Full Gear doesn’t feel like a day of stories coming to an end for AEW but a chance at new beginnings and an opportunity to take some of its best programs to the next level.
Will we find out who is behind the Devil mask haunting MJF and his friends?
Will AEW reset its women’s division and hand the ball to two of the company’s most intriguing acts in Toni Storm and Julia Hart?
Will The Elite potentially implode again as tensions build between the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega?
Will Swerve Strickland and “Hangman” Adam Page steal the show?
Will Adam Copeland’s first true match with Christian Cage since 2011 jump-start their story?
The Post’s Joseph Staszewski tries to predict how it will all go down at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday.
How to watch: (Zero Hour at 6:30 p.m. AEW YouTube/Bleacher Report; Main card at 8 p.m., Bleacher Report)
MJF can’t keep this pace up, can he, even after beating The Righteous on his own at WrestleDream? Well maybe with Samoa Joe as his partner in return for an AEW championship rematch.
As much as I’d like to see the world champion move on from this, he seems destined to lose these titles to The Kingdom somewhere down the road if real partner Adam Cole does prove to be The Devil.
Ring of Honor’s own Final Battle pay-per-view is a little less than a month away, so it’s hard to see Kingston’s title reign ending on the pre-show of an AEW card.
He will either use the multi-time ROH champion in Lethal as a stepping stone to bigger things or they run it back in December.
Copeland and Cage are destined for bigger and better things together after this match, especially with World’s End coming in December.
AEW only advances this story if the Rated-R Superstar can collect some wins in this rivalry.
With Sting on his retirement tour, losses are going to be few and far between for The Icon.
Copeland or Sting pinning Wayne, after Cage sells him out could add some tension with his young protege, or Sting pins Cage to force a TNT title match.
Stickland won the first meeting at All Out, but that hasn’t stopped him from menacing Page.
He’s invaded the Cowboy’s home and goading him into him leaving The Young Bucks during their Ring of Honor six-man tag team championship defense.
They dropped the titles to Strickland’s Mogul Embassy and it’s starting a rift in The Elite.
Page responded as if he was out for blood in a promo to set up the Texas Death match.
Too much story and emotion has been laid out for Page and Strickland to not become a potential trilogy. Page gets a measure of revenge with a win here.
Here we get the most intriguing stipulation on the card because the outcome could shape The Elite and the Don Callis family storyline for months.
If Omega and Jericho win they get the AEW tag team title shot Matt and Nick Jackson have been sitting on.
If the Bucks win, Jericho and Omega have to end their Golden Jets tag team so Kenny can focus on The Elite again.
The fact that The Bucks haven’t cashed in their title shot and the tension in The Elite that would be caused by them losing make that the far more interesting option.
It makes more sense for Omega and Jericho to win since their feud with Don Callis is still very fresh.
Moxley ended Cassidy’s more than 320-day reign as champion at All Out on Sept. 3.
Since then we have seen a more frustrated, aggressive and even somber side of Cassidy.
He’s upset at losing and wants to never feel that feeling again.
Moxley’s run came to an abrupt end after he suffered a concussion in a loss to Rey Fenix.
Cassidy then swooped in to regain the title, angering Moxley.
For the edgier side of Cassidy to truly come out, he may need to lose one more time before regaining the title from Moxley or winning another with his new-found determination.
There isn’t an easy call here because Ricky Starks and Big Bill only won the titles in early November, seem to have momentum and could be solid additions to the Don Callis family if AEW wants to go that route.
Full Gear could also turn into a very big night for The House of Black, as the other intriguing option, should Malakai Black and Brody King win here and Julian Hart also claim gold.
Ultimately, I don’t think AEW is ready to take the belts off the champs this soon, so they will find a way to escape with a win.
Maybe they spark a feud with La Facción Ingobernable in the process.
Julia Hart has done everything right to get herself in this position.
Her creepy-mist-spitting character is one of the best at the moment in AEW and her in-ring work has improved and is as sharp as it has ever been.
What likely happens here is Skye Blue’s full heal turn — after being misted by Hart in October — becomes complete as she will cost former friend Kris Statlander the championship despite giving the impression she has an issue with Hart.
Hart will mist her again, leaving her no choice but to fully bend to her dark side.
Yes, Shida only won the belt for a third time a little more than a month ago.
But Storm is the best and most interesting act going in the women’s division, so AEW can’t wait much longer to put the belt back on her for a third time.
New signee, Mariah May from Stardom, is clearly being positioned as a superfan or future understudy of Storm, whose character is a Hollywood Golden Age star.
What better way for her to endear herself to her idol than to help Storm regain the AEW women’s championship?
Having White steal MJF’s belt, pose as the champ and outsmart him in a number of situations has certainly raised the tension for this match between two of the best performers in the industry right now.
Neverhtheless, this all seems to be setting up what’s next for MJF with the Devil mask storyline heating up, the story around his contract said to be be up on Jan. 1, 2024 and AEW set to end the year on Long Island at World’s End.
MJF should win here — maybe with help from The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn against Bullet Club Gold — but will we have immediate clarity on what’s to come or be forced to wait?