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