Full Gear as an event for AEW has in many respects set the tone and expectations of the company heading into the winter and the next year.
Last year, Full Gear 2023’s controversial main event and accompanying Attitude Era-like storyline became a turning point. Souring for some more than MJF’s AEW World Championship reign.
Even a year later, current creative choices have not allowed fans to give the Devil his due. With poor booking, AEW handed critics a martyr in Jay White.
More widely, Full Gear 2023 was the watershed. Making it clear that AEW’s identity was in crisis. The wheel of fortune turned. Creative decisions across the board only helped to grease the mechanisms. The Elite felt disconnected from their usual layered storytelling.
The Four Pillars had been exposed in the weakest tournament in a year of tournaments. The women’s and tag divisions felt shallow and underutilized.
2024 has been about recapturing the feeling. The results are mixed. It’s been rocky and AEW is not perfect, but as I’ve discussed that’s fine for right now.
AEW’s identity is still in flux. Lots of the issues remain the same. However, to deny that things have not stepped in the right direction would be grifting. It’s subjective right now more than objective how successful and big these steps have been.
Plenty of persistent frustrations remain, which I’ll discuss later this week.
Admin and Promotion
Remember when we used to have AEW cards announced weeks in advance? Going back to basics, AEW has once again begun ensuring that multiple matches and segments are announced a week or more in advance. It’s back and that makes my life easier, not just for writing the Dynamite previews.
As a fan, I can now begin to get excited about not just singular matches, but segments and the entire show. Knowing what’s on offer helps us as fans fantasy book and consider how larger storylines will progress, and interact and how results will impact the title-picture landscape.
Earlier this year, I pointed out that to continue growing and compete with WWE, AEW needs to build its backstage infrastructure. Especially, in marketing and merchandising departments Artists are being commissioned to produce better designs for t-shirts and merch.
Wrestlers like Swerve Strickland, Darby Allin, and Jon Moxley have carried the flag for AEW in media interviews and appearances.
AEW’s use of “Big Boom” AJ and Big Justice has been laughable to some, just like Tony Khan appearing at the NFL draft in a neck brace. There is undoubtedly a WWE media bias and a negative publicity bias against AEW.
The “AEW is under attack” narrative is complex but real. However, AEW is just learning from the playbook used by wrestling promotions even before WWE to take advantage of cross-media opportunities. More of this should be done.
Yet more is needed in terms of localized advertising and promotion for upcoming events. More innovative and eye-catching merch and advertisements are needed. Along with long-term consistency.
Women’s Division- Progression
After last year’s Full Gear, I wrote about how the crowning of two new women’s champions Julia Hart and “Timeless” Toni Storm could bring further growth to the women’s division. There remain two large glaring issues that are holding back parity with the men.
Although, overall, the division has more depth. There is a wider range of characters competing at a higher level.
Mercedes Mone, if not in the ring, but in presence has brought a wider range of women’s storylines across the card. There are more storylines featuring women across shows.
Characters that a year ago felt as interchangeable now have definitions. Kris Statlander thanks to pairing with Stokely Hathaway feels more well-rounded. More than a workhorse wrestler.
Wrestlers who last year seemed stuck on the conveyor belt without progression, like Willow Nightingale and Skye Blue, have progressed as characters. Anna Jay is finally being given consistent time on TV to develop.
Last year, Harley Cameron might have been brought out of catering for a one-off match, then disappeared again. The cycle would then repeat itself. Instead, Cameron has been allowed to maximize her minutes in weekly segments and matches.
The revolution isn’t finished. A clearer hierarchy in the women’s division is still needed. Options are there to be used and talent to be utilized.
Building and Rebuilding Talent
Across this year, there have been clear attempts to restore staled or harmed characters and acts.
Jay White vs. “Hangman” Adam Page has stolen the undercard at two PPVs. The Switchblade now has back-to-back victories over the former AEW World Champion and stablemate. It’s night and day compared to last year’s positioning. It shows that AEW, with time, addresses its mistakes.
The Bang Bang Gang got themselves over and have been given championships and opportunities on screen. The wider question of how far White goes as a face has not been fully answered.
Some folks ignore that even when White was the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, some fans debated f he was really “the guy”. Now he gets another opportunity to prove his capabilities.
Beyond White, Jack Perry was given a second chance and a run as TNT Champion. Home-grown talent who last year felt stuck in limbo like Daniel Garcia and Konosuke Takeshita are now champions.
Wheeler Yuta stagnated. However, as a character, his role in the Death Rider’s saga has added much-needed dimensions. Like Daniel Garcia in The Jericho Appreciation Society, fans may invest in Yuta and want him to turn on his mentors.
Old and new characters have been given opportunities. The Young Buck’s Corporate Elite turn in many respects became a noble failure, but at least as characters, they felt present in AEW.
Kyle Fletcher has been hinted at as another breakout star with time. His surprising victory over Will Ospreay could be the start of something bigger. More than the wasted potential of Takeshita getting two wins over Kenny Omega in 2023.
Long-Term Story Arcs and Pay-Offs
Storytelling in 2024 is far from ideal or optimal. I’ve unpicked across three articles the various issues of AEW’s present storytelling flaws, starting here. In contrast to 2023, there has been more stability, foreshadowing, and reasons given for fans to invest in their favorite wrestlers.
Starting from the top with the rise of Swerve Strickland to the AEW World Championship. Interconnected to this has been “Hangman” Adam Page’s relapse arc. Because Hangman is not himself, he is unable to win and ascend to the world championship.
Yet AEW has not been afraid to subvert expectations. Will Ospreay’s arc to becoming the AEW World Championship resulted in a twist at Forbidden Door. A move that helped legitimize Strickland’s AEW reign as real and not just transitional.
Bryan Danielson’s “Final Countdown” arc was imperfect in that it was never going to meet our expectations as fans. Plenty of dream matches remain for Danielson’s semi-retirement return.
However, the bookending of the reign and the use of violence were Shakespearean. It was cathartic with violent splendour that felt real. It also dovetailed into the future with Darby Allin being built as the hero to topple Jon Moxley further down the road.
I’m not going to pretend the road between these moments has been perfect. However in the future, five years from now, I’m going to remember more about the highs I felt, like at All In last year and this year, than being bored by a stagnant product.
I mean, plenty of WWE fans seem to have buried those memories of the past decades in their basements. They seem perfectly happy when the wheel of fortune comes back around their way again.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – AEW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their YouTube.
