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4 Biggest Takeaways From AEW Full Gear 2023

aew full gear 2023

AEW Full Gear has quietly been their best annual PPV. From Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley in that unsanctioned match to Hangman vs. Kenny for the AEW Championship, they rarely disappoint and AEW Full Gear 2023 had some FIRE.

Here are the 4 biggest takeaways from AEW Full Gear 2023:

1. Edge and Christian still got it

I was concerned Edge would show up and Tony Khan would force him into every single segment but I love the little corner he and Christian have carved out. I was also concerned Edge would slow down the momentum Christian had built himself. Christian has been doing some of the best work of his career terrorizing Darby and Nick Wayne but Edge was actually a much-needed spark and their inevitable final clash is going to be cinema.

Now, I’m just wondering if these two men have enough to have a decent tag team run. They don’t need to have the belts but I imagine they could have better matches than whatever Matt and Jeff Hardy do on Rampage every week.

Perhaps they need a younger third member who can do the heavy lifting in trios matches. Looking around the roster, I don’t necessarily know who that is but it could literally be anyone. Just standing next to Edge and Christian would elevate them. As long as it’s not Jungle Boy we’re good.

2. The Women’s division is healing

The women’s division is healing and still sucks at the same time.

I love everything Toni Storm is doing and I’m glad they’re rewarding her with the belt but I just watched last year’s Full Gear where Toni lost the title to Jamie Hayter and it was arguably the best women’s match in this company’s history. Why couldn’t Toni and Hikaru Shida just have a good match? We don’t need shoes and metal trays and Luther.

JUST FUCKING WRESTLE.

It’s especially annoying knowing AEW produces some of the best hardcore matches with some crazy spots. There’s plenty of room for trays and weapons but sometimes, just a great match is far better than whatever this was.

I hated The Outcasts and their stupid spray paint and I hate this.

Is Jamie Hayter the only woman Tony Khan will just let have an actual wrestling match because if so, they desperately need her back.

I do believe they’re cooking up something good with Toni and Mariah May. I’m willing to give them time and space to tell that story properly. Toni Storm is one of the best women’s wrestlers on the planet and I just hope they let her show that while also still building her character.

As far as the TBS Championship, it’s cool they pulled the trigger on Julia Hart. I think these undercard titles should be changing hands more frequently. Like, never do that Jade Cargill shit again.

Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Willow Nightengale, Red Velvet—these women should all touch that gold by the end of 2024. You can have longer reigns with the women’s championship but the TV titles are meant to be won and lost.

I think I have a solution to fix the women’s division and it starts with Thunder and ends with Rosa. Drop her in the middle of this and let’s have some good in-ring action. Please.

3. SWERVES HOUUUUUSSEEEEEE

Swerve Strickland is as talented as anyone else in AEW but he works for a company where pretty much 90% of the roster can do a 450 splash if they wanted to. Being a tremendous wrestler won’t make you stand out much in AEW.

He needed a real feud. And not whatever lazy tag team breakup storyline they were going to run with Keith Lee. An actual blood feud where two men cannot be in each other’s line of sight without violence ensuing. Hangman Page was the perfect dance partner.

This was essentially an AEW World Championship no. 1 contender’s match. Swerve needed to go head-to-head with a former champion to see if he had what it takes and their promo battles leading up to Full Gear were enough to solidify Swerve as the next big thing but this Texas Death Match was his Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 13 moment.

As far as the match specifically went, this is easily one of the best hardcore matches in wrestling history. It made my stomach hurt but the storytelling was strong enough to understand why these two men wanted to rip each other’s flesh off.

The story grants permission for staple guns and barbed wire everything. Hanging Hangman Page was a phenomenal ending to what felt like two men establishing themselves as the best in the world. This beef started over Adam Page being too comfortable with his ‘spot’ and Swerve coming to take it and both men walked away solidified as must-see acts.

Hangman Page being an emotional millennial cowboy/teacher who also happens to compete in the most brutal Texas Death Matches every like, 4 months, is some real Jekyll and Hyde shit.

Tony Khan does an annoying thing where he typically rewards people with a couple weeks off but that’s the last thing Hangman needs right now. Keep him on TV and away from The Elite.

I’d actually love if Swerve was featured as a big-time player on Dynamite and Page became the face of Collision, especially with Bryan Danielson breaking every bone in his body every match.

Hangman against the House of Black or Bullet Club or even Ricky Starks would be incredible.

Swerve has nothing left to prove to me. I know Samoa Joe and Wardlow and Adam Cole are all at MJF’s neck for the title but Swerve deserves next.

Actually, as I type this I’m realizing he’s 1000% going to go back to fighting Dary Allin and Nick Wayne. Yay. Can’t wait. Edge vs. Swerve. That match we’ve all been waiting for.

4. MJF in his John Cena era


Alright, this MJF title run is over. The absurd gymnastics used in Full Gear to make MJF come out on top were nasty and unnecessary.

This is a company built on WRESTLING and MJF has proven time and again he’s capable of that. He and Bryan Danielson had the best Iron Match ever not too long ago. You absolutely do not need to add WWE-style fuckshit to this reign.

It feels like Adam Cole was used for a cheap pop for the fans which is fine but the story of MJF injuring his knee so badly he needed to be immediately brought to the emergency room so Adam Cole, ON CRUTCHES, could take his spot only for MJF to dramatically drive the ambulance back and have a stupid match with Jay White is unfair to the fans intellect and unfair to Jay White.

Swerve and Hangman murdered each other like, 25 minutes earlier and we’re supposed to feel sympathy for MJF having a sore knee or whatever makes no sense.

Jay White and the Bullet Club have been the best part of Collison since episode one. They’re the most entertaining and Jay White is the complete package for a wrestler but he’s being treated like one of the random guys they fed to Triple H during his reign of terror in the mid-2000s when there was a challenger-of-the-month who would lose at the PPV thanks to a Ric Flair low blow or a sledgehammer or both and they’d fade back to the mid-card.

Jay White deserves better. Show the world how good he is. Let him wrestle MJF for real. They’re a week away from MJF asking Jay White what he did to Katie Vick.

There’s a veryyyyy thin line between a strong champion and Super John Cena winning every match.

They are going to make me hate Max with this silly booking. IF ANYTHING, the nonsense in this match should’ve been the Devil coming out and revealing himself or something. MJF jumped off the top rope or outside of the ring and we had to just pretend his knee wasn’t destroyed earlier in the night I guess.

Let’s wrap this up. Let Samoa Joe beat him so we can move on from whatever this is.

 

 

 

Random Stray Thoughts

  • FTR are incredible wrestlers but they seem like they’d be super annoying behind the scenes. They’ve learned under the CM Punk tree. So shout out to them for allowing Ricky Starks and Big Bill to have big tag team title moments against them. They didn’t have to be in this ladder match but they lent their name and credibility to another big win for Starks and Bill.
  • The Young Bucks are in a similar position where they actually seem to recognize no one really likes their schtick anymore so they gave their tag team title opportunity away to Kenny and Jericho. Round of applause to The Bucks and FTR taking a backseat to other guys. Kenny and Jericho are about to give Ricky and Bill their biggest match and they deserve it.
  • Claudio is the KING of the pre-show
  • I keep trying to think who should take the belt off Orange Cassidy and I pray it’s not Swerve. The obvious answer is Takeshita but I think he has some unfinished nonsense with Kenny and Jericho because this Don Callis storyline just will not end. Maybe Danielson gets an AEW belt before he retires? Will Ospreay and Cassidy already put on a banger so maybe one more time for the title? Rush?? It’s going to be Jeff Jarrett, isn’t it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Written by thelesterlee

Creator of Deadseriousness. Diehard Knicks, Yankees and Giants fan who wants to create a sports and pop culture space that isn't the same copy and pasted AI content you see everywhere else.

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