been purveyors of chaos in AEW. Chris Jericho referred to them as “street fighter back alley brutes”, and they’ve certainly lived up to that moniker with their sneak attacks on the Bucks, not to mention their ruthless assault of the legendary Rock ‘n’ Roll Express.
A fired-up Adam Page is looking to right a wrong when he gets his rematch against the deplorable PAC. The beef between the Hangman and The Bastard goes all the way back to the Double or Nothing PPV in May, where a highly-anticipated match between the two athletes was cancelled. The pair finally got their hands on each other in the debut episode of Dynamite, but the match did not end cleanly. The always miserable PAC has been sticking his nose in everyone’s business as of late, leading to conflicts with the likes of Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley. Meanwhile, Page has been on somewhat of a journey of self-discovery as he tries to get back to his winning ways. After scoring a pinfall over PAC in a tag team match a few weeks ago, the Hangman laid down the challenge for Full Gear, a one-on-one rematch with The Bastard.
This match has been months in the making. Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega finally get to battle it out one-on-one in what promises to be a heated and violent clash of styles. Moxley was sidelined with an elbow injury back in August, which led to his scheduled match with The Best Bout Machine at All Out being called off. The delay, however, has only increased the hostilities between two men looking to position themselves at the top of the card. Omega mocked his opponent’s injury, referring to him as “damaged goods”, but on the debut episode of Dynamite, Moxley showed he could still hang when he attacked Omega mid-match and drove him face-first through a glass coffee table. Omega has recently been getting in touch with his hardcore-side. Whether it’s slamming Joey Janela through tables or brandishing a barbed-wire-wrapped broom, Omega is ready to prove he can get just as ultra-violent as the maniacal Moxley. The bout will be an unsanctioned “lights out” match and will therefore not count towards either competitor’s win/loss record. This decision irked Moxley, who has promised to beat Omega within an inch of his life.
Since becoming the inaugural AEW World Champion at All Out, Chris Jericho has ruled over the AEW landscape with his newly-formed faction, The Inner Circle. But at Full Gear, he faces his biggest competition yet, as an highly-motivated Cody looks to dethrone Le Champion. The feud has been brewing before AEW even launched Dynamite, with Jericho feeling unappreciated by the AEW brass from the moment he signed his contract, and as an Executive Vice President, Cody became the main target of The Painmaker’s derision. Despite the stipulations, as Cody said, it’s the biggest match of his career. And Jericho is decided to retain and sip a little bit more of bubbly with his Inner Circle.
How to watch and the Cards
Pre-Show – The Buy In: Saturday, November 9th, 2019 | 7 PM ET / 12 AM BST. It will be available to live stream for free on AEW Official YouTube Channel, B/R Live in the USA and Canada, ITV4 in the UK.
Full Gear: Saturday, November 9th, 2019 | 8 PM ET / 1 AM BST. It will be available to live stream on B/R Live in the USA and Canada, on ITV Box Office in the UK, and on Fite TV in the United Kingdom, Ireland and internationally.
Pre-Show: The Buy In Match Card
- Bea Priestley vs Britt Baker
Full Gear: Match Card
- AEW World Championship Match: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Cody – Three judges will be available as a tiebreaker if the match goes beyond the 60-minute time limit – If Cody loses, he will never have a chance for the title again.
- Unsanctioned Lights Out Match: Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega
- AEW Women’s World Championship Match: Riho (c) vs. Emi Sakura – Singles match for the
- The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Proud-N-Powerful (Santana & Ortiz)
- Hangman Adam Page vs. PAC
- Three-way tag team match for the AEW World Tag Team ChampionshipSCU (Frankie Kazarian &Scorpio Sky) (c) vs. Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr & Rey Fénix) vs. Private Party (Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy)
- Joey Janela vs. Shawn Spears w/ Tully Blanchard
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wykMoy6V8Fo]
All pics and videos courtesy of AEW and ITV Wrestling