WWE ROYAL RUMBLE

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

WOMEN'S ROYAL RUMBLE (LIV MORGAN) (66:51): Money talks, so the Royal Rumble is in Saudi Arabia, the first time the Royal Rumble has been outside of the U.S. and Canada. Next year, Wrestlemania is in Saudi Arabia. You know...since TKO loves money more than human rights, why don't they just put every WWE show in Saudi Arabia? They can bring back Vince then and kill any critic legally. Vince can go rape all the women he wants and not worry about paying them off. Saudi Arabia is a bad fucking place. It's bad enough that the women wrestling on this show had to cover up their skin by wearing full body suits. Women in general there have to get their husband or father's permission to do pretty much anything like travel, marry, or get a job. Alcohol, porn, and homosexuality are banned. Saudi Arabia got a lot of press in recent years because they cut the head off a Washington Post reporter. The CIA found out that the leader of Saudi Arabia not only knew about that but gave the go ahead. What hasn't been in the mainstream news is that last June, Saudi Arabia killed another critic, a reporter that created a Twitter account to reveal corruption by those in charge. After sitting in jail for 7 years, they killed him. His name was Turki al-Jasser. Okay, let's watch fucking wrestling! Who gives a shit about dead critics, right? Am I right? Sadly, the U.S. is on the path to becoming Saudi Arabia. The U.S. government just murdered two protestors in Minneapolis. It's just sad that athletes, comedians, and famous people go to Saudi Arabia only because they're getting boatloads of cash. Tucker Carlson and Hillary Clinton just spoke at a conference there. Recently, there was a comedy festival that Dave Chapelle and Pete Davidson performed at. And there's boxing there all the time and UFC and their ultra-lame golf league nobody watches or cares about. What the fuck, dude? Does nobody care anymore? I'm guessing one reason that most online critics savaged this show was because it took place in Saudi Arabia. I thought it was a decent show with one great match. Most people thought the women's Rumble was better than the Men's. The show was held outside in a temporary stadium they just built. They do have stadiums in the country, so I don't know why they had to build a temporary stadium for this. Maybe they wanted the look of that Wrestlemania held outside at Caesar's Palace in Vegas in the 90's. The crowd got really hot for Brie Bella, Brock Lesnar, and the AJ/Gunther match. Sol Ruca, who is in NXT, was one of the last in the Rumble and became the star. The crowd was going ape shit for Brie Bella, and they were orgiastically doing the "Yes!" chant. Brie hasn't been in the WWE for a while. I was kind of wondering if maybe Bryan Danielson might return, as he's been mysteriously absent as a commentator in AEW the last two weeks. Liv Morgan ended up winning the Rumble. That seems like a good choice as she's popular with the fans even though she's a heel. This was a typical Rumble: someone comes out, does a few moves, then everyone stands around until the next entrant. **1/2

GUNTHER vs. AJ STYLES (24:04): These two wrestled last week on Saturday Night's Main Event. Styles lost that match but wanted a rematch. Gunther said that he'd do the rematch, but AJ had to put his career on the line. About halfway into this match, I was thinking: man, this match is great...AJ is definitely losing. The reason being: AJ would definitely want his last match to be great. He'd go all out. He'd do everything. And he did. This was the best WWE match I've seen in years. It was hard hitting. It was exciting. Eventually, AJ got choked out but didn't tap, he just went unconscious. Their match on SNME was boring. And on RAW last week, AJ and CM Punk had a title match that was boring. But this match was fantastic. It's funny how wrestlers can "turn it on" when they actually want to. AJ was about to take his gloves off and leave them in the ring but decided not to. I have no idea what that means. AJ, you're fucking retired. I don't want to see some stupid storyline negating that. ***1/2

DREW McINTYRE vs. SAMI ZAYN (15:59): Sami is supposed to be this big star in Saudi Arabia but, honestly, I thought the fans might've been more into this match because of that. They cared more about the AJ/Gunther match. I was thinking about this, and I think it's because they're probably more into the older WWE stars of the past. AJ is an older wrestler they probably recognize more, as is Brie Bella, as is Brock Lesnar. Those three got the biggest pops. I mean...the crowd was doing the "Yes!" chant like it's 2018. Sami didn't win the title here. And Sami is not going to main event Wrestlemania. The WWE had their chance in 2024 and fucked it up. Sami Zayn is never going to be a big star. He had his chance and they decided, "Nope!" This match was dull. *1/2

MEN'S ROYAL RUMBLE (ROMAN REIGNS) (58:21): Everyone online hated this match. Maybe because Chris Jericho didn't return? Apparently, he's still under contract with AEW. They haven't used him since last April when he lost to Bandido. Powerhouse Hobbs did make his debut. His name is now Royce Keys, which is fucking awful. I can already see they'll never push him. Gunther was number 30, which made no sense since he already wrestled. Brock came in and gave everyone scary looking German Suplex's. The funniest part was that Brock was eliminated while Jey Uso was doing his "Yeet" entrance in the crowd and probably nobody there noticed. Brock did get to humiliate Rey Fenix. I'm not sure what the point of that was. Fenix came in and got destroyed and tossed out by Brock in, like, thirty seconds. Chad Gable returned but he came in as Grande Americano or whatever that luchador gimmick name is. The other Grande Americano was in there, too. I figured that Bron Breakker was going to win, as did probably everybody. Bron was number one, and when he was walking to the ring a masked figure ran out and beat him up. This caused number two, Oba Femi, to immediately eliminate Bron. The masked figure gave Bron a stomp, which made you think that it was Seth Rollins. The other interference had Drew McIntyre run out and eliminate Cody when Cody was on the ring apron. Drew wasn't in this match. This sets up Cody vs. Drew at Wrestlemania. The other 'Mania main event is CM Punk vs. Roman. Since Bron was never even in the match...did they do that because he was injured or something? Because it's kind of stupid to take him out of the entire match. I thought they were building him up to be this big star? Randy Orton was one of the final entrants. Gunther and Roman were the last two. When they mentioned that Roman had only won the Rumble once and it was way back in 2015, I figured that he's definitely winning. This match was just okay and nothing special. In 2025, the most watched WWE PPV all year was the Royal Rumble. It actually is more popular than Wrestlemania. That's kind of crazy that this has become bigger than 'Mania. I guess with 'Mania being two nights it lowers the total viewership. I don't know if this show will end up being the WWE's most viewed PPV of the year (it did start at 2 PM on a Saturday East Coast U.S. time), but it most definitely won't be the best. **

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