How PAC Was Responsible For Naming One Of AEW’s Biggest PPVs

The tragic passing of Benjamin “PAC” Satterley sent shockwaves through the professional wrestling world, with the 40 year old AEW star serving as a beloved member of the wrestling community. PAC was an AEW original as he was one of the several stars to show up at AEW’s launch party all the way back in 2019. One unfortunate but bittersweet byproduct of his heartbreaking situation is the fact that fans will now take a much harder look at how influential and talented he was, and how much of an impact he had in AEW in particular. In fact, one fun fact about PAC is that he is the reason that AEW’s Full Gear PPV exists.

PAC Showed Up In “Full Gear” To AEW’s Launch

• PAC confronted ‘Hangman’ Adam Page at AEW’s launch party.
• PAC turned up in his professional wrestling tights despite not having a match.
• Throughout his AEW career, PAC had a history of always being in ring gear.

AEW held a launch party press conference at the start of 2019, signalling the official start of the company. The likes of Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, SCU, Chris Jericho, Britt Baker, Joey Janela, MJF, and Adam Page arrived to give various speeches about their excitement of this brand new promotion, and what to expect in the months ahead. During Page’s time on the podium, he declared his intentions to become the brand new and first ever AEW World Champion… only to be interrupted by PAC, whose appearance was unannounced.

PAC declared that he was already a champion (holding up his Dragon Gate title) and stated that Page couldn’t lace his boots, thus starting what was officially the first ever feud in AEW history. While everyone else at AEW’s launch was sporting casual wear or suits, one of the more humorous details was the fact that PAC appeared in “full gear”. Despite there being no matches, no physicality, and nothing to fight for, PAC arrived in his wrestling trunks in a bizarre moment and visual. No one knew it at the time, but this sparked a chain of events that would lead to the naming of an AEW PPV.

Adam Page & The Elite Continued PAC’s “Full Gear” Bit On BTE

• Adam Page wore his full gear during a BTE skit, citing PAC’s antics.
• The Elite made fun of Page being in “full gear”.
• Many fans attribute the Full Gear PPV to Page.

During a skit on The Elite’s YouTube channel, Being The Elite, Adam Page joined his fellow stablemates in a segment in which he was called out for wearing his full in-ring gear, to which he replied, “You guys liked it when PAC did it.” Cody Rhodes remarked that PAC was about to get away with it by having a shredded body. From there, a running gag continued in which Page would go about his daily business, doing so in his “full gear”.

When it came to the announcement of AEW’s November PPV in 2019, the name of the show stemmed from this bit, with AEW announcing the arrival of “Full Gear”. Over the years, fans have attributed the name as a reference to Page’s bit on Being The Elite, though it actually firstly stemmed from PAC’s arrival in full gear at AEW’s 2019 rally. It is fair to give both men the credit for the naming of this PPV, and in a fun turn of events, they actually ended up wrestling one another on the inaugural Full Gear PPV in 2019 in singles action, clashing in a match won by Page.

Full Gear Is One Of AEW’s Most Beloved PPVs

• Full Gear is one of AEW’s “big five” events each year.
• AEW has hosted this show every year since 2019.
• Full Gear is AEW’s most consistently strong PPV.

The Full Gear PPV will now hold a much deeper meaning across the AEW calendar, and it is easy to imagine AEW making it known just how important PAC was to the naming of this event. Ever since 2019, Full Gear has been a marquee point on the AEW calendar, serving as arguably the most consistently incredible PPV out of all of AEW’s shows, with the promotion never putting on even a bad or average Full Gear show.

Over the years, we’ve seen Cody Rhodes’ emotional loss of his world title opportunity, the violent spectacle between Jon Moxley & Kenny Omega, Adam Page’s fairytale AEW World Title win, Darby Allin’s first TNT Championship victory, a classic between Young Bucks & FTR, Jamie Hayter & MJF each winning world titles for the first time in 2022, a pair of showstealers between Kris Statlander & Mercedes Mone, the iconic Texas Death between Adam Page & Swerve Strickland, and so much more over the years.