Following one of the most controversial events in the company's three-year history, All Out 2022, All Elite Wrestling would return to PPV with this year's edition of Full Gear, live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Coming from the perspective of someone who was in attendance for the show live, the show delivered across the board, with AEW taking a step in the right direction following one of the few true dark spots on their record at All Out. Featuring the return of The Elite in an utterly insane Trios Match against Death Triangle, a spotlight on a number of homegrown stars in the form of Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, Jamie Hayter, MJF, and The Acclaimed, and hours of genuinely great wrestling, this show will likely go down as one of the best PPVs of 2022.
10 Saraya vs Britt Baker
A heartwarming story heading into the PPV would see Saraya, formerly known as Paige in WWE, returning to the ring at Full Gear for the first time in five years after suffering an injury that was believed to be career-ending. Thankfully, the former WWE Divas Champion would make her return and would face off against one of the faces of AEW's evolving women's division; Britt Baker.
Unfortunately, the match itself would leave a lot to be desired, though a lot of that can be forgiven as Saraya has been on a very, very hard road back to the ring. Following a drug addiction, a massive private photo and video leak, serious depression, and the injury she suffered five years ago, this would be an emotional performance for her, and it did provide glimmers of promise. It also served as yet another example of Britt Baker helping other talent, though it would be the weakest match of the night.
9 Jade Cargill vs Nyla Rose
Undeniably the worst storyline heading into AEW's Full Gear this year, Jade Cargill and Nyla Rose's feud over the TBS Championship was one of the most poorly written storylines in AEW's history, as well as just horribly executed. That did the ladies here no favor, as the crowd would be incredibly dead for this, though it did have to follow both the Steel Cage Match and the insane Trios Championship Match.
Both Jade and Nyla would deliver some of the best looks on the card, with Jade and The Baddies standing out as a group with one of the most captivating and eye-catching looks in the wrestling world. The closing moments of this would be good, but it had a hard time landing with a crowd that also happened to use this match as a bathroom break.
8 The Acclaimed vs Swerve In Our Glory
Rounding out a trilogy of matches, Swerve In Our Glory and The Acclaimed would face off one more time, coming off of All Out and Grand Slam, with the AEW World Tag Team Championship belts on the line once again.
While this would not be the in-ring spectacle that their previous two matches were, it would feature a major storyline development with Keith Lee walking out on Swerve Strickland, refusing to turn to the dark side as Keith would allow Strickland to be pinned by The Acclaimed in the finish.
7 Powerhouse Hobbs vs Samoa Joe vs Wardlow
A battle of the beasts, the TNT Championship would be on the line in this triple threat match that could only be described as beefy men slapping meat. While Wardlow's booking since Double or Nothing has been a point of contention for many fans, this would be a high-profile match for the fan-favorite, with him battling against Powerhouse Hobbs and Samoa Joe.
The big spots would get a great reception from the audience, as would the finish, though a lot of this was hurt by a dull crowd due to its placement on the card. A huge surprise would see Joe win the TNT Championship, now reigning as both ROH Television and TNT Champion!
6 Sting & Darby Allin vs Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett
A match that many sort-of rolled their eyes at was this random tag-team match that saw Jay Lethal teaming up with longtime face of TNA, Jeff Jarrett. The two would face off against the returning duo of Sting and Darby Allin.
Both unshockingly and shockingly, this No DQ Match would deliver quite well during the middle of the show, giving fans some crazy spots with Sting diving off the crowd and Double J nailing Darby mid-air with a guitar shot. Sting and Darby Allin would win, adding yet another notch to their undefeated streak as a team.
5 Chris Jericho vs Sammy Guevara vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Bryan Danielson
While some may lament his reign, since becoming ROH World Champion, Chris Jericho has been putting on banger after banger, beginning with his first match against Claudio Castagnoli and then following it up with bouts against Dalton Castle and Bandido. At Full Gear, The Ocho would put the belt on the line against his protege, Sammy Guevara, and his two rivals, Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson.
With the talent on hand here, it came as no surprise that these four men delivered an incredible title match, featuring a number of big-time nearfalls and false finishes. In the end, Jericho would manage to retain his belt, continuing his reign as he faces off against NJPW's Tomohiro Ishii on Dynamite this week!
4 Luchasaurus vs Jungle Boy, Steel Cage Match
A sleeper hit for certain, this feud has strayed far from the path after Christian Cage's untimely injury ahead of All Out back in September. With a lack of real focus and diminishing results in the storyline, this felt much more like an afterthought than a blow-off to the blood feud between Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus. However, this would open the show and both men would deliver the performances of their careers with a standout Cage Match that rocked the Prudential Center for the opening of the PPV!
Featuring a high level of violence between the former tag-team champions, Luchasaurus would get a chance to once again deliver a great in-ring performance while Jack Perry would showcase why he has been deemed one of the future faces of AEW. Jungle Boy would pick up the win following a crazy Elbow Drop off of the cage, through a table, locking in the Snare Trap to submit Christian's right-hand man.
3 Toni Storm vs Jamie Hayter
Toni Storm has been a godsend for AEW in 2022. Arriving on the scene earlier this year, Storm would be pushed as the fastest-rising star in the women's division from the jump. Despite Thunder Rosa getting injured and preventing Toni from beating her, Storm would wear the AEW Interim Women's Championship with pride and would deliver a reign on the level of Hikaru Shida's reign with the real belt.
Come Full Gear, Jamie Hayter had found herself as the new hottest star in the company, getting massively over from when she arrived last summer to crickets from the crowd, now getting one of the biggest babyface reactions on the entire PPV. These two would go to war in what has to be considered one of the best women's matches of 2022, and possibly the best women's match in AEW history. Hayter would score the huge win, becoming the new Interim Champion as fans look on in hopes that Tony Khan makes her the Undisputed Champion.
2 MJF vs Jon Moxley
Main-eventing the PPV, Jon Moxley would face off against MJF for the second time in their careers, a rematch from the 2020 edition of All Out that saw Max also challenging Moxley for the AEW World Championship. Two years on, MJF would walk into the Prudential Center as the most over star on the entire show, fully embraced by the fans in Newark and those at home. Jon Moxley would be booed out of the building, leading to the champion wrestling as a straight-up heel for a lot of the match.
In yet another moment of Tony Khan showing a great sense of booking on this PPV, he would deliver the goods with another win in favor of what the fans have been demanding, as MJF would dethrone Jon Moxley to become AEW World Champion in a 20+ minute battle that saw Max stick to his word of being The Devil, as William Regal would turn heel to help the young star ascend the throne as the new face of All Elite Wrestling.
1 The Elite vs Death Triangle
Following their suspensions after AEW All Out, The Elite would not be seen or heard from until a few weeks before Full Gear. Cryptic vignettes would begin to air, alluding to The Elite being erased from AEW's history, before the match would be made official. Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks would return to the company at Full Gear to face off against Death Triangle for the AEW World Trios Championship.
Simply put, this was one of the most insane, must-see matches of 2022, with it not only being a spectacular wrestling match featuring some of the top stars in the world but also playing on the history of the Lucha Bros vs Young Bucks and PAC vs Kenny Omega feuds that have been going since 2019. Not only would it deliver in spades. but it would also see a shocking ending with Rey Fenix cheating to win, pinning Kenny Omega to retain the belts as the teams now head into a Best of 7 Series on AEW programming to close out 2022!