For those not in the know, AEW tends to hold media scrums after major events. This consists of key talent and names speaking to the wrestling press. They’re generally a good place to hear some insightful comments and occasionally get some news. Last night’s PPV, AEW Full Gear was no exception, so allow me to briefly summarize what went down. Notes will be sorted by who was being interviewed at the time.
Chris Jericho:
- When asked about MJF potentially being a member of the Inner Circle now, Jericho didn’t confirm this. However he made it sound as though new members could be added and MJF would be their kind of guy. Also implied that they considered adding women to the fold so as to represent the Inner Circle in that division, bringing up Bea Priestley and Jamie Hayter as possible candidates.
- When asked about the newly announced rankings, Jericho balked at the tag rankings, pointing out that he and Sammy Guevara were undefeated in tag action and weren’t on them. He put forth the challenge for SCU to defend against the two of them, wanting yet more gold for his stable.
SCU:
- The trio made it clear that the Freebird Rule was not active in AEW. So Scorpio and Kazarian will be the champs going forward, they’re the ones with their names on the plates. Daniels will not be defending the titles during the reign.
- Daniels said he was going against doctor’s orders but was itching to get back into the ring and facing Pentagon. He also noted he’ll “find his own belt” and intimated that he’d like to challenge for the world title at some point, but also wouldn’t protest challenging for a rumored secondary title. (There have been many hints from Cody that establishing a Television title fairly soon is in the works.)
- After hearing of Jericho’s challenge, Scorpio and Kazarian were quick to accept and put their titles on the line against them.
Hangman Page:
- Hangman noted that during his rather physical match with PAC at AEW Full Gear, he suffered a stinger, finding his hands becoming numb at one point. However he made it clear he was fine and wouldn’t be missing any time.
- In spite of finally getting the one-on-one win over his nemesis, Page was still not done, requesting a rubber match between the two. They are 1-1 in AEW, though at the start of all this, Page did get a DQ win over him at a WrestleGate event.But that really wasn’t much of a legit win, and of course wouldn’t be reflected on their AEW win/loss records anyhow. A match between the two of them was then confirmed for the next episode of AEW Dynamite.
Tony Khan:
- The owner of AEW addressed a reported fight that broke out between Jimmy Havoc and Excalibur in a restaurant earlier in the week. He downplayed it, saying it wasn’t much of a fight, had seen worse in hockey and both American and European football. Says it was handled and everything’s cool between them now.
- Suggested that Canada had a good shot of being the site of AEW’s first non-US show, though nothing was ready to be announced yet.
- Confirmed a personal theory of mine that Britt/Bea was intended to be on the AEW Full Gear main card, suggested that it was swapped with another match that was going to be on the Buy-In (likely Janela/Spears) for some kind of personal issue that, from what it sounds like, meant someone had to go on later or earlier. It’s not totally clear, but that’s what I’m gathering from the statement.
- When asked if the circumstances of Cody’s loss would nullify the stipulation of the match, Tony said his understanding was that it didn’t change anything. Cody’s stip was that if he lost he’d never challenge for it again and as far as he knows, he’s sticking by it.
- Continued pushing the plan of four big shows, done quarterly per year. Suggested that the next PPV, for Q1 of next year, should be announced fairly soon.
Videos of the full interviews below, courtesy of the Fightful Pro Wrestling YouTube channel:
