If there's anything that can now be considered true and honest about All Elite Wrestling, it's that owner and general head honcho Tony Khan is deliberately out to please the fans.
You've probably heard it said a lot of times across a lot of channels, but if you haven't believed it yet, this year's Full Gear is the proof in the pudding. The pay-per-view's crowning moment is the wonderful culmination of a two-year storyline that essentially kickstarted not only the arc of one "Hangman" Adam Page, but the life of AEW itself. The core of AEW was founded on the notion that the stars of the future would have to wait for the future for their one magic moment. Give the title to a known entity in Chris Jericho first, many (including myself) argued.
As of today, that future is officially now.
AEW's pay-per-views feel like events where most important things are successfully summed up. There are still questions heading into the next show, but the answers are bigger than the questions. In this case, the answer to whether Hangman can get over himself and win the big one felt bigger than the question of what the Young Bucks did to allow him to win. We also have an answer in who the next challenger to the title would be.
If there's one gripe I have with Tony Khan's work, however, it's that he's willing to give a little too much of a good thing. This four-hour event was stacked full of long outings that nearly diminished the importance of the actual main event—I felt a lot of minutes could have been shaved off to let the card breathe. The crowd stayed alive, and good on them; I barely did if it weren't for the good work of the wrestlers on the show.
So if you want to watch the whole Full Gear event in one sitting, I suggest preparing yourself mentally and physically for four hours in your chair. If you just want to watch Hangman Page's crowning moment, that's fine, too. But no matter which path you choose, this AEW pay-per-view does deserve your full time and attention. Tony Khan and his boys knocked it out of the park.
Full Gear 2021 Rating: A
Match of the Night
I'm personally biased, so my match of the night is Bryan Danielson vs. Miro in the World Championship Eliminator finals. The weird thing about this is that Bryan made Miro look so good that I actually wanted the Redeemer to win this one, and was slightly disappointed that he did not. But if you chose any other match as your MOTN (except probably the Minneapolis Street Fight), I wouldn't blame you one bit.
Photo from AEW
