I recently had the pleasure of attending AEW Full Gear at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore and wanted to share with you my entire first-hand experience.

Friday: November 8th

I was joined by my closest friend Simon who was just growing familiar with AEW and became excited at the prospect of joining me for this historic event. We left our hometown of London, Ontario on route to State College, Pennsylvania which was roughly 6 and a half hours away.

As a local restaurant guide and avid craft beer enthusiast, I felt the overnight stay in the home of Penn State would present some interesting dining options and culture.

Here are some digestible thoughts from our first day:

Otto’s Pub and Brewery offered some flavourful yet reasonably priced beer

The Brewery is arguably one of the best dive bars I’ve ever been to

Dear America: I envy your dramatically lower beer prices!

Pennsylvania is an undeniably gorgeous state, but I would readily nervous to drive down the scenic yet steep hills in the dead of winter

State College is a dream for any foodie with dozens of incredible restaurants within a stone’s throw from each other

Chris Toplack runs on Dunkin’

Saturday: November 9th

After getting up early, we made a less than 3-hour drive from State College to Baltimore, Maryland. Once again, Dunkin was our delectable savour.

Baltimore has a well-documented reputation of being a violent city, but I felt completely safe and secure in every part we visited.

Our first stop was to Diamondback Brewing Company in Locas Point. The rustic and industrial atmosphere of Diamondback Brewing Co is incredibly inviting and while their beer is quite reputable, the fire oven pizza is the undeniable highlight of any visit.

Recommended: Soppressata Pizza, Locus Point Lager

After going for a short walk around the neighbourhood, we made our way back downtown to proactively check into our room at the Days Inn by Wyndham Baltimore Inner Harbor. The hotel is conveniently located next door to Royal Farms Arena, so it was certainly a prime location.

As we entered the lobby, there was a line of at least 40 wrestling fans waiting to check-in. Many of which were also wearing the “A Little Bit of the Bubbly” Chris Jericho t-shirt that I was also donning.

The first fan that I interacted with was holding a 6-pack of White Claw. I referenced Joey Janela and we started discussing the card. Not long after that, a few more fans filed in behind us and joined the conversation. I somehow started holding court and discussing AEW as a whole along with the pro-wrestling landscape.

Here are a few takeaways from the 5 or 6 fans that chatted with me in line.

Many of these fans travelled from around America to see Full Gear yet they were incredibly shocked that we drove 8 and a half hours from Canada to be there. They applauded our commitment just as I admired theirs.

They ADORE Cody and Chris Jericho

Most of them have stopped watching the WWE product and sadly even NXT

They collectively believed there was no way MJF would turn on Cody that evening. I disagreed. (Spoiler: I was accurate)

In an interesting story, I actually interacted with the “lapsed fan” that Cody, Tony Khan and several others have so often referenced. He had stopped watched wrestling for the better part of 10 years but happened to be in Las Vegas for Double or Nothing. He checked out the PPV and specifically cited that it was Cody vs Dustin Rhodes that brought him back into the fold. It moved him to tears.

I specifically wanted to reference this gentleman as a few other individuals I came across were also lapsed fans proving it was much more than rhetoric from executives.

After checking in and getting settled, we made the short walk over to the arena and waited to enter the building behind a long line of passionate fans.