Swerve Strickland and The Real Winners and Losers From AEW Full Gear 2023 Match Card

Full Gear 2023 was an up-and-down show, starting slow but picking up big time down the stretch. The results were surprising along the way and set the top characters in the company at the top of the show.

MJF took down Jay White in the main event despite a supposed serious knee injury that almost left him unable to defend his gold. The Switchblade walked out with nothing but a solid (and controversial) match on his record.

Swerve Strickland and Hangman Adam Page stole the show in a bloody, brutal Texas Death Match. While The Cowboy visibly defeated The Mogul before the interference of Prince Nana, it was Swerve that walked out with the official victory.

Will Ospreay chose his destination for 2024. He officially signed with All Elite Wrestling, promising to start his AEW journey on the road to Revolution.

Other big results included Julia Hart and Toni Storm capturing the TBS and Women's Championships. Orange Cassidy defended his International Championship against his greatest rival Jon Moxley.

Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho successfully defeated The Young Bucks and took Matt and Nick Jackson's future AEW Tag Team Championships opportunity.

Eddie Kingston defeated Jay Lethal in an impressively dominant display to keep his ROH World Championship. Samoa Joe kept the ROH Tag Team Championships with MJF and earned a future AEW World Championship match.

It was a chaotic show that set some stars on a brighter path while slowing the momentum of other key talent. The following were the real winners and losers from Full Gear.

Winner: Eddie Kingston

Eddie Kingston is still a dual champion, holding both the ROH World Championship and NJPW Strong Championship. It does not look like he will lose either any time soon.

Jay Lethal was his toughest challenger to date, and he dominated the former ROH world champion. It was a solid showcase that especially highlighted how tough it will be to dethrone The Mad King.

While it would have been nice to see Kingston on the main card for Full Gear, he does have ROH Final Battle coming up. He will be highlighted on the show whether he ends up main eventing that night or not.

He is on the top of the world after years of never winning a major championship. He even seems to have his friend Ortiz back in his corner,

Hopefully, this is still only the beginning of the most important run of Kingston's career.

Winner: Samoa Joe

It was a good day for The Samoan Submission Machine.

Samoa Joe taunted MJF into giving him exactly what he wanted. He protected The Devil's ROH Tag Team Championships and earned his AEW World Championship rematch.

Joe has confidently worked his way into getting what he wanted, and he did not need to fight through the field to earn it.

It is unclear when Joe will cash in that opportunity, but given the tenuous position of MJF as AEW world champion, he has to feel good about winning his rematch.

Without appearing on the main card, The Samoan Submission Machine loomed large over AEW following this night.

Winner: Orange Cassidy

Orange Cassidy delivered one of the greatest title reigns in AEW history until Jon Moxley stepped up to end his International Championship run.

Since that time, Freshly Squeezed has regained his title but only after Mox suffered a serious concussion. Cassidy's second reign was not truly solidified until he faced the man that beat him again.

In another physical encounter, Cassidy showed that he could compete with Mox, physically dominating him down the stretch with the help of an exposed turnbuckle. His win was definitive.

Whether there is a decider match between these two, this feud has put Cassidy on the same level as one of the true top names in AEW.

Loser: Hikaru Shida

Hikaru Shida may be the first-ever three-time AEW women's champion, but each reign has fallen short of lofty expectations.

Her first run was hampered by the pandemic, rarely competing in front of a crowd. She was champion for 372 days, but not much of it can be looked back upon fondly with limited challengers and the circumstances surrounding that time.

She got a second chance when she dethroned Toni Storm just before AEW All In, but she held the title only 25 days before dropping it in Wembley Stadium.

She got her title back from Saraya after 44 days, but she again barely had a chance to run with it, losing her title after just 39 days in a match that was far below the standard of both women due to frequent interference and referee distractions.

While AEW has clearly established Shida as one of the top names in the women's division, her title reigns will largely go down as forgettable.

As The Timeless One begins what is certain to be a lengthy story as AEW women's champion, The Shining Samurai is likely to fall into the background again.

Loser: FTR

Not that long ago, FTR looked to be on an all-time run as AEW tag team champions.

However, before an expected fourth match between them and The Young Bucks to settle the score, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler dropped the titles in a short squash then lost their attempted rematch.

As the feud with House of Black is likely to intensify, FTR seem to be out of the title picture entirely. Meanwhile, Ricky Starks and Big Bill still do not come off fully formed as a team.

It seems like the entire tag team division is struggling as of late in AEW. While the Full Gear ladder match was good carnage, it did not get the division back on track.

That may come, especially since Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho are likely to challenge soon and La Faccion Ingobernable should keep their focus on capturing gold.

However, that future will not include FTR, who will need to bring more to this rivalry with House of Black to stay relevant.

Winner: Julia Hart

Julia Hart is just 22 years old and began training in 2019 with AEW. She may go down as one of the best pure AEW projects in the company's history.

That work paid off as she captured the TBS Championship. She is just the third woman to hold that title in its history, and this is likely only the beginning of her championship journey.

The House of Black's voice has gone from a late addition to the stable to its absolute star. She is more crucial to this stable than even Malakai Black long term.

Hart will face a tough challenge in the months ahead, learning from wrestling top talent regularly. She must prove AEW right in committing to her so early.

Kris Statlander did lose out on this exchange, but she delivered as champion and should get a chance to enter the AEW Women's Championship scene before long.

Winner: AEW (for Signing Will Ospreay)

While Full Gear was not a complete success for AEW, the company's biggest move solidified its future.

The hottest free agent of 2024 has already re-signed with the company. Will Ospreay is All Elite. Much like Jay White in 2023, this was a contested challenge where WWE and AEW were in the mix.

Whether it was due to money, opportunity, or promises made for the future, AEW signed two of New Japan Pro Wrestling's best gaijin talent after they earned main event runs in that company.

Ospreay does not have much TV experience beyond his few appearances for AEW, but he spent 2023 putting on some of the best matches of the year. He is arguably the best wrestler in the world.

He will not be fully active with AEW until he has completed his obligations for NJPW through WrestleKingdom in January, but he will soon make an indelible mark as a main event guy for AEW.

Winner: Swerve Strickland

When Swerve Strickland first chose his next victim, Hangman Adam Page, even the most excited fans of both men could not have predicted how good this would be.

The Mogul promised to build himself up to a main event level at The Cowboy's expense, and after his second win in a row over Page, he has done just that.

Swerve has made his intention clear. He wants to be the first black AEW world champion, and it is hard to imagine he won't be in 2024. He is officially AEW's top heel after an incredible match.

The Cowboy and The Mogul stole the show, and Page was heavily protected in the finish. He looks just as much like a main event star going forward.

Hopefully, this is not the end of this rivalry as Swerve and Page have a special chemistry that brings the best out of both men.

Losers: The Elite (Outside Hangman Adam Page)

AEW would not exist without The Elite, but are they currently important to the product? Hangman Adam Page certainly is, stealing the show just before the remaining members of The Elite wrestled.

However, Kenny Omega has come off secondary working with Chris Jericho and Kota Ibushi against The Don Callis Family. That angle has lost most of its luster, especially since AEW did not follow up on Konosuke Takeshita's All Out win over The Cleaner.

The Young Bucks built some momentum going into their All In match with FTR, but Matt and Nick Jackson have done nothing substantial since that battle. Even their No. 1 contendership victory was ignored for weeks.

Young Bucks vs. Omega and Jericho was a genuine cool-down match after Page vs. Swerve Strickland. While it had good action and got the crowd invested by the end, the result further leaves The Elite in a bad spot.

Young Bucks lost despite using every trick in their arsenal and played the role of spoiled children at ringside afterward. Omega does not look right teaming with Jericho and needs to get back to singles action soon.

Omega and Young Bucks can always recover. They are immensely talented and over with the AEW crowd forever, but their immediate future is murky.

Loser: Jay White

Jay White did everything to take the AEW World Championship away from MJF. He made sure Bullet Club Gold weakened him again and again, but even a supposed serious knee injury on the night was not enough.

The Switchblade was undefeated in AEW up to this point. He came in as a top guy and leaves looking far more vulnerable since he could not take advantage of the vulnerable champion.

It took some messy actions throughout the night as both men cheated consistently, but White had every opportunity to win. He could not do it.

Where does this leave White? He can certainly rebound by setting up a new rivalry or even capturing a different title quickly. It will take work though to legitimize him again.

Meanwhile, MJF looks like the man that cannot be beaten. If this was not enough to take him down, who is ever going to take the AEW World Championship?