Four-Way Fracas at AEW World’s End

Samoa Joe defends the AEW World Championship against "Hangman" Adam Page, Swerve Strickland, and a returning MJF in a Fatal Four-way main event at AEW World's End.

Tommy "Milagro" Martinez

Four-Way Fracas at AEW World’s End

Four men meet in the middle at the AEW World’s End pay-per-view in the main event, with the hope of leaving with the World Championship. Current title holder Samoa Joe was set to defend the belt against “Hangman” Adam Page and Swerve Strickland, both worthy contenders. But the card was subject to change as Maxwell Jacob Friedman cashed in his title opportunity.

It’s anybody’s game, and only one will be on top in All Elite Wrestling to close out 2025.

We come to you from The Now Arena in the Hoffman Estates suburb of Chicago, IL. Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Bryan Danielson have the call. Before we get into it, let’s just jump ahead to the…

AEW Zero Hour

And here’s the first of many of my…

(Author’s Note: There are 13(!)matches on this PPV, and to quote the great philosopher Jerry Reed, “We’ve got a long way to go, and a short time to get there.” Even my Dad saw how many matches were in the card, he remarked, “Oh, my God. That is way too many!”

Since TK and The Booker Monkeys™ do not know the meaning of the word “pacing,” if you absolutely need to know what happened, have a watch.)

Now with that, let’s kick off your…

AEW Worlds End

And Don Callis joins at commentary as a “broadcaster” since your First Match of the Night is a…

Continental Classic Semifinal: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita

If Okada loses, the AEW Continental Championship and AEW Unified Championship will be momentarily vacated, guaranteeing a new Continental Champion in the final. Plus, it should be noted that this is the old guard versus the new face of New Japan Pro Wrestling since Takeshita is the current IWGP Champion, a belt Okada has held at various times with the promotion.

The start is a feeling-out process for both men as they tentatively see who will gain an advantage, much like what you would see in New Japan. They swing for the fences, but Takeshita connects with a jumping clothesline. He tries to get an armbar to take away his leading finisher, but The Rainmaker isn’t having it. Outside, Okada drop toe holds Takeshita to a steel chair and DDTs him into the floor. From there, he methodically takes apart Takeshita and shows no sign of rushing the job. The Aplha still is in this match as he picks him up and lands a brainbuster on the Rainmaker. Takeshita follows with a tope suicida, and momentum is on his side, as he rolls Okada in for a running boot and an exploder suplex for a count of two. He rushes, and Okada counters with a neckbreaker on his knee and follows with an elbow drop. After telling Chicago they’re “number one” and to Takeshita, both men throw bombs.

There is a series of reversals, but it’s Takeshita with a tombstone piledriver, and then he gives Okada a wheelbarrow suplex. Then he drills him with the Blue Thunder bomb, but he is too tired to capitalize on it. He attempts an Alpha Knee, and it is blocked. Okada with the Rainmaker clothesline is blocked once, but not twice. Now, there are big moves by both men, and neither can take down the other. As the ref and Takeshita are distracted, Okada pulls a screwdriver from the top turnbuckle and clocks Takeshita with it to gain the victory.

Your Winner and Advancing is the Continental Classic Finals: Kazuchika Okada

Callis congratulates Okada on his win, as Takeshita looks on in disbelief.

We get a video package on Moxley and Fletcher and what they did to get to this moment.

That leads up to the next match in the…

Continental Classic Semifinal: Kyle Fletcher vs. Jon Moxley

AS Mox made his way to the ring through the audience, you can see a fan with a “Mox Blood Zone” in the crowd.

Once the bell rings, this is another feeling-out process between Mox and The ProtoStar. As Fletcher goes out, Moxley makes him pay for turning his back on him. Back in the ring, Fletcher connects with a scoop and a slam, and then he lights up the chest of the head Death Rider. They go outside again, and Mox attempts to use the steps, but Fletcher traps his leg in it and dropkicks.

Now Fletcher focuses on the bad leg and wrenches it back with an Indian Death Lock. He then cinches a single leg crab, and Mox fights through the pain and kicks out, but suddenly eats a cutter by Fletcher. Mox flies with a tope but aggravates his knee on the way down.
Back in the ring, Fletcher catches him with a leaping Michinoku Driver, but gets a two count. They throw the heavy artillery, but it’s Mox who nails a King Kong lariat, and it ends up torquing his knee further. Despite the bad wheel, he’s still in the fight, unti Fletcher makes him eat a brainbuster on the apron edge.

He rolls back in the squared circle as Mox’s eyes are as glazed as a Krispy Kreme donut. The ref makes the countout, and Mox quickly gets in at nine, but Fletcher nails a Liger bomb for two, and he locks the single-leg crab again. Mox crawls and grits his way to the ropes, but Fletcher pulls him away and wrenches back further. It’s too far as he catches Fletcher and cinches a bulldog choke. The ProtoStar reverses and gets an ankle lock leg grapevine on the bad leg/knee, and Mox fights through to get to the bottom ropes.

The Protostar is frustrated and sets him up top, until Mox bites his head, and repositions for a sleeper. When that doesn’t work, he lands an avalanche reverse head-and-arm suplex that dumps Fletcher onto his head. He follows with a Freakin’ stomp and crawls to a pin, and Fletcher reverses for a near fall.

It’s a flurry of close calls until Fletcher connects with a sheer drop brainbuster for a close two-count. Fletcher goes to the corner looking for something that Okada might’ve already used earlier with Takeshita, and finds nothing in either corner.

Mox uses the moment to nail the Paradigm shift for a two count, and then he delivers the Death Rider in another close call. He cinches a sleeper as Fletcher powers through, but it’s for naught as the ProtoStar fades and the ref calls it.

Your Winner and Advancing is the Continental Classic Finals: Jon Moxley

Fletcher comes to and protests, and in a fit of pique, he chop blocks Mox in the knee. Mox is hurt but knows he’s still in the fight and has one more to go.

After that hour, we need to slow it down.

Just kidding. We’re gonna ramp up with a…

Chicago Street Fight for the AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) (c) (with Stokely) vs. Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson and Austin Gunn)

Gunn comes to the ring wearing a trashcan “shield and a kendo “sword” on his back.

This is a plain old-fashioned donnybrook from the moment the bell rings, as all four men battle up the ramp and into the Chicago crowd.
Gunn rams Wheeler face-first into the “Khan ‘Tron,” but he bounces a trash man off his head and makes him tumble down the ramp. At ringside, Stoke sets up a table for Harwood, but Robinson monkey flips him to the turnbuckles. He sets him on the top turnbuckle and climbs, but Wheeler catches him from behind and makes him crash with an avalanche backdrop superplex. FTR isolates Gunn, and he is Bang in Peril.

Robinson pushes off Wheeler, and frog splashes Harwood to cover for a two count. Wheeler brings in a tag belt, and Harwood clocks Robinson flush on the head. Wheeler swings with a kendo, and Gunn blocks it with a trashcan lid before securing it on his back to splash into Wheeler. He goes again with the lid and gets thrown into the Spanish announce team desk.

Robinson is bloodied, and they damage his knee. He tries to fight back, but FTR continues to dismantle his bad knee as Harwood locks in an inverted figure-four. Gunn attempts to interject, and Wheeler dives on him to a table set on the outside. Robinson reaches a fire extinguisher and hits Harwood in the face to break the hold, and the Juice is Loose as he covers for a pin, but Stoke breaks the ref count. He pulls away a steel chair from Stoke and swings at both members of FTR. Stoke tries to interfere again, and Robinson sends him to a table he set up earlier. Now, FTR use the moment to deliver the Shatter Machine as Harwood covers, but Gunn makes the save. Harwood gets a piledriver to Gunn on a trashcan for a near fall, and then he and Wheeler follow with a spike piledriver, and then a final one on the tag belt ends it.

Your Winners, and Still AEW World Tag Team Champions: FTR

Excalibur takes a moment to acknowledge the accolades that Sports Illustrated gave AEW for 2025.

Now for the women to shine and this is for the…

AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship: The Babes of Wrath (Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale) (c) vs. Mercedes Moné and Athena

At this moment, allow me to give my next…

(Author’s Note: This is less a comment on the women, but more the Booker Monkeys™ who threw this together and who don’t understand the word, “pacing.” Since there are more matches to go, some coverage has to be sacrificed. Therefore, here is you Squared Circle Clerihew™ for this pay-per-view:

*Ahem*

Athena and Moné all throughout the match
Tried to spoil the champs’ efforts (natch).
But no matter with you think, Nightingale and Cameron were on the warpath
Because they will always be The Babes of Wrath.

Your Winners, and Still AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions: The Babes of Wrath

After the match, Athena stares daggers at Moné, who is beside herself after getting pinned by Nightingale.

Time for a little of the ultra violence, as we see some arthouse “films” on the ‘Tron.

So that means your next match is with…

Darby Allin vs. Gabe Kidd

Once Kidd enters, Allin dropkicks him, and they go for broke. He sets up the AEW daredevil on the top rope and drops him unceremoniously to the floor.

The mercenary throws him around the barricades, and then Kidd rushes but misses the mark. Allin dives with reckless abandon and crashes into the barricades. Not to be outdone, Kidd tackles him into the timekeepers’ table, and then he drives his face into the top of the steel steps.

Allin is displaying a crimson mask as Kidd continues to break him down physically. He swings with a chair and misses, and Allin dropkicks it into his face. He stages a comeback, as Kidd is also bloodied, and as McGuiness points out, “the claret is flowing,” much to the delight of the Chicago “sickos.” They battle up the top turnbuckle, and Allin rakes his back and nails an avalanche Code Red for a two count.

He follows with a coffin drop on target, and Kidd rolls away before Allin can cover. He performs another coffin drop on Kidd, dropping him onto the floor below. He rolls him back in to cover for another two count, and Allin uses the Scorpion Death drop and locks in a Scorpion Death Lock as gifted to him by his mentor, Sting. Kidd fights through, and Allin collapses. He eats a lariat and a jumping piledriver, but Kidd only gets a near fall. He attempts a sleeper, but Allin rolls through and gets the miracle pin.

Your Winner via Pinfall: Darby Allin

Allin is battered and bloody, but not beaten. Kidd is flabbergasted that he got the best of him despite his efforts.

Now for something different, here’s some…

Mixed Nuts Mayhem: The Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta, and Marina Shafir) vs. The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy, and Roderick Strong) and “Timeless” Toni Storm

No disrespect to the eight wrestlers, but this match could have been an email…or on an episode of AEW Collision. Therefore, using the Power of Poetry™, here is a Lucid Luchador Limerick in Review™

*Ahem*

All eight wrestlers in the ring was such a mishmash,
It was the equivalent of a car crash.
So much chaos abounded,
It leaves one astounded
that fans loved this hit smash.

Your Winners via Pinfall: The Conglomeration

Lexy Nair is outside Moné’s locker room, and she blows past her. Then we hear her go completely aggro before coming out calm as a coma. Nair states 2025 isn’t going well for her, but Ultimo Moné argues she does want to hear it. As for Willow Nightingale, she promises to “beat her f***ing ass.”

But let’s go to title action for the…

AEW Women’s World Championship: Kris Statlander (c) vs. Jamie Hayter

(Author’s Note: The crowd seemed a bit dead on this one, probably after the craziness of the Mixed Nuts Match. As for Hayter and Statlander, I don’t fault them; they did their best, and it was not for lack of trying. The only time the fans got back was during a moment when Statlander dropped Hayter on her head with an avalanche Michinoku driver. Alas, the rest needs to be done as a Haiku in Review™:

*Ahem*

Hayter faces a
Cosmic Killer. Statlander
Retains the title.

Your Winner, and Still AEW Women’s Champion: Kris Statlander

Don Callis is backstage with Okada, and he says it comes down to this moment between Mox and The Rainmaker. One man will win back-to-back Continental Classics, gesturing to the current Unified champion. Okada says he’s never beaten him and never will…bitch.

Mox cuts a promo on hearing Okada being at the top of his game. He says the Continental Classic shows the passion when you lay it on the line. He says it’s a hill he’s ready to die on, and Okada will have to kill him.

Justin Roberts is in the ring to announce the first double main event of the PPV, and this is the…

Continental Classic Final for the AEW Continental Championship: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Jon Moxley

Roberts gives the boxing style intros for both men. Once the bell rings, Okada offers a hand, and Mox reciprocates with a finger.

The Rainmaker paces and tries to get into his head, and then he picks the ankle, and Mox rolls out to refocus and shake some feeling back in the affected area. Okada continues to work the leg, but Mox is no pushover. They battle up top the turnbuckle until Okada knocks him off, and his boot is caught in the rope on the way down to aggravate the ankle injury.

He then drops him on the steel steps, and things don’t look good for the Death Rider. Back in the ring, Mox tries to strike with forearms, but there’s no power behind the hits. A DDT by Okada, and there is a lackadaisical cover for a count of two. Fans get into this, chanting, “Let’s go Mox-ley/Oh-kah-dah!” The Rainmaker busts out some lucha moves, landing a springboard senton, and then a neckbreaker for another near fall. There’s an elbow drop and then Okada let’s fans know they’re “number one” and he does the same to Mox’s face, who grabs the digit and proceeds to manipulate the joint.

A King Kong lariat and he wills himself back. Okada whips him to the ropes, and Mox pumps the brakes and gets him in a figure four leglock (Woo!). Okada gets to the ropes to break the hold, and then he retaliates with a dragon screw leg whip on his bad leg to aggravate the injury, and cinches a Texas Cloverleaf. Mox writhes in pain but manages to get to the bottom ropes. Okada tries another big move but Mox reverses for a Gotch-style Piledriver and gets a two count. Then he quickly gets him in a bulldog choke, and Okada tries to work his way out of the submission. He feints sending him to the ref, and as he covers up, Okada punts and a Rainmaker finds the mark as he covers Mox for one, two…kick out.

Okada rolls out, grabs the Continental belt, but the ref catches him in the act. As he puts it away, Mox returns the receipt with a low blow. Now they’re in the center of the ring, and they trade blows. As Mox hits the ropes, Okada nails a dropkick, and he gets back up for another Rainmaker, but Mox fires back with the Paradigm Shift. Mox with another bulldog choke, and then he hits the Rainmaker followed by another Paradigm Shift, but Okada kicks out at one. The end comes as there is another Freakin’ Stomp by Mox and the Death Rider is delivered for the one, two, and three.

Your Winner of the AEW Continental Classic: Jon Moxley

Finally, Mox gets back to his winning ways, and this ends Okada’s Continental Classic streak. The Death Riders come out to celebrate their leader overcoming the odds. Schiavone is in the ring to interview the new champion, and Mox says this is for everyone and that he owes it to everyone who supports him, and gives respect to everyone who steps in the ring in AEW.

Strong words from the new Continental champion, and we’ll see where this leads down the road.

Now for the final Main Event, and this is the…

Four-way match for the AEW World Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page vs. MJF

Strickland is the most interesting of the four men to come to the squared circle, as his entrance has a Green Lantern-style along with ring gear, a la John Stewart, with his old Killshot logo.

Justin Roberts once again gives with the boxing style intros. The bell rings, and all four men get into a Mexican standoff. Then the fists fly, and it’s a Pier Four brawl as Page sends Joe out. He then dumps MJF out, but Joe comes back with a chop. Strickland is knocked out, and Joe has his way with the Hangman. Now MJF and Strickland battle, and he shows off a bit to Swerve and then nails an angry Pelvis O’ Doom™. Strickland fires back with a boot and comes down with a European uppercut to his back, and then he demonstrates how angry his hips are before diving outside.

Joe dives to both men, but Page is not far behind, hitting a moonsault to the outside on all three men. MJF is back in the ring and covers Strickland for a two count. A Heatseeker is averted, and Strickland nails with a stomp outside. Page uses Strickland to hit a Buckshot Lariat to Joe.

The rivals eye each other, and they fire away, going hold for counterhold. Strickland uses the Deadeye on Page, and then attempts the House Call, but is interrupted as Page shows how a Buckshot Lariat is done to cover, but Joe breaks the count. He props Strickland for a Musclebuster, and Page gets in position. Joe powerbombs both to MJF and tries to get a cover, but is denied a pin from all three.

Back to Strickland, and he preps the Musclebuster, but he escapes and flatlines MJF. There’s a German suplex to the champ and then a backbreaker to Page and a powerslam for another near fall. Joe rushes and splashes Strickland before eating a backdrop suplex. Page connects with the Angel Wings on Strickland, then hits a moonsault to MJF, and misses a Buckshot but adjusts with a powerbomb for a two count.

MJF finally gets his offense in and lands a slingshot cutter before going to Salt of the Earth armbar on Page. Joe locks in the Coquina Clutch on Strickland, and MJF makes him break his submission. Now he locks the Coquina on MJF, and he starts to fade, until Strickland flies outta nowhere with the House Call onJoe.

All four men are spent as the fans go wild, and MJF gets up and connects with a Panama Sunrise on Strickland, but gets a two count, and Page nails him with the Deadey for a close two, as well. He sets up for the Buckshot, but Joe knocks him off the ring apron edge. The Opps come out to even the odds, and Joe drills Page with a Musclebuster for one, two…kick out.

Joe is incensed as Hook argues the case with the ref. Meanwhile, Hobbs and Shibata menace Nana, but Strickland makes the save. Page strikes Joe and then turns to Hook, but that is costly as The Samoan Submission Machine locks in the Coquina clutch until Strickland hits a double stomp to break the submission. He goes to the other end, where Joe stops him dead in his tracks. They battle up the high-rent district, but Strickland wriggles out and hits a powerbomb and then goes for a high-risk maneuver until MJF sends him toppling. Page knocks off MJF, and he delivers two Buckshot Lariats to the champ. Joe is reeling, and he tries for a third, but MJF shoves the champ out of the way, and he punts Page in the…err, little Buckshots. Now he delivers a Heatseeker to Joe, and he covers for the one, two, and three.

Your Winner, And New AEW World Champion: MJF

Once again, the Salt of the Earth reclaims the “Triple B,” and he is a two-time AEW champion. Sign of the night shows “The Title comes back to our Scumbag,” as MJF walks away with the title as Page, Joe and Strickland look on in dismay at what could have been as the PPV comes to a close.

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