Ospreay and Fletcher Steal PPV and Largest Takeaways from AEW Full Gear 2024 Outcomes

Saturday night time, AEW descended upon Newark, New Jersey for this yr’s Full Gear pay-per-view.

With no Younger Bucks, Kenny Omega or Kazuchika Okada on the cardboard, this was one of many first main occasions with out The Elite’s presence in fairly a while.

Jon Moxley’s Dying Riders have been operating roughshod over your complete AEW roster in latest weeks, and that led to Orange Cassidy lastly stepping as much as problem him for the World Heavyweight Championship in protection of AEW.

The PPV additionally included bouts for the tag, TNT, TBS and worldwide titles along with a handful of non-title matches.

Let’s check out a few of the largest takeaways from the sixth annual Full Gear PPV.

Here’s a full rundown of the outcomes from Full Gear 2024:

Jay and Purrazzo opened up the Zero Hour pre-show with a singles match that had just a few hiccups alongside the way in which.

Throughout the first 30 seconds, Purrazzo seemingly took a again bump for no motive, forcing Jay to suppose on her toes to maintain the match transferring.

Towards the tip, the referee watched Taya Valkyrie intrude with a spear at ringside, which might often trigger a disqualification in any match.

Nevertheless, you might inform the ref was not purported to see it, so as an alternative of calling off the match, he ejected Valkyrie from ringside, permitting Jay to attain the meant win just a few moments later with a roll-up.

Whereas the vast majority of the match was positive, these two moments caught out and harm its total high quality. Purrazzo is a lauded performer and Jay has improved quite a bit in 2024, however generally having an opportunity to rehearse a match forward of time will assist iron out these errors.

All that being mentioned, seeing Jay get a win over somebody on Purrazzo’s degree is an efficient indication that AEW is invested in her and can proceed to push her heading into the brand new yr.

The Zero Hour pre-show featured an unconventional match when the Costco man “Huge Growth” AJ took on QT Marshall.

AJ’s son, Huge Justice, was additionally in attendance, as was one other social media star, The Rizzler. If you already know who they’re, you in all probability acquired a kick out of this. If you do not know these folks, you in all probability rolled your eyes the entire time.

AEW has by no means shied away from that includes folks from exterior of professional wrestling with musicians like Snoop Dogg and Motion Bronson and actors like Paul Walter Hauser making appearances, however the distinction between them and Huge Growth is that he was really a professional wrestler within the New Jersey indie scene a number of years in the past.

Not solely was AJ skilled, however he and QT Marshall have a longtime historical past that AEW has used to construct this matchup in latest weeks.

The reactions to this match fell into two classes. On one aspect, you had followers who thought this was dumb and took a spot away from the AEW roster. On the opposite aspect, you had AEW followers who discovered all of this entertaining.

We dwell in an period when a younger lady can grow to be well-known for saying “Hawk tuah” and other people get tens of millions of views on TikTok for posting movies about attempting completely different Costco snacks, so we have to settle for that these things is just not going away anytime quickly.

Based mostly on the group’s response, the AEW fanbase was having fun with this comedy match, however in the event you go on social media, you will notice some folks appearing like that is the tip of the wrestling enterprise as we all know it.

If David Arquette successful a world title did not kill professional wrestling, a man who tries meals courtroom gadgets along with his son actually is not going to take it down both.

Caster and Bowens had an opportunity to win gold once they fought in a Deadly 4-Approach tag title bout on Saturday, however the identical communication points they’d been having for weeks plagued the match.

The primary misstep was Caster taking an excessive amount of time to pose for the group and lacking a tag from Bowens when he wanted an help.

The second misstep occurred when Caster tagged himself in when Bowens was already the authorized man. This led to a bizarre second when Bowens tried to pin Caster, which made for a humorous spot however did not really make sense.

The third misstep occurred when Caster tagged himself in proper earlier than Bowens was about to get the pin and win the match. At this level, the group had turned on Caster and started chanting profanities at him.

The fourth and remaining nail within the coffin was when Caster was pinned by Personal Social gathering. Billy Gunn regarded heartbroken to see his discovered household falling aside on the seams.

Not solely have they been having points throughout matches, however Caster has clearly gotten beneath Bowens’ pores and skin throughout backstage promos, particularly at any time when MVP is round.

This is likely one of the first tag groups that shaped in AEW. Bowens and Caster had been each employed as singles stars and paired collectively by Tony Khan, however after 5 years and runs as each trios and tag champs, it feels just like the crew has run its course.

They did not break up on the PPV, however all the work was carried out to set it up. There’s a good likelihood that the subsequent time we see The Acclaimed is the final.

Statlander has had two lengthy hiatuses resulting from accidents previously, however ever since she returned from her second leg damage at Double or Nothing 2023, she has been on hearth.

Each time AEW places Stat in a giant match state of affairs, she completely nails it. Her alliance and feud with Willow Nightingale confirmed lots of people what she’s able to, however her match in opposition to Moné at Full Gear could also be her greatest efficiency thus far.

Moné is well-regarded as an in-ring competitor, however she all the time appears to carry a bit additional one thing to matches when she is overpowered and outmatched by her opponent.

Statlander is considered one of, if not the strongest, girls in AEW, so she compelled the TBS champion to dig deep and use each ounce of her power to face an opportunity.

After a valiant effort, Statlander, sadly, misplaced to Moné, however she added yet one more nice efficiency to her resumé and made a case for why she needs to be within the operating for extra title alternatives sooner or later.

Coming into Full Gear, one of the crucial anticipated matches was Ospreay vs. Fletcher, and it turned that with out even needing a title to make it really feel particular.

This was a grudge match between former allies, so it wasn’t about wins and losses. Each males got here into this seeking to harm the opposite individual.

For Fletcher, this match was about breaking out of Ospreay’s shadow. Their time in United Empire may need gotten the 25-year-old the place he’s, however he desires to show he’s able to extra.

For Ospreay, this bout was all about getting retribution for Fletcher’s betrayal. He appeared to care extra about dropping his pal than dropping the worldwide title, so Billy Goat regarded emotional throughout his entrance.

What unfolded was probably the greatest bell-to-bell performances on your complete PPV. Neither man held something again and used their years of friendship to construct the sort of chemistry that solely comes from realizing another person nearly in addition to you already know your self.

With matches this good, the consequence nearly does not matter as a result of each guys deserved the win within the eyes of the group.

Fletcher ended up defeating his former mentor in arguably his greatest AEW efficiency thus far. Should you see just one match from this PPV, make it this one.

So as to be a champion in a significant promotion, a wrestler must have in-ring expertise, charisma and the assist of the group. Garcia has proved on a number of events that he has all three.

A part of what makes Pink Dying so relatable is that he’s mainly only a regular dude. He is not a 6’6″ powerhouse or an acrobat on mortgage from Cirque du Soleil. He is in good condition, however he does not have a physique chiseled from granite. He appears to be like like he could possibly be your coworker or neighbor.

The factor that makes him particular is his unbelievable technical capacity. He can placed on an excellent match with nearly anyone, and that is the sort of expertise that’s invaluable to a promoter.

He and Perry constructed up a private feud for the TNT title that culminated in a extremely bodily match. They blended story and brutality in a method that made the result exhausting to foretell, which is all the time a plus within the typically predictable world of professional wrestling.

After each males got here near successful a number of instances, Garcia made the previous Jungle Boy faucet out to grow to be the brand new TNT champion. The gang erupted when he locked in his model of the Sharpshooter and pulled Perry to the center of the ring to make sure he could not attain the ropes.

We noticed some nice stuff on Saturday, however this second goes to be one of the crucial mentioned main into Wednesday’s Dynamite.

When AEW first launched and the worldwide viewers was launched to Orange Cassidy, lots of people did not know what to make of him.

Right here was a man who put his palms in his pockets, delivered the weakest kicks you will have ever seen on objective, and nearly by no means spoke greater than two phrases.

For just a few years, the lazy and uninvested character labored, however all of us knew he would wish to evolve if he ever needed to be seen as greater than a midcard comedy act, and 2024 noticed him do precisely that.

He should still have the identical lazy thumbs up pose and taunt his opponents by placing his palms in his pockets, however no person can deny how expert he’s as a wrestler after seeing him carry out in big-match conditions.

His run because the worldwide champion opened a variety of eyes, however his feud with Moxley and The Dying Riders is what has turned him into an actual foremost occasion participant in AEW.

He has been crushed, battered and bloodied, however OC’s resiliency is what has gained so many individuals over. He is David dealing with each Goliath he can discover, and that’s a part of what makes him so interesting to youthful followers.

It took exterior interference from Wheeler Yuta to offer Moxley the win, so in a small method, Cassidy was protected on this loss.

All in all, Full Gear was one other entertaining AEW PPV, nevertheless it actually had highs and lows. What was your favourite a part of Saturday’s present?