AEW Worlds End 2025
December 27, 2025
NOW Arena
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Watch: PPV / HBO Max / Amazon Prime Video / TrillerTV / PPV.com
Meet our reviewer:
Sean Sedor: After watching Penn State win the 2025 Pinstripe Bowl and indulging in the wackiness that is the Pop Tarts Bowl, Sean is ready to check out the final AEW PPV offering of 2025! He also hopes that everyone out there had a Merry Christmas (and good tidings to all of those who celebrate other holidays during this time of year). You can find Sean on Twitter @SASedor2994 and on BlueSky @sasedor2994.bsky.social. If you’re interested in some of Sean’s other escapades, you can watch him play the NASCAR and Formula 1 games on YouTube (just search his name and you’ll find the channel), and you can also go to the Be The Booker forums if you’d like to check out Sean’s EWR Diary, where he plays as WCW (started in 1998, currently in May 2004).
AEW Worlds End 2025 Zero Hour
The Sisters Of Sin (Julia Hart & Skye Blue) def. Hyan & Maya World
Every time I see Hyan and Maya World on AEW shows now, I’m just reminded of that whole situation with Nixon Newell and Miranda Alize, which was just plain silly (it’s nice to see some fresh talents get more opportunities out of that situation though). As expected, Julia Hart and Skye Blue got the win here, which I presume will set them up for a future shot at the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Titles. The match itself was fine, but nothing special. The fact that Hyan and Maya World have gone from getting the “already in the ring” treatment and relatively quick squashes to full entrances and more competitive matches certainly seems to be a sign that they could be getting contracts sooner rather than later. In fact, Tony Khan announced on Twitter not long after this match that the two of them have been officially signed to AEW (so that’s all settled then). Skye Blue hit one of the better Code Blue’s I’ve seen her hit, so that was one moment that stood out (most of the time that move doesn’t look great, but she nailed it here). Nothing much else to say beyond that. **1/2
AEW Worlds End 2025 Zero Hour
Eddie Kingston def. Zack Gibson (with James Drake)
Zack Gibson’s attempt at a pre-match promo was quickly cut off by Eddie Kingston, who charged the ring to get this one started. His early offensive flurry was cut off by a Gibson dive to the floor where Gibson nearly overshot Kingston and landed right on his head. That was a scary moment, but he was able to continue. Despite James Drake getting involved later on in the bout, Kingston was able to overcome that and got the victory after hitting a DDT. It’s cool to see that they’re continuing to establish this DDT as a new finisher for Kingston, but I still don’t know if it actually works as a new finisher for him. James Drake immediately jumped Kingston after the match ended, but then Ortiz (who originally went out with a knee injury in early 2024) made his on-screen return to AEW as he made the save for Kingston (Ortiz had been working some dark matches on AEW tapings recently). On the whole, a perfectly solid singles match here that served to reintroduce Ortiz and set up a tag match with the Grizzled Young Veterans coming up soon. You’re not missing anything spectacular if you didn’t catch this match, but for the Zero Hour, it worked well enough. ***
AEW Worlds End 2025 Zero Hour
Bandido & Mascara Dorada def. The Don Callis Family (Mark Davis & Rocky Romero)
Mark Davis and Rocky Romero is such a random pairing. I guess you can consider these two the C-Team of the Don Callas Family? They’re certainly near the bottom if you’re ranking the numerous wrestlers that are in that group. Anyway, they took on Bandido and Mascara Dorada here in what was a very entertaining tag team encounter. Mark Davis used his power to control the early portion of the match, but things quickly broke down once Mascara Dorada got more involved. There was a fun sequence on the floor not long after that where Mark Davis was both tossing bodies (throwing Dorada into a kick from Romero) and tossing his own body, as he sent Bandido into the barricade. Then we got some more back and forth in the ring before a flurry of offense from Bandido and Dorada ultimately put Romero down for the count. Again, this was a ton of fun while it lasted. Exactly the kind of match that you want to see on one of these Zero Hour pre-shows. ***1/4
AEW Worlds End 2025 Zero Hour
JetSpeed (Kevin Knight & “Speedball” Mike Bailey) & Jurassic Express (Jack Perry & Luchasaurus) def. Josh Alexander & The Demand (Ricochet, Bishop Kaun, & Toa Liona)
Before this match got started, we got a segment backstage where Ricochet told Don Callis they had a plan to handle Luchasaurus after Callis told them that he was the one they needed to take out if they wanted to beat Jurassic Express. Well, that plan was revealed a few moments later as The Demand jumped Jack Perry and Luchasaurus during their entrance. Perry was taken out on the ramp while The Demand carried Luchasaurus off to the back. This essentially left JetSpeed in a four-on-two situation for a few minutes until Perry was able to make his way back to the apron to make the tag. Despite Perry’s best efforts, his side was still at a disadvantage, though Luchasaurus did eventually come out (with his shoulder all wrapped up) to even up the sides. At that point, the babyfaces cleaned house, and Perry got the win after pinning Ricochet. I’m sure that sets up a future AEW National Title defense for Ricochet on either Dynamite or Collision. This was a decent eight-man tag. Personally, I would’ve much rather seen these two sides just have a straight match vs. doing the whole “pre-match attack where Jack Perry and Luchasaurus eventually make the save” thing, but that’s just me. It wasn’t a great look for the heels that a seemingly one-armed Luchasaurus completely turned the match in his team’s favor so much that the babyface team won almost instantly. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of how this was put together, they still got to their ultimate destination with a Ricochet vs. Jack Perry title match, so I guess things worked out in that respect. **3/4
2025 Continental Classic – Semifinals
Kazuchika Okada def. Konosuke Takeshita
Worlds End is kicking off with a bang as we’re finally getting the long-awaited singles encounter between Don Callis Family members Kazuchika Okada (the defending AEW Continental Champion, who finished 2nd in the Gold League) and Konosuke Takeshita (the current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, who won the Blue League in convincing fashion). The crowd was hot for this one once the bell rang but, unsurprisingly (especially if you’ve watched Okada for a long time), the match got off to a tentative start as the two were feeling each other out. Takeshita nailed the first major shot of the match with the Takeshita Line, but Okada quickly shut him down after a brief brawl on the floor. Okada remained in control until Takeshita fired back with a suplex and a big dive to the floor.
Okada would respond with a neckbreaker and elbow drop in the ring, and it was at this point that the pace really started to pick up. A brief strike exchange led to an offensive flurry from Takeshita that included the Bastard Driver, the Wheelbarrow German, and the always amazing Blue Thunder Bomb (Takeshita makes that move look so good when he hits it) as the crowd started to get fired up. Takeshita stood firm after a short Rainmaker, and managed to avoid a few other Rainmaker attempts during a sequence that led to a German Suplex from Okada. More back and forth action between the two led to a couple of close Takeshita nearfalls. Clearly desperate, Okada turned to the trusty weapon of choice for the Don Callis Family….the screwdriver. After some awkward positioning with the referee, Okada nailed Takeshita with the screwdriver, and got the pin.
I get what they were going for with the finish, as Okada not only used a cheap way out (as he’s done in the past with several of his Continental Title defenses), but a weapon specifically associated with Don Callis, to beat Takeshita, thus creating more dissension. However, the actual execution of the finish was incredibly poor (particularly with Paul Turner having to turn away after seeing Okada with the screwdriver so he could do the planned spot), and took down what was otherwise a pretty fantastic match. The crowd was into this one from the jump (they knew this was a big deal), and some of the sequences between these two were awesome. While I’m sure some will disagree, I don’t hate the idea of Okada cheating to beat Takeshita in their first encounter, and I don’t even dislike using the screwdriver specifically. However, the actual execution of the cheating spot and the finish was just….terrible. No other way to describe it. It’s also worth noting that Don Callis sold being confused by Okada using that specific shortcut to get the victory, so I guess we’ll see how that plays into the Okada/Takeshita dynamic going forward (I’m certain Callis will side with Okada in the end). A great first meeting between these two that was severely hampered by the finish. They will absolutely meet again, but the way this ended was fairly weak. ****
2025 Continental Classic – Semifinals
Jon Moxley def. Kyle Fletcher
There are two things I want to make note of before diving into the match. First, it’s strange seeing Kyle Fletcher not wearing pink gear for once (guess I’ve gotten used to that pink gear). Second, Bryan Danielson specifically noted on commentary that Jon Moxley received a mixed reaction when he came out (the comment itself I’m sure will play into the eventual Moxley face turn that seems to be coming at some point in the future). Much like Okada vs. Takeshita, this one got off to a slow start, but Fletcher would be the one to strike first, as he connected with a big bodyslam. The action spilled to the floor soon thereafter, and Fletcher immediately targeted the leg/ankle of Mox, which has been his weak point over the last few months. Mox (who had a bloody mouth by this point) would fight back with a dive to the floor, but Fletcher responded in the ring with a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall.
It was at this point that we saw that Mox’s front tooth was all broken and messed up. He fought through the pain to hit a big lariat, though Fletcher was quick to respond with a massive brainbuster on the apron. Fletcher quickly responded with a Liger Bomb before once again going back to the leg of Mox. Somehow Mox survived that submission and locked on a choke, but Fletcher was able to fight out of that and lock in an ankle lock. Mox struggled and fought for his life as Fletcher twisted and contorted the ankle, and once he did reach the ropes, the crowd broke out into a Moxley chant.
A battle on the turnbuckle resulted in a Cutthroat Suplex that dropped Fletcher right on his head. Fletcher continued to dish out the punishment, which led to an awesome moment where the crowd exploded after a Moxley one count kickout. They went wild again when Mox kicked out of the brainbuster. Frustrated, Fletcher appeared to try to find the screwdriver, but couldn’t find it (as Okada used it and took it with him in the last match). This gave Mox the opening to hit both the Paradigm Shift and the Death Rider for another close nearfall. He followed up with a choke, and Fletcher slowly faded until the referee finally called for the bell.
If you told me before this PPV that one of the two Continental Classic semifinal matches would be so unbelievably great that I would strongly consider adding it to my Top Ten MOTY List for 2025, I would’ve been 100% convinced that the match in question would be Okada vs. Takeshita. I certainly expected that Kyle Fletcher vs. Jon Moxley would be a very strong match, but it absolutely blew away my expectations. Fletcher was great as always, playing his role perfectly and delivering some awesome stuff from an in-ring standpoint (he’s unquestionably one of the very best wrestlers in the world today under the age of thirty and we all know he’s destined to be a World Champion). However, as fantastic as Fletcher was in this match, the real story was Jon Moxley.
It’s crazy that what started as (seemingly) a brief two-week television program with Kyle O’Reilly would be the catalyst that led to Moxley becoming a face again, but the story they’ve been telling with Moxley during that time has been nothing short. This seemingly tough-as-nails guy who (multiple times this year) actually gave up when the going got tough and when he didn’t have his crew to back him up had become this guy who (despite having a figurative and literal achilles heel) gutted his way through a tournament where he had no access to any of his backup. Between selling the bum leg/ankle and overcoming getting one of his front teeth destroyed, Moxley’s performance in this match was brilliant. Simply brilliant. No matter what Fletcher threw at him, Moxley did not quit when…in the past….he very easily could’ve given up. He showed toughness and perseverance on his way to punching his ticket to the finals of the Continental Classic. This was easily the match of the night, and one of the best bell-to-bell performances of Jon Moxley’s entire career. Adam Page and MJF may be the main characters of AEW, but make no mistake….Moxley is still the ace of this company. ****3/4
AEW World Tag Team Titles – Chicago Street Fight
FTR (with Stokely Hathaway) (c) def. Bang Bang Gang (Austin Gunn & Juice Robinson)
After Austin Gunn and Juice Robinson (effectively) earned a title shot after beating FTR prior to their title win at Full Gear, the subsequent title bout on Collision in Manchester, England saw a controversial finish that (in storyline) necessitated the need for this rubber match. This one started off as a wild brawl, with Cash Wheeler and Austin Gunn fighting on the stage while Juice Robinson and Dax Harwood battled through the crowd. Once they got back to the ring, FTR isolated Austin for a bit until Juice finally got back to the ring to even up the sides. Once Austin recovered, he was able to strap a trash can lid to his back and just threw himself at FTR (Captain America esque I guess you can say). However, FTR recovered quickly, and then locked a now bloody Juice Robinson in a leg submission (in a callback to the finish of the Manchester match). As Austin recovered, Cash went to put him through a table with a dive, but didn’t really make much contact with Austin, and pretty much went head first through the table. An insane bump from FTR Hair.
Juice managed to break out of the submission hold via a fire extinguisher, and went after Dax with a chair. This led to another botched table spot, as Juice sent Stokely off the apron, and he completely missed the table. Even though that spot didn’t go as planned, it was actually funny with how the table just slowly turned over after Stokely ate shit on the floor. A rough Shatter Machine on Juice immediately followed, and while Austin did make the save, he was eventually put down by FTR a few minutes later after a number of piledrivers, and the champions retained.
This was technically a good match, but it absolutely had its flaws. The biggest issue was the length. This did not need to go nearly seventeen minutes, and you could just tell in that last sequence with Austin Gunn that the match had lost a ton of steam. Three of four minutes could’ve been shaved off this one and they still could’ve had a quality Street Fight. Another issue was that it didn’t make a ton of sense that the Bang Bang Gang didn’t have Ace Austin out there to at least neutralize Stokely Hathaway. I was fully expecting Stokely to get involved, and he was eventually taken out of the equation, but it would’ve made a lot more sense (and would’ve made the babyfaces look a little smarter) if Ace had been the one that neutralized Stokely. It also seemed strange that it took so much for FTR to put away Austin Gunn of all people (he doesn’t need that much protection, does he?). Couple that with a few rough spots here and there, and it took down what was otherwise a solid match. The effort was totally there (all four guys worked fairly hard), but it just didn’t connect as well as they were hoping. ***1/4
AEW Women’s World Tag Team Titles
The Babes Of Wrath (Harley Cameron & Willow Nightingale) (c) def. Athena & Mercedes Moné
We’re getting back-to-back tag team title bouts as Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale defending the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Titles against Athena and Mercedes Moné followed the Chicago Street Fight. Babes of Wrath actually defeated Athena and Mercedes in the first round of the tournament that crowned the first champions, but Mercedes pinning Willow in a recent Eight-Woman Tag got them this title shot. At thirteen minutes, this was a perfectly solid tag team contest that featured some decent action throughout. Following the early exchanges between the two teams (which included Athena wiping out Willow with a crazy dive), Athena and Mercedes worked over Harley for a bit until she was finally able to tag in Willow. From there, we got some good back-and-forth action between the two until Willow caught Mercedes in a cradle for the three count.
The finish served multiple purposes, as it set up a TBS Title match for Wednesday’s Dynamite (I know people have wanted to see Willow back in the hunt singles gold, though this title shot seems a tad sudden in terms of how quickly they’re getting to it) while also continuing the Mercedes Downfall story (this would be followed up later with a backstage segment where Mercedes completely freaked out over tonight’s loss). Even though this goes against that aforementioned Mercedes story, my other takeaway from this is that Athena and Mercedes are actually a pretty good tag team. The reign of the Babes Of Wrath continues and, much like other people, I hope this reign isn’t too long, so that we can get back to pushing Willow as a top singles act in the AEW women’s division. ***1/4
Darby Allin def. Gabe Kidd
It’s good to see that Darby Allin’s cleared after the issues that knocked him out of the Continental Classic, but boy, what an opponent for his first match back. These two have had a number of run-ins over the last few months, with Darby sending Kidd off the top of the cage at Forbidden Door and later dragging him away in a bodybag that was tied to the back of a truck. Meanwhile, Kidd helped PAC put Darby through a flaming table during the Blood & Guts Match, and just this past week sent him down a flight of stairs in the Hammerstein Ballroom. These two went right after each other as soon as the bell rang. Kidd gained control early as the battle spilled to the floor, with Darby being sent into the stairs and the barricade multiple times. Darby did manage to fire back with a wild dive to the floor, though that didn’t stop the onslaught from Kidd, who then sent Darby flying through the timekeeper’s area before once again using the steel steps to do damage. A now bloodied Darby just got manhandled by Kidd, but after Kidd’s attempt to use a chair got thwarted, he was busted open as well.
Darby set up Kidd on the chair and connected with a massive dropkick off the top to the floor (that’s such a wild bump for Darby to take). He followed up with a Top Rope Code Red and a Coffin Drop for a nearfall. How would Darby top that? Oh, he’d just casually hit a Coffin Drop on Kidd from the top rope to the floor (Darby actually bounced off Kidd’s body when he hit it). After taking a beating from Darby over the last few minutes, Kidd fought out of a Scorpion Deathlock, and nailed Darby with a huge lariat and a piledriver. Kidd attempted to capitalize after that with a choke, but Darby counted that into a pin, and that was it! Darby Allin picks up the win in what was a brutal and violent match.
When you get Darby in there with a guy who can toss him around, you know you’re in for a great match, and this was no exception. Kidd tossed Darby around throughout, but he did it with this viciousness and ferocity that made it seem like he was going to kill Darby. He truly lived up to his “Madman” nickname in this one. As for Darby, he was just his usual crazy self. It didn’t matter that he just came back from (what seemed like) a very serious injury scare. He did all of the same wild and insane bumps that you would expect him to do. The blood absolutely added to this one as well, to the point that it looked like a murder scene out there (funny enough, I actually just ordered the AEW Edition of Way Of The Blade on Amazon, and this match would certainly be an easy entry for a Part 2). The only downside to this bout was that the crowd wasn’t as into it as you would’ve expected, aside from a few spots here and there. That certainly took the match down a little bit, but it was still an incredible spectacle that you should absolutely check out. ****1/4
Mixed Nuts Mayhem
Roderick Strong, The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe & Orange Cassidy), & “Timeless” Toni Storm def. The Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta, & Marina Shafir)
So I guess “Mixed Nuts Mayhem”, in this instance, just meant that this was a Eight-Person Tornado Tag. A weird and seemingly unnecessary name for this match, but it does get a number of notable names on the card. Things broke down almost immediately, with brawling taking place both in the ring and on the floor. After a spot where Marina Shafir traded hands-in-pockets strikes with Orange Cassidy (Marina seemingly did it mainly to mock Cassidy), the Death Riders firmly gained the advantage as they just dominated the male side of the babyface team with a series of four-on-one attacks. Toni Storm got back involved to turn the tide back in her side’s favor, and that led to a spot where Toni and Orange used some….dancing….to fight back against the Death Riders. We’d get more serious spots with Toni a short time later, as she dished out German Suplexes and a Tornado DDT before taking the Giant Swing from Claudio, which brought the crowd to life.
What also got the crowd excited as Roderick Strong squaring off with Marina Shafir briefly (of course, those two are married, if you somehow didn’t know that), and that set up the closing sequence that ended with Mark Briscoe hitting the Jay Driller on Wheeler Yuta for the pin. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one, but it ended up being a fun match while it lasted. Of course, the dancing spot was….goofy (and if you really disliked that spot, totally fair), but the rest of the action in this one was fairly entertaining. There was a lot more intergender than I anticipated, but the spots they did turn out pretty well. An enjoyable match from start to finish. ***1/4
AEW Women’s World Title
Kris Statlander (c) def. Jamie Hayter
It was noted by Bryan Danielson on commentary that this was Jamie Hayter’s first one-on-one match for the AEW Women’s World Title since she lost the title over two-and-a-half years ago. Additionally, the only other singles match between these two prior to this was in this year’s Women’s Owen Hart Tournament (Hayter won on that occasion). Following the initial opening exchanges, the action spilled to the floor, and Statlander sent Hayter flying into the steps with a catapult. When they went back to the floor a little bit later, Hayter managed to nail her first big offense move with a dropkick off the announce desk. Once back in the ring, these two continued to go back and forth as they exchanged big moves. Hayter managed to hit an exploder off the top rope, while Statlander responded with a package piledriver. Statlander then managed to connect with a wild Fisherman’s Driver (I believe that’s what that’s called) off the top rope that looked pretty nasty. Hayter managed to recover and dished out a pair of suplexes and backbreakers.
That exchange seemed to get the crowd a little more into it, as did a sequence where the two stole each other’s finishers. Statlander ultimately was the first to hit her own finisher (Saturday Night Fever), and that sealed the deal. They definitely had a difficult time getting the crowd into this one (which wasn’t surprising as the build was very meh, particularly from Statlander’s side of things), but we got some cool, hard-hitting action between these two that certainly made up for it. Hayter and Statlander were beating the crap out of each other in this one (the effort was 100% there), and in front of the better crowd, this probably ends up being a great match. Statlander’s had a very solid title reign from an in-ring standpoint, but it’s a shame that a lot of the stuff they’ve done with her outside of the matches (from her promos to her overall presentation) has fallen flat. A really good bout between these two that probably could’ve come off a little better if it was on a different show, or at least (and probably more realistically) in a different spot on this particular card. ***3/4
2025 Continental Classic – Finals
Jon Moxley def. Kazuchika Okada
We got backstage promos with both men (and Don Callis) before they made their entrances, and once the bell rang, Moxley started off by just flipping Okada the bird. I would say that it’s crazy that this is their first-ever singles meeting, but Moxley was sort of in his own little universe with the IWGP United States Title when he was working in New Japan more regularly (and they were in separate blocks in the 2019 G1 Climax). Unsurprisingly, Okada immediately targeted the previously injured leg of Mox, working it over through the first several minutes of the bout. We would get dueling chants for both, but the chants for Mox were very clearly louder. Mox finally started to fight back with strikes, and locked in a Figure Four after Okada had used one on him a little earlier.
Moxley would manage to connect with a Gotch Piledriver, but Okada managed to survive that. After a low blow behind the referee’s back, a Rainmaker on Mox only got a two count. Mox would return the favor a few moments later with a low blow of his own. The two then exchanged finishers as Okada hit a short Rainmaker while Mox hit the Paradigm Shift. Mox then hit his own Rainmaker, a Paradigm Shift, and the Death Rider to score the pin. Just like that, Okada’s nearly two year reign as AEW Continental Champion was over. Jon Moxley wins the title and the 2025 Continental Classic.
While this was definitely lacking a little bit compared to Moxley’s match with Kyle Fletcher earlier in the night, it was still a very good match on the whole that essentially cemented Moxley’s eventual babyface turn. The pace was extremely methodical, as Okada continuously went back to that leg. Despite all of the damage that Moxley took to his leg and ankle earlier in the night, and despite all the damage that Okada did in this match, Moxley refused to give up. He fought through the ankle damage and a busted up tooth to win this match, and the fans were absolutely behind him. It certainly didn’t surprise me that Moxley won, but in the moment, it definitely felt like the finish came out of nowhere. As far as Continental Classic Finals go, this was easily the weakest of the three we’ve seen thus far. With regards to the decision to have Moxley be the one to end this long Okada title reign, I can absolutely sympathize with the idea that you could’ve used Okada’s run with this title to ultimately elevate a younger star (and it’s a fair criticism to make). That being said, I still feel that what they did with Moxley here works out pretty great as well (it’s definitely a situation where two points can be true at the same time). A shame that this year’s Continental Classic, which had so many excellent matches in the league stages, didn’t end on the same high as last year’s tournament, but it completed the story they’ve been telling with Moxley over the last number of months. ***3/4
After the match, the rest of the Death Riders came out, and we got essentially a rah-rah babyface speech from Jon Moxley, as he put over everyone who competed in the Continental Classic, and declared that the title belongs to all the fans who support true professional wrestling. He said they owe it to the fans to give it everything they have in the ring, and thanked his teammates before the promo came to a close. As I mentioned earlier, Jon Moxley is unquestionably The Ace of this promotion. It was a tad surprising that we didn’t see the rest of the Death Riders turn on Moxley here (as some had been speculating), so I guess it’s going to be interesting to see where that side of the story goes. Are they going to turn on this guy in the near future, or are they just going to stick with him and become pseudo-babyfaces, especially if they have further interactions with the Don Callis Family (would very much be a New Japan-esque situation where a unit that was heelish starts slowly becoming more babyface when they encounter an even more hated heel group). It’s going to be super fascinating to see how that all plays out as we enter the new year.
AEW World Title – Four-Way Match
MJF def. Samoa Joe (c), “Hangman” Adam Page, & Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana)
For the second year in a row, a Four-Way Match for the AEW World Title is main eventing Worlds End. Going into this match, I was hopeful that it would be better than the Four-Way we got on last year’s Worlds End card. All four guys got chances to shine in the opening moments, which led to Swerve Strickland, Samoa Joe, and Adam Page all hitting dives to the floor. Unfortunately, Page’s big moonsault to the floor didn’t work out too well, as he barely made contact with anyone in addition to not having a great landing. Page and Swerve then went after each other to a big reaction from the crowd.
Following a Tower Of Doom spot, the next several minutes just saw all four guys exchanging moves with each other (the funny thing is that during this period, the one thing that stuck out was MJF very clearly missing on a kick on Swerve in the corner). The action in this portion of the bout was super solid, but eventually, the rest of The Opps did run out and attack the other participants in the match. Swerve managed to take out Hobbs and Shibata with a Swerve Stomp to the floor, while a distraction from HOOK allowed Joe to lock Page in the Coquina Clutch (which Swerve broke up). MJF then sent Swerve crashing to the apron, and after Page gave a number of Buckshot Lariats to Joe, MJF swooped in, hit a low blow to Page, hit the Heat Seeker on Joe, and that was it. MJF is now a two-time AEW World Champion.
I’m happy to say that this match was, indeed, better than the Four-Way from last year’s Worlds End card. We did get some shenanigans with The Opps towards the end (which of course begs the question of why they didn’t get involved from the jump), but for the most part, this was a pretty straight, nonsense free match. Coming into the PPV, my prediction would’ve been MJF taking advantage of the chaos to swoop in and win the title, and that’s exactly what happened. It was only a matter of time before they decided to put the belt on MJF again, and I’m sure there’s plenty of people (myself included) who are a little gun-shy about this move given how the bulk of MJF’s first run as AEW World Champion went. The fear of MJF’s horrible creative instincts seeping in again is totally warranted, and I don’t believe I’ll be convinced that anything has changed with MJF in that regard until I see him in action as champion in the weeks and months going forward. I suppose the one positive point to look forward to is that there a plethora of babyface challengers waiting in the wings for MJF, including Bandido (in just a few weeks), Adam Page (probably the Revolution title match if I had to guess), Swerve (I don’t believe that singles match has been done yet), Mark Briscoe (the last person to beat MJF), potentially a returning Will Ospreay, and many others who can I can see getting the occasional title shot on AEW television. It wouldn’t shock me if they do another MJF/Samoa Joe match either. So there’s no doubt that MJF should be kept pretty busy through this reign. It’s just a question of whether he and Tony Khan can avoid the creative machinations that sunk his first title run.
To close out, this was (for the most part) an entertaining Four-Way to close out this PPV, though the actual result leaves a lot of us wondering how AEW World Champion MJF Part 2: Electric Boogaloo is going to play out. ***3/4
Final Thoughts
Even though the 2025 edition of Worlds End was far from AEW’s strongest PPV efforts this year, it was still a really good show that featured not only one of the best matches of the 2025 Continental Classic, but one of the best matches of the year, which included an all-time performance from Jon Moxley. There were a number of matches on this card that definitely had their respective issues (Okada/Takeshita, the Chicago Street Fight, just to name a few), but pretty much everything on the main card was, at the very least, good. Darby Allin vs. Gabe Kidd would be my runner-up for Match Of The Night honors, and again, nothing else on the PPV itself dipped below the ***1/4 range. Also, I’ll always be thankful when an AEW PPVs ends at midnight, especially after a number of PPVs have run extra long this year.
