10 All Out Mistakes AEW Can't Afford To Repeat At Full Gear
How to make Saturdays special again.
AEW Double Or Nothing 2019 was special because it was an absolutely spectacular show that illuminated, under the bright lights of the major arena, the awesome range - and viability - of "this great sport". All Out 2019 was special because it proved, throughout another exceptional and momentous card, that this was no novelty.
Full Gear 2019 was special because it yielded the purest form of the wrestling art, in Chris Jericho Vs. Cody, and somehow contrived to transgress it via the controversial video nasty that was Jon Moxley Vs. Kenny Omega. It was also special because it was built as something special via the new Dynamite flagship. It was the best-built pay-per-view in an age.
Revolution 2019 was special because it may just have been the most well-built pay-per-view ever.
Dynamite was in phenomenal form as must-see episodic TV, loaded with quality and suspense, and Revolution was the giddy, euphoric payoff. Double Or Nothing 2020 was special because, amid the most torturous times a generation had endured, the immense creativity and levity provided a near-impossible, much less elusive, sense of escape.
All Out 2020 was not special. It was a very good show viewed detached from itself, but that was impossible. It was too bad a time. And it wasn't great, anyway.
It is crucial that Full Gear restores the feeling that AEW is untouchable - special - on Saturdays because everything is geared towards it.
10. The Lack Of A Set
Did you see the official All Out 2020 t-shirt?
Perhaps not, since the design was never reproduced in the staging area, but it was badass. A giant skull with palm trees covering the eyes, set in front of a tropical colour palette, it promised a violent professional wrestling show held in an exotic location. That's what All Out was, yes, but not in the most ideal of ways.
On the night itself, AEW just screened the decidedly less vibrant, partially distressed PPV logo on a big screen. It looked like something virtually any pro wrestling company would muster up, and it was presented, simply, as "big", in a way not unlike that of WWE.
Howay, lads. You missed an open goal there.
Bespoke set designs are fairly high up on the list of lapsed fan complaints AEW studied to present an alternative in the first place. The unique spectacle is crucial in enhancing a major show at the best of times, and All Out needed something amid literally the worst. Beyond the aesthetic appeal, Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley and Hikaru Shida have all used those sets to build cool, violent spots around. All Out's humdrum look also stifled AEW's winning creativity.
It's as simple as repurposing the old set, à la Double Or Nothing 2020 - and Moxley and Eddie Kingston can use those jagged metal edges to evoke the word "quit".