Brodido look to make their sixth defense in lower than 100 days as AEW World Tag Team Champions when as they face two-time champions FTR at Full Gear. Their fairytale run as a seemingly thrown together tandem began within the lead in to Forbidden Door, the champions within the Hurt Syndicate seeking to fend off the winners of a primary contendership tournament.
On one side of the bracket, FTR faced, fought, and felled each JetSpeed and the Bang Bang Gang. Brodido, meanwhile, saw off each the Gates of Agony within the opening round and multi-time champions the Young Bucks within the semi-finals respectively. But when the 2 teams met in the ultimate there was no winner to be found, Brodido and FTR wrestling to a 30-minute deadline draw, sharing primary contendership as two challengers to the champions in a three-way tag at Forbidden Door. Courtesy of the aforementioned Gates of Agony alongside Ricochet, the title match became a re-run of the competition between FTR and Brodido; The Demand, as they’ve come to be known, taking the Hurt Syndicate out of the match with a brawl. And Brodido pinned FTR to win the tag titles from the Hurt Syndicate when all was said and done.
Now FTR are coming back for the titles in a standard two-on-two affair, though surely with Stokely Hathaway of their corner. That naturally begs the questions of whether Brodido can match the feat of beating them the primary time, whether FTR are the team to spoil the fairytale run of Brodido, and the way whatever does occur goes down in actual practice. Time will answer those, but within the interim, let’s have a go at breaking down the situation before it unfolds and check out to get a measure on what could and will occur when all is claimed and done.
FTR
It is tough to disregard the pedigree that FTR carries into their title challenge at Full Gear, not only as former AEW World Tag Team Champions but additionally former tag champs across all three WWE brands, Ring of Honor, AAA, and NJPW. While Brodido were getting began as tag champions, FTR were within the midst of a feud with one in every of the best tag teams of all time, Christian Cage and Adam Copeland, and although they lost their dream match in Toronto they eventually had the last laugh with a conchairto to Beth Copeland, writing each her and her husband off of TV.
That feud has been left really open-ended and there’s all the prospect that they pick up where things were left off. Providing he does actually return to the corporate, one would not expect Copeland to proceed without exacting some type of revenge, and that may more than likely come stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Cage. It could even be his return that costs FTR the titles at Full Gear with some classic interference and a dodgy finish, however it’s when one starts to assume that coming a bit of later that an image of FTR as three-time champions begins to turn into clear.
FTR have lost just two traditional tag team matches this yr, their defeat against Cope and Cage and a loss to Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly in March, and it would not be a surprise to see them take the titles from a comparatively vastly inexperienced team. That is very the case if the plan because it was long believed to be is to have Cope and Cage battle FTR with the titles on the road. And while that itself is a really interesting prospect, that does not imply it could be the fitting decision with all things considered.
The Gates of Agony
Possibly Full Gear will probably be the moment all of it involves an end, however it appears like the show could represent a cementing of Brodido’s position as a substitute, an announcement victory to say they don’t seem to be only a flash within the pan. If that’s the case, who ought to be the team to take the titles from Brodido beyond Full Gear? That honor goes to those that had a hand in making them the Tag Team Champions in the primary place.
The Gates of Agony and Ricochet were those who took Lashley and Benjamin out of the match at Forbidden Door, clearing the sphere for Brodido to win the match, and have since continued their trios feud. But they usually are not presently on the cardboard for Full Gear as Ricochet enters the Casino Gauntlet to inaugurate the AEW National Championship alongside Lashley and Benjamin.
If Brodido were to retain the titles against FTR then the Gates of Agony stand out as the perfect choice to inherit the baton at the highest of the division, legitimizing the pair for the dominant tandem they’ve been and giving some weight to The Demand as a complete. It could also open the door – or gate, quite – to all three members holding gold if Ricochet was to win the National Championship.
Neither FTR nor Cage and Cope need the titles for his or her feud to proceed, if that’s the path, and it could arguably be higher for the division to not be held up and to fall onto solid shoulders when Brodido drop it; a prize quite than a prop. The Gates of Agony could serve that purpose and stand for the younger babyface teams, each established and newfound like Private Party or JetSpeed respectively, to challenge.