The Best Wrestler of 2025: KYLE FLETCHER

     Kyle Fletcher was in so many great matches in 2025 it's kind of astounding. He definitely sealed the deal as the best wrestler of 2025 once Will Ospreay left to get neck surgery in August. Fletcher picked up the ball and ran with it, immediately having one of the best matches of the year against 'Hangman' Adam Page in the main event of September's All Out. Then, if maybe towards of the end of 2025 you still weren't believing it, Fletcher had one of the best TV matches of the year on Dynamite against 'Speedball' Mike Bailey. To cap off the year, Fletcher and Jon Moxley had one of best matches of the year at World's End on December 27th to end the year on a high note. Fletcher was also in the #1 match of the year, his epic steel cage match at Revolution. Fletcher's feud with Mark Briscoe this year was also fantastic. They had the best match on the Dynasty PPV in April and a fantastic, ***1/2 star match at Full Gear. To be in four of the top 10 matches of the year is pretty incredible. And he did it by having bloody and crazy hardcore matches and great, dramatic, and entertaining straight-up wrestling matches. The things he put his body through this year just to entertain us was astounding. He plays a great heel, but he also has the speed, the spectacular moves, the timing, and the look of a star to back it all up. I can't wait to see what he does in 2026.

The Best Show of 2025: AEW REVOLUTION 3/9

 

    Remember the legendary days of New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom shows where there were three or four back-to-back awesome, match-of-the-year contenders? And sometimes the matches just got better and better? Yeah, those days are long gone, but this show had a three match stretch that was incredible. Toni Storm beat Mariah May for the women's title in a "Hollywood Ending" bloodbath match. It was the best women's match in AEW history. I still remember both women breaking bottles of champagne in buckets and taping the shards of glass to their hands to use on their opponent. Insanity. Right after that, Kenny Omega and Konosuke Takeshita had a ***1/2 star match. Right after that, Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher had the best match of the year that took place in a steel cage. The actual PPV even started with a ***1/2 star match between MJF and 'Hangman' Adam Page that had the crowd going crazy. The other good match on the show was Ricochet vs. Swerve Strickland. Every match on the show wasn't great of course, and the main event was weak. Still, that three match stretch of greatness was a sight to behold. To have a PPV with three ***1/2 star matches and one **** star match is truly rare. This was, like the glory days of New Japan, legendary.  

The Best Match of 2025: WILL OSPREAY vs. KYLE FLETCHER (STEEL CAGE) "AEW REVOLUTION" 3/9

    This was a kitchen sink match in that they seemingly did everything. I only watched this match once, ten months ago, and yet I still remember Ospreay giving Fletcher a Styles Clash onto thumbtacks, Ospreay giving Fletcher a Spanish Fly off the top of the cage, and Fletcher, on his knees, screaming at Ospreay, "I fucking hate you!" before Ospreay gave him a Hidden Blade to end it. This was masterful stuff, extremely violent and highly dramatic with a hot crowd cheering everything. Usually, a steel cage match is just a random match these days, but the point of its' invention was to be the final blowoff match in a feud, the ultimate culmination of everything, and this match was truly that. Fletcher beat Ospreay in November of 2024 and Ospreay beat Fletcher in December 2024. The feud was finally settled in this bloodbath masterpiece. These two always lay it on the line and in this match they delivered everything they had and more. Just the toll these two took on their bodies to entertain us and shock us is jaw dropping. This was epic and awesome and a match you won't forget. 

Other Notable Matches:

Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd   NJPW/AEW/CMLL Wrestle Dynasty   1/5

Toni Storm vs. Mariah May   AEW Revolution   3/9

Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita   AEW Dynamite   4/16

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Bandido   ROH Supercard of Honor   7/11

The Young Bucks vs. Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay   AEW All In Texas   7/12

'Hangman' Adam Page vs. Jon Moxley   AEW All Out Texas   7/12

'Hangman' Adam Page vs. Kyle Fletcher   AEW All Out   9/20

Kyle Fletcher vs. 'Speedball' Mike Bailey   AEW Dynamite   12/10

Jon Moxley vs. Kyle Fletcher   AEW Worlds End   12/27

AEW WORLDS END

Hoffman Estates, Illinois

SISTERS OF SIN (JULIA HART & SKYE BLUE) vs. HYAN & MYA WORLD (6:10): This was a good show with a potential match of the year contender. I think all of the great matches happened early in the show, thus it kind of ended with a whimper. The pre-show had four short matches. The Sisters of Sin are at least a team involving two attractive, young women. Otherwise, I doubt anyone would care about them. So cruel! 1/2*

EDDIE KINGSTON vs. ZACK GIBSON (5:40): I actually really enjoyed this match. This was basically just a match involving hard slaps and hard elbows. Gibson is in the Grizzled Young Veterans tag team that's rarely on TV (do they even have a contract?). The Chicago crowd was really good tonight and got into every match, even this. **1/2

BANDIDO & MASCARA DORADA vs. THE DON CALLIS FAMILY (MARK DAVIS & ROCKY ROMERO) (7:30): It was fun to see Bandido and Dorada do some high flying in a relatively short match. I think they should really do something with Mark Davis because in another era he'd be a top heel. **1/2

JETSPEED (KEVIN KNIGHT & MIKE BAILEY) & JURASSIC EXPRESS (LUCHASAURUS & JACK PERRY) vs. JOSH ALEXANDER & THE DEMAND (RICOCHET, BISHOP KAUN & TOA LIONA) (9:00): Fun match with a lot of action. Ricochet did just win the National Title...so it's not that he's a nobody on the card, but it'd be nice if he was in the main event picture. They've kind of turned him into this comedic clown. **1/2

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (17:17): This is the one match that AEW has been setting up for months. The feud isn't over, but this felt kind of disappointing considering how long it's been set up. This was the first of two semi-final matches in the Continental Classic tournament that started on Thanksgiving eve. It's basically a smaller G1 tournament, although in this, the third year, it's become pretty awesome. There were some really good CC matches on TV in the last month, including the awesome Fletcher/Bailey match on Dynamite. The one problem I have with the tournament is that the winner only gets the Continental title. Who the fuck cares about that? Why doesn't the winner get a future title shot? The match was really good and the crowd was into it but the finish was flat. Okada pulled a screwdriver that was hidden in a turnbuckle and used it to stab Takeshita, thus cheating to win. The ref obviously saw this but had to pretend not to. I get the finish: they wanted to continue the feud and not beat Takeshita clean (Takeshita is the IWGP champion). Still, it was an anti-climactic ending to what was turning into a great match. ***

JON MOXLEY vs. KYLE FLETCHER (23:33): This was one of the best matches I've seen all year. If someone called this the best match of 2025, I wouldn't even argue. Who knew, right? Fletcher has had a killer second half of 2025. His main event PPV match against 'Hangman' at All Out was excellent. His CC match against 'Speedball' was excellent. And now this. Not to mention his cage match with Ospreay was perhaps my favorite match all year. But Moxley hasn't had many great wrestling matches lately unless they're hardcore, weapons and blood filled shock fests. This was just a dramatic, suspenseful, classic wrestling match with great near falls, big moves, and a hot crowd on their feet. The move of the match was the brutal Avalanche Suplex off the top rope that Moxley gave Fletcher. That put Fletcher right on his head, and I thought he'd be immediately carted off to the hospital. They both kicked out of each other's finishers to the shock of the crowd. Fletcher desperately picked apart the turnbuckles looking for the screwdriver that Okada had already taken and used (did Fletcher not watch the previous match?). They did some fantastic submission holds with some great acting by Fletcher, who, in the throes of a chokehold, desperately flailed his hands at the ref to grab him. Fletcher also worked Moxley's injured ankle throughout, including some ankle lock submission holds. This match was truly as good as it gets in pro-wrestling. I don't review every match I watch during the year, but of the ones I did review in 2025, I only gave three matches four stars. The Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd match from Wrestle Kingdom. The Kyle Fletcher vs. Will Ospreay cage match from Revolution. And this match. ****

FTR (CASH WHEELER & DAX HARWOOD) vs. BANG BANG GANG (AUSTIN GUNN & JUICE ROBINSON) "CHICAGO STREET FIGHT" (16:58): Shockingly, the crowd got into this match after witnessing the masterpiece that was the previous match. I guess because this was a hardcore match and fans love that shit. They mostly just hit each other with trash cans in this match. They brawled in the crowd. Cash did a suicide dive through the ropes and made an awkward flip/splash/slide landing on a table at ringside. That looked rough. Stokely got tossed off the apron and slid off the table and fell to the floor. That also looked rough. This was entertaining, though. FTR retained the tag team titles. AEW has seemingly forgotten about The Hurt Syndicate, as they've barely been on TV lately (The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega were also not on the show). **1/2

BABES OF WRATH (HARLEY CAMERON & WILLOW NIGHTINGALE) vs. ATHENA & MERCEDES MONE (13:09): Babes of Wrath are the new women's tag team champs. They retained here. The crowd got into this. Athena did a cool running dive through the ropes at full speed. Harley looked better than usual, so I suppose she's been practicing in the gym. Match was entertaining but nothing special. **

DARBY ALLIN vs. GABE KIDD (12:51): Maybe, like, don't let these two wrestle each other again. And...does Gabe Kidd know that pro-wrestling is supposed to be fake? This was a total car crash and a half. Both men were bleeding. Kidd was tossing Darby around like a rag doll, throwing him into the stairs, the ring post, the desk, and over the ring bell table. Even the chops and slaps that Kidd delivered were brutal. Allin ended up winning with a quick, small package, then needed the ref to help him up after the victory. Because Kidd is bald, his crimson mask looked horrific. This was compelling but kind of bordering on hard to watch. ***

RODERICK STRONG, THE CONGLOMERATION (MARK BRISCOE & ORANGE CASSIDY) & TONI STORM vs. DEATH RIDERS (CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI, DANIEL GARCIA, MARINA SHAFIR & WHEELER YUTA) (12:24): The crowd loved this match. It had that party atmosphere to it. They did a lot of man vs. woman spots which got over big, especially with Marina chopping Roderick Strong (those two are married in real life) and Claudio giving Toni the swing. This was super entertaining. ***

KRIS STATLANDER vs. JAMIE HAYTER (18:07): This match was kind of dull for the first ten minutes or so. It got really good at the end when they both started dropping each other on their head in big, shocking, dramatic moves. Statlander gave Hayter a top rope Falcon Arrow power bomb that dropped Hayter right on her head. I was scared, as were the announcers. The final few minutes with the big moves and near falls were fantastic, though. Statlander retained the women's title. **1/2

JON MOXLEY vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (20:01): This was the final of the Continental Classic. Moxley is officially a babyface now. The crowd was cheering for him to win and after he won he gave a speech saying this is for the fans. The match was just okay. It never heated up into anything special. Both men kicked each other in the balls when the ref wasn't looking. Okada worked Moxley's injured ankle. This was perhaps the weakest match on the main card, actually. Even the crowd wasn't that into this. **

MJF vs. SAMOA JOE vs. 'HANGMAN' ADAM PAGE vs. SWERVE STRICKLAND (20:32): Two weeks ago, MJF made his return to AEW and cashed in his title contract to be a part of this match. That made it obvious that he was going to win the title here. Samoa Joe just won the title last month at Full Gear. Hook turned heel to help Joe win the title and The Opps became this big, heel group with the world title. Um...what the fuck was the point of that just to have Joe lose the title already? Apparently, AEW just wanted MJF to have the title without beating 'Hangman.' I didn't remember this, but 'Hangman' beat MJF at Revolution and Forbidden Door. A re-match would be huge! Maybe, although I literally had to look up that 'Hangman' beat MJF twice. I didn't even remember those matches. I like MJF but he's already been champion. So has all the guys in the current title picture: Swerve, 'Hangman', Joe, Moxley. I think it's time for a new champ, like Darby, Jack Perry, Fletcher, or Takeshita. This match was good but not great. The ending had 'Hangman' give Joe three Buckshot Lariot's but MJF took Page out and gave Joe a DDT off the ropes and pinned him, thus stealing the win from Page. Bandido won the Diamond Ring match on Dynamite last week to get a title shot in three weeks. That might be interesting, although I truly doubt Bandido is winning the title from MJF so soon. Anyway, it's December 28th. Have a good new year! **1/2

WWE SURVIVOR SERIES: WAR GAMES

Petco Park, San Diego

AJ LEE, ALEXA BLISS, CHARLOTTE FLAIR, IYO SKY & RHEA RIPLEY vs. BECKY LYNCH, LASH LEGEND, NIA JAX & THE KABUKI WARRIORS (ASUKA & KAIRI SANE) "WAR GAMES" (40:50): I'd rather see two War Games matches on a PPV than whatever the hell they used to do at Survivor Series (before this they were doing RAW vs. Smackdown matches and champion vs. champion matches...originally it was 5 vs. 5 elimination matches), but I still don't like that they're still calling it Survivor Series when the title is meaningless. My idea is to call the RAW before Thanksgiving "Survivor Series" and do the traditional 5 vs. 5 matches there and just call this PPV War Games. Either way, this felt like a big show because it was held outside at San Diego's baseball stadium. I guess because the WWE can fill up a baseball stadium they think that, creatively, they don't have to even try very hard. This match only had 4 matches. While it was semi-entertaining, it was also just typical WWE: i.e. not that exciting, by-the-numbers, safe, stale, predictable, fairly forgettable. If you read the reviews on the Cage Match website you would think this was a horrible show. It wasn't. It was the same thing the WWE has been for years. If you're really into War Games matches, it was kind of hard to even watch this show considering AEW just put on two War Games matches that had buckets of blood, glass, fire, a bed of nails, and thumbtacks. This felt, obviously, tame in comparison. The highlight of this match was Iyo Sky putting a trashcan over her head and jumping off the top of the cage. AJ Lee got a giant pop and looked good in there for a brief time. Rhea Ripley wore a mask that was based on Art the Clown from the Terrifier movies. Those movies are basically rated X for the extreme gore. Considering how PG most of the WWE is these days, I'm surprised that mask was even allowed. What does TKO have to do with the Terrifier movies? Obviously something. This match was at least somewhat entertaining because it was a double cage match with some weapons and thus not entirely boring. **1/2

DOMINIK MYSTERIO vs. JOHN CENA (16:48): Cena's retirement year has to go down in the history as the worst booked retirement ever. The first half of the year he was a heel, which makes no sense considering he should be going out as a fan-favorite, crowd-cheering hero. After he turned back into a babyface they quickly had Brock Lesnar squash him and beat him. Now they're having him lose again to Dominik. Wh-wh-what? Who the fuck is okaying this booking? Cena should be winning every match on his way out to make the fans happy. Dominik cheated to win back the IC title, which he lost to Cena a few weeks ago on RAW in Boston. Dominik faked an injury so a few members of The Judgment Day could beat up Cena when the ref wasn't looking. Then JD and Finn ran out to interfere again when Cena inadvertently knocked out the ref. Match was fine but having Cena lose on his last PPV is blasphemous. **

STEPHANIE VAQUER vs. NIKKI BELLA (12:22): There wasn't much to this. Did anyone think Nikki was going to win the women's championship? Stephanie gave Nikki the Devil's Kiss move on the announce table. Nikki still looks good at her age, but this was pretty monotonous. *1/2

BROCK LESNAR, DREW McINTYRE & THE VISION (BRON BREAKKER, BRONSON REED & LOGAN PAUL) vs. CM PUNK, CODY RHODES, ROMAN REIGNS & THE USO'S (JEY & JIMMY) "WAR GAMES" (39:25): This match was pretty entertaining. The ending was fairly lame, as they had a masked figure enter the cage, give CM Punk a stomp which led to Bron pinning him. The masked figure is apparently Austin Theory, though they didn't reveal that yet. Brock got a big cheer when he came out to destroy everyone. I guess nobody cares that he's still involved in Vince's sex trafficking lawsuit. Jey Uso stopped mid-match to climb the cage and "yeet" with the fans. Logan didn't do any big moves so I'm not sure why he was even there (isn't that his thing?). Bronson came in and did a bunch of top rope jumps onto everyone. CM Punk and Cody were both slightly bleeding. Roman did a spear through a table onto Brock who had Jey on his shoulders. Brock put Roman through the announce table before the match officially started. While this show wasn't fantastic or anything, this is the WWE these days. This is exactly what I expected. I don't see anything changing. It's mildly entertaining, predictable, & entrance-focused. If you want great wrestling or something wild and exciting, go watch something else. **1/2

AEW FULL GEAR

Newark, New Jersey

BANG BANG GANG (AUSTIN GUNN & JUICE ROBINSON) vs. THE ACCLAIMED (ANTHONY BOWENS & MAX CASTER) vs. BIG BILL & BRYAN KEITH vs. THE OUTRUNNERS (TURBO FLOYD & TRUTH MAGNUM) (6:07): It's Tuesday, November 25th, at 11:35 PM. I just finished watching this show tonight even though it took place on Saturday night. These AEW PPV's are always great but so fucking long. It takes me forever to finally get around to watching the whole thing. Because of that, I watched the three pre-show matches on Sunday so I barely remember them. This was a really good PPV, though. It was also AEW's bloodiest ever. Jesus Christ. And this is coming two weeks after Blood & Guts, which was, obviously, super bloody. That show, by the way, was one of the best wrestling shows of the year. One reason was that it was a regular episode of Dynamite so it wasn't on PPV (it was longer than usual, at 2 hours, 35 minutes). This year they had a women's and men's War Games match plus a 'Hangman' vs. Will Hobbs street fight. Darby Allin also got tossed onto two flaming tables. Plus Toni Storm got a mirror smashed over her head. Statlander got pushed onto a bed of nails. That was a hell of a show. None of these pre-show matches were particular great. The Newark crowd was pretty good all night but they did get quiet during some of the duller moments. The show was 4 hours and 25 minutes, plus this hour pre-show. That meant the show didn't end until 12:25 AM. Yikes! They're lucky Saturday Night Live wasn't live. I don't even remember much about this match except Juice looks like he has a new hairdo. I still can't figure out what they're attempted to do with The Acclaimed and apparently neither do they. **

BOOM & DOOM (BIG BOOM AJ & QT MARSHALL) vs. RPG VICE (ROCKY ROMERO & TRENT BERETTA) (11:57): The Costco guys are back. Big Boom AJ looks like he's been hitting the cake display too hard at Costco these days. The Rizzler had a cape on. Are those Tiktok stars still popular? Or is it over? I did laugh when Trent pushed the kid over. I'm horrible. **

EDDIE KINGSTON & HOOK vs. THE WORKHORSEMEN (ANTHONY HENRY & JD DRAKE (1:48): This was short so fairly pointless. They haven't done much with Kingston since he returned. I don't think he's even in the Continental Classic this year, which starts on Thanksgiving eve. He won it the first year, didn't he? 1/2*

EL SKY TEAM (MASCARA DORADA, MISTICO & NEON) vs. THE DON CALLIS FAMILY (HECHICERO, KAZUCHIKA OKADA & KONOSUKE TAKESHITA) (13:44): CMLL is the hottest promotion of 2025 in the whole world. That's kind of crazy, really. Sky Team is one reason. They're a popular team often in the main event on Friday nights at Arena Mexico. Mistico is CMLL's big star but Neon looked phenomenal in this match (he's younger, so that helps). They did the gimmick again where this match bled from the pre-show into the PPV. Okada's entrance started the PPV (he was late because of storyline travel issues...he pulled up in his car backstage without a shirt on and in his wrestling trunks). They played up the Takeshita/Okada feud. I'm guessing that match will be either the final or semi-final in the Continental Classic. Probably the final since it's literally the hottest feud AEW has these days. Both of those guys are on the NJPW Tokyo Dome show in January. Okada is wrestling Tanahashi in Tanahashi's retirement match. And Takeshita is going to lose the IWGP title to Yota Tsuji. This match was very exciting and a lot of fun. It was for the CMLL trios titles, which Sky Team retained. ***

PAC vs. DARBY ALLIN (16:57): Fairly entertaining match, though no gruesome or crazy moments here. PAC press slammed Darby from the apron to the floor. That was about it for big moves. Darby was all taped up because they said he had second degree burns from when PAC tossed him off the stage through two tables on fire at Blood & Guts (yes, they somehow left the cage). So PAC tore off Darby's bandages and clawed his burns with his nails. **1/2

TIMELESS LOVE BOMBS (MINA SHIRAKAWA & TONI STORM) vs. BABES OF WRATH (HARLEY CAMERON & WILLOW NIGHTINGALE) vs. MARINA SHAFIR & MEGAN BAYNE vs. SISTERS OF SIN (JULIA HART & SKYE BLUE) (13:09): They're doing a tournament for the new women's tag team titles. I'm not sure why the finals weren't on this show but I guess they decided to drag it out. We got this superfluous match instead. It was one of the weaker matches on the show. Not sure the crowd was really into any of these women. *1/2

FTR (CASH WHEELER & DAX HARWOOD) vs. BRODIDO (BANDIDO & BRODY KING) (20:11): Great match. They did the deal where Bandido kept kicking out at 2 non-stop towards the end and the crowd was going wild. FTR won the tag titles here. The only champion to retain on this show was Statlander. This was wild and entertaining and the crowd was super into it. Fantastic stuff. ***1/2

RICOCHET vs. BOBBY LASHLEY vs. CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI vs. DANIEL GARCIA vs. KEVIN KNIGHT vs. MARK DAVIS vs. MATT MENARD vs. MIKE BAILEY vs. ORANGE CASSIDY vs. RODERICK STRONG vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN vs. WHEELER YUTA "CASINO GAUNTLET MATCH" (22:54): Oh, AEW has too many titles you say? Well screw you, man! We're adding another one! It's getting ridiculous, really. This match was to crown the new National title champion. Okay. Usually, these Casino Gauntlet matches have a surprise entrant, but not here. The match was entertaining. It started with Lashley and Shelton having to wrestle each other. A lot of action. It was fun. Ricochet is the new National champion. ***

KYLE O'REILLY vs. JON MOXLEY "NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH" (19:17): AEW told a perfect story that culminated at Blood & Guts. At the last PPV, Darby Allin got Moxley to tap out. On the Dynamite after, Kyle wrestled Moxley and had him in the ankle lock and Moxley was about to tap out again. Moxley knocked out the ref to cause a DQ so he would have to tap. They did the match again and Moxley escaped again without tapping. This led to Kyle making Moxley tap out finally at Blood & Guts to win the men's match. I guess there's just too many PPV's now, so they have to keep recycling things. Because there was no point to this match. The story was over. Anyway, Kyle made him tap out again. This match was the first of three bloodbath matches on this show. They both used a fork to jab each other's forehead. The crowd grimaced in uncomfortable shock at the images of blood pouring down after the jabs. Other than that, this was mostly a grappling match. It was dramatic stuff. ***

MARK BRISCOE vs. KYLE FLETCHER "NO DQ MATCH" (24:49): This was the best match on the show. There was a barbed wire board, chairs, ladders, tables, a screwdriver, and thumbtacks. Both men bled buckets. So...of course it was the best match on the show. I mean...if horror is your thing. And if it's not, maybe you shouldn't be watching AEW. Briscoe won the TNT title here. There were too many big spots to even mention. Briscoe got destroyed in this one, though. I don't know he was even still standing. One particular move had Briscoe giving a suplex on the apron to Fletcher onto six steel chairs sitting up at ringside. Briscoe's head landed right on the seat of one of the chairs hard. That looked gruesome. This was epic and totally engrossing. ***1/2

JOSH ALEXANDER & THE YOUNG BUCKS (MATT & NICK JACKSON) vs. JURASSIC EXPRESS (LUCHASAURUS & JACK PERRY) & KENNY OMEGA (19:06): This was the one disappointment on the show. I figured this would be one of the best matches on the show. They did have a hard time following the last match. But Omega was limping throughout so looked a bit off. Luchasaurus failed to catch one of the Bucks on a dive and that made the match instantly feel sloppy and awkard for a while. There were some exciting moves and the crowd got into some of it, but usually all of these guys (except Alexander...who's not on the same level) knock it out of the park. After the match, The Bucks were leaving with Don Callis, apparently going to join his family when the rest of Callis' crew started pummeling Omega in the ring. The Bucks decided to turn babyface and run down to save Omega. The Bucks shook Jurassic Express' hands and hugged Omega. **1/2

KRIS STATLANDER vs. MERCEDES MONE (23:09): These two actually wrestled at last year's Full Gear, too. That was for the TBS title. This was for Statlander's championship, which she retained. Most of this match was dull but the last five minutes or so, when they finally started doing big moves and kicking out at dramatic moments, were good. **1/2

SAMOA JOE vs. 'HANGMAN' ADAM PAGE "STEEL CAGE MATCH" (16:02): Thankfully, this was short. It was after midnight when this finally went on, so the crowd wasn't too boisterous. Both men were bleeding, but Somoa Joe was gushing a crimson river out of his forehead. The big problem with this match was the fact that there was interference. The entire reason you have a cage match is to thwart outside interference. Granted, this match would have been a total bore without outside interference, plus the heel needed to cheat to win and Hook turned heel, which would make no sense if he couldn't get into the cage. The ref was knocked out. 'Hangman' had the match won. Shibata and Hobbs came into the cage after Hobbs tore off the lock. Hook ran out but hit 'Hangman' with the belt and joined The Opps. Samoa Joe gave 'Hangman' his package piledriver finish on the belt to win. I kind of figured Samoa Joe was winning the title...because they already had this match at the last PPV. Why do it again with the same result? And once Hook turned, Samoa kind of had to win. Change is fine, it helps the weekly TV storylines and adds fresh matches. But Samoa Joe has already been champion. So has 'Hangman.' Why don't they give the title to some new guys like Darby or Fletcher or Ospreay or PAC? Supposedly, Samoa Joe said he's retiring after his current contract is up. I think Tony Khan just wanted to give him one last title run. That's fine, I guess. Go out one last time as champ into the sunset. After the match, the lights went out and Swerve Strickland made his return. He has new music, which probably isn't a good thing. Swerve beat up all the random guys in the ring that had The Opps Dojo t-shirts. The show ended with 'Hangman' and Swerve in the ring staring at Samoa Joe, Hobbs, Hook, and Shibata on the ramp. So while the actual cage match wasn't particularly great, you at least got a title change, a heel turn, and a return. So there's that. **1/2

AEW WRESTLE DREAM

St. Louis

DEATH RIDERS (CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI, DANIEL GARCIA, PAC & WHEELER YUTA) vs. THE CONGLOMERATION (KYLE O'REILLY, ORANGE CASSIDY & TOMOHIRO ISHII) & RODERICK STRONG (15:53): This show was too long but all three tag team matches were really good. The three women's matches weren't very good. The main event was one of those eyes-glued-to-the-spectacle type of a match. This was definitely one of the weaker AEW PPV's in memory, though. One reason is probably that the St. Louis commission didn't let them brawl into the crowd or have blood (there still was some blood in the main event) on this show. The pre-show was an hour and the main card was four hours and twenty minutes. It took me two days to finally watch this whole show. The St. Louis crowd was super loud and insane during most of this pre-show. They got tired, though, and a lot of the rest of this show was before a fairly quiet crowd (the crowd did pick up for the closing stretch of every match and they were into the final two matches). This opener was pretty much just a typical TV match. It was entertaining and fast paced. **1/2

EDDIE KINGSTON & HOOK vs. THE FRAT HOUSE (COLE KARTER & GRIFF GARRISON) (3:21): Eddie Kingston recently returned from being out for over a year with a broken leg. They haven't done much with him since his return. This was very, very short...which was probably a good thing. *1/2

HARLEY CAMERON & WILLOW NIGHTINGALE vs. TOP GODS (MEGAN BAYNE & PENELOPE FORD) (12:13): The crowds everywhere love Willow Nightingale. When her party music hits everyone gets on their feet. You'd think that would mean she'd be pushed into being the women's champion or something. Nope! This match was probably the best women's match on the show...which isn't saying much as the other three were all boring with a silent crowd. **

FTR (CASH WHEELER & DAX HARWOOD) vs. JET SPEED (KEVIN KNIGHT & MIKE BAILEY) (12:19): This match was fast paced and exciting. They tried a new gimmick where this match didn't end on the pre-show. That meant that when the PPV started, the pyro went off and everything while the match was still going on. That was cool and the crowd was super hot for this one. Good action all around. The finish had Stokely cheating to help FTR win. ***

JAMIE HAYTER vs. THEKLA (15:53): The announcer's noted that both of these women were once in Stardom. So was Megan Bayne, right? And Mina Shirakawa and Toni Storm. I guess that makes sense considering Stardom is the biggest all-women wrestling company (Marigold is the only other one I know of...and that only started because the president of Stardom was fired and started Marigold). This was Thekla's first big, PPV solo match. I can't say she failed, as she at least knows how to wrestle. The problem was that this match was boring. Jamie Hayter is usually in good matches but this one was just too methodical and slow. The crowd was pretty quiet for all three of these women's matches on the main card. That didn't help. *1/2

JURASSIC EXPRESS (JACK PERRY & LUCHASAURUS) vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS (MATT & NICK JACKSON) (23:09): This was the match of the night. That's not exactly a surprise, as The Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express from 2021 made my Top 10 Best Matches of the Year list. ReDragon vs. Jurassic Express vs. The Young Bucks from 2022 made my Top 10 Best Matches of the Year list as well. These two teams just work well together. This was not as good as either of those matches, though, but it was still super entertaining with a lot of creative, exciting moves and a hot crowd that ate everything up by the end. Luchasaurus is back doing flips and Jack Perry looked fantastic, especially considering he didn't wrestle for over a year until returning last month. After the match, The Don Callis Family ran out to beat up Jurassic Express and Kenny Omega ran out to make the save. This seems to be eventually setting up The Bucks turning into good guys again and re-teaming with Omega. Kenny was supposed to wrestle Andrade on this show. Andrade returned to AEW on Dynamite last month but the WWE suddenly announced that even though they fired him, he had a one year non-compete in his contract because he was fired with merit. Omega wasn't the only big AEW star that didn't wrestle on this show. Ospreay and Swerve are out with injuries. MJF has time off. Edge is filming a TV show or something. Perhaps that's why this PPV felt like a lesser AEW PPV. ***

THE HURT SYNDICATE (BOBBY LASHLEY, MVP & SHELTON BENJAMIN) vs. THE DEAMAND (RICOCHET, BISHOP KAUN & TOA LIONA) (13:28): These two teams have wrestled each other a bunch on TV recently. They had a hardcore match in Jacksonville a few weeks ago. This wasn't a hardcore match but they did slam Shelton onto Bobby through a table since it was Tornado rules (which means...few rules). The match was fairly entertaining. I do kind of feel that AEW is turning Ricochet into the joke he became in WWE. Ricochet is great as a heel but he's also a fantastic wrestler that'd be great in main event title matches. He proved that in January at the Tokyo Dome against Zack Sabre, Jr. **1/2

KYLE FLETCHER vs. MARK BRISCOE (24:45): This match was good but not as good as their April PPV match in Philly. They might've gone too long with this one. The big problem here was that neither man should have lost. Fletcher just lost to Page on the last PPV so he shouldn't be losing again. Briscoe just beat MJF at the last PPV in his biggest win yet in AEW. Briscoe losing kind of negates that momentum. I get it: everyone has to lose, there's two TV shows every week and a PPV pretty much every month so there's way too many matches to have people constantly winning. I would've given Briscoe the win and give him a title shot against Page. I think he deserves that and the crowds would love it. Fletcher retained his TNT title. **1/2

KRIS STATLANDER vs. TONI STORM (16:33): I say this after every Toni Storm match: the crowds love her entrance and her gimmick but don't give a shit about her wrestling. This match was pretty dull. Statlander retained the women's title and then Mercedes made her entrance and told Statlander to get out of the ring. *1/2 

MERCEDES MONE vs. MINA SHIRAKAWA (16:10): This match was just as dull as the last one. The crowd was not into this at all. They did get into most of these matches late when they felt like the end was near. Mone won, which means she won Mina's ROH TV title. *

BRODIDO (BANDIDO & BRODY KING) vs. THE DON CALLIS FAMILY (KAZUCHIKA OKADA & KONOSUKE TAKESHITA) (27:26): The crowd was still pretty tired and quiet but after the long Okada/Takeshita beatdown, the crowd finally woke up when Brody and Banidido got their comeback. The second half of this match was wildly entertaining and a lot of fun. They teased the Okada/Takeshita feud throughout. Bandido had his one arm injured so he had to deliver his finishing move, which is a German suplex off the ropes, one-handed. That was awesome. Brodido retained the tag titles. Hopefully we'll get the Okada vs. Takeshita match sooner than later. ***

'HANGMAN' ADAM PAGE vs. SAMOA JOE (19:02): The crowd actually got into this match. It was a good match, though considering this wasn't the main event, I think everyone figured Samoa Joe wasn't winning. You could tell the crowd was dead because 'Hangman' kept waving his hands to fire them up throughout. After the match, The Opps, Hobbs and Shibata, turned heel with Joe to beat up Page. **1/2

DARBY ALLIN vs. JON MOXLEY "I QUIT MATCH" (25:54): The St. Louis commission said no crowd brawls and no blood. What the fuck are they gonna do? Um...drown Darby in a fish tank. Put wooden skewers under Darby's fingernails. Have Claudio toss Darby from the ring onto the announce table. They certainly pulled off having a wild, crazy, disturbing match with the restrictions. Moxley also gave Darby a Death Rider through two tables at ringside. The only blood came when both men were bleeding from the mouth early. Claudio and Wheeler brought a fish tank in the ring and filled it up with water so Moxley could drown Darby in it. One of the Death Riders tazed Darby with a tazer. The big spot of the night came when the lights went out and came on with Sting standing in the ring. He beat up everyone with a bat, smashed the fish tank, then put Marina over his shoulder and carried her away. Darby hit Moxley with Sting's bat, choked Moxley with an AEW flag, gave him a Coffin Drop from the top rope, then put him in the Scorpion Death Lock amidst water from the broken fish tank. Moxley quit immediately which was a bit anti-climactic. This wasn't as good as some of the bloodier Texas death matches they've had, but this was still one of those eyes-glued-to-the-screen, engrossing car crash matches. It was a wild spectacle and a good way to end the show. ***