AEW Full Gear is in the books and was one of the year's best events. Besides the great action, it was the first time three of the Knotfest Wrestling crew could take in a show together. I, Rob Pasbani, along with hosts Colin Young and Jordan Olds all met up and took the road to Full Gear, and after the show, we met out outside the arena to offer some thoughts.
If you missed our thoughts, it's a very fun way to spend 10 minutes, especially because of my rousing rendition of "Hava Nagila" at the end.
The big story is of course MJF winning the world title, with the help of William Regal, who threw him some knucks to use on Moxley. Does this mean the two are affiliated now? Does the Blackpool Combat Club disband? There are some great questions still to be answered on this coming Dynamite.
Other highlights included Jamie Hayter finally winning the AEW Women's World Championship, which was awesome. My favorite match of the night was the Elite, shockingly, losing to Death Triangle, with some cheating after Fenix finally used the hammer Pac was telling him to use. As a result, a best of seven series was announced for both teams over the next few months on Dynamite and I couldn't be more excited! Samoa Joe won the TNT Title, although Wardlow was not pinned in the result of the match, leading to a natural rematch. Keith Lee had enough of Swerve's cheating and left him in the lurch, and I'm excited to see those two fight.
AEW have some time until their next PPV, which is AEW Revolution on March 5, 2023 happening at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Given that they have a solid three and a half months until their next big show, you have to assume there will be some big Dynamites in the meantime. Their next big Dynamite show is Winter is Coming in two weeks, where MJF will face the winner of Ethan Page vs. Ricky Starks in the world title eliminator tournament finals, which happens this Wednesday on TBS.
What's on TV this week?
WWE RAW is tonight at 8pm on USA:
- Asuka vs. Rhea Ripley to determine the War Games advantage.
- No other matches announced
WWE NXT is on tomorrow night at 8pm on USA and that North American title match seems can't miss:
- NXT North American Champion Wes Lee defends against Carmelo Hayes
- Wendy Choo vs. Cora Jade
- Ivy Nile vs. Kiana James
- Scrypts will be revealed
- Toxic Attraction will kick off the show
AEW has a big show the night before Thanksgiving on TBS at 8pm:
- ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs against Tomohiro Ishii
- AEW World title eliminator tournament finals: Ethan Page vs. Ricky Starks
- AEW All-Atlantic Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Jake Hager
- Match two in Death Triangle and The Elite's best-of-seven series for the AEW World Trios Championship
WWE Smackdown on Friday at 8pm is the final stop before Survivor Series this Saturday.
- SmackDown World Cup semifinals: Braun Strowman vs. Ricochet
- SmackDown World Cup semifinals: Santos Escobar vs. Butch
- WarGames advantage match: Drew McIntyre & Sheamus vs. The Usos
- Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Shotzi & Raquel Rodriguez
I'll have a full preview of Survivor Series in my next column!
Wrestling News from Around the Internet
At the start of the Elite's return match at the PPV, there was a very loud "Fuck CM Punk" chant. While it was a fan who started the chant, The Bucks egged it on. And, they made sure to include the chant in their behind-the-scenes Youtube series, "Being the Elite."
WWE agent and former superstar Jamie Noble announced he will be wrestling what is likely his last match in his home state of West Virgina at December 11 WWE house show. Noble retired in 2009 due to neck, shoulder and back pain.
Brandi Rhodes told the Ten Count podcast that she is not actively looking to get back into the ring for pro wrestling at the moment.
AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill is working an angle with rapper Bow Wow. She interrupted his singing yesterday:
KAIRI, the former Kairi Sane in WWE, has become the first IWGP Women's Champion and will defend the belt on January 4th at the Tokyo Dome as part of WrestleKingdom.
Kenny Omega is coming back to New Japan Pro Wrestling and Wrestle Kingdom! He will challenge Will Ospreay for the IWGP US title. I am very excited for this match!
In a new Instagram video, Steve Austin addressed the rumors that he's coming back for another match, saying "People have been speculating, 'Hey Steve, what are you doing? What are you training for? Are you training for an event?' Speculate what you want for. I just simply looked in the mirror and realized I look like shit, so I called my diet coach up. And my macros are currently, give or take, roughly around 2650 calories, 300-320 grams of protein, 150 grams of carbs on a regular day, will spike at 420 on a load up. I still drink beer on Friday nights. Get three Broken Skull IPAs, and that's pretty much it. I'm probably, as far as body weight goes, sub-232, the leanest I've been in forever. Anyway, that's the bottom line, I'm out. I just got tired of looking like -- when I looked in the mirror, I looked like shit. I got tired of looking like shit, so I'm taking actions to do something about it. I gotta go. Catch you down the road."
Konosuke Takeshita has signed full-time with AEW and will be moving to the United States. He will be traveling back to DDT for big shows.
Don’t forget, Tuesday nights, Knotfest Wrestling will go live on the Knotfest Youtube with hosts Alicia Atout, Colin Young, and Jordan Olds. So make sure to tune in!
Do you enjoy pro wrestling? Knotfest Wrestling has a bi-weekly column filled with wrestling news. Read previous editions of this column here. You can always follow me @robinjection on Instagram and Twitter and @Squaredcirclpit.
