Full Gear (2021)

Full Gear is a pay-per-view (PPV) held annually around Veterans Day by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since 2019. It is one of AEW's "Big Four" PPVs, which includes Double or Nothing, All Out, and Revolution, their four biggest shows produced quarterly.[3] The 2021 event was the third event in the Full Gear chronology. It was originally scheduled to be held on November 6, 2021, at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Missouri.[4][5] However, during All Out on September 5, it was announced that the event would instead take place on November 13, but with no reference to a location. It was reported that the event was pushed back a week to avoid competition with UFC 268 and the Canelo Álvarez vs. Caleb Plant boxing match.[6][7] On September 27, it was announced that the event had been relocated to the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[8]

Full Gear featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[9] Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite and Rampage, the supplementary online streaming shows, Dark and Elevation, and The Young Bucks' YouTube series Being The Elite.

In October 2018, prior to the formation of AEW, Adam Page joined his friends Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), forming a group known as The Elite.[10] In January 2020, Page and Omega won the AEW World Tag Team Championship, but lost it later that year. Signs of dissent occurred during this title reign, and after more months of tension within the group, Page was removed from The Elite by The Young Bucks on the August 27, 2020, episode of Dynamite, after Page had prevented them from winning a match.[11] At the 2020 Full Gear event on November 7, Page faced Omega in the finals of a tournament to determine the number one contender for the AEW World Championship, with Omega winning.[12] Omega would later go on to win the championship.[13] Nearly a year later, on the October 6, 2021, episode of Dynamite, Page, won the Casino Ladder Match to become the number one contender for the AEW World Championship, still held by Omega.[14] On October 16, the championship match was scheduled for Full Gear.[15]

On October 8, AEW announced the return of the AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament; an eight-man single-elimination tournament culminating at Full Gear with the winner receiving a future AEW World Championship match.[16] On the October 16 episode of Dynamite, Bryan Danielson, Orange Cassidy, Preston "10" Vance, Lance Archer, Jon Moxley, Eddie Kingston, Dustin Rhodes, and Powerhouse Hobbs were revealed as the participants.[17] However, on November 2, Moxley was removed from the tournament after he entered a rehabilitation program for alcohol addiction,[18] and was replaced by Miro.[19]

After losing to Bryan Danielson on the October 29 episode of Rampage, an enraged Eddie Kingston confronted CM Punk while he was being interviewed backstage.[20] On the following episode of Rampage, Kingston stated that although Punk had used to be a "hero" of his, he accused him of becoming "two-faced" and "narcissistic", with Punk responding that Kingston was a "bum".[21] Kingston challenged Punk to a match at Full Gear, which was later confirmed.[22]