AEW Full Gear 2022 PPV Review

Welcome to the SmarKDown Review of AEW’s 2022 Edition Of Full Gear! This event will be reviewed by Tanner!

We’re stationed in Newark, New Jersey for AEW’s 4th Full Gear Event!

Champions Heading In

• AEW World Heavyweight Champion: Jon Moxley [Day 59]

• AEW Interim Women’s Champion: Toni Storm [Day 76]

• AEW World Tag Team Champions: The Acclaimed [Day 59]

• AEW TNT Champion: Wardlow [Day 136]

• AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargil [Day 318]

• AEW World Trios Champions: Death Triangle [Day 56]

• ROH World Champion: Chris Jericho [Day 59]

THE ZERO HOUR

QT Marshall, Nick Comoroto, Aaron Solo, Cole Karter, & Lee Johnson [The Factory] vs Orange Cassidy, Trent, Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero & The Very Mysterious Very Evil Mystery Partner (Best Friends) | Ten Man Tag Team Match

*The Mystery Partner is the unbelievably largely surprising DANHAUSEN

Danhausen def. Nick Comoroto via Pinfall at 11:51

A very fun and obviously VERY EVIL match to begin our Zero Hero Experience. Always great to see some nonsensical bullsh#t to start our next 4 or 5 hours of even more nonsensical bullsh#t! **3/4

Brian Cage vs Ricky Starks | AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament Semi Final

Ricky Starks def. Brian Cage via Pinfall at 8:59

Not a completely exciting match here, but I’m very happy that Starks got his moment here and beat Brian Cage who is a monster in the ring. **1/4

Jun Akiyama vs Eddie Kingston | Singles Match

Eddie Kingston def. Jun Akiyama via Pinfall at 10:32

I don’t really know about this match. Japanese wrestling is usually cool hard hitting stuff, but this was real soft with them hardly hitting each other. This also just wasn’t all that exciting structure wise. It’s not terrible, but it’s not all that good either. *1/2

MAIN SHOW

“Jungle Boy” Jack Perry vs Luchasarus | Steel Cage Match

Jack Perry def. Luchasaurus via Submission at 18:43

Pretty fun match here to open the main show. I’m not completely on board with them blatantly going outside of the cage and going back in, but after that part they really got going and gave us a very exciting match before Jungle Boy got the feel good win. He almost missed the table too! ***1/4

PAC & The Lucha Brothers(c) (Death Triangle) vs Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks (The Elite) | AEW World Trios Championships Match

Rey Fenix def. Kenny Omega via Pinfall at 18:42 to RETAIN the AEW World Trios Championships!

I’m very shocked, but also very happy that AEW made the decision to have The Elite lose in their return. It tones down the narrative that they control their push in the company. A smart move on their part. That being said, what a match we have here. Fiery opening sequence into a bloody war with the story of PAC using his sadistic nature to brainwash his partners into cheating a victory. They have a story there and I’m excited to see it. ***1/2

Jade Cargill(c) vs Nyla Rose | AEW TBS Championship Match

Jade Cargill def. Nyla Rose at 8:00 to RETAIN the AEW TBS Championship!

Well that was just ugly. This whole feud leading up to this match was very boring and so I wasn’t too excited for this match. However I didn’t expect this to be the mess it turned out to be. Jade is bad, yes, but Nyla is too good to be botching all over the place and so I felt more disappointed then angry about this contest. Also please ditch the every single match has the same formula shtick it is so annoying… *

Chris Jericho vs Bryan Danielson vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Sammy Guevera | ROH World Championship Match

Chris Jericho def. Claudio Castagnoli via Pinfall at 21:42 to RETAIN the ROH World Championship!

This took a bit to get going, but ended up being a very fun and dramatic match where they successfully made me believe that any of the 4 could win and I appreciate that. I liked the civil war stand offs especially Claudio and Bryan who have nasty good chemistry. Jericho’s attempted jumping judas effect was kinda funny, but I never expected him to do that so hats off to Jericho. ***1/4

Saraya vs Dr. Britt Baker DMD | Singles Match

Saraya def. Britt Baker via Pinfall 13:27

The action is ok, if not kind of underwhelming as the crowd just simply didn’t care and they were just slowly exchanging average moves against each other before Saraya wins her first match in 5 years to the reaction of absolutely nobody. Isn’t that just great. **

Wardlow(c) vs Powerhouse Hobbs vs Samoa Joe | AEW TNT Championship Triple Threat Match

Samoa Joe def. Powerhouse Hobbs via Submission at 9:52 to WIN the AEW TNT Championship!

Big meaty men slapping meat! This was a fun brawl with some impressive athleticism and did I mention MEAT SLAPPING??? Joe winning the championship was an unexpected, but welcoming decision as Joe deserves the entire world. ***

Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett vs Darby Allin & Sting | Tag Team No Disqualifications Match

Darby Allin def. Jay Lethal via Pinfall at 10:59

Pretty simple, but fun match here. A couple botches here and there, but it’s alright because we’re here for the nonsensical bullsh#t remember? Jeff Jarrett competing in 2022 against Sting is very funny might O add. **1/2

Toni Storm(c) vs Jamie Hayter | AEW Interim Women’s Championship Match

Jamie Hayter def. Toni Storm via Pinfall at 15:16 to WIN the AEW Interim Women’s Championship!

Some pretty underwhelming action in the first half, but man they really dished it out with that dramatic closing stretch. I did not expect for these two to be that dedicated that they treated the womens title like the main event…absolutely good on them! ***

The Acclaimed(c) vs Swerve In Our Glory | AEW World Tag Team Championships Match

Anthony Bowens def. Swerve Strickland at 19:40 to RETAIN the AEW World Tag Team Championships!

This match never really left second gear and obviously went way too long. Another downside is the fact that I simply was not given a reason to care about such a Match. They were given the chance to run Acclaimed vs FTR, but instead decided to further advance an underdeveloped civil war. The action is decent, but the implications just plain suck. **1/2

Jon Moxley(c) vs MJF | AEW World Heavyweight Championship Match

MJF def. Jon Moxley via Pinfall at 23:08 to WIN the AEW World Heavyweight Championship!

As Excalibur excellently said…Regal sold his soul to the devil! MJF is the new champion! The match itself is good, but man I love to see this finally happen. The top heel in the entire company is finally the champion! What a glorious day it is! ***

The show ends as MJF stands tall the World Title and a new advocate!

Overall Thoughts: Once again AEW gives us the too much too little fiasco where we have a stacked card, but not much delivers. I will say that the first 2 hours was pretty damn entertaining besides the TBS Title match, but the show started descending as we neared the World Title Match and only when we made a pit stop at the women’s Title match did we start speeding up. The main event is fine, but the moment is absolutely glorious and a great way to end an otherwise decent show. 6/10