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COMPLETE AEW FULL GEAR PPV BLOG

It is time for the Zero Hour Pre-show for Full Gear 2023 from the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, CA. 

Renee Paquette, RJ City, and Stokely Hathaway are the hosts for the hype portion of the show. They give the backstories for each match, using video packages from The Countdown last night and then make their predictions. The video packages are well made, and do give a nice recap of everything going on over the last month or so. 

The wrestling part of the pre-show starts at a half hour in if you want to watch it on YouTube. 

Our commentary team is Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Nigel McGuinness.

Eddie Kingston (Ring of Honor Champion) vs Jay Lethal w/the Jeff Jarrett crew

Stokely Hathway joins commentary.

The story they have set up is that Lethal has an entire crew around him, and Hathaway, who is on the board of directors, wants Lethal to win. So, before the match starts, Eddie is fighting from underneath. When Eddie knocks Lethal out of the ring, Jarrett and Dutt invite him to come out of the ring to attack, but he smartly stays in the ring. The match becomes a chop fest and then brawling outside the ring. 

From here, Lethal takes over, and whenever the ref isn’t looking, there is outside interference. Kingston is able to mount some offense when Lethal allows him to get an exploder, but Lethal cuts him off with a Lethal Combination. From there, we move to near falls, and every time Lethal covers Eddie, Jarrett gets on the apron to count along. 

Karen Jarrett and Satnam Singh get on the apron to distract the ref as a guitar is left on the apron. Eddie stops Lethal from grabbing it, and Ortiz comes down to the ring and grabs the guitar and nails Dutt with it. This allows Lethal to try for the Lethal Injection, but Eddie blocks it and is able to hit the half and half suplex, followed by a spinning backfist for the pin and the win.

Winner and still Ring of Honor Champion: Eddie Kingston

Eddie grabs a mic on his way up the ramp and has to put some money in the swear jar.

Claudio Castagnoli vs Buddy Matthews

Buddy starts by just stomping Claudio into the corner, and Claudio is able to come back and it looks to be a hard hitting match. As they go on, there is not a lot in the way of hold/counter hold. It’s just strikes and power moves. The story is that Claudio keeps trying to get the big swing, and Buddy is able to stop the move, but for most of the match, Buddy is the one fighting from underneath. 

Finally, Claudio is able to grab Buddy when Buddy tries for a meteora and gets the big swing for a two count. From here, they move into finishing moves with Buddy getting a power bomb and then a jackhammer for two. Buddy hits the hammer and anvil elbows and Claudio is busted open. Claudio then starts hitting finishers and gets a sharp shooter after a Ricola bomb and Buddy has to tap out.

Winner: Claudio Castagnoli

Buddy declines the handshake from Claudio. 

MJF and Samoa Joe (Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions) vs The Gunns (Austin and Colton Gunn) 

We are told that Juice Robinson is out of action after the brawl last night at the end of Rampage.

MJF just rolls into Colton, beating him down in the corner and giving Austin a shot when Austin comes over on the apron.  It moves into a more traditional start with them trading side headlocks, and Austin gets in the ring without being tagged. 

When the Gunns whip MJF to the corner, Joe protects him, and MJF says he doesn’t need Joe’s help. Joe then dives into the Gunns. MJF tags in and the Gunns are able to take over and work him over with quick tags and double team moves. They keep him from tagging in Joe for quite a while until MJF is able to send them both over the top to the floor, and MJF has to crawl over, dodge the Gunns for the hot tag to Joe. 

Joe cleans house and when Joe starts to go for the muscle buster, MJF tags in and does Joe’s move himself, but Colton stops him with a drop kick. MJF counters the 3:10 to Yuma and hits a double DDT. Joe then tags in and MJF readies for the kangaroo kick. They go for stereo muscle busters, but the Gunns escape. They hit Joe with the 3:10 to Yuma, and MJF interrupts the count.

We then get Adam Cole’s music!

Cole comes out on crutches, and Joe uses the distraction to lock on the Coquina Clutch for the win.

Winners and Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions: MJF and Samoa Joe, with Joe getting a title match. 

The Gunns attack MJF and they take a chair to MJF’s leg. They wrap the chair around MJF’s leg and leap onto it. MJF is then stretchered out and into an ambulance and MJF makes Adam Cole promise not to let them take his championship.

And that’s our pre-show!

The Show proper starts and the commentary team is the same with Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Nigel McGuinness.

We have a choir to start with and they are singing Christian Cage’s theme. 

Sting, Darby Allin, and Adam Copeland w/Ric Flair vs Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and  Nick Wayne

Cage hugs Nick when the bell rings and we get Darby and Nick starting out the match, and Nick takes control early with a cheap shot over the ref’s back.  The crowd is chanting “Who’s Your Daddy.” When Darby gets control, he tags in Sting, who goes to work on Nick, but Cage is able to tag in. Adam, who has painted his face like Darby and Sting, finally tags in. After the crowd chants for the match, Cage tags in Luchasaurus and drops to the floor.

Darby then tags in to get tossed around by Luchasaurus. Luchasaurus then choke slams Darby onto the apron and to the floor.  I say it all the time:

Don't do what Darby Allin Does.

We are told Darby is getting on a flight later tonight for his attempt at climbing Mount Everest.

Cage then tags in and beats down the injured Darby. Nick Wayne tags in to try to get the pin. Everyone gets to beat down Darby as they keep him in their corner. Darby is able to get a destroyer off the top and both he and Nick are down. They both slowly crawl to their corners with the ref counting. 

Cage crawls under the ring and attacks Adam from behind, but Sting runs him off. No one is in Darby's corner and Cage is able to pull him back and goes back to work. When Cage and Darby bump heads, Adam is back on the apron. Darby is able to tag in Cage, but Luchasaurus tags in to protect Cage. Luchasaurus is tossed from the ring, Nick is tossed into Luchasaurus hands, and then Darby dives onto them, followed by Sting.

Sting and Adam work over Luchasaurus, and when they grab Nick in a delayed vertical, Darby hits a cross body on Nick. Luchasaurus takes out Adam, and then Flair takes off his jacket and confronts Cage. Flair nails Cage and then Cage pops Flair.

Adam chases Cage out of the ringside area, and Luchasaurus has to take the triple attack from Sting’s team with Darby ending it with a coffin drop and Adam gets the pin and the win.

Winners: Sting, Darby Allin, and Adam Copeland

Good crowd pleasing opener and Cage is a great heel in this whole match.  

Adam grabs a mic and says it is Sting last time wrestling in California, and has to put money in the swear jar as well. 

Tony Schiavone is at the top of the stage with the referee, and he brings out Bullet Club Gold. 

Taz joins commentary.

Jay White yells he is the champion and Tony tells him to settle down. Tony then says MJF is injured and the match is canceled, but before he can say Jay White is winner by default, Adam Cole comes out to stop him. Cole says he will not allow Jay to leave with the title and if MJF can’t defend the title, he will do it for him.

Jay White says he will beat Cole again.

So, the Bullet Club takes out MJF and he has to forfeit the title?  Why doesn’t EVERYONE do that if they have a title match now?

Orange Cassidy (AEW International Champion) w/Hook vs Jon Moxley

Casssidy is fired up as he charges into Mox and they trade blows with Mox getting the upper hand. They quickly move to brawling at ringside. When they get in the ring, Mox hits a suplex where he just flips Cassidy in the air. As they brawl, Mox’s stuff looks still and Cassidy’s…does not. 

The story of the match is quickly that Mox is just brutally attacking Cassidy and Cassidy is trying to hang on with counter attacks that aren’t effective. And Mox is busted open. 

Even when Cassidy gets in a big move, he doesn’t even get a one count when covering Mox. They then move into Cassidy getting dives onto Mox, one of which they go into the announce desk. Mox is able to cut him off when they are in the ring and Mox locks in a bulldog choke. This whole match, Mox is just barely selling for Cassidy. 

Cassidy is able to get the Redrum on and Mox goes to the corner and pulls off the turnbuckle pad. Mox hits a cutter and a Gotch style piledriver for two. We get dueling chants from the crowd. Mox charges at Cassidy and actually goes into the buckle without a pad twice. Cassidy gets three Orange Punches and covers for two. Cassidy gets three more Orange Punches and then the beach break for the pin and the win.

Winner and still AEW International Champion: Orange Cassidy

The right man won, and while Mox didn’t give Cassidy much, I hope they move on from this feud. 

Yuta and Claudio come to get Mox and Yuta bumps into Hook. 

More on Page 2!

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