Full Gear 2021 is approaching and appears to be the culmination of AEW’s longest-running story.
Hangman Page will challenge Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship and even if Page loses, we are almost guaranteed a great match.
Great matches are not rare for Full Gear as it was very easy to find ten for this list. While the show has been one of the least built shows each year, it has possibly been the most consistent.
In 2019 and 2020, Full Gear has provided stellar cards with multiple great matches.
Here we will break down the ten best matches from the first two years of the event to get you ready for Full Gear 2021.
10. Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley – Full Gear 2019
This match was the most difficult to place of any on the list. If you love this sort of thing, you can rank it higher, if you hate it it probably doesn’t even make your list.
For now, it can stay right here. Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley just sort of went nuts with their Lights Out match at Full Gear 2019.
There were thumbtacks and that weird barbed wire bed thing and it went on for almost 40 damn minutes.
The two men are obviously very talented and the match certainly elicited a big response from the crowd, but it is hard to argue that it was not also incredibly excessive.
9. SCU vs. Private Party vs. Lucha Bros – Full Gear 2019
Man, I miss SCU. In their first pay-per-view match since winning the AEW World Tag Team Championship, Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian put the titles on the line against the Lucha Bros and Private Party.
The Full Gear 2019 crowd wasn’t as lively as some other AEW pay-per-view crowds and some of the matches were hurt by this more than others.
This match was definitely hurt by the crowd. The work was quite good with Fenix and Private Party doing ludicrous highspots throughout.
The match didn’t quite grab the audience, maybe because it was clear SCU wasn’t going to lose the titles so soon after winning them. However, if you want to watch a very fun three-way tag match, look no further.
8. Riho vs. Emi Sakura – Full Gear 2019
Riho and Emi Sakura had a tough hill to climb to make people care about their Full Gear 2019 match.
Both great wrestlers, neither had been performing in America long enough to become fully established to the U.S. fans. Add in that neither spoke English and this was a difficult time.
Once the match was in the ring though, the wrestlers took over. This was one of the best women’s matches AEW put on in 2019 and the teacher vs. student story shined through without the use of words.
The crowd still struggled to get into this match as they would get into others but by the end, they were forced to give these women the respect they earned with a dynamic performance.
7. Young Bucks vs. Santana & Ortiz – Full Gear 2019
The Young Bucks sure know how to open a pay-per-view. A brilliantly fun match between the Super(kick) Troopers and Santana and Ortiz got Full Gear 2019 started on a very good note.
A fairly straightforward tag match, both teams put on a series of fun spots while telling a simple but effective story.
Add in the Rock n’ Roll Express watching from ringside and getting involved after the match and this was a party in a ring.
This was during the time when the Young Bucks were determined to do the job for everyone else which feels as odd now as it did then.
Regardless, this was a strong first pay-per-view match for Santana and Ortiz who haven’t gotten many wins on pay-per-view since.
6. Darby Allin vs. Cody Rhodes – Full Gear 2020
Darby Allin’s quest to defeat Cody Rhodes remains one of AEW’s most effective storylines, getting a young talent over with the help of an established star.
After failing to beat Cody in three straight singles matches, Darby finally challenged him for the TNT Championship at Full Gear 2020.
Cody told Darby that he wasn’t the guy TNT wanted to represent them and Darby was determined to prove him wrong. In short, he did.
Full Gear 2020 was a great card highlighted by completely distinct matches. This was a perfect example of this, as Cody and Darby worked an old-school match with Cody playing the veteran who finally falls to the young upstart.
The two saved their best match together for last with one of Full Gear 2020’s best.
5. Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston – Full Gear 2020
When 2020 started if you said Eddie Kingston would be main eventing a major pay-per-view by year’s end you would have gotten many funny looks.
However, truth is indeed stranger than fiction as Kingston challenged Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship in an I Quit match at Full Gear 2020.
The build for this match made Kingston a made man. His promos were otherworldly and many wondered how this match could possibly end.
Would Kingston actually quit? Would there be a shmoz with no winner? No. In the end, Moxley locked in the bulldog choke with barbed wire wrapped around his arm and forced Kingston to submit.
A fantastic battle and something completely different from everything else on the card once again.
4. Hangman Page vs. PAC – Full Gear 2019
Hangman Page had a very turbulent 2019 but someone who was always there to tear him down was PAC.
After failing to capture the AEW World Championship at All Out, Page turned his attention to the man he was supposed to face at Double or Nothing, PAC.
Now competing in AEW full time, PAC had proven himself more than capable, beating Kenny Omega clean at All Out.
At Full Gear 2019, the two clashed in a wonderful clash of styles. PAC is one of the most dynamic performers in wrestling with his explosive moves and no wasted motion.
This mixes well with just about anyone but especially with Page whose old-school babyface tendencies made him a perfect opponent for the angry PAC.
This win was a bright spot for Page at the time, something he wouldn’t have many of for a while.
3. Cody vs. Chris Jericho – Full Gear 2019
In Chris Jericho’s one successful AEW World Championship pay-per-view title defense, he toppled Cody in a wonderful old-school match.
These are two of the most old-school performers on the AEW roster and when you mix in a match like this to a card with so many other styles, the variety makes this stand out even more.
Jericho was on top of his game at the time and Cody was as over as he had ever been as a babyface.
However, it would be an outside force that would be the difference maker. As Jericho had Cody trapped in the Liontamer, Cody’s protege MJF turned on him and threw in the towel.
It was a move everyone knew was coming at some point but this was the moment.
Once the crowd realized this match wasn’t going an hour, it became one of the most heated things on the show. With Cody declaring he wouldn’t challenge for the title again if he lost, the stakes were very high.
The run to Full Gear was arguably the best work either of these men have done as a babyface and a heel and that is saying an awful lot.
2. Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page – Full Gear 2020
This was the appetizer. This match was THIS GOOD and it was the appetizer match. Absolutely inconceivable.
Kenny Omega had ditched Hangman Page as a partner and both entered the Eliminator Tournament shortly thereafter. The final was set for Full Gear 2020 with the two fighting for a World Title shot.
It was clear to all who watched that these two would meet again but that did not make their match less incredible.
Omega and Page’s chemistry as a team translated perfectly as opponents. Omega was dialed in at the time while Page was as lost as a lonesome cowboy could be.
This was likely AEW’s best pay-per-view opener ever and that is all thanks to the impeccable work of the men involved. However, it would not be the best match on that night. That would be…
1. Young Bucks vs. FTR – Full Gear 2020
Once upon a time, these two teams wrestling seemed like only a pipedream. Now, it has been almost a year since it happened and we are still rejoicing.
The build to this match left a lot to be desired but once they were in the ring it didn’t matter.
This match was tag team storytelling exemplified. One team does flips, the other uses fists. The first team suffered a leg injury and couldn’t do flips and the other suffered a hand injury and couldn’t punch.
THEN the punching team got too cocky and tried to win with a flip and it backfired allowing the flippy team to win with a simple kick to the face.
Ladies and gentlemen, it simply does not get better than that. The only way it could have been better is if a packed crowd was there to see it. Maybe we will get to see that and we can rejoice again.
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