AEW Full Gear 2026 Review

Another weekend, another pro wrestling pay-per-view.

This time around, it’s AEW’s chance to shine as they present the 2026 edition of Full Gear. The Mortgage Matchup Center in downtown Phoenix, Arizona is the host venue. WrestleTix is reporting that, as of 30 minutes before the main show goes on the air, there were 454 tickets available to purchase. The setup for the show will have a total of 7,476 seats for fans.

There are eight matches on the main card, including seven title bouts. The only match that doesn’t feature a title on the line? Anarchy In The Arena. It’s another loaded show for a company that almost always overdelivers on pay-per-view.

Let’s have some fun, folks.

Kazuchika Okada vs Adam Copeland – AEW International Title Match

Hey! Congratulations to AEW for actually finishing the pre-show during the pre-show window.

Pro wrestling is a beautiful thing. Not all that long ago, the idea of ever seeing these two face each other outside of a video game seemed impossible. Yet, here I am, about to witness it. I love this shit.

Before the opening bell sounds, a “holy shit” chant breaks out, and then an “A-E-dub” chant before Copeland and Okada have even made contact. Seconds after they lock up, a “fuck Don Callis” chant breaks out. The Phoenix crowd is hot, and for once, it isn’t because of the weather.

Copeland sets a chair up, then delivers an Atomic Drop onto the chair, followed by a big running boot to knock a seated Okada tumbling out of the chair.

A slow pace to start things, but that’s to be expected. Copeland is 53 years old, and Okada’s character is all about not giving the fans what they want.

I mentioned the weather in Phoenix earlier, but I’m wondering if it’s hot inside the arena. Not even ten minutes have elapsed in the match, but Copeland has a sheen of sweat completely covering his entire upper body, and his hair looks like he’s been working for the last 45 minutes.

Okada goes for a Rainmaker, but Copeland reverses it into a Uranage. That was a nice looking spot.

Okada with a dropkick to the back of Copeland’s neck, then he follows it up with a Tombstone Piledriver. Instead of going for the pin, though, Okada goes to hit a Spear, but that is countered by a running forearm from Copeland. Copeland then goes for Okada’s patented middle finger, and the crowd pops big.

After a distraction from Don Callis, Copeland goes to hit a Spear, but Okada puts his title belt, causing Copeland to hit the belt face-first. He then takes Copeland to the apron and hits an Impaler DDT to the exposed concrete at ringside. Before Copeland gets counted out, Okada breaks the count, rolling his opponent back into the ring.

Okada is toying with Copeland now. Bryce Remsburg is demanding Okada make the pin, but Okada keeps lifting Copeland’s head up at one. Hilariously, Don Callis is heard at ringside yelling that there’s a language barrier.

A Rainmaker finally brings things to an end, and Okada retains his title. It was a good match, but it was a pace that won’t be for everyone. 3.25 Stars. Not a classic, but a good opener, with a very hot crowd. If anything, it was a vessel to continue telling the story that Copeland is getting closer and closer to the end of his career, and that maybe… just maybe… he can’t cut it with the upper tier singles wrestlers in AEW anymore. He fought hard, but Okada was just too much.

After the match, Copeland is struggling to get to his feet. Just as he’s about to, Okada runs back in and drops him with another Rainmaker. LOL @ Okada being reprimanded in the aisle by Remsburg, only to put his hands together and yell out “I’m sorry!” in a comically high-pitched voice.

The Young Bucks vs Mark Davis & Jake Doyle – AEW Tag Team Title Match

A big clash of styles here. The challengers are dominating the early part of the match, using their size and strength advantages to bully the Bucks around. They look really impressive, as they have for the entire brief duration of their pairing.

As good as Davis and Doyle are, they aren’t anywhere near as over as Kazuchika Okada is as a heel. Them being on offense here means that the crowd is a lot more quiet than they were in the opening match. The crowd is excited for Bucks offense, but they aren’t getting too many opportunities to make noise for that yet.

Jesus… the Bucks look like morons for trash-talking and taking a long time to perform a move, and they get reversed. Seconds later, the Bucks get the advantage back, putting both Davis and Doyle on the mat. The Bucks make their way to the top rope in opposite corners, where they… trash-talk and take a long time to perform a move, and it gets reversed. That entire set of spots was really dumb.

Speaking of being really dumb, Tony Schiavone loudly wonders why the challengers aren’t going for the pin… as we watch the legal man re-enter the ring and go for a pin… only for Schiavone to again loudly wonder why the pin wasn’t attempted sooner. Excalibur had to point out that the legal man wasn’t in the ring at the time, and Schiavone basically responded with “oh, that makes sense then.” Schiavone continues to be 100% worthless in his role, actively dragging matches down with the dumb shit he says.

We’ve reached this weird point in the match where the Bucks will stand around and basically wait to be hit with power moves, only to quickly bounce back and cause Davis and Doyle to stand around and basically wait to be hit with quick double-team moves. You get a lot of the choreographed sequences in Bucks matches, yes, but this is especially egregious. I don’t think these teams have the best in-ring chemistry. There was also some awkward strikes earlier in the match, where the timing was off.

As I was typing all that and getting ready to type something else, the Bucks were able to get the pin and the win to retain their titles. As I said, there were a lot of timing issues there. It’s not like there was a ton of botches or anything. Things just didn’t move as smoothly and as effortlessly as most Bucks matches do. 3 Stars.

After the match, the new #1 Contenders for the Tag Team Titles, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, come to the ring. The two teams praise each other and pose for the crowd, but sirens are heard, followed by unfamiliar music. It brings out the debut of Jacob and Drew Kasper… formerly known as the Creed Brothers in NXT and WWE. The Kaspers attack both teams, only to be interrupted by FTR, who make their way to the ring. FTR gets in the faces of the Kaspers, but then FTR runs to attack the Bucks. The two heel teams dominate the two face teams and stand tall. Stokely Hathaway is very excited to see the Kaspers. Don’t forget… he, as Malcolm Bivens, was a member of the Diamond Mine stable in NXT with the Creeds from mid-2021 to mid-2022, so this is a reunion for them.

The Kaspers should be a fantastic addition to the already loaded tag division in AEW. I’m a huge fan of theirs, and I hope they finally get their chance.

“Hangman” Adam Page, Brody King & Bandido vs Swerve Strickland, Kofi & Austin Creed – Texas Deathmatch for the AEW Trios Titles

It’s worth pointing out again that the show is taking place in Arizona, not Texas. Nobody in the match is even from Texas!

All six men are wearing ring gear that is largely white in color. That’s how you know there’s going to be insane levels of violence here. Blood is about to be shed.

Brody King goes under the ring and comes out with two big handfuls of bamboo skewers. He splits them up between himself and his two partners. Swerve and New Level are all placed in a seated position on the ring apron, allowing for Hangman and Brodido to drive the skewers into the heads of their opponents. To be fair, the skewers mainly look like they’re sticking in Creed’s hair, but still… cool looking spot.

Hangman is the first person to bleed, coming up red from the forehead after having a chair thrown in his face during an attempted dive to the outside.

Creed goes under the ring, and the sounds of a trombone can be heard. Brody pulls Creed out by the legs, and Creed has a barbed-wire wrapped trombone. The crowd pops big for it. Creed plays a note, and poor Brody King has to sell it, taking a bump because of sound.

Brody is the next man to come up bloody. He had some strands of barbed wire dragged across his face, and he is now a bloody mess.

Kofi is bleeding from the top of his head. I’m not sure if that’s from the skewers earlier, or from him taking a barbed wire-assisted forearm from Hangman. Swerve is now a bloody mess. Excalibur says that Swerve’s blood is from the skewers, but he wasn’t bleeding after the skewer spot. He’s bloody from something that happened after the skewer spot.

Creed punches a bloody Brody, then licks the blood off of his fist. The fan with a “DRINK HIS BLOOD” sign is probably losing his mind right now.

Brody sets up a barbed wire covered table in the corner, and he tries to Irish Whip Creed into the table, but Creed stops himself… and then slowly backs himself into the barbed wire, yelling out in pain as he does so. Huh? Kofi pulls Creed out of the way at the last minute, and Brody crashes through the table, hoisted by his own petard.

Swerve and Hangman enter the ring, and they’re the only two men left standing. Swerve has two staple guns, and he smiles, tossing one to Hangman. The two men set chairs up in the center of the ring and sit down in them. Like the fucking dumbass he is, Tony Schiavone loudly asks what they’re going to do, causing Excalibur to say that it’s pretty obvious. Sure enough, they do the obvious, and sit in the chairs, taking turns stapling each other. I hate Tony Schiavone. He fucking sucks.

Brody has a heavy duty glove on, and there are thumbtacks imbedded in the glove. Swerve is the first to feel the glove, and he ends up with tacks stuck in his chest. Creed is next, but he gets the Iron Claw placed on him. Ouch.

Brody grabs a bag from beneath the ring, and he pours a ton of thumbtacks onto the mat. Creed is a bloody mess from the Iron Claw. Once again, Brody is hoisted by his own petard, and Creed sends Brody onto the tacks. Creed touches his head, sees the blood, and goes into full Super Saiyan mode, running back and forth with suicide dives to the outside.

Prince Nana hands Creed a bag, and Creed pulls a Nintendo Power Glove out of the bag. Creed puts it on, and lands a Street Fighter style Shoryuken… that clearly didn’t connect whatsoever… and sparks fly out of the glove. Brody sells it like death. Creed sells it as if the sparks burned his hand and arm. That was silly, but the crowd ate it up.

Creed and Bandido are battling at the stage area, and Creed points at a pyro bay set up inside of a barrel, yelling “FIRE!” Immediately, a blast of fire shoots out. What the hell is going on right now? Creed tries to set Bandido on fire, but it doesn’t work.

Commentary mentions the smell of iron in the air. Because Tony Schiavone is a fucking moron, he talks about how it might be the blood, but also the fire, and as he starts to explain, Excalibur cuts him off, angrily yelling out that it’s because of the bloody Kofi standing right in front of them. Tony, the fucking loser that he is, says “Alright, alright” in response. I love that Excalibur is sick of Tony’s shit, too.

Creed puts a padlock in Brody’s mouth and sets him up for Kofi, who… hits Trouble In Paradise, which connects to the back of Brody’s head. Okay then.

I can’t tell if Bandido is bleeding, or if he just has blood from his opponents all over his mask. If it’s his blood, that officially means all six men have spilled blood here.

We’ve reached the “four men stay down on the outside while the other two men fight in the ring” stage of the match.

Hangman takes a chair to the head, and he’s a bloody mess. Swerve gets on the mat, right below Hangman, letting Hangman’s blood absolutely pour into his mouth. Jesus Christ. Swerve smiles for the camera, and he literally has blood pooled in his mouth. The pool vibrates with every exhale. Amazing visual.

Hangman is a MESS. Blood is still pouring out of his head, leaving stains all over the mat.

A cinder block is placed in the ring. Kofi and Creed go to put Bandido through the cinder block, but the camera angle shows that Bandido’s head never came close to it. Instead, it was Bandido’s hand that slapped the block on the way down.

Hangman goes for a Buckshot Lariat, but is hit with a chair by Swerve. Hangman goes down, and as he’s about to make his way back to his feet to continue the match, Swerve hits him with a House Call, and we have new champions, same as the old champions.

Good Lord.

That’s going to be a VERY hotly debated match. Some will love it, and some will hate it. If you’re a fan of these types of matches, nothing that just happened will change your mind. Personally, I would say that the match was everything it needed to be. Kofi and Creed had a couple of really corny moments in the match, but everything fit their characters to perfection. The comical reactions to violence, the Power Glove, and so on… it all made sense.

Insanity from start to finish. A pure, unadulterated spectacle. 4 Stars, but if you’re a fan of that kind of thing, you’ll probably think that’s too low. Low or not, it’s my pick for the best match of the night so far.

Jamie Hayter & Alex Windsor vs Kris Statlander & Harley Cameron – AEW Women’s Tag Team Title Match

I don’t envy these four having to follow what just took place.

There is a woman in the crowd randomly screaming like a banshee. Do you know how I know that? Because nobody else is making any noise, so that one fan is heard loud and clear. Either way, I need that fan to shut the fuck up, because she is annoying as all hell.

Jamie Hayter, Alex Windsor, and Kris Statlander are all trying hard here. Harley Cameron is also in the match.

I had an issue with my garage door and needed to step out and fix it. When I returned, Stat and Harley were celebrating in the ring as the new champions. Okay then. I won’t grade the match, as I missed a good chunk of it, but congratulations to the new champs, I guess.

Tommaso Ciampa vs Ilja Dragunov – AEW National Title Match

It can’t be fun wrestling against Dragunov. No matter the company, no matter the opponent, no matter the stakes on the line… he’s going to beat the hell out of you. Of course, that isn’t going to scare Ciampa away, as he lives for matches like this.

This has been a real old school vibe, with lots of counters and strategies, and yes, the expected heavy strikes being dropped via the four fists and feet in the match.

Dragunov is working a really smart match. He has been targeting the lower body of Ciampa, even hitting a D-Bomb to the hamstring of Ciampa as Ciampa was on all fours on the mat.

Dragunov appears to be bleeding from the nose.

D-Bomb from the ring apron to Ciampa on the floor!

After a final sequence that saw the men going toe-to-toe, popping the crowd huge, Dragunov hits Ciampa with a Powerbomb, then follows up immediately with another D-Bomb for the pin and the win. We have a new champion.

What a match. Nothing flashy, but it didn’t need to be. Just two of the hardest-hitting men in the sport, unafraid to do battle with each other. Physical, physical match. Lots of great counters. Like I said, there was a real old school vibe to this one. 4.5 Stars

Mercedes Moné vs Marina Shafir – AEW Women’s World Title Match

As I’ve said a million times before, the way Marina Shafir is presented in AEW absolutely baffles me. She’s a legitimate badass with MMA training and experience, and she is presented as a woman that is rougher and tougher than most of the men on the roster… but she loses to the women of AEW more often than not.

It’s heartwarming to see how much live crowds have gotten behind Marina after the passing of Pac. She has been so emotional since he died, and the crowd has given her their full support.

Mercedes talks trash to Marina, who responds by doing Daniel Garcia’s dance, backing Mercedes into the ropes. Cute.

Giant Swing from Marina! The crowd popped big for that one, then break out into a “Claudio” chant. I dig the strategy from the challenger. She is digging in and taking something from the bag of every Death Rider, and the crowd is appreciative.

People say a lot of negative things about Mercedes, but one thing I will never take away from her is how unafraid she is to have incredibly physical matches. It’s especially noticeable when you consider how tiny her frame is. She has always been able to take a ton of punishment in her matches, and that works well when she’s battling a woman like Marina Shafir.

In a bit of an ugly finish, Mercedes gets the pin and the win with a roll-up and using the ropes for leverage. The crowd is absolutely deflated. I don’t blame them. They were ready for a title change, but ultimately, it was the same old Mercedes victory.

I enjoyed the match. Very physical offense from both women. 3.5 Stars

Jon Moxley, Gabe Kidd, Daniel Garcia, Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong vs “Switchblade” Jay White, David Finlay, Clark Connors, Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn & Ace Austin – Anarchy In The Arena

After that Trios Title match, there’s no reason for this match to even take place. To be perfectly honest, the build for it has been terrible, and there was no reason for this match to even take place to begin with.

The Death Riders are coming out to “Wild Thing!” It’s playing while all 12 men are brawling all throughout the arena.

Daniel Garcia is surrounded, and just as he’s about to be attacked, “Party Up” by DMX blares through the arena, and DG dances to it. The crowd is losing their minds. LOL @ Gabe Kidd dancing to the song, and LOL part deux @ Kyle O’Reilly doing a TERRIBLE Running Man to it.

+5 for using “Party Up” here, but -10 for using the fully censored version of the song.

The Gorilla, the world famous mascot for the Phoenix Suns NBA franchise, comes out and starts firing smoke at the heels and then into the crowd. He gets kicked by Ace Austin to end that, though.

At least half the men in the match are bleeding at this point, but there’s just too much to fully keep track of. “Party Up” is still playing, having replayed multiple times by now.

The song finally ends, and the crowd boos it. It’s the biggest heel heat for anything we’ve seen so far tonight.

Finlay and Connors present a Cut shirt for Gabe Kidd, who accepts it. He puts the shirt on, but then reveals that it’s a SWERVE! He throws a chair at them, and then causes “Party Up” to start playing again. This match has been insane.

There has been broken glass on the mat for a long time now, and I think everyone in the match has already landed on it at least once… and not one person is bleeding from any part of their body. Okay then.

Jay White grabs a branding iron, and it’s heated up with a torch. He goes to use it on Roddy, but Marina Shafir runs in for the save. The heels get the numbers advantage, and they go to use the branding iron on Marina, but Wheeler Yuta returns to make the save. Wheeler earns himself the first pop and chant from an AEW crowd in what seems like years.

Shane Taylor Promotions have hit the ring, because this match didn’t have enough people involved in it yet.

Mercedes Moné runs out and drops Mox with a low blow. As she berates Mox, the lights in the arena go out. When the lights come back on, CMLL’s Kemalito is in the ring, Kemalito goes after Mercedes. Mercedes is sent to the outside, where she is hit by a Pounce from Willow Nightingale, who teleported to ringside. This is so wild.

Shane Taylor comes off the middle rope and destroys Kemalito with a big splash. He can’t celebrate for too long, though, because a car horn is heard. Claudio Castagnoli is here! “You fucked up” chants break out. Claudio is destroying the heels all around ringside!

GARGANTUAN SWING! Claudio with Clark Connors draped over one side of his body and David Finlay over the other side, and he swings both of them. Incredible feat of strength.

It says a lot about the heel squad that they were completely and utterly dominated by Claudio, and Claudio alone, for SEVERAL minutes. Even with the added beef of Shane Taylor Promotions, Claudio has been beating up nine men all by himself. Switchblade is in with two chair shots to Claudio’s back, but Claudio just eats them and starts beating him up.

Blade Runner on Jon Moxley, and the heels pick up the win. You know… the team that literally got their asses kicked by one man for about ten straight minutes, and then they win with a single finisher? What a stupid fucking match, with a stupid fucking ending. Not a single goddamn thing about that makes any sense. We’re supposed to take those dorks seriously now? It was a stupid idea to put them together in the first place. They were given a stupid name, then had it changed immediately to another stupid name. Now… this. Pack them all the way up. That was trash. Basura. I’m not giving a grade to that.

Will Ospreay vs Kyle Fletcher – AEW World Title Match

There are only eight matches on the main card, and the main event has its opening bell sound at the 4:18 mark of the show. That’s not necessary at all.

There’s a “big fight” feel for this one. Two of the best in the business today, and they know each other very, very well.

Fletcher slaps the hell out of Ospreay, but he pays for it a minute later, when Ospreay slaps him back and has it sound like a hunting rifle went off in the building. Ouch.

Ospreay goes to hit a Hidden Blade, but he literally runs into Fletcher’s body and bounces off, falling to the mat. Whoa. Fletcher looks like a badass there.

Dueling chants of “Let’s go, Ospreay” and “Protostar” are heard. That’s mighty interesting.

This has been wildly physical so far.

The rest of United Empire is at ringside to support Ospreay, and Fletcher is loving it. Every time he hits Ospreay with anything, he’s chirping at them, but especially at Will’s wife, Alex Windsor. Good, simple heel work.

Styles Clash from the apron to the floor! Fletcher took the move, but that couldn’t feel good for Ospreay, either.

The pace of this one hasn’t been anywhere near as fast as I expected it to be. That tells me that they’re either going to have an INSANE final few minutes, or that this match is going REALLY long. They’re clearly saving themselves for something.

Fletcher hits a running kick to the back of Ospreay, then he grabs him and holds him up. Instead of going for the finish, he tosses Ospreay to the side. Ospreay, mid-toss, hits the turnbuckles, jumps up and lands an OsCutter, making Fletcher look like a dummy.

Fletcher is selling an internal injury, or something like a rib injury. Ospreay is basically toying with him, and the crowd is starting to boo more and more. As I said earlier, that’s mighty interesting.

Ospreay goes for a Hidden Blade, but it’s countered by a Hidden Blade from Fletcher, and Ospreay goes flying in the air like when Deebo punched Red in Friday. Sheesh.

Now it’s Ospreay’s turn to look like a dummy. He has Fletcher down, then signals that he’s going for a Black Arrow in tribute to Pac. He spends several seconds pointing to the sky, then climbs to the ring apron and talks to the crowd for a few seconds, then climbs to the top and moves slower than two snails fucking. Sure enough, Fletcher has enough time to get back up, and it leads to Fletcher dropping Ospreay with a Brainbuster.

Fletcher is sent, face-first, into the exposed top turnbuckle, and he comes up bleeding a bunch from the forehead.

Ospreay kicks Fletcher in the face again… and again… and again… and again… and the crowd is really booing Ospreay now. This is like building a double turn.

Fletcher kicks out of a Hidden Blade and a Stormbreaker, and the crowd cheers. He rolls Ospreay up, and the crowd loses their minds… only to lose their minds even more a moment later when he kicks out of a Hidden Blade at one!

It was short lived, though, as Ospreay hits the Tiger Driver to get the pin and the win. The champion retains the title in a fantastic match. Amazing effort by both men here. It was the New Japan-style main event epic that everyone expected it to be. Easily a Match Of The Year contender, in my opinion, and I’m giving it 4.75 Stars. Don’t be surprised at all if you see a bunch of people going higher than that. Dave Meltzer is going to give this at least 6 Stars, I can guarantee you that.

After the match, Ospreay celebrates in the ring with United Empire as Fletcher looks to be on the verge of tears as he rests in the corner against the bottom turnbuckle. The group leaves Ospreay in the ring by himself, and Ospreay poses for the crowd. A masked man hits the ring and attacks Ospreay from behind, and the man unmasks to reveal himself as MJF. He uses for a bit before United Empire returns to the ring to run him off. MJF didn’t get much of a heel reaction for that at all. Perhaps because it was expected, or perhaps because the crowd had been turning on Ospreay for the last 45+ minutes.

We go off the air at the 5:05 mark of the show, as Ospreay sells the attack from MJF.

It says a lot about how good AEW is at pay-per-views that this was an overall disappointment of a show for them, and yet, it was still a really good pay-per-view. There was a lot to like about Full Gear, and there was a lot to dislike about Full Gear. There was more good than bad, though. It’s definitely worth checking out if you haven’t done so already.

Thank you for reading. I’ll be back with my usual Monday column in about 36 hours or so.