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AEW Full Gear II - 11/7/2020


Dolfan in NYC

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Getting Matt to just pick a body part and pretend it's slowing him down is the crux to a lot of good Young Bucks stuff, so they're coming in from the correct angle to begin with. 

Low-key, the Bucks are the best big match wrestlers in the company in spite of their rep. It's between them and Cody for my money. I just wish all of them would stop being so wish-washy with their characters and trying to do too much. 

Pretending throwing Darby through that piece of cardboard was devastating... lol

Edited by Andy in Kansas
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I went to get food during the Buy-In, but I know Thunder Rosa showed up at the end of it, so there's that. This, coupled with the Nyla/Shida match... I don't know, it feels like we're heading towards a unification match or title vs title down the road. I just can't see showcasing the NWA and its women's title without there being an endgame. Nyla continues to improve every time she has a big match, and that's just shocking to me for some reason. This Nyla versus early-to-mid 2019 Nyla is like night and day. Shida is Shida, she's great. Sometimes seems apprehensive in-ring (so do a lot of the women), but I generally enjoy the women's division.

FTR/Bucks lived up to the hype, I thought. I didn't need the Bucks to win, I thought a time limit draw would have worked as a way to avoid the Bucks losing and being stuck with that dumb stipulation, and keeping the belts on FTR for a little longer to build up to a rematch. But wherever the booking goes, the match was pretty fucking great.

Sammy/Hardy was fun. I didn't care for the call back to the All Out incident, but it was maybe a minute out of otherwise really fun and wacky match that was a nice change of pace. GANGREL! Two versions of Shane Helms! Roman Candle war! "Get up Sammy, or old people are going to think this is a mudshow!"

Hangman/Omega was good, not the 5 star classic or whatever it could have been, but I really enjoyed it. Hangman came THIS CLOSE to reversing the One Winged Angel. He held his own, which isn't a surprise to anyone really. I'm slightly disappointed Hangman didn't win, but I see where they're going with the story (maybe). Young Bucks have the tag titles, sooner or later Omega will win the World title... that just leaves Hangman out in the cold, still doubting himself and looking to conquer his demons and get another shot. I love how he didn't come onto the stage post-match FTR vs. Young Bucks, he was just lurking in the tunnel watching his "friends" celebrate their success. I realize this isn't what everyone wants from Hangman Page's story right now, and that's fine, but I think it'll work out in the end. Once he beats Omega finally for the title, and Cowboy Shit is back... it's going to be great. And hopefully in front of an audience, too. I'm sure @just drew isn't very happy right now, though. But it is what it is.

And then there's Moxley/Kingston. Just nasty, nasty stuff. Especially the rubbing alcohol stuff. Very stiff looking strikes and moves, mixed with plunder and blood. Right up my alley. Bummed Kingston lost, but that look in his eyes, almost crying, looking at Bryce Remsburg, and then saying I Quit all somber and shit? Oh man, that gets me right in the feels. PAC returns, takes control of the family, and Fenix and Eddie turn face and feud with them? Yeah, sign me up. 

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And then there was some shit I really didn't like or was just lukewarm on.

Cody/Darby was whatever, I'm glad Darby finally won but it's too little too late. I'm starting to see the complaints about Cody, because his character is all over the place and it doesn't make any sense. I hated the post-match thing with Darby and Cody giving the belt to him. I like Brian Cage and Ricky Starks, but continuing this feud isn't what I want either. The only person involved in any of this that I want to see get some shine is Will Hobbs, and that's unlikely to happen with an EVP and bigger names than him involved.

Another whatever match was Jericho/MJF. I'm ready for babyface Jericho, and I don't like the old school throwback way of wrestling that MJF does. I will say, though, despite whatever shitty political beliefs Jericho the person might have, inside of AEW he's doing everything right. Hasn't won a PPV match all year, since losing the title he's done nothing but work with unestablished talent and put them over. Good for him. I'm ready for an eventual Wardlow/Hager match, even though Hager is pretty boring. I just really like Wardlow and I'm ready for that story with MJF to explode already.

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I didn't mind the finish. Cash getting too cocky and trying to beat the Bucks at their own game after years of being taunted by them from afar? Yeah, I'm okay with that. It's not like FTR was busting out shooting star presses and phoenix splashes for the entire match.

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First and foremost - Young Bucks vs. FTR was as good as the build should have been. There's a babyface version of the Bucks that work around a Matt Jackson that's willing to sell, and we got that. All the signifying that went into the nearfalls felt earned and appropriate. The finish was, psychologically, a hand of five aces, I don't care what other people say. FTR flipped once and lost. A superkick won a match. That's great. And I like any match with a heat segment based around a bloody hand.

Omega vs. Hangman was the Big Match Kenny spectacle we better get used to enjoying again. These kinds of matches aren't a matter of pacing, they're a matter of pace., y'know? Kenny's biggest strength is knowing when to cut out the fat between spots, providing car explosion after car explosion in a way that feels relatively natural. I really appreciated Don Callis on commentary, political implications aside it added to the feeling of "the old Kenny" dusting himself off to rule the world again. I fully expect him to have the belt by the end of the next PPV. 

Cassidy vs. Silver was an appropriate cooldown after Kenny/Page, where the first five minutes of comedy let us catch our breath and the last moments let Silver flex some legitimacy / little big man offence before the inevitable. Cody/Darby was just two guy who gel, doing their thing and leading to the right finish. Shida/Rose was better than I expected, in the kind of way where I wonder why I ever doubted it? Hardy/Guevara or Jericho/MJF are my picks for worst of the night, despite having lots of worthwhile elements. I don't get the booking, but it might make more sense after what looks like an Inner Circle breakup/re-organization and Sammy face turn next year. Jericho looked to be completely on with his mind, enthusiasm and character but his body looked bad. He looked blown up early... like, his top-rope Frankensteiner looked great but his punches looked like shit. MJF was clearly wrestling one of his idols and seemed star-struck. A rematch might need a gimmick, main event Jericho singles matches might be a thing of the past.

Moxley/Kingston was pure Steakhouse Pro Wrestling with a Baked Potato on the Side.  Great stuff. Fed my soul. I'm going to be critical of several elements, though. Where was the MICROPHONE? For a match that was clearly trying to reach the heights of the Big Two I Quit matches (do I have to name them?), did AEW forget how much those matches relied on all-time great promo men gargling out the word "NOOO!" as though their life depended on it? And I understand why Eddie Kingston busted out his Misawa cosplay gear. I understand the hubris of a once-desperate man suddenly thrust into the spotlight, how that kind of man would misinterpret the biggest match of his life as a "Main Event World Title Match!" instead of the drag-out fight that the stipulation implied. There's three or four levels of depth there that the average man isn't going to understand, they're going to see a man giving the performance of his life and think he looks like the Green Ranger with a muffin top. Not that Misawa didn't have a muffin top, but I digress. Kenny coming to the ring like he's dressed for Planet Fitness is a bad look too. The costume department needs to tell people what to wear, it's common sense.

Great card. Still felt long, but a great card by any measure.

Edited by John E. Dynamite
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Oh yeah, I forgot about Silver/OC. I love that after OC beats AEW's first World champion in Chris Jericho, they don't immediately move him into a feud with someone like Moxley or whatever, but uses that rub he got to transfer a little bit of it over to other guys.

And now presumably a woman, because I'm getting strong hints of Penelope Ford vs OC in our future and I'm here for it, personally.

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Just gonna talk about the main event, because being legit I couldn't give half a shit about anything about Omega & Young Bucks related at this point. I'm here for Eddie Kingston.

 

The main event brawl was everything I wish more wrestling was like now a days. It was a BRAWL. It was hate filled, it wasn't them just trying to set up spots constantly, and it was exactly what I wanted it to be. And unlike when Orange lost the first match to Jericho and I was pissy about it, I have complete confidence that all Kingston needs to be the most over guy on any given week is one good promo.

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Re: Omega-Page, it shouldn't have opened. But there was a lot of fun stuff in there. Brisk pace. Didn't last too long. All of the counters and counters-of-counters were executed crisply. Kenny's talking-to-himself gimmick gave him an opening to easily shrug off slipping on the YOUWILLNOTESCAPE. And the struggle on the OWA was good. Begging for pay-off in an eventual rematch. 

Edited by Andy in Kansas
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2 minutes ago, MrKothoga said:

How is that nonsensical? FTR wanted to proof they're better than the Young Bucks by rubbing it in their face that they can do the flippy shit the Bucks are known for. 

They've never done anything like that in their entire careers as far as I know, and it goes against the entire gimmick of the team.

I get that the idea is they lost because they went outside their comfort zone.  It's just that it was so completely ridiculously far outside of their comfort zone.  The "psychology" is that they utterly took leave of their senses, I guess.

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18 minutes ago, The Natural said:

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Cody...Rhodes!!!

Haven't watch the show, but it sounds quite good so I'll definitely make a point to.

Just wanted to point out how bizarre this chyron is. When you're overall record is 20-2-1, pointing out that you're 17-1-1 in your last 19 is just weird. Why not 9-1 in his last 10 or something?

"Cody has lost twice in his 58 matches....but he's only lost once in his last 47!"

This isn't even a complaint, I just think it is amusingly bizarre.

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1 minute ago, S.K.o.S. said:

They've never done anything like that in their entire careers as far as I know, and it goes against the entire gimmick of the team.

I get that the idea is they lost because they went outside their comfort zone.  It's just that it was so completely ridiculously far outside of their comfort zone.  The "psychology" is that they utterly took leave of their senses, I guess.

I thought it was nonsensical because in a match where umpteen superkicks had already been landed along with tons of other double team moves, it should have taken more than that to end the match.

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This show was easily worth the 50 bucks. The only match I would consider a disappointment would be Jericho vs MJF and even that was passable, plus as has been said before it set up a lot of possible story lines. My heart so badly wanted Kingston to win, but I knew in my head it wasn't going to happen. I don't want to repeat what everyone else has already said so I'll just add that if you didn't watch it, it is well worth ordering a replay on Fite. 

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