10 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Full Gear 2021

4. A Merely Decent Match

Britt Baker
AEW

Is it a concern, or the measure of a reliable Ace figure, that Dr. Britt Baker has a tendency of bringing matches back from the brink on the biggest stage?

This felt eerily similar to the site of her title triumph at Double Or Nothing. The wrestling early wasn't particularly fluid nor believable in its sense of struggle, which in tandem with a long series of long matches resulted in a fading crowd. The tropes spiked their excitement in the final third. The Air Raid Crash to the apron looked awesome, but was one of one too many twists from which the challenger recovered. As the match progressed into a hollow and sometimes obvious means of protecting Tay in defeat, they worked the crowd back into it. It's a strange one to rate.

Both women worked really hard, and Conti really did treat this as the biggest match of her life - but often at the expense of considered selling. It was far more than passable, but is that enough for a quarterly PPV? Ultimately, they did well with what little they were given by the promotion. It's another one of those matches that you'd think AEW could build on.

If they hadn't just signed f*cking Jay Lethal, limiting even more TV time.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!