12 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Full Gear

2. Stodgy Pacing

AEW Dynamite has largely favoured fast-paced, spot-heavy action matches since its inception, drawing widespread critical acclaim from those into that style of wrestling, and complaints from those who aren't. Which is fine. Wrestling is subjective and people are always going to disagree, but it felt like AEW tried to move away from this at Full Gear.

There was little in the way of cocaine wrestling on this show. Instead, the bulk of these matches were slower, more considered, and more methodical. None of them were boring, they just didn't get the adrenaline pumping like Dynamite often does, leading to a show that felt as though it was locked in the same gear for much of the evening.

Baker vs. Priestley was the shortest bout at roughly 11:30 and while it's great to see so many wrestlers getting so much time, at least one shorter bout and a couple of pace changes would have done this show the world of good. Full Gear really felt like it was dragging as we approached the final two matches. That's a problem; one that first arose at Fight For The Fallen, and one AEW will do well to learn from going forward.