Hey everybody, sorry for the lateness of this review, but I was on vacation last week and didn't have my laptop with me. I did however get to watch AEW WrestleDream 2025, and while it wasn't a blowaway show by AEW standards, it was nonetheless very enjoyable, particularly when it came to tag team wrestling. This show was missing that one must-see match, and instead just had a slew of very good stuff. It marks the first AEW PPV since World's End 2023 that for me didn't contain a five-star match.
The show opened unconventionally, with a pre-show match already in progress. FTR vs. JetSpeed kicked off only a few minutes before the Tailgate Brawl ended, and thus the PPV jumped right into the rest of the bout. And man was this crowd nuclear at the start of this show. That would change about halfway through unfortunately, but St. Louis brought a ton of energy at the start. This match, though incomplete if you only saw the PPV, was pretty great. Super high energy, all action and loads of creativity. FTR ended up winning when Stokely Hathaway did the Bobby Heenan-Ultimate Warrior spot, holding Mike Bailey's leg while Dax pinned him. Great opener. I wouldn't do this "match in progress" thing all the time but it was something different. ****1/4
The first complete match on the show was Jamie Hayter vs. Thekla, which was a solid, hard-hitting affair. They had a couple minor miscues but overall worked very well together. Jamie pinned Thekla with Hayter-ade, which I was surprised to see since she's now beaten all three Triangle of Madness members on the way to Blood and Guts. Maybe the heels end up winning that then? ***1/4
Next up was the Young Bucks vs. the reunited Jurassic Express, with part of the story being that JE had never defeated the Bucks. This match was excellent, maybe the best thing on the show. The crowd went apeshit for Luchasaurus. This was your usual Bucks standout match, with super creative spots and wall-to-wall tandem moves. After a ton of nearfalls JE won with Countdown to Extinction, thus earning them $500k. Jack Perry offered a stack of bills to the Bucks but the Don Callis Family attacked, which brought out Kenny Omega. Omega chastised the Bucks for not helping out, and they skulked to the back while the babyfaces fought off the Family. It seems like they're setting up a men's Blood and Guts match as well, with the question mark being "which side will the Bucks be on?" This match was super. ****1/2
The weakest bout on the show was the Hurt Syndicate-Demand trios match. This was fine but felt tame compared to their street fight a couple weeks earlier. I'm glad this feud finally seems to be over though. I will say Lashley and especially Benjamin did a lot of selling in this one. Gates of Agony looked really strong even in a loss. At the end Ricochet found himself alone against all three opponents, and they set him up for a Lashley spear to put this feud to bed. Not a bad match by any means, but my least favorite on the show. ***
Another standout was the TNT Championship, as Kyle Fletcher defended against Mark Briscoe. These two always deliver huge together, and this was no different. This was an action and drama-packed 25 minutes and even though the crowd didn't really buy the idea that Briscoe was winning, his unique charisma kept them engaged in the struggle. After loads of nearfalls Fletcher finally got the job done with a turnbuckle brainbuster. Seems like this feud is continuing and I think it'll end with Mark getting a TNT Title win. ****1/2
So at about the halfway point the crowd energy waned and it seems like afternoon PPVs really are the way to go from now on. A crowd will stay energetic for a five-hour show that starts at 2pm in a way they won't for a five-hour show that starts at 7pm. Anyway Kris Statlander vs. Toni Storm was up next and they had a really strong match that would've been even better with a loud audience. Kris kicked out of Storm Zero and Toni kicked out of a seatbelt pin attempt, before Kris retained with a Saturday Night Fever. A dejected Toni went to the back but out came Mercedes Moné to interrupt Kris's celebration. Mercedes told Kris to leave and oddly she did (more on that in a bit). I'll go **** for this match.
Mercedes then touted her record-tying ten belts and issued an open challenge to any champion in the back, and out came Mina Shirakawa. These two got just slightly more time than Toni and Kris, and made the most of it, with a surprisingly fun match considering it was a last-minute addition. Again, no one in the crowd thought Mercedes was losing here, but Mina's chemistry went a long way. This was well-booked in that Mina controlled a lot of it and kicked out of the Moné Maker, while Mercedes kept looking more and more desperate. Eventually Mercedes took the shortcut and got a flash pin while holding the ropes. Kris Statlander came back out and got some payback for the earlier interruption, setting up Statlander-Moné III for Full Gear. These two are awesome together so this should be great. ***3/4 for Mercedes-Mina.
Next up was yet another excellent tag match, pitting AEW Tag Champs Brodido against Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita. This perhaps went a few minutes too long but it built to a perfect crescendo in the end. Okada accidentally hit Takeshita with a Rainmaker and wasn't at all sorry about it, while Bandido sold his injured shoulder like crazy, going for a 21 Plex but being unable to lift Okada with one good arm. Finally Brody fired him up and he hit a one-arm GTS variation followed by a one-arm 21 Plex to retain the titles. Okada and Takeshita are on a collision course and it's gonna be transcendent. Great match. ****1/2
The AEW World Championship took the semi-main event slot as Hangman Page and Samoa Joe had a 19-minute slugfest. This match featured the only legitimate blood of the entire night; Joe busted up Hangman's lip a bit. Hangman withstood a Coquina Clutch by making it to the ropes and then countered a Muscle Buster into a Deadeye, followed by three consecutive Buckshot Lariats to retain. Post-match there was a seeming display of sportsmanship as The Opps came out to congratulation Hangman, and Joe raised Page's hand. But then Joe leveled Page with a clothesline, and The Opps beat him down. Joe hit a Muscle Buster and The Opps stood tall. So this feud is continuing. While I'm not crazy about a babyface champion beating a challenger clean, only to give him another shot because the challenger attacks him afterward, there's definitely more than can be done with this feud. They need to have Joe win another number-one contender's match to legitimize it though, otherwise it's too similar to what WWE's been doing with every Cody Rhodes challenger. Very good match. ****
The main event slot went to the Jon Moxley-Darby Allin I Quit match, and I had no idea St. Louis didn't allow blading on wrestling shows. That's just silly at this point. Anyway these two had to get very creative to work around it, and they pulled off a pretty savage match that unfortunately didn't equal their Coffin Match for me. Mox "bloodied" Darby's mouth (via capsules) and then took a kabob skewer and dug it under Darby's fingernails. Darby made a comeback but Mox whipped him into oblivion with a belt. Darby sprayed lighter fluid on Mox and tried to set him on fire but the Death Riders came to the rescue and Darby pepper sprayed them all. Mox DDT'd him on a chair and then Claudio launched him over the ropes onto the announce table. Mox hit the Death Rider through two tables at ringside. The Death Riders then brought in a fish tank and filled it with water, and Mox, near the point of tears, pleaded with Darby to quit, as he tried to drown him. The lights went out and Sting appeared, smashing the fish tank with his bat and taking Marina away. Darby waffled Mox with the bat and locked in a Scorpion Deathlock in a puddle of water. Mox gave up almost immediately, which seemed odd. This match was very good but didn't reach the levels of brutality I anticipated, and a lot of that was because of the blood restrictions. But they told a really good story and did a lot within the limits placed on them. ****1/4
Ten years ago this card would be considered a PPV of the Year contender, but AEW has set such a high standard anything less than a homerun just feels like a good solid show. The tag matches really shined, as did Fletcher-Briscoe, and we actually got over 45 minutes of women's wrestling, so that's noteworthy. I'd have liked to see the I Quit match without any creative shackles (although maybe it's best for the health of both guys we didn't), but it was a fine main event.
Best Match: Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express
Worst Match: Hurt Syndicate vs. Demand
What I'd Change: The venue. This same show in Seattle would've gone on two hours earlier and thus the crowd would've been livelier for the whole thing. Plus it would be Darby's home market so they'd have sold a couple thousand more tickets, and the main event could've been unhinged.
Most Disappointing Match: I guess the main event, but it was still really good
Most Pleasant Surprise: That we got most of FTR-JetSpeed on the PPV
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
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