Full Gear was a hit with fans of AEW and now it has been labelled a critical success after Dave Meltzer broke his 5-star scale once again for the event.
The annual November event from AEW saw Hangman Adam Page complete his long and arduous journey to the top of the company as he toppled Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship.
That was the only title that changed hands at Full Gear as Dr. Britt Baker DMD and The Lucha Brothers saw off their respective challengers, Tay Conti and FTR.
Elsewhere MJF stayed true to his word as he defeated Darby Allin with a headlock takeover and the personal issues between CM Punk and Eddie Kingston were settled with Punk picking up the victory.
Despite Cody Rhodes and PAC picking up a victory over Andrade El Idolo and Malakai Black, the issues between those 4 men are anything but over with those 4 due to join FTR and The Lucha Brothers in a huge 8-man tag team bout on AEW Dynamite.
Bryan Danielson slayed Miro at Full Gear to become the number one contender to Hangman Page’s AEW World Championship. The American Dragon has since shown a new attitude towards Page and promised to kick the head off every member of The Dark Order before he takes on the champion.
Dave Meltzer has released his star ratings from that event in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The main event between The Best Bout Machine and Hangman Page was indeed rated best bout of the night, achieving five and a half stars from Meltzer.
That ties it for the third-highest-rated match of 2021 with Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay at this year’s New Japan Cup and Syuri vs. Utami Hayashishita taking second. The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Brothers from All Out’s 5.75-star rating gives it second place whilst Ospreay vs Takagi’s bout at Wrestling Dontaku Night 2 takes the top spot with a 6-star rating.
The six-man brawl at Full Gear featuring The Super Kliq losing to Jurassic Express and Christian Cage was given 5 stars, making it the highest-rated match of Christian Cage’s career.
The pay-per-view opening bout between MJF and Darby Allin along with the brawl between Punk and Kingston, and the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament final between Miro and Bryan Danielson were all given four and a half stars.
The two traditional tag team contests scored four and a quarter stars apiece while the Minneapolis Street Fight between American Top Team and Men Of The Year facing Inner Circle achieved a four-star rating.
The AEW Women’s World Title bout between Britt Baker and Tay Conti scored three and a half stars while The Buy In bout between Hikaru Shida, Thunder Rosa, Jamie Hayter, and Nyla Rose scored two and a half stars.
These ratings mean AEW has now achieved nine matches rated at 5 stars within three years of the company opening its doors. The main event’s rating of five and a half stars ties AEW with WWE in terms of matches rated over 5 stars, with both promotions having four.