AEW Worlds End 2024 Review
We’ve reached the final AEW event of the year.
2024 has been a wild year for the company. There was a lot of positivity to focus on, but if you’re being honest with yourself, there was more than enough negativity there, as well.
As I’ve said on numerous occasions in the past, the company tends to deliver on pay-per-view, no matter what else is going on, so let’s go ahead and get things underway.
Will Ospreay vs Kyle Fletcher – Continental Classic Semifinal Match
Tonight’s show is coming to us from the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida. It’s a small-to-mid sized arena, and the venue is set up for 7,000 seats, with the show being close to a sell out as of the start of the pre-show. Everything looks good. Things are well lit, as there aren’t large chunks of the arena needing to be blacked out because tickets weren’t sold there.
The winner of this match, and the winner of Kazuchika Okada vs Ricochet, will go on to face each other later tonight to crown the Continental Classic winner. I know what matchup I’m rooting for, that’s for sure. If you know anything about me, you know I’m down for Ospreay vs Okada.
Mere minutes into the opening match of the pay-per-view, we have blood. Ospreay has been busted open, and his blood is dripping all over his face, down his torso, and onto the mat. After Fletcher hits Ospreay with a handful of Kawada kicks, his white boots are completely stained red with Ospreay’s blood. On multiple occasions, Fletcher licks Ospreay’s blood off of his fingers. This certainly isn’t going to help change the minds of a lot of AEW detractors out there. I can already hear Eric Bischoff’s upcoming rant on 83 Weeks, angry about the “blood and guts” in AEW and how dumb he feels it is.
Since being busted open, Ospreay is essentially wrestling as a one-eyed man. His right eye has been almost completely taken away from him, with blood continuing to pour down his face. With that said, he continues to be as crisp as ever, hitting transitions and reversals, and nailing strikes with ease. This guy is insane.
Hey, speaking of insane, how about a headbutt battle between both men? Fletcher is a bloody mess now, too… but it’s all Ospreay’s blood. It’s quite the visual, either way.
Back. Forth. Back. Forth. Back. Forth. That was an insane final few minutes of the match, with Ospreay being able to pull out the victory. The best thing about that is the fact that both men seemed to be holding back a bit, probably because Ospreay looked like a murder victim and still has another match later in the show. This was still a blast. 4.25 Stars, and as I said, it could’ve been a lot better.
Kazuchika Okada vs Ricochet – Continental Classic Semifinal Match
It’s truly hilarious that someone… either Ricochet himself or Tony Khan… saw how corny people see the man as, and they decided making him an even bigger cornball on-screen was the play.
This is the first ever singles match between Okada and Mr. O’Shea. If you don’t count the Casino Gauntlet Match at All In(nit) earlier this year, this is the first time these two have been in the same match since a six-man tag in New Japan all the way back in 2015.
My goodness, Ricochet is even awful at this whole speaking thing when he trash talks with fans at ringside. He might be one of the worst “talkers” in wrestling history when you consider how far his career has gone based on pure in-ring ability alone.
AEW fans love them some Okada to begin with, even though he’s a heel, but man, they’re super behind him tonight. I’m well aware it’s because he’s facing Ricochet, but my point remains. They’re hot for everything Okada does.
The story here is the same as the opening match of the show. Lots of exciting, back-and-forth action, but you could tell that both men weren’t quite going 100%. The most important thing, though, is that Okada won this match, which means… Ospreay vs Okada later tonight! My body is ready. 4 Stars
After the match, Swerve Strickland makes his way onto the stage and cuts a promo on Ricochet. Swerve says that Ricochet talks a lot of “mess,” and that there’s a good way to clean up a mess. Cue Prince Nana, who brings a wagon full of toilet paper out. Nana hands the toilet paper out to everyone in the front row, and on Swerve’s signal, the fans throw the toilet paper into the ring, completely covering Ricochet, who just stands there and seethes. For old school Ring Of Honor fans, it’s fun to see Prince Nana involved in the positive side of fans throwing toilet paper at a wrestler. Rest in peace, Jimmy Rave.
Mariah May vs Thunder Rosa – Tijuana Street Fight for the AEW Women’s Title
Does anyone realize that this match is taking place in Orlando, and not Tijuana? Just asking.
This match has been off to a bit of a weird start. When AEW does the hardcore style matches, even with the women, there’s a certain level of violence that is reached. This one feels more like a WWE hardcore match, from the actual moves to the usage of aluminum trash cans and gimmicked “walls” to crash through.
IMMEDIATELY after I finished typing that sentence, Thunder Rosa grabs a piñata and breaks it open, sending hundreds of thumbtacks pouring out onto the ring apron. It backfires on her, though, as she takes a May Day onto the tacks. They’re definitely real tacks, as Rosa has blood on a few different spots on her back.
Well, that was certainly something. Half WWE hardcore match, quarter AEW hardcore match, and quarter local independent hardcore match. The ending saw Mariah reach into a bag of “dirt from a Tijuana graveyard” and need two attempts to throw it into Thunder Rosa’s eyes. After that, Mariah delivered the ugliest (in a good way) piledriver ever from the ring apron and through a table at ringside, and the champion retains. I just couldn’t get into the match. AEW has done so many matches of that style, and they were almost all better than this. It wasn’t terrible… it just wasn’t all that entertaining to me. 2.75 Stars
MJF vs Adam Cole – Singles Match for the Dynamite Diamond Ring
If there is a God of any kind, anywhere… this will be the last time we have to deal with this storyline. No matter who wins, this shit needs to go away and fuck off forever.
After a shot into the ring steps, Cole comes up bleeding from the forehead. Somewhere in Wyoming, Eric Bischoff is vibrating in anger.
Cole “injures” his ankle jumping from the turnbuckles, and now, the pace of the match has come to a near complete halt. MJF will hit Cole’s ankle, then walk around to talk trash, then hit Cole’s ankle, then walk around to talk trash again, and so on.
Oh, hey, now MJF is bleeding, after hitting the ring post.
lol @ Cole running the ropes just fine, but then using a heavy limp when he has to walk around. Okay, buddy.
MJF channels Eddie Guerrero by pretending to hit his head on the ring steps, which draws the attention of Referee Bryce Remsburg, who thinks Michael Bennett and Matt Taven did it to MJF. He throws both men out, and MJF uses the distraction to kick Cole in the little Adams to get the win. AEW’s continued fetish of making their refs look like morons is insane. Remsburg even looked around at ringside as if to ask what happened, and everyone was saying Bennett and Taven were innocent, but he threw them out, anyway.
After the match, MJF tries to attack Cole some more, but he is interrupted by Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly, who beat him down. Cole, KOR, and Roddy embrace in the ring, and are then joined by Taven and Bennett. I do not give a single, solitary fuck about any of that. The match was okay for what it was. 3 Stars, and I might be too generous there. Too much walking around and stalling for my liking.
Konosuke Takeshita vs Powerhouse Hobbs – AEW International Title Match
It seems the crowd is in agreement with me on what we’ve seen so far tonight. They were red hot for the first two matches, then slowed down for the next two matches. In the early stages of this one, they’re as quiet as they’ve been all night. It doesn’t help that Hobbs is selling a knee injury, which has slowed the pace down a bunch.
LMAO @ both men going up to the top turnbuckle, only for Hobbs to slip and almost fall once, and then slip and actually fall a second time, followed by a “please be careful” chant from the crowd when both men went back up again.
They got ANOTHER “please be careful” chant when they went back up AGAIN for a completely separate spot. Jesus.
This was a bit of a disappointment. Hobbs had to sell his knee for too much of the match, and they spent too much time trying to set things up from the top rope, sometimes successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully. It was a nice clash of styles when the action was able to go more than one move at a time without stopping. 3 Stars
Mercedes Moné vs Kris Statlander – AEW TBS Title Match
Their previous match was great, which means there is a lot of pressure on them to follow up with something equally as great, if not better, here. The show needs it, too, as there has been too much “filler” since the last really good match.
I love Stat’s power game, but it becomes an even more dangerous weapon when she’s facing someone as petite as Mercedes. Stat looks like a monster.
LOL @ the crowd booing Mercedes as she delivered the Eddie Guerrero Three Amigos suplexes, only to cheer her more and more as she kept going, finally stopping after delivering the Siete Amigos. LOL again @ Tony Schiavone calling it “Three Amigos Dos” on commentary. No, Tony. Just… no.
These two are so good in the ring together. Stat is a beast, Mercedes is one of the smoothest performers in women’s wrestling history, and they seem to be able to make magic together.
“Fight forever” chants. Well deserved.
A very clever pin from the champion, using leverage against the challenger to keep her shoulders pinned to the mat for a three count. Another fun one between these two. I’m going to give it 4.25 Stars, just like their match at Full Gear. I’ll have to watch that one again to see which of the two I liked more. Tony Schiavone is confident that this one was “much better” than their first bout. Pardon me if I don’t want to trust you just yet, Mr. Three Amigos Dos.
Will Ospreay vs Kazuchika Okada – Continental Classic Finals
I’ve seen every one of their matches against each other, but it’s still a “holy shit” moment to see them facing off at a North American pay-per-view of this magnitude. It’s even cooler to have Jim Ross on commentary for it. Just feels right.
I love that Ospreay is working this match with a ton of dry, crusty blood on his face, neck, chest, and in his hair. He could’ve had a shower or something, but no, the visual is more important, bruv!
Ospreay is trying and trying to keep the pace up to a level that he enjoys, but he has taken a helluva beating so far tonight. A headbutt from Okada opened up the wound on Ospreay’s head, and now, he’s bleeding a bunch yet again.
My Lord, what a match, especially the final stretch. The style won’t be for everyone, sure, but that would’ve fit right in as a Wrestle Kingdom main event. So, so good. Okada was just too much for the already battered, bruised, and bloody Ospreay to overcome. I completely understand why Okada would take the big AEW money to do “less work” here, but damn, I would really love to see the New Japan Okada show up and run roughshod on AEW. 4.5 Stars, and that might be underselling it.
Kenny Omega is back! After the match, Christopher Daniels comes out on stage and says that he is no longer an EVP for the company, but says he knows someone who is, which brings Omega out to a massive ovation from the crowd. Even Okada couldn’t help but smile when he heard Omega’s music.
Omega grabs the Continental Championship from the stage and enters the ring to present the title to Okada. Loud “holy shit” chants from the Orlando crowd for a simple face-off between the two men. No physicality or anything, but a definite tease that we’ll be getting Okada vs Omega sooner than later, and fuck the fucking fuck, I’m ready for that. There was a seemingly deliberate camera shot that framed both men having a stare down while the AEW All In Texas banner hung in the background between them. That’s six-and-a-half months from now. Can AEW wait that long? We’ll see.
Jon Moxley vs “Hangman” Adam Page vs “Switchblade” Jay White vs Orange Cassidy – Four-Way Match for the AEW World Title
It’s going to be difficult to follow Ospreay vs Okada, that’s for sure.
A triple-team power bomb through the announce table on Jon Moxley? Hmm… I feel like he knows what that move is all about.
After a couple minutes, Mox returns to the ring after the powerbomb spot, and he is bleeding from a cut on the back of his skull. Ouch.
Can someone start a GoFundMe to get Paul Turner some new shoes? I can’t imagine AEW Referees make a shit ton of money, but damn, the bottoms of his shoes are ALL fucked up. He looks like he’s been wearing the same pair since 1993.
Jay White drops Marina Shafir with a Blade Runner to a gigantic pop. Too many distractions from Moxley’s Moxlies, though, and it was enough for Mox to pick up the win. The champion retains the title. This was a good match, but it never quite reached a level higher than that. It’s similar to the entire story since the former Blackpool Combat Club members turned heel. They’re doing fine, but nothing to really take things to another level. 3.25 Stars
After the match, the group goes to continue their attack, but they’re interrupted by FTR and the returning Adam Copeland. FTR brawl with Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli while Copeland stands at ringside. After Wheeler and Claudio are dealt with, Copeland enters the ring for a face-to-face with Moxley, which draws a “holy shit” chant. Rated FTR send the heels scattering back through the crowd, and we go off the air with the announcement that Rated FTR will be facing off against Mox, Claudio, and Wheeler on Dynamite. Hey, that works for me.
The “worst” match of the night was still above average, and I have four matches (half the card) in the “great” category. It’s hard to complain about that too much. Worlds End definitely gets a recommendation from me if you haven’t already checked it out.
Now, here’s to hoping that we’re done with the Cole & MJF nonsense, and also that the return of Copeland and FTR allow the Moxley stuff to reach a different level.
Thank you for your time, and I’ll be right back here on Monday with my usual weekly column. Be good to each other, folks.
