AEW TOP MATCHES OF THE WEEK: Fletcher vs. Moxley of course, but what other two matches made the list, plus MJF’s hair, Statlander’s future

What a great way to end the year with another week of fantastic wrestling by AEW. I really enjoyed Dynamite and Collision this week and I thought World’s End was a solid PPV bookended by two fantastic opening matches and a great 4-way for the AEW World Title.

AEW made the right choice by putting the World Title on MJF and I would make this a long title run. I think people forget that the first half of MJF’s title run was fantastic and it really didn’t go off the rails until the devil story overtook everything MJF was doing. I’m hoping that Swerve having the promo time against MJF this week on Dynamite means that they are angling for a Swerve-MJF feud right out of the gate.

I had an opportunity to co-host the AEW World’s End PWTorch Post-show with Brandon LeClair on Saturday night. It was Brandon’s last show, so I was appreciative of him offering me the spot to co-host with him. I have been a fan of his for a while, so it was a lot of fun to be able to finally talk wrestling with him. Thanks Brandon, for all you’ve done for the Torch over all these years.  Shout out to all these hosts at PWTorch who are on these AEW PPV post-shows. To say I was exhausted by the time we were done with recording at 2:00 a.m. was an understatement. Well worth it, though, and I’m hoping to be a co-host on more of these shows in the future.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Konosuke Takeshita – AEW Worlds End 12/27/25

I thought the hype video before this match was fantastic, and I thought AEW did a great job with all the hype packages for the matches for this PPV. I was a huge fan of Takeshita’s robe when he came out. I’m not sure if that was a new one or if he’s worn that before, but I thought it was beautiful.

I was pumped for this match, but I knew this was probably the first of a few we may be getting from these two over the next year, so I was trying to temper my expectations going into it. It wasn’t the absolute battle I thought this was going to be, but I still really enjoyed it.

I loved Okada going for the handshake to start the match. Just such an asshole move to do that after the way Okada has treated Takeshita the last year and I’m happy Takeshita didn’t take the bait. I loved Okada’s facial expressions throughout this match as well. Takeshita absolutely ate a clothesline from Okada during the match and when Takeshita kicked out the look of worry on Okada’s face was great.

These two also had a sequence where Takeshita hit Okada with a German Suplex, then Okada tried to hit Takeshita with a rainmaker and Takeshita reversed it into a Blue Thunder Bomb. It was just a fantastic sequence. There was also another sequence when Takeshita hit Okada with a reverse huracanrana and then absolutely smoked Okada with a running knee. I really thought that it could have been the end of the match there.

I was not a fan of the ending at all (at first), especially in a tournament that preaches no outside interference or any other type of shenanigans. I just hate when such fantastic matches end with B.S. at the end. After the match, I remembered that Wrestle Kingdom is right around the corner and NJPW most likely didn’t want Takeshita to take a clean pin. I get it. I hate it but I get it though. I am really looking forward to these two going at it again though in the ring. I also thought it was smart to tie in the screwdriver to the Mox and Fletcher match. Speaking of that match…

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Kyle Fletcher vs. Jon Moxley – AEW World’s End 12/27/25

This was the best match of the entire Continental Classic for me. These two had put on the best matches throughout the entire tournament so it was fitting that they met in the semi-finals with a chance to go to the final.

I understand the story they are telling with Moxley and the Death Riders, but I was disappointed that Fletcher lost here. I really thought they should have had him win this tournament. AEW needs to start building up their next set of young stars and Fletcher should be at the top of the list. With the way these guys wrestle in AEW, you never know how long you are going to have them or at any moment these guys could go on the shelf for nine months to a year. I felt the same way with Will Ospreay. I thought he should have had the AEW World Title at some point and now he’s on the shelf with a serious neck injury. I just think that AEW needs to start capitalizing on these young guys when they get hot.

I have not been a big fan of Kyle Fletcher’s gear, but I thought he nailed his look at World’s End. His shoulder pads reminded me of Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and it was such a badass look. Fletcher was like a rabid dog in this match the way he was attacking Moxley. His ferocity during his matches is so good and he lays in every move with such power.

Moxley was also at his best in this match. I couldn’t believe how he caught his teeth on the ring stairs. Just such a freak accident. Of all the ways he could have had his teeth knocked out on a match for it to be such a freak accident like that was crazy. I also think that Moxley may have one of the best cutters in the game right now. I love how he also catches his opponent’s mid-flight perfectly.

At this point, Moxley’s ankle must be mush now, right? I mean every opponent has worked on that thing for the last few months. Speaking of mush, how about that brainbuster by Fletcher to Moxley on the ring apron? That thing looked nasty. Spots like that always make me cringe because the pinpoint accuracy you need to have to hit and not go awry is unreal.

I was not a fan of the modified suplex spot to Fletcher off the top rope where he landed clear on his neck. It’s so dumb, especially when your friend Will Ospreay is on the shelf with a neck injury. Just so dangerous and the match didn’t need it.

I also wasn’t a fan of Bryan Danielson calling out Fletcher for having the wrong grip at first on the ankle lock he put on Moxley. It wasn’t something I noticed at first because Moxley was doing such a great job of selling it. I thought Fletcher had the match when he hit Moxley with the brainbuster towards the end of the match. I gasped when he kicked out. There were maybe one or two too many kick outs for my liking, but I thought the end of the match was fantastic and I liked the tie in with the screwdriver from the Okada match before this one. I just really hope that Kyle Fletcher is a focus of AEW for 2026

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Ricochet vs. Bandido – Dynamite 12/24/25

We must stop with the Macarena mid-match. I’m sorry, It’s just stupid.

Alright, now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about this match. I really enjoyed this match. When Bandido won, it was a giveaway that MJF was taking the title at World’s End. It wouldn’t make sense for MJF to fight another heel for his first title defense. Also, Bandido isn’t going to have that ring for long. MJF walked out with the Dynamite Diamond Ring at World’s End after Bandido had already won it at Dynamite. MJF doesn’t strike me as someone who is just going to be letting his Dynamite Diamond Ring go to someone else.

There were some good spots in this match and I thought Ricochet and Bandido had some great chemistry in this match. Bandido’s overhead press slam to Ricochet when he threw him onto the ring apron was a great spot and Ricochet pulling up Bandido by his belt strap to hit the Vertigo was also super-impressive. Bandido also hit a Liger Bomb out of a Styles Clash setup that was one of the coolest moves I’ve seen in a while. I hope he continues to use that move going forward. I also really loved the finish with the flash pin by Bandido.

Overall, just a fun match that I thought was the best TV match of the week. Once again though, I hope Bandido enjoys the week he’s going to have with that ring because he’s not going to have it for long.

Observations and Thoughts:

•It’s time for the Death Riders to turn on Moxley. We are getting to a dangerous point now where the fans are going to revolt if you don’t turn the Death Riders on Moxley. It made no sense story wise for them to just be standing there while Moxley cut an all-time babyface promo after he won the Continental Classic.

•Thank God for Toni Storm because she saved that mixed nuts tag team match. More of her and Orange Cassidy too, please.

•I can’t tell if I hate or love MJF’s new hair. I guess it will have to grow on me like his new plugs grew on him

•The members of the OPPS Dojo should get their money back. The training they are receiving is horrible.

•So, we took the tag titles off a red hot Brodido to put them on FTR so they could have a subpar feud with the Bang Bang Gang and a match where the fans were chanting “Go Home” because they wanted the match to end so badly.

•Thank you for everything Tony Schiavone, but it is time for your watch to end on commentary.

•They are going to turn Statlander heel, huh? I’m preparing myself now for the promo she cuts, blaming the fans for not getting behind her.