Tonight is the night. AEW Full Gear is the first All Elite Wrestling PPV to take place since the inception of Dynamite, and we are but hours away from it now. It’s a landmark occasion, and I’m taking a look at every match announced for the show, one by one. I’m Jordan Huie of the Overtimer and here’s what we’re looking forward to later tonight!
We’re finally here. Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega, one-on-one. And they’ll be holding nothing back.
Unsanctioned “Lights Out” Match: Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley
There’s a fair bit of talk of whether or not this or the AEW World Championship match should headline. It’s the usual conversation of whether putting the title on last is mandatory even if the match itself would struggle to follow what came before it. But the thing is, to me, this is very simple.
A) In my estimation, the only reason this is an Unsanctioned match in the first place is to allow an easy out. By rule, the Lights Out match technically takes place after the event closes. It’s unofficial, it’s the post-show. This creates a loophole where they can call the AEW World Title match the real main event, yet still hold this match after it.
B) I’ve predicted a reeeeaaaaal heat-seeking ending for that Cody/Jericho match. Should it come to fruition, it’d be a super downer to end a PPV on. An awesome cliffhanger, admittedly, but the general rule of thumb is to let the fans leave happy, especially with a major event like this. With Mox and Omega, I feel like no matter who wins, people won’t be disappointed. It’s a higher note to go out on by default.
Thus, I feel comfortable saying this match will go on last.
And as well it should because as great as the rest of the card looks, on paper there’s no reason for this to be anything other than an easy match of the night. The atmosphere should be electric, the action chaotic. This will be bloody, brutal and captivating. These two are going to go to war. Anything less would be beneath them.
AEW Full Gear in some ways feels like a make-up show. Hangman Page and PAC were supposed to square off on PPV about half a year ago, and it’s finally happening tonight. This bout, similarly, was supposed to take place in August. That was gonna be a straight match, with this likely being the intended escalating rematch. Either way the build was clearly too violent for a regular match and this allows Moxley to play to his every strength, in addition to letting them play around with the card structure. So it’s a good move all around.
This isn’t the easiest match to call, it almost feels to me like Kenny should win. But ultimately, my prediction boils down to considering this an unofficial No. 1 Contender’s match. I can’t help but think that Jericho is retaining, and if so, I don’t see them going back to Jericho/Omega quite yet. Probably not until the year’s out at the very least. So that means Jon Moxley goes over and is the next-in-line to challenge.
AEW Full Gear takes place November 9th in Baltimore, Maryland out of the Royal Farms Arena. It airs live on traditional PPV in America and on FITETV internationally.
