It’s hard to believe we’re rolling up on the seventh edition of Full Gear, but All Elite Wrestling’s customary November knock-about happens on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
We’re all adults here (I think), and we can admit that this year’s Full Gear doesn’t exude that “gotta see” energy, especially after last week’s incredible Blood and Guts matches on AEW Dynamite. Samoa Joe goes after Hangman Adam Page’s Men’s Heavyweight Championship title again, a contest we saw Joe lose last month at WrestleDream. If you count that one Ring of Honor match in 2024, this will be the sixth meeting between Kyle Fletcher and Mark Briscoe.
Then again, we are getting women’s tag team action and a Jon Moxley No Holds Barred match, so maybe this will be a decent show after all.
Can AEW founder and head booker Tony Khan take a nothing card and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? More than likely. There hasn’t been an objectively terrible AEW pay-per-view since Revolution 2021. Biff Bam Pop’s resident Sickos, Jeffery X Martin and Sachin Hingoo trust the process. They make the predictions. They watch the show. That is what they do because they are consummate professionals.
Let’s start with the live matches on the pre-show, the AEW Tailgate Brawl!
CMLL Trios Championship Titles Match: El Sky Team (Mascara Dorada, Mistico & Neon) vs. The Don Callis Family (Kazuchika Okada, Hechicero & Konosuke Takeshita)
SH: This is lowkey one of my most anticipated matches of the night, because it features three of my favourite wrestlers on the whole-ass planet in Okada, Hechi, and Takeshita on one team, and two more in Mascara Dorada and Mistico on the other. I think this one goes to Sky Team, possibly as a result of some bickering between Takeshita and Okada that could rear its head again later in the show. Those boys cannot co-exist. But no matter how it shakes out, my attention will be rapt. How is this free?!
JXM: It is unbelievable to me that this match is on the free show. These are six of the best wrestlers in the world. Heck, the Don Callis Family team features two champions in Okada (AEW Unified Title Champion) and Takeshita (IWGP World Heavyweight Champion). Don’t listen to the commentary for this one because the greatness of the ringwork will get buried by the storyline. There’s a crack in the DCF, and that’s the growing rivalry between Okada and Takeshita. Fans have been patiently waiting for Takeshita to turn on Okada and the DCF at large. If there is a time for the heat between Okada and Takeshita to start burning paper and feeding families, it’s going to be during this bout. Look for El Sky Team to retain as Takeshita and Okada’s feud costs the DCF the match.
Singles Match: Boom & Doom (Big Boom AJ & QT Marshall) vs. RPG Vice (Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero)
SH: Gonna keep this brief, but my local Costco doesn’t have these stupid cookies and that is the beginning and end of my interest in Big Boom AJ and his children. I’m always happy to see Trent and Rocky on a big show, though, and will be singing along to their theme before getting snacks or almost anything else but watching this match. Boom and Doom will probably win, because this match is for the live crowd more than anything else and for all I know, there’s a potent blend of pre-workout and just a little sprinkle of crystal meth in those cookies.
JXM: Hey, here’s a match that’s happening, and it’s the one I’m least excited about during the entire evening. It’s not that the guys can’t work, because they can go. But there are no real stakes in this match, and there’s nothing to pull me into being interested. While this match is on, I’ll pour myself a beer or six, make sure I have enough miniature cheddar cheese rice cakes, and wish Trent? and Rocky still used their old Roppongi Vice entrance theme song. Boom & Doom will win because people like the Costco cookie YouTube guy, and that’s fine. I’ve no skin in this match.
$200,000 4-Way Tag Team Match: Max Caster & Anthony Bowens vs. Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson & Austin Gunn) vs. Big Bill & Bryan Keith vs. The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)
JXM: There’s gonna be more charisma in the ring during this match than in an Assemblies of God church during an Easter sunrise service. All of these guys are bigger-than-life characters that wouldn’t be out of place in a late-night animated series. Except, that is, for Caster and Bowens. Formerly known as The Acclaimed, they went their separate ways to find that a singles run ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Booked together against their wills, Bowens and Caster still have enough chemistry to be entertaining in the ring. Do I want The Outrunners to win? Of course, I do. As Turbo Floyd said on social media, “The Outrunners are going to use this money to become richer.” But the richer story will be seeing if Caster and Bowens can handle winning a high-stakes match together again.. Can they co-exist? It seems like $200K would make that easier. Or harder. I reckon we’ll find out which, but I’m betting on Max Caster and Anthony Bowens to get that bag.
SH: There ain’t no party like an AEW preshow party, because an AEW preshow party has some of the most crowd-pleasing performers on the card mixing it up to get the thousands in attendance and the millions (and millions) watching at home hyped for the main show. There’s no big stakes to this match unless we actually get to see the winners going out on the town to spend their hard-earned purse, but there are some intriguing little threads – namely Caster and Bowens being forced together while being repelled by one another, and a rumoured return to AEW for the Bang Bang Gang’s fearless leader, Switchblade Jay White. The could mean that Robinson and Gunn could be getting a little much-needed, ahem, Juice here. I’m going out on a limb with the Bang Bang Gang, just for fun.
Singles Match: Eddie Kingston and HOOK vs The Workhorsemen (JD Drake and Anthony Henry)
JXM: I’ve nothing but mad respect for The Workhorsemen. They have become one of the most reliable midcard tag teams in the company. You may be able to predict what their next move will be, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who can do that move better. Their opponents in this match, HOOK and Eddie Kingston, are fan favorites who had to go to the back of the line after being sidelined by injuries. This could be the most evenly-matched bout of the evening. Drake and Kingston have the same body type, as do HOOK and Henry. Expect lots of chops and cannonballs into the corner in this match. Look: if you’ve read my wrestling predictions before, you know what I’m about to say. Bring me the Mad King. Hook and Eddie Kingston snag the W.
SH: It gives me great pleasure to see The Workhorsemen in a prominent spot like this, even if it’s on the pre-show. This match may not be very long on stakes, even on a card with multiple matches where the incentive to win is a kayfabe shitload of money, but this is another match to fill out the party vibe of this preshow and keep the crowd engaged. I’ll never not be cheering on Eddie Kingston, the performer who most embodies the heart and soul of AEW for me, so I’m going Kingston and Hook here.
After the pre-show comes the show-show, Full Gear 2025!
Singles Match: PAC vs. Darby Allin
JXM: Darby Allin is a weirdo on a mission. Allin wants to destroy Jon Moxley’s heel faction, the Death Riders, one villain at a time. PAC, the hair-trigger high flyer from Newcastle Upon Tyne, has taken umbrage with Allin’s desire to beat him into a pulp. Moxley has been on a losing streak lately, which could jeopardize his leadership position in the Death Riders. A victory by PAC could put him in the catbird seat for any internal struggle to control the group. Too bad he won’t get it. Let’s go ahead and call this one for Darby Allin, who lost his final fuck somewhere around the age of eight. Darbs will find a way to take PAC out, but expect a post-match attack from the Death Riders. Maybe they’ll lock Darby inside a refrigerator before they set off a nuclear bomb in Hackensack. It won’t matter. Darby will still come back, swearing irradiated vengeance.
SH: This seems like a bit of a step back for Darby, after tapping out Mox at the last PPV, WrestleDream, in spectacular fashion. But I’ll never turn my nose up at PAC on a big show and you can’t say this one doesn’t have reason to occur, what with PAC having thrown Darby into a flaming table a couple weeks ago. Something like that isn’t close enough to kill the unkillable Allin and PAC’s sinister high-flying offense gives the match a fun stylistic wrinkle. I’m going with Darby here, no thanks to the run-in fetishists in the Death Riders.
1.000.000 Dollar Six Man Tag Team Match: Josh Alexander & The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Jurassic Express (Jack Perry & Luchasaurus) & Kenny Omega
JXM: It’s all about the Benjamins, baby, as the winners of this match will receive one million dollars. As is often the case, slimeball corndog-lookin’ Don Callis has his grubby little fingers all over this bout. Callis wants the Young Bucks to join his ever-growing army of wrestlers, the Don Callis Family (DCF). Josh Alexander, the Bucks’ partner in this match, is a DCF member. On the other side is Callis’s former client, Kenny Omega. Callis loves to talk trash, and he sees this match as another opportunity to get one over on Omega, The One Who Got Away. Jack Perry attacked Omega in May 2024, causing Omega to be on the injured list for over a year. Why are Perry and Omega on the same team, and why is there a dinosaur in the ring? Because wrestling.
If the match goes the way I want it to go, which they historically do not, then Jurassic Express and Kenny Omega get the win and the money. This will infuriate the perpetually broke Bucks, who will attack Kenny and his own personal Land of the Lost cast after the pinfall and wind up joining the DCF. If the match doesn’t go the way I want it to, then something else will happen.
SH: Continuing Full Gear‘s unintentional theme of matches with questionable stakes but full of wrestlers that I love watching. The main thrust of this match is the shifting allegiances of the Bucks, who seem conflicted about taking Don Callis’ lucrative offers to join his ever-expanding family even though they desperately need the money. On the opposing team, there’s something off about Jungle Jack Perry after having resurrected Luchasaurus, Frankenstein-style, a couple of months ago. I wonder if a reunion of the Elite (Kenny and the Bucks) and a betrayal from the Jurassic guys is in the cards here too. But never count against Kenny got-damn Omega on pay-per-view, so I see Kenny and The Jurassics pulling out the win here.
AEW National Title Casino Gauntlet Match: Shelton Benjamin vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Ricochet vs. Mike Bailey vs. Kevin Knight and Probably Many Other Dedicated Workers Who Will Surprise and Delight Sickos of All Ages
Stipulation: Winner Becomes the Inaugural AEW National Champion
SH: Six-ish years into AEW’s run and I feel like I’m only now starting to figure out the rules of these Casino Gauntlet matches. To be fair, the rules have changed somewhat from the highly-confusing original versions with chips and suits and all the features of competitive poker that remind me why I watch wrestling instead of competitive f’n poker. In these six-ish years we’ve also seen some exhilarating surprises in these matches, so we’re in for a great time here. Without knowing the participants I can’t really predict a winner, but I’m predicting that the Gauntlet will feature a second appearance on the show from both Okada and Takeshita, both of whom are on the kickoff show, and this will further the friction between the two that’s been fomenting for some time.
JXM: This match is hard to call because we don’t know who else could show up in the ring. Out of the five announced participants, four of them are in tag teams that don’t need to split up. Lashley and Benjamin are having the time of their lives in The Hurt Syndicate. Speedball and Kevin Knight, collectively known as JetSpeed, are high-flying utility players who can always be counted on for a great match. That leaves Ricochet, a loud-mouthed heel, on the tipping point of gaining nuclear heat. You know what would push him over the edge? Being the first AEW wrestler to wear the National Championship Title. There’s only one heel champion right now (TNT Champion The Protostar Kyle Fletcher) and, frankly, that’s not enough. Other guys will show up to fight, but who cares? I light my Meerschaum pipe and scratch the head of my loyal Labrador retriever, Tatanka. The more I think about it, the more I love the idea of Ricochet holding that title. I nod my head and stroke my beard. I drain my third glass of sherry and make my choice. Ricochet, I whisper into the still air of my observatory. Ricochet. The Universe sighs its agreement. Together, we wait under starless skies for the National Championship to be defended at Ring of Honor’s Final Battle on December 5 in Columbus, Ohio.
Marina Shafir & Megan Bayne vs. The Timeless Love Bombs (Timeless Toni Storm & Mina Shirakawa) vs. The Babes of Wrath (Harley Cameron & Willow Nightingale) vs. Sisters of Sin (Julia Hart & Skye Blue) in a Tornado 4-Way
Stipulation: Winners Pick Their Semi-Final Tournament Match Stipulation (and This Is the Third Time You’ve Read the Word “Stipulation” in One Sentence)
JXM: I love all of these women on a deeply personal level, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Whoever wins, I will feel sad for the losers. For me, the question is which team can come up with the best stipulation. Marina and Megan are mean-spirited and have violent hearts. Harley and Willow have bright and bubbly personalities, but aren’t afraid to throw hands (or thumbtacks). Mina and Toni don’t shy away from bloodshed either, and they’re geared towards the weird and surreal. That leaves the Sisters of Sin, Julia and Skye, who dress like Type O Negative fans on their way to another exciting evening of smoking absinthe through a hookah. Skye Blue cast the most iconic figure in the first women’s Blood and Guts match, smiling through her crimson mask like a raver at Club Blood. That’s the kind of attitude I want from someone who gets to pick a stipulation, someone who’s going to get primeval with the whole idea. Although I’m curious what the Timeless Love Bombs might devise, I’m going with the Sisters of Sin to get the win and conjure that stip.
SH: I’d be completely fine with any one of these final four teams in the inaugural Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament picking up the victory here, but there’s two teams – Timeless Love Bombs and Sisters of Sin – who would leverage a ‘call your shot’ wrinkle in their semi-final match into something particularly violent and compelling. Toni and Mina are violence-and-sex-crazed maniacs who have a major axe to grind with the heel teams here, and their imaginations are unmatched so their stipulation for the semis could be something truly off the wall. Coming off a banger of a performance in Blood and Guts, you know that pesky Skye Blue is itching to inject even more violence into AEW’s women’s division. So what kind of bugaloo stipulation are the Sisters going to call if they win? Every surface covered in barbed wire? A wrestling ring made up entirely of hornets? Who knows, but that’s what I want to see, so Sisters of Sin it is.
AEW TNT Title No Disqualification Match: Kyle Fletcher (c) vs. Mark Briscoe
Stipulation: If Mark Briscoe Loses, He Must Exit The Conglomeration and Join the Don Callis Family
JXM: Kyle Fletcher and Mark Briscoe know each other, although not in the Biblical way (I’m assuming). This is their sixth big singles match against each other, and by this time, they should be wrestling telepathically. I’ll take that MK Ultra remote viewing match. This time around, the kicker is that Briscoe has to leave his happy-go-lucky face faction, The Conglomeration, should he lose. Fletcher doesn’t like Briscoe and doesn’t want him in the DCF, but Briscoe is hell-bent on revenge. Briscoe will do whatever it takes for one more chance to beat Fletcher clean. There’s no worker quite like a riled-up Mark Briscoe, but The Protostar Kyle Fletcher is, to put it mildly, a beast in the ring. This one is a bit of a toss-up, but I would like to see Fletcher get involved in a different feud. I’m hoping Mark Briscoe wins and gets to keep conglomeratin’, but with Don Callis involved, any kind of chicanery is possible.
SH: Kyle is up 3-2 in his feud with Mark Briscoe, so it sure would seem like it’s Mark’s turn to get one over on the Protostar. But the thought of “Chicken” wreaking havoc around Don Callis’s mansion and his family is too compelling an idea to pass up. I think there’s a major reckoning coming for the members of the Don Callis Family leading to a potential split, so Briscoe being the catalyst for that whole mess would be pretty cool. I think Kyle picks up this win, as Fletchlights around the world rejoice.
AEW World Tag Team Title Match: Brodido (Bandido & Brody King) (c) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood with Stokely Hathaway)
JXM: Dax, Cash, and Big Stoke are some of the best trash talkers in the company. To hear them tell it, all they want is some respect placed on their names for being the best tag team in history. When the crowd cheers for Brodido, FTR takes that as a personal affront. FTR attacked Bandido’s brother, Gravity, and publicly mocked Bandido’s abuela. Those are classic heel moves from FTR, a team based in and modeled on old-school ‘rasslin. Brodido have won AEW crowds over. Bandido, who may be on the best run of his career, does the high-flying crazy stuff while Brody King tackles people and hurls them across the ring. It’s a good partnership, and King and Bandido play to each other’s strengths. That’s why I think they’ll drop the belts at Full Gear. Played correctly, chasing the belts could make Bandido more popular than they are now, and that’s saying a lot. No one expects FTR to win a fair match, but I do expect them to win. FTR grabs the straps.
SH: Bandido might be my wrestler of the year right now, and his team with Brody King is a huge reason for that. The pair have some of the unlikeliest and best chemistry of almost any team in AEW (short of any of the women’s teams in that 4-way match) and their matches have been stellar. FTR and their newish allegiance with Stokely Hathaway have been gunning for the belts for a while now, and they do seem like the odds-on favourites to take this match. But I’ve seen Brodido pull out much less likely wins in this run, and I’m not ready for them to relinquish the Tag Team Championships just yet.
Singles Match: Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Stipulation: No Holds Barred
JXM: Here comes violence in an environment where just about anything goes. Death Riders leader Jon Moxley hates to lose and will do anything he can to avoid it. That means nothing to Kyle O’Reilly, a technical wrestler who recently made Moxley tap. Twice. At this year’s Blood and Guts, O’Reilly made Mox tap out to an ankle lock in the center of a pile of broken glass. Man, the Death Riders beat the screeching dog meat of O’Reilly in that match. O’Reilly’s face looked like it had been run through a food processor on pulse. Why not make things completely worse and have a No Holds Barred match on a pay-per-view? Another loss could make the Death Riders seriously consider booting Mox from the group. It doesn’t hurt that O’Reilly has proven himself to the Sickos. We didn’t hate him before, but by the gods, we love O’Reilly now. I don’t think O’Reilly will win. I need him to win. Continue The Downward Spiral of Jon Moxley, send him home to his pretty wife and daughter, and bring him back as a face sometime in 2026. Kyle O’Reilly will emerge as the blood-covered winner of this match.
SH: My pet theory is that Kyle O’Reilly, perennial favourite of mine, has been on a run that was meant for Adam Cole, had the Paragon leader not suffered a medical issue that put him out of action indefinitely. While Cole sits on the sidelines, his stablemates Roderick Strong and O’Reilly seem to have turned the dial to 11 in terms of intensity in the ring, and that means picking fights with violence demon Jon Moxley and his merry band of hooligans in the Death Riders. Such a reckless act rarely leaves either combatant unscathed, and I think we’re in for some permanent scarring as Kyle and Mox mix it up, no rules style, at Full Gear. Mox seems to be in a bit of a slump lately, having lost the AEW Men’s World Championship to Adam Page, tapping out to Darby Allin, and tapping out a few more times to O’Reilly at the end of Blood and Guts and after some attempted beatdowns. Pick a struggle, Mox! Well, if that’s any indication, I’ll be looking for Kyle O’Reilly to once again show the Death Riders’ leader what’s what.
AEW Women’s World Championship Match: Kris Statlander (c) vs. Mercedes Mone
JXM: Mercedes Mone has, as of this writing, 87,583 championships in promotions across the world. That’s damned near everything but the AEW Women’s World Championship Title, currently held by Kris Statlander. Both Mercedes and Statlander made good showings in the recent Women’s Blood and Guts match, and it’s doubtful they’re entering this match at full health. Mercedes has never been my favorite in-ring competitor. She hasn’t even made the bottom of the list. That being said, she has improved by slow degrees, so her Full Gear match against Stat Daddy won’t be a complete bathroom break. I admit to having tons of fun watching Mercedes pitch a fit when she doesn’t get her way, and the thought of having Statlander hold the one title Mercedes can’t get tickles me. Kris Statlander retains while Mercedes complains.
SH: As Mercedes continues to collect championships wherever she goes, most recently winning the Undisputed Ring of Honor Women’s Television championship by defeating both Interim champions in Mina Shirakawa and Red Velvet, she’s become even more arrogant and possibly a little more reckless in the ring. She’s taking more risks, which has (for me, at least) resulted in a Mercedes that’s a lot more interesting to watch. She seems to have picked up bits and pieces of her conquered opponents’ repertoires, like a Katamari that’s looking to roll through Kris Statlander and collect the one championship that’s eluded her, the AEW Women’s World title. Stat has looked focused and determined in this run as champion, though, and that renewed seriousness makes her the alpha of a very competitive division. Kris Statlander retains in a squeaker, which starts Mercedes toward a crashout and beginning her shedding of some of those belts.
AEW Men’s World Championship Match: Adam Page (c) vs. Samoa Joe
Stipulation: This Match Takes Place In a Steel Cage
SH: It’s been two decades since I first saw Samoa Joe absolutely maul someone in a ring. It was close to the end of his Ring of Honor run and he was facing some of the best that wrestling had to offer in some of the best matches you’ll ever see. If you told me then that Joe would still be performing at that level – better actually – in 2025? I’d say there was no way, but we’re here watching him main event again for the AEW Men’s World Championship. And it’s against the mega-violent, chaotic-good Hangman, and in a steel cage! I’ve enjoyed Hanger running through the other Opps in the last few weeks, which reminded me that AEW is a company that delivers things like Adam Page vs Katsuyori Shibata as part of its free, weekly programming. They’re also good for some horrific violence, and even in a month where we saw two Blood and Guts matches, this should be carnage as well. Hangman Adam Page retains.
JXM: At WrestleDream, Joe and Hangman proved they can push each other to their absolute limits. That match felt like a once-in-a-lifetime event. There was gravitas. Respect and honor were at stake. I don’t know what can be gained by running this match back inside a cage. I’m a Sicko at heart, but this bout feels more like a novelty than a rivalry. It’s not time for Hangman to drop the title yet. I expect him to hold onto it until Swerve Strickland returns from injury and makes his challenge. However, this should be a fun match, with faces being smashed into steel and, if we’re lucky, someone will bleed and the commentary team will freak out. Hangman Adam Page will remain our champion.
In the United States, you can order Full Gear on HBO MAX, Prime Video, PPV.COM, YouTube, Fubo, DirecTV, Sling, Dish, and traditional cable and satellite providers. Canada and select international countries can order Full Gear on Prime Video, Triller, PPV.COM, and YouTube. HBO MAX and TNT viewers can watch the AEW Tailgate Brawl, a live pre-show beginning at 7:00 PM EST while other viewers can watch the Zero Hour pre-show, starting at the same time. That’s not convoluted at all. Full Gear begins at 8:00 PM EST and will probably last long enough to make you tired at work the following day. But if you’re feeling froggy, you can catch the show after the show-show, sometimes called the post-show but, in this case, called the AEW Full Gear Media Scrum, on YouTube.
