The main event of Full Gear started with AEW World champion Jon Moxley and his opponent Maxwell Jacob Friedman flipping each other off as William Regal glared at the challenger and the Newark, New Jersey fans cheered.
Mox didn’t waste any time trying to disavow the Prudential Center crowd and MJF of any notion we’d be getting a changing of the guard on Sat., Nov. 19. He opened with a haymaker, and followed with more strikes. But Friedman fired back with mind games, including a familiar strut and some cardio in lieu of a dive.
The Blackpool Combat Club member didn’t let any of that stop him from punishing MJF, but it may have led him to showboat a little more than normal. Mox questioned whether or not young Maxwell had the guts to take his belt, and seemed to want to show up his opponent in addition to beating him.
It gave Friedman an opportunity to come back, but Mox seemed to have an answer for everything. That’s probably why MJF moved the timekeeper’s table to ringside, and hit a tombstone piledriver on the apron that seemed to hurt Max’s knee as much as it rattled Moxley’s spine. The veteran recovered to piledrive Friedman through the table he’d set up.
MJF’s knee was the target from there, including with a Figure Four he was able to turn over, forcing Moxley to scramble for a rope break. It was all Mox from there for a time, but Max was able to survive, including by getting a finger on the bottom rope to save himself after taking an avalanche Paradigm Shift.
When Moxley laid into MJF with strikes, the Devil reared his head. He pulled the referee into Mox’s way to save himself, then went into his trunks for his Dynamite Diamond Ring. Regal marched down to ringside, telling Friedman not to win that way. Another ref bump followed, and with both officials down, MJF tapped out while trapped in a bulldog choke. Regal then told Moxley to check on the ref, and slipped Maxwell his brass knuckles.
A punch, a three count, and a subtle nod to Regal… and the MJF era of AEW has begun.
Get complete Full Gear results and coverage of the entire show here.