Full Gear featuredprofessional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds andstorylines.[6] Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs,Dynamite andRampage, and the supplementary online streaming shows,Dark andElevation.
After a four-month hiatus,MJF made his return atAll Out as the surprise "joker" entrant in theCasino Ladder match and won thepoker chip, thus earning a match for theAEW World Championship at a time and place of his choosing.[7] AfterJon Moxley retained the title on the October 18 episode ofDynamite, Moxley called out MJF and goaded him to cash in the poker chip that night, however, MJF announced that he would cash in and challenge Moxley for the AEW World Championship at Full Gear.[8]
At All Out, Swerve In Our Glory (Keith Lee andSwerve Strickland) defeated The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens andMax Caster) to retain theAEW World Tag Team Championship.[7] In a championship rematch atGrand Slam, The Acclaimed defeated Swerve In Our Glory to win the titles.[9] On the October 26 episode ofDynamite, Swerve In Our Glory defeatedFTR (Dax Harwood andCash Wheeler) to become the #1 contenders for the championship,[10] and on that same week's episode ofRampage, the third championship match between The Acclaimed and Swerve In Our Glory was scheduled for Full Gear.[11]
On the October 28 episode ofRampage, AEW announced the return of the AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament; an eight-mansingle-elimination tournament culminating at Full Gear with the winner receiving an AEW World Championship match atWinter Is Coming. That same episode,Dante Martin andEthan Page named themselves as the first two participants in the tournament.[12] The following week,Eddie Kingston,Bandido,Rush,Lance Archer,Ricky Starks, andBrian Cage were revealed as the remaining participants in the tournament.[13] On November 17, during a media interview before Full Gear,Tony Khan confirmed that the final of the tournament would take place on the November 23 episode ofDynamite, with the semifinal match between Brian Cage and the winner of the Lance Archer vs. Ricky Starks match scheduled for the Full Gear: Zero Hour pre-show.[14]
DuringDynamite: Grand Slam on September 21,Saraya, formerly known as Paige inWWE, made her debut for AEW, confrontingDr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and her teammates.[15] On the October 5 episode ofDynamite, Saraya had another confrontation with Baker, which led to a physical fight, marking the first time Saraya had gotten physical in wrestling since being forced to retire in 2017 due to a serious neck injury.[16] On the November 9 episode, Saraya announced that she was 100% cleared to return to the ring and would wrestle her first match in five years at Full Gear against Baker.[17]
At All Out,The Elite (Kenny Omega,Matt Jackson, andNick Jackson) won the inauguralAEW World Trios Championship.[7] Three days later onDynamite, however, they were suspended and stripped of the title due to their involvement in the backstage altercation that occurred during All Out'spost-event media scrum.[18] That same episode,Death Triangle (Pac,Penta El Zero M, andRey Fénix) won the vacant Trios Championship.[19] In late October, vignettes began airing titled "Delete The Elite", alluding to The Elite's return at Full Gear. On the November 16 episode, Death Triangle addressed the vignettes, after which, a graphic appeared on screen to confirm that The Elite would be facing Death Triangle for the AEW World Trios Championship at Full Gear.[20]
On the following episode ofDynamite, it was announced thatlinealAEW Women's World ChampionThunder Rosa had relinquished the championship, thusJamie Hayter became recognized as the undisputed lineal champion.Toni Storm's interim reign was also retroactively made an official reign.[21]
William Regal appeared on the following episode ofDynamite to address his actions, but was interrupted by Jon Moxley, who came out to confront him but was stopped byBryan Danielson. Moxley then told Regal to leave and never come back.[22] New AEW World Champion MJF made his first post-Full Gear appearance on the following week's episode alongside Regal, where they unveiled MJF's custom version of the championship belt, which he dubbed the "Big Burberry Belt", or Triple-B for short, featuring the exact same design as the standard belt, but with a brown leather strap fashioned inBurberry's trademarkcheck pattern to match MJF's signature Burberry scarf. He also explained that he and Regal began an alliance following an email Regal had sent him after The Firm had attacked MJF a few weeks prior. However, MJF then turned on Regal and was run off by Danielson.[23][24] The next week, a pre-recorded video of Regal was played, which addressed the future of theBlackpool Combat Club. Regal said they did not need him anymore and he needed to show them that, which is why he turned on Moxley. He also said that he knew Moxley, Danielson, andClaudio Castagnoli would be able to teachWheeler Yuta to become one of the best wrestlers.[25] This would be Regal's last appearance in AEW, as he chose to not renew his contract that was expiring at the end of the year so that he could return to WWE and help train his son Charlie Dempsey inNXT.[26]
After Death Triangle (Pac, Penta El Zero M, and Rey Fénix) retained the AEW World Trios Championship over The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson), it was announced that their Full Gear match was the first in aBest of Seven Series for the title.[27] The series occurred over the next couple of months, going all the way to the seventh and final match on the January 11, 2023, episode ofDynamite. In the final, The Elite defeated Death Triangle in aladder match to become two-time AEW World Trios Champions.[28]
^On the November 23, 2022, episode ofDynamite, it was announced that due to the severity of lineal championThunder Rosa's injury, Hayter was promoted to the undisputed champion. Toni Storm's reign was also retroactively recognized as an undisputed reign.[21]
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