AEW TOP MATCHES OF THE WEEK: What stood out about Mercedes Mone vs. Willow Nightingale, Darby vs. Wheeler Yuta, and Moxley vs. Alexander

If I’m honest, this is one of those weeks where there are slim pickings to choose from in terms of top matches to write about. Luckily, this isn’t an issue with AEW on a consistent basis.

I thought there were some good matches and some matches that set up and helped move some stories along. I liked that AEW ended the year on a happy moment with Willow winning the TNT Title. At first, I was happy about it, but after thinking about it, I think it just made less sense to me.

They just spent months building up these AEW Women’s Tag Team Titles and kind of hit gold with the “Babes of Wrath” and how they are being received from fans. Harley Cameron is a budding star and only getting better and Willow is awesome and has always been a fan favorite. Did Willow really need the TBS Title right now? I get wanting to have a good moment to end the year and I get wanting to take the TBS Title off of Mercedes Mone to continue her spiral, but Willow is already a weekly fixture on TV. Wouldn’t putting the TBS Title on someone else be the smarter move to get someone else on TV weekly as well?

You’re telling me that having Athena, Jamie Hayter, Megan Bayne, or a new face like Alex Windsor on TV every week wouldn’t be a good thing? I just think they went for “the moment” again like I thought they just went for “the moment” by giving Mark Briscoe the TNT Title. He’s now faced Daniel Garcia, been an afterthought in a “mixed nuts” tag match, and will now be defending the TNT Title against Hechicero. I mean Hechicero? C’mon. Is this better than having Kyle Fletcher stay the TNT Champion? I just hope the TBS Title doesn’t stay an afterthought like it’s been for a while now.

Mercedes Mone (AEW TBS Champion) vs. Willow Nightingale (AEW Women’s Tag Team Champion) – Dynamite 12/31/25

Regardless of what I thought about the finish to this match, these two put on a phenomenal match to end the year. I thought having Mercedes Mone end the year by putting on another great match was very fitting since she put on a clinic all year in the wrestling ring with every performance she had. It was a sad visual only having Mercedes flanked on one side by the guys holding her titles. I love the delusion on her end to have these guys even come out still. It’s a nice character touch that she’s not fully come to terms with the situation she is in now losing all these titles.

I loved the LED board breaking as Mercedes threw Willow into it. I love small little touches like that. A small thing like that can make an ordinary move seem even bigger. I also thought Willow looked really strong and confident throughout the match, really laying her moves into Mone and as always Mone sold the hell out of the beating she took.

There was a spot where Willow annihilated Mercedes with a lariat and Mercedes looked like she had just got hit by an F-150. Willow also nailed all her corner cannonballs throughout this match and Mercedes’ head would snap back on each one. There was also a sequence where Mercedes swept the legs of Willow which caused her to fall off the ring apron and hit the stairs. Mercedes followed up with a running double knee to Willow into the steel stairs and I thought that was just a great sequence by those two.

I was trying to think of the perfect word to describe what Willow’s body did when she landed on the commentary table and after a few minutes I think I might have nailed it. Her body reverberated off that table. She hit the table and her body looked like a drum bouncing after you hit it. It was a pretty cool visual. I’ve never seen anyone’s body hit a commentary table and fall off like that in 30 years of watching wrestling. Before that spot though, Willow hit a Death Valley Driver on the ring apron to Mercedes that was scary looking. I’ve noticed a lot of ring apron spots recently in AEW.

I thought the finish of the match with all the counters by Mercedes and Willow was fantastic and I was happy that AEW had that purple confetti ringside “just in case.” I do not want Kris Stalander anywhere near Willow and Harley Cameron, though. Please don’t try to use them to get the fans to like Statlander or have Statlander turn on Willow or something. Just remove Willow and Harley Cameron from anything Statlander related, please.

Jon Moxley (AEW Continental Champion) vs. Josh Alexander

Jon Moxley is so good right now that I’m not sure if his slipping on the guard rail during his entrance was an actual mistake or if he planned to do it. Was he selling the ankle? Was the bottom of his shoe just wet from when he dumped water on his head? I have no idea and that is how good Mox is right now. Also, such a Mox move to not get that chipped tooth fixed. As soon as I saw that I started laughing. I also loved Renee Paquette continuing doing the sideline reports for these Continental related matches. I would really like them to continue this and do this for main event matches as well.

This was a solid match and probably the best match Josh Alexander has had since he debuted. These two beat the absolute hell out of each other and this was the definition of a “slugfest.” I thought Alexander held his own in terms of having the same intensity as Mox and there was a spot where Alexander hung Moxley upside down on the turnbuckle and then climbed to the top of the turnbuckle and just rained down blows on Moxley’s injured ankle.

I loved that spot and Alexander looked like a madman up there. I also liked Alexander rolling out of the ring towards the end of the match. It was a smart move for a heel to roll out of the ring to extend the time of the match due to him still being able to receive a Continental Title match even if the match was a draw. I’m not sure if it was on purpose or not, but the visual of Moxley knocking off Alexander’s headgear while he landed elbow after elbow to the side of Alexander’s head was a very cool visual.

When MVP and Shelton Benjamin walked out after the match, I audibly groaned. I hope this is just a one week thing to keep Shelton Benjamin and The Hurt Business fresh in fans’ minds while Bobby Lashley is out. If this is setting up any kind of situation where I need to hear MVP or see MVP wrestle while Lashley is out, then no thank you.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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Darby Allin vs. Wheeler Yuta – Collision 1/3/26

This was by far the best match in what I thought was a lackluster Collision. It’s nice to see Darby wrestle a match where he isn’t bleeding or having a body part destroyed. Darby has such a unique offense and, when he gets going, he is relentless with his pace. He is so fluid in the ring when he gets on a roll. I thought Darby and Yuta Wheeler worked well together and they had some great spots in this match.

The neckbreaker to Darby from the turnbuckle to the ring apron was a great spot by Yuta and the running knee Yuta hit on Darby on the ring apron later in the match was awesome. Darby went flying and hit the floor so hard. I loved the ending of this match. Darby picking up Yuta off the mat by the hair on the two count after hitting the second Coffin Drop was so bad ass. Then putting him in a submission hold just to make him tap and send a message to Moxley ringside was the cherry on top.

Thoughts and Observations

– Shoutout to Brock Lesnar Guy for that retirement video. Just totally absurd. Don’t get me wrong, I laughed, but that video was just absurd.

– Stokely Hathaway being in the “Vivian Banks Medical Center” was so funny. If you don’t get the reference, just look it up. Here’s a hint… “In West Philadelphia, born and raised…”

– Someone please for the love of God tell Roderick Strong to stop screaming people’s names.

– Moxley loves cutting promos on hallway steps.

– Sammy Guevara knows that we all know that’s not his real voice, right? He’s like a Temu version of Razor Ramon.