Daily Update: Full Gear fallout, Jake Paul, new WWE trademarks

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WON NEWSLETTER: November 15, 2021 Observer Newsletter: Death of Angelo Mosca, Full Gear & Survivor Series previews

In this week’s issue: 

  • The amazing story on the life of Angelo Mosca, CFL legend, pro wrestling main eventer. His famous hit on Willie Fleming, feud with Joe Kapp, the 2001 old man fight all detailed. How Mosca got into pro wrestling, whatever happened to Angelo Jr., why he didn’t play in the NFL, and his biggest career matches. Mosca’s run in Toronto as the perennial Canadian champion
  • Previews of AEW Full Gear and WWE Survivor Series, business notes, ticket sales, secondary market, lineups and movie theater business
  • Lots more regarding who was let go by WWE
  • Ticket sales for major upcoming WWE & AEW shows, including notes on the head-to-head markets
  • More on Bryan Danielson’s decision to come to AEW
  • UFC in MSG, two title bouts, $10 million gate
  • NJPW Power Struggle coverage, as well as Best of Super Juniors and Tag League, plus match of the year candidate
  • Myths and facts regarding alcohol abuse treatments
  • Ratings with segment-by-segment notes, international TV ratings
  • Another major star leaves CMLL
  • AAA TripleMania Regia, Omega, Velasquez, Munoz Brothers, LA Park and Marvel comic superstars
  • Stardom’s next PPV show
  • Mach Hayato, Japanese prelim wrestler who inspired pro wrestling and MMA superstars

Current subscribers click here to read.

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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

Bryan and I did our weekend show covering last night’s Full Gear and New Japan San Jose show live together and it’s up on the site. We’ll be back tomorrow talking about Raw.

There were a lot of problems with AEW on the Bleacher Report site. There were different technical issues with people and apparently you couldn’t order a replay right away which is one of those things that has to be fixed.

The show was great, I thought top to bottom as far as match quality, as good a big show as you’ll see with a couple of the best matches of the year including an all-time classic main event.  The negative is the show yesterday was No. 14 on Google searches with 50,000 which would not indicate a major buy rate.  There have been AEW shows that have done 100,000 buys with that number of searches but it’s well down from the 500,000 for All Out.  UFC, even a strong Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez’s main event yesterday didn’t even crack the top 20 which means less than 50,000, which is also bad for them. Aside from Full Gear, the only combat sports related for the week, and that’s even a stretch was Dwayne Johnson was the No. 11 searched term on Friday with 100,000. It was largely due to Johnson revealing that he doesn’t bother going to the bathroom when he has to go during his workouts and instead brings a bottle with him to pee into when in hard training.

Both Eddie Kingston (shoulder injury) and Malakai Black did not appear at a convention today due to injuries. The report on Kingston was that he was having a series of medical tests on his shoulder this morning.  The injury was said not to be from his match with C.M. punk but was from consistent damage and the shoulder had gotten worse. We heard that in the six-man tag that everyone was okay after the match although I’m sure they were all beaten up a little. At the New Japan show, Chris Dickinson had to go out on a stretcher and that was legit. We haven’t confirmed the injury, but the hamstring and hip were both talked about. He was doing a frog splash on Bateman and at first it looked like his knee went out, but he was grabbing his hamstring. We haven’t heard an update today.

We’re looking for your thoughts on Full Gear and the Battle in the Valley in San Jose for New Japan, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match for each show to [email protected]

No update on WrestleMania tickets that went on sale Friday.  A lot of sections weren’t opened up in the upper deck. A lot of tickets were sold for both nights but no number, but it was far from an instant sellout, not that anyone expected in a stadium that large that it would be.

Regarding the death of Angelo Mosca, and we have a story that we’ve gotten a ton of positive feedback on in this show, the Hamilton Tiger Cats players are all wearing a No 68 (Mosca’s retired uniform number on the back of their helmets for the rest of the season to honor him.  In their latest game there were a lot of mentions of Mosca’s death, as well as video clips. I don’t believe any pro wrestling television show mentioned his death and he wa a headliner in WWF and a huge star in a lot of places, particularly Ontario. (thanks to Grant Zwarych).

New Japan has a Super Juniors tournament show at 4:30 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning from Korakuen Hall on New Japan World in Japanese:

  • Kosei Fujita vs Ryohei Oiwa
  • Douki vs. Yoh
  • Bushi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
  • Master Wato vs. Robbie Eagles
  • El Phantasmo vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs Sho
  • Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori

Josh Barnett has his first New Japan match in 17 years tomorrow night at the New Japan Strong tapings in Riverside CA at the Municipal Auditorium. This show will not air live on New Japan World but will be broken up into several one hour shows.

Honor For Hall is taking place now on the ROH Honor Club site:

  • Bandido vs. Demonic Flamita for the ROH title in a no DQ match
  • Dragon Lee & Kenny King vs. Matt Taven & Mike Bennett for the ROH tag titles
  • Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Effy & AJ Gray for the GCW tag titles
  • Brody King vs. Jonathan Gresham
  • Tracy Williams vs. Taylor Rust in a Pure rules match
  • Trish Adora vs Holidead vs. Quinn McKay vs. Vita Vonstarr

Jake Paul said that he will not face Tyron Woodley in a rematch even though Woodley did get the “I love Jake Paul” tattoo.  Paul, who faces Tommy Fury on 12/18, said that he doesn’t think people want to see him fight Woodley again. “He had his chance.” 

Marty Scurll appeared unannounced for Unlimited Wrestling in Germany against their champion, Fast Time Mondo. Scurll showed up at the company’s first iPPV event in a spot announced for a mystery opponent and won their championship. The show was run by YouTube Martin Guerrero (Martin Behrens).  The reaction to this was negative (thanks to Markus Gronemann)

WWE

  • PWInsider reported that WWE has filed for trademarks for names Gary Wilson, Marquis Hamilton, Felix Fernandez, Blair Baldwin, and Oraco Anthony. There would likely be new names for NXT talent.

AEW

  • For the first TBS show on 1/5 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, they sold close to 6,000 tickets at high prices (thanks to William Zdon and Wrestle Tix)
  • The 12/22 debut at the Greensboro Coliseum also went on sale Friday and sold just over 3,000 tickets, which is on the lower end of what I’d have expected.

OTHER NOTES

  • Stardom sold out Korakuen Hall today for a big tag team tournament show:  Hanan & Rina b Unagi Sayaka & Mai Sakurai, Hazuki & Koguma b Saki Kashima & Fukigen Death, Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani b Himeka & Natsupoi, Hazuki & Koguma b  Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani, Tam Nakano & Mina Shirakawa b Lady C & Waka Tsukiyama, Starlight Kid & Ruaka b Syuri & Maika, Momo Watanabe & AZM b Mayu Iwatani & Rin Kadokura, Hazuki & Koguma (Red block winners) b Momo Watanabe & AZM (blue block winners) to win the tournament
  • UWC has its 25th annual Toys for Total drive pro wrestling sow on 11/27 at the New Egypt Elks Lodge in New Egypt, NJ at 7 p.m.   Admission to the show is free if you bring a new unwrapped toy with a suggested value of $15 or more.  The local U.S. Marine Corps Reserves will be distributing all toys within Burlington County  There will also be raffle tickets and door prizes at the show.
  • Honor Slam Wrestling from Thursday night in Detroit, MI:  Kyle Barrett over, Kongo Kong, Gregory Iron, Atlas Hightower and Kyle Coleman to keep the Undeniable title, Matthew Justice won over Brutus Atwell and Herzog, Alex Weir b Jason Hotch, Rhino & Jackson Stone b Big Kon & Satu Jinn, Alex Colon & Jimmy Lloyd b Dread King Logan & Breyer Wellington, Malcolm Monroe III won over champion Trey Miguel and Jordan Oliver to win the Horror Slam title, Sean Lawhorn b Eric Ryan, John Wayne Murdoch b Tommy Vendetta to keep the death match title (thanks to Leonard Brand)
  • Melbourne Championship Wrestling on 12/19 at 2 p.m. at the Thornbury Theater in Melbourne with a PA vs. MCW show,
  • Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night in East Carondelet, IL: Billy McNeil & Bobby D b Frankie D & Richard Shaw, Gary Jackson b Rick Ruby-DQ, Big Texan b Mauler McDarby, Gil Rogers b Franco Varga, Flash Flanagan & Jayson Breed b Ken  Kasa & Waco to keep tag titles, Kowalski b Danny Dollar, Attila Khan b Pete Madden in a no DQ match to keep the Classic championship.  Trevor Murdoch will be defending the NWA title against Khan on a show on 12/1 in St. Louis at the Holiday Inn on Watson Road. (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • GCW ‘s Nick Gage Invitational death match tournament today in Chicago. Every tournament match was a death match:  Attius Cogar b Rina Yamashita, Charli Evans on three-way over Kit Osbourne and Shlak, Alex Colon b Akira,Masashi Takeda b Eric ryan, Ninja Mack won non-tournament seven-way over ASF, Cole Radrick, Brayden Lee, Gringo Loco, Yoya and Nate Webb, Alex Colon b Charli  Evans, Masashi Takeda b Atticus Cogar, Alex Colon b Masashi Takeda to win the tournament.  Colon also won the GCW Untraviolent title from Takeda in the finals. (thanks to Ross Blair)

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Big Show wins WWF World title

CONTACT INFORMATION

Watch live: AEW Full Gear watch along with the Mat Men Podcast

During AEW Full Gear tonight, join Andrew and Rich of the Mat Men Podcast for a watch along on our YouTube and Twitch channels. Andrew and Rich will go live starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time.

The two-year story between Hangman Page and his former Elite stablemates will reach its climax as Page attempts to become AEW World Champion by defeating Kenny Omega in tonight’s main event. In-ring action will start with Thunder Rosa & Hikaru Shida facing Nyla Rose & Jamie Hayter on AEW’s The Buy-In pre-show at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

Here’s the full card for tonight:

  • AEW World Champion Kenny Omega defends against Hangman Page
  • AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker defends against Tay Conti
  • AEW Tag Team Champions The Lucha Bros defend against FTR
  • AEW World title eliminator tournament finals: Bryan Danielson vs. Miro
  • CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston
  • Darby Allin vs. MJF
  • Falls count anywhere match: Christian Cage & Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy) vs. Superkliq (Adam Cole & The Young Bucks)
  • Minneapolis street fight: The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, TNT Champion Sammy Guevara, Santana, Ortiz & Jake Hager) vs. Men of the Year (Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page) & American Top Team (Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski & Dan Lambert)
  • Cody Rhodes & PAC vs. Malakai Black & Andrade El Idolo
  • Thunder Rosa & Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose & Jamie Hayter (The Buy-In)

AEW Full Gear live results: Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page

A year after they first clashed at Full Gear with a title shot on the line, Kenny Omega and Hangman Page will square off once again at this year’s Full Gear with Omega’s World title on the line.

Page earned the opportunity by winning a Casino Ladder Match and will be looking to end the champion’s near year-long reign. He defeated Jon Moxley for the title at last December’s Winter is Coming edition of Dynamite — a title shot earned with his win over Page.

The match is one of three title bouts on the show as the Lucha Bros will defend the AEW Tag Team titles against former champions FTR, and Women’s Champion Britt Baker defends against Tay Conti.

In another set of highly anticipated singles matches, CM Punk will take on Eddie Kingston, Bryan Danielson will look to earn his own World title shot as he faces Miro in the finals of the World title eliminator tournament, and MJF battles Darby Allin.

Several more tag team matches were be part of the pay-per-view as the SuperKliq (Adam Cole and The Young Bucks) will face Jurassic Express and Christian Cage in a falls count anywhere match; the Inner Circle takes on American Top Team and Men of the Year in a street fight; and Cody Rhodes teams with PAC against Andrade El Idolo and Malakai Black.

The Buy-In pre-show will have Nyla Rose and Jamie Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida and Thunder Rosa. That match starts at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

The Buy In

– Tony Schiavone interviewed Dante Martin in the ring about the offer he got to join Team Taz. Team Taz was watching  up in a skybox. Before Martin  could answer, The Acclaimed interrupted to make an offer to Martin to join the Acclaimed, since “Lio Rush will soon be in his 15th retirement” and Team Taz “are the only guys on TV less than” The Acclaimed. Martin rejected their offer by knocking Bowens off the ring apron and hitting a springboard tope con hilo on the Acclaimed. Nice way to open the live show and get the hugely popular hometown hero in front of the crowd.

Thunder Rosa & Hikaru Shida defeated. Nyla Rose & Jamie Hayter (w/ Vickie Guerrero) (12:03)

Thunder Rosa got a pair of nearfalls on Nyla Rose early on. The crowd was very into the babyfaces. Rosa and Shida tried to suplex Rose, but she countered and suplexed both her opponents at once. Rosa wound up taking a beating in the heel corner. Rosa dodged a charge from Hayetr in the corner and got the tag to Shida, who hit a dropkick off the middle rope on Hayter. Rosa low-bridged Shida to send her to the floor, in front of Serena Deeb who was in the crowd. 

In the ring, Hayter worked over Shida with a chinlock. This heat segment on Shida seemed to go on forever and wasn’t very interesting, but the commentators used the lull in the action to run down the main card. Shida caught Hayter with a suplex, but Heyter came back with a backbreaker for a nearfall. Shida hit an axe kick, but Heyter countered with a German suplex. Tags were made on both sides, and Thunder Rosa was en fuego, getting a near fall on Rose after a basement shotgun dropkick. 

Shida hit a crossbody off the middle ropes on to the floor on Nyla, and Rosa came off the top to the floor with a crossbody on Hayter. Deeb distracted Shida, and Guerrero hit Shida in the previously injured knee. Back in the ring, Heyter hit a superplex on Shida, and Rose followed up with a frog splash for a near fall (the first of many tributes to Eddie Guerrero tonight), broken up by Rosa. Rose went to finish Shida with the Beast Bomb, but Shida rolled through with a jackknife cradle to get the pin. Hot opener. 

– Tony Schiavone interviewed Orange Cassidy & The Best Friends. Signed for Wednesday is the Butcher and The Blade against Orange Cassidy and a partner of his choosing. Since Cassidy and the Best Friends just joined Chaos, Cassidy “asked Jeeves” who was in Chaos, and one of them will be his partner on Wednesday. 

Full Gear

MJF defeated Darby Allin (22:00)

The crowd was chanting for Darby before he came out. A black-and-white video of Darby crashing a car that had the word “loser” painted on it played before the match. Allin then torched the car with a molotov cocktail. 

Fantastic matwork from both guys early on, as they exchanged a ton of nearfalls. After both men exchanged deep arm drags and kip ups, the fans gave both wrestlers a standing ovation and chanted “AEW!” MJF landed a sucker punch and dumped Allin to the floor. MJF hit a clothesline and tossed Allin back in the ring, but got distracted by a fan and Allin launched himself like a missile through the ropes at MJF to regain control. Allin set up MJF for a coffin drop on the apron, but MJF avoided the move and Allin bounced off the apron, onto the floor. 

Back in the ring, Friedman dropped an elbow and got a nearfall with a spinning over the shoulder backbreaker. MJF slowed down the base with a pair of cross-corner whips. Allin reversed a third cross corner whip and sent MJF into the turnbuckles, but MJF came back with a pair of high impact backbreakers, tweaking his knee on the second one. This established the long-term story of the match: Allin had a bad back, and MJF had a bad knee. MJF set up Allin for a superplex, but Allin hit his over the shoulder stunner from the middle rope. Awesome. 

Allin came back with slams and a headbutt to MJF’s jaw. Allin set up a second attempt at the coffin drop, but MJF rolled out of the way. MJF counted a rana attempt with a sick backbreaker out of a powerbomb position for another near fall.  Allin went for a code red, but MJF countered that into a powerbomb for another nearfall. MJF locked in a scorpion deathlock, but Allin countered by attacking MJF’s previously injured knee. Allin followed up with a chop block to the knee. MJF went after Allin’s arm, but Allin kept up attacking MJF’s knee and locked in the figure-four leglock. MJF turned over the pressure, but Allin got to the ropes to break the hold. Both men rolled to the apron. 

They struggled to their feet and began exchanging punches. Allin tried to suplex MJF, but MJF countered that with a jumping tombstone on the apron. But, MJF hurt his knee on the move. MJF made it back into the ring, and Allin barely beat the ten count. MJF sold his injured leg like crazy. Allin countered a suplex attempt with a small package, and both guys countered each other’s pin attempts for like twenty near falls.  Allin hit a code red for two that got a huge pop from the crowd. Allin went for the coffin drop again, but this time MJF rolled to the floor. So Allin hit the coffin drop on MJF on the floor. 

Back in the ring, Allin went for the coffin drop again, but MJF raised his knees and both guys were down; MJF because of his knee and Allin because of his back. Wardlow and Shawn Spears tried to interfere, but Sting destroyed them both with his bat. The crowd chanted “Fight Forever!” and I agree, this match is phenomenal. 

Back in the ring, MJF went for Allin’s skateboard. He slid the skateboard over to Allin and offered him a free shot, trying to provoke a dq. Allin didn’t take the shot and as the referee removed the skateboard, MJF reached into his tights for the diamond ring. Behind the ref’s back, MJF used the ring to knock out Allin.  Friedman then took Allin down with a side headlock, and got the pin. 

Tremendous opener, excellent match.

The Lucha Bros defeated FTR (w/ Tully Blanchard) to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship (19:00) 

The action in this match was insane. The Lucha Bros piled up both members of FTR in the corner, then Penta monkey-flipped Fenix into them. Penta got caught in the FTR corner and hot-shotted against the top rope for a near fall. Wheeler tied Penta’s mask to the bottom rope, and Dax Hardwood kicked him in the head until the referee freed Penta. 

The match slowed down with FTR working over Penta. Penta and Harwood took each other down with clotheslines. Penta backdropped Harwood out of a piledriver attempt, then hit him with a DDT.  He got the tag to Fenix, and Fenix hit both members of FTR with a cutter to get a nearfall on Harwood. Fenix hit a top rope knee strike on Harwood for another near fall. 

Wheeler hit Fenix with the AAA title belt, and Harwood hit the brainbuster, but this time Fenix kicked out at two. Harwood and Wheeler combined for an assisted backdrop suplex for another near fall. FTR went for the Big Rig, but Fenix made a blind tag to Penta. Tully Blanchard tripped of Penta, and the distraction set up Harwood to hit the three amigos on Penta. But Penta countered the third suplex, and Penta hit the three amigos on Harwood. Fenix came in with a frog splash for a fantastic near fall as the crowd chanted “Eddie!” 

Fenix hit the rebound hook kick on Wheeler. The Lucha Bros went for fear factor, but Wheeler broke it up, and FTR hit the spike piledriver on Fenix for another near fall. Crowd is solidly behind the Lucha Bros. Fenix countered an assisted brainbuster with a small package for two. Penta and Fenix went for the fear factor, and Fenix sprung over Penta and onto Harwood with a crossbody and both FTR members were down for another two count. 

Wheeler (the illegal man) came back in the ring wearing the Ranas mask from the tag title switch a few weeks ago. Wheeler tried to get a pin with his feet on the ropes, but the ref broke that up. Lucha Bros hit their version of the stuff piledriver on Wheeler, and Penta got the pin. The pin was on the wrong man, but it didn’t matter, and the Lucha Bros retain. Another fantastic match, and this felt like a chapter in the story, not the end of it.

Bryan Danielson defeated Miro in the World Title Eliminator Tournament Final (20:00) 

Danielson delivered probably ten good shots to Miro, but one shot from Miro to Danielson sent him to the floor. Danielson was sporting the remnants of a black eye before the match, and Miro had his right hamstring taped up. Danielson went for a tornado DDT, which Miro avoided and hit a hard shoulder tackle. Danielson came back with a flying clothesline and dropkicked Miro to the floor. Danielson went for a plancha, but Miro caught him with a forearm, then suplexed Danielson on the floor. Miro tossed Danielson into the ringside barricade and the ring steps. 

Back in the ring, Miro hit a pair of suplexes for a near fall. Danielson mounted a comeback with kicks and chops, until Miro caught him with a fallaway slam for a near fall. The fight went to the floor, where Danielson sent Miro into the ringpost, then came off the apron with a running knee. 

Back in the ring, Danielson hit a shotgun dropkick off the top. The crowd chanted “Let’s go Miro! Miro sucks!” and Danielson battered Miro with kicks. Miro blocked the last kick, but Danielson turned that into a sunset flip for a near fall, then rolled into a kneebar. Miro almost tapped out twice, but eventually was able to power out and into a deadlift German suplex. Miro followed up with a proper release German suplex, but came up selling his knee. 

Danielson flipped out of a back suplex attempt and caught Miro with a kick, then laid into Miro’s head and ribs with knees. Danielson trapped Miro’s arms and stomped a mudhole in him. Danielson went for the flying knee, but Miro countered into a powerbomb for a near fall. Miro locked in the game over, and after Danielson teased the tap out, Danielson made it to the ropes. 

Miro went for the Game over a second time, but Danielson flipped through and locked in the LeBelle Lock. Miro powered out and leveled Danielson with forearms. But Danielson counted that with the triangle choke and reigned down with elbows. Miro broke the hold by gouging Danielson’s eyes. 

Danielson went after Miro with forearms, but Miro absorbed them all and leveled Danielson with one shot. Miro then offered Danielson a few free kicks, and Miro again leveled him with one shot. Miro carried Danielson to the top rope, but Danielson fought back with elbows and forearms. Danielson caught Miro with a spinning DDT off the top rope, then locked in a guillotine, and the ref ruled that Miro was knocked out. 

Bryan Danielson is the new number one contender for the AEW World title, and this show is three for three in excellent matches. All a different style, all fantastic.

Christian Cage, Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy defeated Adam Cole & The Young Bucks (w/ Brandon Cutler & Michael Nakazawa) in a Falls Count Anywhere match (22:20) 

Jungle Boy’s team is dressed for a fight in a nice touch. In another nice touch, there are three referees to count any pinfalls. 

When the Young Bucks took Jungle Boy out with a double clothesline, Luchasaurus took out both the Young Bucks with a double clothesline. Cole took out Luchasaurus with a chair. Jungle Boy went to powerbomb Cole on the chair, but the Young Bucks saved him. When Cole went for his signature taunt, Cage caught him with an inverted DDT on the chair. Luchasaurus german suplexed both Young Bucks at once, and for a Falls Count anywhere match most of the action has been in the ring. And just like that, Jungle Boy nailed a pair of dives on Cole to the outside. 

With the fight on the floor,  Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy sent Cole headfirst into a chair. Cole came up bloody as the fight went back into the ring. Christian Cage and Nick Jackson brawled to the back. Luchasaurus went for a crucifix powerbomb on Cole, but he slid out and hit a superkick. Everyone superkicked everyone else. Jungle Boy caught Cole with a hurricanrana over the ropes and to the floor, sending Cole through a table. Matt Jackson then dropped an elbow off the top onto Luchasaurus through a table. With everyone at ringside out, let’s follow the fight to the back. 

Christian Cage and Nick brawled into the crowd. Brandon Cutler tried to use the spray on Cage, but of course he missed. This set up a crazy dive from Cage off of a balcony and onto Nick. Nick and Cage brawled back to the ring through the crowd. There, Cole used a wheelbarrow suplex to send Jungle Boy into the edge of the ring. The Bucks found thumbtacks, and stuffed them into Jungle Boy’s mouth. Cole and the Bucks did the camel clutch/superkick spot with the tacks in Jungle Boy’s mouth for a near fall.

Christian looked like he might have really hurt himself when he got his leg caught in the ladder propped up in the ring while trying a spinning DDT. Cole took an electric chair drop from Luchasaurus into the ladder. Luchasaurus chokeslammed Nick into the ladder for a near fall. Matt broke up that pinfall attempt by smacking Luchasaurus with a trashcan. 

Luchasaurus chased Matt Jackdson up the ramp, where Junge Boy caught him and locked in the snare trap. Cole broke that up. With the fight now on the ramp, Christian went for a Killswitch, but the Bucks broke that up. Several bumps off the top of the ramp were teased. Christian went for a spear, but Cole caught him with a superkick. 

Cole hit Jungle Boy with a panama sunrise on the entrance ramp, jumping off the entrance tunnel. Cole pulled out thumbtack-enhanced knee pads for all the members of the Superkliq. They hit a three way BTE trigger with the thumbtack kneepads on Luchasaurus, but Jungle Boy broke up the pinfall attempt. 

Somehow, Luchasaurus recovered and chokeslammed Nick Jackson off the stage and onto the stooges on the floor, then came off the entrance stage with a shooting star press onto the pile. Christian set up Matt Jackson for the conchairto, and then handed the other chair for Jungle Boy to finish the job. Jungle Boy got the pin. This one went a little too long for my taste but was otherwise a very good, crazy brawl. 

Cody Rhodes & PAC (w/ Arn Anderson) defeated Malakai Black & Andrade El Idolo (w/ Jose) (16:50) 

Cody and PAC teased dissension early in the match. Black and El Idolo got along a little better. Cody was solidly booed by the crowd early in the match. The first big offensive move of the match was a powerslam by Cody on El Idolo, which the crowd booed. 

PAC got worked over in the heel corner by Black and El Idolo, but they didn’t really get along. Cody got the tag and hit the cutter on Black. Rhodes teased a Tiger Driver “or something else,” but got floored with a spin kick from Black. But, PAC was the legal man and hit an Asai moonsault on Black and El Idolo on the floor. 

With everyone out of it, Jose decided to get into it with Arn Anderson at ringside. Anderson punched Jose and “chased” him to the back. 

Back in the ring, the heels took control on PAC. El Idolo hit a spinning crossbody to the floor on PAC. Rhodes was still on the floor selling the spin kick, and the match was essentially two-on-one. El Idolo hit a split leg moonsault for a near fall. PAC caught El Idolo on the rebound with a German suplex. PAC went for the tag, but Rhodes was still selling on the floor. El Idolo charged PAC with a boot, then hit a slingshot DDT to the apron for another nearfall. 

Pac caught Black with a superkick, and Rhodes was finally in the corner for the tag. Rhodes got the tag and hit El Idolo with the flip flop and fly, then hit a disaster kick on Black. Rhodes hit a reverse superplex on El Idolo for another near fall, and that move popped the crowd. Rhodes hit a lariat on Black on the floor. 

Back in the ring, El Idolo went for a figure-four, but Rhodes countered and locked in his own figure-four. PAC tagged in and hit a 450 splash on El Idolo, but it only got a two count. PAC went for a plancha on the floor on Black, but Black pulled Cody in the way and he took the move from his partner. Rhodes suplexed Black to the floor, and Black booted him over the barricade. This took both of them out of the match. 

Back in the ring, El Idolo went for the hammerlock DDT, but PAC countered and suplexed El Idolo into the turnbuckles. PAC then hit a poisoned rana and the black arrow on El Idolo and got the win for his team. Good old school tag match, although the teased dissension between the partners sometimes got in the way.

Dr. Britt Baker, DMD (w/ Rebel & Jamie Hayter) defeated Tay Conti to retain the AEW Women’s World Title (15:13) 

Both women had special entrances for this match. Conti was draped in the Brazilian flag and Baker was played to the ring by the guitarist from Fozzy. 

Baker frustrated Conti with a pair of nearfalls early. Conti came back to work a surfboard and teased the DDTay, but Baker easily escaped. Conti caught Baker with judo throws. Conti went for the juji gatami in the ropes, but Baker countered the move. Baker caught Conti with a double underhook suplex to take control. 

Baker slowed down the pace of the match. She got a near fall with a fisherman’s neckbreaker and went for the lockjaw, but Conti escaped by hammering on Baker’s still-injured hand. Conti hit a knee strike and a pair of clotheslines to fire up the crowd. Conti hit trifecta of pump kicks in the corner (charging at Britt from every corner, one of her trademark spots), then came off the top with a crossbody for a near fall. 

Conti hit a leaping kick and a release German suplex for another near fall. Baker hit a hangman’s neckbreaker, then rolled through a suplex attempt and hit a curb stomp. Baker got the glove for the lockjaw, but Conti hit a cutter for another near fall. Conti continued to be frustrated by Baker’s kick outs. 

Conti and Baker brawled out to the apron. Conti went for a Gotch style piledriver, but Baker countered into the air raid crash on the apron. Back in the ring, Baker went for the lockjaw, but Conti made the ropes. Conti hit TayKO for another near fall, and the Gotch Style piledriver for another near fall. 

While Rebel distracted the ref, Jamie Hayter pulled Conti out of the ring. Baker hit the curb stomp off the apron onto the steel steps. Back in the ring, Baker went for the lockjaw, but Conti countered and they wound up in the ropes. Conti hit a pump kick that sent Baker to the floor. 

Conti took out Rebel and Hayter out with a top rope moonsault to the floor, then dropped Baker with a spinning throw. Back in the ring, Conti hit the DDTay for two. Conti went for the DDTay again, but Baker countered into a lockjaw attempt. Conti reversed that into a cradle, but Baker reversed that into a cradle of her own and held down Conti for a three. This was a struggle and a bit disappointing.

CM Punk defeated Eddie Kingston (11:09)

Punk wore UFC style trunks. 

Before the start of the match, Kingston nailed Punk with the spinning backfist, nearly knocking him out. Kingston laughed and Punk flipped him off. The bell rang to officially start the bout. 

After a brief fight on the floor, the match got going in the ring. Punk hit the charging knee in the corner, but Kingston came back with an exploder suplex. Punk came back with a middle rope clothesline. The crowd booed Punk as he punched Kingston from the mount position. Punk hit kicks to the chest, and Kingston countered with a poke to the eye. 

They fought out to the apron, and Punk caught Kingston with an enziguri. The fans went nuts, cheering and booing both men. Finally the crowd settled into a “Both these guys!” chant, and Kingston sent Punk into the ringpost. Punk got busted open, so naturally Kingston wiped Punk’s blood on his face. Kingston went for a piledriver on the floor, but Punk escaped with a backdrop. Punk hit Kingston with a flying clothesline from the apron. 

Back in the ring, Punk hit a Cena-style back suplex and teased “you can’t see me,” but flipped off Kingston instead. This got amazing heat. Punk hit the three amigos on Kingston and the crowd applauded. Punk went to the top, but Kingston caught him up there. Kingston battered Punk with punches and delivered a superplex. 

Both guys pulled themselves up in opposite corners, then charged into the center of the ring to exchange punches. Kingston caught Punk with a boot and an enziguri. Kingston signaled  he would go  for the GTS, but Punk caught Kingston with it instead. Punk was too out of it to go for the cover though, and both guys were out against the ropes. Kingston went for the spinning backfist again, but Punk dodged it. Punk elbowed and kneed Punk, and the crowd booed. Punk hit a second GTS and got the pinfall. An absolute war. Excellent.

After the match, Punk extended his hand to Kingston. But, Kingston walked away without shaking his hand. Punk didn’t get booed after the win, but didn’t really get a big babyface pop for the win either. 

-AWA and Minneapolis legend Baron Von Raschke was shown at ringside. 

Chris Jericho, Champion Sammy Guevara, Santana, Ortiz & Jake Hager defeated Men of the Year (Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page) & American Top Team (Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski & Dan Lambert) in a Minneapolis street fight (19:36) 

Despite being a “street fight” this started out as a regular tag match with Guevara and Scorpio Sky. Sky took a beating from Guevara, Santana and Ortiz in the opening minutes. Santana and Hager did an impressive suplex handoff of Sky. Arlovski got the tag and brawled with Hager. Dos Santos and Jerico got tags and Dos Santos powerslammed and suplexed Jericho. Dos Santos hit a standing moonsault for a near fall. 

With Jericho down, Lambert got the tag. Of course, Lambert overplayed his hand and soon all the members of both teams were in the ring brawling. Jericho chased Lambert around the ring, where Ethan page hit him with a hockey stick. Guevara hit a spinning tope on Page. Santana and Ortiz followed with dives of their own, and then Hager did a crazy dive onto a pile of everybody on the floor to a huge pop. 

Excalibur clarified what makes this a “Minneapolis” street fight, that all the plunder around ringside is from Minnesota. Like the Prince symbol that Jericho used to batter Scorpio Sky with. And now the match has broken down into a crazy brawl with everyone brawling around ringside. Or the toaster Arlovski used to beat Jake Hager. 

In the ring, the Men of the Year paired off with Santana and Ortiz. Page wound up with a trash can on his head, and Santana hit the can with a hockey stick. Santana and Ortiz tied up Page and Scorpio in submission holds, and Guevara came in and threw a football and Sky’s chest. That was funny. 

Arlovski helped Page beat on Ortiz, but Hager ran in with and beat on both guys with a toaster. Jericho came in and hit both the Men of the Year with a ski or a snowboard. Lambert pulled Jericho out of the ring before he could do more damage. Guevara hit a springboard cutter on both Men of the Year. While Dos Santos sent Jericho into the steps on the floor, Guevara hit a senton atomic on Sky for a near fall. 

Hager started beating on guys with a bundt cake pan while Tony Schiavone gives us a history lesson on the bundt cake. Santana and Ortiz hit a double superplex on Dos Santos. Guevara comes off the top of a ridiculously high ladder to put Scorpio Sky through a table on the floor. Page launched Ortiz to the floor with a crucifix powerbomb.  Page gets into it with a fan (who might have been Jake Hager’s wife) at ringside next to Baron Von Raschke, who puts him in the claw! Santana then dumps Page into the crowd. 

This leaves Lambert in the ring alone… with Jericho. Jericho went for the Linosault, but Dos Santos caught him with a shot and Lambert got a near fall. Jericho found a kendo stick and took Lambert to the woodshed. Jericho then found a stapler and hit Lambert in the crotch. Jericho then came off the top with a frogsplash in another tribute to Eddie Guerrero and got the pin. Very fun match.

Matches for Wednesday’s Dynamite: 

  • Orange Cassidy and Tomohiro Ishii versus The Butcher & The Blade. 
  • The Acclaimed versus Lio Rush & Dante Martin 
  • TBS Championship tournament quarterfinals: Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose

– Tony Schiavone brought out AEW’s newest signee, Jay Lethal, who declared he was #allelite. Lethal challenged Sammy Guevara for the TNT title, and Guevara came out to accept the challenge for Wednesday night.

Adam Page  defeated Kenny Omega (w/ Don Callis) to win the AEW World Heavyweight Championship (25:00) 

The nearly three year storyline that began at the first AEW press conference culiminated with Adam Page as the new AEW World Champion. 

Page and Omega exchanged hard chops early. Omega got an advantage after Callis tripped Omega up. While Omega distracted the referee, Callis choked Page against the middle rope. Page came back with a springboard lariat on the apron, then a plancha onto Omega on the floor. 

On the floor, Omega rammed Page’s back into the ring barricade and the ring apron. Page came back with a suplex on the floor. Back in the ring, Page came off the top with a crossbody for a one count. Omega caught Page with a thumb to the eye, and pie faced the Hangman for a one count. 

Omega dumped Page to the floor where Callis attacked him. Omega teased going for the buckshot lariat. Page came back, but Omega caught him with a rana that sent Page to the floor. Omega followed him out with the terminator dive. 

Back in the ring, Omega went for “you can’t escape,” and while Page didn’t escape, he did get his boots up into Omega’s chest. Omega charged Page and ran into a high boot. Page hit more chops and sent Omega to the floor with a fallaway slam.  Page followed him out with a suicide dive, then came off the top with a top rope moonsault to the floor. This got a huge pop from the crowd, who chanted “Cowboy Sh!t” for Page. 

Back in the ring, Page hit a brainbuster for a near fall. Page took Omega to the top for a superplex, but Omega fought out of it, then hit Page with a springboard top rope powerbomb. Omega hit a pair of  snapdragon suplexes. Omega delivered a third snapdragon suplex on the ring apron. Back in the ring, Omega hit the V-trigger. Omega set up the one-winged angel, but Page countered with a victory roll for a near fall. Page caught Omega with a German suplex, but Omega came back with a Tiger Driver for a near fall. 

The crowd chanted for Hangman again while Omega punched down from a mount position and bit Page’s forehead. Omega went to the top, but Page crotched him, then bit Omega’s forehead. Page hit a blockbuster slam from the top rope for two. 

Omega rolled out to the floor, and Page came off the top of the ringpost (not the top rope, the top of the ringpost, Page pulled off that little camera on the post) with a lariat, sending them both through a table. Page tossed Omega back into the ring. Page went for the buckshot, but Omega dropped out of the way. Page went for a V-trigger, but Omega ducked it. Page came back with a pop-up powerbomb and went for the buckshot lariat, but Omega pulled the referee in the way. 

WIth the referee out, Callis tried to attack Page with the belt. Page took Callis out. Omega tried to hit Page with the belt, but Page ducked and hit the dead eye. Aubrey Edwards ran down to the ring for the count, but it was only a nearfall. Page teased using the belt, but dropped it. 

Page and Omega began exchanging punches and forearms. Omega got the advantage and went for a V-trigger, but Page blocked the move. Omega hit the V-trigger on a second try, but Page came back with a rolling forearm. Omega hit a series of kicks to Page’s head, but he popped up and floored Omega with a lariat. 

WIth both men down, the Young Bucks slowly made their way out to the ring. Omega hit a backdrop driver on Page, but Page came back with one of his own. Page went for the buckshot, but Omega caught him with a V-trigger. Omega went for the one-winged angel, but Page countered with one of his own for two. In front of the Bucks, Page hit the buckshot lariat to the back of Omega’s head. Page then went to the other side of the ring, where Matt Jackson was now standing. Matt gave Page a nod, and Page hit Omega with another buckshot lariat and got the pinfall. 

After the match, the Dark Order came out to celebrate with Page. The show ended with AEW’s new World Champion on the shoulders of the Dark Order, soaking in the adulation of the fans. 

Excellent finish to an excellent show. 

Final Thoughts: 

This show was fantastic. Nearly every match overdelivered and this may have been AEW’s best ppv. 

Rhodes & PAC vs. Andrade & Black set for AEW Full Gear

Two tag team matches were added to Saturday’s AEW Full Gear during Wednesday’s Dynamite, including the featured match for The Buy-In pre-show.

The main card will now see Cody Rhodes and PAC against Andrade El Idolo and Malakai Black in a match that has been brewing for a few weeks.

Rhodes and Black recently wrapped up a three-match series of singles matches while Andrade and PAC have gone to battle twice. After the last match, Black appeared and blew mist in PAC’s face which drew out Rhodes to run them off. All four men came to blows Wednesday on Dynamite after PAC’s win over Dax Harwood — a brawl that also included FTR and the Lucha Bros.

In the other newly-added match that will act as a preview for the next round of the TBS title tournament, former AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida will team with Thunder Rosa to take on former AEW Women’s Champion Nyla Rose and Jamie Hayter. Shida will square off with Rose while Rosa will battle Hayter in the tournament’s second round.

Here’s the current card:

  • AEW World Champion Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page title match
  • AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker vs. Tay Conti title match
  • AEW Tag Team Champions Lucha Bros vs. FTR title match
  • AEW World title eliminator tournament finals: Miro vs. Bryan Danielson
  • MJF vs. Darby Allin
  • CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston
  • SuperKliq (Adam Cole and The Young Bucks) vs. Jurassic Express and Christian Cage
  • Minneapolis street fight: Inner Circle vs. American Top Team
  • Cody Rhodes and PAC vs. Andrade El Idolo and Malakai Black
  • Buy-In pre-show: Nyla Rose and Jamie Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida and Thunder Rosa

AEW Women’s Championship match announced for Full Gear

The Women’s title match for Full Gear has been announced.

Tay Conti will face champion Britt Baker at the event, which will take place on November 13 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Baker confirmed the title match on tonight’s show, saying that all Conti has done since coming to AEW is showing off her ass, and at Full Gear, Baker promised that she would beat it.

Conti’s friend, Anna Jay, faced Britt Baker on Friday’s AEW Rampage. Baker won the match, but Rebel and Jamie Hayter, Baker’s associates, jumped Jay after the match, causing Conti to come out to make the save.

Conti previously challenged for the AEW Women’s Championship back on the April 21 edition of Dynamite. However, she was unable to defeat then-champion Hikaru Shida.

Already announced for Full Gear is Kenny Omega defending the AEW World Championship against Hangman Page and the finals of the AEW World title eliminator tournament.

Danielson vs. Fish, AAA tag title match added to AEW Dynamite

Three new matches have been added to next week’s AEW Dynamite.

Bryan Danielson will face Bobby Fish in a singles match. Fish made his AEW debut on this week’s show, losing to Sammy Guevara in a match that was for the TNT Championship. AEW confirmed his signing after the show.

The AAA Tag Team titles will also be on the line. Pentagon and Rey Fenix, who also hold the AEW World Tag Team titles, will defend the AAA titles against a mystery masked team who are Andrade el Idolo’s close friends. In a backstage promo that aired last week on Dynamite, Idolo issued the challenge, saying he was going to bring in two men to challenge the Lucha Bros..

The match between Dante Martin and Malakai Black has also been made official. On this week’s Dynamite, Martin had asked for competition, with Black appearing and taking Martin out, saying he accepted his challenge.

AEW will also reveal the brackets for their upcoming World Title Eliminator tournament, with the winner getting an AEW World Championship match. The finals will take place at Full Gear.

Dynamite will not air this Wednesday due to NHL coverage. Instead, it will air live on Saturday, October 16 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

Speak Now: AEW Full Gear recap

It’s the first ever episode of Speak Now with Denise Salcedo on Twitch!

Denise recaps the entirety of Full Gear, AEW’s latest PPV event. Big title matches went down tonight, including Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page, Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston, FTR vs. The Young Bucks and much more!

Denise joins a group of content creators that includes Dave Meltzer; Bryan Alvarez; MLW wrestler, former UFC fighter and current PFL fighter “Filthy” Tom Lawlor; former WWE wrestler Antonio Thomas (Thomas Santell on the indies); Mike Sempervive & Adam Summers’ Big Audio Nightmare; Vince Verhei; Karl Stern: Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa, and more.

You can also watch her every Wednesday on our YouTube channel, where she covers both NXT and AEW Dynamite!

Right click save

MJF and Wardlow earn Inner Circle spots after AEW Full Gear win

After agreements, disagreements, town halls, and even some singing and dancing over the past few months, MJF earned a spot in The Inner Circle with his win over Chris Jericho at AEW Full Gear Saturday.

The end sequence began when referee Aubrey Edwards was distracted and Jericho got his “Floyd” baseball bat from Jake Hager. MJF then pulled a play out of the Eddie Guerrero playbook, acting like Jericho had knocked him out. As Edwards scolded Jericho, MJF rolled him up to pick up the win and the roster spot in the longtime AEW faction.

After being frustrated with the loss, Jericho hugged MJF and welcomed both he and Wardlow to the group as Hager looked on skeptically. Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz weren’t in the building as they were in North Carolina for the Elite Deletion match earlier in the show.

Both men were a combined 6-0 in both singles and tag team matches after both had losing efforts at September’s All Out.

Young Bucks win Tag Team Titles at AEW Full Gear

With their backs up against the wall in terms of competing for the AEW Tag Team Titles ever again, the Young Bucks defeated FTR for the belts at Full Gear.

The finishing sequence started with Cash Wheeler knocking out Matt Jackson with a superkick. Instead of going for the pin, he decided to attempt a springboard 450 splash, diverging from the team’s “No flips, just fists” mantra. He missed the move and Jackson hit him with a barefoot superkick with his bad foot/ankle to get the pin.

In their third opportunity to win the titles, the Bucks became the fourth-ever AEW tag champions, ending FTR’s two month reign in the process. They had won the belts at September’s All Out with a win over Kenny Omega and Hangman Page, successfully defending the titles three times.

After earning the title shot in a four-way on Dynamite, the Bucks added a stipulation that if they couldn’t beat FTR for the titles, they would never challenge for them again.

Darby Allin wins TNT Championship at AEW Full Gear

Darby Allin has dethroned Cody Rhodes. 

In their fourth AEW singles match, Allin pinned Rhodes with a cradle to win the TNT Championship at Full Gear. 

In ending Cody’s second reign, Allin joins Rhodes and Brodie Lee as the only wrestlers to wear the TNT title. 

Allin and Rhodes first faced off at Fyter Fest 2019, going to a 20 minute time limit draw. Rhodes then beat Allin on the January 1, 2020 edition of AEW Dynamite. Cody won the second meeting with a quick roll-up. Their third match aired on the April 29 edition of Dynamite. In that bout, Cody reversed a Coffin Drop into a cradle to again barely escape with a victory. 

The match was also notable for the return of Cody’s surname. In addressing the live crowd following Wednesday’s Dynamite, Cody said “It feels really good to be Cody Rhodes again.” WWE filed a cancellation notice for the Cody Rhodes trademark on November 2, clearing the way for Cody to use the name. 

On a media call Thursday, Cody said that he would not use the Rhodes name in wrestling, but in outside ventures. 

Watch Denise Salcedo’s AEW Full Gear post-show live on Twitch

Tonight marks Denise Salcedo‘s first post-AEW PPV show as part of the F4W famly as Speak Now Pro Wrestling goes live for free on Twitch after Full Gear.

Hear Denise’s thoughts on the show and have your questions read and answered live on air.

If you haven’t subscribed to Twitch, here’s how you can get set up super quick for free.

Join Denise live shortly after Full Gear wraps up Saturday night!

Kenny Omega wins title eliminator tournament at AEW Full Gear

Kenny Omega defeated Hangman Page in the AEW World title eliminator tournament finals at AEW Full Gear. Omega is now the number one contender to the AEW World title. 

Omega won the finals after hitting a One-Winged Angel and pinning Page. Omega will now receive the first shot at the winner of tonight’s AEW World Championship I Quit match between champ Jon Moxley and challenger Eddie Kingston. 

For Omega, this will be his first AEW singles title opportunity. Omega also currently holds the AAA Mega title, although he has not defended that championship since the March 25 edition of Dynamite. 

Omega and Page, former tag partners, were AEW World Tag Team Champions for 228 days. They lost the titles to FTR at All Out on September 5. 

Omega secured his spot in the finals with a win over Sonny Kiss on the October 21 Dynamite and a victory over Penta El Zero M on October 28. 

Page, who previously challenged for the AEW World Championship at All Out 2019, earned his place in the finals with wins over Colt Cabana and Wardlow. 

AEW Full Gear preview: Truly the last of a dying breed

Editor’s Note: The following is an opinion-based preview and doesn’t reflect the viewpoints of F4WOnline.

I love an easy, breezy week where I really get to focus on writing this column. Nothing is happening in the world to distract me, no societies potentially crumbling to pull my attention away — just pure, unadulterated wrestling focus. Once again, wrestling is seeking to provide at least somewhat of a respite from a world in constant chaos and I am grateful for it.

This AEW Full Gear card is absolutely stacked and mercifully there is no Shawn Spears match for me to have to preview. Some of the builds to the matches are lacking, but the matches themselves are great and we love great matches. I’m trying to be positive here because re-reading what I wrote below, there is some real negativity. Even as a self-described cynic, it’s never my intention to drag AEW like this (Nightmare Family notwithstanding). Their product is good-to-great depending on the week. They do a lot of good things, but those good things could be even better with some refinement. Maybe watching 96 straight hours of CNN is unhealthy, but that’s a conversation for me to have with my therapist, not the entire Internet.

Let’s run through the card and see who comes out on top at the end of AEW’s last pay-per-view of 2020.

Orange Cassidy vs. John Silver

As popular as Cassidy is, AEW is still doing him a disservice by having him largely wrestle serious matches. He isn’t over because he’s a plucky underdog type, he’s over because of a unique gimmick and bizarre charisma. The appeal of “the lazy guy who is good at wrestling” has a finite shelf life. The novelty of it, at some point, will wear off. Wrestling fans get tired of everything no matter how good it is. Let OC wrestle his style of comedy match here and there. I promise it will be good.

It gives me no pleasure writing this, but Silver is just a whole bunch of fun. Being in Beyond Wrestling (please come back!) country means I have seen him live more than any other wrestler. I will never forget when he beat Zack Sabre Jr. at a bar in Providence, RI, when ZSJ was both the PWG and EVOLVE champ. Apoplectic is probably a good word to describe my reaction to that. That aside, he’s been incredibly entertaining in AEW and makes the most of his screen time. Good for you, meat man. You deserve it. 

One of these guys has a real character and gets meaningful TV time and the other doesn’t. This is an easy W for OC.

Elite Deletion: Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

I have so much appreciation for what Hardy has brought and continues to bring to pro wrestling. His creativity, constant reinventions, and willingness to push boundaries later in his career is incredible. He’s done a lot of what Chris Jericho has done, just at a smaller scale and with less success. The man deserves his flowers. I have no idea how to preview a cinematic match. It’s going to be good, bad, and weird. Guevara should “win” and finally, mercifully, put this feud to bed.

Chris Jericho vs. MJF (If MJF wins, he joins the Inner Circle)

I was really wondering how they were going to get to a Jericho/MJF match after Le Dinner Debonair. I should have known the answer was right in front of me all along. I am actually embarrassed I didn’t see this coming. Truly shameful. Le Dinner Debonair was certainly…something, but no one, not a single soul, can say that it wasn’t ambitious. One of the very best things about AEW is that they will just try things and trust the performers to get it over. WWE falls into the habit of trying to please everyone (DQ finishes, people constantly getting wins back, etc), so no one really separates themselves. Even if the segment fell completely flat, people are always going to remember a full on song and dance number on national TV, and that’s worth something.

Are we heading toward a full Jericho face turn (or at least as much as Jericho is capable of turning)? There is a non zero chance this ends with the Inner Circle turning on the Demo God and walking out of Jacksonville with MJF as the new leader. This could happen Saturday or MJF could win and they slow burn to that point (the more likely scenario, IMO). Either way, I think that’s the ultimate end game of all of this.

I don’t think they invested the time in this program just for MJF to lose and walk away from it. He wins on Saturday and begins to sow seeds of dissension throughout the Inner Circle. An additional question: what happens to Wardlow?

World Title Eliminator Tournament final: Hangman Page vs. Kenny Omega

Page is the most relatable, big name pro wrestler in a long time. He’s open about his insecurities. He broadcasts his flaws on television every week. Being one of the few actual humans in pro wrestling makes him stand out. When something, or in this case someone, is relatable, they resonate. A big part of the reason Steve Austin was so over was that everyone knows what it’s like to hate a boss and to want to rebel against an authority figure. Of course, part of his success was generational talent, but the relatability really took it to the next level.

None of us are ever going to wrestle a historically great match like Omega, but all of us know what it’s like to deal with self doubt and destructive coping mechanisms. We all know what it’s like to have those coping mechanisms affect our relationships, so when we see Page’s foundation start to shake, we empathize. Keep being sad, Adam. It reminds us that it’s okay for us to feel things.

Page’s humanity is a wonderful juxtaposition to the entirely unrelatability of this version of Kenny Omega, aka the best wrestler in the world version. I touched on it above, but very few, if any, know what it’s like to be the absolute best at something. I barely know what it’s like to be average. There’s always going to be that distance. We can marvel at the physical gifts and be in awe of the performance (personal preference caveats apply), but we can’t relate. It’s something out of our reach.

This does seem more like the Omega people expected when AEW was announced — the guy putting on classics and living at the top of the singles card. As much as I’d love to see Page win, I don’t think it happens against this iteration of Omega.

TNT Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Darby Allin

The nature of wrestling is inherently corny. And, as I frequently say in these columns, that’s okay. Something can be corny and good as those aren’t mutually exclusive things. But, and this is an all caps, bold, size 44 font BUT The Nightmare Family is both the absolute corniest and one of the worst things about AEW. Having a coach that comes to the ring with a clipboard? Corny even though it’s Arn heckin’ Anderson. QT Marshall? A bag of corn chips. And, last, but certainly not least, is the Gunn Club. All the Gunn Club (God, I hate typing this) does is sit ringside and cheer. That’s it. Sometimes, Billy hops in the ring, but largely they just whoop it up in the stands with their pals. Who was clamoring for more of them? I know the Nightmare Family is just whatever Cody wants it to be on any given day, but Jesus, man.

The dog is the best part of the family. This is somehow a less intimidating stable than Retribution. 

The reason Allin hasn’t come up yet is because Allin has barely come up during the build to Full Gear. Sure, they showed him in the crowd and he got a video this week, but Cody and Orange Cassidy have been the recent focus of the TNT title picture. This match has no build. Cody just came back looking like an edgelord version of M. Bison one week, won the title back, and then everything picked up right where it was before he left to do a TV show no one will watch. Great stuff by our Three Star General, as always.

Cody didn’t win the belt back just to lose it. My mistake, let’s try that again: Cody didn’t win back the “Ace belt” just to lose it. I would love to get to the level of delusion he’s just putting out into the world. Yes, Cody having milquetoast matches with some indie guys makes you an ace. It would be great if they would finally just pull the trigger on Darby here, but Cody needs another overly drawn out, melodramatic victory yet again. 

AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose

The lack of attention given to the AEW women’s division is yet again on full display here. Running back the same match they did at Revolution in February is certainly a decision they made. Only five of the female wrestlers listed on AEW’s website have more than ten singles matches in 2020. Five. Not a typo — five in almost an entire calendar year. Sure, Kris Statlander got injured and sure, there was a pandemic preventing them from bringing in foreign talent, but those are excuses, not reasons. If John Silver can get on a PPV and if they can run another Matt Hardy/Sammy Guevara match, there is certainly room for more than one women’s program to run at the same time.

One segment at the end of the go home show does not make a feud. Shida and Rose could have actually tried to kill each other and it still wouldn’t be enough to get this program where it should be. There is a history to work with that would have been easy. Instead, Rose just demanded a match, Shida said “lol, sure” and now, here we are. I’m all about simple builds but c’mon, a little effort goes a long, long way.

Rose has gotten exponentially better since she started with AEW, but Shida has still been better. She’s carried the division for most of the year and deserves to end the year as champion. Shida retains.

AEW Tag Team Champions FTR vs Young Bucks (If the Bucks lose, they will never challenge for the titles again)

Man, where to start with this one? I guess the stipulation makes the most sense. It worked well when Cody did it as it added serious stakes to his match last year with Jericho. Obviously, that was all undone when they introduced the Cody Rhodes Championship earlier this year (that is the TNT championship, for the record). This just feels lazy. This feels tacked on to something that shouldn’t need it. This match has been talked about for years which is all this build needed. These are two teams that have wanted to do this forever getting to finally do it. I don’t even know why the belts need to be involved, but I suppose it does make sense for ‘The Best Tag Team In The World ™’ to walk out with gold for gravitas, but putting on an actual dream match is enough.  

The Young Bucks mescaline vision quest to just be the most unlikeable good wrestlers alive is still going strong. AEW really needs to make up their minds with the Bucks alignment. Heel/face alignment matters less than ever in wrestling, but consistency actually does. You can’t have them superkicking non-wrestlers and bragging about getting fined one week and then starting an injury angle the next. Mix that with some ‘huge stakes’ and baby, you got a stew going. What we certainly didn’t need is the 900th Matt Jackson injury angle of the past few years. Whatever. I’m not rooting for the Bucks and neither should you.

If Omega beats Page and Cody beats Allin, the Bucks have to lose here. Otherwise, every Executive Vice President is going over and that would be a real tough scene. Plus, FTR is just better at this — better at playing characters, better at telling stories, just better all around. Please, for the love of god, let them keep the belts.

I Quit Match: AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston

Kingston is, and has been for a long time, one of the most authentic performers in all of wrestling. He is a spectacularly captivating promo artist – and make no mistake ghat he is an artist on the stick – that really makes you believe what he says. We believe it because he believes it. When he says this is his life, this really is his life. It’s all he has and it’s all he needs.We’re squarely in this ‘meta era’ of pro wrestling where it’s never been more clear that people are playing characters, but Kingston goes against that. He is genuine and real, desperate and calculating. He doesn’t break kayfabe because there is none to break. The Mad King is, unquestionably, the “Last of a Dying Breed”.

Moxley has found such a great dance partner in Kingston. His program with MJF was incredibly “pro wrestling” with MJF playing the over the top heel. His program with Jake Hager didn’t have a whole lot to it because, well, Jake Hager. He hasn’t really got to sink his teeth into anything since he took the belt off of Jericho in February. Man, remember February? That was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. With Kingston, he’s found someone who matches his intensity. Their shared history grounds the story and gives them something to play off of. Moxley has been fine and was getting by on his presence and intensity until Wednesday night. What a segment that was with two world class talkers going head to head. One small thing that I absolutely love is that Moxley has no catchphrases and no gimmicks.

‘I Quit’ is the perfect stipulation for this match. It plays into both of their strengths as tough as nails brawlers who will do anything to win. For as much praise as I’ve spouted for Kingsto, there’s just no way he wins. This has been one of the best transitional feuds in recent history but that’s all it is: a transitional feud. Mox retains and ends 2020 with Pretty Platinum™ on his shoulder.

November 9, 2020 Observer Newsletter: The life & times of Tracy Smothers

Most of the time when a top wrestler passes away, people talk about the memories they provided in the ring, or their accomplishments.

When Tracy Smothers passed away after a battle with cancer, after years of health issues, the modern generation talked about little of that.

Smothers, who was 58 when he passed away on 10/28, was talked about for being a mentor to a generation of people who started out working long road trips to small shows for very little money. Most of them made little money but created lifelong memories, including of Smothers, a one-time star who loved the business more than anything and kept at it until he physically could no longer, and still, while near death, longed for one last match.

Others made it big. But they never forgot the one guy who was always smiling, always encouraging, and always fun to be around in the dressing room that they had seen growing up and was still having fun.

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Tully Blanchard banned from FTR-Young Bucks Full Gear title match

In a post-Dynamite video released on AEW’s Twitter account, Tully Blanchard said he is banned from ringside for FTR’s Tag Team title defense against the Young Bucks at Saturday’s Full Gear.

#AEW Social Exclusive
Tully Blanchard reads a prepared statement from the attorney of #FTR in regards to this Saturday’s #AEW World Tag Team Championship match #AEWFullGear@DaxFTR@CashWheelerFTRpic.twitter.com/LPuQLaDo8e

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) November 5, 2020

The reason given was that because of Blanchard’s repeated interference in past matches and involvement in FTR’s attacks on the Bucks, AEW management made the call to bar him from ringside. 

Blanchard said he is planning a lawsuit if the situation doesn’t get fixed, citing that other managers haven’t been treated like this. FTR said it was favoritism but that they would win anyway.

If the Bucks don’t win the titles Saturday, they will never challenge for them again.

Here’s the full card for the Jacksonville, Florida show:

  • AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston in an I Quit match
  • AEW Tag Team Champions FTR vs. The Young Bucks (If the Bucks lose, they won’t challenge for the tag titles again.)
  • AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose
  • TNT Champion Cody vs. Darby Allin
  • World title eliminator tournament finals: Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page
  • Chris Jericho vs. MJF (If MJF wins, he joins the Inner Circle.)
  • Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara in an Elite Deletion match
  • Orange Cassidy vs. John Silver
  • The Buy-In: Serena Deeb vs. Allysin Kay