There was a bizarre post on various wrestling news sites regarding what Full Gear 2021 might look like. While only one match has been made official so far, it’s interesting to review the alleged card and do some speculation on what may happen.
Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page
This match was officially announced on Rampage tonight for the World Title as a result of Hangman Page cashing in his ladder match victory. Because Hangman Page took some time off for paternity leave, he had been away for roughly two months. So it was strange seeing him win the Casino Ladder match.
Current speculation is that Page will finally get his title win here against Kenny Omega with Bryan Danielson challenging right after. Although Hangman Page received a pretty strong reception at his return, I think it’s a mistake to allow him near the title picture “just to tie up loose ends of a story.” The problem I have is that too much momentum was lost both in his paternity leave along with his loss when he tagged with the Dark Order. That match almost was a burial of those guys and I think they should’ve killed his push for the title just because it’s a case of too little too late. The real big money match is Kenny Omega vs Bryan Danielson part 2 but for the title. And that match should’ve occurred right here on the PPV, which leads me to believe that Page will actually lose.
Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley
On Rampage they announced that there’s going to be a world title eliminator tournament with the brackets coming out next week. My guess is that the finals will be this match. I can’t see Bryan Danielson losing this match but at least Jon Moxley will get a meaningful match way up the card so everyone will be happy here.
Inner Circle vs. American Top Team
This is nothing more than another version of Inner Circle vs the Pinnacle except you aren’t bury three talented people in MJF and FTR. But the whole angle has been borked ever since they turned it into a pro-wrestling story rather than a shoot.
MJF vs. Darby Allin
This should be really good but I’m hoping MJF pulls out the victory here. Yet that would mark another major PPV loss for Darby. In his case though, he can afford the loss since he’s already had key matches against guys like CM Punk and is obviously factored into the future of AEW. MJF needs the win because he needs to be moved closer to the world title picture.
CM Punk vs. Wardlow
Wardlow is terrible but I wonder if CM Punk is going to be associated with Darby Allin as well? Or perhaps Punk being in an ongoing feud against MJF since that would move MJF up into a main event type of match up in the future.
Britt Baker vs. ?
I wish this were against Serena Deeb but Serena is a heel. This is the problem where Baker has used up her opponents and there isn’t anyone fresh at her level of heat to really compete.
Jade Cargill vs. Thunder Rosa
I get why this may happen but it’s a waste. The match should be Britt Baker vs Thunder Rosa. But there’s a chance this might involve the new TBS women’s title.
Christian Cage vs. Adam Cole
Christian Cage probably will be losing the Impact title soon enough to Josh Alexander. So this will be a great match where Cage can put Adam Cole over as Adam Cole is clearly one of the biggest stars in AEW.
Lucha Bros vs. FTR
FTR should beat the Lucha Bros since they are the best tag team in the world and that national Hispanic month will be over.
Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express
Hopefully, this match won’t last nearly as long as that horrid Bucks vs Lucha Bros match.
Cody Rhodes vs. Malakai Black or Andrade or ?
Oh god, why is Cody still fighting Malakai Black? I hope this isn’t a case where Cody tries to get his win back. It’s still too early. Malakai just needs to be factored into some title picture soon. I would prefer this to be Malakai Black vs Sammy Guevara.
Since Pac vs Andrade part 2 is happening next week, I’ll assume that Andrade beats Pac so that Andrade can move onto someone new. If Malakai Black isn’t facing Sammy Guevara here, then it should be Andrade. The only thing is that Andrade really hasn’t beaten anyone since all he does is those stupid unintelligible promos. But the problem is that they just don’t have time to build up a feud with Andrade and Sammy given that Sammy has been sucked into Jericho’s mess with America’s Top Team.
I’m guessing with Miro losing the TNT title he’s getting some PTO. Also, no Bobby Fish here yet for his first PPV match. There’s a few other major names missing but it might just be the case where they’re taking PTO. It’s a reasonably logical card and only the lack of opponents for Britt Baker, that Jade vs Thunder Rosa match and the possibility that Cody might try to get his win back are my main concerns. Maybe Paige VanZant might challenge Britt. Either way, it doesn’t look too bad. Punk continues to grind towards the top while Bryan works his way down.