Tag: jamie hayter

Image: AEW

Editor’s Note: The following is an opinion-based preview and reflects that of the author and not the website.

Another year in the books, friends. All in all, it was a pretty rough one for, well, just about everyone. But we soldier on, marching slowly into the sea. As always, a sincere thank you to anyone who’s read even a single word I’ve written over the past 365 days and an extra thanks to the site editors who keep letting me do this.

Extra, extra thanks to my wonderful wife, my sounding board, who patiently listens as I explain why Diddy is somehow a talking point on “the wrestling show that’s somehow always on.” I love everyone, but love her most of all.

With all that said, let’s run down the final big AEW show of the year: tonight’s Worlds End from Chicago, Illinois (8 PM PPV start time).

Continental Classic semifinals & finals

If you’re like me and toil away in the white collar mines, this is also the season of end-of-year check-ins: a famously delightful and productive exercise (sic). Personally, it’s the highlight of my year, especially if you’re someone I work with and happen to be reading this (I actually like my job very much).

In that spirit, it feels like the right moment to check in on the remaining four wrestlers and where they stand now and going forward.

• Jon Moxley: The formerly loathed leader of the Death Riders is dangerously close to being loved again. This run was supposed to burn off goodwill and to sandpaper the audience into rejecting him. Instead, it reminded everyone why he’s the company’s emotional constant. He bleeds, he loses, he stays true to himself and keeps going. That still plays. Moxley will be embraced again; it’s just a matter of how loud it’s going to be when it happens.
• Konosuke Takeshita: He’s already held the International Championship and the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, but he’s still circling something bigger. Takeshita’s problem has never been credibility; it’s been timing and commitment. If 2026 isn’t the year AEW finally lets Takeshita define himself outside of utility, matches of the night, and faction warfare, then the promotion risks turning inevitability into a missed opportunity.
• Kyle Fletcher: Same question as Takeshita — How long can they reasonably hold off crowning him World champion? That’s no longer a rhetorical question. Fletcher has crossed the line from “promising” to “ready” and every month he isn’t positioned as one of the absolute top stars feels more deliberate rather than patient. The Don Callis association has done its job. The reps are there. The confidence is through the roof. Everything one would need to be a champion exists inside the young Aussie. At some point, AEW has to decide whether Fletcher is the pillar he is, or just another name they were high on for a while. The real challenge will be balancing his ascent with Takeshita’s without sacrificing either.
• Kazuchika Okada: We know what Okada is in AEW. He’s settled into a reliable upper-mid card act that, on occasion, can reach back and create something great. He isn’t asked to do that often, nor does he seem to have a particular interest in doing so. There might be another classic or two left in him, but they’ll be fewer and far between. 

Predictions: Fletcher over Mox, Okada over Takeshita, Fletcher over Okada to win the CC

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

A match called “Mixed Nuts Mayhem” (!?!?!?!?) was added on Christmas Day. I will not be previewing it. There are limits. The sickest thing Tony Khan has ever done.

Prediction: I abstain.

Darby Allin vs. Gabe Kidd

The older I get, the saltier I become. That’s not exactly a profound or unique statement, but a true one. I have less and less patience for the Gabe Kidd type. The repeated insistence that he is, in fact, a madman? None of it works for me, brother.

As the year went on, it became clear that Kenny Omega made their Wrestle Kingdom match work through the sheer force of his own greatness. The man held together by tape and love dragged an incredible match out of a slightly above-average wrestler. There’s a non-zero chance that was the last ‘Kenny Omega Match’ we’re going to get. Gabe Kidd! January optimism turned December disappointment — same as it ever was. 

Allin occupies a rare space in wrestling. He exists almost entirely outside of the World title scene yet constantly elevates whatever he’s involved with. He’s now the “big name” others are brought in to have big matches with. He has become a true attraction. This little freak somehow achieved a 99th-percentile outcome before his body gave out which is a remarkable talent.

Prediction: Allin

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR defend against Bang Bang Gang in a Chicago street fight

Austin Gunn has, no pun intended, a bit of the juice. He can be corny, funny, serious, and he can come out to “Many Men.” Once he figured out who he was as a performer, the in-ring work followed. Watching someone put it together in real time is always a treat, and it’s clear who the breakout star of his family is.

The Bang Bang Gang are fun, loud, and still figuring out how seriously they want to be taken. FTR has long since solved that problem. A street fight narrows the talent gap temporarily. It lets Juice Robinson’s manic charisma shine through and gives Gunn more room to lean into his natural swagger.

Eventually, this becomes what most FTR matches are: a lesson in timing, positioning, and why fundamentals still matter, even when the rules might not.

Prediction: FTR

AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions Babes of Wrath defend against Mercedes Mone & Athena

The Babes of Wrath have become something surprisingly compelling. They’re a team built on vibes, volume, and Willow Nightingale’s undeniability. Harley Cameron certainly brings an energy, though a brand that I grow less fond of as time passes, but this act only works because Willow is a genuine star hiding inside a fun enough gimmick. At some point, that tension between her joy for life and drive for success must be resolved, or she’ll never reach the heights she deserves.

Across the ring are two wrestlers who seem like they wandered in from a more serious division. Mercedes Mone and Athena have nothing to prove. They have collectively done it all while their opponents have barely done anything. What they do need is purpose. Athena continues grinding away in largely unseen ROH. Mone floats in and out of programs, parading her collection of belts while seething about the one she can’t win. This is a transitional program, nothing more, nothing less. Even though Mercedes and Athena should never, ever lose to The Babes, somehow they will.

Prediction: Babes of Wrath retain

AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander defends against Jamie Hayter

Jamie Hayter is trapped where Kris Statlander used to live: talented, credible, clearly capable of more, but unable to shift the energy around her. Blood and Guts was a proper spectacle, but that was a group effort. Her injury layoff didn’t just stall her momentum; it erased it. The in-ring work still hits. The strikes are still crispy. Between the bells remains vibrant, but everything surrounding it feels inert. Timing is everything in pro wrestling and Hayter’s timing has been cruel. 

Statlander is no longer a what-if. She’s established. She’s bona fide. She wrestles like someone who belongs at the very top. Her reign has been about legitimacy more than spectacle. It’s solid more than spectacular. For a wrestler who spent years lost in the creative wilderness, that consistency is everything.

If you’re frustrated with Hayter’s position, Statlander is the proof of concept. This is what making it out the other side looks like. Hayter doesn’t need to win to benefit here (though it wouldn’t hurt); she needs to remind people who she is. Statlander needs to keep doing what she’s been doing: beating excellent wrestlers clean and stacking wins.

Prediction: Statlander

AEW World Champion Samoa Joe defends against Swerve Strickland, Hangman Page and MJF in a four-way

Strip away the noise, the borrowed outrage, the winking-at-the-camera seriousness, and what you’re left with is a ridiculous amount of star power sharing one ring. That’s the frustrating part. This didn’t need help.

Samoa Joe is gravity. He warps the match simply by standing there, turning every exchange into something consequential. Swerve is violence with intent, a main eventer who has long since crossed the moral event horizon and never looked back. Hangman remains AEW’s emotional barometer, even when his righteousness becomes something more interesting and dangerous. MJF is still the company’s great disruptor, incapable of existing in a scene without bending it toward himself, sometimes for better, often for worse.

If we could wipe away the last few weeks of Diddy-related promo work, this match would be much better served. All they needed to do was ring the bell for this to feel special. I can’t shake the feeling that we’re in for another MJF title reign, especially with Dynamite Diamond ring wearing Bandido waiting for the winner on January 14.

Prediction: MJF