Ospreay vs. Takeshita Is The Main Event We Deserve

Will Ospreay defending the AEW World Championship against Konosuke Takeshita isn't just a match. It's the culmination of three years of teases and missed connections. Takeshita pinned Ospreay back in March 2024 at Revolution, and Tony Khan has brilliantly slow-played the rematch ever since.

Ospreay's title run has been fantastic, giving us absolute bangers against PAC and Jay White. But he needs a threat that feels physically overwhelming. Enter Takeshita. The Don Callis Family stuff ran its course months ago, but Takeshita himself is undeniable. His strikes look lethal, and his pacing has improved dramatically over the last year. I predict a 40-minute classic, with Takeshita finally hitting that Avalanche Blue Thunder Bomb to capture the gold.

The Women's Division Hits a Fever Pitch

Mercedes Moné vs. Jamie Hayter for the AEW Women's World Championship. This is the match they should have booked for Wembley Stadium, but doing it here at Full Gear makes perfect sense. Hayter has been an absolute wrecking ball since returning from her shoulder injury.

Moné has played the cowardly, entitled heel perfectly over the last year. She dodged Hayter at All Out. She dodged her at WrestleDream. There's nowhere left to run. We all know the formula by now. Expect heavy interference from Kamille on the outside, but it won't matter. Hayter will absorb the punishment, hit a brutal lariat, and follow up with the Hayterade for the win. The women's division desperately needs Hayter back on top of the mountain.

The Midcard Match Nobody Asked For

I have to talk about the glaring mistake on this card. The Young Bucks vs. FTR for the fifth time. Why are we doing this in November 2026?

Their first few matches were legendary, establishing the standard for modern tag team wrestling. But the magic has completely dried up. AEW has a terrible habit of running back greatest hits when they run out of fresh ideas for the tag division. The roster is stacked with young, hungry teams like Private Party, Top Flight, and The Gunns who are begging for a PPV spotlight. Instead, we get a nostalgic retread.

Expect The Bucks to win via some convoluted EVP shenanigans involving Brandon Cutler or Jack Perry. It's tired. The Los Angeles crowd will likely hijack the match if it goes past the 15-minute mark. This should have been left in the past.

Swerve and Hangman: The Final Chapter?

Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page are locked in a steel cage. It feels like these two have spent the better part of three years trying to end each other's careers, both inside and outside the ring. The violence is always spectacular, but the underlying psychological warfare is what actually matters here.

Page is completely unhinged at this point, fully embracing his descent into madness. Swerve has transitioned into the reluctant babyface who just wants to move on with his life. The dynamic is fascinating. I don't think a traditional cage match is enough to keep this clean. Page hits a Buckshot Lariat with a steel chain wrapped around his arm. Swerve bleeds buckets, as usual. Page takes the win to prolong the misery and setup one last blow-off match at Revolution.

Darby Allin's Death Wish Continues

Darby Allin challenging Kazuchika Okada for the Continental Championship is an insane clash of styles. Okada's dismissive, aloof arrogance paired against Darby's relentless bumping and frantic energy. This is going to be a car crash in the absolute best possible way.

Okada has barely broken a sweat since winning the belt earlier this year. He treats his opponents like minor inconveniences. Darby is going to force him into second gear. We all know Darby is going to take a Rainmaker that turns him completely inside out, landing right on his neck. But I actually have Allin winning this one. He rolls up Okada after dodging a desperate dropkick. The pop in the arena will be deafening.

Christian Cage vs. Jack Perry: The Patriarch's Last Stand

Christian Cage defending the TNT Championship against Jack Perry feels like the right match at the wrong time. We spent so much time watching Cage manipulate Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne that Perry's involvement feels like an afterthought. Perry's Scapegoat gimmick has cooled off significantly since the summer.

Cage is still doing some of the best heel work of his career, insulting dead fathers and demanding respect. But the matches themselves have slowed down. Perry needs a dominant win here to legitimize his character. If he struggles to put away a 52-year-old Christian, no one is going to buy him as a future main eventer. Perry wins via submission, but I suspect the crowd reaction will be tepid at best.

Moxley Bleeds So We Don't Have To

Jon Moxley against Tomohiro Ishii is the sleeper hit of the night. There is absolutely zero storyline here, and frankly, we don't need one. This is just two grumpy veterans who want to hit each other extremely hard for twenty minutes. It is the purest form of professional wrestling.

We know exactly how this match will go. Ishii will absorb an absurd amount of punishment, refusing to go down to Moxley's lariats. Moxley will inevitably get busted open hardway within the first five minutes. They will trade forearm strikes until their chests are raw. Moxley secures the win with a Death Rider, but Ishii makes him earn every single inch of it. Matches like this are why AEW still rules.

The Final Verdict on Full Gear 2026

This card is undeniably top-heavy, but the main events deliver on every conceivable level. Ospreay and Takeshita will put on a Match of the Year contender that we'll be analyzing for months. Hayter's crowning moment is long overdue and will provide the emotional peak of the night.

However, AEW still fundamentally struggles with pacing their pay-per-views. We simply do not need 14 matches on the main card. Trim the fat. Cut the obligatory Chris Jericho segment entirely. Give the main event the time it actually needs to breathe instead of rushing the entrances because they're pushing midnight.

If Tony Khan can resist his worst booking impulses and keep the focus squarely on the in-ring action, Full Gear 2026 will go down as an all-timer. If not, we'll be talking about yet another bloated show with incredible wrestling but absolutely zero restraint.