Full Gear VI - 11/23/2024

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

49 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Who are you and what have you done with just drew?

;).

It must have been the skeeball. Skeeball is good for everyone's spirits.

[hammerva]

The people involved in the run ims at the end was perfectly fine.  The problem is that it felt like the order was determined by a random generator and everything got fucked up.  Hangman helping Orange makes absolutely no sense 

apparently Darby was driving the car in the crash.   Sometimes management needs to be management and tell their crazy people that a stuntman is fine.  I mean it looked like he was concussed which well no shit he went 30 MPH into a truck

[Overly Critical Man]

Last month, I said the Costco Guys should be the ones to dethrone Moxley and I still don’t see anything to suggest I’m wrong about that.

[Curt McGirt]

11 hours ago, KriskitaKoloff said:

Lashley is a sweaty sweaty man.

FYI he has an actual over-sweating condition that I read about somewhere. I probably have the same thing and it sucks. Your shirt gets soaked through 30 minutes into any physical work and you want to stand in front of a fan the whole time if the room is anywhere near hot. I sympathise. 

Forgot about the nail bit that was fucking nasty. Mox must've spiked the cut on a couple of his fingernails. (There was an episode of Oz where Beecher actually killed a guy by slicing his nails into points and scratching/cutting him to death all over his face and neck, haha.) I really enjoyed that match until the ga-ga started and thought "here we go". Then blowing it up to that extent was kinda crazy. Why of all people was Willow running in?! 

But I'm gonna refrain from bitching anymore. I might actually go back and watch some of it via the usual sources ("In FSB Russia, computer wrestles you!"). 

[southofheavy]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but has Mox bled at all during this angle?

If so, that's an interesting little touch. 

 

Edited November 24, 2024 by southofheavy

[Craig H]

2 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

FYI he has an actual over-sweating condition that I read about somewhere. I probably have the same thing and it sucks. Your shirt gets soaked through 30 minutes into any physical work and you want to stand in front of a fan the whole time if the room is anywhere near hot. I sympathise. 

Forgot about the nail bit that was fucking nasty. Mox must've spiked the cut on a couple of his fingernails. (There was an episode of Oz where Beecher actually killed a guy by slicing his nails into points and scratching/cutting him to death all over his face and neck, haha.) I really enjoyed that match until the ga-ga started and thought "here we go". Then blowing it up to that extent was kinda crazy. Why of all people was Willow running in?! 

But I'm gonna refrain from bitching anymore. I might actually go back and watch some of it via the usual sources ("In FSB Russia, computer wrestles you!"). 

- Willow ran in because she’s also part of the Conglomeration and has been OC’s longest friend that isn’t Dustin.

- Page ran in because he hates everybody and is obsessed with the title.

- Christian ran in because he’s an opportunist and he backed Page down by offering him the first shot. I’d have to rewatch but Page as he was walking off says something like you better fucking give me my shot.

- White ran in on Christian because the two guys White has the most heat with are Page and Christian. After he beat Page I figured next up for White would be Christian to get revenge on him fucking over the Bang Bang Gang.

- Darby attacked for obvious reasons.

[Craig H]

52 minutes ago, southofheavy said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but has Mox bled at all during this angle?

If so, that's an interesting little touch. 

 

Not yet. Moxley vs Danielson had no blood. I assume with his time off that Moxley’s forehead has healed up enough so he doesn’t get busted open as easily.

[A.M.B.]

I always feel pretty out of touch with the usual consensus of AEW shows, so I didn’t know what the reaction to the show would be, but I thought this was one of the better AEW PPVs I’ve seen. Pretty much every match had a clean finish, there wasn’t a bunch of dumb manager bullshit, and when they finally did have that with the Hurt Business, it stood out as unique and offered the show something different. I didn’t love the end of the show, but also didn’t hate it, it just felt like a Dynamite ending.

Sasha/Stat was my motn, I went into it with negative expectations since Stat as a babyface makes no sense to me. I was just watching her turn on their biggest baby face and have a deathmatch with her, that should have been leveraged to make her a better villain. So her underdog work didn’t amaze me or give me a big reason to care, but I thought it was a career performance for Sasha. The match was really patient in its build and structure too, with the big rana off the apron setting up the big control period, instead of just being brushed off and the other guy takes over like I see in so many matches. Loved little things like Sasha screaming after every kick out. 
 

I hate when Meltzer says AEW’s matches all have distinct flavors, while WWE feels like the same thing every match, because I find things to be the opposite. Like Takeshita/Ricochet really fell flat to me because they mainly wrestle one style, that Ospreay just shat all over and rendered everything they did unimpressive. All I watch lately is Big Japan, 2011-2012 era currently, and their cards are always so easy to get through. Rookies beating the shit out of each other, flippy twink boys-love tags, hardcore tag, beefy hoss war, and epic deathmatch main event. Every match has a distinct flavor, serves a purpose, and doesn’t undermine the action of the top two matches. I want to see AEW tone down the “epic” matches and have more of a variety show. Like as a completely out of touch 33 year old who’s only social media is Instagram, I had zero problem with the Costco guys match. It got just as big of a pop as some of the other matches while not burning out the crowd.

Main event was great until the finish. Their match a year ago was maybe my MOTY for AEW in 2023. This was more greatness, but didn’t get to that next level.

There’s always plenty I can nitpick but this show really felt like a step towards righting the ship, with way less interference and shoehorned angles than the usual PPV. Maybe I’m crazy out of touch with that take. I think the damage is done and there’s going to be a big decline in popularity for AEW no matter what, but good booking can stave some of that off.

 

 

[Craig H]

BTW, THEY FINALLY DID IT! It wasn’t Drano, but they did go the Cide/Colt route using chemical cleaner and pouring it on OC’s face and in his mouth.

I’ll be honest - prematch I thought Okada would return to challenge Moxley post match. I’m happy they went the route they did though because it sets up enough for Moxley until he has to face Darby. At a minimum he has to now deal with Christian, White, and Page and you can do any of those on TV or a PPV. Page is veering more and more into early Stone Cold territory by being a heel that’s getting over with fans for just whipping ass even if he’s losing. Christian and White would make for good TV main events although Page or White may be in the CC. Okada too I’m guessing since he already played up he’s the best tournament wrestler in the world.

[John E. Dynamite]

24 minutes ago, A.M.B. said:

There’s always plenty I can nitpick but this show really felt like a step towards righting the ship, with way less interference and shoehorned angles than the usual PPV. Maybe I’m crazy out of touch with that take. I think the damage is done and there’s going to be a big decline in popularity for AEW no matter what, but good booking can stave some of that off.

WWE won this phase of the war in part by courting a fanbase less interested in self-loathing.

An actually good PPV and an important middle act in AEW's current "Misery Era". I expect more rainbows and spirit bombs to happen when that first wave of fresh eyeballs hits on MAX.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

32 minutes ago, Craig H said:

BTW, THEY FINALLY DID IT! It wasn’t Drano, but they did go the Cide/Colt route using chemical cleaner and pouring it on OC’s face and in his mouth.

I’ll be honest - prematch I thought Okada would return to challenge Moxley post match. I’m happy they went the route they did though because it sets up enough for Moxley until he has to face Darby. At a minimum he has to now deal with Christian, White, and Page and you can do any of those on TV or a PPV. Page is veering more and more into early Stone Cold territory by being a heel that’s getting over with fans for just whipping ass even if he’s losing. Christian and White would make for good TV main events although Page or White may be in the CC. Okada too I’m guessing since he already played up he’s the best tournament wrestler in the world.

I loved Moxley and Yuta using the cleaner on Orange. It immediately brought back memories of Homicide/Cabana. In fact, I was there when Homicide poured the Drano down Cabana's throat. That happened in Edison, NJ. 

I also love how many guys Mox has to deal with: Hangman Page, Jay White, Darby Allin, and the story with OC isn't done yet. Mox is going to bring the worst, most vicious side out of OC, just as Homicide brought out of Cabana. 

Edited November 24, 2024 by Nice Guy Eddie

[HumanChessgame]

My interest in AEW is at an all time low, but this was another case of a PPV over-delivering after a lackluster buildup. Part of it may be that I watched it in spurts this afternoon instead of live but just about everything on here was good-great. MJF/Roddy and Perry/Garcia were the only pretty meh things about it, and those matches were fine but have been better TV main events.

I'm not sure if Caster or Bowens have enough to not get lost in the shuffle once their team implodes. They've cooled off tremendously since being saddled with Billy as a comedy duo and this isn't really helping. I'd rather they teased the breakup, then swereved by taking Billy out, saying he was holding them back or whatever and gone to a more serious and aggressive style.

Osperay/Fletcher sounds divisive but I thought it was great. Again, that may be because I didn't watch the show straight through live and it didn't dampen the pace.

Stat/Mone was probably the best match I've seen out of Mone in AEW so far and makes me think Kris is easily the best woman in AEW now, if not one of the better women currently active in the US. I wish she'd won, but I guess Sasha isn't dropping it until a bigger event.

Count me in on not being a fan of the ending schmooz. Initially I didn't think Lashley should have won either, but maybe that's because I'm so used to AEW speed running angles and feuds instead of giving them more time so I guess Swerve goes after the Not Hurt Business more before getting justice for Nana.

 

[Curt McGirt]

1 hour ago, Craig H said:

- Willow ran in because she’s also part of the Conglomeration and has been OC’s longest friend that isn’t Dustin.

- Page ran in because he hates everybody and is obsessed with the title.

- Christian ran in because he’s an opportunist and he backed Page down by offering him the first shot. I’d have to rewatch but Page as he was walking off says something like you better fucking give me my shot.

- White ran in on Christian because the two guys White has the most heat with are Page and Christian. After he beat Page I figured next up for White would be Christian to get revenge on him fucking over the Bang Bang Gang.

- Darby attacked for obvious reasons.

Fuck me. 

Well, it sounds pretty brilliant in retrospect, doesn't it? Not "random generator" at all like it seemed.

[HarryArchieGus]

Part 1 (late, late Saturday)
I start in with Privates v Houses v Acclaimed v Outrunners, and wonder if I mistakenly started with the Zero Hour. I'm really, really hoping for new Tag Champions ASAP. MJF v Roddy was as solid as expected. Pre-match, Max calls AEW 'a dogshit company'? Ugh, WTF!?! That's not good. Mercedes v Stat follows with a total barnburner. Mercedes hit a gear that I assume her apathetic AEW audience was looking for. I never really saw Sasha Banks, so I didn't know this even existed. I'm familiar with her bump machine antics, but her fast offense and counters kinda blew my mind. A breakout performance for the CEO.

Part 2 (Sunday AM)
To no one's surprise, Jay v Hanger put on another tremendous back and forth contest. These guys are absolute pros. Ospreay v Fletcher follows and easily meets my lofty expectations. Poetry in motion! Ospreay is a stunning athlete. What a service he provided here. Fletcher now has everything needed to be thee top guy when they decide they want to crown him. Speaking of crowns, Fletcher has a lot of dumb PPV gimmicks - the crown here, previously the hideous red paint. The Mariah/Mina celebration was perfectly fine. I loved Mina being ready for Mariah's shenanigans. Bring on this battle! Perry v Garcia was good solid stuff. Okay, let's see how 'Danny' does. He doesn't currently feel all that over, but the crowd erupted for the title change. 

Part 3 (Sunday Afternoon)
I had lofty expectations for Takeshita v Ricochet, and I can't say I was disappointed. A strong showing if below their collective average. The match would have benefitted from going on prior to Ospreay-Fletcher. I loved the clean win here. Swerve v Lashley followed and mostly delivered. I hated Lashley, early on, lifting Swerve up at 2. Excalibur tried to save it on commentary as we don't know if Swerve would have kicked out, but it felt pretty definitive, and a poor choice. Regardless, the match was fantastic. Great build to some spectacular spots and a great and reasonable finish. 

Part 4 (Sunday Evening)
Mox v OC was what it needed to be. I loved it up until the arrival of Claudio/Pac. I wanted a bit more of a clever distratction. The suitcase folly led to a nice false finish. They totally had the crowd which is saying something at this stage of the marathon. I hate the Money In the Bank gimmick. I didn't however hate the angle. Willow making a triumphant return in the Main Event makes me happy, and is enough to give a thumbs up. I'm with the previous comment about not needing more vehicular assaults, and would've preferred Darby in the arena. But whatever. Questioning of beats aside, I like what all the post-Main melee sets up. And to no one's surprise this was an incredibly fun AEWPPV!  

[Craig H]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Fuck me. 

Well, it sounds pretty brilliant in retrospect, doesn't it? Not "random generator" at all like it seemed.

That’s the double edged sword of AEW. If you remember all of these details and relationships then it makes sense and is awesome. If you forget or if you’re a newer viewer then it’s going to look like a clusterfuck and it’s not effective as much as it could be.

Everything gets a payoff in time and everything always comes back around. It’s like following high school gossip.

[stuntmanc]

I'm really looking forward to watching this tomorrow when I'm off work.

Dillenger absolutely crushed it Saturday night and I thoroughly enjoyed Pissed Jeans and Red Chord(first time seeing either).  I decided to crowd surf as a 40+ year man and lost my shoe, keys and phone in the process.  Found my keys and shoe, the phone is still in the wind.

Worth it.

[tbarrie]

4 hours ago, Craig H said:

- Willow ran in because she’s also part of the Conglomeration and has been OC’s longest friend that isn’t Dustin.

- Page ran in because he hates everybody and is obsessed with the title.

- Christian ran in because he’s an opportunist and he backed Page down by offering him the first shot. I’d have to rewatch but Page as he was walking off says something like you better fucking give me my shot.

- White ran in on Christian because the two guys White has the most heat with are Page and Christian. After he beat Page I figured next up for White would be Christian to get revenge on him fucking over the Bang Bang Gang.

- Darby attacked for obvious reasons.

I agree with most of this, but I don't think it's accurate to say Hangman is obsessed with the title. For the past year or so now he's pretty much been obsessed with Swerve Strickland. The only interest he's shown in the world title during that time is making sure Swerve doesn't hold it.

That being said, I don't recall Hangman ever being presented as a friend of Moxley or an enemy of Orange. So it's not like his coming out was completely bizarre. But it could use some explanation come Wednesday.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

1 hour ago, StuntmanCrowley said:

I'm really looking forward to watching this tomorrow when I'm off work.

Dillenger absolutely crushed it Saturday night and I thoroughly enjoyed Pissed Jeans and Red Chord(first time seeing either).  I decided to crowd surf as a 40+ year man and lost my shoe, keys and phone in the process.  Found my keys and shoe, the phone is still in the wind.

Worth it.

This is a show I would have liked to go to. How was Dillinger? Did they play any Greg-era material or was it all Dimitri era?

[RazorbladeKiss87]

"He has the Rizz, does it even matter?"- Tony Schiavone, 2024

[COLETTI]

I'm really happy that the overall impression of the show was that it was great, and I hope that in coming weeks we have some actual storyline progression and can really start this supposed new era. I was day-one, but have lost interest in the last couple months. With any luck, that fire is reignited.

[username]

I think what is messing with the post-main chaos is that for whatever reason Page and Christian having any sort of relationship is just the most forgettable detail in wrestling at the moment. Every time they do anything together I see so many people say "why?", heck when I read the write-up for this I said that until someone reminded me. It feels like they purposefully want to keep it vague/don't want to nail down the specifics but they really could use some definitive "these guys are aligned and keep helping each other out" moment as for whatever reason it doesn't stick in one's mind.

[Steventon]

I was pretty mixed on this show, not ga ga for it, not hating it. That said, the crowd felt quiet for a lot of it outside of Ospreay vs Fletcher.

OC's promo about Private Party taking the beating from DR's then going on to win the tag titles... doesn't that kind of prove Moxley right? They needed to get serious to break their ceiling and they did. The story that would have made more sense here would have been if PP then defended against Claudio and Yuta/PAC on this show. #armchairbooking

MJF vs Roddy was a good TV match that was hurt by the obvious outcome and poor angle leading to it. Having Roddy tap clean as a whistle made him feel decidedly not in Max's league - which even if true isn't a great booking outcome.

Mone vs Stat was good, maybe the best match on the show. Agreed with the consensus that they have good chemistry. Stat's babyface turn still feels badly handled and having Mone go over clear was certainly a choice, but hopefully they find a way to run this again.

Liked White vs Hangman a lot though felt like they were working a VERY similar match to Mone vs Stat. Once again, the locker room could probably communicate better with each other on this sort of stuff. Good match, am down for wherever this goes with the main event angle. Perhaps a 4-way at World's End?

Ospreay vs Fletcher was exactly the type of 7 star orgasm match people wanted, and exactly the type of Ospreay match I'm not here for. All flash, no substance. Zero match structure, no prolonged heat, 20+ minutes of Wrestler A hits move, Wrestler B counters and hits move, Wrestler A counters and hits move, etc. Really hard to not sound like that guy but the jumping tombstone off the apron to the steel steps is the kind of spot that really should be a stretcher job, not a move that you then continue on with another 5 minutes after. Fletcher going over was the right move to establish him atleast.

Perry vs Garcia was shockingly dull and the worst match of the main card. Right outcome, difficult spot following Ospreay vs Fletcher, but yeah this wasn't a match to get excited about. With Bucks out and Okada seemingly MIA, assume Perry also takes some time out.

Lashley vs Swerve was good and probably the best use of Lashley. He is not a dude who should be doing long workrate matches, so a sub-15 minute deal with a lot of crash, bang, wallops is optimal, even if he still sat in restholds for a good portion of the match. The right call having him go over on the assumption Swerve wins the war later.

Main event was a good match, though I'd have a hard time telling it from their previous series off memory. OC being baited into working Moxley's type of match was a good story, and I hadn't noticed about Moxley not bleeding yet in this run so good shout @southofheavy. The run-ins were predictable had no heat, apart from Willow, but probably needed to get home the point Mox was nearly done for. Will be interesting to see how involved Willow/Shafir becomes and if Willow can get anything halfway decent out of Marina. The ending angle was... good in theory but executed awkwardly? Multiple challengers causing chaos is always fun, but having 2 heels attack Moxley felt like the wrong way to do this. Darby crashing his car to end the show was a bit of a turd but at least the end game is clearly Moxley vs Darby still.

Edited November 25, 2024 by Steventon

[Craig H]

15 hours ago, tbarrie said:

I agree with most of this, but I don't think it's accurate to say Hangman is obsessed with the title. For the past year or so now he's pretty much been obsessed with Swerve Strickland. The only interest he's shown in the world title during that time is making sure Swerve doesn't hold it.

That being said, I don't recall Hangman ever being presented as a friend of Moxley or an enemy of Orange. So it's not like his coming out was completely bizarre. But it could use some explanation come Wednesday.

To me, I think he's obsessed with the title as much as he's obsessed with being booed when he was a face or at least the two are tied together. Hangman's entire feud with Swerve hinged on Page thinking he should be champion and he was worthy of being a champion and Swerve should never be a champion. After all, he took a loss in the 3 way for the championship for the sole purpose of preventing Swerve from winning. Hell, it some respects, he cares more that Swerve or no one else should be champion more than him because they're not worthy of it. He is the anxious millennial cowboy after all so the dude is not of the right mind. Him coming out seemed like another wrinkle to Page where he wasn't going to let this bullshit that Swerve would do continue and then found himself conflicted face to face with Moxley.

I do think it does require some explanation on Dynamite. It could be something as simple as just one line from him. Now, past experience dictates we're probably not going to get that mention right away or they'll do the fucking thing they need to stop doing which is put the interview or explanation up on YouTube. But everything looked like Hanger trying to position himself as the next challenger, whether if it was him taking on Moxley or letting Christian use his contract so Hangman would get the first shot at Christian. He does feel a lot like this:

"Do I want to beat you, on a personal level, oh hell yeah I do. But on a professional level, which bleeds over into my personal existence, I NEED to beat you Rock. I need it more than anything you could ever imagine."

https://youtu.be/tgBtU4ZscmE?si=-l5LAODMNvBhWPzV&t=537

[Technico Support]

I just want to nitpick and mention that QT's teeth look so weird and unnatural.  He did that thing where he got some money and decided to fix his teeth, so he capped them all.  Problem is, instead of picking a natural color, he went with "AirPod Case White," so he looks like he has a mouth full of Chiclets. 

Edited November 25, 2024 by Technico Support

[A.M.B.]

16 hours ago, Craig H said:

That’s the double edged sword of AEW. If you remember all of these details and relationships then it makes sense and is awesome. If you forget or if you’re a newer viewer then it’s going to look like a clusterfuck and it’s not effective as much as it could be.

Everything gets a payoff in time and everything always comes back around. It’s like following high school gossip.

 5 years later I’m still waiting for them to pay off (or even acknowledge) the first rivalry they ever ran in Hangman vs. MJF.