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AEW Worlds End Review - December 27, 2025

12/27/2025

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By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zero Hour: Sisters of Sin def. Hyan and Maya World

I'm all for AEW's new women's tag team division continuing to get focus, but I don't think this match was needed for the pay-per-view, even if it was slotted on the pre-show. I'm happy Hyan and World got this spot, but as a match, it was a standard squash. At least it didn't overstay its welcome. We'll see if this means Sisters of Sin will be next in line for a shot at the AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship.

Zero Hour: Eddie Kingston def. Zack Gibson

If you forgot Grizzled Young Veterans still work for AEW, I don't blame you whatsoever. I'm a fan of the tandem, but they've been non-factors in AEW for so long that this felt like a downgrade for Kingston more than the other way around. Granted, it got Kingston on the card and set up Ortiz's return afterward, but if this is leading to Kingston returning to the tag team ranks, then I'm not interested. The match was short, sweet and straight to the point.

Zero Hour: Mascara Dorada and ROH World Champion Bandido def. The Don Callis Family (Rocky Romero and Mark Davis)

Bandido and Dorada had a pair of great matches for the ROH World Championship this year, so they made for fun partners here, but this was rather random. Unless there was an explanation for why they teamed up, why wouldn't Bandido have teamed with his usual partner Brody King? Nonetheless, this was a nice match. I'm just not sure what it was supposed to accomplish.

Zero Hour: Jurassic Express and JetSpeed def. The Demand (Ricochet and GOA) and Josh Alexander

This was about as random as the tag team match that took place right before it, but at least this set up Jack Perry pinning Ricochet to earn an opportunity at the AEW National Championship on Wednesday's Dynamite. The match itself was well worked and they made the most of the time they had. It's encouraging to see how much deeper AEW's tag team division has gotten in the second half of the year.

AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada def. Konosuke Takeshita in a Continental Classic Semifinal Match

Initially, I thought it was ridiculous that this was set for the semifinals and not the finals, but I've actually warmed up to the idea. Yes, it was their first-ever one-on-one encounter, but doing it in the finals would've been too predictable, and if there are going to be more matches between them (as there should be), it made sense for Okada to win here. Him using the screwdriver also protected Takeshita in defeat, but the execution (specifically with the referee's placement) was flawed. As a match, it was slightly-above-average, but they never hit that next gear that I thought they would. I assume they're saving it for the rematch.

Jon Moxley def. Kyle Fletcher in a Continental Classic Semifinal Match

Shockingly, this was better than the opener. Not that I thought it would be bad or anything, but I thought Okada and Takeshita would steal the show with ease. Instead, this ended up being the best bout of the night. Fletcher is fantastic and Moxley had a strong showing here. My complaint is that the bump Fletcher took from the top rope in the sleeper suplex was incredibly unnecessary. I'm sure he's okay, but it was still a stupid spot and not worth the risk in my opinion.

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR def. Bang Bang Gang (Austin Gunn and Juice Robinson) in a Chicago Street Fight

This has been largely exclusive to Collision over the last month. It was a logical feud to do after Bang Bang Gang beat FTR before they captured the AEW World Tag Team Championship at Full Gear, but the crowd was quiet for this one and I can't say I blame them. The two teams worked hard, but it was a brawl for the sake of a brawl and definitely no different than any other Street Fight AEW has done as of late. It didn't help that none of Bang Bang Gang's nearfalls were all that convincing.

AEW Women's World Tag Team Champions Babes of Wrath def. AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone and ROH Women's World Champion Athena

We already got this match in the first round of the AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship Tournament with the same result, but this existed so Willow Nightingale could pin Mone and set up their AEW TBS Championship rematch for Dynamite (remember, it was Mone who dethroned Nightingale all the way back at Double or Nothing 2024). This was a solid match yet nothing out of the ordinary.

Darby Allin def. Gabe Kidd

To my knowledge, this wasn't a Street Fight or anything like that, but it felt like one given their use of the steel steps and all of the blood both men shed. They only just rekindled their rivalry a few days ago, so I would have held off on doing this match all together because it was too soon for them to be going to such an extreme. What we got was good albeit unnecessary. Then again, it's Darby Allin, so I can't say I'm shocked. Can we please move on from Allin feuding with The Death Riders?

The Conglomeration (AEW TNT Champion Mark Briscoe and Orange Cassidy), Roderick Strong and "Timeless" Toni Storm def. The Death Riders (Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, CMLL World Heavyweight Champion Claudio Castagnoli and Marina Shafir) in a Mixed Nuts Mayhem Match

I mistakenly thought Strong was an official member of The Conglomeration, but apparently he's not according to the lower-third during the entrances. At any rate, this was the comic relief of the night, and although I can't say most of it was my cup of tea personally, the crowd was into it. This would have been better off on the pre-show since it didn't serve a storyline purpose, unless it adds to the idea that Death Riders have lost way more than they've won recently.

AEW Women's World Champion Kris Statlander def. Jamie Hayter

I think I liked this match a lot more than the crowd did. I understand that the feud hasn't been the most compelling and that neither women is clicking as a character right now, but their work in the ring spoke for itself. It was a hell of a hard-hitting affair. Ideally, this feud should continue with Hayter eventually turning heel and maybe even dethroning Statlander, but I get the sense Thekla is next for Statlander and that's fine, too.

Jon Moxley def. AEW International Champion Kazuchika Okada to Win the 2025 Continental Classic and the AEW Continental Championship

Well, this was certainly a surprise. I figured Okada would hold onto the Continental title until Takeshita took it from him at some point, so I don't agree with the decision to have Moxley be the one to do it, especially since Moxley was seemingly in the middle of a downfall arc where he was losing a lot more than he was winning. Are The Death Riders babyfaces now? Unfortunately, this was an underwhelming way to end an otherwise excellent Continental Classic. It wasn't a terrible match whatsoever, but it should have been better considering what they're capable of.

MJF def. AEW World Trios Champion Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland and "Hangman" Adam Page in a Four-Way Match to Win the AEW World Championship

This was similar to last year's Worlds End main event in that it was a star-studded four-way but nowhere near the top matches AEW has produced in 2025. That said, it was well paced and the action was enjoyable. Plus, the outcome was genuinely unpredictable. MJF winning was absolutely the right call, and I liked that he pinned Joe for the title since it was Joe who beat him for the belt in the first place.

Overall Show

Worlds End won't go down as AEW's most amazing event of the year, but it was a quality show, nonetheless, and I appreciated that it was much closer to the four-hour mark than Full Gear was. The AEW World Championship and the AEW Continental Championship both changing hands was newsworthy and the wrestling was on par with past pay-per-views. The setup for some stuff on Wednesday's Dynamite was also well done.
SEE MORE: AEW PPV Reviews
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