Friday, March 29, 2024
EditorialEarly Card Predictions for AEW Full Gear 2021 Match Lineup

Early Card Predictions for AEW Full Gear 2021 Match Lineup

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All Elite Wrestling just had its huge All Out 2021 event this past Sunday, but there’s no time like the present to start talking about AEW’s next big show, Full Gear, set for November 13th.

It will be hard to top some of the surprises and major moments from All Out. In fact, I’d go so far as to say AEW isn’t even going to try to make this as monumental a show in comparison. Rather, I’m expecting something more akin to last year’s Full Gear, which was a regular pay-per-view and not some company-shifting event, save for possibly one thing I’ll mention later.

With AEW’s focus on making as many episodes of Dynamite and Rampage as special as possible, too, I fully anticipate a lot of matches that seem as though they could take place here actually happening on television. We know, for instance, that Malakai Black will have a rematch against Cody Rhodes on September 22 at Grand Slam.

Keeping in mind all those things, as well as how there are two months until the show and anything can change in the meantime, what could we possible be in store for with this card?

Let’s take some educated guesses and try to predict the lineup!

AEW World Championship Match

Kenny Omega defending against Bryan Danielson is the clear and obvious choice here to a point where I can’t imagine AEW does anything other than this.

For the next two months, they can get away with having some verbal sparring and a few brawl segments. Danielson can have maybe two matches in the meantime as special attractions for Dynamite and Rampage, while Omega could defend the title against someone like Frankie Kazarian if he needs to score a win during the rest of September and October.

This would be the biggest selling point of the pay-per-view, hands down. It’s a dream match fans have been dying to see for years. To suddenly shift and go to Omega against someone else would be jarring and crapped upon unless it was CM Punk, and I don’t think that’s where he’s headed quite yet.

AEW Women’s World Championship Match

History shows that the winner of the casino matches (battle royales or the ladder match) tends to get their title shot on television, rather than waiting until the next pay-per-view. As such, I fully expect Dr. Britt Baker will have already had her match against Ruby Soho and that this won’t be dragged out for two whole months, nor will they have a rematch here.

My guess is Soho loses (likely due to some shenanigans) and a new No. 1 contender emerges in the meantime.

Looking at the roster, Thunder Rosa was not only the runner-up in the Casino Battle Royale, but she’s the No. 2 ranked and she’s a foe of Baker. Given their history, they can go back to that feud without needing much time dedicated to telling that story. This can easily be triggered in October and a few weeks later, they’re fighting again at Full Gear.

AEW Trios Tag Team Championship Match

These belts have been teased for such a long time that it seems as though it’s only a question of when they’ll debut, rather than if.

I’m starting to think The Young Bucks dropped the regular AEW World Tag Team Championship because they’ll be fighting for these. I’m not entirely sold on the idea that they’ll win them, though, for two major reasons.

First, I can’t quite pinpoint who their third person would be. Logic would dictate Adam Cole, and if that’s the case, they definitely stand a better chance to win these titles than anyone else. Maybe it’s Brandon Cutler and he’s why they lose? Then again, he’s so clearly the weak link that it wouldn’t make much sense why they’d even want him competing on their behalf for something this important.

Second, I think this will be more about Jurassic Express winning rather than anything else. They were passed over for the regular tag titles in favor of Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero Miedo, possibly because this is on the bubble.

I’m imagining an eliminator tournament taking place in October that leads to the finale for the titles here. If it’s not The Young Bucks in contention against Jurassic Express, my next guess would be that Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus and Marko Stunt are up against FTR and Shawn Spears.

What throws me off about that option, though, is that Tully Blanchard has just started something new with Darby Allin and Sting. I’m not sure that has enough legs to go for two months, let alone what that would be building toward, but it’s possible those parties are busy elsewhere and won’t be in a trios scenario. Plus, who would Sting and Allin team up with?

AEW World Tag Team Championship Match

Speaking about the regular tag team titles, I expect The Lucha Brothers to still be champions. Dropping the belts so soon would make them look weak.

Frankly, I’m also anticipating a heel turn. Maybe not as quickly as when Andrade El Idolo beats Pac on Rampage this week, sooner or later, I think they’re shacking up with Andrade.

Santana and Ortiz spoke about how they’re done with FTR and moving on to prove how they’re the best. Could we be looking at those two against Lucha Bros for these titles at Full Gear?

AEW TNT Championship Match

I’m working under the assumption Miro is still champion, even though the thought is still in my mind that there’s a chance Eddie Kingston beats him in New York for the Arthur Ashe show.

If it’s Miro holding the title, my two top guesses for who challenges him are Kip Sabian and Brian Cage. The former is because Sabian popped up around All Out (but not on the card) and may come back wanting revenge. Cage is an option because his feud with Team Taz should be over by then and Miro may call him out for holding a false title, since the FTW Championship isn’t fully recognized.

However, if Kingston is champion, that presents an entirely different scenario. Then, we’re looking for a heel to face him.

Part of me thinks that would be Andrade and it would tie into the Lucha Bros vs. Santana and Ortiz situation. After all, Kingston has his relationship with Fenix and Penta, Andrade’s made good use out of being a midcard champion in WWE and there’s a New York connection between Kingston, Santana and Ortiz.

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Match

Hiroshi Tanahashi will face Jon Moxley at some point. It seemed everything was heading in that direction for All Out until at random, Satoshi Kojima was mentioned instead.

Moxley should, in all likelihood, compete on this card and seems to be interested in these “forbidden door” opponents, rather than getting too heavily involved in the AEW title hunt. He’s had his time as champion and it would be strange for him to go for the TNT Championship, so it makes sense to treat him as a featured act beyond that.

What would get in the way of this happening even more is if New Japan simply doesn’t want to send Tanahashi to an AEW show because they want to do that match for Wrestle Kingdom. If that’s the case, I could imagine Moxley stepping into a feud with Malakai Black just so they can be a marquee match.

CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks

It seems like it would be too hard to wait two months for this, but if CM Punk isn’t going to wrestle regularly on Dynamite or Rampage, there are ways to get around it.

Right now, Team Taz is clearly in Punk’s sights. That much has been made true. But Starks is still busy wrapping things up with Cage and that may take at least another week or two. Then, Punk can busy himself with Powerhouse Hobbs until the clash with Starks.

Starks has to be one of the young guys Punk would deliberately pick to work with, similar to his return match against Allin. I don’t think Punk has any intention to go straight into the title hunt, but wants to wrestle these smaller matches that still feel important because of how fresh he is to viewers. Plus, it helps out the talent he works with since they become featured players and not just filler matches.

Some Other Feuds or Alternative Ideas

  • Maybe, if Lucha Bros face Santana and Ortiz and if Miro is TNT champion, Andrade could have a match with Sammy Guevara as a byproduct of his group against The Inner Circle.
  • The Pinnacle against Dark Order with Hangman Adam Page’s return could be a thing.
  • Adam Cole against Christian Cage could happen if they don’t get around to it sooner, or if Cole isn’t part of the trios match.
  • Malakai Black will have already had his rematch against Cody Rhodes, so both may have moved on. Maybe Black faces Darby Allin or Chris Jericho? That’s a total shot in the dark.
  • I expect Orange Cassidy and Matt Hardy to have already had their Hair vs. Hair match before this. If Trent is healed in time, maybe Best Friends and Cassidy are in contention for the trios titles.
  • Jade Cargill against Nyla Rose could be drawn out to take place here.
  • Maybe, just maybe, there’s some kind of Paul Wight match to go a little longer than what happened at All Out, but I wouldn’t count on it.

What matches do you think will be at Full Gear 2021? Do you have a fantasy card in mind you’d like to see? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!

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