Willow Nightingale Makes Shock AEW Return During Wild Full Gear Main Event
Willow Nightingale is back!
Former TBS Champion Willow Nightingale had been out of action since suffering a concussion during the CMLL Women’s International Grand Prix on October 25th. She was pulled from a subsequent match with the promotion and took some time off to recover.
Nightingale has seen her star shine brighter than ever in 2024, enjoying eye-catching outings against Mercedes Mone and Kris Statlander in AEW while capturing the CMLL Women’s Title. But despite wrestling just about everywhere during the year, the timing of her return still came as a huge surprise.
In the Full Gear main event, Jon Moxley put his AEW World Championship on the line against Orange Cassidy, as he continues to exert his control over the company.
During the bloody encounter, Moxley beat Cassidy from pillar to post, but as usual, the challenger refused to quit. Despite being barely able to stand, Cassidy kept absorbing punishment, almost daring Moxley to keep the violent beating coming.
Beaten and broken, Cassidy valiantly fought back, roared on by the crowd, hitting two Orange Punches and a Cazadora pin for near-fall. He followed up with another Orange Punch and the Beach Break, as Moxley barely kicked out.
Willow Nightingale Evens The Odds
With the match now in the balance, Claudio Castagnoli & PAC looked to get involved after arriving through the crowd, only to be thwarted by Tomohiro Ishii, Kyle O’Reilly & Rocky Romero. With the referee distracted, Marina Shafir looked to hit Cassidy with a briefcase but she was tackled by the returning Nightingale.
Sensing his opportunity, Cassidy smashed Moxley with the briefcase, but the champion kicked out. This brought Wheeler Yuta into the action who hit Cassidy with a Busiaku Knee, enabling Moxley to follow with a Death Rider and claim the win.
After the match, Hangman Adam Page stormed to the ring with a chair, allowing Christian Cage to get in on the action. Cage flattened Moxley with a Killswitch, and Page eventually handed over the veteran’s championship briefcase, but just as he was about to and it to the referee, Jay White took him out with a Blade Runner.
Although the Death Riders escaped, Darby Allin crashed into their truck in the parking lot, but as a bloody Allin emerged from the card, the Death Riders commandeered another vehicle and escaped.
Earlier in the night, Daniel Garcia finally captured championship gold with an emotionally charged win over Jack Perry to claim the TNT Title.
You can find the full results for AEW Full Gear 2024 here.