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All Elite Wrestling's latest PPV event is just days away. The promotion has its foot firmly on the accelerator for Full Gear, which takes place this Saturday November 9th. It marks AEW's first major PPV event since the debut of Dynamite as a weekly Wednesday offering on TNT.
Of the eight matches announced for the card, the stand out contest revolves around the AEW World Championship. Having been crowned the first AEW Champion at ALL OUT, Chris Jericho is set to put the belt on the line against Cody. The match has been highlighted prominently on Dynamite across the month of October, with the pair engaging in a number of heated battles - both with their fists and on the mic.
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With Cody putting his future title ambitions on the line in the match, the stakes have never been higher for the AEW VP. In his career to-date, 'The American Nightmare' has yet to taste the delight of a world title reign.
However, here are four signs that might change come Full Gear.
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#4 The match stipulation
If you had asked me a week ago, I'd have said the chances of a Chris Jericho loss at Full Gear were slim-to-none. This opinion shifted this past Wednesday on Dynamite when Cody announced that if he fails to win the AEW World Championship this Saturday, he will never be able to challenge for the championship again.
Such a stipulation isn't a rare thing in wrestling. However, it is used mainly for wrestlers toward the end of their careers, or those on the move to another company or brand. This isn't the case for Cody, who at 34 years old is in the prime of his career. Add in the fact that he is effectively running the company, he won't be going anywhere else for a long time.
As a result, I can't envision Cody not being a title contender for the rest of his career. Granted, he may want to focus more on running the company, but he is one of the biggest stars AEW has right now.
People may say that stipulations never remain set in stone in wrestling, and AEW could easily scrap it in future, but this is a company who doesn't want to insult the fans' intelligence. Allowing Cody to have a shot at the title after such a loss would surely be doing that.
#3 Jericho's outside commitments
Credit should rightfully be given to Chris Jericho, as he has been a regular feature each week on AEW TV. 'Le Champion' and his Inner Circle have been running roughshod over the AEW roster ever since Dynamite debuted in September.
When Jericho announced he was joining the company early this year, I envisioned him being a part time performer in the same way Brock Lesnar is in WWE. While this hasn't been the case, other outside commitments could start effecting Jericho's championship run. His band Fozzy have a couple of concerts lined up for 2020, which in the past, has seen him take time off from wrestling to prepare.
Another circumstance a bit closer to home is a match he has scheduled for January: a clash with Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 14. While we don't know what New Japan's plans are yet for this match, there is a realistic possibility that Jericho could lose.
It has been well documented that the relationship between AEW and NJPW isn't great. If that is indeed the case, there is no way that The Elite will let their world champion lose at a rival's biggest show of the year. One way around that would be for Jericho to drop the championship in the two months before Wrestle Kingdom, and Full Gear is the biggest stage within that time period to do so.
#2 Crowd Reaction
The go-home edition of Dynamite this past week shows just how engaged Cody is with the audience.
Outside of maybe Becky Lynch in WWE, he is probably the most over wrestler in the sport today.
His ability on the mic embodies what his legendary father Dusty Rhodes brought to the game all those years ago. The crowd listens intently to every single word he says - which is a testament to the work Cody has put in over the years.
In wrestling you need to strike while the iron is hot. You need to put your championship on your most popular guy before it is too late. WWE did this brilliantly in 2014 when Daniel Bryan won the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 30 at the peak of his popularity.
Given how early we are into AEW's run, it is important that they get this balance correct, otherwise they risk doing what other promotions have done many times - putting the belt on someone when fans are getting sick of them.
The AEW following appears to be loyal to the promotion, so it is hard to envision the reaction to Cody diminishing any time soon, even if he doesn't win the title. One thing you do learn as a wrestling fan is that you never know what is going to happen in the future, so you should take advantage of the moment and create something exciting, which is what will happen if Cody wins at Full Gear.
#1 Future connotations
Followers of AEW will notice that they have a sure-fire money feud waiting in the wings whenever the company decides to pull the trigger on it. That feud is the inevitable one between Cody and MJF.
The character of Maxwell Jacob Friedman has been one of the high points of 2019. While he portrays an arrogant jackass to just about everyone - be it wrestlers, media, fans,etc. - his relationship with Cody is entirely different.
MJF currently sees the number one contender as a mentor, a friend, and someone who he would do anything for. However, there will come a point when Friedman's natural tendencies take over, and he turns on 'The American Nightmare.'
The longer AEW hold this out, the bigger the reaction will be. Putting bigger stakes on the line as well will also make it feel more special when it does happen. The turn would work so much better if it comes from MJF costing Cody the title somewhere down the line, whether it's at the next big PPV event or even later down the line in mid-to-late 2020.
If AEW plans to pull the trigger fairly soon, MJF could attack the new champion after his win on Saturday. This would set up Cody's next big feud and more than likely lead to the building of AEW's first homegrown star with MJF being the first non-WWE AEW Champion before 2020 comes to a conclusion.
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