Full Gear 2024 Preview - The Test
Modern Marks is a wrestling-focused newsletter written by Rory Young. Follow Modern Marks and Rory on Bluesky.
Today’s Full Gear 2024 PPV is a test. It occurs at a moment of significance. The creative priorities in AEW are materially shifting in a direction atypical to the promotion. TV is providing an increased amount of time for promos and video packages, and TV matches are toning down physicality while amping up scripted drama. This all occurs following the departure of key creative figures Bryan Danielson and Jimmy Jacobs, and the signing of a major new TV contract expanding AEW’s budget tremendously. It’s a moment to question prior assumptions, experiment, and take risks. This is a test — AEW’s test of its audience.
PPVs have largely escaped the shifts and swings that AEW fans have seen through the years on Dynamite and other TV programming. But Full Gear already shows signs of being different. Whether it’s Jon Moxley’s promise of change for the promotion, a segment of the PPV dedicated to a Mariah May and Mina champagne celebration, or the heavy marketing focus on pre-show matchup Q.T. Marshal vs. Costco Guy “Big Boom!” A.J., Full Gear is already testing to see if AEW fans want something with more of a sports entertainment flavor. Just ask actor Paul Walter Hauser, who will be co-hosting Full Gear Zero Hour.
No one is expecting Full Gear to be absent excellent wrestling, of course. With matchups like Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ricochet, and Jay White vs. “Hangman” Adam Page, AEW’s core audience should be sated. It’s more a question of how much will change, how big the changes will be, and most importantly whether the changes are successful from a business perspective, or at least Tony Khan’s perspective.
Tonight may be a glimpse of what’s in store for AEW in 2025 and beyond. It may be AEW testing what fans will pay to see. Regardless, it will hopefully be a great night of wrestling.
Let’s Fucking Go!
Three matches, as previously noted, stand out as guaranteed to deliver greatness on Full Gear’s card. The first is a rerun of a match from Wrestle Dream, Jay White vs. Adam Page. The Wrestle Dream match was already very good, but it was limited by the scope of their feud at the time and a (paltry) 16-minute runtime. Hangman’s likely to be all the more unhinged here, and Jay White is likely to take advantage with his counter-focused style. That should mean bigger and more violent spots. It’s honestly a surprise they didn’t add a gimmick to the match to escalate the violence. This match hopefully goes 20 minutes and ends with Hangman growing that much more unhinged, win or loss.
The next match on the card to get hype for is Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ricochet in a match for the AEW International Championship. Look at their prior match, the 3-way with Will Ospreay, as an example of what to expect. It’d be a surprise if this new match even gets close to the last, Will Ospreay is perhaps the best in-ring performer in the world, after all. But if it’s given 20 minutes, anything is possible. Takeshita is also one of the best in-ring performers in the world too, after all. And Ricochet clearly believes he has something to prove.
The last sure thing on tonight’s Full Gear card, and my favorite match on paper, is Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher. Kyle Fletcher is, even more than Ricochet, exhilarating to watch evolve into one of the best wrestlers in the world the more he’s platformed in AEW. Then there’s Will Ospreay, who has delivered Match of the Year candidates against the Young Bucks, PAC, MJF, Swerve Strickland, Bryan Danielson, and Konosuke Takeshita on PPVs already this year. Hell, he has delivered MOTY candidates both with and against Kyle Fletcher already this year. That history between the two, and the emotional betrayal and rise of hatred developed over the past month, should make this match stand out uniquely. Anything less than exceptional for this match would be a disappointment. I very much doubt anyone will be disappointed, barring an intrusive thought like it being booked as the Full Gear opening match.
Step Up
In the tier of hype just below our most exciting matches are these four Full Gear eyebrow raisers. These are matches that are very likely to be good, but that also have the potential to be something special. Most of the time these matches don’t reach that potential, but they deserve to be acknowledged for it nevertheless.
The TNT Championship match between Jack Perry and Daniel Garcia has easily received the least amount of time of any Full Gear match on Dynamite over the last month. It’s also had a very awkward build, with Jack Perry playing a sort of Joker character where he tries to turn Garcia heel by making him question his own nature. Jack Perry can be incredible in the ring, just look at his steel cage match against Luchasaurus, his 4-way with the other AEW pillars, and his “Real Glass” match against Hook at All In 2023 will always be special. Garcia is a bigger question mark. This is his first PPV on his new contract and he has a lot to prove. But outside of a set of matches against Bryan Danielson he’s struggled to reach that next level of in-ring work. He’s a bit too old-school, a bit lacking in flash. Well, Daniel, this is your chance. Bring out that Bryan Danielson magic. Don’t start a TNT Championship run off a bland PPV match.
As stunted as the Jack Perry vs. Daniel Garcia build has been, it doesn’t hold a candle to the marathon of filler that’s been the build for Mercedes Mone vs. Kris Statlander. Hell, the build in recent weeks has spotlighted Hikaru Shida and Kamille better than Kris and Mercedes. And yet… these are two women who are capable of delivering great in-ring performances. If they’re given time (which is unlikely), and they’re willing to do some big spots and bumps (also unlikely), this could be a classic in the division. Alright, they have their work cut out for them, but the potential is undeniable.
Swerve Strickland is one of AEW’s best in-ring performers and characters. His championship run is one of AEW’s best. And at Full Gear, he faces Bobby Lashley in Lashley’s first proper AEW match. It is going to be a huge test for Lashley, especially after his kayfabe crony Shelton Benjamin looked great in his build before losing to Swerve himself. It’s speculated that Swerve is going to put Lashley over hard in this match. That means it’s up to Lashley to show he truly deserves it. This isn’t WWE, Lashley. Show what you got, and maybe become a legend in a single match.
The last match in this category shouldn’t be here. In my heart. But oh, it truly does belong here. It’s the main event, Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy. These are two of AEW’s most popular performers, but they are also wrestlers who are notoriously up and down when it comes to ringwork. Orange Cassidy especially struggles to consistently impress, especially when his character is in a weird place. And brother, OC’s character is in a weird place right now. Mox, on the other hand, tends to rise to occasions, like his Kenny Omega feud and the better of his CM Punk battles. But, like the worse of his CM Punk battles and his 2024 IWGP run, he’s also quite disappointing when he doesn’t care. One would like to assume that in the main event of a PPV and Mox’s first defense, both would step up. But considering how awkward the build for the match has been, how unclear their respective motivations are, OC’s guaranteed defeat, and how neither has shown much initiative in the past month (OC through poor matches and Moxley through no matches), the hype meter for this match is flagging. It’s still an AEW PPV main event, though. It would be a gutshot for it to suck.
Maybe Next Time
Sometimes Tony Khan’s booking biases and messy priorities put him into a corner and result in PPV matches everyone knows simply don’t have the sauce. Is it inevitable that they’re mediocre or bad? Of course not, but it’d be a shock for them to be otherwise.
MJF vs. Roderick Strong is a match that simply doesn’t need to happen. MJF has been busy doing movies for months now, and has been absent from AEW live TV this entire past month. When he does appear in pre-recorded videos, he’s trying to maintain heat with Adam Cole — not Roddy. This feud is ice-cold. But MJF and Adam Cole are two of Tony Khan’s favorites, despite them being consistent disappointments. They’ll get TV time over other wrestlers forever. And MJF gets a free PPV match against Adam Cole’s buddy because MJF and Adam Cole will still be feuding next month, too. Don’t expect much from this match, except maybe further hints of Adam Cole rebuilding the Undisputed Era and turning heel again.
On a PPV with no other multi-man matches, the 4-way tag team championship looks likely to be in contention for worst on the card. While I’m not a fan of Private Party winning the tag championship, they are not the issue here. Half the teams in this match, The Outrunners and The Acclaimed, are gimmick teams not known for their wrestling. And, as much as I love the House of Black, they aren’t good enough to carry the other tag teams in this match to a workrate clusterfuck. Brody’s going to feast tossing these geeks around, but it’s otherwise difficult to imagine anything more than what you see these teams deliver on any given Rampage. Expect a crowd pop for The Outrunners doing their elbow drop, at least.
Jaw Droppers
Let’s close this out talking through some possible surprises that could happen at Full Gear. The big question for a lot of core AEW fans is whether or not Kenny Omega will be making a return this show. The answer to that is, no, it seems extremely unlikely Kenny will be there tonight. He’ll likely remain absent through his NJPW appearance on January 5, and well past that, too. We all love and miss Kenny, but AEW doesn’t seem particularly driven to bring him back quickly. And maybe that’s for the best, because there will be a lot of angry fans if AEW doesn’t book Kenny’s return well.
There will probably be one big return at Full Gear, though. There have been plenty of hints that Toni Storm will make her dramatic reentrance to AEW today, interrupting Mariah May and Mina’s champagne celebration. She’s been touring the world a bit and taking somewhat of a break, but it was always inevitable that she’d return. Don’t be surprised to see this Toni Storm vs. Mariah May feud last from here through Grand Slam in Australia in February.
Other AEW stars could theoretically make a return at Full Gear. Samoa Joe’s out there somewhere. An optimistic timeline could have Adam Copeland ready to make a runout, and a Jan. 1 show in Asheville, North Carolina hints it’s happening either here or at World’s End. Tay Melo fans may want to watch the pre-show to see if she runs in to protect her former tag team partner Ana Jay. Riho’s broken arm could be healed up by now and if Mercedes wins she’ll need a new rival to feud with. Another exciting injury return is Bandido, who could be featured in a small way if AEW reveals the entrants in this year’s Continental Classic. Lastly, and extremely unlikely, but I would desperately love to see Keith Lee return. Maybe Swerve Strickland needs a partner to save him from Shelton Benjamin’s interference?
As for another type of surprise, there are definitely some names to watch to see if they start or fully turn face or heel during Full Gear. Kamille is the most likely option, as she could turn on Mercedes at a pivotal moment and end up helping Kris Statlander win the TBS Championship. Jack Perry has been trying to convert Daniel Garcia into a heel, but it seems more likely that Garcia will reject Perry’s advances for a triumphant face victory. Adam Cole isn’t booked for the show, but don’t be surprised if he shows up around the MJF vs. Roddy match and hints at a turn. And I’d be remiss not to mention, even if I don’t agree, that some believe Orange Cassidy has been hinting at heelish intentions. One wild theory even claims he could become a Death Rider himself. Lastly, begrudgingly, The Acclaimed has hinted at a breakup for a while with Caster turning on Bowens. Let’s hurry it up so Caster can fuck off already and Bowens can get an opportunity to show what he’s really worth.
If there are any other rumored surprises, they’re not coming to mind at the moment. No HUGE rumors are going around. But the good thing about surprises is sometimes they surprise you.
Final Thoughts
Despite AEW’s efforts over the past month, this is not a PPV where any given matchup stands out to make the PPV feel focused and must-watch. There’s no Bryan Retirement match, no blood feud blowoffs, no dream matchups, no crazy stipulation matches — it’s kind of a dry card! What makes Full Gear attractive is the same thing that makes all AEW PPVs attractive. Odds are, there’s going to be a lot of really fucking good wrestling on this show. Odds are, one or several matches will be Match of the Year-quality experiences. Odds are, you’re going to feel very much like you got your money’s worth.
Yes, larger questions are looming over Full Gear as AEW changes before our eyes. This may be a PPV that fans look back on as a product of those changes, or perhaps a last example of what AEW was like before those changes took root. AEW is testing its audience, but those tests have mostly been exclusive to TV so far. Tonight that could change, or AEW could reaffirm its commitment to PPVs made for marks like me. I admit to having a bit of anxiety over the possibility of PPVs taking on a more sports entertainment vibe, but also acknowledge it’s a bit irrational for now. When it starts, though, it’ll already be too late.
What I want to happen is for AEW’s best wrestlers to yet again punch Tony Khan in the face with the reasons they’re AEW’s best wrestlers. I want Konosuke Takeshita, Will Ospreay, Swerve Strickland, and Adam Page to tell Tony Khan, “You should be building your TV shows around us, our stories, and our matches, and you are making a grave mistake not doing so.” That doesn’t mean Tony will listen. That doesn’t mean Tony will book these wrestlers in a way that enables them to convey that message. But I expect them to deliver it regardless.
And, on top of that, yes, I want more of AEW’s wrestlers on this PPV card to show their in-ring worth, too. There are a lot of wrestlers here that have been disappointing lately, who haven’t worked up to expectations, and who you know could. MJF, Jack Perry, Jon Moxley, and even Jay White have all delivered those exceptional, Match of the Year-quality performances before, but don’t seem determined to do so consistently. Mercedes Mone is one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world but has not shown that in AEW yet. Ricochet and Bobby Lashley both get to redefine their identities in AEW but could decide maybe they just want to prove WWE was right about them instead. This show is a test for all of them, too.
Mostly, though, I think this is a card with a huge upside and little downside. I hope Full Gear lives up to that potential and we talk about it as one of AEW’s best for years to come.
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Thanks for reading everyone! Enjoy Full Gear! Expect a post-PPV newsletter with my thoughts next week. Until then, love ya! — Rory