It's November and you know what that means! It's time for AEW Full Gear 2025!
The seventh (SEVENTH!!) annual Full Gear is this Saturday and while not a crazy loaded show, and while the build has been a little haphazard past the top few matches, this show looks pretty great on paper. Plenty of quality graps on tap for us sickos and the company is still getting by just fine despite multiple top stars being absent.
Let's get into it....
National Championship Casino Gauntlet
Okay, not sure why we need yet another championship but supposedly this one will actually be defended all over the world, in lots of different promotions (Wasn't that the intent for the All-Atlantic Title that is now part of Okada's Unified Title?). Thus far only five names have been announced: Bobby Lashley at #1, Shelton Benjamin at #2, Speedball Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight, and Ricochet. AEW overdoes the shit out of these gauntlet matches but they're always a fun watch. Seeing Lashley and Benjamin lock up to kick this one off should be interesting - who's gonna sell?? Ric, Knight and Bailey will provide the flashy moves. If I'm booking this, Ricochet steals the win and becomes the inaugural champ.
Pick: Ricochet
Timeless Love Bombs vs. Babes of Wrath vs. Sisters of Sin vs. Megan Bayne & Marina Shafir
The four remaining teams in the Women's Tag Title tournament will face off in a four-way, with the winners getting to pick the stipulation for their semifinal match. Kind of a weird stip, and I was hoping we'd see the semis and finals on this show, which would've meant four women's matches, but alas... Anyway this should be a fun one. I have to think Timeless Love Bombs end up winning the whole tournament (Toni being an inaugural Tag Champ makes those titles immediately important), so I think Megan and Marina probably win this match to build to that semifinal. It's odd that TLB vs. M&M isn't gonna be the tournament final, kinda seems like anything else is a little anticlimactic.
Pick: Megan and Marina
Darby Allin vs. Pac
This one stems from last week's Blood and Guts match, where Pac tossed Darby off the entranceway through a flaming table. Should be an excellent singles match and Pac has basically challenged Darby not to use any of the bells and whistles he's known for but to beat him in a straight up wrestling match. Might make sense to have Pac win this one and have Darby win a rematch, but I have a feeling Darby wins here.
Pick: Darby
No Holds Barred: Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O'Reilly
So this one is NHB but the Fletcher-Briscoe match is No DQ, isn't that basically the same thing? Anyway, this Mox-KOR mini-feud has been fun, with Kyle getting the better of Mox at every turn. I think Mox probably gets some payback here but they've done a great job of making Kyle's submission holds look deadly and also making everyone buy the idea that Mox could tap out at any time.
Pick: Moxley
$1,000,000 Match: Kenny Omega & Jurassic Express vs. Josh Alexander & The Young Bucks
The story here is "Will Matt and Nick join the Don Callis Family?" They've been teasing a Bucks babyface turn for weeks, and since the opposing team includes two of their former friends, that's clearly what they want us to believe will happen. A month or so ago I figured the men's Blood and Guts would be the Callis Family vs. Kenny, Matt, Nick, Jack and Luchasaurus. Were the Bucks to turn babyface they could still book that ten-man in some form. If they join the DCF instead I'm not sure where the feud goes from there, as Kenny and Jurassic Express would be very much outnumbered. I think Team Kenny wins the million dollars so the Bucks are that much more tempted to join Callis out of financial desperation. But I think the Bucks probably choose friendship in the end.
Pick: Kenny, Jack & the Dinosaur
AEW Tag Team Championship: Brodido vs. FTR
This should be an excellent tag match but might also be the toughest one to call. Brodido haven't been champs very long but FTR are being positioned as the top heel team once again. I'm just trying to think where each team goes from here after a loss. If Brodido retains they don't have a lot of heel teams left to challenge them - there's basically Gates of Agony and Big Bill & Bryan Keith. If FTR become champions they'll have Jurassic Express, The Bucks (presumably), The Hurt Syndicate, JetSpeed, The Bang Bang Gang, The Outrunners, and The Acclaimed (if they ever get their shit together). Seems like the chess pieces are better positioned for heel champs.
Pick: FTR
No DQ TNT Championship: Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe
These two always make magic, and with no disqualification the safety rails are off. Kyle leads their series 3-2, so I expect Mark to FINALLY win the big one and even the score. Not sure what stip they'd have for their inevitable seventh match, but we'll blow up that bridge when we get there. I expect this to be a near-show-stealer.
Pick: Briscoe
AEW Women's World Championship: Kris Statlander vs. Mercedes Moné
Speaking of magic, Stat and Mercedes have had two surprise bangers on PPV thus far, and this should be no different. Their first match was a full year ago, their second eleven months ago, and in both cases they more than won over a tepid crowd. Now with plenty of juice behind their feud, this third outing should reach another level. Oh, and Kris will finally get a win over Mercedes.
Pick: Kris retains
AEW Men's World Championship Steel Cage: Hangman Page vs. Samoa Joe
The first match between these two was very good but left plenty of room for something more. Here is the something more. Page reminded us all that the last time he was in a steel cage things got crazy violent, so I expect loads of crimson. I just hope no one tries to dive off the top again, because Jesus.... This should be a great, brutal fight and further establish Page as the man.
Pick: Page retains
Very strong lineup despite Ospreay, Swerve and MJF being away, and Okada and Takeshita not being on the main card. I expect all the top matches to deliver big and some of the lower card matches to overachieve. Looking forward to this year's Continental Classic starting next week......
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