AEW FULL GEAR 2020

AEW FULL GEAR 2020

Adam Page vs. Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega’s new entrance with Justin Roberts’ epic introduction & those dancing girls w/ brooms is hysterical & epic. I love it. The match itself was kind of disappointing. It did feel like a tournament ending workrate exhibition -- there was a few nice moments, as they undeniably brought some great looking offense into the thing (what stood out the most was those powerbombs Hangman busted out), but I largely didn’t care for the majority of the match. It certainly wasn’t bad by any means, but most of it didn’t register to my eyes. It never got too cute or silly though, which is something it easily could’ve done, and that’s a big positive. **1/2

John Silver vs. Orange Cassidy
Orange Cassidy does his shtick & John Silver compliments it well with his reactions. That's the story of the match, and it def served its purpose here. Silver angrily yelling at OC while OC does his leg kicks was legit pretty funny. Silver also had some nice moments on the offense, in particular with the kicks of his own. Solid little match! **

Cody vs. Darby Allin
Darby showing up to Cody right from the get go with his superior quickness was very nice, and Cody taking control by brutally dumping him outside arm-first was a fantastic way to transition into his heat seg. Cody's work over the arm was all kinds of awesome with big focus & the confidence he showed throughout doing it was great. Really felt like it was a big gameplan coming to fruition & the wrestler doing it was executing it excellently. Those straight up bully-like moments with him running his mouth & doing some taunts were all awesome as well. And of course Darby is superb doing the selling -- his arm was total dead-weight throughout, and I loved stuff like him trying to lock in the choke from behind, but only being able to do it with one arm, ultimately leading to that failing. Also gotta mention that Super Cross Rhodes from the top, which was a legitimately insanely fantastic highspot. Everything about this was simply great... Up until the finish. I didn't like the finish at all. Everything they did in the match & even in the post-match, it all called for a better, more decisive, more "epic" finish. The result is awesome, but damn that finish leaves a lil' sour taste in my mouth after such an otherwise brilliant match. ***3/4

Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose
Nyla Rose really brought things down here. Her work on the offense was weak & boring, and even her selling looked rough throughout. Lots of sloppiness it seemed. It wasn't a bad match though, as Shida brought quite a few nice moments into it between her solid selling of the knee & fiery work on the offense, especially with those knee strikes. **

Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson
This was every bit of the epic it was always destined to be. Felt like pure fireworks from start to finish, with just about every moment of the match being badass. Lots of the stand-out great moments involved Matt's bum ankle, as well as Harwood's hand. I thought Matt's selling was pretty damn great throughout; even when he was doing his stuff on the offense, he always let us know that he was in big time pain + he had to really dig down deep to execute those moves & it always came at the cost of him further hurting the bodypart. That finish with him hitting the Superkick with it was superb & the whole sequence leading to it had the perfect amount of drama. I also really liked all the shoutouts to other great tag teams like the Hart Foundation, DIY, The Hardyz, Steiners -- it's something that easily could've felt very unnecessary & straight-up masturbatory (hello Edge vs Orton), but here them doing those moves just felt _natural_ & like it all belonged. Really loved everything about this tbh. They told their tale brilliantly & each man involved delivered superb performances. A special shout-out to Cash who was flying everywhere, going crazy & eating shit many times doing so lol. Brilliant tag team match. Certainly a one to be remembered. ****1/2

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara
Had some neat moments, but as an overall package, this was pretty meh. Served its purpose as the breather after the tag team title match. The highlight of the thing was probably the soundtrack.

Chris Jericho vs. MJF
Wasn't interesting at all except for two moments or so. The moments that I am referring to here are MJF countering Jericho's Judas Effect attempt into his Fujiwara Armbar finish, and then that actual finish of the match w/ him pulling an Eddie. At best this could've been an ego-fueled clash of two huge personalities, but this wasn't it. *3/4

Eddie Kingston vs. Jon Moxley
The fact that this is a pro-wrestling PPV main event in 2020 rules so much. And they more than delivered, even with my hopeful expectations being super high. Right from the get go it feels & looks like a total dogfight, and that's how it went for pretty much all of it. It's a perfectly done rugged street fight between two bad, nasty motherfuckers. There's a constant "fight feel" with nothing looking too cute & them really grinding down each other to try and get that W. So many badass moments throughout w/ them laying it in any chance they got to do so, eye-gouging, those backdrop drivers by Eddie, him eventually going low, etc. And the barbed wire & alcohol gimmicks were aaaaawesome. As were the tacks. Even so many little moments like Eddie going "BRYCE, BRYCE, DID HE QUIT?" before going forward with what he had planned, was such great, great stuff. Now I could've done without Moxley's talking before he locked in that barbed wire assisted Bulldog Choke for the finish, but even that worked pretty well in the context of the match & the build. And it really was the perfect finish to this match -- a tough, dramatic, bitter end fitting of The Mad King. This really was exactly how a match between Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley should look like. One of the true highlights of 2020. ****1/2