It’s been a while but we’re finally back together with another installment of The Sean & Shawn Show and your AEW Full Gear preview.
SHAWN: WOOT! WOOT! IT FEELS SO GOOD TO BE BAAAACK!! You ready for this one, Sean?
SEAN: Oh hell yeah! I’m ready to rock steady. It’s great to be back where I belong standing tall next to my brother from another mother!
SHAWN: Disclaimer, Full Gear to me means I have a cooler full of GEAR and by gear I mean BEER!! Let’s go.
SEAN: Disclaimer, I’m not an AEW-smart-Mark wrestling dude. Not everything is going to be the greatest thing to happen in the history of our great sport. Now, I hope you got that beer on ice because when it’s cold it’s twice as nice!
SHAWN: Let’s start with this wrestling revolution with their PreShow Kickoff Mat….. ahem. The Buy-In Battle is:
SEAN: So, the most charismatic woman wrestler on their roster is curtain jerkin’ on the Pre-Show? Sorry Dr. Britt, you’re not a tiny Asian girl so Kenny likes you– but he doesn’t love you. We do! But we’re not the ones holding the pencil. The last time these two were in the same ring Bea gave the DDS a concussion quicker than you can point to the sky and say Bay-Bay! Got to love a feud that happens organically and isn’t just manufactured for the sake of a story. Both these women can go, so the placement on the card is a bit of a letdown. Will this match entice those on the fence to drop $ 50? Highly doubtful. But it will be a solid mid-show match…. before the show begins. Prediction: Dr. Britt makes Bea tap!
SHAWN: The one thing I never get about AEW is their booking of the Buy-In matches. Oh well. This should be a good match and definitely is main card worthy. I’m surprised that Brit wasn’t the first women’s champion or even in the running for the title right now. I’ve got to agree with my brother from another mother, though; I love a feud that just happens organically. However, I think that with the stalling Women’s Revolution in that other company, this could draw the attention of a few of those fans and just might coax them into buying in and calling their local cable provider. Either way, it’s going to be a great match to get things started and should set the tone for an incredible night of action. Prediction: Bea taps out to the Dr.
Just added is the BTE build-up match…
SEAN: Now I loved Spears since forever. Knew he would land here ASAP and his debut was shocking and bloody. Then, he lost the feud with Cody and then.. nothing. Hot shotted the angle and Shawn had nothing going on; The Chairman had no real motivation, until on Being The Elite Joey Janela put out his cigarette in Tully’s pop. That Bad Boy! Smoking and disrespecting a Horseman? How dare he! The retaliation was Spears & Tully turning the tables on Joey by putting a butt out on Joey’s tongue! Extreme? Hardcore.. wait; that’s the match later that “doesn’t count”. Spears can work when motivated and Janela has his moments. This will be a fast car crash of a match. And at least there is a storyline here. Prediction: Shawn Spears wins thanks to outside shenanigans by Tully.
SHAWN: Wait… BTE is still a thing? People are watching it? Dammit. I was hoping they’d stop once Dynamite started. No wonder I have no idea why this match is happening. Well, we know why it’s on the preshow as they have to realize that the majority of their 800,000+ viewers aren’t watching this garbage? Anyway… Shawn Spears really does nothing for me. Even with Tully Blanchard. Everyone knew he was coming here and they thought he had big things in his future. He should just be the mid-card jobber. Janela isn’t everyone’s flavor but the kid can work. I guess Spears can too. This one can’t go long and it won’t be pretty. Prediction: The Chairman of AEW gets the win because he’s the one that really needs it.
SEAN: The rubber match! These men do not like each other, and damn it they are going to beat the hell out of one another. Page is a blue-chip prospect through and through. PAC doesn’t like to lose and will be gunning for that W with the intensity that only the Bastard can muster. PAC has had big wins over Omega and a draw against Moxley, so he could make Page tap, or just maybe the Elite will look to the future and get that Cowboy on his horse and ride him to the top! Prediction: PAC wins, but this match just might steal the show.
SHAWN: Another thing I was wrong on. No good ole boy booking for Hangman. He’s been taking some L’s and having some battles. PAC has been doing his thing. I mean, he does refuse to lose matches from what I hear. I can’t complain though because he never fails to entertain. PAC is on a roll and should see himself in the title picture sooner than later. Page has a lot of potential. J.R. compared him with Stone Cold and I’m sure the internet will tear him apart for that. I say, toss him a few beers and let’s see him do some Cowboy shit. He might not be ready for a top spot just yet though. Shit, Hangman is the definition of why AEW needs to introduce a midcard title sooner rather than later. Prediction: PAC wins but there is no way he’s making the Cowboy tap. That’s just not #CowboyShit
SEAN: It’s the Bucks vs LAX! And it’s the best kind of LAX, the kind without Konnan speakin’ on this about potatoes and salads. Two brawling street toughs vs the dog & pony antics of the EVPs. The Bucks will do their stuff, get their spots in while S&O will bash Matt & Jeff … ahem… Matt & Nick all over the ring. The Inner Circle’s most dangerous duo should make quick work of the Merch Hockers. Prediction: fka LA… P-N-P puts The Bucks in their place.
SHAWN: Potatoes and salad? Peeling and tossing? I’m pretty sure that’s Sammy Guevara’s job now. The Bucks are kind of just here. Weird to say, but that’s what it is. Don’t get me wrong– it’s a good thing. Glad they aren’t rocking the straps and I hope they stay far away from them for a long while. The team formerly known as LAX are incredible. If you haven’t kept up on Impact, go back and watch their match from Bound For Glory from a year ago. Generation Me is involved so it’ll be spot fest. Hopefully, Santana and Ortiz can make it look smoother than some of the Bucks other matches and we see a lot less standing around waiting for guys to get into place for spots. That really kills the Bucks matches for me; I’m not expecting a show stealer but I could be surprised. Prediction: Proud-N-Powerful with the W. The potatoes left unpeeled and salads left untossed.
SEAN: So let me see if I got this right: the newly crowned tag champs have their first major defense in a three-way match against two teams that lost in the tournament to crown the tag team champions? So the consolation prize of not winning is a title match where you can now win the belts and not even have to beat the actual champs? This makes no booking sense to me. SCU deserves a real title match not another hotshot angle to get more guys on the show. Prediction: the Lucha Bros steal the win here. All three teams deserve better.
SHAWN: This is just a cute way to make sure the Lucha Brothers don’t have to take an L right? Private Party is hot right now. They’ve been putting on great matches week in and week out and definitely deserve a shot at the belts. The Lucha Brothers just lost in the finals so I don’t really see why they’re even here. Oh well. It’ll be good. There will be a lot of craziness and referee discretion in this one. At the end of the day, you can’t take the belts from SCU already, right? Right? I hope not. Prediction: SCU retains and Private Party and the Luch Bros start their own feud.
SEAN: I’m a known unfan of Riho. I don’t get it. Don’t want to. Ain’t gonna. Her offense is almost as believable as Marko Stunt’s. I just don’t get it. Sure everyone loves to root for the small underdog, but what happens when the underdog wins? The story is over. I mean, Nyla Rose’s story is over since she hasn’t been seen since she lost to Kenny Omega’s fetish. Not to overlook just how damn great Sakura is as a wrestler mind you. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more technically sound worker anywhere than Emi. Everything she does is textbook picture perfect. Knowing that she’s a trainer doesn’t shock me one bit. Her gimmick? Freddy Mercury tribute? Sigh. Funny doesn’t get ya money. Nick Dinsmore was a technical in-ring wizard/trainer too. But saddled with a comedy gimmick and now he’s a footnote. Prediction: Meh. Riho wins because Kenny says so. And that’s the bottom line.
SHAWN: Well duh! Kenny loves him some of that Asian Persuasion. She does look like she’s 12 though. How much can you really stretch my ability of disbelief? Oh, wait, her opponent is a stupid Freddy Mercury gimmick. Really? So as much as I try to praise AEW for the things that they’re doing, they still love to do stupid stuff like this. The women’s championship shouldn’t be a bathroom break, but it will be for me. Prediction: Riho wins because you can’t have Freddy frickin’ Mercury running around with your women’s title.
SEAN: I’m sure everyone else has said it, but good gawd did Cody deliver a promo this week that would have made The Dream himself plop down $50 to see this brawl! You want someone to talk you into a building? Never need to look further than to a Rhodes! Jericho, of course, counters with a comedy bit. Humor is the shield of the scared someone once said. Is it too soon to take the belt of Jericho? Yeah, perhaps. But ratings haven’t exactly risen since he was crowned champ either so, it might do them some good to move the belt onto someone else. The issue with Cody being “management” (he books his own stuff, why this new company needs 3-4-5 mini bookers and not just one booker will be problematic down the line…) and the added stipulation that if Cody loses his first real shot at the belt means he can never challenge again for it? Adds drama to a serious fight. Good on them! Prediction: I smell a Dusty Finish here. They will go to the judges (why else bring them in and set them up) and Cody will win but it will be at 60:01 seconds and they go to the judges and they will still keep the title on Jericho so Cody technically won and lost so his stipulation becomes null and void.
SHAWN: Everything he just said. This is how you do a feud. The judges have to come into play. They just have to. The Inner Circle and The Elite have to get involved and this is going to set up a War Games Match Beyond type match right? That’s what I heard from the promos. Referee discretion means it won’t get thrown out but I expect to see Miley Ray Guevara to show up with his tongue out looking for the money shot and Dustin coming to his brother’s side. Jericho has had a few defenses so it’s not a one and done if they take the belt off of him. It would definitely get the IWC talking and put some buts on their couches Wednesday night to see what comes next. Prediction: It goes to the judges and Cody wins the title leading to Jericho calling bull and demanding a rematch on Wednesday night. This thing is just getting started.
SEAN: Sigh. In a company that proclaimed that the WIN/LOSS record was going to be important and a focus point – why are we having our third Lights Out match in less than 6 months ?! This match doesn’t count?!?! But you just told us that wins and losses… whatever.. fine– be consistently inconsistent. Mox v Omega is finally going to happen. The ex-King of 5 Star Matches (I’m big in Japan!) vs. the ex-King of The Death Matches (I used to wear riot gear!)! A barb wire wrapped bat is one thing, but a barbed wire wrapped broom just looks dumb. The Cleaner doesn’t make sense unless they explain to you why Kenny calls himself the Cleaner. Otherwise, he looks like an old lady shooing away stray cats off his porch. Moxley wants to cut loose and show what he can really do in the ring– which I guess is still just the old blood and guts. Violence for the sake of violence is fun to watch, but it’s not really filling. Prediction: Omega wins because he’s Omega. Even if this match “doesn’t count” Kenny needs the win more than Mox does.
SHAWN: This match doesn’t count. Is Hambrose ever going to be put into a match that does count? This is the match that everybody has been waiting for. I mean, not me, but everyone else. These two are huge overacting, overselling hams. It will look vicious for sure. They both sell enough that it will look like they’re kicking each other’s asses all around the arena. Does the Inner Circle stick their noses into this one? They did attack the both of them on Wednesday night. That could make things very interesting. Here’s my problem with a lights out, non-sanctioned match that doesn’t count. I. Don’t. Care. Who. Wins. I don’t even like these two guys. Kenny became nothing more than a sitcom character after BTE, and Moxley just doesn’t do it for me with his overacted, unbelievable, overbearing lunatic gimmick. I hope they’re both left lying in the ring when the lights go out at the end of the night. Prediction: I don’t really care who wins this one but I’m going to go with Moxley just so he can be a lunatic because the match didn’t count and he thinks he deserves credit.
SEAN: I’m out of beer and AEW is out of matches! Thanks again and we’ll see you right back here for NXT: TakeOver!
SHAWN: Out of beer? Well, that’s a problem. I’ll make sure to buy some extra for our TakeOver preview next week.
-Sean Farrell & Shawn Puff