AEW Full Gear aired live from the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, AZ on Saturday night and the show kicked off in a major way as Adam Copeland challenged Kazuchika Okada for the International Championship in the opening match.
There was a lot of hype heading into the match as it was the first ever Adam Copeland vs. Kazuchika Okada match, and Copeland’s time is limited as he announced a few weeks ago that he will be retiring from wrestling in 2027.
Don Callis accompanied Okada to the ring and the fans chanted “f**k Don Callis” as soon as the match kicked off. Okada dominated the match in the opening moments, but he retreated to the outside as Copeland started to counter his moves.
Copeland followed Okada to the outside and Okada threw Cope into the steel ring steps. Okada peeled back the padding to expose the floor outside. He tired to hit Cope with a piledriver, but Cope reversed it. Cope set up a chair and dropped Okada onto it, then threw him into the barricade.
When the action returned to the ring Okada dominated Copeland for several minutes. Copeland tried to make a comeback as he went for a spear, but Okada picked him up and hit him with a neckbreaker.
Okada went to the outside grabbed the International Championship belt. The referee told him to throw it out of the ring and Cope rolled Okada up while he was distracted for a two count. They went for a boot at the same time as both Okada and Cope fell to the mat.
After a little bit of back and forth Okada hit a Tombstone on Cope. Okada refused to pin Cope, and instead went to the corner for a spear. Cope countered the spear with an uppercut.
Cope went for a spear on Okada as Okada rolled out of the ring. Don Classic grabbed Cope’s leg to distract him. Cope then speared Okada, but Okada had the International Championship around his waist, so Cope speared the belt. Okada then dropped Cope with a DDT off the apron onto the exposed floor.
The referee started to count Cope out and Okada got out of the ring around 8 then picked Cope up and put him back in the ring. Okada rolled Cope over and pinned him. He picked Cope up at 1 and laughed. Okada picked Cope up again and hit him with The Rainmaker then pinned him to win the match.
After the match Cope finally got to his feet and Okada returned to the ring then took him out. Okada laughed as he returned to the backstage area.