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Full Gear 2021 was AEW's final pay-per-view of the year. The card was stacked with must-see matches.
The show opened with an instant classic between MJF and Darby Allin. The Salt of the Earth came out with the win as two of The Four Pillars of AEW set the night off to a hot start. A new champion was crowned, and the new #1 contender was announced. Britt Baker retained her title in a tightly contested match against Tay Conti.
A 20-year wrestling veteran made his AEW debut and immediately challenged for the TNT Championship. Eddie Kingston and CM Punk tore the house down in another classic.
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However, there were a few things AEW got wrong. Let's take a look at five mistakes AEW made at Full Gear 2021.
A top AEW star just called one of his colleagues 'spoiled' and 'narcissistic' HERE.
#5. Some of the matches at AEW Full Gear 2021 dragged for too long
Full Gear opened with MJF vs. Darby Allin in one of the greatest pay-per-view openers in modern wrestling history. The two tore the house down as the Dynamite Diamond Ring winner reigned supreme.
The match lasted over 22 minutes, and every second was worth it. The Lucha Brothers vs. FTR for the AEW Tag Team Championship clocked at just under 20 minutes. Another long, excellent match.
The next two matches lasted over 20 minutes each. The first was Miro vs. Bryan Danielson in the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament final and Superkliq vs. Jurassic Express and Christian Cage.
None of the matches were throwaway. Each had top stars involved with a great build-up. For fans to stay invested in four straight matches, all of which were 20 or more minutes long, is next to impossible. This isn't to say the matches weren't great – they all ranged from great to excellent – but fans needed a breather.
The two matches that followed were over 16 and 15 minutes long as Cody Rhodes and PAC defeated Andrade El Idolo and Malakai Black while Britt Baker defeated Tay Conti to retain the AEW Women's Championship.
The shortest match was CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston at 11 minutes and, immediately after that, we got the Inner Circle vs. American Top Team in yet another match that lasted 20 minutes. The main event lasted nearly half an hour as Hangman Adam Page won the AEW World Championship.
Some matches, like the Cody/PAC vs. Andrade/Black, Superkliq vs. Jurassic Express/Christian, and Inner Circle vs. ATT could, or should, have been shorter. The Cody Rhodes tag team match would've been better placed on Dynamite as it felt randomly thrown together compared to the rest of the card. The same could be said for the Inner Circle vs. American Top Team Street Fight.
#4. AEW over-exposed Britt Baker and Tay Conti at Full Gear 2021
There's no doubt that AEW has a lot of faith in its women. At Full Gear, Britt Baker and Tay Conti squared for the AEW Women's Championship.
Their match went on for over 15 minutes which saw Britt Baker pick up the win. We'll talk about the finish later, but it was the length that was the issue.
Britt Baker has improved exponentially and is a deserving champion. Her character work is great, and she's over with the audience. Tay Conti has improved, too, but neither woman is at a level where they can call a 15-minute match. There's still some way to go before they become ring generals and, if they continue on this trajectory, they surely will.
Instead of a 15-minute match, we could've seen a shorter title match. We could've had a rubber match at Full Gear, and it would've been right up there with the best matches of the night.
AEW has a talented women's roster, but long matches between stars still improving will only expose their in-ring deficiencies, which is what happened at Full Gear.
#3. There were too many screwy finishes at AEW Full Gear 2021
MJF had promised Darby Allin that he could defeat him with a side headlock takeover. After the former struck Darby with the Dynamite Diamond Ring, he did just that, pinning Darby while he had him in a headlock.
The storytelling was on point, but the issue? Darby Allin's shoulders were not pinned to the mat. The count should never have started. In the next match between the Lucha Brothers and the FTR, there was another screwy finish as the illegal person was pinned.
In the aforementioned Britt Baker vs. Tay Conti match, Jamie Hayter and Rebel interfered to give the champion an unfair advantage, making it a third screwy finish on the night. The Miro vs. Bryan Danielson finish felt a little clunky and abrupt as well, despite the match being great.
Interferences and shady finishes work well when done sparingly but, whether it was intentional or not, there were too many strange finishes to otherwise very strong matches at Full Gear 2021.
#2. Hangman Adam Page's victory speech at AEW Full Gear 2021 should have been on-air
After Full Gear went off the air, Hangman Adam Page took a microphone and delivered an emotional speech to the Minneapolis crowd.
The Millennial Cowboy recalled his journey from being a member of The Bullet Club to losing faith in himself and then finding a new home with The Dark Order. The new AEW World Champion then vowed to hold on to the championship forever.
The speech was great, but it should've been on the air. For the hundreds of thousands of fans who bought the pay-per-view and invested in the Hangman's journey to the top, they deserved to hear what their new champion had to say.
Of course, on AEW Dynamite in his hometown, Page will address the crowd. But the emotions were running the strongest immediately after the win. Everyone at home would've loved to hear what Hangman Adam Page had to say.
#1. Does AEW need Jay Lethal?
Tony Schiavone introduced the fans in attendance to a special guest at Full Gear 2021 and it turned out to be Jay Lethal.
Jay Lethal is a six-time IMPACT Wrestling X-Division champion and is best known for his gimmick of impersonating other stars, most notably Ric Flair. He's been in the business for 20 years and has a wealth of experience.
Black Machismo didn't waste time in making his intentions clear as he answered Sammy Guevara's open challenge for the TNT Championship. The match will take place at AEW Dynamite. Shortly after, AEW gave The Greatest First Generation Wrestler the #AllElite banner on Twitter, signaling he had signed with the company.
Now, if it was a one-time appearance, it was perfectly fine. Does AEW need to sign Jay Lethal permanently? Unfortunately, there are sufficient reasons to answer that in the negative. Tony Khan has built up a brilliant roster of veterans and young stars, many of whom could do with more TV time.
Jay Lethal is not a big name like CM Punk or Bryan Danielson to command TV time right off the bat, and neither is he better than the top stars in AEW like Adam Cole, Miro, Kenny Omega, etc. Moreover, the likes of Kevin Owens, Keith Lee, and Kyle O'Reilly are heavily rumored to be in contention for a spot in the company.
Jay Lethal has a troubled history with various allegations against him so that baggage comes along. For a company that is trying to establish itself, it might not be the greatest look to sign someone like Jay Lethal.
