AEW Full Gear 2019: where are they now?
As we enjoy AEW's third annual Full Gear event, it is both natural and intriguing to take a deeper look into the history surrounding it. AEW have made a point of stacking their PPV cards with sheer talent and exciting tales to tell.
Full Gear 2021 is no different, offering a seemingly never-ending conveyor belt of potential instant classics and iconic moments. But let's take a look back at the inaugural Full Gear, when AEW was in its infancy, and observe all the changes that two years can make.
#8 Britt Baker vs. Bea Priestley - From Full Gear Buy In to defending AEW Women's World Champion
Britt Baker and Bea Priestley clashed on the Buy In to the Full Gear Pay-Per-View, with the Good Doctor emerging as the winner following a Lockjaw submission. She has since witnessed a meteoric rise in the AEW Women's Division, capped off by defeating Hikaru Shida for the Women's Championship.
She is now a cornerstone of AEW programming and a leading name in women's wrestling in general, and heads into Full Gear 2021 to defend her title against number one contender Tay Conti.
Bea Priestley, on the other hand, found success away from AEW. Priestley was released from her AEW contract in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic restricting her from being able to travel to the United States.
In 2020 she defeated Momo Watanabe to win the vacant SWA World Championship. She won the Goddess of Stardom Champion in the tag division with Jamie Hayter and Konami during her time with Japanese women's wrestling promotion, World Wonder Ring Stardom.
Outside of Stardom, Priestley debuted for New Japan Pro Wrestling, aiding Will Ospreay to betray Kazuchika Okada during G1 Climax 30. When Ospreay left CHAOS and established United Empire, Priestley was a founding member.
She departed New Japan at the end of her contract this year, receiving a Cutter from Ospreay and ejected from the United Empire faction.
Blair Davenport (Bea Priestley) is headed to #NXTUK
She is now officially the first AEW wrestler to jump from AEW to WWE.
https://t.co/23xh8yOzEt
Priestley signed with WWE in July 2021 and now performs under the ring name of Blair Davenport, where she is 3-0 on the NXT UK brand.
#7. Santana and Ortiz vs. The Young Bucks - An AEW tag team division showcase
Santana and Ortiz debuted for AEW heading into Full Gear in 2019, aligning with Chris Jericho to found the Inner Circle. At this year's pay-per-view, they'll face The Men of the Year and American Top Team in a Minneapolis Street Fight.
Santana and Ortiz would emerge victorious against the Young Bucks, before losing in a street fight rematch a month later. The duo have since been featured prominently alongside their Inner Circle stable mates, although they have struggled to find success on their own.
At Double or Nothing 2020, they participated in the first Stadium Stampede match as the Inner Circle lost to the Elite faction consisting of Kenny Omega, Adam Page, Matt Hardy and the Young Bucks.
When MJF and Wardlow joined the Inner Circle, tensions were high and in an attempted blow-off, there was an inter-faction three-way tag match. MJF and Jericho defeated both Santana, Ortiz, Jake Hager and Sammy Guevara.
The former LAX members also lost a tag team battle royal won by MJF and Jericho before they unsuccessfully challenged the Young Bucks to a trilogy match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship.
After failing to capture the titles, MJF and Wardlow defected to establish another faction, the Pinnacle, who feuded with the Inner Circle. Santana and Ortiz have since been a part of the first ever Blood and Guts Match, as the Inner Circle were defeated by the Pinnacle, and the second Stadium Stampede Match seeing scores settled.
The Young Bucks lost in their Full Gear encounter with Santana and Ortiz, but would get their win back in a Street Fight. The Young Bucks would then go on to unsuccessfully challenge for the AEW World Tag Team Championship against SCU a week after their Full Gear win, and once again at Revolution 2020 against Adam Page and Kenny Omega before they once again come to blows with Santana and Ortiz in the previously mentioned Stadium Stampede Match where they won alongside the rest of the Elite.
At Full Gear 2020, they would challenge AEW World Tag Team Champions in a dream match where they would finally lift the gold. They defended the titles against the best the tag division had to offer; as previously mentioned, they were victorious in title defenses against both Proud and Powerful and their Inner Circle stable mates MJF and Chris Jericho.
Their reign saw the Bucks defeat all combinations of Death Triangle (Lucha Brothers, Penta and PAC, Fenix and PAC), the Acclaimed, the Sydal Brothers, Varsity Blondes, Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley, and Jurassic Express as well as forever splitting the Addiction tandem of Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian.
During their time as champions they turned heel with Elite faction mate and AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, joining the Super Elite consisting of Omega, the Bucks, Don Callis, Impact Tag Team Champions the Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows), Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa.
At All Out 2021 they were defeated in a steel cage match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship by the Lucha Brothers, ending their reign.
Later that night, Adam Cole debuted for AEW, joining the Super Elite and reuniting with the Matt and Nick as the SuperKliq trio. Full Gear 2021 will see the SuperKliq trio take on Jurassic Express and Christian Cage in a Falls Count Anywhere Match.