Holy smokes. Here’s a little spoiler for the rest of the column. The 2026 edition of Full Gear on PPV for AEW featured five matches at four and half brass rings or above. There were eight matches on the card.
So, yeah, this was a good show. A damn good show.
AEW Full Gear 2026 Brass Ring Media Post-Show
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. One brass ring = bad. Five brass rings = epic, all-time greatness, and perfection.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Adam Copeland - AEW International Championship
This was an opening contest that got the crowd buzzing right away because of the “dream match” status behind it. The match had a heavy dose of Okada offense. There were hope spot moments for Copeland, but they never went anywhere. Okada basically used his title belt to win the match, which got the desired heel reaction. The DDT on the concrete and Rainmaker was icing on the cake. Pay attention to how the announce team called the end of this match. Plenty of narrative around whether or not Copeland can make it to the end of 2027 and retire on his own terms. Looks like we’re seeing Copeland in a free fall storyline before he builds it all back up again for the retirement run. This match was designed to set the foundation for that story. The action, the psychology, and the commentary — it all worked together.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/4
The Young Bucks vs. Davis and Doyle - AEW Men’s World Tag Team Championships
Terrific. Just a terrific tag match. Davis and Doyle controlled a lot of the match at the beginning and then The Bucks chipped away at the momentum they generated for the back 60% of the action. Awesome story. Near the middle, they almost lost me when the wild moves without tags started to blend together. The match ventured toward that line, but never crossed it. This had an urgent pace and some sloppier than normal move execution, which actually helped the tone of the match because it very much looked like two teams fighting. The Kasper Brothers — formerly The Creed Brothers in WWE — debuted after the match. They attacked The Bucks and seemingly joined FTR? Interesting dynamic. The Kasper’s are a smart signing for Tony Khan. They are a team just starting their careers and on the rise.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
Brodido and Adam Page vs. The New Level and Swerve Strickland - AEW World Trios Championship Texas Death Match
Ok. This match needed an absurd level of violence and it had it. Thumbs up. I’m not a blood thirsty wrestling fan, but when you book a Texas Death Match and tell a story about how much of a life changer it is, you can’t only deliver a chair shot or use a table and then take everything home. This had to be epically violent, so that the storyline made sense. Well, both teams used staples, tacks, glass, tables, explosions, fire, cinder blocks, and steel padlocks. Epic violence achieved. The problem with death matches is that they feel like stunt shows. This one didn’t have that vibe. The guys in the match were on a journey and the announce team sold that journey. Strickland was desperate to have this style of match and he won it. Smart booking consistency. Sidebar — the match did not need exploding power gloves or barbed wire trombones. Silly, comedy weapons to add in and if the rest of the match wasn’t as strong as it was, these would have hurt the match tone and story.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
The Brawling Birds vs. Wrathlander - AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championships
A good match that was in a tough spot on the card. Not much could’ve efficiently followed the Texas Death Match and the worn out audience for this was why. The action in the match was good, but the tired crowd simply didn’t react to everything. By the end, the women cultivated some investment and the title change got a decent pop. Wrathlander are the tag champions in the women’s division. That’s fine. The Brawling Birds still had some run in them, but after All In, the booking focus shifted into a different direction.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Ilja Dragunov - AEW National Championship
Based on the grading constitution used for these ratings, this match can’t be rated five stars — didn’t have the story to get there. It was a wonderful match, though. Hard-hitting strikes, selling, limb targeting, and submissions. From the opening bell, it was a fight. A staged fight. That’s what pro wrestling is. I know Ciampa just won the title, but Dragunov simply couldn’t lose. The business of putting this match on the card was more important than protecting a newly crowned champion. Grateful it didn’t have a non-finish type of finish.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
Mercedes Mone vs. Marina Shafir - AEW Women’s World Championship
Mone did it again. Both women brought it and clearly were fine with a stiff style. The Shafir kicks and strikes looked good and her presence out there stood out in a big way. The MVP was Mone. Not a surprise, but she’s just on a different level when it comes to seeing uniqueness in her opponent and using that to make the match different. Mone was excellent from a physicality standpoint, but the way she sold for Shafir made the match. Mone constantly featured a look of panic on her face that screamed worry. All of that led to the finish that saw her barely escape and retain because she cheated. There were moments in the match — like the Brutalizer reversal — that were designed for Shafir to get big reactions. She got them and it felt as if the audience truly got cheated out of seeing Shafir get a win she deserved. The announce team could’ve laid the cheating narrative on thicker when the match was over.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
The Death Riders and The Conglomeration vs. The Cut - Anarchy in the Arena
If you were trying to determine thumbs up or thumbs down on whether or not this “match” was fun, the only fair way to go is to lean thumbs up. It was fun. I smiled. Was it a good match? Not at all. The action, comedy, violence, and silliness collided together in the worst way possible. The match itself was a parody of violent pro wrestling matches. It’s as if it was laughing at them. Not a fan and likely won’t be a fan until the match figures out what it wants to be.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - O 1/2
Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher - AEW Men’s World Heavyweight Championship
From an athleticism standpoint, these two are almost untouchable right now. The creativity, speed, and crispness of everything was outstanding. The match did lose it’s way a bit from a psychology perspective. Fletcher is one of the top heels and in the biggest heel faction AEW has to offer. He was cheered for a lot of the match. The audience wasn’t booing Ospreay because they disliked him, but because they wanted to see Fletcher win the big prize. In fairness, the story was about Fletcher winning the title, but with reverse psychology from what we actually saw play out. The audience shouldn’t want Fletcher to win the belt until he rids himself of the Don Callis Family and finds Ospreay again. Instead, the crowd cheered the guy screaming at the top of his lungs about how much he hated the star company babyface. Mixed messages all around. Still, the finishing sequence was incredible and they got the booking right in the end. Ospreay retained and Fletcher’s journey to the belt continues on. There is absolutely a world where Fletcher wins the title as a babyface. That’s where the money is for him right now. Finishing that journey. You didn’t want to do it here when timing isn’t right and Ospreay has so much left to do as world champion. Plus, when it happens, you want the storyline to fit with the reaction he gets from the crowd.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
What was your match of the night on AEW Full Gear? Let us know in the comments!
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