Matt Hardy welcomed Sammy Guevara to the Hardy Compound for Ultimate Deletion by nearly running him over with a monster truck and exclaiming, “now that’s a squash job!”
The competitors brawled all over the property, including into the family fountain, before heading to the ring.
Hardy powerbombed Guevara through a table but Santana and Ortiz interrupted. Private Party made the save while Hardy shot off some Roman Candle fireworks. Guevara did the same, the competitors trading fire from different areas at the compound.
Meanwhile, Private Party, Santana and Ortiz battled inside the squared circle.
Hardy and Guevara battled until a mysterious cloaked man appeared and threatened Hurricane Helms. He revealed himself to be Gangrel before all hell broke loose. Helms and Hardy conversed in a nice callback. Guevara threw Helms into the Lake of Reincarnation, from which he returned as Ace Reporter Gregory Helms.
The Spanish God controlled the fight with Hardy while Gangrel, Private Party, Santana, Ortiz and Guevara battled at the ring. Santana and Hardy fought into the woods, where they battled into the Dome of Deletion. Guevara dismantled the ring inside it, using turnbuckles and ring ropes against his opponent.
With Hardy draped on a table, Guevara scaled a massive ladder and executed a Swanton Bomb. It only netted a two-count.
A vengeful Hardy drove the edge of a chair into the face of The Spanish God, then to the back of the head for the win.
After the match, Hardy and Private Party had Senor Benjamin drive Guevara away from the compound.
There were some quality spots in this, mostly including Hurricane and Gangrel. Unfortunately, it was way too long for what it ultimately turned out to be.
Creatively, it built off previous compound spots and moments from the rivalry, rendering it a success in that regard.
Overall, though, it was needlessly bloated and continued the narrative that Guevara might be the future, but he’s never really going to beat any of the more established stars on the roster. Which begs the question: will it prove too little, too late when his time finally comes?
Credit: All Elite Wrestling His position in The Inner Circle at stake, Maxwell Jacob Friedman arrived in Daily’s Place for the biggest match of his career, a showdown with “The Demo God” Chris Jericho. Unfazed by the enormity of the moment, MJF entered the arena in a light-up ring robe, both a knock and ode to his Hall of Fame opponent.
Thick tension gave way to a slugfest as Jericho showed his opponent little respect early, slapping him to incite the fisticuffs. Jericho dipped into his bag of tricks, pulling out a few of his greatest hits as he outclassed his younger, lesser-experienced opponent.
MJF finally found an opening and worked over the right arm of his opponent, attempting to take away the Judas Effect while also setting Jericho up for the Salt of the Earth armbar finisher.
Jericho fended off the onslaught of his opponent, delivering a lionsault and following with a frankensteiner from the top rope for two. Excalibur put over Jericho changing things up to the idea that MJF had scouted the modern offense of Le Champion.
MJF again targeted the arm, this time applying his armbar finisher. Jericho positioned his body in a way that prevented full effect of the move, then countered into the Walls of Jericho. He sat down on the back, putting MJF in dire straits.
The brash young competitor made it to the ropes, delivered a Codebreaker and followed with a Heat Seeker for a near-fall. MJF tried for a lionsault but Jericho delivered a Codebreaker of his own for two.
MJF countered the Judas Effect into the armbreaker. Jericho fought out. MJF motioned to Wardlow to give him the Dynamite Diamond Ring. Jericho countered with his baseball bat, but his opponent took a page out of the book of Eddie Guerrero, feigning injury.
An argument between Jericho and referee Aubrey Edwards gave way to MJF scoring a rollup for the win.
Result
MJF defeated Jericho
Grade
B
Analysis
This was a really solidly wrestled match that stayed true to both men’s heel characters.
What really worked here was the involvement of referee Edwards. Jericho pulled her in between him and MJF to his own benefit at one point and MJF did so moments later. Then, as he has in nearly every one of his big pay-per-view matches, Jericho engaged her in a mid-ring argument that ultimately led to the finish.
MJF pulling out Jericho’s own offense against him was equally as effective, as was the egotistical loudmouth’s ode to Guerrero.
What could have been an incredibly difficult match to book with both men serving as heel was, instead, a smartly executed contest that never asked either man to be something he was not. The result was a compelling match with a finish that propels things forward and leaves audiences wondering what a post-Full Gear Inner Circle with MJF and Wardlow involved looks like.
"I Quit" Match for the AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston
10 OF 10
Credit: All Elite Wrestling The most emotionally intense rivalry in AEW came to a head in the main event of Full Gear as AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defended against challenger Eddie Kingston in an “I Quit” Match. There were no pinfalls or disqualifications. The only way to win, only way to ensure one would leave with the gold, was by making your opponent utter those two words.
Punches and chops dominated the early action. A tope suicida by Moxley was the first big high spot of the match as the champion exploded through the ropes and onto his opponent. Moxley targeted the fingers of his opponent, looking to take the spinning back fist out of his arsenal.
The champion delivered a big suplex on the arena floor, driving the air from Kingston.
Back in the ring, a bloodied Moxley produced a barbed wire baseball bat and dug it into Kingston’s face, torturing the challenger in an attempt to get him to say he quit. The challenger ducked a wild swing with the weapon and delivered a pair of teardrop suplexes.
Kingston unloaded with a chair to Moxley, then removed barbed wire from the bat and wrapped it around his hand. He pounded away at Moxley’s face and dug it deep into the champion’s forehead. He followed with the spinning back fist and applied a kimura.
Moxley bit the leg of the challenger to break the submission. He followed with a suplex onto an unfolded chair. Kingston recovered and retrieved a bag of thumbtacks, pouring them all over the mat. Moxley rocked him with a German suplex, the challenger immediately followed with a backdrop suplex and the champion rebounded with a massive lariat.
Kingston delivered a uranage onto Moxley, into the thumbtacks. Dismayed that the champion did not quit, Kingston grabbed a bottle from alcohol at ringside. He delivered a blatant low blow, followed by another before stomping on the champion’s nether regions.
The challenger emptied the rubbing alcohol all over the punctured back of the champion and grabbed the barbed wire again. He applied the bulldog choke, the same choke Moxley used on him. Kingston unloaded with ugly crossface shots to the face. Moxley quickly seized an opening and applied a sleeper.
A big piledriver by the champion and a bulldog choke of his own followed. Moxley delivered the Paradigm Shift. He applied the bulldog choke again, this time with the barbed wire. Kingston finally quit, awarding the match to the champion.
Result
Moxley defeated Kingston to retain
Grade
A
Analysis
There was a lot of uncomfortable violence in this one but for a match between two men hellbent on not quitting, there needed to be. It needed to be unabashedly physical and violent. It had to portray two men unloading everything their twisted minds could imagine on each other in the name of holding the top prize in AEW.
It did, in a prime bit of storytelling that escalated with every spot, culminating in Moxley doing what was necessary to hold onto his title. As he has done countless times over the course of his reign.
Kingston turned in the performance of a lifetime, recognizing the gravity of the match and just how significant it was to his journey as a performer. He was great on the night he needed to be his greatest and hopefully, it earns him more dances at the top of the card.
Moxley now sets his sights on Kenny Omega, who made his presence felt in the closing moments of the show. They had a similarly brutal affair at last year’s Full Gear, a match won by Moxley. This time, there will be no extravagant hardcore spots or use of shattered glass. It will be a wrestling match, which favors Omega.
Will their latest battle prove to be the one Moxley cannot escape with the gold intact, particularly as Omega rolls in singles competition?
We will find out as AEW tells their story in the weeks and months to come.