Tonight the future of All Elite Wrestling is at stake when 4-Time AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defends his title against 2-Time AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy. It's the leader of The Death Riders on a mission to reshape AEW into what he believes it is supposed to represent, a violent Darwinian realm where the mat wars weed out the weak, versus the vision that OC and others have where they aren't under constant threat from The Death Riders, and whatever weapon they may be wielding. There's a fundamental difference in what Moxley and crew want AEW to be, and what fighters like OC, Daniel Garcia, Dark Order, Top Flight, and others who've stood up to The Death Riders want from All Elite Wrestling.
Tonight in Newark, inside the confines of the Prudential Center, with the world watching live on pay-per-view, FULL GEAR 2024 will be the flashpoint for All Elite Wrestling, and it begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT on PPV, with the ZERO HOUR getting underway at 6:30pm on the AEW YouTube Channel and featuring QT Marshall versus “Big Boom” AJ as well as The Vendetta's Deonna Purrazzo taking on Anna Jay!
AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
The Death Riders' Jon Moxley(c) vs. “Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy
The path that brought All Elite Wrestling to this AEW World Championship clash between Jon Moxley and Orange Cassidy was documented in great detail here. Suffice it to say that this title fight is about a great deal more than just the AEW World Championship, it is about the landscape of All Elite Wrestling and who will help shape it as we move into 2025. Jon Moxley and The Death Riders want AEW to be a testing ground of sorts, a place where wrestlers are perpetually battling to prove they belong in the trenches in the violent world Moxley envisions. Orange Cassidy, and a great deal of those who occupy the AEW locker room, want it to be the place where the best wrestle not where the best fear for their safety around every corner.
We've seen many stand up to The Death Riders; Dark Order, Top Flight, Daniel Garcia, Private Party, and The Conglomeration for example, but until now it didn't feel like there was anyone to step into that leadership role. Instead people were turning on each other, pointing fingers, and laying blame where the only guilty party was in fact Moxley and his ilk. Even when Chuck Taylor was grievously injured by Claudio Castagnoli, Orange Cassidy's initial response was to blame Daniel Garcia and everyone else standing around him in the aftermath of the assault.
As unfortunate as it may be, as tragic as it is to the health and career of Chuck Taylor, it was that moment that got Cassidy to step up into the position others were looking for him to take on. The winningest man in AEW, the man with the most matches in company history, and the record-setting AEW International Championship reign, he finally stepped up and called Jon Moxley to the table for this championship fight here tonight.
Long gone are the days where Orange Cassidy just trying against “The Bastard” PAC was a milestone moment in itself, long gone are the days of Mimosa Mayhem and Arcade Anarchy. Those have been replaced by betrayals, by Stadium Stampede, by blood-soaked canvases, by Jon Moxley's violence, and by a leadership role he may not have wanted, but one that's been foisted upon him nonetheless.
Tonight Orange Cassidy stands up to Jon Moxley on behalf of a vast majority of the AEW locker room. Tonight, one year and five days removed from FULL GEAR 2023 where OC defeated a bloodied Moxley in an International Championship bout, they meet with the AEW World Title on the line. Unlike that outing at the fabulous KIA Forum where Moxley stood on his own two feet to fight, there's no guarantee that Marina Shafir, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and “The Bastard” PAC won't be lurking nearby to shift the tide of battle. We've witnessed it unfold multiple times already, as recently as the OC/Darby Allin versus Claudio/PAC tag match that Shafir disrupted by booting referee Bryce Remsburg out of the ring. A year ago there was no question that Mox would fight by himself, but now there is no telling from what angle The Death Riders will approach this title contest.
Is Orange Cassidy the only hope for All Elite Wrestling? If so, what does that mean for the future of the company should Jon Moxley retain his title, and what does the aftermath of the fight entail for OC after what we witnessed The Death Riders do to Bryan Danielson at WRESTLEDREAM 2024?
TBS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
“The CEO” Mercedes Moné(c) vs. Kris Statlander
It's been an interesting ride for both of these women since DYNAMITE: BIG BUSINESS back on March 13th. That night Mercedes Moné made her highly anticipated AEW debut to great fanfare and the raucous cheers of the Boston fans in TD Garden while Kris Statlander, along with Stokely Hathaway, walked Willow Nightingale out to the stage for her main event match with Riho.
In the aftermath of that match, Willow was assaulted by then-TBS Champion Julia Hart and Skye Blue, but rather than Statlander arriving to save her “best friend” from the attack, it was “The CEO” who ran the assailants off. Perhaps that should have been a telltale sign for where Kris Statlander was heading with Stokely at her side, yet she was seemingly excited for Nightingale when she bested Julia Hart at DYNASTY 2024 to become TBS Champion. However at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2024 the influence Stokely had became evident when Statlander attacked Willow following her loss to Moné in their TBS Title fight.
That night also began a change in Mercedes, as if her title victory allowed her to unlock the real woman hiding behind who she presented inside TD Garden two months prior, and her ego absolutely exploded into the monstrous entity we see before us today. It's not as if Mercedes wasn't deserving of accolades for what she accomplished before setting foot in an AEW ring, but she felt that entitled her to the world once she was here rather than recognizing she had to prove herself here as well. To be fair to “The CEO”, with 181 days spent as TBS Champion and a 10-0 record, she has absolutely shown herself to be one of the best wrestlers in the world. She even surpassed Statlander's TBS Championship reign, though her nine defenses in that time frame are a far cry from Statlander's 16 title victories over 174 days, but the fact she enlisted “The Brickhouse” Kamille to serve as her muscle demonstrates at least some doubt that she's capable of maintaining this position without assistance.
As for Statlander, over the course of Moné's title reign, fans witnessed a transformation in her that was disappointing to say the least. She went to war against her former best friend Willow, even beating her in a Chicago Street Fight at ALL OUT 2024, but it was as if getting that win over Nightingale woke Kris up from Stokely's influence. Statlander got what she wanted, revenge on Willow for her perceived slights, and it wasn't what she wanted at all. She lost her best friend, and all she had to show for it was a loneliness; Kris' choice to travel the path she did this past summer cost her Willow's friendship, separated her from Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor who she'd been allied with for years, and left her without a title to her name. Statlander was empty, she realized a change had to be made, and that meant looking to where it all went south for her: the arrival of Mercedes Moné!
Here is where their two paths converged, how Statlander's quest to begin anew has brought her into conflict with the TBS Champion, and why her mission to reclaim the title she never truly lost is so crucial to her future. Statlander has endured multiple attacks from the champion and “The Brickhouse”, she was nearly ran down by their car, but she's fired back against their offense. She slammed Kamille's arm in the car door, smashed both her and Moné through a wall, and just a few days ago on DYNAMITE, dropped the champion with some Wednesday Night Fever when they attempted to attack her after a victory over Hikaru Shida.
It feels as if Kris Statlander is back on the right path after months wandering astray, and dethroning Mercedes Moné would be the signifier that she's come full circle in her personal journey. If that is how tonight breaks down for the former champion, if she becomes the first 2-Time TBS Champion at Mercedes' expense, what then of the bridges Statlander torched along the way? Are those also salvageable if she chooses to utter the words “I'm sorry”? What of her future if Kris is unable to defeat Moné at FULL GEAR 2024? What is the future of the TBS Title and who will be the next to step up to “The CEO” if she walks out of New Jersey with title reign intact?
AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP 4-WAY MATCH...
Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen)(c) vs. Kings of the Black Throne (Brody King & Malakai Black) vs. The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) vs. The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)
It was just a few weeks ago that Private Party, with the future of their tag team life at stake, defeated The Young Bucks to finally claim the AEW World Tag Team Championship. With that victory, Zay and Quen sent the brothers Jackson packing as The EVPs abandoned their posts to “work from home” while AEW is in the midst of this Death Riders onslaught. Though Zay and Quen have shown they've got skin in that game, they've also had to pay attention to what's going down in the tag team scene because almost immediately after Private Party won the belts, they learned they'd be defending their titles against THREE different opponents simultaneously at FULL GEAR 2024!
The FULL GEAR 2024 4-Way Contenders Series pit FTR against House of Black, The Acclaimed against LFI, and The Outrunners against Top Flight with the winners of each bout moving on to tonight's World Tag Team Championship 4-Way. In part due to the internal strife between Top Flight, The Outrunners scored victory in the first qualifying bout while House of Black, as represented by Malakai Black and Brody King, picked up a victory over their long-time COLLISION rivals. The Acclaimed were the final duo to make the cut, beating LFI representatives The Beast Mortos and RUSH just one week ago on COLLISION.
It must be an odd feeling to sit there and watch your future unfold before your very eyes, but that's exactly what Zay and Quen did when they sat back to watch each qualifying match take place. As the champs saw The Outrunners defeat Top Flight perhaps they thought back to the July 26th RAMPAGE 4-Way with The Don Callis Family and The Righteous where Private Party and Outrunners had their only interaction. When House of Black defeated FTR, maybe visions of the FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024: ZERO HOUR 4-Way where The House pinned Zay flitted through the brains, and when the watched The Acclaimed overcome LFI, perhaps they drifted back to their 3-Way World Tag Title match on the 9/30/22 RAMPAGE where The Blade took the pinfall for The Acclaimed to retain.
Perhaps Zay and Quen have spent the last week since their match was finalized thinking about all it took to get to this point, the injuries they fought through, the hurdles they've had to overcome, and all the matches along the way to finally earning the moniker of champions. It's quite obvious to all there is no championship advantage to this match, neither Zay nor Quen have to be pinned for the belts to slip from their grasp, meaning they have to have their heads on a swivel at all times. Historically, when it comes to AEW competitions, it might also linger in the minds of Private Party that they are 0-4 in 4-Way matches, and The Kings of the Black Throne are one of those teams who beat them.
There is not a lot about this match that is a positive for the defending champions, in fact the only positive may be that fact that if they emerge from FULL GEAR 2024 still the reigning AEW World Tag Team Champions, Zay and Quen will know they earned them the hard way. They will know they took on three of the best teams in AEW, including one former championship duo in The Acclaimed, and lived to tell the tale. This is the night Private Party either truly become champions, or become a footnote in the annals of the AEW World Tag Team Title lineage...
TNT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
“Scapegoat” Jack Perry vs. Daniel Garcia
Walking into the Prudential Center tonight, “Scapegoat” Jack Perry is 40 days from tying Darby Allin's 186 day record as the longest reigning TNT Champion. He is also just two championship victories away from breaking Darby's record of nine successful defenses, a list that actually includes Jack's name from his failed bid on the April 21, 2021 DYNAMITE, but there is one major obstacle to Jack accomplishing either of those goals, a man by the name of Daniel Garcia!
Absent since ALL OUT 2024, Daniel Garcia returned to the AEW stage at DYNAMITE: TITLE TUESDAY 2024 to discuss his status with the fans and suffice to say it was a celebratory moment for those who've supported Garcia since he first arrived in AEW, as well as those who had his back long before that:
Just four days later at WRESTLEDREAM 2024, Garcia was on-hand to save Katsuyori Shibata from being assaulted by Jack Perry after “The Scapegoat” successfully defended the TNT Title against “The Wrestler”, but that ultimately ended up with Garcia himself a victim of both Perry and the returning MJF:
As a direct result of what happened at WRESTLEDREAM 2024 between Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson, Daniel Garcia immediately stepped up to the plate in defense of All Elite Wrestling, standing alongside Private Party, Dark Order, The Conglomeration, and others who actually care about the well-being of AEW. Yet at the same time Garcia and company watched the EVPs, founding fathers of this company who claimed AEW couldn't exist without them, do absolutely nothing. They watched TNT Champion Jack Perry do nothing, and then The Elite all claimed it wasn't their problem while throwing their hands up in the air.
The Young Bucks complete abdication of responsibility was bad enough, but Jack Perry compounded it by essentially laughing at the very notion he should care about what happens to All Elite Wrestling under the thumb of Moxley and The Death Riders. In Jack's eyes, the fact that AEW essentially starved him out and left him wandering the desert for eight months justifies everything he's done since returning at DYNASTY 2024, and allows him to rationalize abandoning the company that allowed him a platform to the mercies of whatever The Death Riders have in store.
Yet now he's alone, The Young Bucks abandoned ship after losing the World Tag Titles to Private Party and the TNT Champion is on an island with no one to support him. To his credit, that hasn't stopped Jack from getting out there and fighting, even adhering to the TNT Title Open Challenges that have been ingrained in the championship's lineage, but he hasn't put himself into the mix with the group intent on burning AEW as we know it to the ground to create something different.
So instead of answering the call to arms alongside Daniel Garcia and fighting The Death Riders, tonight at FULL GEAR 2024 he will have to battle the former ROH Pure Champion in their very first singles match! For Garcia this is as much about taking Jack Perry to task for his attitude and behavior as it is claiming his first AEW singles titles, but it's also a distraction from the Death Riders issue that Orange Cassidy is tackling in the main event. It just goes to show that Daniel Garcia is a man fighting wars on many fronts (Perry, MJF, The Death Riders) while “Scapegoat” Jack Perry only cares about himself and the TNT Championship around his waist. That difference between Garcia and Perry may be the crucial one that sways the bout in the defending champion's favor, but after what we witnessed this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE between Garcia, Daddy Magic, and Jack Perry, the champ's focus may be shot. That's not the kind of ordeal one just shakes off and moves on from, it lingers, but will it linger once the bell rings tonight in Newark and brings us a new TNT Champion? Or will it be another canister of gasoline thrown on the fiery rage Jack Perry has felt since he returned from his exile?
AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
The Don Callis Family's Konosuke Takeshita(c) vs. Ricochet
Twice now Konosuke Takeshita has spoiled Ricochet's bid to claim the AEW International Championship. The first time took place on DYNAMITE: 5TH ANNIVERSARY when Ricochet challenged Will Ospreay in a sublime match that initially went to a double pinfall draw. Much to the delight of the fans in Pittsburgh, as well as to Ospreay and Ricochet, AEW President Tony Khan ordered the match to continue. Sadly the affair only lasted a few more minutes before “The Alpha” ruined the night for everyone involved:
Ten days later at WRESTLEDREAM 2024 Ricochet had a second opportunity to achieve the goal he'd been chasing since his debut, only this time he had to deal with both Takeshita and “The Aerial Assassin” in a Triple Threat championship match. It was another tremendous bout, as one would expect with athletes of their caliber, but it ended just as unfortunately for Ricochet when Takeshita dropped him through a table at ringside. It effectively removed him from the match and any possibility of becoming the new International Champion. Instead he had to watch Kyle Fletcher quite literally stab Will Ospreay in the back and Takeshita take the championship to The DCF.
Ricochet declared it his mission to haunt Takeshita wherever he went until he got a shot, and that's just what he did at Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling shortly after WRESTLEDREAM 2024:
Ricochet even managed to score a pinfall on Takeshita in their tag team match on November 6th where Powerhouse Hobbs returned to All Elite Wrestling as his ally against Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher! After that victory, it's hard to deny that Ricochet is deserving of a championship bout, and that finally came together Friday afternoon prior to RAMPAGE!
Can Ricochet finally achieve the goal he set for himself months ago, or will Takeshita ruin that dream for the third time?
GRUDGE MATCH...
“The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay vs. The Don Callis Family's “The Protostar” Kyle Fletcher
Family, be it by blood or by choice, is unquestionably one of the most complicated dynamics we experience in life. Sometimes those we choose are closer to us than those with whom we share genetics, and sometimes the fact those individuals are there by choice rather than blood makes it easier for them to betray you. Such is the case with Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher, and for that matter such is the case with the whole of The Don Callis Family.
Ever since Don started pulling these disparate individuals to his side to create the DCF, he has been tossing them to the wayside when they're no longer of any use, and even pitting them against one another seemingly for his own amusement. He discarded Powerhouse Hobbs, discarded Sammy Guevara, sold Rush off to Jake Roberts in exchange for Lance Archer, and based on patterns of behavior, it's reasonable to assume that Callis has dropped any connection with Trent Beretta since he was taken out by Orange Cassidy at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2024. Even before his so-called Family existed, he betrayed both Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho because they bruised his fragile ego, and yet there are still two people who've stood by him through it all: Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita.
In the case of Fletcher, at one point Callis pit Will Ospreay and him against one another in a singles match because, in hindsight, it amused him. Toss aside whatever garbage he said about making each other better, or the best fighting the best, for Callis it was a loyalty test to see if the two best friends would actually do it because he said so. They did, Ospreay won, and though all seemed fine in the aftermath, there's no doubt the seeds that have blossomed over the last month have roots in March 6, 2024.
Even when Ospreay was granted release from his obligations to Callis, Don made sure to note it meant Will owed him a favor, and he cashed in said favor when the first-ever Tag Team Casino Gauntlet was announced. Initially Will wanted no part of being tied to Don again through a partnership with Kyle, but that favor came to rear its ugly head, and the former United Empire partners managed to get on the same page to win the Gauntlet and earn their title match. Unfortunately they were unable to parlay that into victory at DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2024, in large part because of Don Callis and that infamous screwdriver:
Though Ospreay stopping Fletcher from using the screwdriver directly led to their downfall, it seemed as if it woke Fletcher up a bit as to the path he was walking with Don Callis. It seemed like “The Protostar” would make the right choice on his own and get as far away from The DCF as possible. He even refused to use that screwdriver on Ospreay at DYNAMITE: TITLE TUESDAY on October 8th, but just four days later WRESTLEDREAM 2024 happened:
Family; The Don Callis Family or The United Empire family, that was the choice in the hands of Kyle Fletcher and he chose The DCF at the expense of his friendships with Will Ospreay and Aussie Open partner Mark Davis, a man who'd been forced to sit on the sidelines and watch this all unfold as he recovered from an injury sustained at WRESTLEDREAM 2023 a year prior. Ospreay and Davis watched as Kyle shaved his head and fully gave in to the darkness in his heart, fully gave in to the nagging voices in his head comparing himself to Will Ospreay. He listened to the voice of Don Callis pushing him deeper into the shadows and driving out the love for Ospreay and his family, driving out the memories of being locked down together, and of being enmeshed in each other's families. Kyle allowed Don to replace all that was positive in the Fletcher/Ospreay friendship with all the negative self-doubt “The Protostar” had apparently buried while running side-by-side with a man many consider the greatest professional wrestler of this generation.
Tonight at FULL GEAR 2024, when Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher lock up for the second time in All Elite Wrestling, it won't be about competition or making each other better as it may have been back in March. This time it will be about unleashing all the fury, disappointment, regret, anger, and sadness that this situation, a situation cultivated by Don Callis, has erupted to the surface. There is no winner here, not when the end result has destroyed a family. One of these men will get their hand raised in a sign of victory, but no one really wins when there's nothing left behind but the wreckage of broken memories...
ONE-ON-ONE...
MJF vs. Undisputed Kingdom's Roderick Strong
Maxwell Jacob Friedman, the perpetually predictable master of low hanging fruit, struck again when he played his greatest hits for Roderick Strong and Adam Cole. This time around, instead of five labours or three wishes or flaming hoops to jump through, the former AEW World Champion demanded any member of Undisputed Kingdom hoping to fight him at FULL GEAR 2024 win three consecutive matches to get that fight. Both Roddy and Adam took on the challenge, with Roddy defeating Shane Taylor and The Beast Mortos in his first two contests while Adam overcame House of Black's Buddy Matthews and Malakai Black to put himself in the proverbial red zone. With both men in that position, Adam Cole told the world that if each man got their three wins, Max would have to fight them both in a Triple Threat at FULL GEAR 2024. That possibility got MJF's wheels turning, and led him to reach out to Don Callis through an intermediary.
Callis got cash, he got a Dynamite Diamond Ring, in exchange he had to make sure that Triple Threat didn't come to pass, and even better if neither Roderick or Cole got that third victory. For Roderick it meant facing the threat of “The Murderhawk Monster” Lance Archer in a Falls Count Anywhere match, and though it took everything he had to keep down the behemoth, Roddy managed to score with his knockout knee and pin Archer in the midst of the AEW faithful. Unfortunately for Adam Cole, his fight with AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita did not go as favorably, though it wasn't due to Cole coming up short but rather Takeshita putting the aforementioned ring to use across Cole's skull.
So while Cole's aspirations of getting his hands around MJF's throat will have to wait until another day, though that'll likely come with its own batch of stipulations, Roderick Strong will have his opportunity to beat Max to a pulp. As if it wasn't personal enough already after everything that went down in 2023 between these men, MJF had to go and do what MJF does, that being go after the easiest target possible in Roderick's life, his family history. Max laid out all the issues Roddy faced growing up in the above embedded video, discussing them as if they were an albatross around his neck rather than a motivating factor. However Roddy faced them all head on when he spoke to the fans live and in-person rather than from the safety of some video set-up in the safety of his own home, far from any risk of actual repercussions for his words or maybe the possibility he'd actually have to wrestle on an AEW event for the first time since ALL OUT 2024.
Even when he showed up to crash the party at WRESTLEDREAM 2024, it was Jack Perry who did the actual work that left Daniel Garcia vulnerable while MJF turned tail and bolted as soon as Adam Cole ran to the ring. Give him some credit, the manipulative former AEW World Champion knows he's a wanted man and that Cole would do anything to get this fight, so why not put the man through the ringer? If no one is forcing MJF to show up and lace his boots, then why would a man of his mindset do it willingly? The majority of his AEW career Max has made it a point to wrestle as little possible while getting as much TV time as he possible. It was only during his reign as World Champion that MJF's pathological need to be seen as the best wrestler in the world forced him to fight the way he did, but after losing at WORLDS END 2024, he returned to the form he was famous for prior to becoming champion.
In 2024 he's had all of eight matches, the first of them not even taking place until June 19th, while Roderick has fought in 42 AEW contests to date, 25 of them since MJF's initial one of the year. Strong has stayed ready for the fight, but MJF has had the time to heal up any nagging bumps and bruises, especially considering what occurred at ALL IN: LONDON 2024 with Will Ospreay and at ALL OUT 2024 with Daniel Garcia. No matter how much MJF may have healed up from those, is the conniving, disreputable, dishonorable scumbag ready for the kind of firefight Roderick Strong will bring to the ring tonight during FULL GEAR 2024?
SINGLES MATCH...
The Hurt Syndicate's Bobby Lashley vs. Swerve Strickland
From the moment MVP walked into All Elite Wrestling at DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2024 his sights have been on former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland. He tried to get to him by dismissing the work Prince Nana had done with the man:
He brought Shelton Benjamin into the fold and he struck quite the intimidating presence when it was just Prince Nana stuck between those two men and Shelton helped himself to Nana's cup of coffee. MVP spread his business card around the AEW locker room, offering opportunity to all those who took said card, but when it came to WRESTLEDREAM 2024 and Swerve standing face-to-face with MVP and Shelton, well that night in Tacoma it was all about family:
It was pretty clear from that where Swerve stood with MVP and his business offer, perhaps he and Prince Nana thought it would be a dead issue after Swerve defeated Shelton Benjamin in their match at FRIGHT NIGHT DYNAMITE. Instead what they got was an ever bigger problem to contend with as MVP and Shelton added a third partner to their business they had named The Hurt Syndicate:
“The All Mighty” Bobby Lashley arrived in AEW with violent intent, and together The Hurt Syndicate laid waste to Swerve, Nana, and every security guard that attempted to intervene in the assault. In a roster loaded with the best professional wrestlers on the planet, athletes of top-tier caliber, and some of the strongest individuals to ever set foot in the ring, Bobby Lashley stands above almost all others. There are few on pro wrestling that match Lashley as a physical specimen, even fewer who measure up to the sheer power and strength he possesses, and likely none whose grip strength rivals the master of The Hurt Lock.
Swerve Strickland may be considered the most dangerous man in AEW by a great many, but that's only because Bobby Lashley just arrived on the scene. Now that he's here, now that he is All Elite, Lashley may just rip that moniker off Swerve tonight in Newark and show the world he's now the most dangerous man in AEW. It's amazing how quickly this situation got ugly, how much animosity was built up so quickly between The Hurt Syndicate, Swerve, and Prince Nana, and how the former AEW World Champion found a way this past Wednesday night to circumvent the advantages Lashley, Shelton, and MVP possess given their numbers. Bobby Lashley felt the House Call, he felt the Swerve Stomp, he felt two of the reasons Swerve is such a dangerous man in that ring, and tonight Strickland aims to make “The All Mighty” experience what Hangman Page, Samoa Joe, Will Ospreay, and Shelton himself learned first-hand: when you take aim at Swerve Strickland, it better be a kill shot...
GRUDGE MATCH...
“Hangman” Adam Page vs. Bang Bang Gang's “Switchblade” Jay White
Adam Page returned to All Elite Wrestling during the Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament with his lone aspiration being to win the field just to get his hands on then-AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland. “Hangman” didn't care that he was only in the tourney because of The Elite, it didn't matter to him who he had to go through to get there or what he had to do to get it done. All that mattered was winning The Owen and securing a World Title match with the man he hated most above all others. He took out Jeff Jarrett in the Quarter-Finals, with some aid from Christian Cage he removed long-time rival “Switchblade” Jay White from the bracket, but ultimately it was “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson who took home the ceremonial Owen belt and the ALL IN: LONDON 2024 championship match with Swerve.
Page would eventually get his date with Swerve at ALL OUT 2024, albeit without a title in the picture, and technically speaking it isn't a win on the record books for “Hangman” either given their violent Steel Cage match was fought under Lights Out stipulations. The record books were of no concern to Page that night, all that mattered was spilling the blood of his hated enemy and being the one with his hand raised. Adam Page got what he was looking for that night in the suburbs of Chicago, but little did he know that another man was watching those proceedings and waiting for his opportunity to even a score with Hangman.
See that Owen Tournament semi-final match against “Switchblade” Jay White, that was the last match the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion wrestled for three months as an injury sustained in that bout forced him onto the shelf. During his time off, Jay White looked at the combined efforts of Christian Cage and Hangman Page as the reasons he lost the tournament and the reason he sat at home for three long months. That meant both of them would have to suffer for their sins, and it started at WRESTLEDREAM 2024 when Jay White defeated Hangman in the middle of the ring:
Unfortunately for Jay White, he was not as successful in his quest to make Christian Cage pay for his crimes but that was through no fault of his own, rather a direct result of Hangman Page's inability to let anything go:
The issues have only escalated from there, and fans know what tends to happen when things escalate around Hangman Page. People's worlds are burnt to the ground, their lives are irrevocably altered, and their blood tends to stain the canvas. After spending so much time getting his life together over the first few years of AEW's existence, Hangman threw in the towel on maintaining his composure the first time he heard fans cheer Swerve Strickland and has made an active choice to drag everyone else down into the hell he's made of his own life.
Page told Jay White he would leave him behind and those words, perhaps more than any other, offer insight into exactly where the former AEW World Champion is at mentally. In his mind, he was left behind by fans when they embraced Swerve Strickland in spite of the heinous actions he'd committed against Adam Page and his family. In his mind, he was left behind by his supposed friends in The Elite time and again, even suspended by them because he was inconvenient and brought back because it was suddenly convenient to their goals. Now Adam is the one who intends to leave everyone and everything behind, piles of ashes blowing away in the winds of his past, but the reality is he's completely incapable of being that person. It's been a year since the Texas Death Match at FULL GEAR 2023, and though he won the Steel Cage Match, he didn't pin Swerve or make him say “I Quit”, it was the referee who had to stop the match. So do you really think Page has left that behind? Jay White already beat him clean in the middle of the ring at WRESTLEDREAM 2024 but he didn't leave that behind and move on.
Adam Page has demonstrated, repeatedly, an inability to leave anything behind him, an inability to move on from his tragedies when it feels so much easier to wallow in them and use them to justify his current behavior. For a time it seemed he used that as a positive motivation, he used those traumas to become a better person, clearly Adam's given up all hope of being better and just wants to burn everyone else's world down while he stands in the middle of the flames wondering if they'll take him too. Will he pull Jay White into the fire with him tonight?
ONE-ON-ONE...
QT Marshall vs. “Big Boom” AJ (w/ Big Justice & The Rizzler)
SINGLES MATCH...
Anna Jay vs. The Vendetta's Deonna Purrazzo
FOUR-WAY FIGHT...
Top Flight's Dante Martin vs. House of Black's Buddy Matthews vs. Komander vs. LFI's The Beast Mortos
FULL GEAR 2024 comes to you tonight from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, live on pay-per-view around the world, featuring five championship matches, and ten bouts in total! The night kicks off at 6:30p with the FULL GEAR 2024: ZERO HOUR on the AEW YouTube Channel where QT Marshall takes on “Big Boom” AJ and “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo takes on Anna Jay. This is a night that could alter the future of All Elite Wrestling, do not miss a moment of the action!