Tag: aew full gear

Britt Baker says AEW Full Gear match is ‘so progressive for our division’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Ahead of Full Gear, Britt Baker spoke to Sports Illustrated about being Saraya’s first opponent in nearly five years.

Saraya (formerly known as Paige in WWE) will make her return to the ring as she faces Baker at Saturday’s Full Gear pay-per-view. It will be the first time Saraya has wrestled since 2017, when she suffered a neck injury that forced her to retire.

Baker told Sports Illustrated that the match is a point of progress for the AEW women’s division.

“It’s so progressive for our division,” Baker said. “It’s a story-driven match. It’s a very compelling story, and the match is going to be even more exciting.”

Baker noted that, while Saraya has been away from in-ring competition for five years, the one thing they have in common is that professional wrestling is their life.

“She’s been out of the game for five years,” Baker said. “That’s a long time. For all our differences, we have one thing in common—wrestling is our life. We’re going to wrestle like our lives depend on it.”

With Saraya being medically cleared to return to the ring, Baker told Sports Illustrated she isn’t worried about Saraya having limitations.

“She’s cleared. By this point, her neck is probably better than mine,” Baker said. “At first, I was really concerned. Working around someone’s neck is very daunting. But she’s cleared, and we’re going to wrestle.”

Baker said facing a star like Saraya is a challenge that she welcomes.

“I don’t take this opportunity lightly. It is a challenge I welcome. Saraya is a star. She’s one of the best wrestlers in the world. Not everyone knows Britt Baker. Having a match with a star of her caliber is the next step I need in my career,” Baker said. “I feel similar to the way I did before the ‘Lights Out’ match against Thunder Rosa. I knew the match had to be excellent. I’m in that position again, and I’m ready to deliver.”

Full Gear is taking place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday night. The PPV main card will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern time. The Buy-In pre-show starts at 7 p.m. Eastern.

November 21, 2022 Observer Newsletter: AEW Full Gear & WWE Survivor Series notes, UFC 281

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

AEW and WWE both have major events over the next two weekends, with Full Gear on 11/19 in Newark, NJ, at the Prudential Center and Survivor Series on 11/26 in Boston at the TD Garden.

AEW Full Gear is coming at a time when the promotion’s business indicators have not been good. While ratings have held up decently well when you consider everything the prior several weeks, the 11/16 go-home show did 818,000 viewers and 0.28 in 18-49. It was the lowest number the show has done since 6/15, during the build for the Forbidden Door show. That show ended up beating almost everyone’s expectations for PPV, but the arena business was also a ton stronger at that time.

The November PPV is traditionally the toughest of the year, with the exception of last year. The 2019 version ended up doing about 90,000 buys, the lowest for an AEW-billed show (ROH shows have done much lower as is to be expected). Last year’s show, which featured the culmination of the Kenny Omega vs. Adam Page feud, with Page winning the title, plus Inner Circle vs American Top Team and C.M. Punk vs. Eddie Kingston did 155,000 buys, at the time the second highest number in company history but it was at a hot point, and it is still the fourth highest in history. The 2020 version, headlined by Jon Moxley vs. Kingston for the title, the first-ever Young Bucks vs. FTR match, Omega vs. Page for the top contendership and MJF vs. Jericho did about 100,000 buys.

Subscribers can read the rest of this issue here.

Tony Khan AEW media call: The Elite, Mercedes Martinez, future of ROH

Posted on by Josh Nason

AEW head Tony Khan spoke to the media for nearly an hour Thursday afternoon to help promote Saturday’s Full Gear.

As usual, the questions diverted away from the pay-per-view itself.

Here are some of the highlights with the full audio available below:

  • Khan was asked about CM Punk’s status and whether he knew what Punk was going to say during his All Out press conference. He couldn’t comment on either, but said he appreciated Punk’s contributions.
  • He couldn’t comment on the investigation or “the backstage aspect” of anything regarding The Elite.
  • Asked about FTR not being on Saturday’s event as of now, Khan said he has a lot of talented wrestlers under contract and thinks there is more opportunity for more AEW and ROH content to help showcase them and others.
  • He said “Believe me, I tried” in regard to an FTR vs. Briscoes match on AEW TV.
  • He said a decision will be made about ROH’s direction and TV future after next month’s Final Battle. He remains bullish on ROH, citing recent titles matches and their success on PPV this year.
  • He confirmed that the Owen Hart Foundation tournaments will return in 2023.
  • ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez was cleared to return from injury this past Wednesday.
  • He said Saturday’s show will end at “a reasonable time” and that it would be a “tight” wrestling show. He said Double or Nothing was laid out differently due to the Boston Celtics/Miami Heat NBA playoffs game 7 and with the show being on the West Coast.
  • The finals of the World title eliminator tournament were moved to this Wednesday in Chicago due to Ricky Starks’ legitimate (and undisclosed) injury changing things. The Starks/Archer winner Friday will face Brian Cage on Saturday’s Buy-In show.
  • They are nearing a $1 million gate for Saturday’s show.

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TNT title match added to AEW Full Gear

Posted on by Ethan Renner

A triple threat match for the TNT Championship has been added to Saturday’s AEW Full Gear lineup. 

In a match announced on Dynamite, Wardlow will defend the TNT title against Samoa Joe and Powerhouse Hobbs in a three-way set for Full Gear. 

After Joe turned on Wardlow on last week’s episode, a brawl broke out between Joe, Hobbs, and Wardlow on this week’s Dynamite, with members of the AEW roster entering to pull the three apart. The Full Gear title match was officially announced later in Wednesday’s program. 

11 matches are now official for Full Gear. Here is the announced lineup: 

AEW Full Gear, Saturday, November 19, 7 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —

  • AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. MJF
  • Interim AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Jamie Hayter
  • AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Acclaimed (c) vs. Swerve In Our Glory
  • AEW World Trios Championship: Death Triangle (c) vs. The Elite
  • ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Sammy Guevara
  • TNT Championship: Wardlow (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
  • TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Nyla Rose
  • AEW World title eliminator tournament finals: Ethan Page vs. TBD
  • Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs. Saraya 
  • Steel Cage match: Jungle Boy vs. Luchasaurus
  • Sting & Darby Allin vs. Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett

Wrestling Observer Live: B/R Live app fail, RAW report, Steve Austin wrestling future, more

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the B/R Live app which sucks, the world famous RAW report, Steve Austin likely wrestling at WrestleMania again, ratings and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Saraya feels she will ‘be under a microscope’ for AEW in-ring debut

Posted on by Josh Nason

Ahead of her first match in nearly five years, Saraya is already feeling the pressure for this Saturday’s AEW Full Gear.

Talking to Chris Van Vliet, she said that her match against Britt Baker on the pay-per-view is going to be a big deal for everybody involved.

“I’m going to be under a microscope that day. Everything I’m going to be doing is going to be scrutinized,” she said, adding she is going to stay off social media after the match because of it.

Formerly Paige in WWE, Saraya hasn’t wrestled since December 2017 due to sustaining another neck injury that put her in-ring career on the shelf.

After her surprise AEW on-screen debut in September, Saraya has been more physical in recent weeks leading up to her return. To her, she said she wants to ensure both herself and Baker are safe on Saturday while telling a good story and having a good match.

“I’m already too much in my head to the point where I just want it to be good. I have to focus on making sure that I keep myself safe and make sure Britt is safe, and the pressure of having a match is wild to me. It’s a beautiful story, but it makes me nervous,” she said.

Saraya vs. Britt Baker announced for AEW Full Gear

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Saraya is cleared, and is facing Britt Baker at Full Gear.

In addition, a TBS title match between Jade Cargill and Nyla Rose has been made, and Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal will team up to take on Darby Allin and Sting.

On Wednesday’s Dynamite, Saraya came out and confirmed that she has been 100% cleared, saying that AEW was her house. Baker and Saraya ended up getting into a war of words, with Baker saying that she didn’t recall Saraya laying one single brick in AEW. Saraya countered back, mentioning how she fought tough battles publicly and has been wrestling for far longer than Baker, who she accused of getting every opportunity handed to her by Tony Khan. Saraya ended the segment by announcing the match for Full Gear.

Over the last several weeks, Nyla Rose has taken hostage of the TBS title, with Jade Cargill and her baddies failing to get the championship back from Rose. In a backstage promo on Wednesday’s show, Cargill promised to handle Rose on this coming Friday’s Rampage.

Jarrett made his debut on last week’s Dynamite, attacking Darby Allin. Jarrett told Allin at the time that he knew Allin’s biggest weakness, and it was Sting.

Here is the updated lineup for Full Gear, which takes place on November 19 in Newark, New Jersey:

AEW Full Gear, Saturday, November 19 on pay-per-view —

  • AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. MJF
  • ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Claudio Castagnoli
  • Interim AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Jamie Hayter
  • AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) (c) vs. Swerve In Our Glory (Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee)
  • TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Nyla Rose
  • Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal vs. Sting & Darby Allin
  • Saraya vs. Britt Baker
  • AEW World title eliminator tournament finals

AEW reveals bracket for World title eliminator tournament

Posted on by Ethan Renner

AEW has revealed the bracket for the World title eliminator tournament set to conclude at Full Gear on November 19. 

Eight participants have been announced for the tournament, with one first round match set for the November 9 Dynamite, and three set for the November 11 Rampage.

The tournament semifinals will take place the following week, with the finals set for Full Gear. The winner will receive a title shot at Winter is Coming on December 14. 

The first round matches: 

  • Eddie Kingston vs. Ethan Page — November 9 Dynamite
  • Bandido vs. Rush — November 11 Rampage
  • Ricky Starks vs. Lance Archer — November 11 Rampage
  • Brian Cage vs. Dante Martin — November 11 Rampage

Bryan Danielson won the 2021 AEW World title eliminator tournament, defeating Miro in the finals at Full Gear. Danielson went on to face Hangman Page for the title at Winter is Coming in December in a match that went to a time limit draw.

Four-way match for ROH World Championship added to AEW Full Gear

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A four-way for the ROH World Championship has been made for Full Gear later this month.

On Friday’s Rampage, Chris Jericho set up a four-way between himself, Claudio Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson, and Sammy Guevara.

After Danielson indicated he wanted another match against Jericho to take back the ROH World title on Dynamite, Jericho said he would face both Danielson and Castagnoli, who he defeated back in September to win the championship. He then said he would add Guevara to the match for good measure, and if it came down to himself and Guevara, Guevara would know what to do. Guevara seemed surprised by Jericho’s comments.

Later, Tony Schiavone tried to get a word with Guevara about Jericho’s comments. However, Guevara instead challenged Danielson to a 2 out of 3 falls match for Wednesday’s Dynamite.

AEW Full Gear, Saturday, November 19 on pay-per-view —

  • AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. MJF
  • ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Claudio Castagnoli
  • Interim AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Jamie Hayter
  • AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) (c) vs. Swerve In Our Glory (Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee)
  • AEW World title eliminator tournament finals

Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter title match added to AEW Full Gear

Posted on by Ethan Renner

An interim AEW Women’s World Championship match is set for the Full Gear pay-per-view on Saturday, November 19. 

In a new match announced on Wednesday’s Dynamite, Toni Storm will put her interim AEW Women’s World title on the line against Jamie Hayter at Full Gear. 

The Full Gear bout will be the second singles meeting this year between Storm and Hayter, as the pair last squared off in May in the first round of the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament. Storm defeated Hayter in a first round match on the May 11 Dynamite. 

Three title matches, plus the finals of an AEW World title eliminator tournament are now set for Full Gear. Here is the announced lineup to this point: 

AEW Full Gear, Saturday, November 19 on pay-per-view —

  • AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. MJF
  • Interim AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Jamie Hayter
  • AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) (c) vs. Swerve In Our Glory (Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee)
  • AEW World title eliminator tournament finals

The Acclaimed vs. Swerve in our Glory III set for AEW Full Gear

Posted on by Josh Nason

The third installment in the series between AEW Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed and Swerve in our Glory will take place at November’s Full Gear.

While never formally announced by AEW, a tweet by the company’s official account during Friday’s Rampage referenced the match taking place at the Saturday, November 19th pay-per-view:

On Saturday, The Acclaimed’s Anthony Bowens appeared to confirm it:

Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland earned the opportunity on Wednesday’s Dynamite by picking up a win over FTR in a no. 1 contenders’ match.

The series between the two teams started at All Out where Lee & Strickland narrowly escaped the September pay-per-view with a win in one of the night’s most memorable matches.

Weeks later at Dynamite Grand Slam in Queens, NY, Bowens & Max Caster defeated Lee & Strickland to earn their first taste of AEW gold.

Here’s the current card for Full Gear in Newark, New Jersey:

  • AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defends against MJF
  • AEW Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed defend against Swerve in our Glory
  • AEW World title eliminator tournament final

Dante Martin, Ethan Page part of AEW World title eliminator tournament

Posted on by Josh Nason

During Friday’s AEW Rampage, a tournament to crown a future contender to the AEW World title was announced.

The eight-man tournament will conclude at November’s Full Gear with the winner getting their shot at Dynamite Winter is Coming on December 14th in Garland, Texas.

The first two participants were also announced in Dante Martin and Ethan Page.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley will defend against MJF at the aforementioned Full Gear, set for Saturday, November 19th in Newark, New Jersey.

AEW has held several World title eliminator tournaments in the past including the same format for last year’s Full Gear where Bryan Danielson defeated Miro, who was a sub for Jon Moxley due to Moxley entering alcohol rehab.

Danielson went on to challenge then-champion Hangman Page at Winter is Coming, going to a 60-minute draw.

Here’s the current lineup for AEW Full Gear:

  • AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defends against MJF
  • AEW Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed defend against Swerve in our Glory
  • AEW World title eliminator tournament finals

Jon Moxley vs. MJF World title match official for AEW Full Gear

Posted on by Josh Nason

The main event for November’s AEW Full Gear is set as Jon Moxley will defend the AEW World title against MJF.

At the conclusion of Tuesday’s Dynamite following Moxley’s win over Hangman Page, MJF teased cashing in his Casino ladder match chip that gives him a shot at the title at any time but chose not to. MJF said he wanted Moxley at 110% with no excuses and didn’t want any doubt that he was better than him.

Instead, he referenced a memorable promo battle he had earlier in the show with William Regal where Regal told him he was going to earn it, declaring he would cash in the chip at Full Gear.

The pay-per-view will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, in MJF’s backyard.

The two have competed against each other once before at 2020’s All Out. The stakes were the same with Moxley successfully defending the World title, delivering MJF his first singles loss in the company.

AEW announces Full Gear date & location

Posted on by Josh Nason

Confirming reports from earlier this week, AEW Full Gear is heading to New Jersey.

During the All Out broadcast, it was announced that the pay-per-view is set for Saturday, November 19th at Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center.

They are billing it as a two-night event with Friday’s live edition of Rampage also taking place at the same venue on Friday, November 18th.

Tickets go on sale for both events on Friday, September 23rd.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the go-home edition of Dynamite will held at a different location.

This will be the third AEW event ever from the Prudential Center. The first was in September 2021 for a live Dynamite that was previously set to take place in March 2020, canceled due to the pandemic. They returned in January 2022 for the first TBS edition of Dynamite.

Last year’s Full Gear emanated from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, drawing 10,442, headlined by then-AEW World Champion Kenny Omega defending against Hangman Page.

The inaugural event took place in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2019 with 2020’s edition taking place in Jacksonville, Florida due to the pandemic.

November 22, 2021 Observer Newsletter: AEW Full Gear review, WWE cuts eight more wrestlers

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Stephen Woltz, 30, better known as Hangman Adam Page, became the world champion of the second largest wrestling company in the world in the latest stage of a storyline that started at the promotion’s first press conference nearly three years ago in Jacksonville

From the start of the promotion, the plan was to make Page, whom Tony Khan at the time referred to as their potential Shawn Michaels-like character, the eventual centerpiece. It took years, and had many twists and turns, including a heel turn which wound up not taking and him becoming a babyface, and instead Kenny Omega became the heel.

Page beat Omega in a classic match to headline Full Gear, a PPV that was named after a BTE storyline where the Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes years ago had done a tongue-in-cheek long series of skits making fun of Page’s physique and that by the PPV, they wanted him to look good in his trunks, or his full wrestling gear.

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