MJF Is Actually a Babyface and Biggest Takeaways from AEW Full Gear 2023 Results

The arrival of fall means the leaves change color, everything becomes pumpkin-spiced for some reason, and AEW holds the annual Full Gear pay-per-view.

This year's show took place at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, and since LA is also the home of Hollywood, it was "Timeless" Toni Storm's unofficial homecoming.

The starlet took on Hikaru Shida for the women's world title, and in the men's division. MJF put the world title on the line against Jay White.

The House of Black was all over this PPV with all four members of the group competing across three matches, two of which were for titles.

We also saw MJF wrestle twice to defend the ROH tag titles and the AEW world title in two separate matches.

Let's look at some of the biggest takeaways from the show.

Buddy Matthews Has Been Severely Underused for Years

During the pre-show, Claudio Castagnoli and Buddy Matthews put on a great match that illustrated one very clear fact: Matthews is one of the most misused wrestlers in AEW and he has been for years.

Even before coming to AEW, he was being underused in WWE. Castagnoli defeated him at Full Gear, which felt like a big mistake booking-wise.

Castagnoli has had some big successes in AEW, but this was the company's chance to give Matthews a much-needed singles win to stand out by himself. Booking him to lose here just makes him look like the weakest member of House of Black.

At some point, AEW needs to start utilizing this guy to his fullest potential. He could be delivering show-stealing performances every week if he was allowed to, but he needs to be put in a position to succeed if he is going to find any success. It's on AEW to put him in those spots.

Samoa Joe Needs to Be the One to Take the Title from MJF

From a performance standpoint, Samoa Joe is the best he has ever been. On the mic, in the ring and everywhere in between, he is one of the best in all of pro wrestling.

He had a monumental run as the ROH TV champion, but he willingly vacated the title because he has his eyes set on a bigger prize, but now AEW has booked itself into a corner.

By not having Joe lose the TV title in a match, AEW gave up the chance to put someone over by being the first person to be able to defeat Joe for the gold.

If AEW then gives up the chance to give Joe his first world title in many years, it will have wasted both the end of his run as TV champion and his opportunity to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

MJF has had a great run in 2023, especially since turning babyface, but if Joe isn't the one to beat him for the belt, it's going to feel like a mistake and a missed opportunity.

This Is Toni Storm's World and We're All Just Background Characters

Toni Storm defeated Hikaru Shida to win the AEW women's title for the third time, but this win felt different from her previous victories, because she is in her Timeless era.

For the past few months, Storm has been one of the biggest highlights on AEW programming with her black and white vignettes and slightly unhinged character.

The match she had with Shida was not only good from an in-ring perspective, but it was a great example of how to mix character work with solid wrestling.

The Timeless era is upon us. Ms. Storm is the lead character and the rest of us are just extras in the background. If her reign is booked right, it could go down as the best women's title run since the start of AEW.

AEW Is Julia Hart's House Now

Most of the members of House of Black came up short on Saturday, but the one person who left with a win also left with a belt when Julia Hart won the TBS Championship.

Hart defeated a game Kris Statlander and Skye Blue in a fun triple threat match, and she did it without any assistance from any fellow HOB members.

Throughout 2023, Hart has taken this character to new heights. She has been one of the bright spots on AEW programming, so seeing her finally win gold was satisfying for those who have been following her career since her cheerleader days.

The finish protected Statlander by not having her take the pin, so it wouldn't be surprising if Hart's first defense was against the former champion.

Either way, this is a great step for Hart's career and a well-deserved spotlight for her.

AEW Books Shows for Everyone, but Not Every Match Is for Everyone

When AEW books a PPV, it tries to give fans a variety of different matches. Some are funny, some are serious, some are technical clinics, and some are bloody battles that leave both competitors changed.

Swerve Strickland and Adam Page had one of the bloodiest encounters we have seen in AEW in quite some time. They used glass, barbed wire, bricks, chairs, and even a staple gun to inflict punishment on each other.

While this was one of the more dramatic and personal bouts on the card, it was also hard to watch for anyone who is squeamish about blood.

While AEW wants to appeal to all wrestling fans, that does not mean every segment is going to have that same wide appeal, and that's okay.

We don't have to enjoy every single match on a PPV to still enjoy the show as a whole. Fans of hardcore wrestling were overserved by this bout, but there were probably a lot of fans who found something else to do until the fight was over.

Maybe MJF Really Has Changed His Ways

During the ROH tag title match, MJF was able to team up with Samoa Joe to retain the titles, but The Gunns attacked his leg after it was over and sent the champion to the hospital.

This left a still-injured Adam Cole to pick up the pieces and declare he would fight in MJF's spot. As he was preparing to start the match with his foot still in a boot cast, MJF arrived in an ambulance and limped his way to the ring.

The Long Island native proceeded to fight with his leg still wrapped in bandages from the injury inflicted by The Gunns. After overcoming interference from The Gunns and a shot to the face from the ROH tag title, MJF was able to get the win thanks to help from his trusty Dynamite Diamond Ring.

We didn't get a switcheroo pulled on us, but we also didn't get the Devil reveal we'd been waiting for, so it was a bit of a mixed bag aside from the match itself being entertaining.

In the end, MJF has proved himself to be a fighting champion who seems to have left most of his heel tendencies behind him.

Full Gear was a good show but it was not without its issues. What were some of your favorite moments from Saturday's show?