To find past Predictions and Previews Click Here.
I’m sorry for the shorter predictions. Didn’t do previews this time and I didn’t get to a week five for the Continental Classic. I’m going to do a 2025 Continental Classic Review and discuss the final week there. Having it all crammed with the holidays made it impossible to find time to write.
That said, I don’t feel too bad. All Elite Wrestling is not really giving us their best effort on this card. Mercedes Moné isn’t defending the TBS Championship. Mark Briscoe isn’t defending the TNT Championship. Trios Championship once again gathering dust because Samoa Joe is AEW Men’s World Champion. The AEW National Champion, just crowned at Full Gear, had a match against the ROH Men’s World Champion and lost this week and now neither are on the pay per view.
All Elite Wrestling has been completely focused on the Continental Classic. Nothing else has really mattered that much. Not even the AEW Men’s World Championship which came together in the past two weeks first teasing them repeating the three way from Revolution 2024 only to flip instead to a four way like at last year’s World’s End.
Click Here to read the After 48 for AEW World’s End 2024
What was Samoa Joe, the AEW Men’s World Champion, what was his last words or moments on the show? Oh, just a backstage segment teasing his opponents before they cut to MJF, Adam Page, and Swerve Strickland. Those three are more focused on each other, especially Swerve and Page on MJF. The attention is on their promos against each other and whether or not it was cleared or a shoot (I quite frankly do not care and thought all three men were capable of better but all wanted to have their soliloquy’s without responses) and not on who will defeat the AEW Men’s World Champion to win the AEW Men’s World Championship.
No, the focus was all on the Continental Classic, which is why we watch pro wrestling now in December. Even with most of the focus on the C2, they still had to rush the final episode out on Christmas with six league matches to finish things out. This is where I’ll once again push the idea that next year they should do an HBO Max event announcing the competitors of each league and then have the first six matches on the special.
This pay per view features four title matches, one of which is the third match between Bang Bang Gang and FTR this month. It includes a “Mixed Nuts Mayhem” match thrown together on Christmas Collision the other night. It also has Darby Allin, who couldn’t be cleared and had to bow out of the Continental Classic, facing Gabe Kidd from New Japan Pro Wrestling. Okay.
Listen, I have zero energy or enthusiasm for this card, but it’s an AEW pay per view. I’m sure four matches are going to end up absolutely spectacular and talked about forever and then it won’t really matter. But come on AEW. This show looks how it does based on your ability to prepare for the end of the year. If this is your effort? This is mine.
World’s End Zero Hour
Sisters of Sin versus Hyan and Maya World
I guess we’re back to Zero Hour after a few PPV’s of Tailgate Brawls?
While I’m no fan of the Sisters of Sin (Even if she’s a former TBS Champion I don’t think Julia Hart should be considered TV ready, same to Skye Blue, and both could benefit an excursion to get better while they are still young) I am a fan of no QT Marshall in the pre-show. Just because of that I’m not going to complain about this. I’m going to find the silver lining.
Hyan and Maya World are here because they are being rewarded for showing up when two women I won’t bother to look up the names of decided to no show AEW. This was back on the November 8, 2025 Collision against TayJay. They are now being rewarded with a pre-PPV match. That exposure is worth something.
I hope these two teams are ready to give their all because the women’s tag team division is still very new and needs excitement beyond the titles being rewarded. This will hopefully provide it, even if the match makes more sense on an ROH on HonorClub taping.
Winners: Sisters of Sin
Eddie Kingston versus Zack Gibson
I just saw this was announced before I was to publish this. I know Eddie has had a bit of a mini feud with the Grizzled Young Vets and had faced James Drake at the ROH on HonorClub Boxing Day Brawl. He also beat Nathan Cruz on the Collision Holiday Bash and GYV followed Cruz to the ring.
I don’t know what else has really been detailed and I wonder if this is Eddie Kingston doing a favour to get GYV some extra attention and to maybe be used more in All Elite Wrestling. I like GYV. I really do. I can’t stand their name and think they overestimated the strength of that, “Grit Your Teeth” catchphrase. Gritting your teeth is something you do before going through something hard. I’m sure the Grizzled Young Vets (just… just call yourself the Grizzled Vets now) are a tough competitor, but you know what’s better than making your opponent grit their teeth? Knocking your opponents teeth out. Making them grit their teeth doesn’t mean they lost against you! It just means you were a minor inconvenience!
Listen, I know I’m poking fun, but it’s because I really do hope Eddie does some special work here and gets them to change things up a bit and be taken more serious. They are a good tag team. They could have good matches with lots of guys. I’m good to see them get more work in AEW instead of being stuck in ROH, where they are not even holding tag gold. Good on Eddie to give them something to do. Hopefully in 2026 Eddie is ready to do more himself.
Winner: Eddie Kingston
AEW Worlds End 2025
Singles Match
Gabe Kidd versus Darby Allin
Sure feels like more than a year has gone by since Gabe Kidd had that big match with Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 19 doesn’t it? It almost feels like that match wasn’t the start of 2025 but 2028 and we’re still in the middle of midcard rabble rouser Gabe Kidd instead of potential gaijin superstar Gabe Kidd like people thought he would be coming out of that.
Gabe, despite being Bullet Club: War Dogs in New Japan Pro Wrestling, is Death Riders associated in AEW. And much like him feeling like a man out of time, he also feels like the Death Riders of six months ago and not the Death Riders today. You know, the one falling apart and fracturing between Claudio and Jon Moxley.
AEW tried to rush some conflict between Kidd and Darby with Gabe throwing Darby down stairs and escaping a baseball bat swing, but just because you cram a bunch of angles on Extreme Warfare Revenge right before a PPV, that doesn’t mean you built up something we care about. We’re just happy Darby Allin is back.
I certainly would have preferred Darby to face PAC instead, who was at first announced for the Mixed Nuts Mayhem but now isn’t in the graphic. I guess they already did this, or might be holding off for Revolution 2026. Or maybe this is their way to blow off the entire Darby versus Death Riders feud by just having him whip around their Chet Hanks with a UK accent for 15 minutes and win. End this now and start Darby fresh onto something else? That would be nice. We really need Kazuchika Okada versus Darby Allin soon.
Winner: Darby Allin
Mixed Nuts Mayhem
Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Marina Shafir, Daniel Garcia, and Wheeler Yuta) versus Toni Storm and the Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe, Roderick Strong, and Orange Cassidy)
Hey, a party match! I will say the name is cute.
It’s also Death Riders versus The Conglomeration… again, and we’ve seen this many a times. The fresh twist, the strawberry swirl in the vanilla cone, is adding Marina and Toni to the match. Willow is off defending the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship so she can’t do it right now. Marina Shafir did a number to Mina Shirakawa and Toni wants her revenge. Having her align with The Conglomeration, even temporarily, is a nice spot for her to be in.
(Was it the right choice for Toni and Mina to not win the tag titles? I guess time will tell, but right now, I feel like just having Willow in this and Toni/Mina as tag champs facing Moné and Athena would have made far more sense, but hey we’re here now.)
It’s nice for Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta to get on the show, but boy have they become anonymous lackies at this point. When they attacked Roderick Strong after his win against Claudio in hoods I completely forgot who both were for a second. I wondered if this was going to be like Samoa Joe’s pointless Dojo of nobodies. Nope, it’s Garcia and Yuta. Yikes. These two need more. They need out of this forever faction feud.
It’ll be interesting how Death Riders handles this match while Jon Moxley is off building his confidence back in the Continental Classic semi final. I’m sure PAC pops his head out, and maybe Kyle O’Reilly stops him from costing the match, but I also wonder if this is where Roderick Strong either chooses Conglomeration… or chooses the Death Riders?
Winners: The Death Riders
AEW Men’s World Tag Team Championship
Chicago Street Fight
Bang Bang Gang versus FTR (c)
Remember all that talk about how great the AEW Men’s World Tag Team division was now? You had the Young Bucks, you have FTR, you have Jurassic Express, you have JetSpeed, you have Brodido, you have Gate of Agony, you had all this depth in the division and yet… AEW has gone with Bang Bang Gang.
I like Bang Bang Gang! I like Austin Gunn, I like The Gunns, and I love Juice Robinson. I think Juice has been great in this feud. But aside from beating FTR on November 8, 2025 on Collision? They don’t really feel like a top babyface tag team.
Why wouldn’t they just do a rematch between Brodido and FTR? Bandido and Brody are not on this show? I do not understand it one bit. I get they put JetSpeed in the Continental Classic. I get Young Bucks are banged up. I get Jungle Jack Perry replacing Darby Allin took Jurassic Express out. But Brodido is doing nothing!
Oh, you say, what about Bandido winning the Dynamite Diamond Ring? He could have still done that and had this rematch! Brodido said they weren’t splitting up! Sigh.
Not the start of FTR’s reign I was hoping. Now I’m really wondering if they are just waiting for Adam Copeland and Christian Cage to return. Probably for Revolution.
Sigh again.
Winners: FTR
AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship
Mercedes Moné and Athena versus Babes of Wrath (c)
It was a surprise when Mercedes and Athena didn’t go to the final of the Women’s World Tag Team Tournament and instead it was Babes of Wrath, who won the whole thing. Now the two teams face off at World’s End in the first defence. The Babes of Wrath beat Moné and Athena to get to the second round. They beat all the top heel teams on their side to do the impossible.
It would feel obvious for them to win.
That’s why I hope they lose.
I know Mercedes Moné has been losing titles and Athena is ROH Women’s World Champion, but let’s shock everyone and do a title change here. Put it on the heels. Build up heat for a Willow versus Mercedes showdown for the TBS Championship. Have Moné and Athena have their big match eventually with the Timeless Love Bombs. There really is more babyface teams you can have big matches with than heels.
I’m sure this prediction is wrong but I’m shooting for it. Athena and Moné beating Babes of Wrath on their first defence. Babes of Wrath end up similar to the first men’s world tag team champions: forgotten. Sorry SCU.
Winners and NEW AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions: Mercedes Moné and Athena
Continental Classic 2025 Semi-Final
Gold League Winner Kyle Fletcher versus Blue League Runner-Up Jon Moxley
Jon Moxley started the Continental Classic with two big losses to Konosuke Takeshita and Death Rider teammate Claudio Castagnoli. It felt like he could go 0-5. He was able to pull out wins against Mascara Dorada, Roderick Strong, and Orange Cassidy to take 9 points and squeak out the runner up spot. The downfall of Jon Moxley was misreported. Or delayed.
Kyle Fletcher returns to the semi final, where last year he had an incredible match with Will Ospreay. Fletcher and Okada tied with 9 points to win the Gold League but Fletcher’s win over Okada put him as the Gold League winner. Fletcher did take losses to Speedball Mike Bailey and Death Rider PAC, so he has some experience against the Death Riders and it didn’t go well for him.
Fletcher also walks in after losing the TNT Championship to Mark Briscoe and is looking to move to that next step up. Doing so he needs to defeat Jon Moxley. Not any Jon Moxley, but a fired up Jon Moxley. A man who looked to be on his way down now re-energized and ready to take the C2. He finished in 2023 in the final and likely wants to avenge that loss to Eddie Kingston. He wants to win this.
If Moxley wins, the story is about his redemption, and him now beloved by the crowd for being a fighter. He could win the Continental Classic and then be turned on by the Death Riders for losing sight of the true purpose of this all. It isn’t to win a silly tournament. It’s to change AEW. It’ll be Moxley’s pride as his downfall.
If Fletcher wins, the story is about who he’d be facing on the other side. It would be an all Don Callis Family final. He’d either face Kazuchika Okada, a man he knows he can beat as he’s done it twice. Or… he’s facing Konosuke Takeshita, his close friend, co-leader of the DCF, and much like Moxley, a man on the other side of the crowd. I know which one of these reads to me more emotionally.
Winner: Kyle Fletcher
Continental Classic 2025 Semi-Final
Gold League Runner-Up Kazuchika Okada versus Blue League Winner Konosuke Takeshita
AEW Continental Champion.
AEW International Champion.
AEW Unified Champion.
Versus.
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.
Both of these men will be having important matches at Wrestle Kingdom 20. Takeshita will defend the title against Yota Tsuji, who is trying to restore the honour of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Kazuchika Okada will be in the main event, facing Hiroshi Tanahashi in his final pro wrestling match. Well, unless he takes Great Muta’s advice and comes out of retirement one day. Jushin Liger already did it.
This match has been years in the making. AEW teased these two facing one on one back when Okada was only AEW Continental Champion and opted instead for a four way. They’ve tag teamed together (forced by Don Callis who doesn’t care how much they hate each other) and they’ve been in matches against each other, but this time it’s finally one on one, and it’s not about IWGP or Unified. It’s about the Continental Classic.
I thought this was going to be the final, so I’m surprised it’s the semi final. There’s a part of me now wondering if AEW did want Jon Moxley and Konosuke Takeshita, two men who seem to have one foot out of the door of their factions, to face each other and essentially lead to a moment where both the Don Callis Family and Death Riders want to kill both men. Heck, would it be such a surprise if they ended up combining to take these two out? Maybe a little. I don’t see PAC getting along with Don Callis.
But the most likely result is Kyle Fletcher, one half of ProtoShita, facing the other half in the final, and Don Callis essentially forcing Kyle Fletcher to finish Konosuke Takeshita off for his insolence and insubordination in defeating Kazuchika Okada. And when Fletcher doesn’t do it? There won’t be a celebration for Takeshita in winning the C2 and winning the AEW Continental Championship. It’ll instead be a red wedding for Konosuke.
If we do get Okada versus Takeshita followed by Fletcher versus Takeshita? I guarantee they will be two of the very best matches in all of pro wrestling in 2025. Right up there with my match of the year in Will Ospreay versus Hangman Adam Page at Double or Nothing.
Winner of the 2025 Continental Classic: Konosuke Takeshita
AEW Women’s World Championship
Jamie Hayter versus Kris Statlander (c)
It appears that Kris Statlander is absolutely cursed to be the Hangman Adam Page of the women’s division. It sounds like a nice spot to be in (and honestly it is) but she’s now the champion, attention is on other women in other divisions, or other programs, and she’s stuck facing other babyface contenders because AEW has done a poor job building up women to go up against her.
I say that when there is one woman who would be perfect to face her in Megan Bayne, and maybe they are holding that off. As far as I know Bayne isn’t hurt and she’s even still taking independent bookings. If she faces Statlander at Revolution then I’ll chalk this up to them delaying the program for a pay per view with much better focus and that they just wanted Hayter to get in a title program.
It was interesting when Hayter attacked Statlander and did a, “Oopsie, did I do that?” to kind of play up the fact she’s okay playing cheap if it means winning the title. That’s the best part of the story so far. I wonder how far she goes with it. Does she go full Samoa Joe and turns just to get a rematch? It wouldn’t be the first time Tony Khan copied a recent angle and pasted it in a different division.
I think Kris Statlander has done excellent work trying to stand out as AEW Women’s World Champion. Too bad the show isn’t doing more to support her in that regard. It’s one thing to beat Mercedes Moné and Timeless Toni Storm. It’s another to be treated on their level.
Winner: Kris Statlander
AEW Men’s World Campionship
4-Way
Hangman Adam Page versus Swerve Strickland versus MJF versus Samoa Joe (c)
I’ll ruin my prediction early. I think MJF is winning that strap.
Which makes this a baffling few months. Why wouldn’t you just have Hangman Adam Page retain against Samoa Joe and then have Maxwell Jacob Friedman call his shot to face Page at World’s End?
I would have been perfectly fine with it, and it would have finally given us the Page versus MJF match we’ve been waiting for since 2022. Maybe they want to do it at Revolution? I don’t know, but it certainly has made for a lame duck Samoa Joe title reign and a terrible finish to Full Gear.
It’s funny that the people who said Hook costing Page the title wouldn’t matter that much. They were right. AEW didn’t even care that much. Fantastic to have a finish in the main event that everyone is fine to forget weeks later. I’m sure Tony will remember sometime in January when he has 10 weeks before the next pay per view and book Hook versus Hangman as if that’s an important match to do.
Swerve Strickland’s return at Full Gear has helped create an uneasy alliance with Hangman Adam Page, one where they are already, adorably, nearly hitting each other with steel chains when trying to attack MJF. Bumbling top babyfaces. They are also standing still while MJF gets to cut a promo on them, so they repaid it by doing the same to MJF. What happened to my sport?
I want Strickland and MJF going bar for bar, I want Page and MJF going insult for insult, I want these guys to be human and argue like humans. I don’t want this, “your turn my turn” and I want the AEW Men’s World Champion to matter. He doesn’t.
When this was being built up into a three way match we cared about Page trying to regain his title and Swerve trying to win the title but absolutely nobody cared about Samoa Joe retaining. There’s no excitement to him being champion.
I’ve heard people say maybe Kyle Fletcher should have beaten Adam Page at All Out Toronto. I think a lot forget that the match was never supposed to happen. Fletcher was originally facing Kenny Omega. I don’t know who Page was supposed to face (I’ve heard everything rumoured from Wardlow to Hook to Josh Alexander) but that match was never supposed to happen and it was never supposed to be the main event. All of that was a happy accident.
I do, however, agree that the happy accident could have led to a rematch between Page and Fletcher where Fletcher does win the AEW Men’s World Championship, and that would have been a much better result than Samoa Joe. Even if Fletcher wasn’t technically ready for the run? He’s done nothing but grow into this role since he became a singles wrestler. He’s one of the best wrestlers on the roster. His ability to be bigger than most but still move step for step, sequence for sequence, with any sized wrestler is incredible. For all the bad comparisons people give Fletcher, I’d go ahead and say he’s the Australian Kazuchika Okada. He’s becoming that good.
But he isn’t here. Samoa Joe is. Womp womp. Tony Khan and his obsession with ROH Alumni. If Davey Richards didn’t blow it a few years back he’d be probably in the running for a main event run. If Austin Aries wasn’t such a prick he’d probably be in line too. But here we are.
What’s the best possible result? If Page wins his title back, it makes the past month seem ridiculous and a waste of time. If Swerve wins the title, that’s great but he’s going to essentially run into the same problem Page did by not having enough heels to face. If Joe retains, we’re back to a lameduck champion nobody cares about including the product he champions. But if MJF wins? There’s at least a path forward.
MJF would have tons of babyface opponents from Swerve to Page (if he hasn’t pissed both men off and any of them want to work with each other) to Briscoe to OC to Darby to Jungle Jack to Kenny Omega to Kyle O’Reilly to Jon Moxley (once he turns) to Konosuke Takeshita (once he turns) to even matches with Kevin Knight and Speedball Mike Bailey. He will likely have Bandido ready for him as his first defence. It’s a perfect situation for MJF.
It almost makes you wonder if MJF was supposed to come back earlier for Full Gear, didn’t, and Tony decided to just have Joe beat Page there to still do a title switch, and now he’s doing the title switch he really wanted to do.
I know a lot of people are not into the idea of MJF being champion again. I like Max. I think he’s his own worst enemy and he really needs to think about what he says not in a, “Will people dislike this” but rather, “Am I progressing the product and allowing everyone to want to make this the best show possible” way. I’m hoping for the best if he’s champion again. I don’t know if he holds it all the way to All In London and they have Will Ospreay return to beat him, but I’m not against having a heel champion the booker will put the time and effort into.
The best case scenario is that MJF holds the title until around Dynasty, when you can think about if he’s the best person to hold it all the way to All In London, or if Will Ospreay would be better to defeat someone else. Takeshita, Moxley, Swerve, and Fletcher would all be top options for me. I’d even consider Adam Page winning it back so Ospreay can get his win back at All In London. It leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth (as though AEW didn’t actually want Page to win and they are erasing the past by doing the match again) but it would also be an incredible main event.
If it has to be MJF? And he’s going to have over half of 2026 as champion? He needs to be facing the very best of the company. If I see him facing Adam Copeland at Dynasty in Vancouver I am not gonna have a good time. Here’s your chance Tony Khan. Book the AEW Men’s World Champion against the very best in the world. No more ROH Alumni acts. No more WWE Alumni acts. The best versus the best. Make this 2026 title reign mean something. That way when the prince you were promised returns? Ospreay isn’t just beating MJF (again) he’s beating the best world champion run since Jon Moxley in 2020.
Winner and NEW AEW Men’s World Champion: Maxwell Jacob Friedman
In the words of Ian Riccaboni? Happy Wrestling everyone.
