MJF Retains ROH Tag Titles vs. The Gunns at AEW Full Gear 2023 amid Adam Cole Injury

MJF and Samoa Joe defeated The Gunns on the AEW Full Gear Zero Hour pre-show on Saturday to retain the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships.

While MJF vs. Jay White for the AEW World Championship was the first match announced for Full Gear, MJF’s rivalry with Bullet Club Gold led to him getting sucked into pulling double duty on the show.

It marked the second time in the past four pay-per-views that MJF had to work multiple matches, dating back to All In when he and Adam Cole beat Aussie Open for the ROH world tag team titles on the pre-show.

Shortly into Better Than You Bay Bay’s reign as ROH tag champs, Adam Cole suffered an ankle injury that required surgery. Rather than vacate the belts, MJF continued to defend them.

With Cole’s injury leaving MJF without a partner on short notice, he faced The Righteous in a handicap match at WrestleDream in October and beat both Vincent and Dutch to retain the titles.

It initially looked as though MJF would only have to focus on defending the AEW world title against White at Full Gear, but when White’s Bullet Club Gold compatriots in Austin and Colten Gunn laid down a challenge for Full Gear, MJF accepted.

Rather than trying to fight the former AEW world tag team champions alone, it was announced that MJF would have a mystery partner for his ROH tag title defense.

Prior to Full Gear, Joe saved MJF from an attack at the hands of Bullet Club Gold and agreed to be his partner in exchange for a future AEW World Championship match, which gave MJF a fighting chance to preserve the title reign for himself and Cole.

Still, MJF had a huge challenge on his hands given The Gunns’ experience together as a team and their track record of success in AEW over the past couple of years.

MJF and Joe managed to retain the titles over The Gunns, giving MJF some much-needed momentum entering his AEW World Championship defense against White later in the night.

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