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AEW Full Gear
November 9, 2019

by Samoa Rowe

From Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. Our hosts are Jim Ross and Excalibur.

The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) vs. Proud and Powerful (Santana and Ortiz)

I joined the match in progress. Fite would have let me start the broadcast from the beginning, but no such luck on Bleacher Report Live. They were having a typical Young Bucks spotfest and the crowd was totally eating it up until Nick Jackson began selling a bad leg injury, so much so that they were unable to hit the Meltzer Driver. Nick, bad leg and all, makes a hot tag anyway and hobbles through a one on two contest, hitting rapid fire spin kicks. Nick is defiant and spits his gum at Ortiz, who just spits it right back at him. Santana and Ortiz take advantage of Nick's injury and end up finishing with the Street Sweeper at about 21:00. This felt like a ***½ match, but I'll have to watch it again later.
Winners: Proud and Powerful

Sammy Guevara arrives on the scene with a sock full of baseballs, and the Inner Circle prepare a vicious beatdown. The Rock N Roll Express make a save, and Morton pops the crowd with a Canadian Destroyer and suicide dive! The Inner Circle are down and out as the Bucks and RnR Express celebrate their moral victory.

"The Bastard" Pac vs. Hangman Page

Page cuts off Pac's charge and tosses him to the floor and into the barricade. Crowd chants "cowboy sh!t" and Page hits a powerslam but Pac counters the standing SSP. Page drops Pac to ringside for a nice Suicida Torpeda. Page hits an overhead pump handle slam for 2. Pac snaps the ropes into Hangman's face and repeatedly knees the eyes to gain the upper hand. Pac administers a seemingly standard chinlock, but Page sells it by making his face beat red, a novel touch. Pac misses a Phoenix Splash, allowing Page to mount a comeback. Page's double legged spinebuster gets a 2 count. Page slams Pac onto the apron and follows with a top rope moonsault to the floor. Page's big boot gets another 2 count. Pac plays possum to lure Page into a brainbuster onto a chair. Pac takes his time setting up a missile dropkick for 2. Page counters with an avalanche fallaway slam off the top rope! Pac counters back with a superkick and snap German suplex. Page answers with a pop-up powerbomb. Pac reverses Dead Eye into the Brutalizer! Page collapses into the ropes but avoids the Black Arrow! Page blocks a low blow and delivers a brutal clothesline. Dead Eye finishes Pac at 19:03! Really solid match that would have benefited from a quicker pace and a shorter length, ***¼.
Winner: Hangman Page

Shawn Spears (with Tully Blanchard) vs. Joey Janela

Janela doesn't remove his jacket or glasses and goes right after Spears, ripping off his "No More Garbage Wrestling" shirt, which is a knock against his old GCW stomping grounds. Janela hits a rana, but Spears counters with a power slam off the apron! Spears jabs the lower spine, and they exchange chops. Spears hits a hard Irish whip and slams Janela onto the apron. Janela breaks a chinlock but gets tossed over the ropes for a hideous landing off the ring frame. Spears ties Janela's hair to a tag rope but Janela rips himself free. Janela's missile dropkick misses, and Spears applies a Scorpion Deathlock. Janela escapes and hits a flurry of punches and stomps, complete with a flying somersault senton. Spears throws Janela off the top rope for 2. Suicide dive by Janela and a vertical suplex get 2. Tully provides a distraction, which allows Spears to hit a backbreaker onto the turnbuckles. Spears exposes a buckle and while referee Earl Hebner fixes it, Spears and Blanchard hit Janela with a spike piledriver. Spears' Death Valley Driver finishes at 11:53. They worked really hard, but this fell pretty flat, **½.
Winner: Shawn Spears

Golden Boy interviews Kip Sabian backstage. Sabian can't get over Golden Boy's name. Sabian explains that his recent change in attitude is a result of things not going his way. He has formed an alliance with Penelope Ford, who plants a kiss on his cheek. Ford says she's bored, so they take off.

AEW Tag Team Championship:
SCU © (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) vs. Lucha Bros. (Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix)

Kazarian and Quen go through the motions until reaching a stalemate. Fenix tags himself in and the match briefly breaks down, but he suplexes Kazarian to gain control. Pentagon and Kazarian wipe out with stereo clotheslines. Kassidy enters with a springboard rana, followed by a facebuster and leg drop/bulldog combo on both Lucha Bros! Private Party swarm Pentagon, complete with Quen's double stomp to the head. Lucha Bros catch Quen with a doomsday missile dropkick! Fenix monkey flips Pentagon into a cannonball senton on Quen for 2. Pentagon hits Quen with the Backstabber, but SCU save the match. Quen saves himself with a dropkick counter, can't find his partner, and tags Sky out of necessity. Sky runs wild through Fenix, hitting a leaping double stomp to the spine. Leaping Bulldog by Sky sets up a Dragon Sleeper on Fenix. Kazarian catches Kassidy with a Cutter, but Pentagon breaks Sky's sleeper. Kazarian hits Pentagon with a guillotine leg drop and flying rana. Quen wipes Kazarian out with a running dive. Fenix cuts off Sky's dive with a stiff kick to the chest, but Kassidy sneaks past him for a tornado press onto the field. Fenix hits a springboard tornado senton for the exclamation mark. Fenix's springboard crossbody gets a scary 2 count on Sky. Kazarian DDT's Fenix off the buckles, but Private Party save the match. Private Party swarm Kazarian with tandem offense, and Quen nails the Shooting Star Press for a great nearfall! Kazarian blocks Gin n' Juice, and SCU hit Kassidy with SC You Later for the win at 13:01. Good spot filled match that brought some much needed energy, ***½.
Winners and still AEW Tag Team Champions: SCU

Lucha Bros are not happy with the outcome and prepare a vicious chair attack when the lights go out. They come back on, and there's another Pentagon in the ring. It's Christopher Daniels, of course, as he hits an STO on Pentagon and Angel's Wings on Fenix. Crowd chants "Fallen Angel" and this is a cool moment.

AEW Women's Championship:
Riho © vs. Emi Sakura

Sakura is cosplaying as Freddie Mercury again, even though Halloween was last week. Bell rings and they lock up and Sakura drops her knees on Riho's gut. Sakura cackles as she tosses Riho by the hair. Riho blocks via cartwheel but Sakura continues her assault with a dropkick. Riho goes crashing to ringside after eating a crossbody press. Riho catches Sakura in a tree of woe for a double stomp onto the ring frame! Riho's half crab results in a rope break. Sakura comes back with a Flatliner and scores a running crossbody into the buckles. Sakura rolls Riho around in a surfboard stretch. Riho survives and hits a drop toe hold to set up a 619! Riho's flying crossbody gets 2. Sakura answers with a slick tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Sakura double stomps the finger and nails a reverse Vader Bomb for a good nearfall. Sakura's Tiger Driver is good, but Riho desperately pops up to stomp the gut before collapsing. They slug it out until Riho rolls into another double stomp. Riho's Northern Lights Suplex gets a close 2 count. Riho misses a charge but saves face with another double stomp off the ropes. Yet another flying double stomp by Riho, but Sakura bridges out of the cover. Backdrop Driver by Sakura and a Torture Rack slam! Rope break by Riho! They exchange rapid counters until Riho floats around Sakura in a crucifix position to score a pinning combination for the win at 13:19! I liked this a lot as Riho fought hard from underneath for the gutsy win, ***½.
Winner and still AEW Women's Champion: Riho

Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson, and
are our official judges in case Jericho vs. Cody ends in a 60 minute draw. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, but I appreciate the sportslike touch.

AEW World Championship:
Chris Jericho © (with Jake Hager) vs. Cody (with MJF)

Reminder, if Cody loses, he can never challenge for the AEW title again. Jericho stalls at the opening bell as the fans chant "Happy Birthday." Jericho goes for the arm, but Cody gets the ropes and taunts with a cartwheel. Jericho slaps the face and retreats to ringside. Jericho is too proud of his shoulder tackle, and Cody catches him with the family uppercut. Jericho tantrums at ringside and grabs at Malenko's notes. Cody hits a dive and begins targeting Jericho's right arm. Cody misses a dive onto the raised entrance ramp and takes a disgusting landing on his forehead and is busted wide open. Hager passes a chair to Jericho, who takes a seat to enjoy Cody's suffering. The match resumes with Jericho targeting the freshly wounded forehead. Crowd chants for Cody as Jericho slams him on the ropes. Cody misses a wild moonsault! Cody hip tosses out of an abdominal stretch but Jericho dropkicks him for 2. Cody blocks the Lionsault and nails a Diamond Cutter for 2. Cody hulks up and unleashes a flurry of offense. Jericho cuts the comeback short with a slam into the ring post. Cody's mother is at ringside and slaps Jericho across the face, allowing Cody to ambush with a spear! Cody's Alabama Slama gets 2. Figure Four by Cody but Jericho reverses the hold. Cody gets the ropes, but Hager clocks him. Cody rolls up Jericho but gets kicked into another shot from Hager. Referee Aubrey Edwards ejects Hager, so he beats up MJF. Jericho sneakily hits Cody with the AEW title and pretends to be hurt to avoid suspicion, resulting in a late cover for 2. Cody blocks the Judas Effect and hits Cross Rhodes for a great 2 count. Crowd chants "This is awesome." They slug their way to their feet and Cody throws Dusty jabs and a Bionic Elbow for 2! Cody springboards into a Codebreaker! Jericho whips with his weight belt. Cody looks for a top rope rana, but Jericho reverses into a Liontamer! Cody gets the ropes, and Jericho argues with the ref over his use of closed fists, and she shoves him into Cody's roll-up for 2. Jericho reapplies the Liontamer and stomps the head in the process. MJF throws in the towel and the match is over at 29:40! I HATE THIS FINISH… but for the right reasons, as MJF just screwed his friend. This was a smartly worked match that built to a hot crescendo, and I loved the touch with Cody's mom cursing out Jericho. It's rare to see a finish like this result in the heat going towards the villains and not the promotion itself, so I applaud them for taking a big risk, ****½.
Winner and still AEW World Champion: Chris Jericho

MJF is in tears as he tries to explain himself to Cody, but ultimately kicks his friend in the groin! Whoa, a heel just turned heel! Crowd gives the attack a great reaction and chants "a-hole." A fan throws his drink at MJF as he struts out, and you can see security going after the guy.

Lights Out Match:
Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega

Moxley shoves referee Paul Turner out of the way to go after Omega, who turns it around with a big boot. Moxley connects with a Black Hole, which J.R. says might be the most scientific thing Moxley does in the match. Moxley connects with trash lid shots but Omega drives them both through the ropes. Omega hits a beautiful high running dropkick over the barricade! They brawl through the fans. Omega leaps off a ledge to double stomp a plastic trash can onto Moxley! Back to ringside, Moxley blocks a back flip off the rails and hits a suplex on the floor. Moxley gets a barbed wire bat and connects with a series of shots. Omega has puncture wounds all over his back! Omega rakes the eyes and slams the garbage can over Moxley's head. Omega leans a table against the barricade and retrieves his barbed wire mop and clocks Moxley in the head to block a dive. Moxley is bleeding all over the place as he takes several blows! Omega moonsaults holding a can for a nasty landing on Moxley for 2. Omega pulls out a plank covered in MOUSE TRAPS! Moxley turns it around with a lariat and slams Omega on the mouse traps! Next, Moxley brings in a pile of anchor chain and sidewalk slams Omega onto them. Neckbreaker onto the chains gets a 1 count for Moxley, who seems pleased with himself. Omega desperately clocks Moxley with the can lid to break a sleeper. Moxley fetches a metal ice pick and stabs the turnbuckle on a miss. Moxley rebounds with a snap German onto the pile of chains. Omega nails a pair of snap Germans! Moxley bites, but Omega hits a third German. Omega wraps the chain around Moxley's neck and hangs him over the ropes! Omega hits a dive and they both go through the leaning table! Omega brings in a bag full of broken glass from the table they went through on the first Dynamite and carves Moxley's face up. Omega spreads the glass on the canvas for a spinebuster! Omega drags Moxley through the glass and rolls him into a Sharpshooter, forcing him to crawl through the glass to reach the ropes. Omega gathers a handful of glass and tries to force them into Moxley's mouth. Moxley counters with a German onto the glass. Omega V-Triggers the glass out of Moxley's mouth! Omega gets the ice pick and cuts open Moxley's forehead. Omega calls for help from the Young Bucks and Hangman Page and they reluctantly bring out a massive barbed wire spider web. Omega prepares a One Winged Angel off the ramp, but Moxley blocks. Paradigm Shift sends them both onto the barbed wire! This is nauseating. Both guys need help getting out, and Moxley attacks his rescuers. Omega hits a running V Trigger and they both go crashing through a piece of the set! Back to the ring, Moxley hits another Paradigm Shift onto the broken glass for only 2. Moxley cuts the canvas off and exposes the wooden underbelly of the ring! Omega reverses a piledriver and hits a V-Trigger! Omega counters into a DDT for 2! Omega MISSES A PHOENIX SPLASH AND HITS THE WOOD! Moxley hits one more Paradigm Shift for the win at 38:48. Finally. This had some great excitement at times and some distasteful grossness at other times. This could have easily stood to lose 20 minutes or so also, as this was long for the sake of being long. Really hard match to rate, so I'll just say ***½ to make sure everyone is mad at me.
Winner: Jon Moxley

Final Thoughts: This was feeling a little bit like an episode of Dynamite with a less enthusiastic crowd until the final two matches did a lot to stand out and surprise me. My initial reaction to the Jericho/Cody match was disgust, but once I calmed down a bit, I realized that I got totally worked and appreciate the storytelling. That main event was not my cup of tea, but I'm definitely going to remember it. Would I recommend ordering the replay? Probably not. If you missed this live, I'm not sure the full price is worth it if you know what to expect.

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