Full Gear Preview/Predictions and some back story for those who don't tune in every week:
The Elite vs Death Triangle (c) - AEW World Trios Championship
Back story
Death Triangle vs The Elite is a feud that dates back to the early days of AEW. PAC and Omega have a long, storied history, as do the Lucha Bros and Young Bucks. They have battled over the World Title and Tag Titles on numerous occasions, but this will be their first clash over the Trios titles.
The Elite won the inaugural Trios tournament to become champions in September, but were immediately suspended and stripped of their titles pending an investigation regarding their role in the real-life backstage incident between them and CM Punk after All Out. Death Triangle ended up winning the Trios titles in their absence, but the Elite are returning now, and they want their titles.
Death Triangle has been teasing dissension with PAC using some nefarious methods to win his singles matches and Fenix resisting. I could see Death Triangle retaining in the short term (PAC cut a killer promo on Wednesday), but the Elite were always meant to have this Trios title run, and a Death Triangle breakup seems imminent.
Still, maybe Fenix and Penta embrace PAC’s nefarious ways to help them retain which builds to an even bigger match and feud with The Elite over the Trios titles.
Prediction
The Elite
“Jungle Boy” Jack Perry vs Luchasaurus - Cage Match
Back story
I’m fairly certain that this is the longest running rivalry in AEW with this storyline having roots that go back well over a year.
At Full Gear 2021, Christian Cage teamed with Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) in a win over Adam Cole and the Young Bucks in what turned out to be an absolute banger of a match, and entrenched Christian as an ally of Jungle Jack and Luchasaurus. Christian went on to manage Jurassic Express to the tag titles, but after losing those titles, Christian destroyed Jack and revealed that he had harbored animosity toward Jungle Boy dating back to May 2021 in the Casino Battle Royale at Double or Nothing when Jack eliminated Christian to win a title shot.
Luchasaurus, convinced that Jack was the weak link in their team, sided with Christian, and has turned into a monster heel. The two have met once in singles action, with Luchasaurus coming out on top with a little help from Christian.
With the cage match stipulation, I expect Jack to finally get his win in this feud, and to move toward his eventual blow-off match with Christian.
Prediction
“Jungle Boy” Jack Perry
Swerve in our Glory vs The Acclaimed (c) - AEW World Tag Team Championship
Back story
Swerve in our Glory (Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee) lost the tag titles to The Acclaimed about two months ago partially due to some interference from Billy Gunn, manager of The Acclaimed. Swerve was already leaning toward the dark side in the build to that match, but has completely entrenched himself as a heel in the time since. He’s cheated to win matches, and even kidnapped and tortured Billy Gunn. Keith Lee has consistently expressed his disapproval with Swerve’s tactics, and has remained a face. This leads me to believe that The Acclaimed take the win here, which leads to a Swerve vs Lee feud. Still, Bowens is selling a shoulder injury after his match with Swerve on Dynamite, and if Swerve in our Glory is on the same page, they could get their gold back.
Maybe Lee turns to the dark side as well, or just accepts Swerve’s tactics as long as it helps him grab some gold. Still, my bet is on The Acclaimed to retain and move toward a feud with FTR after they dispatch the Ass Boys.
Also, if you haven’t seen The Acclaimed’s music video from Wednesday, I’d highly recommend checking it out.
Prediction
The Acclaimed
Jamie Hayter vs Toni Storm (c) - Interim AEW Women's World Championship
Back story
Toni Storm is considered the Interim champ because the lineal champ, Thunder Rosa, got hurt in mid-August. Storm won a 4-way match at All Out in September against Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, and Jamie Hayter.
Hayter has had a long, but complicated, alliance with Britt Baker. While Britt has risen to the top of the division, Hayter has been relegated to her tag partner and backup.
Still, Hayter and Storm have plenty of history of their own. This will be their 9th match with each other in the last six months, but only their second singles encounter. Hayter has been on the losing end of all but one of their eight previous matches.
The crowd has been begging for a Hayter face turn for months, but they’re really behind Storm as well. Should be a split crowd. This is a tough one to predict with Hayter having a lot of momentum behind her, but it seems like they want Storm to eventually fight with her former tag partner, Thunder Rosa, to unify the interim and lineal titles. I’ll go with Hayter because she is ridiculously over right now, much like The Acclaimed were when they put the belts on them.
Prediction
Jamie Hayter
Bryan Danielson vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Sammy Guevara vs Chris Jericho (c) - ROH World Championship
Back story
Jericho won the title from Claudio about two months ago, and has since announced his intent to destroy everything ROH stands for. This has led to some confrontations with Bryan Danielson, a ROH legend and stablemate of Claudio in the Blackpool Combat Club. Most of the interactions with Danielson have involved Jericho Appreciation Society member, Daniel Garcia, who teased a face turn before ultimately siding with Jericho again.
Still, since re-aligning with Jericho, Garcia has been mostly absent from this feud, with fellow JAS member, Sammy Guevara, being the one at Jericho’s side. I think that’s something to keep an eye on here.
Claudio picked up the submission victory over Jericho in a tag match on this week’s Dynamite that involved Guevara and Danielson. Danielson recently won a 2 of 3 falls match with Guevara as well.
As I’ve already mentioned, Claudio and Danielson are stablemates, as are Jericho and Guevara. The BCC is no stranger to competing within their ranks, but Jericho has insinuated that he expects Guevara to lay down for him if the opportunity presents itself.
All that said, it doesn’t feel like the time for Jericho to drop the title. If it is, I think it goes to Claudio. Still, I think Jericho holds on and continues his Ring of Jericho run.
Prediction
Chris Jericho
Nyla Rose vs Jade Cargill (c) - TBS Championship
Back story
Jade is the undefeated TBS champion, and has been built up as a heavily-protected star in the women’s division. Nyla is a former AEW Women’s champion, and multi-time contender.
These two became involved with each other when Nyla stole the TBS Championship from Jade and began presenting herself as the champion, even defending it.
Jade is destined for big things in AEW, and she’s not losing this one. However, this should be one of the more competitive matches we’ve seen from Jade. It will be interesting to see how she’s grown in the ring as she’s still quite inexperienced as a former college basketball player.
Prediction
Jade Cargill
Powerhouse Hobbs vs Samoa Joe vs Wardlow (c) - TNT Championship
Back story
After parting ways with Team Taz partner, Ricky Starks, P-P-P-P-Powerhouse Hobbs has set his sights on Wardlow’s TNT Title. Wardlow and Samoa Joe were actually aligned with one another until the last two weeks, going by the team name WarJoe. However, Joe grew tired of Wardlow’s rants about wanting every title and claiming to be the top dog in the company while never giving Joe his flowers.
This match should be a spectacle with three of the largest, and best athletes in the company. Joe has a storied history in triple threat matches dating back to his X-Division days in the early 2000’s.
This will be the epitomous “big meaty men slapping meat” match, and is honestly one of my most anticipated. I could see them having Wardlow pin Joe to give Hobbs a reason to get a singles match, but personally, I think Hobbs is the guy to win it right now with a ring busting SPINEBUSTAHHHH.
Prediction
Powerhouse Hobbs
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs Saraya
Back story
Saraya, formerly known as Paige in WWE, hasn’t wrestled a match in nearly 5 years due to a severe injury. Britt Baker was the first woman signed to AEW and has a good argument as the biggest women’s star in the company.
Saraya made her AEW debut about a month ago and immediately set her sights on shaking up the division by confronting Britt, who taunted her for weeks that Saraya was not cleared to wrestler. So, obviously, Saraya was then cleared to wrestle.
What’s interesting here is that fans have not fully bought into Saraya, and many have backed Britt throughout their promo battles. Many have speculated on a potential double-turn during the match which would also involve Jamie Hayter, who has been teasing a face turn herself.
This one is a true toss up to me. Maybe I’m just blinded because I’m fully behind Britt in this one. That probably means Saraya is going to win, but I’ll go D.M.D. anyways because I’ll be pissed if I predict Saraya and Britt wins.
Prediction
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.
Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal vs Darby Allin and Sting
Back story
Darby Allin defeated Jay Lethal six weeks ago on Dynamite. Sting has been absent from Darby’s side for a while with Darby explaining that he wanted to prove himself alone for the time being (even though he’s done that before as TNT Champion).
Following his defeat, Lethal and his stablemates, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh, began targeting Darby. They teased a special guest that would be the key to defeating Darby.
During their rematch a few weeks ago, Lethal defeated Darby when a man in a Sting mask caused a distraction. The man in the mask turned out to be a decoy, hired by Lethal. The true reveal was J-E-Double F J-A-Double R-E-Double T sneaking up behind Darby post-match and hitting him with the old acoustic guitar to the dome.
Jeff Jarrett has a lot of history with Sting, dating back to WCW and continuing in TNA. Sting, who has only competed in tag matches since debuting in AEW, is undefeated in the company.
Tough to see them handing Sting his first loss in this match, so I feel liek the result here is fairly predictable. However, they could always pull the trigger on Darby abandoning Sting or just flat out turning on him.
I’m not betting on anything crazy here though. Darby and Sting win in what should be an entertaining match.
Prediction
Darby Allin and Sting
MJF vs Jon Moxley (c) - AEW World Championship
Back story
Moxley won a tournament for the vacant title following the injury and suspension of CM Punk following All Out.
MJF returned after a lengthy hiatus to win the Casino Ladder Match at All Out, which guaranteed a future world title opportunity. He won with the help of Stokely Hathaway and The Firm (Ethan Page, Lee Moriarty, The Gunns, W. Morrissey).
In the time since, MJF has bided his time, claiming he would eventually pick his spot at an opportune time. Along the way, he has had a few wars of words with William Regal, mentor of Jon Moxley and had spurned a young MJF’s attempt to get signed by WWE. Regal goated MJF into wanting to beat Moxley at full strength, and announcing his title cash-in at Full Gear.
Since that announcement, MJF has discarded Stokely Hathaway and The Firm due to them wanting to weaken Mox before the match. This led to them beating MJF down a few weeks ago. Still, questions remain about whether or not they are still in cahoots with MJF.
Many are also questioning whether Regal might turn on Mox to align to a young man that he once saw a world of potential in, MJF.
MJF has promised that he won’t need to use his Dynamite Diamond Ring to win the match, but maybe he’s lying, maybe he’ll use Regal’s knucks, or maybe he’ll pin Moxley clean 1-2-3 in the middle of the ring.
Like most, I’m predicting an MJF victory. It’s his time to win. However, I have no idea how it’s all going to go down.
Prediction
MJF
