Editor’s note: The following is an opinion-based preview and reflects that of the author, not our website.
2024 has been a rollercoaster for AEW full of significant highs like another successful Wembley Stadium show, Sting’s spectacular retirement, and, most importantly for their future, a lucrative TV rights renewal.
But with those highs have come familiar lows: consistent, systemic issues that have plagued the company since its inception. Inconsistent booking decisions, the maddening inability to pull the trigger on new babyface acts, and of course, entirely too much weekly TV time to Chris Jericho. Even smaller, technical missteps, like frequent production hiccups, persist. These aren’t just bumps in the road; they are deeply rooted flaws in AEW’s foundation.
For years, fans and defenders of the company would point to attendance and strong ratings as proof that everything was fine. Critics, they claimed, were overreacting and clutching their pearls for no reason. But those indicators are lagging ones. Now, as Dynamite’s ratings continue to fall and attendance dwindles, AEW has been forced to run smaller venues in a practical decision, but one that underscores declining interest.
Fans will show up with both their eyeballs and wallets if the product is good. But no longer can AEW trade on the currency of tremendous pay-per-view shows. That is largely still true, but as good as the in-ring can be if the rest can’t keep up, the audience has proven they will not stay.
AEW has become over-reliant on the moment and too often neglects the story, making everything feel hollow. A company that once teemed with life now comes off as flat, its vibrancy dimmed. This hits me on a personal level. As someone who watches entirely too much wrestling (apologies to my wonderful wife) and has written about nearly every major AEW show, staying fully engaged as a consumer has never been harder. There hasn’t been much, if any, learning from mistakes.
Claims to be ‘returning to who they are’ and ‘restoring the feeling’ ring hollow when they have been a constant refrain for years. By any objective measure, AEW is still a massively successful wrestling promotion, but in order to achieve lasting success, the status quo cannot be maintained.
Will this show be good? Most likely. Will any of us remember it by the time the ball drops on New Year’s Eve? Most likely not. Nevertheless, we persist and we preview the end of the world: Saturday’s AEW Worlds End from Orlando, Florida (8 PM EST main card on PPV).
Adam Cole vs. MJF for MJF’s Dynamite diamond ring
This is the sad conclusion to an odd chapter in AEW. These two wrestled in the main event at Wembley Stadium two years ago in an actively disappointing match. At least the program had some heat to carry it through. This time, though, nothing is propelling this story forward. There is only the whisper of what was, and the crowd is (barely) reacting accordingly. The sooner it ends the better and the outcome is irrelevant. Whoever wins will be in the same position they were coming in, if not worse for it.
No matter the outcome, MJF is going to be just fine. It’s Cole who needs a good showing here. He comes across as leagues beneath MJF and miles away from anything meaningful. Nothing about that changes on Saturday.
Prediction: MJF
Continental Classic Semifinals and finals: Kazuchika Okada vs. Ricochet & Kyle Fletcher vs. Will Ospreay
For the second year in a row, the Continental Classic is an unquestioned high point in AEW’s year. The matches inject some much-needed life into the cards. All the competitors treat it with reverence and go all out to win it. At its best, the tournament revitalized the company’s ethos, reminding fans why AEW once felt like the alternative to the mainstream of sports entertainment. It succeeds not by overloading itself with gimmicks or drama, but by focusing on what AEW has originally promised: wrestling as sport with stakes that matter and stories that unfold in the ring.
Some of my personal highlights:
- Brody King featured on TV as there is no good reason he shouldn’t have a solo run in 2025
- Kyle Fletcher’s continued growth as a performer
- Shelton Benjamin showing out every single week
- Ricochet’s much-needed character development
- Will Ospreay struggling for the first time in AEW
The last takeaway is just Darby Allin, worthy of far more than a single bullet and who had a true no skips tournament run for this absolute madman. He’s the most bankable television wrestler in any major company, wrestling tremendous matches with every opponent. None of it was stale, none of it was repetitive. Each match was its own kind of special. There were a lot of bumps for AEW this year, but the ascension of Allin to the top of the card was not one of them.
Winning the Continental Classic should be a launching pad to individual success and treated like an even bigger deal moving forward. It’s now a proven commodity and something that AEW fans should look forward to every year. As for who wins the thing? There’s a good story to be told with either Fletcher or Ricochet winning. It puts a definitive crown on their heel turns and establishes them as featured players for 2025.
Prediction and new Continental Champion: Kyle Fletcher
TBS Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Kris Statlander
Statlander is the most recent example of a problem that’s plagued AEW for years: the sudden flipping of a character’s alignment with no explanation. Three months ago, she was firmly a heel and aligned with Stokely Hathaway. Immediately after her street fight with Willow Nightingale at September’s All Out, her pairing with Hathaway was dropped without mention and she was suddenly ‘good.’
Months later, there has been no clear explanation for the change. No character development. She’s just different now. How is the audience expected to connect with someone like that, someone whose motivations are not just unclear and they are a mystery? It would have taken mere minutes of TV time to explain her actions. If characters are going to continue to haphazardly switch sides, it becomes nearly impossible to care about any of them and it makes meaningful turns so much less impactful.
A positive for AEW: Mercedes Mone is fully back. One of her strengths is her feel for the moment. Few are better at navigating a big match and building to its crescendo. When these two locked up at Full Gear, it was excellent and I have high, high hopes for the sequel. What I don’t have high hopes for is a title change.
Prediction: Mone retains
AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May defends against Thunder Rosa in a street fight
This is another title match with very little juice. The first nine months of 2024 belonged to May. Her ascent was marked by a captivating story, one that allowed her to showcase her presence and charisma. Her coronation at All In suggested the division’s next breakout star had arrived. Her matches had buzz; her presence felt like a promise. And yet, since capturing the title, something has been missing. Her reign is defined less by dominance or memorable defenses and more by an unsettling inertia as if the creative energy that fueled her rise was spent entirely in the chase. The lead-up to her crowning moment was so well done that what followed feels, by comparison, deflated.
Making this a street fight — a stipulation designed to inject grit and urgency into an otherwise lukewarm rivalry — is another misstep. Rosa, despite her resume, has struggled to regain her footing in AEW after a prolonged absence. Her sporadic appearances and uneven booking have left her without the aura of a credible challenger. Like the men’s World title match, this seems like filler and a match designed to buy time for whatever is next rather than elevate either competitor. Being forward-thinking is important, but the present still needs to matter.
Prediction: May retains
AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Powerhouse Hobbs
At last, something we can sink our teeth into: two big, beautiful boys beating the crap out of each other. Takeshita’s brilliance is in his ability to move between styles, equally comfortable trading heavy blows as he is performing mind-melting feats of athleticism. Hobbs thrives by asserting dominance, becoming the kind of force AEW has so often lacked in a roster heavy on smaller, more fleet of foot athletes. Give me 8-13 minutes of these two emptying the tank and I’ll go home happy.
Takeshita is not just a student of greatness; he is its natural heir. As much as I enjoy Hobbs and as good as he is, his ceiling is not to be the best in the world. His opponent, however, possesses that ceiling and gets the win.
Prediction: Takeshita retains
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defends against Orange Cassidy, Hangman Page and Jay White in a fatal four-way
We arrive at the end and are met with a muddled mess.
Moxley and The Death Riders started with such promise, running roughshod over AEW. But, it has become aimless and meandering. After they sent Bryan Danielson into retirement via attempted murder, the remains of the Blackpool Combat Club felt different, all-encompassing, and unbeatable. They summarily dispatched and nearly killed the greatest wrestler of all time without a care in the world.
But weeks and months went on and nothing evolved. They aren’t imposing their will over the rest of the roster. Instead, they are winning matches via distraction rollups. The group that has tried to suffocate someone and poison someone else is winning by the hairs of their chinny chin chins? Not exactly menacing.
As good of a promo as Moxley is, the words have to mean something at some point. They can’t just be ominous and foreboding. Villains need to have clear motivations and fans need to know what they’re working toward. Taking back AEW and making it something different is all well and good, but what do they want to shape it into? What is the end game? All the tea leaves still point towards Darby Allin winning the title and saving AEW from Mox and crew, completing the coronation of a conquering hero and the establishment of the new top babyface.
For that babyface to exist, the group he overcomes needs to be powerful, not just similarly dressed troublemakers with vague motives and notions of the greater good.
You’ll notice that was about 200 words and none of them about the actual title match on Saturday. That, dear readers, is because this is another filler program. There is no way Hangman, White or Cassidy is leaving Worlds End as champion. None of them have been built up as reasonable threats and they certainly haven’t been treated like they are. Hopefully, the show ends with a hot closing angle (Kenny Omega returning, Darby Allin getting involved with some outrageous weapon, etc.) because as a main event, this is sorely lacking.
Prediction: Moxley retains
