13 Match Star Ratings For AEW Full Gear 2022
MJF gets belted, the Elite get cheated, AEW itself gets restored.
The build to Full Gear mirrored the form of the promotion itself: uneven, flat, and hard to receive in quite the same way as a bygone era - but also excellent at various points.
Jon Moxley and MJF told an absorbing mystery designed to cast several layers of doubt over the finish. Penned to create awesome, unpredictable drama on the night, across the weekly TV cycle, it was a bit wonky and flat because the Firm is just not a main event-level act. The Four-Way match was more strange business; very good when it happened, but nothing worth doing cartwheels over. Given the level of talent involved, it didn't feel tremendously intriguing. The Acclaimed Vs. Swerve In Our Glory was built - yes! - in an uneven way.
The wacky Halloween angle was as piss-poor as the 'Hand For A Hand' music video was piss-funny. AEW told a logical story in the correct order with Jack Perry and Luchasaurus, but again, the build lacked a certain spark, a certain level of rapt anticipation. Is AEW fated now to be very good in a somewhat methodical way? Is it the high-end Randy Orton match of wrestling promotions?
On the evidence of Full Gear, not at all...
13. ZERO HOUR: Best Friends Vs. The Factory
The expected very fun house show-adjacent fare, it raised a wry smile - particularly when the Factory parodied the Best Friends group hug bit - but it was wildly unnecessary. It felt like an excuse to get Orange Cassidy on the card when the objective, surely, was to deliver a main show presentation so incredible that the fallout from All Out was managed perfectly.
The main show was that, thankfully, but it did suffer from the familiar mid-show sag.
Trent drew gasps for his demented signature bumping, but, again, there was no real need. The vast majority of PPV buyers tend to order at the last minute, so there is in fact a strong business reason for these pre-shows, but is not a better idea to make better use of those excellent Countdown specials? They're almost better than the week-to-week TV at this point.
Orange Cassidy's side-scrolling beat-em-up sequence was thrilling, while QT cut him off very well, and "Evil Danhausen's" cameo generated a massive ovation with his atypically non-geeked offence, but come on lads.
The main show was 43 matches long.
Star Rating: ★★★