The SmarK Rant for AEW WrestleDream 2025 – 10.18.25

The SmarK Rant for AEW WrestleDream 2025 – 10.18.25

Might as well catch up on this show, one of the few AEW PPVs I never reviewed due to work commitments at the time, plus I tried to order on Amazon Prime at the time and it was a huge debacle that sent me to YouTube for future purchases as a result.

Live from St. Louis, MO

Your hosts are Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness

FTR v. Jetspeed

Joined in progress from the pre-show with everyone brawling in the ring, and Dax tries a piledriver on Speedball on the apron. But that goes sideways on him and Bailey moonsaults both guys instead. Back in the ring, Knight hits Cash with a UFO splash for two. Knight with a DDT on Dax for two and he goes up again, but Stoke gets involved and Knight runs him into Dax and rolls him up for two. Powerbomb gets two. But then Cash takes out Bailey on the apron and Dax puts Knight in the Sharpshooter, forcing him to make the ropes. Shatter Machine on Knight, but Bailey breaks it up with a shooting star kneedrop. Dax blocks the UFO splash with his knees, but Bailey gets a backslide on Dax for two, which looked a lot like a three count. Spinkick gets two and Cash saves, but then Bailey tries a suplex on Dax and Stoke trips him up, putting Dax on top for the pin at 7:53. They were going FULL SPEED for the entire match and it was awesome. Hopefully Jetspeed gets back together someday. ****

Thekla v. Jamie Hayter

Hayter goes after her with chops to start and they brawl to the floor, where Thekla takes some chops to the boobs right in front of Lou Thesz’s relative, just like he’d want it. Thekla comes back with a dive from the post to the floor and runs her into the railing, dedicating it to Lou by spitting on his relative. “Well Lou can’t do anything about that” notes Nigel. Back in the ring, Thekla works a count on Hayter and then gets a Tarantula. Hayter powers out of that, but Thekla takes her down in a headscissors as that kind of goes badly. So Thekla slugs her down and chokes her out on the ropes as things slow down a lot after the hot start. Thekla slugs away in the corner, but Hayter fights back with an exploder and a missile dropkick for two. Hayter tries a suplex and they fight to the apron off that, but Thekla goes up and misses a bodypress. So Hayter goes up and they fight on the top, as Jamie has been looking off her game for most of the match. Hayter with a dropkick and she comes back with an enzuigiri, and neckbreaker on the knee for a double down. Thekla catches her in a headscissor submission and armbar, but Hayter escapes with a backbreaker. Thekla wraps her up again, but Jamie makes the ropes this time. Hayter comes back with a backbreaker for two, but Thekla spears her for two. Thekla tries again and Hayter hits her with a lariat and then finishes with Hayterade at 15:39. Man Hayter was looking all out of sorts for most of the match and must have hurt herself early on. **3/4. Thekla became a much more fascinating character once she started drinking on the job and calling everyone dumb bitches, of course.

$500,000 match: Young Bucks v. Jurassic Express

The Bucks were broke at this point and down to their last $32.17 according to the ATM on the big screen, so they can’t even afford pyro for their entrance. Hey man we’ve all been there. Matt and Jack slug it out to start, and Jack clears the ring and hits Nick with a rana to take over. The Express double-teams Nick and Nick tries beating on Luchasaurus, but that doesn’t go well for him. So Perry tries to switch corners, distracting the ref while the dinosaur bites Matt on the ropes. The Bucks bail to the floor, so Luchasaurus hits them with a moonsault from the apron. Back in the ring, the Bucks try to take out Luchasaurus on the apron, but Perry hits them with a dive to take them out instead. Back in the ring, Jack gets tripped up in the corner and the Bucks take over and double-team in their corner. Matt with a legdrop, but Perry hits a comebacker lariat and enzuigiri to fight them off. Nick cuts off the hot tag and Matt hits a knee strike for two, however. Bucks with a double hiptoss slam on Perry for two while the crowd sings “Oh you’ve got no money” at the Bucks to the tune of “Seven Nation Army”. That’s pretty clever. Matt with a DDT on Perry for two. Perry reverses a double-team on the ropes, however, and it’s hot tag to the dinosaur. Double clothesline for the Bucks, but they double-team him. But they stop to pose and Luchasuarus goozles them and kips up in a good spot, before destroying them with a chokeslam. Cutter on Nick gets two off that. Nick escapes the Doomsday Device and wraps up Perry in a headscissors while Matt superkicks him, and the double stomp/powerbomb combo gets two. Bucks take Perry to the floor and we end up with a chicken fight out there, which leads to Nick hitting Perry with a destroyer on the apron and everyone is out. Back in the ring, Matt beats on Perry to set up the Meltzer, but Perry reverses into a rollup for two. But then the Bucks powerbomb him on the apron and hit him with a package piledriver for two. BTE Trigger gets two, but Luchasaurus saves. Perry escapes More Bang for Your Buck and the Express makes the comeback, as Luchasaurus moonsaults Matt and Perry hits Nick with a destroyer. Doomsday Device gets two on Matt, however. Express with a Meltzer Driver for two. Bucks break up the comeback again and hit Luchasarus with a superkick party, and the BTE Trigger on Perry…gets two. Jurassics regroup again and hit the Countdown to Extinction on Matt to finish at 22:57. So they get the $500,000, although Luchasaurus got hurt again and they never really got any momentum as a team after this. As usual, the Bucks make everyone look like the greatest team ever. ****1/2.

Afterwards, Perry tries to offer some money to the Bucks to mend fences, but the Don Callis Family attacks and the Bucks decide to walk away from the fight. So Kenny Omega has to come out and make the save himself, disgustedly going past the Bucks before fighting three guys alone and chasing them off.

Tornado tag: The Demand v. The Hurt Syndicate

Back to 2025, when these two teams faced each other on a weekly basis, it feels like! They all brawl on the floor before the match even starts, and Toa smashes Lashley into the stairs, allowing the heels to take over on Shelton in the ring. Shelton comes back with an anklelock on Kaun, but Ricochet breaks it up with a big boot for two. Lashley hauls Kaun to the floor and hits him with a suplex, however, so Toa takes Bobby out with a lariat out there. And they put Lashley on a table and then powerbomb Shelton onto him to take them both out. Back in the ring, MVP is left alone and the Demand beats him down as Ricochet gets two. Shooting star press from Ricochet gets two, but Shelton breaks it up. MVP manages to fight them off by himself while Lashley makes his own comeback on the floor and hits Ricochet with a Dominator for two. Lashley tries a delayed superplex on Ricochet, but GOA breaks it up with a Tower of Doom powerbomb and everyone is out. They all brawl to the floor again and Shelton suplexes Ricochet onto the pile and then adds his own tope con hilo after a little smirk. Back in the ring, Shelton with a superkick and MVP hits Ricochet with the Ballin’ Elbow and fisherman’s suplex for two. Toa puts Bobby in the cobra clutch, but Shelton breaks that up with a knee strike, setting up a spear from Lashley, and now it’s Ricochet alone with the Hurt Syndicate this time. So Kaun pulls him out to save him and volunteers as tribute, and Lashley spears and pins him at 13:24. This was pretty decent but we just saw it so many times and none of them ever went anywhere. ***1/4

TNT title: Kyle Fletcher v. Mark Briscoe

They trade armbars to start and Briscoe beats on him with chops until Kyle bails to the floor to escape, but he walks away from a dive attempt. Back in the ring, Briscoe clotheslines him to the floor again and this time the dive works, so Don Callis runs away into the crowd to be safe. That’s a great touch on his part. They fight on the floor and Briscoe suplexes him out there and drops a Cactus elbow off the apron before grabbing a chair and trying to dive off that. Kyle steals the chair, so Briscoe kicks him in the head instead and then cannonballs off the apron to take him out as Don runs away for a second time. But then Fletcher powerbombs Briscoe on the stairs to take over and puts the boots to him back in the ring. Briscoe fights back with chops, but Fletcher catches him with the Michinoku Driver for two. Back suplex gets two. Kyle with a chinlock while the announcers razz Don (“He was so feared in Japan that they shut down the company”) but Briscoe makes a comeback and they collide for a double down. They slug it out and Kyle is apparently out of gas, allowing Briscoe to beat him down without any pushback. Kyle and Mark trade finisher attempts and Kyle suplexes him to set up a Last Ride powerbomb for two. They fight to the top and Briscoe escapes the brainbuster, but Kyle takes him down with a superplex instead. They fight to the apron and Mark hits the Jay Driller on the apron, putting them both on the floor for a double down. Back in, Briscoe misses a flying elbow and they fight to the top again, with Briscoe laying him across the top rope and dropping an elbow on him to send him to the floor. And then he follows with another elbow to the floor to set up a third flying elbow in the ring, which gets two. So he tries the Jay Driller, but Kyle reverses to a cradle for two. Backslide gets two for Briscoe and he rolls into the Driller, but Fletcher cradles for two. Briscoe with an exploder and he keeps trying the Driller, but Fletcher suplexes out. So Briscoe pops up and hits a lariat, into the Jay Driller, but Fletcher gets ONE FINGER on the ropes to break it up at two. That’s a great near fall. Back to the top to set up the Cutthroat, but Fletcher uses the ref to escape, kicks Briscoe RIGHT IN THE NUTS, and the brainbuster gets two. Callis throws a tantrum at ringside, so Kyle hits a knee strike and gets two. Lawn Dart and running boot sets up the brainbuster on the top turnbuckle, and that’s finally enough to put him away at 24:32. This match RULED. ****1/2 Briscoe’s babyface comebacks were just incredible here, setting him up to finally win the title later on.

AEW World Women’s title: Kris Statlander v. Timeless Toni Storm

Man this division really took a huge hit with the departure of Toni earlier this year and has never really been filled. Can you imagine the promo battles with Drunk Thekla? Also I guess we’re never gonna find out who the mystery attacker was. They trade takedowns to start and Stat grabs a headlock, with a frustrated Storm unable to counter. So she puts Statlander on the apron and uses the hip attack to put her on the floor, but Statlander does the flip off the apron to put her down. Stat with a bodyscissors in the ring and a clothesline for two. Pump splash gets two. A second one gets two. Storm comes back with a tiger driver for two and a hammerlock DDT for two. Statlander wraps her up in a headscissor submission hold, but Toni makes the ropes. Toni PROCURES THE CHICKENWING, but Stat also makes the ropes. Stat reverses out of Storm Zero, but the BIG PACKAGE gets two. Statlander with a Michinoku driver for two. Storm comes back with the hip attack in the corner, but Stat blocks Storm Zero again and dropkicks her into a 450 for two. Storm with Storm Zero for two. Stat tries a rollup and turns it into a seat belt for two, but Storm pops up and makes the comeback with a german suplex. Stat puts him down with a lariat, however, and hits Saturday Night Fever, but goes for a submission instead of the pin. Toni counters for two, but Kris tightens up the headscissors. Storm screams “You’ll have to fucking kill me!”, so Statlander hits another Saturday Night Fever and pins her to retain at 16:40. Oddly it feels like they didn’t really mesh as well as they should have here. It was good but not up to the level of what Storm was doing with Mariah May around that time. ***1/2. Whatever happened to May anyway? She kind of vanished from the business.

Afterwards, Mercedes Mone comes out to chase off Statlander and issues an open challenge to any other champions. So this brings out none other than Mina Shirakawa, the ultra-prestigious ROH Interim Women’s TV champion.

TBS title v. ROH Interim Women’s TV title: Mercedes Mone v. Mina Shirakawa

Oh no, it’s the Interim Women’s ROH TV Women’s champion! Mercedes is in trouble now! So this is kind of a weirdly random addition to an already long show. Mina does some dancing to start and gets a cradle for two. She puts Mone in a surfboard and we get more dancing, but Mone takes her down in the Bank Statement. Mina makes the ropes, so Mone gets a lungblower for two. Mone drops her in the corner for two and chokes her out on the ropes, and the double knees get two. Mercedes with the Three Amigos as this match is dragging badly already. Mone with another double knees for two. Frog splash misses and Mina comes back with a suplex and goes up for a sling blade from the top, which gets two. Mone escapes the Glamorous Driver with a backstabber, but a second try hits and Mina gets two. Mina with a figure-four and Mone quickly makes the ropes and hits a lung blower on the apron for two. Mina comes back with elbow strikes and the backfist to put Mone down and set up another figure-four, but Mone quickly reverses out and cradles for two in the corner. The ref catches her using the ropes, so Mone pokes her in the eyes instead and gets two. Bank Statement follows and Mina reverses for two, but Mercedes cradles for two. Moneymaker gets two. Mina comes back, but Mercedes gets a backslide and uses the ropes for the pin at 15:40, claiming the TV ROH Women’s Interim title in the process. This was fine but bored the crap out of me, like most Mina Shirakawa matches at this point. **1/2

AEW World tag team title: Brodido v. Konosuke Takeshita & Kazuchika Okada

We were reaching the peak of the tension between Takeshita and Okada by this point, with Callis teaming them up in a desperate attempt to make peace between them. Bandido takes Okada down with an armdrag as Callis calls his team the two best athletes in Japan with “the kid on the Dodgers a distant third”. That kid is looking like an even more distant third in 2026 after getting swept by the Brewers. Takeshita comes in and Brodido double-teams him in the corner, setting up a slugfest with Brody. Takeshita comes back with the flying clothesline and it’s over to Okada for a beatdown in the corner. The DCF works Brody over in their corner, but Brody just unloads on them with chops and follows with a double clothesline on them. Bandido comes in with a flying bodypress and dropkicks both guys to the floor, setting up a springboard moonsault to the floor. The champs launch themselves into Takeshita and Okada on the railing, and then double-team Takeshita back in the ring, with Brody splashing Bandido onto him to set up a MACARENA. Sadly, Okada breaks that up and takes out Brody to take over. And he even does his own Macarena! I didn’t know he had that in him. An unappreciative crowd chants “Fuck Okada” because obviously they don’t know greatness. Takeshita goes to work on the shoulder of Bandido, which to be fair is covered in bright blue tape that might as well be a bullseye, and then runs him into the corner shoulder-first. Hammerlock follows, but Bandido makes the ropes, so Okada goes up with the flying elbow and Takeshita follows with a senton. But then Takeshita doesn’t appreciate the middle figure from Okada and starts to do something about it, allowing Bandido to make a comeback with Brody indisposed. Hot tag Brody and he hits Takeshita with a Black Hole slam and then cannonballs both guys in the corner for two. Okada counters a piledriver into the neckbreaker with an impressive show of power on Brody, and it’s back to Takeshita. Bandido tries for a cloverleaf on him and follows with a Code Red for two, but Takeshita puts him down with a german suplex. Bandido fires up, however, and hits him with a backfist, but Takeshita blocks the 21Plex and Okada comes in with a shotgun dropkick.

Everyone throws bombs and Bandido hits Takeshita with a poison rana, but Takeshita lands on his feet and hits his own. Blue Thunder Bomb on Brody, but Bandido hits Takeshita with a shooting star press on the rebound for two. Bandido tries an X-Knee but the shoulder gives out on him, so Takeshita goes after the arm again and pounds it with elbows. Bandido snaps off a rana for two, but Takeshita hits him with the knee strike to knock him out again. He drops the kneepad to finish him off, but Okada tags himself in, and Bandido reverses the Rainmaker into a double stomp and it’s back to Brody again. He gets rid of Takeshita and beats on Okada in the corner with chops. Ganzo Bomb gets two. Bandido goes up and Takeshita brings him down, and hits Brody with the tombstone into the wheelbarrow suplex in an incredible spot, only for Brody to pop up with a lariat. But then Okada revives and dropkicks Bandido out of the air with pinpoint precision, and everyone stacks up for a triple german suplex from Brody on the other three guys in another incredible sequence. This match is just on another level. The heels take out Brody with a dropkick/knee combo and go after Bandido, but Takeshita misses the knee and Bandido fights back again. And then Okada charges and hits his own partner with the Rainmaker, but he’s not super concerned about it. This allows Bandido to give Okada the X Knee and 21Plex, but the shoulder gives out again. So Brody helps out with a death valley driver and fires his partner up again, and Bandido goes with a ONE-ARMED 21Plex instead and pins Okada at 27:16 to retain. This was a fucking unbelievable tag team match, easily one of the best of the year. *****

AEW World title: Hangman Page v. Samoa Joe

They trade headlocks to start and Page goes after the arm with a hanging armbar on the apron, and a dropkick in the corner gets two. Joe blasts him down with a back elbow and slugs away to take over. They fight to the floor and Hangman wants a moonsault, but Joe walks away from it. So Page sends him to the floor again and tries another moonsault, and Joe walks away AGAIN. Well that just makes Hangman look kind of dumb. Back in the ring, Joe puts the boots to him and hits him with a running boot in the corner after the STO. Joe with a surfboard and he goes to a chinlock and then puts Page down with a big boot and senton for two. Joe slugs away on him, but Page makes the comeback and fights back with chops and an enzuigiri. Joe puts him down with a german suplex, but Hangman hits a backdrop driver. Joe bails to the apron and Hangman lines up the moonsault for a third time, but Joe goes into the ring this time, so Page does a regular moonsault in the ring. That missed completely but gets two. Joe blocks the Deadeye by being huge, and powerbombs him for two into the STF. Page makes the ropes and heads to the top, fighting off the Muscle Buster and hitting a powerbomb for two. Page comes back with a rollup for two, but the Buckshot misses and Joe catches him in the choke. Page makes the ropes to break after teasing a blackout, so Joe takes him to the top for the Muscle Buster. Page escapes that and reverses to the Deadeye for two. Buckshot Lariat follows, but Joe won’t go down, so Page hits a second one, and then a third for the pin at 18:57 to retain. I dunno, this one never really got out of second gear and they didn’t mesh very well. And then we all know what happened next month. ***1/4.

Afterwards, Hobbs and Shibata come out to put over Page and show respect, only for Joe to grab the belt and lay out Hangman to turn the group heel.

I Quit match: Darby Allin v. Jon Moxley

Darby immediately puts Mox on the floor and hits him with a dive, and they brawl on the floor off that. But then Marina trips up Darby in the ring and Moxley dropkicks him into the corner and chokes him out on the ropes. Mox wraps a chain around his fist and punches Darby down with that, and then chokes him out and tosses him to the floor for a trip to the stairs. So now we make it weird, as Shafir finds some bamboo skewers and Moxley sticks it under Darby’s fingernails while the horrified crowd shrieks. I did not need to see that. Darby dives over the stairs, however, and fights back with a dropkick. Back in the ring, they slug it out with forearms and Mox hits him with a boot to the head, but Darby fires off a Code Red to put him down. So Darby grabs his AEW flag and hangs Moxley on the apron with it, but Mox pokes him in the eye to escape. Darby goes up for a coffin drop on the apron, but Marina pulls Mox to safety and Darby splats on the floor. Back in the ring, Mox whips him with his belt, perhaps like some kind of canine, and follows with a piledriver. But Darby channels Tommy Dreamer and demands more shots, which only angers Moxley more. Darby tries a coffin splash, but Jon catches him with a german suplex to put him down again. So Darby finds a bottle of lighter fluid in his bag and sprays that all over Moxley, but the Death Riders hit the ring and allow Moxley to hit a cutter and towel himself off. There’s also a tazer in the bag and Moxley gets his hands on that for some shocking damage, before hitting a curb stomp and a Death Rider onto an open chair. Darby still won’t quit, so the Death Riders set up a table while Tony relates a story about getting tazed by Ole Anderson in 1990 and I want to hear more about THAT. Claudio comes in and casually hurls Darby out of the ring and through the announce table while Tony yells for his life. And then Pac hauls Darby back into the ring, where Moxley takes him off the apron and through a table with a Death Rider to seemingly end Darby’s night. But Darby still won’t quit, so the Riders bring an aquarium into the ring and fill it with water, so I guess they’re gonna drown him next. And yeah, that’s where it goes, as Moxley tries to asphyxiate him. Maybe it’s that gimmicked water they used in the Abyss, because he still won’t quit. And finally with all hope lost, the lights go out and it’s STEEEEEEEEEEEEVEN BORDEN’S DAD to save the day. And he’s pissed, beating on the Death Riders with the baseball bat and then giving it to Darby and leaving. Moxley still has no fear, so Darby beats him down with the bat and then smashes him in the knee before choking him out with the flag again, into the Scorpion Death drop. To the top for the coffin drop, which sets up the Scorpion Deathlock, and Moxley quits at 26:00. That actually set up a pretty great run where Moxley freaked out and submitted to pretty much any hold put on him before finally getting his mojo back again with the Continental Classic. The Sting cameo at the end was great because it was so unexpected, but the rest of the match was just crazy Darby taking an inhuman beating from the stupidest stuff and I didn’t really dig it that much. ***

I don’t recall the discourse about the show at the time, but this feels like it would have been a skippable one for me. The theme of the show was “insanely great tag team matches that way overdelivered”, but the main events didn’t deliver for me, so this was kind of a thumbs in the middle by AEW PPV standards for me.