The culmination of what is quite possibly one of the best stories ever told in professional wrestling may reach its zenith at AEW Full Gear 2021 this Saturday at the Target Center in Minneapolis when AEW World Champion Kenny Omega defends his title against “Hangman” Adam Page. Everyone’s favorite anxious millennial cowboy has clawed his way out of the hole he put himself in and it’s time for some motherf*cking cowboy sh*t.
As if AEW didn’t already have one of the best stories in wrestling on its hands, in walks Eddie Kingston. The hero to every New Yorker and blue collar worker of the wrestling world is facing off against one of his own heroes in the form of CM Punk. Kingston will look to prove that the indie gods of yesteryear judged him poorly, and that while he may be just a regular dude from the streets of New York, he can still kick CM Punk’s teeth down his throat.
When does AEW Full Gear 2021 start?
The AEW Full Gear 2021 Buy-In pre-show starts on November 13, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. ET and will be available for free through the B/R Live streaming service. The show proper begins November 13 at 8 p.m. ET and is available through the B/R Live streaming service, at a cost of $49.99, and you can also watch the event via the traditional PPV cable provider service for the price of $49.99.
You can stay up to date on AEW Dynamite, Rampage, BTE, and the many goings-on of All Elite Wrestling with our weekly wrestling podcast, PTW.
Now allow our panel of experts will take you through each match on the card with their predictions.
Pac and Cody Rhodes vs Malakai Black and Andrade El Idolo
Jason Segarra: Oooh, last minute addition! What a build to this one. I, like most, am pulling for the House of Black Mask to crush Homelander and the Bastard, but it should be a good match if all the fellas are allowed the time to work. I have some pause, since Andrade seems to never win anything of import in AEW, but I’m going to call it for the Well Dressed A-holes, as opposed to the Less Well Dressed A-holes.
Winner: Malakai Black and Andrade El Idolo
Jay Barrett: This reminds of that time some guy named Aleister Black fought Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania for no reason and people were like, “Aleister deserves better” and it brings me back to a time when many of us were like “oh man, if Andrade was anywhere else besides WWE he’d be a marquee name in no time!” Well, here we are and WTF? What are we doing here? Why has Andrade’s sole character development been paying MJF money and having Jose by his side? Why has Malakai’s pretty awesome debut feud devolved into Tony yelling “Oh no, Andrade and Malakai are friends now!”? Why is the defining trait of both of these wonderful wrestlers still their respective relationships with Zelina Vega? It’s almost like AEW has too many toys they don’t know what to do with so they just keep making new factions and tag teams. Anyway, this match will be great but, why?
Winners: Zelina Vega’s Husband and Zelina Vega’s former client.
Darius Melton: Andrade’s current gimmick of Mexican Lex Luthor with a dash of Black Mask is really working for me, because whether you’re a pillar or a preacher, Andrade’s recent alliances have proven that money talks. The question that no one is asking about Cody and PAC is, “CAN THEY COEXIST?” Speaking strictly in kayfabe, I think PAC and Cody Rhodes are simply a worse tag team than Malakai Black and Andrade El Idolo. One team may continue past Saturday as the main duo in AEW’s Legion of Doom (the DC kind, not the Road Warrior kind), but the other team may well implode as soon as…well, by the time I finish writing this sentence. PAC’s an ornery bastard, and Cody’s one annoying son of a son of a plumber.
Winners: The House of Idols
Christian Cage and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) vs. Superkliq (Adam Cole and The Young Bucks) – Falls Count Anywhere match
Jason: This is a hard one to call, but I’m going to go with Jurassic Express and Christian Cage. I think the Super Elite can weather a loss a bit better than the babyfaces could at this point, and TK really needs to reinvest in Jungle Boy. That guy is one of the pillars of AEW and seems to lose all the time. I’m thinking Jack wins by submitting one of the Bucks.
Winner: Jurassic Express and Christian Cage
Jay: The Super Kliq are going to take this one. Adam Cole’s been all over AEW programming but he still doesn’t feel as settled in as Bryan Danielson and Punk do. I think he needs a landmark win on a big stage to cement his place in the company. Plus, he has budding rivalries with both Jungle Boy and Christian Cage. It makes more sense for Cole and The Bucks to win here and then transition into that than vice versa.
Winners: The Superkliq
Darius: My little heart really wants Jungle Boy to make all of them tap in a never-before-seen, Natalya-inspired three-person Snare Trap, but I think that the story being told right now is that the Superkliq is awesome even when the Elite is not. If we’re talking Bullet Club, Adam Cole is about to be the Kenny Omega to the actual Kenny Omega’s AJ Styles in the near future, and he’s taking the Young Bucks with him. It’s probably far too soon for an actual breakup of the Super Elite, but having Cole and the Bucks win on a night where Kenny loses will really make the Best Bout Machine have to walk in Hangman’s boots for a moment.
Winners: The Superkliq
Darby Allin (with Sting) vs. MJF (with Wardlow)
Jason: It shouldn’t be clean, but this one should go for MJF. Darby won their first few encounters, so I’d like to see Max get his payback. Plus, there is no better MJF than “gloating after a big win” MJF. Darby’s been running a little cold with me of late anyway, and this feud has exposed the weakness of his promo skills, so MJF has the bigger upside.
Winner: Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Jay: No way MJF loses this one. It’s like this: MJF’s character gets stronger with each win whereas Darby’s gets stronger with each loss. The more MJF wins, the more you hate him. The harder you strike down Darby, the stronger he becomes considering the whole emo-underdog aesthetic. It’s the perfect feud for these two and a win-win situation.
Winner: MJF
Darius: Logically, MJF’s overarching story is that he has lumped himself in with Guevara, Jungle Boy, and Darby because he not only recognizes that they’re young, but he’s also “better” than all three of them. He’s beaten two of the three, and beating the fourth would really seal his point, but the kicker is that he still loses because of Darby’s point: even if he beats them all in singles matches, MJF’s never been champion while Darby and Guevara both have. MJF’s loss wouldn’t be on Saturday — it’d be whenever Jungle Boy gets a championship and leaves Max in the dust. And that would be sweet to behold! But, you know, I’m an impatient fella, and I want to see this smarmy frat bro get his scarf stuffed down his throat as soon as Saturday. Rooting for the skater here.
Winner: Darby Allin
CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston
Jason: The excellent promos leading into this one have many people calling this a “star-making” feud for Kingston, but anyone who has been paying attention to the Mad King, especially for the past several months, knows Eddie is gold on the mic. His recent match with Bryan Danielson showed he can go in the ring. Much like that match, however, I think Eddie’s going to look good in a loss on Saturday. Maybe he’ll cement a heel turn, maybe he’ll stay tweener, but in the end he’s going to go to sleep.
Winner: CM Punk
Jay: This is f***ing hard. It would have been Punk all the way till before last week but now, considering that fire promo from Eddie and his Players’ Tribune article that went viral, I don’t know. I can’t see Punk losing so early in his run but I also can’t see them wasting all this momentum they’ve built for Eddie. I’m gonna stay safe and pick Punk but I expect a very well booked, story-heavy match.
Winner: Charles Montgomery Punk
Darius: A lot of my thoughts from the last prediction go for this one, but with one big difference: not only are my emotions fully with Kingston in this one, but I can very much see them throwing Eddie a bone here. Yeah, Eddie has said repeatedly that he doesn’t care if he wins or loses on Saturday — which is something only losers say — but could you imagine what it would do for Punk’s character if Kingston is the one to beat him? Danielson and Cole have taken tag match losses, and Soho did the same. Punk has to lose sooner or later, and I’d really like for Kingston to put this dude in his place.
Winner: Eddie Kingston
Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fénix) (c) (with Alex Abrahantes) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) (with Tully Blanchard) – AEW World Tag Team Championship
Jason: This is another one that’s hard to predict, because WWE has trained me to think that “well FTR won the first go around, surely the Lucha Bros take the second.” But AEW doesn’t book that way, and so I’m not sure who benefits most from a win on Saturday. While part of me wants Dax and Cash to be double champions, I feel like it’s probably going to go to Penta and Fenix. Both teams are great, and I fully expect the match to be exceptional, but the Lucha Bros are probably going to retain.
Winners: Lucha Bros
Jay: I’m going to write this prediction as if Penta was co-authoring it with me. Penta’s contributions will be in italics for clarity of voice. It’s too early in the Lucha Bros’ reign for them to lose. CERO! MIEDO! They are coming off that wonderful cage match from All Out and their stock has never been – CERO! MIEDO! – higher. While I love FTR and am glad they have the AAA – CERO! MIEDO! – Tag Team titles for them to have something to chew on, I don’t see them – CERO! MIEDO! – regaining the AEW titles here. Either way – CERO! MIEDO! – and OMG even the fictional voice of Penta in my head is so annoying. Screw it, I think the Lucha Brothers are going to win but I’m so mad at the fake, inside-of-my-head Penta that I’m gonna predict FTR.
Winner: FTR
Darius: I saw someone online float the idea of a title vs. title rubber match for the Lucha Brothers and FTR in the future, and I can’t get it out of my head. In order for that reality to take place, the Lucha Brothers have to win this one.That being said, I do think FTR and Tully will probably spike Alex Abrahantes at Full Gear, so that’ll be a big win for them. Still, like Jay said, it’s really early in the Lucha Bros’ title reign, and while I’d love for AEW to 1) give us a short title reign for a champion and 2) give FTR the tag belts again, they kind of already did exactly that last year for the transition from All Out to Full Gear (i.e. FTR won at All Out 2020; FTR lost to the Young Bucks at Full Gear 2020). To avoid a pattern, the champs should probably retain.
Winner: The Lucha Brothers
The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz) vs. Men of the Year (Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky) and American Top Team (Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski and Dan Lambert) – Minneapolis Street Fight
Jason: American Top team needs to take this, and I think the finish needs to be Dan Lambert pinning Chris Jericho. Men of the Hour have been kind of a joke since they formed, and aligning them with ATT gave them some much needed bite. Now if they don’t want to be entirely defanged, they need this win. Furthermore, I think Dan Lambert being the weasley mouthpiece makes him the ideal person to score the pin to humble the Inner Circle. I’m hoping the newcomers like Arlovski and Dos Santos come out to work, but I’m sure the other guys will help them look good out there.
Winner: American Top Team
Jay: Every feud Jericho has had thus far in AEW, aside from Cody, has been long and drawn out and this won’t be any different. American Top Team is going to take it to prolong the proceedings considering we have barely scratched the surface with Inner Circle vs. ATT. The promos between the two sides are just too much fun to watch. I’m sure much of this is engineered to get Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky some shine and they haven’t been fully shined from my estimation.
Winners: American Top Team
Darius: I swear I’m not going against Jason and Jay for every pick on purpose, but…Dan Lambert is there to eat the pin, no? The American Top Team guys are attractions and this feud is establishing Page and Sky as threats, but they gave ATT their win on Rampage. Heck, the heels won TWICE on Rampage, what with Men of the Year beating Jericho and Hager at Grand Slam. My heart wants to see TNT Champion Sammy Guevara hit Lambert with a 630, but I’m more expecting a Judas Effect. I don’t think losing in a street fight makes the MMA guys look weak, and as funny as it would be for Dan Lambert to run around with an undefeated streak, I don’t think Inner Circle feuds end until they win. And I personally need this feud to end.
Winners: The Inner Circle
Bryan Danielson vs. Miro – AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament Final
Jason: The outcome of this, I think, foretells the outcome of the main event. As such, I’ll use this prediction to manifest the outcome I want, rather than the one I see happening. I would like Miro to win this. He won’t, but I would like that to happen. I love his Redeemer character and presentation, and think he makes the perfect first challenger for champion Adam Page. He’s credible and dangerous, he could be believably beaten by Hangman but could also potentially win, and I’d love to see him destroy the members of the Dark Order in backstage skits. On paper, Danielson feels like too much for Page, and that program feels like it would require more build than Hangman/Miro. So while I don’t think this is how it will happen, I’m picking the Redeemer to win the tourney.
Winner: Miro
Jay: This is so hard. On one hand, Miro was never meant to be a part of this tournament so it stands to reason that he’s not the intended winner, I can’t see Bryan Danielson losing, and Danielson needs to get back to Kenny Omega somehow. On the other hand, Cowboy sh*t. I can’t see Hangman Page losing to Kenny, and Dragon vs. Page, while interesting, doesn’t make sense now. On the third hand, Miro is in a feud with God and considering the in-storyline celestial ramifications of that feud and its outcome, no other storyline matters. I mean it’s, you know, God in AEW’s canon. And Miro, well, Miro is in one of his moods. If Miro finds him, what happens? We’re all wondering like “omg what if Okada shows up!?” and “Isn’t the forbidden door awesome!” and Miro’s like “I’m going to tear AEW’s heaven down and bring hell to earth!”
Winner: Bryan Danielson
Darius: I don’t think we get peak “Angry at God” Miro unless he loses an AEW Championship match, so the qualifier just won’t do. I could see Bryan kneeing Miro’s lights out, but since I always predicted Full Gear to be the day Bryan lost (though I definitely expected it to be to Moxley), I think there’s already a plan in the works for Bryan post-Full Gear, whereas I think Miro would have fought Hangman after Moxley anyways. So, without Mox, we shift Miro forward, have him beat Danielson, then have him lose to Hangman, and finally have Miro drag God out of retirement and give Him an 0-2 pro wrestling record.
Winner: Miro
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (c) (with Rebel and Jamie Hayter) vs. Tay Conti (with Anna Jay) – AEW Women’s World Championship
Jason: This is clearly the good Doctor’s match. Conti is growing as a performer, but not at championship level yet. Hopefully she puts in a good showing, but this is the most certain outcome on the show. Here’s hoping AEW builds a more credible challenger for Baker’s next defense.
Winner: Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D.
Jay: This is the easiest match of the night to call. Britt’s going to take it as she has too much momentum and so much unfinished business with a looming Thunder Rosa. I think this match will exceed expectations as Britt has always delivered on big stages and Tay, much to her credit, has improved leaps and bounds since her NXT days.
Winner: Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D.
Darius: Legit, could you imagine the weird crowd reaction if Tay Conti pinned Britt Baker in the middle of the ring? The crowd might pop for a second because, “Yay! A title change!” But then they’d realize that, though Tay is really fun to watch and is allied with the ever popular Dark Order, she doesn’t really have much of a character on AEW’s main TV shows aside from “gets kind of mad sometimes.” We’re all in agreement on who goes over here, but I just thought it’d be fun to imagine the Tay Champion universe.
Winner: Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.
Kenny Omega (c) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page – AEW World Championship
Jason: A real part of me thinks this match goes Kenny’s way, but – as with the Miro/Danielson match – I’m going to try to manifest a win for Page. The Hangman story has been great, and I’m going to try to ignore the fact that so much of it has been about Page choking at the last minute in order to heighten the drama and ennui of his character. That being said, there has to be a point where you sh*t or get off the pot with Page. Give the people what they want and let the crowd end the night chanting “cowboy sh*t!”
Winner: “Hangman” Adam Page
Jay: I think this is Tony Khan’s first truly difficult booking decision. All Tony Khan has done till now is use simple logic and infinitely predictable audience expectations to book simple, yet very effective, storylines to the delight of all. Seriously, go back and think about it. AEW has never had a booking quandary or uncertainty when it comes to the top storylines and wrestlers and it’s very interesting to see what happens here. It breaks down as follows.
Hangman is ready. Hangman’s rampant, self-destructive angst and anxiety led him to push away the former friends he had in The Elite and forced him to slowly build himself back up to a point where every arena that houses AEW is filled with chants of “cowboy sh*t.” Does Tony play it safe and do what he always does, which is to give the fans what they want? Or does he make us wait to make the moment sweeter and lean into Kenny vs. Bryan Danielson part II? Not to mention the rumors and mumbles and hopes and dreams of fans trying to will Kazuchika Okada into appearing and confronting Kenny into existence? I would honestly choose Kenny. There’s still some life left in his title reign and there simply aren’t any strong heels on the other side of this for Hangman to tussle with.
Winner: Kenny Omega
Darius: Excalibur literally said on this week’s Dynamite in a video package that Hangman losing on Saturday risks the crowd losing faith in him. And while, sure, the crowd will likely support Hangman after the match, he’s this hot right NOW. The Young Bucks were in Ring of Honor when they took 50 years to hop on board the Kyle O’Reilly and Dalton Castle trains, and people didn’t care as much as they would have if it happened way earlier. Hangman is a great wrestler, but he has the GREATEST story, and to give it a definitive climax where the crowd’s love and support pays off is something so pure that can get ruined. Are there other guys that Kenny Omega can defend his title against? Totally, but whereas Hangman has a story, Kenny Omega has the fact that he simply IS Kenny Omega. Danielson and him can wrestle again for bragging rights. Punk vs Omega is a draw with no title. Hangman needs to beat Omega. He needs it more than anything you could ever imagine.
Winner: “Hangman” Adam Page
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