AEW presents Full Gear this weekend from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and it comes at an interesting time in the company’s history: we’re a couple of months removed from the “Gripebomb” at “Brawl Out” that fundamentally altered the direction of AEW, and many are hoping to see Full Gear as something of a hard reset to get us away from this holding pattern and into the next phase.
Despite that, however, Full Gear has plenty of interesting matchups that should be worth watching. Let’s take a look
When is AEW Full Gear 2022?
AEW Full Gear 2022 will be presented live on Saturday, November 19 at 8pm ET.
How can I watch AEW Full Gear 2022?
You can purchase AEW Full Gear 2022 via Fite TV, Bleacher Report, or traditional pay-per-view.
AEW Full Gear 2022 full card and predictions
Luchasaurus vs. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry
Darius: Listen, I know that the “Four Pillars” thing was a random Twitter reply from MJF that turned into a big thing. He came up with it to put himself over and also bring three guys with him – and, when he beats all three guys, it means something more. With all that out of the way, yes, Jungle Boy is one of those little pillar men, and he’s going to overcome the monster this Saturday to reach his next career milestone. Luchasaurus already ended Jungle Boy’s undefeated streak, and now it’s Jungle Boy’s time to beat his first monster and establish himself as a bona fide AEW upper mid-card guy (even if he’ll still have to beat Christian Cage in the hopefully near future).
Winner: Jungle Jack
Shane: We all know the end goal of this feud is to have Jungle Boy face and eventually defeat Christian Cage somewhere down the line. And this match is just a stepping stone until that point. Jungle Boy will win and with this win, he will get a slight upper hand moving forward in this feud.
Winner: Jungle Boy
Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal vs. Sting and Darby Allin
Darius: Sting winning every match he’s in is the one piece of dumb booking that I’ve accepted as pure fun. It makes me turn my couch-sitting backseat booker brain off and just watch Grandpa Sting jump off of high things. Not only do I expect Sting and Darby to win because they never lose, but I’ll also be damned if AEW is going to make me pay $50 to watch Jeff Jarrett (who I’ll go on record as saying is my all-time least favorite wrestler) beat my favorite father/son facepaint duo.
Winners: Sting and Darby Allin, please.
Shane: It really is hard to bet against Sting… but it feels wrong to bet against Double J too. This prediction is entirely heart over head here and I’m going to go with Sting and Darby Allin. Although, after the final bell rings I fully expect Sting or Darby (or both) to be knocked over the head with a guitar. This way Jarrett and Jay (ha, Double Jay) can keep their heat.
Winners: Sting and Darby Allin
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs. Saraya
Darius: AEW have played this ring rust game before, and it’s been interesting every time. Christian Cage would play it so he always got tired, even facing Kazarian. CM Punk was only able to get by his early opponents like Darby Allin and Powerhouse Hobbs because he was smarter than them. Kenny Omega was able to hide behind the Young Bucks, since even if he’s still injured, the Elite are the best trio in all of wrestling. So, whatever TK has in store for Saraya, I want to believe it’ll be good. There’s even a dark part of me (one with very good teeth) that thinks Britt Baker takes this one to give Saraya something to fight up from, which tracks because Britt has already handed every other woman on the roster their biggest loss. But, you know, conventional booking is exactly that, and if we’re watching a popular good gal debut against the mean, already-established ruffian, the heroine’s going to take it.
Winner: Saraya
Shane: I think there is more money to be made with a Saraya win here. This is her first match in years and a feel-good win for Saraya in her first match back just makes so much more sense. Plus, Dr. Britt Baker D(👇) M(👇) D(👇) is established enough in the roster that a loss won’t hurt her. Especially because I don’t think this will be the last time we’re seeing her at Full Gear on Saturday.
Winner: Saraya
Jade Cargill (c) vs. Nyla Rose for the TBS Championship
Darius: While I take umbrage with the “(c)” being beside Jade Cargill’s name (I mean, Nyla is clearly the TBS Champion; I’ve watched her defend it at least twice), I do think that “(c)” will belong beside Jade’s name after Full Gear. She’s coming up on one year as TBS Champion, and though long reigns have already been done a bunch in AEW, Jade’s feels different. Even on a roster with Wardlow, she’s the most “Goldberg-esque” wrestler they have, and the streak isn’t going to Nyla. It could. Some may argue that it should. But Jade’s making it into 2023 as champion, and she’s not losing until Kris Statlander returns or, somehow, AEW lands Sasha Banks.
Winner: AND NEW TBS Champion, Jade Cargill
Shane: I personally think that Nyla Rose is the biggest threat to Jade and her TBS championship reign to date. For the first time since Jade became champion I can honestly see her lose on Saturday. But, kinda like what Darius said, this still doesn’t feel like the right time. If Statlander was still around, I think she’d be champion by now, but unfortunately she’s injured. The eventual Statlander victory over Jade felt like the original plan and it still does. So, Jade will win on Saturday. But, if they kept the TBS Championship on Nyla and had this hilarious story continue a little longer, I wouldn’t be upset.
Winner: (and STILL (new?!) TBS champion) Jade Cargill
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Sammy Guevara for the ROH World Championship
Darius: The part of me that loves chaos has a clear vision of Sammy Guevara hitting a 630 on Chris Jericho and pinning him for the title, but there is literally nowhere good to go with that, as Sammy and Jericho at this point would both be terrible babyfaces. So, the question is, “Are we going to see a good guy pin Sammy Guevara, or is Chris Jericho going to pin Claudio?” My answer: Jericho ends up pinning Danielson (that no-good, pin-giving, real-life babyface) after Danielson and Claudio both argue about wanting to pin Sammy. Jericho is a weird pull for ROH Champion, but Tony Khan isn’t going to lose that hook before the TV deal is set. I don’t think, anyway.
Winner: AND STILL ROH Champion, Chris Jericho
Shane: I love Chris Jericho. He somehow, some way, always manages to become more and more entertaining each and every time he reinvents himself. Now, I don’t think the whole “Wizard” and “The Ocho” schticks have caught on like he initially wanted, but him destroying everything ROH related has. And for my money, there’s still enough gas in that tank to keep it going. More of this, please.
Winner: (and STILL ROH World Champion) Chris Jericho
Toni Storm (c) vs. Jamie Hayter for the AEW Interim Women’s World Championship
Darius: Jamie Hayter is over with the crowd, so you know she’s not winning the belt until two Dynamites from now, and she’s going to stay heel when she does it. Snarkiness aside, I think this will be a great match, and there are going to be at least two moments where I jump out of my chair thinking Jamie has won, but it’ll all come down to one quick Storm Zero. Toni Storm hasn’t even really gotten her run going, so unless Toni really does drop the belt to Jamie soon after Full Gear, I think she’s got another feud or two in her before she loses the Interim championship.
Winner: AND STILL AEW Interim Women’s World Champion, Toni Storm
Shane: I know I’ve said this a thousand times, but AEW really does have a problem with not striking while the proverbial iron is hot, especially in the women’s division. Case in point: Thunder Rosa. Because of this, I have a hard time picking anyone but Toni Storm to win.
Slight rant incoming…
I do like the idea of interim champions, but at this point they have all been booked the same: they win all their title defenses until the main champion returns and they face each other in a title vs title match. Nothing wrong with that, but it does start to become predictable. Toni Storm has had great matches, but she hasn’t clicked as champion for me since she won. What has clicked for me, however, is Jamie Hayter. That girl is over! Now would be the perfect time to have her win the title. And there’s already an easy built in feud with Britt Baker waiting right there! But Britt Baker is also a valuable enough reason for Hayter not to win at Full Gear as Britt can easily cause her BFF not to win due to jealousy. Even though I don’t think the Hayter/Baker feud (that we should have gotten a year ago) necessarily needs the title to be good, I think it will add something exciting to a division that has been stale for quite some time.
Winner: (and NEW AEW Interim Women’s Champion) Jaimie Hayter
The Acclaimed (c) vs. Swerve In Our Glory for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
Darius: This match is going to go nuts, and while there are people who are holding out for the possibility that, maybe, Keith Lee turns heel with Swerve, all of my money is on Swerve as a singles star after this match, even if he and Keith don’t actually fight (though they will). I like what’s going on in this tag scene, too, because the Acclaimed are genuinely over and are a reason to go out of your way to watch the show, something that I haven’t really been able to say about any tag champs that aren’t part of the Elite. (Sorry FTR, Lucha Bros, and Jurassic Express. Not really sorry about SCU, though.) AEW really does mean Acclaimed Every Wednesday, and until a new heel team needs to get established (not the Gates of Agony), or an undeniable babyface act arrives (probably FTR), these tag titles mean that AEW will get A.E.W.
Winners: AND STILL AEW World Tag Team Champions, The Acclaimed
Shane: The thought of Ricky Starks, MJF (spoiler again, I know) and The Acclaimed all winning their own PPV matches is too much for the fanboy in me not to be excited about. I love all three of those acts as they are legitimately my favorite things in AEW and I would love nothing more for them to win. Plus, I will proudly be wearing my Scissor Me Daddy Ass T-Shirt on Saturday just for a little extra good luck for my boys the Acclaimed.
Winners: (and STILL AEW World Tag Team Champions) The Acclaimed
Wardlow (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Powerhouse Hobbs for the TNT Championship
Darius: This is tough because I actually thought Hobbs might be the next TNT Champion. Now that we’re here and Joe is involved, though, I think Wardlow retains. My biggest hope is that this ends up being a great match and gets put at a good spot on the card (e.g. nowhere after the trios title match) so Wardlow can get a good highlight during his championship reign, but I think the next champion is elsewhere on the card, swerving his opponents and attacking their daddies. Saturday, though, we live in Wardlow’s world.
Winner: AND STILL TNT Champion, Wardlow
Shane: I think Saturday night might be Powerhouse Hobbs’ night. Wardlow’s reign has been mediocre at best and he can lose the belt without being pinned. This not only protects Wardlow, but it also crowns Hobbs as a new champion and continues the history of short TNT Title reigns.
Winner: AND NEW TNT CHAMPION Powerhouse Hobbs
Death Triangle (c) vs. The Elite for the AEW World Trios Championship
Darius: What we’re really doing here is guessing which part of Tony Khan is stronger: his desire to look like a strong, confident boss, or his need to stick to his master plan. In the grand scheme, TK wants the Elite as his champions, as evidenced by the fact that he didn’t debut the belts until Kenny was back and then gave the belt right to the Elite when they got their first shot. Like CM Punk, there’s a chance that all of TK’s mind mush is going to rush straight for his Gedo-style booking bible and give them their belts back (especially since, unlike Mox, who had to beat Punk to make his reign non-interim, Death Triangle already are the champions). However, I like to think TK is going to continue his current strategy of proving that “no one is bigger than AEW” by having Death Triangle retain here. Give them one big hoorah in beating the original champs despite their current differences, then actually lose at, like, Winter is Coming when Fenix and PAC really can’t work together anymore. That’s the storyline that’s going to end Triangulo de la Muerte’s reign, and maybe it happens this week. I’m hedging my bets that AEW holds off for a bit.
Winner: AND STILL AEW World Trios Champions, Death Triangle
Shane: I’m going to disagree with Darius here. PAC will turn on Penta and Fenix and I think the Elite will win. We will see the storylines that were initially supposed to happen, which is hopefully a fantastic long-term feud with House of Black.
Winners: AND NEW AEW WORLD TRIOS CHAMPIONS The Elite
Jon Moxley (c) vs. MJF for the AEW World Championship
Darius: This match is all the money, and the money is MJF. Will he do it as a dirtbag face a la CM Punk circa 2011? Will he do it as a dirtbag heel a la MJF circa Every Year? I don’t know how we get there, but MJF is getting that belt. It’ll be a statement win for AEW, too, as their world champion will be only 26 years old. Looking at other young first-time world champions like Brock Lesnar (25), The Rock (26), and Randy Orton (24), this is a sign of a great career to come since it’s clear MJF has that star quality and the potential to be even bigger. I might not have seen it when he first joined AEW, but it’s undeniable now. Full Gear will be MJF’s big moment. (And, if it’s not, I still kind of like Jon Moxley.)
Winner: AND NEW AEW World Champion, Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Shane: Just in case you haven’t read my precious two predictions, I’m going to go with MJF here. MJF winning feels as definite as Moxley’s, Omega’s and Hangman’s victories of the year’s past. MJF as world champion feels like the plan and I hope the plan goes to, well, plan. I am also predicting a William Regal heel turn. Not that Maxwell necessarily needs Regal to win and I’m not implying that he does, but the BCC has run it’s course and a Regal/MJF pairing is a tantalizing proposal.
Winner: (and NEW AEW World Heavyweight Champion) MJF
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