AEW Full Gear 2019 Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

The first of two main events saw Chris Jericho defend the AEW World Championship against Cody, who was accompanied to the squared circle by MJF, who was described by Excalibur on commentary as his "best friend, protege and the man he is grooming." Backing up Jericho? Inner Circle teammate Jake Hager.

Prior to the bout, the commentary team introduced Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson and The Great Muta as the three men who would decide the winner should the match go the 60-minute distance.

Cody scored the first significant offense of the match, sending Jericho to the floor and following right behind him with a tope suicida. The challenger worked the right arm, undoubtedly hoping to take the Judas Effect away from his opponent.

The American Nightmare's momentum came to a sudden halt when he soared through the air and crashed face-first into the entrance ramp, lacerating his forehead in the process. With the official distracted, Hager exploded with a clothesline that turned Cody inside out.

The challenger continued to nurse his ribs and torso, taking away the effectiveness of his offense. A big knee from Jericho to the midsection left him writhing and on the defensive again. He managed to create momentary separation and tried for a moonsault, but Jericho dodged it, and Cody crashed abdomen-first on the mat below.

Cody finally thwarted Jericho's focused attack and dropped him with a Diamond Cutter for a near-fall. MJF fired up the crowd, who responded favorably to the challenger's comeback. He dropped Jericho with a Disaster Kick to the floor.

The champion recovered and slammed Cody back-first into the ring post. Jericho took a moment to talk trash to his opponent's mother, Michelle, and paid for it in the form of a slap and a spear by Cody. Back inside, the suddenly surging challenger applied the Figure Four as the crowd implored the champion to tap.

Right hands from Hager on two separate occasions led to his ejection from the ringside area by referee Aubrey Edwards. The undefeated MMA competitor answered by assaulting MJF, sending him into the guardrail.

With Edwards distracted, Jericho blasted Cody with the AEW title. After some sly selling to avoid detection, the champion covered but could only keep the challenger down for two. Jericho tried for the Judas Effect, but Cody blocked and delivered Cross Rhodes, but he still could not put Le Champion down for three.

A Bionic Elbow earned him two. The Codebreaker did the same for Jericho.

Frustrated, Jericho removed his own weight belt and proceeded to whip Cody with it. Edwards wrestled the belt away from the heel and tossed it to the floor. Up top, Cody looked for the hurricanrana, but Jericho countered and applied the Liontamer. Cody fought his way to the ropes, forcing the break.

A frustrated Edwards shoved Jericho right into a rollup for two. Jericho countered and reapplied the Liontamer while MJF screamed from ringside. He threw in a white towel, bringing about the conclusion of the bout in a less-than-satisfying fashion.

After the match, MJF feigned tears and proceeded to drop Cody with a low blow to a chorus of boos.

Jericho defeated Cody via referee stoppage

And with that bit of brilliant booking, AEW has set Cody up to be the ultimate sympathetic babyface.

Not only did he lose out on the opportunity to compete for the title he was as instrumental as anyone in introducing, but he also lost a friendship he thought was unbreakable. Two of the most important things in his life were ripped away from him by the selfish, egotistical MJF, and now, AEW has a feud on its hands that can dominate Dynamite for months before the inevitable blowoff match.

MJF was brilliant as usual, expressing a roller coaster of emotions and culminating with a brash, arrogant grin following the betrayal. He is poised to go on the sort of run that will elevate him to the top of the promotion and provide AEW with a breakout star that will define this first year of its existence.

Jericho was great here as the ruthless champion, unconcerned with the wellbeing of his opponent or anyone but himself. Despite the fact that this was less his story than it was Cody's, he still managed to shine on his 49th birthday.