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  • Ring of Honor Final Battle 2025 – Another Reminder of What is and What Could Be

    Ring of Honor Final Battle 2025 – Another Reminder of What is and What Could Be

    So let’s get this out of the way off the top – Final Battle was another strong outing for Ring of Honor’s pay-per-view-level shows under Tony Khan’s ownership. The brand has especially delivered in 2025 with three excellent shows, two of which included potential Match of the Year contenders. Final Battle didn’t have anything on that level, but still delivered from start to finish and we’ll speak more positively about it as this goes.

    However.

    Let’s get this out of the way because it needs to be said, and it is hardly the first time it has been said – Tony Khan needs to figure something out with Ring of Honor.

    Ring of Honor has been under Tony Khan’s ownership since he purchased it in 2022 as the promotion appeared to be on death’s door after the COVID-19 pandemic. It had already been struggling before the pandemic after many of its top names had left for either WWE or to begin AEW. With no crowds, it made things even harder for the promotion and it became clearer as time went on that parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group was open to moving on from pro wrestling.

    After announcing Ring of Honor would be scaling back costs heavily, Tony Khan swooped in to purchase the promotion. He has since put on three Ring of Honor pay-per-views every year, and expanded programming with a weekly show on the HonorClub subscription service in 2023.

    There would be some stories, angles, and feuds involving some of the champions, but it would either be dragged out or rushed based on how much time there is between the start of the angle to when one of the pay-per-views is. However, names like Athena, Lee Moriarty, Bandido, and Billie Starkz are just a few who have been able to use Ring of Honor to build themselves, with Athena in particular carrying the brand as its Women’s World Champion since December 2022.

    But don’t expect much more than that if you haven’t watched much of Ring of Honor in recent years, if at all.

    The show largely became AEW’s new Dark and Dark Elevation with random matches and only a few storylines going, if you’re lucky. In turn, it makes the pay-per-view shows come across as little more than a big, one-off independent show.

    Safe to say, something has to change with Ring of Honor.

    Tony Khan has hinted at receiving offers from networks for a weekly Ring of Honor show, but says none of them have been the “right deal” for the brand. That shouldn’t be the lone criteria, though, to make up for what looks like a lack of effort. At least, that’s how it appears from the outside looking in.

    Whether it is simply putting in more time and effort, handing the brand’s reins off to someone else, or whatever the solution is, it will simply continue to just “be there” in between the shows that draw out some degree of consistent effort.

    Now, that out of the way, its now time to talk about Final Battle 2025.

    Zero Hour

    The evening began with the pre-show, Zero Hour, and featured four matches:

    • The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd, Truth Magnum) vs. The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari w/ Mark Sterling and Stori Denali)
    • Zayda Steel vs. Leila Grey
    • Ace Austin vs. Lee Johnson
    • The Death Riders (Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta w/ Jon Moxley) vs. Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake, Zack Gibson)

    As with most pre-shows under the AEW and Ring of Honor umbrella, it was a solid hour of in-ring action and previewing the biggest matches on the main card. Ace Austin vs. Lee Johnson and the Death Riders vs Grizzled Young Veterans, in particular, ended the pre-show on very strong in-ring notes. Austin and Johnson are two guys in their late-20s who always look like they are wrestling with purpose while Garcia and Yuta showcase their newfound, but surprisingly strong, tag team chemistry against one of the most criminally underrated teams in the world in the GYV.

    Zayda Steel making her in-ring debut under AEW/RoH umbrella was also a big deal as she was one of the most-touted independent stars WWE signed under their new ID program in 2024. She decided not to re-up in 2025, and it was reported soon after, that there was interest in the 22-year-old sensation.

    Rating – 3.5/5

    As pre-shows go, it was a very good show to lead into Final Battle’s main card. The in-ring ramped up as it went on and delivered a notable headline with Steel’s debut. Beyond that, though it is what many longtime fans have come to expect.

    With that, its time to start the main card. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman would also be joined by Jon Moxley, who decided to stay for the opening matches.

    Ring of Honor Women’s Pure Championship Tournament Finals

    Kicking off Final Battle 2025 was the tournament finals to crown the first Ring of Honor Women’s Pure Champion. The match saw Billie Starkz taking Deonna Purrazzo, with Billie defeating Olympia and Yuka Sakazaki to get to the finals while Deonna beat Trish Adora in the first round and went on to the finals after Queen Aminata had to forfeit due to injury.

    Billie has long be viewed as a wunderkind, wrestling since she was 14-years-old and becoming a major standout on the independent scene before graduating high school. It carried over to a national stage as she’s continued to improve within AEW/RoH under Athena’s tutelage.

    Deonna, meanwhile, hasn’t had the strongest run since debuting for AEW in January 2024. While she started off strong with a feud and pay-per-view title match against Toni Storm, it started to appear like something wasn’t quite clicking. She still delivered in the ring, with an especially physical series of matches against Thunder Rosa during the summer of 2024, she had been used much more sparingly over 2025. She only started appearing with any consistency against with the announcement of the Women’s Pure Title, and seems to have rediscovered her swagger thanks to it.

    All this is to say that these two delivered as strong an opening as this style of match could deliver.

    Deonna, in particular, has long been known as more of a technician in a similar vain to Bryan Danielson or Zack Sabre Jr.

    She would ultimately win and be crowned the inaugural Pure Women’s Champion after catching Billie in her submission, the Venus de Milo, in the center of the ring and forced Billie to tap.

    RATING – 4/5

    It should come as no shock that two people as good in the ring as Deonna and Billie are that the opening match delivered. The Pure style, in particular, allows Deonna to shine due to her technical base, but Billie did not look out of place working within the ruleset and easily kept up with Deonna.

    30-Minute Iron Man Match – Lee Moriarty vs. Nigel McGuinness

    Following the opener, fans were treated to what may have been one of the best showcases of technical and scientific professional wrestling all year. The Ring of Honor Pure Champion Lee Moriarty faced off with Nigel McGuinness in a 30-minute Iron Man match, serving as the rubber match after each got a submission win against the other.

    And while the Pure Championship wasn’t on the line, the two wrestled like it was.

    Nigel is widely regarded as one of the best of his generation alongside names like Bryan Danielson, AJ Style, and Samoa Joe, while Lee is viewed as one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, today. The match reflected this as the two spent most of the 30-minutes trading holds and putting on a technical showcase, though the two weren’t shy in trading strikes.

    Shane Taylor, who was ringside, made his presence known at several times, as well, by either trying to distract Nigel or arguing with the referee.

    Lee would maintain control for most of the match, with Lee up three falls to one over Nigel entering the last two minutes. Despite the limited time, Nigel would quickly score three pinfalls back-to-back-to-back to go up 4-3 with only seconds left. Shane Taylor would land a massive punch on Nigel while he was outside, though, and roll him back in the ring for Lee to pick up the tying pinfall in the last possible moments.

    The match was declared a draw, though this wouldn’t sit well with Lee and he challenged Nigel to one more fall. Nigel returned to the ring and the match began under sudden death rules. The pair began trading roll-ups to score the final pin when Lee would finally catch Nigel in a bridging pin, only raising his shoulders off the mat at the last second to score the win.

    Nigel, who came out with the version of the Pure title belt he won in 2005, presented the belt to Lee in a show of respect following the match.

    RATING – 4.25/5

    Fans of scientific/technical wrestling were treated to one of the best displays of it all year with two of the proverbial masters. Lee continues to be one of the best technical wrestlers in the world and Nigel, who retired from in-ring competition in 2011, has gotten to remind fans just how good he was and still is.

    Ring of Honor Women’s World Television Championship – Red Velvet vs. Mercedes Mone

    It then transitioned to the second title match of the night as Mercedes Mone defended the Ring of Honor Women’s Television Championship against the former champion, Red Velvet.

    Mone originally beat Mina Shirakawa at AEW WrestleDream in October for the Interim Women’s TV title as Velvet was champion when she went out down with injury in July. Mone and Velvet would then face off on the November 17 Collision to unify the lineal and interim titles, with Mone winning ahead of her unsuccessful challenge for the AEW Women’s World Championship at Full Gear in November.

    Locking up in the rematch, this match was as physical a match as these two could have had. Mone, in particular, appeared to take full advantage of being the bigger of the two, which she can rarely say, and muscled Velvet around at multiple points in the match.

    Velvet wasn’t shy about hitting back hard, though, as she hit several hard punches and kicks to make some space when she needed to during the match.

    On top of that, the match was at almost 100 miles-an-hour right from the bell. Velvet and Mone had no qualms about going fast and trading several big spots over the course of the match, including Velvet hitting a rana from the middle rope to reverse what appeared to be an attempted avalanche tombstone.

    Velvet would finally pick up the win after reversing a Statement Maker into a pinfall to regain the TV title.

    RATING – 4.25/5

    The win makes Velvet only the third person in AEW or RoH to pin Mone since Mone joined AEW in March 2024. It is also the first title Mone has lost, bringing her total number of titles down from 13 to 12. She would be seen later in the night clutching her TBS title backstage when she was challenged to a TBS title match by Leila Grey at AEW Collision the following night, who would be unsuccessful in dethroning Mone.

    Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship – LFI vs. Adam Priest/Tommy Billington

    Next on the card was La Faccion Ingobernables, represented by Sammy Guevara and The Beast Mortos, taking on Adam Priest and ‘Dynamite Kid’ Tommy Billington for the RoH World Tag Team titles.

    Heading into the match, the titles were once again held up after it was revealed Sammy’s partner and title co-holder Rush needed to get knee surgery. Rush revealed on social media he had been working with a knee injury for years but couldn’t put off surgery anymore. His brother and stablemate Dralistico was also confirmed to be out due to injury and needed surgery.

    As a result, the tag titles were vacated and held up for the second time in 2025, with Sammy teaming with his other LFI stablemate Beast Mortos to take on the newer team of Adam Priest and Tommy Billington.

    The pair had been teaming in AEW and RoH in recent months after being thrown together for a tag team match on Collision against FTR in September. Since then, the two have continued teaming, mostly on Ring of Honor, where the two have discovered an uncanny and natural chemistry rather quickly.

    The teams had a good match, though nothing to write home about compared to what preceded them. Really, this match was here to keep the tag titles in LFI while continuing to build Billington and Priest as the burgeoning team that has plenty of upside, but isn’t quite there yet when it comes to winning the “big match.”

    RATING – 3/5

    A solid match, overall, but again nothing that stands out all that much. Sammy continues to be a standout personality, with LFI seemingly help him shake any remnants of his long association with Chris Jericho off completely. Sammy and Mortos were also scheduled to be in the Survival of the Fittest match for the World Title a little later, so it wasn’t a surprise to seem the two avoid doing anything crazy here.

    Eddie Kingston vs. Josh Woods

    Next was Eddie Kingston taking on Josh Woods ahead of Kingston’s AEW World Title match against Samoa Joe on AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming.

    This match was announced earlier in the day, with Kingston requesting a match ahead of his title match the following week. Woods, who has only wrestled four other times in 2025 under the Ring of Honor banner.

    Much like the previous match, it was enjoyable but largely forgettable as it was there as a Kingston showcase more than anything. Woods did get in good strikes and holds against Kingston, but was ultimately hit with a half and half suplex and DDT by Kingston to score the win.

    RATING – 2.75/5

    There isn’t much to say about this match. Kingston and Woods always work very physical in their matches between the strikes, holds and suplexes so it is still an enjoyable watch. That said, it was easily the most forgettable match on the card.

    On a personal note, Woods is one of those people that, much like Ring of Honor on the whole, Tony Khan needs to figure something out with. It is possible a reason for Woods’ lack of appearances is by his own request due to personal reasons, which is his right and a more than fair reason. But if it isn’t and they have just been sitting on him, there is no excuse to not have Woods featured somewhere on AEW or Ring of Honor programming with some regularity.

    Ring of Honor World Six-Man Tag Team Championship – Shane Taylor Promotions vs. SkyFlight

    The show continued as Shane Taylor Promotions, represented by Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo, and Shawn Dean, defended the Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team titles against Scorpio Sky and Top Flight.

    Unlike the previous two matches, this had some build heading into Final Battle as SkyFlight and STP had been trading shots back and forth for several weeks. This included a win for Top Flight against Bravo and Dean, also known as The Infanty. This ultimately led to Sky throwing out the challenge for a title match at Final Battle, a challenge STP was all too happy to accept.

    What followed was a fun, chaotic 11-minute sprint of a match that saw everyone get involved in the match, including the teams’ seconds.

    As things started to devolve, Trish Adora tripped Dante Martin as he ran the ropes. Leila Grey tripped Carlie Bravo, in return, before the two women got into the ring and began fighting, taking it all the way to the back. Anthony Ogogo entered the ring, with the former Olympic boxer ready to deliver a knockout shot to Dante Martin. Christopher Daniels quickly got in and took Ogogo out with an Angel’s Wings, allowing the match to get focus back on the actual teams in the match.

    Darius Martin appeared to have the match in hand after taking out Bravo and Dean, poised to win the match and titles. However, Dean was able to escape an attempted suplex and push Martin into the ropes, who was met with a stiff right hand from Shane Taylor, causing Martin to fall back into a roll up from Dean to retain the six-man belts.

    RATING – 3.25/5

    It was an overall entertaining six-man tag as the show entered the home stretch, though it was nothing fans familiar with both teams were unfamiliar with. It also feels like there could be more in store from these groups, as it did feel like the six were holding back at times, but only time will tell if these two groups continue running afoul of each other.

    AEW National Championship – Ricochet vs. Dalton Castle

    In his first defense of the AEW National Championship, Ricochet put the belt up against Ring of Honor mainstay Dalton Castle.

    Ricochet won the newly minted title in the Casino Gauntlet at Full Gear in November, pinning Kevin Knight and completing his “quest for gold.” It had been confirmed beforehand, though, that the first title defense would be taking place at Final Battle against an opponent to be determined. Ricochet made that choice much easier on the following AEW Collision when he and the Gates of Agony attacked Dalton Castle and The Outrunners as the three made their entrance for a trios match. Following the show, Castle was named as Ricochet’s opponent and the two didn’t waste time trading barbs.

    As for the match itself, the two delivered a competitive match between two wrestlers who could not be any more different stylistically. Ricochet is one of the best high-flyers in the world while Castle has always blended his unique brand of colorful charisma with his background as an amateur wrestler.

    Each played to the other’s strengths, with Castle serving as a strong base for Ricochet’s athleticism which, in turn, made it easier for Castle to catch and transition Ricochet into one of many suplexes and holds.

    It remained back and forth for a majority of the match until Castle hit the Bangarang on Ricochet and appeared to have the match won. Ricochet, however, managed to kick out and roll out of the ring to catch his breath. Castle gave chase only to have one of his Boys thrown at him, allowing Ricochet to get back in the ring and set up to hit a Spirit Gun against Castle as he reentered the ring and score the win, retaining his title in the process.

    Rating – 4/5

    Ricochet and Castle made fantastic dance partners for this match, with them meshing in a way that may have caught some fans by surprise. Ricochet continues to thrive under the AEW/RoH umbrella roughly a year and a half after making the jump from WWE to AEW while Castle looks like he is back in top shape after missing nearly a year due to a torn bicep.

    Ring of Honor World Championship Survival of the Fittest Match

    It is now time to discuss one of the two world title matches scheduled for this show. First is the Survival of the Fittest Match for the Ring of Honor World Championship pitting the champion Bandido against Hechicero, Blake Christian, Sammy Guevara, The Beast Mortos, and Komander.

    The match was announced on November 27 by Tony Khan, who later confirmed Bandido was originally going to defend the title against Rush. Due to his knee injury, it was quickly changed to a Survival of the Fittest match that would see Sammy and Mortos pulling double duty on Final Battle, Hechicero get his third shot at the title, while Christian and Komander had been circling the men’s singles championships in the months before.

    Given the six involved, there was plenty of crazy high-flying and dangerous spots for fans to watch in amazement and, at times, horror at the risk involved. One in particular saw Komander standing on Bandido’s shoulders as Bandido slowly walked to the edge of the ring. Komander attempted to jump off Bandido’s shoulders but appeared to just fall back into Sammy, Mortos, and Hechicero on the outside in what was likely meant to be a moonsault by Komander on to the three.

    Thankfully no one was seriously hurt and the fall still accomplished what Komander and Bandido set out to do.

    In his third successful outing on Ring of Honor pay-per-view in 2025, Bandido walked away still Ring of Honor World Champion. Sammy would be the first eliminated, followed shortly after by Beast Mortos. Christian then eliminated Komander before he and Hechicero were eliminated by Bandido.

    RATING – 4/5

    While it didn’t measure up to Bandido’s last two defenses on Ring of Honor pay-per-view, it was still a worthy pay-per-view title match to bring what has a been a career year for the luchador to an end. Christian, Sammy, Mortos, Komander, and Hechicero continued to look strong, as well, getting multiple moments to shine over the over 27-minute elimination match.

    Ring of Honor Women’s World Championship – Athena vs. Persephone

    In the main event of Final Battle, Athena put the Women’s World Championship on the line against CMLL standout Persephone.

    The 24-year-old has wrestled on AEW and Ring of Honor shows multiple times in 2025, most notably challenging Mercedes Mone for the TBS Championship at AEW Forbidden Door in a four way that included AEW’s Alex Windsor and Stardom’s Bozilla. Mercedes would emerge the victor, but Persephone continued to turn heads and would be brought back sporadically in the following months.

    Heading into Final Battle, Persephone challenged Athena for a title match at the show saying she felt owed a match after she and Thunder Rosa defeated Athena and Red Velvet in a tag match in Arena Mexico from Ring of Honor’s Global Wars Mexico special. Athena accepted to Persephone’s face after the latter wrestled in a match on the weekly Ring of Honor show. Persephone would get the advantage before Diamante jumped her, joining Athena as her newest Minion.

    And in a shock to likely no one, Athena and Persephone would close out Final Battle with a main event worthy of most major shows.

    Athena has easily been one of the best wrestlers, man or woman, in the years for the last two to three years, main eventing multiple Ring of Honor shows and having standout matches globally against names including Willow Nightingale, Momo Watanabe, Saya Kamitani, and La Catalina in everything from singles matches for the Ring of Honor Women’s World title to chaotic multi-person tag matches.

    Meanwhile, Persephone has continued her meteoric rise in CMLL as one their standout women thanks to her combination of size, power, and athleticism. 2025, in particular, has been a big year for her between her international exposure and within CMLL, most notably winning the 2025 CMLL International Women’s Grand Prix for Team Mexico.

    All this and more was on display in the main event, with Persephone able to match Athena’s athleticism and Athena matching Persephone’s power at multiple points. The two weren’t shy about their strikes, either, laying in stiff shots multiple times over the course of the 27-minute match.

    Diamante would join Athena at ringside, though she would not involve herself in the match save for a moment where she helped Athena to her feet while on the outside, only to eat a heavy forearm strike from Persephone that was meant for Athena.

    In the closing stretch, Persephone would go for multiple big moves as she tried to put the match away and end Athena’s historic 1000+ day reign. She would post on top of one of the turnbuckles preparing for a moonsault, only for Athena to catch her and hit a massive avalanche German suplex from the top. Athena quickly capitalized, going to another turnbuckle and hitting the O-Face to win.

    RATING – 4.5/5

    As has almost become standard when Athena is in the main event of a Ring of Honor show, consistently delivering great matches to send the crowd home happy. Persephone more than matched her, though, continuing to prove why she has emerged in 2025 as one of CMLL’s biggest standouts, man or woman, during what has been a boom period for the world’s oldest promotion. It would not at all be surprising if she finds herself joining the elite “dual contract club,” as well, alongside names like Hechicero, Konosuke Takeshita, and Kevin Knight, all three of whom are signed to AEW while also being signed to CMLL or New Japan Pro-Wrestling as part of the three companies’ partnership.

    OVERALL RATING – 4/5

    While the weekly product has plenty of issues that needs to be resolved, Ring of Honor continues to deliver on pay-per-view. The women, in particular, had some of the best outings of the evening as all three title matches delivered in the ring and could easily be considered the top three matches of the night.

    The middle stretch of the show, however, does bring the show down a bit. Nothing was bad, but nothing stood out between the World Tag Title match and Woods vs. Kingston while the Six-Man Title Match didn’t go long enough to make any major dent.

    That said, it was still a worthwhile show and one worth taking the time to sit down and watch.

  • Just How Important is Titus to Warhammer 40,000’s future?

    Just How Important is Titus to Warhammer 40,000’s future?

    While Warhammer 40,000 has been around since 1987, the grimdark sci-fi universe has only really started to push into mainstream pop culture over the last decade. The endless wars consuming the Imperium of Man and the 41st millennium has been adapted to streaming TV, video games, countless books and more, and the future looks even brighter with Henry Cavill’s upcoming Amazon Prime live-action series.

    The future for the Imperium, itself, within the universe does not look nearly as bright.

    While the Primarchs Roubute Guilliman and Lion El’Jonson have returned to lead the Imperium, enemies surround it on all sides and 10,000 years of rot and decay is consuming it internally. It seems like only a matter of time until humanity finds itself struggling to survive on a dwindling population like the Eldar, or worse.

    It is at this time that another character within the Imperium has found the spotlight – Demetrian Titus.

    Titus was introduced in the 2011 hack-and-slash shooter from Relic and THQ, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. Then-Captain Titus of the Ultramarines 2nd Company was dispatched to an Imperium arms manufacturing world to protect it from an Ork invasion. Over the course of the battle, Titus’ would be touched by Chaos, the demonic powers that reside in another plane called the Warp, but not be tempted by the ruinous powers. He would successfully push back the Ork and Chaos invaders, but find himself at the mercy of the Imperium’s internal police, The Inquisition, because of his connection to Chaos and the Warp.

    And that was it for just about a decade from Titus. He was taken away by the Inquisition and almost nothing, save for the odd reference to the game, was ever said about Titus.

    That changed with the announcement of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 in December 2011. It was confirmed that Titus was returning to the lore in a big way. Between the announcement and the game’s 2024 release, Games Workshop slowly filled out the lore to cover what happened to Titus between the two games.

    It was revealed he was held in captivity and underwent torture and interrogation for a century. It was only after the possession and death of the Inquisitor holding him that Titus was found to be free from the touch of Chaos, the former Ultramarine Captain would join the Inquisition’s anti-xenos Space Marine chapter, Deathwatch, as a Black Shield, a Marine who has severed all bonds to their previous chapter, for roughly another hundred years.

    It was at this point that Space Marine 2 takes place, returning Titus to the Ultramarines amid a Tyranid invasion on the jungle planet Kadaku. Now a Lieutenant, Titus fought the Tyranids across Kadaku and its neighboring planet, Avarax, before Chaos Space Marines began invading and pull the Ultramarines 2nd Company to the grave planet Demerium.

    It was during this Titus would meet the Ultramarines’ Chapter Master, Marneus Calgar, and put his strange resistance to Chaos on display for his Chapter-brothers to see. It was even hinted that Titus may have a connection with the Emperor of Man, the Imperium’s founder who exists almost solely as a psychic presence in the Warp while his physical body rots away on the Golden Throne on Earth.

    After the events of Space Marine 2, Titus would return as part of Warhammer 40k’s episode on the Amazon Prime series Secret Lair.

    The episode, titled ‘And They Shall Know No Fear,’ Titus is part of a squad deployed to a planet overtaken by the powers of Chaos. They cut their way through hordes of cultists and descend into the planet to destroy the source of the corruption. Two of Titus’ squadmates are ultimately killed and the squad leader, revealed to be the Marine that recruited Titus when he was a child, by a demon using their deepest, darkest fear. Titus, however, had no fear for it to prey upon and the demon had its power turned back on itself and killed.

    And most recently, the next major narrative expansion to Warhammer 40k’s tabletop game was titled ‘500 Worlds’ and will have Titus at the center.

    The expansion follows Titus, once again a Captain and now commander of the Ultramarines 2nd Company. He is tasked by Guilliman, himself, to do the impossible – retake the worlds once under Ultramar’s banner and reunite the 500 Worlds.

    It has been clear as day that Games Workshop is position Titus to be a character of significant importance in the universe going forward. He has rubbed shoulders with some of the most important characters in the Imperium, even Guilliman, and tasked with something of significant importance to the Primarch.

    Titus is VERY important.

    Where the question lies is just how important will Titus be in the universe’s long-term narrative future?

    It is obvious Games Workshop has some plans for Titus, especially with the teases of his connection to the Emperor. Only a handful of characters have communed with or maybe even bestowed a small piece of the Emperor’s power, so to be among names like the Primarchs or Saint Celestine from the Sisters of Battle is a big deal.

    There’s also the scale of the task he has been trusted with.

    Titus has basically been ordered by Guilliman to conduct a smaller version of the Emperor’s Great Crusade over 10,000 years earlier. Titus isn’t blind to this task, either, and believes it impossible to achieve given the sheer number of threats and stagnation engulfing the Imperium in the 42nd Millennium. He will, however, adhere to his Primarch’s command and begin his quest to reunite the 500 worlds, even if it takes his life.

    And then there’s the fact Titus has been the star of two major pieces adaptations within a matter of months between Space Marine 2 and Secret Level.

    One possibility is that Games Workshop could be positioning Titus to be a major crossover character as Warhammer 40k continues pushing into mainstream pop culture. Games Workshop may believe they have a character that can be someone audiences can point to, akin to Luke Skywalker to Star Wars or Batman to DC.

    There’s also the possibility Titus could find his way into the Henry Cavill-led Amazon Prime series, whether it be as a major character or even just a cameo, and maybe even let Titus’ current voice and face Clive Standen portray him in live action.

    Whatever the future holds, fans should expect to see Titus around in Warhammer 40,000 for a long time.

  • AEW Full Gear 2025 – A Stop-Gap on the Road to the C2

    AEW Full Gear 2025 – A Stop-Gap on the Road to the C2

    AEW Full Gear 2025 has come and past and, in spite of what some on social media may claim, people are actually talking about the show.

    Heading into the 2025 edition of Full Gear, there was talk that the show felt thrown together out of circumstance. Multiple rematches up and down the card and a match for an active tournament that was for a match stipulation, not any advancement in the actual tournament, all held together by narrative threads that felt more convenient than planned. It did not hold this show back from delivering, though, and it certainly did in match quality and surprises.

    Let’s get this talking point out of the way first, though – the crowd.

    Much has been said about the noise, and lack thereof, the crowd in attendance at the Prudential Center made for most of the night. One factor was likely show length, as this was another 4+ hour AEW pay-per-view, which is a whole separate conversation in itself. That said, there were still moments early in the evening where the crowd would react much despite the work in the ring.

    It can happen to any wrestling show, no matter the size, on any given night and may not ultimately be worth any hassle.

    Now, on to the rest of the show.

    Tailgate Brawl

    As with the last two pay-per-views, fans could tune in early on HBO Max and TNT for the Tailgate Brawl. It featured four tag matches, though like the WrestleDream Tailgate Brawl the last match would bleed into the start of the main pay-per-view.

    First was the $200,000 four-way tag match that saw Austin Gunn and Juice Robinson beat The Outrunners, Big Bill and Bryan Keith, and Max Caster and Anthony Bowens. QT Marshall and Big Boom AJ then beat RPG Vice, followed by Eddie Kingston and HOOK defeating The WorkHorsemen. To close out the Tailgate Brawl, Konosuke Takeshita, Hechicero, and Kazuchika Okada challenged El Sky Team for the CMLL World Trios Titles.

    The trios match would ultimately lead off the main pay-per-view as Takeshita and Hechicero jumped El Sky Team while Okada hadn’t arrived yet. The two Don Callis Family members seemingly injured Mistico and turned this trios match into a normal tag match against Mascara Dorada and Neon. However, Okada arrived promptly and made his full entrance while Hechicero and Takeshita fought Dorada and Neon.

    The three Don Callis Family members would dominate this portion of the match, but was unable to land a pinfall. Dorada and Neon began to regain some ground thanks to rising tensions between Okada and Takeshita and Mistico rejoined the match to even off the teams. Mistico would ultimately win the match to retain the titles for El Sky Team after isolating Hechicero and forcing him to tap to La Mistica.

    Rating – 3/5

    It is a fun, but forgettable opening to the pay-per-view, especially since nearly all of the most worthwhile match takes place on the pay-per-view, itself, meaning anyone who didn’t pay for the show misses it.

    PAC vs. Darby Allin

    This leads us into the true “opening match” for Full Gear as PAC, representing the Death Riders, took on Darby Allin.

    PAC challenged Allin to a match at Full Gear the week previously after the Death Riders were defeated in Blood and Guts. The Bastard believed in spite of the team’s loss, he walked out the true winner after inflicting the damage he did to Darby. This included Darby being thrown through a flaming table from the top of one of the entrance tunnels.

    PAC made his entrance first, coming through the crowd as the Death Riders typically do. Allin then made his entrance heavily bandaged as a result of the Blood and Guts match. Many of his burns from going through the flaming table were still visible across his body.

    The match began slow, with the two feeling each other out and trading locks. As time passed, though, the match became much faster and more physical, which isn’t a surprise given the two involved.

    Darby would eventually manage to catch PAC and lock in the Scorpion Death Lock in the center of the ring. However, Wheeler Yuta would run out to distract the ref while Allin broke the hold to try and deal with the Death Rider. PAC would grab a bat planted by Yuta in one of the corners and hit Darby, which was enough to get PAC the pinfall.

    Rating – 3.75/5

    Darby and PAC started the show off on the right foot with a well-built match that ramped up the physicality at a steady pace. However, it definitely felt like the two were holding back and have a better match just waiting in the chamber.

    AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship Tournament Semi-Finals Stipulation Match

    Second on the show was the Timeless Love Bombs (Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa) vs. Babes of Wrath (Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron) vs. Sisters of Sin (Skye Blue and Julia Hart) vs. Marina Shafir and Megan Bayne in a match where the winner would get to pick the stipulation for the semi-final match in the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship Tournament.

    Sisters of Sin would make their entrance first, followed by the Babes of Wrath then Megan Bayne and Marina Shafir. Toni and Mina made their entrance last, doing their second full entrance as a team.

    The match got underway and was what most would have thought this would be. Megan and Marina would use their mix of power and technique to isolate an opponent, while Julia and Skye used more underhanded tactics. Harley and Mina would be the one’s isolated most often while Willow or Toni would tag in to swing the momentum back for their teams.

    It ultimately came down to Toni and Harley in the ring, trading pin attempts back and forth before Toni was able to catch Harley in a package pin to win the match. It means the Timeless Love Bombs will get to pick the stipulation for their upcoming AEW Women’s World Tag Team Title semi-final match against Marina Shafir and Megan Bayne.

    Rating – 3/5

    It was a fun four-way match to follow the opener, but wasn’t anything special either since this was effectively a bonus match for the ongoing tournament.

    AEW Men’s World Tag Team Championship – Brodido vs. FTR

    Third on the card was Bandido and Brody King, aka Brodido, defending the AEW Men’s World Tag Team Championship against FTR.

    Stokely gave FTR’s entrance a little extra with an opening video of Stokely walking up on the clip of Brodido pinning FTR to win the tag titles at AEW Forbidden Door in August. Meanwhile, Brodido got some extra pyro for their pay-per-view entrance to reflect their success during the summer and fall.

    As fans suspected with the four wrestlers involved, it was the first truly great match of the evening.

    FTR have proven time and time again that when they are on pay-per-view, they deliver. It is to say nothing of the incredible chemistry between Brody and Bandido, who have been able to use a decade-long friendship as the foundation of their in-ring success. It doesn’t hurt that there may be no wrestler having a better year than Bandido in terms of sheer match quality.

    It was the typical back and forth fair, with FTR working to isolate the smaller Bandido before he would give them the slip and tag in Brody, who would throw his weight around quite literally.

    The match would end with Brody being taken out by a Cash Wheeler dive to the outside, isolating Bandido. FTR proceeded to land every big finisher in their arsenal, but to no avail as Bandido continued to kick out. This included the spike piledriver, eliciting the biggest reaction from the crowd to that point in the night. FTR then hit one more Shatter Machine to synch the match and their third AEW Men’s World Tag Team Title reign.

    Rating – 4.25/5

    As mentioned, FTR and Brodido delivered big time on pay-per-view that capped off Brodido’s reign which has helped breath new life into the tag division.

    It was, more importantly, a masterclass on how to make someone in a loss and that is exactly what FTR did at Full Gear for Bandido. The reigning Ring of Honor World Champion felt like his stardom was solidified in this match, which seems to be par for the course when it comes to FTR. It is another star for the luchador in what has been a career year with two potential matches of the year, one against Konosuke Takeshita and the other against Hechicero.

    AEW National Championship Casino Gauntlet

    The second title match of the evening followed with the Casino Gauntlet match to crown the first AEW National Champion.

    The belt, itself, was presented onstage on a pedestal for everyone to see. It is the most retro design AEW has used for one of its belts with a design reminiscent of the NWA World Television Championship.

    Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin started off the match after winning one and two, respectively, on the previous episode of Dynamite. Ricochet entered third and distracted the Hurt Syndicate, allowing Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona to jump Lashley and Benjamin.

    Ricochet enjoyed a moment of peace before the countdown clock appeared, believing he was ready for the next challenger. His mood quickly changed when the entrant was revealed to be Claudio Castagnoli. Daniel Garcia, Claudio’s fellow Death Rider, followed before Orange Cassidy made his entrance. Wheeler Yuta then completed the Death Riders in the match so the three could isolate Orange Cassidy. The next two entrants, Kevin Knight and Roderick Strong, helped stop the Death Riders and break things up.

    Mark Davis of the Don Callis Family then joined the match, wrestling like he had something to prove. It included hitting massive piledrivers to Knight and Ricochet.

    ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey entered next to complete JetSpeed, though the tag partners would not hesitate to throw down during the match.

    Garcia would manage to get Bailey in a sharpshooter when his former mentor, ‘Daddy Magic’ Matt Menard, joined the match. The two didn’t hesitate getting in each other’s face and begin brawling, eventually taking their fight out into the crowd and backstage.

    The closing moments of the match saw Yuta hit Cassidy with a busaiku knee and attempt a pin only for Knight to break it up. Knight would then hit the UFO on Yuta, but would get caught with a Spirit Gun from Ricochet to see The Demand’s leader become the first AEW National Champion.

    Rating – 3.5/5

    At this point, AEW has the Casino Gauntlet down to a science and scales it appropriately to match whatever the match is for. While Full Gear’s Casino Gauntlet likely won’t be remembered as one of the better editions of the match, it still delivered and managed to give Menard and Garcia a major pay-per-view moment to continue their feud.

    Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jon Moxley – No Holds Barred

    O’Reilly and Moxley were up next in the third of their recent string of singles matches, with this one being a no holds barred match.

    Coming into the match, Moxley was out to prove that the struggles he’s faced in matches against O’Reilly and ultimately submitting to O’Reilly in the Blood and Guts match was all a fluke. He was set to remind everyone why he started the Death Riders, why he is their leader, and why he will remain on top.

    The match truly leaned into a more literal version of no holds barred as Moxley and O’Reilly leaned more on their MMA training for much of the match. Given the two involved in the match, this likely did not surprise many fans come match time.

    This also proved to be the first match where the crowd was very noticeable. It was quiet for much of the match, though they did come alive for some weapon spots and the closing sequence of the match.

    By the end of the match, O’Reilly and Moxley were both bloody and tired thanks to trading everything from submission holds to forks in the head. The two began trading locks once again, with Moxley Pillmanizing O’Reilly’s arm and wrenching on it. O’Reilly would manage to maneuver out of it and catch Moxley in an ankle lock. Moxley would try pulling on the ropes but O’Reilly would release the hold only to drag Moxley back and stop on his ankle. O’Reilly then wrapped a chain around Moxley’s ankle and use it for some extra wrench on a Muta Lock, ultimately forcing Moxley to tap out.

    Frustrated, Moxley would give a nod of respect to O’Reilly before going to leave. O’Reilly then collapsed in the ring, prompting Roderick Strong and AEW’s medical team to rush to him. Moxley noticed this and seemingly took offense, prompting him to come back and attack O’Reilly more before Claudio Castagnoli got Moxley to back off. The Death Riders followed their leader, though not without some noticeable hesitation in their faces.

    Rating – 4.25/5

    The third match in O’Reilly and Moxley’s latest series of matches delivered on exactly what these two do best – grapple. Don’t let the crowd fool you, it is some of O’Reilly and Moxley’s best mat work that managed to integrate some weapon spots that didn’t feel out of place or over-do it, which ended up being for the best given the match that followed.

    TNT Championship No DQ Match – Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe

    Following the grappling showcase came, arguably, the match of the night for the TNT Championship. The champion, Kyle Fletcher, was putting the title up one more time against Mark Briscoe who agreed to join the Don Callis Family if he lost.

    The sixth match in this singles series, Fletcher and Briscoe managed to one-up their show-stealing match from WrestleDream thanks to the No Disqualification stipulation. It allowed these two to up the violence noticeably, which they did and then some. It was also helped from the previous match not overdoing it with weapon and high spots.

    As with their previous matches, Briscoe and Fletcher would trade control back-and-forth. Briscoe would typically get ahead by being a little more violent before over-committing on something, offering Fletcher an opening to take advantage of.

    It would continue this way, ultimately leading to the two fighting for control on top of a turnbuckle to try and put the other through a barbed wire-wrapped table. Briscoe managed to catch Fletcher, hitting a super-Razor’s Edge through the barbed-wire-wrapped table. Briscoe then hit a Jay Driller for extra measure to secure the win and the TNT Championship.

    Rating 4.75/5

    My personal match of the night, Fletcher and Briscoe know how good their chemistry is and take full advantage of it in this match. This was meant to help Fletcher in a similar way to Randy Orton’s Hardcore Match against Cactus Jack at WWE Backlash 2004 or Triple H vs. Cactus Jack in a Street Fight at the 2000 Royal Rumble. While Fletcher had shown he had no problem getting violent, it means more to be able to meet Briscoe in the way Orton and Triple H were able to with Mick Foley. In doing so, it provided a great feel-good moment and frees up Fletcher to move on to bigger and better things.

    $1,000,000 Match – Kenny Omega and Jurassic Express vs. Josh Alexander and the Young Bucks

    Following the No DQ came the evening’s “PWG party match” that saw Kenny Omega and Jurassic Express take on the Young Bucks and Josh Alexander for $1,000,000.

    In the lead up to the match, the Don Callis Family had been trying to woo the Young Bucks to their side by getting them “money matches” and their entrance back after being mocked for months following All In Texas. Matt and Nick Jackson seemed receptive to what Callis was offering, especially when it came to the financial gains they would get after losing their EVP status.

    It still was not clearly known where things stood between the Bucks and Kenny Omega.

    Josh Alexander would regularly target Omega during the match, even prompting the Bucks to attack Omega, specifically, at multiple points. Jurassic Express would intervene when it could, though it usually resulted in Jack Perry getting cut off from his team. Perry would manage to hit some big offense on the Bucks and Alexander so he could tag in Luchasaurus, who wasted no time clearing the opposition from the ring.

    The Bucks would eventually find themselves in the center of the ring, hitting Superkicks on almost anything that moves. They would kick Omega, Perry, and Luchasaurus multiple times before inadvertently kicking Alexander, who was then hit with a One-Winged Angel by Omega on the floor. Perry attempted to roll up Matt Jackson, followed by a bridge that was rolled into a BTE-Trigger by the Bucks and Matt Jackson scoring the pin.

    After the match, Don Callis entered the ring alongside Family members Rocky Romero, Hechicero, Mark Davis, and Clon to celebrate the Bucks seemingly joining the Don Callis Family. Alexander then led the other family members in attacking Omega and Jurassic Express, which caught the Bucks’ attention. Callis attempted to convince the Bucks to leave, but Matt and Nick ultimately threw down the money and ran back to save their former-friends. The Bucks and Jurassic Express would shake hands in a show of respect before Matt and Nick embraced Omega, reforming the original Elite for the first time since 2023.

    Rating – 3.75/5

    It is worth remembering this is the Kenny Omega of 2025, not 2021. Omega can still deliver big matches, though has scaled back the overall number of matches he does from previous years due in large part to his bout with diverticulitis.

    In the Bucks case, though, they can still deliver on the big stage without an issue. Jurassic Express and Josh Alexander made for welcome additions to things, offering some extra variety within the match itself to help it flow. However, much like PAC vs. Darby it felt like there was a better version of this match out there.

    AEW Women’s World Championship Match – Kris Statlander vs. Mercedes Mone

    This takes the semi-main spot on the show and saw AEW Women’s World Championship Kris Statlander defending against the TBS Champion Mercedes Mone. It was Mone’s second attempt at the AEW Women’s World Title after failing to defeat then-champion Toni Storm at All In Texas.

    Mone and Statlander stole the show at AEW Full Gear in 2024, where Statlander challenged for Mone’s TBS Championship. Statlander would lose and challenge again at World’s End 2024, but lost again. It was this history Mone played on to try and keep Statlander off balance, while the defending champion warned Mone that she was not the same person she beat in 2024.

    This was the next match where the crowd silence was extremely noticeable, though it could have also been due to how late in the night it was, It didn’t stop Mone and Statlander from picking up where they left off in December of 2024. The two continued to lean on the size differences for their latest match, with Mone being the sneakier, faster opponent to catch Statlander off in between Statlander imposing her will on the match through sheer stregth,

    Mone eventually found herself in control but unable to put Statlander away for good. Mone would let enough time pass that Statlander would be able to counter a Mone Maker, leading to the two fighting for control. The two would capture each other’s arms or trade piledriver attempts before Statlander was able to catch Mone and hit the Staturday Night Fever to defeat Mone.

    Rating 4.5/5

    If the TNT Title match was the match of the night, the Women’s Title Match is a very close second at least. Mone and Statlander are two of the very best AEW has in between the ropes and delivered another great match in a banner year for the AEW women’s division.

    AEW Men’s World Championship Steel Cage Match – ‘Hangman’ Adam Page vs. Samoa Joe

    It is time for the main event, which saw Samoa Joe challenge AEW Men’s World Champion ‘Hangman’ Adam Page for the title in a steel cage match.

    A rematch from WrestleDream in September, Joe made his intention clear to take back the AEW Men’s World title and would do so however he could. Page did not take this sitting down, instead taking the fight to Joe multiple times including a notable segment where Page caught Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Katsuyori Shibata with their guards’ down by disguising himself as Tony Schiavone. Page then challenged Joe to a steel cage match at Blood and Guts, which Joe quickly accepted.

    The steel cage allowed Page and Joe to give the match the extra physicality it needed after their first match at WrestleDream. Page has regularly found himself in these more violent stipulation main event matches and delivers every time. Fans know if Page is in a match that doesn’t use DQs, it will be a bloody and violent affair and that’s just what they got.

    Joe didn’t look out of place, either, given his history across promotions including TNA, Ring of Honor, and WWE.

    As Hangman took control of the match at a crucial point, the other members of The Opps sprung into action. Shibata first attempted to climb over into the cage but was stopped by Eddie Kingston, who ran down to stop Shibata. The two proceeded to brawl their way to the back.

    In the midst of this, the referee gets taken out after Joe charged at Page, who managed to avoid most of the contact. Page then hit a Deadeye on Joe, but with the ref out there was no one to count the pin.

    Hobbs would then appear, ripping off the chain keeping the door locked. He charged at Page, who sidestepped Hobbs and let run into the cage. Joe attempted a coquina clutch, but Page was able to break it using an exposed turnbuckle before hitting the Buckshot Lariat since the door was open.

    HOOK came out to try and wake the ref as Joe and Page lay in the middle of the ring, but then reached for the AEW Men’s World title. He then hit Page with the belt before removing his jacket, revealing HOOK was indeed a member of The Opps. Joe then followed with a Muscle Buster to secure the win, making him a two-time AEW Men’s World Champion.

    Rating – 4/5

    Another strong main event performance by Page and Joe, alike, capping off a briefer reign as Men’s World Champion than his first. It also adds some much needed intrigue to the Men’s world title scene when it was needed as 2025 comes to a close.

    The show wasn’t done there, though, as AEW had one more surprise in store.

    As Joe celebrated his win in the ring with The Opps and The Opps Dojo students, the lights shut off. A spotlight then came up to reveal Prince Nana at the top of the ramp before “Whose House? Swerve’s House” plays over the speaker system. What followed was a new entrance theme for Swerve Strickland, returning to AEW after taking time away to address a torn meniscus he has been dealing with since 2019.

    Swerve would enter the ring, with The Opps clearing the way to a bloody and beaten Page. Swerve, instead, began attacking Joe’s students as The Opps fled back up the ramp. Swerve would take out one of the last students with the House Call kick, followed by Page hitting a Buckshot lariat to the last student. Full Gear then went off the air at the image of Page and Swerve, once the most bitter of enemies, now standing shoulder-to-shoulder against Joe and The Opps.

    It brought a very notable end to a show that, ultimately, served as a stop-gap pay-per-view before the start of the Continental Classic. AEW now has its focus set on one of its major annual tournaments to close out 2025.

  • John Cena and Hiroshi Tanahashi – Mirrors Across the Ocean

    John Cena and Hiroshi Tanahashi – Mirrors Across the Ocean

    2025 is a monumental year for professional wrestling as it will see two of the biggest icons from the 2000s and 2010s finally hang up the boots.

    In the U.S., John Cena is on his farewell tour with WWE and set to have his final match on Dec. 13 in Washington D.C. for Saturday Night’s Main Event. The final opponent has not been set as of writing, though, as a tournament is in progress to see who will lock up with Cena on Dec. 13.

    No other matches have been announced for the show.

    Across the Pacific Ocean, Hiroshi Tanahashi will have his final match at Wrestle Kingdom 20 on Jan. 4, 2026. It is widely viewed as New Japan’s equivalent show to WrestleMania. Tanahashi’s final opponent has already been confirmed to be former-New Japan star and current AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada. The longtime rival of ‘The Ace’ was announced as Tanahashi’s opponent at a Nov. 9 press conference.

    Also confirmed for Wrestle Kingdom 20 is the New Japan Strong Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani vs. IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri in a winner-take-all match, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji in a winner-take-all match, El Desperado vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Sho vs. Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, and EVIL defending the NEVER Openweight Championship against the debuting Olympic gold medalist judoka Aaron Wolf.

    Less than a month apart from each other, wrestling fans will be waving goodbye to a pair widely regarded as the top guys in professional wrestling on their side of the Pacific. But it is rather as these two have been seemingly tied at the hips for their whole careers without even realizing. The pair have seemingly been a mirror for the other, whether they realized it or not, since the very start.

    It all goes back to when they each started in wrestling, fittingly, around the same time in 1999.

    Cena moved from Massachusetts to California to begin his training with and debuting at Ultimate Pro Wrestling. At the same time as Cena, a young man from Orange County, California, was training at UPW with Cena who scouts from WWE who told the young man that while they recognized the talent, his look wasn’t what WWE and Vince McMahon was looking for. This young man would go on to become Samoa Joe, who carved a brilliant, violent path across pro wrestling in companies including TNA, WWE, AEW, and Ring of Honor and become heralded as one of the best of his generation alongside names such as Bryan Danielson, Chris Hero, and Nigel McGuinness.

    Tanahashi would begin his training in the NJPW Dojo in 1998 and made his in-ring debut in October 1999. Around the same time as Tanahashi’s debut, his dojo classmates Katsuyori Shibata and Shinsuke Nakamura would make their respective debuts for New Japan. The trio would be dubbed the “new Three Musketeers” of New Japan, meaning they were viewed as the new top three stars taking over for the original “Three Musketeers” – Shinya Hashimoto, Keiji Muto, and Masahiro Chono. Nakamura would spend much of his career in New Japan and become one of its top stars, especially after his evolution into the King of Strong Style. Shibata would march to his own drum, working for New Japan and several other companies before a brain injury forced him to step away from wrestling in 2017 before returning in 2021 and signing with AEW in 2022.

    Cena and Tanahashi would rise to superstardom in WWE and NJPW, respectively, by the mid-2000s and become the top stars of their respective company. It couldn’t have come at a better time for each company, as well.

    The 2000s was a period of serious decline for New Japan due to founder Antonio Inoki’s attempt to integrate MMA into pro wrestling. This resulted in several top names such as Yuji Nagata being booked in fights for MMA organization K-1 and getting beaten badly in fights. Inoki would also place the company’s top title, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, on names such as Bob Sapp and Brock Lesnar that failed to cause any notable impact on business.

    Tanahashi would quickly emerge as a face and name that wrestling fans gravitated to between his ringwork and personality. This elevated him to the main event scene and he would win his first IWGP Heavyweight Title in 2006. He became known as “The Ace of the Universe” and “The Once in a Generation Talent” and helped sail New Japan out of these hard times to its mid-2010s boom period.

    In the U.S., WWE was starting to experience a downturn in business in the wake of the end of the Monday Night Wars. WWE would ultimately buy WCW and ECW, making it the only “game in town” when it came to nationally televised professional wrestling. However, the lack of any real competition for WWE, along with some creative missteps such as Steve Austin’s failed heel turn, led to a notable drop in ratings and struggling ticket sales for house shows.

    Cena made his WWE TV debut on SmackDown in 2002, answering an open challenge from Kurt Angle. Angle asked what made Cena think he had a chance against an established star, which Cena famously responded “ruthless aggression.” He would struggle to find his footing for his first few months, a period Cena claims he came very close to being fired before then-head of creative Stephanie McMahon heard Cena freestyling on the talent bus. This led to Cena becoming the “Doctor of Thuganomics” and the rest, as they say, is history. Cena would win his first WWE Championship in 2005 and remain a constant in the main event scene during a period that saw WWE slowly shift to TV-PG and land ever-increasing media rights deals that helped turn WWE into an entertainment powerhouse.

    Within their respective promotion’s main event scene, Cena and Tanahashi would be constants at the top of the card for roughly a decade. Other big names would surround them, but fans understood these two were the ones the promotions say as the true top names on the talent roster.

    Their time at the top would begin to fade in the mid-2010s, though, as age and a new generation of talent began rising up WWE and New Japan. Cena would soon see names like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Kevin Owens taking over the main event scene while Tanahashi would see a young Kazuchika Okada emerge to dominate the IWGP World Heavyweight title picture.

    The only true deviation between the two, though, is the direction each one appears to be taking once they retire.

    Like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Dave Bautista, John Cena has made massive inroads into Hollywood during the late-2010s and 2020s. Cena would really find his footing in comedy, landing multiple supporting and leading roles in a variety of comedies and earn praise for his comedic instincts. He landed one of his biggest roles in 2019 when he was cast as Christopher Smith, AKA Peacemaker, in the James Gunn-directed DC Comics-based film The Suicide Squad. Cena would subsequently star in the HBO Max spinoff series Peacemaker and was confirmed to be part of DC’s rebooted cinematic universe, the DCU, in 2025’s Superman.

    Tanahashi, however, is far from done within professional wrestling. The multi-time IWGP World Champion was named as New Japan’s new President and Representative Director in December 2023. Like many others executives in the promotion, Tanahashi has been working to help the company rebuild after it was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown in 2020, followed in subsequent years by the departure of many top stars including Jay White, Kazuchika Okada, and Will Ospreay. 2025 hasn’t been a kind year, either, as New Japan is one of many entities in Japan hit hard by the country’s economic downturn. Things have been looking up, though, as several new names like Gabe Kidd, Yota Tsuji, and Kosei Fujita have made waves at a time when New Japan has been in need of new top names.

    Other than that, January 2026 will mark the official end to an era of wrestling filled with plenty of ups and downs for fans and the industry. WWE’s rise within the media landscape, the various indie booms, New Japan’s reemergence in the 2010s, and the rise of AEW are just a few of the things to take place during Cena and Tanahashi’s time at the top of the industry.

    For some, it may be strange to even think of pro wrestling without Tanahashi or Cena around. The day was always bound to arrive, and arrive it almost has so take in what you can of these two icons before they step out of the ring for good.

  • Wrestler Spotlight: Hyan – The Renaissance of Wrestling

    Wrestler Spotlight: Hyan – The Renaissance of Wrestling

    To say the modern professional wrestling scene is loaded with talent would be a massive understatement. AEW and WWE both already have massive rosters, and with the amount of talent to choose from globally, someone could easily build a third nationally televised company and there still be a surplus of talent to pick from.

    It doesn’t mean there aren’t obvious standouts, and that is especially true among the women’s wrestling renaissance. And it is in this the renaissance woman of wrestling, Hyan, has emerged.

    Beginning her journey in 2014, Hyan joined Booker T’s school and promotion, Reality of Wrestling, based out of Houston, Texas. She would hit the ground running, quickly getting booked at multiple independent promotions and Impact Wrestling as an enhancement talent.

    Hyan would also find her way to Shimmer during its final years, becoming a regular in the all-women’s promotion before it officially closed its doors in 2021. It was during this time with Shimmer that Hyan would have her first outings to Japan and quickly got her feet wet in the Joshi wrestling scene. This included appearances for Marvelous, Pro Wrestling Wave, and Sendai Girls’.

    As the 2020s went on, Hyan’s stock on the independent scene began to really blow up as she could be found working for bigger indies including Defy, DPW, and West Coast Pro in the States and RevPro in England. She would win the 2024 Queen of the Indies tournament, increasing her exposure even further as the Renaissance Woman marched into 2025.

    It would also become impossible to not think of her when discussing Texas pro-wrestling. The Texas-native would join a handful of other wrestlers, such as Bryan Keith, making waves in and out of Texas. This would help her land the occasional booking as an extra or enhancement talent for WWE and AEW when they visited the state.

    For anyone thinking this is all hype, it is not.

    There may be no more well-rounded wrestler on the independent scene at the time of writing.

    Hyan has travelled the world to hone her in-ring craft and it shows. She can go to the mat with anyone using English technical wrestling, strikes right out of puroresu, or wild brawling right out of the American Southwest. Anyone, anytime, anywhere, Hyan can seemingly go at the drop of a dime with anyone.

    Cut to November 8, 2025.

    Hyan is among several extras brought in for that evening’s live edition of AEW Collision. Due to circumstances beyond her control, an opportunity arose for her and fellow Texas-standout Maya World to work as enhancement talent on live TV against Tay Melo and Anna Jay ahead of the pair’s AEW Women’s Tag Title tournament match. Despite the short match-time, it would shine a spotlight on the pair who were showered with praise for stepping up when needed.

    The pair would also get to wrestle a tag team match that same night for the Ring of Honor tapings against Billie Starkz and the RoH Women’s World Champion Athena. This match was much more competitive, but the two would still find themselves on the losing end of things.

    It isn’t the pair’s last opportunity, though.

    At the time of writing this, Hyan and Maya World have been announced for the November 15 episode of AEW Collision to wrestle a tag team match against Alex Windsor and Riho, another team in the tag title tournament. If AEW is actively promoting the pair for TV, especially live TV, it means they have serious eyes on said talent and could be considering signing them, if they aren’t already.

    The chance to have the Renaissance Woman grace TV screens every week may be one of the most exciting prospects for wrestling, not just women’s wrestling, as we enter 2026. The talent is already there for the world to see, its simply pointing her in a direction and letting her go. Hyan could easily become a top player in any company’s women’s division in no time at all, shoulder to shoulder with some of the biggest and best names in the industry.

    It is simply a matter of where.

  • The Lunacy of Lucha Underground and the Simple Reason it Worked

    The Lunacy of Lucha Underground and the Simple Reason it Worked

    Shape-shifting dragons, skeleton ninjas, masked bikers, and perhaps a living incarnation of Death.

    These are just a few of the ideas and characters that permeated the world of Lucha Underground for four seasons on the El Rey Network. Lucha Underground was the answer to a fairly simple question – what if a Robert Rodriguez directed a movie around an underground wrestling promotion?

    And the show oozed Rodriguez’s sensibilities, from the general aesthetic style to the variants of wacky characters ranging from bikers and ex-soldiers to full-blown deities. The show felt like it could easily exist in a world like From Dusk Till Dawn or El Mariachi.

    The one thing not clear, though, was would wrestling fans in 2014 gravitate to such an outlandish show in a wrestling world built more on realism than ever.

    These fears were ultimately disproven as viewers were immediately sucked into this larger-than-life universe set in this intimate venue. Lucha Underground became one of the biggest talking points in professional wrestling between the outlandish stories and characters, production quality, and list of indie wrestlers and luchadors populating the show.

    But how could this be? In an industry where fans rolled their eyes at any supernatural or “spooky” stories and gimmicks at the time because of how utterly ridiculous they seem in those promotions, how could Lucha Underground pull this off?

    The answer is just following the simplest rules of storytelling.

    In any story, whether it be in a book, video game, or movie, one of the first things told to the audience directly or indirectly are the rules of said world. Audiences are given a clear-ish picture of how the world operates so they accept how a story unfolds in said world. Over time, these rules can be changed or broken as a result of the narrative so it feels more natural versus just shoe-horning a change in.

    Lucha Underground almost had to do this right out of the gate given how ridiculous the world was going to get, and quickly. Viewers were given a clear picture of the box this world was playing in so when ideas like a mysterious woman who may actually be Death doesn’t feel out of place standing across from a masked biker named Son of Havoc inside an underground wrestling/fight club.

    And ridiculous it got between turning famed luchadors Drago and Aerostar into a shape-shifting dragon and actual spaceman, respectively, a masked US Army veteran being stalked by a former-squad mate he believed was dead, and the promotion’s owner having a hulking brother it was implied was possessed by some monstrous entity, among many others.

    Despite how insane it got, viewers gladly went along for the ride and see what happened over four seasons of the show. Sure there would be the kind of criticisms you’d expect from any show, whether it be pacing at times or certain plot points just not landing, but nothing that outright called anything contradictory to the rules of the world. It was a constant on this show that anything, whether it landed or not, didn’t feel out of place in this wrestling show created by El Rey.

    It is why something like Mil Muertes vs Da Mack works on Lucha Underground and Undertaker at his most supernatural can feel out of place on WWE shows.

    WWE is constantly establishing and breaking the rules of its own world constantly, never really giving audiences a chance to understand how something works in respect to the show. So for most fans, it goes from confusion over supernatural bits to a feud to falling back on the “oh, well at least we are getting a match between” whichever two wrestlers have a supernatural character.

    And WWE is hardly the only promotion to make this mistake, either. TNA had periods where it was very supernatural heavy and it still felt out of place because of how it was presented. That said, the quality of TNA’s overall product at many times led many viewers to “let it slide” since the supernatural stuff ended up being some of the more entertaining parts of TNA’s shows at times, such as Matt Hardy’s Broken Universe.

    The other thing setting up these rules clearly and following them helps prove that the show isn’t going to try to insult viewers’ intelligence. It shows that audience is going to have their time spent watching rewarded, so long as the actual quality still holds up that is. Regardless, it at least shows that the series is at least trying to be respectful of viewers’ time.

    In the case of Lucha Underground, what ultimately killed it was a combination of El Rey’s overall declining viewership, talent wanting out of their absurdly long contracts, and the ever-rising production costs. It didn’t leave a sour taste in fans mouths, though, and that remains true years after its cancellation.

    There are and have been plenty of wrestling promotions, but there really will only be one Lucha Underground.

  • Dan Trachtenberg (aka how Predator got its groove back)

    Dan Trachtenberg (aka how Predator got its groove back)

    Predator’s history on cinema screens can be described as spotty at best.

    The original 1987 film is still lauded as one of the best sci-fi action films of all-time and one of the best in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s filmography. After that, the franchise experiences plenty of ups and downs, mostly downs, over the next 32 years. Predator 2 was considered a disappointment following the original film, the Alien vs. Predator films just came-and-went, Predators was considered an improvement over the other sequels but not all that memorable on its own, and The Predator seemed to leave anyone who saw it more baffled than anything at what they just watched.

    It was during the production of The Predator, though, that the winds of change were about to come blowing through the franchise.

    Director Dan Trachtenberg and screenwriter Patrick Aison approached producer John Davis with an idea they believed would freshen up Predator. The idea revolved around a Yautja, the titular alien hunter, arriving for its first hunt on Earth, specifically along the Great Plains in 1719. Standing opposite it is a young Comanche woman who dreams of becoming a hunter for her tribe instead of a healer, and sets out on a journey to prove that.

    The title of this film – Skulls.

    Skulls was the original production name as a way to keep the film closely under wraps and it paid off. The only hint of the film’s concept was the early synopsis, which only focused on the young Comanche woman at the center of the story. It was then confirmed in November 2020 that Skulls was the next entry in the Predator franchise, though this seemed to confuse fans given when it is set.

    Audiences got a much clearer concept of Prey when the first teasers released in May 2022, giving a look at Naru, the Comanche woman, and the new Yautja, dubbed the Feral Predator. Subsequent trailers painted a clearer picture, which Trachtenberg helped clarify as well, such as confirming the film is the Feral Predator’s first visit to Earth. Between that, and it being the earliest Predator film in the mainline franchise, helped explain away why the Feral Predator didn’t have weapons like the iconic shoulder cannon.

    Cut to August 2025, and Prey arrives on Hulu for viewers to enjoy at home and was met with the best reviews for a sequel in franchise history. Trachtenberg, lead star Amber Midthunder, and the team were all lauded for finding a way freshen up the franchise with a twist on the “back to basics” approach of Prey.

    However, it did provide the first hint at Trachtenberg’s vision for the franchise going forward in a brief animated mid-credits scene. The scene is part of an illustration played during the main credits retracing the film’s narrative, but picks up shortly after the end. It shows three Yautja ships approaching Naru’s tribe after she returns with the Feral Predator’s head.

    For as brief as the scene is, it confirmed Trachtenberg’s intent to dive headfirst into the franchise and expanding the Yautja in ways not depicted in the films up to that point.

    20th Century Studios was quick to confirm this would be the case as Trachtenberg would lead the charge on multiple new Predator projects, including two films to be directed by Trachtenberg. The the title of the films were later revealed to be Predator: Badlands and Predator: Killer of Killers, the latter being the first animated entry in franchise history.

    Killer of Killers would release on June 6, 2025, on Hulu and, like Prey, be met with widely positive feedback from audiences and critics. The animated anthology follows three warriors from across Earth’s history who manage to best a Yautja they encounter during its hunt. The three – the Viking warrior Ursa, the Shinobi Kenji, and World War 2 pilot John Torres – are then brought together on a Yautja-ruled planet to fight each other, with the survivor battling the Yautja clan’s chief. Kenji and Torres would ultimately escape thanks to Ursa sacrificing herself so the two could get away on a hijacked Predator ship.

    Ursa, however, wasn’t killed. It was then revealed she would be placed in suspended animation alongside others who defeated a Yautja including Naru, Schwarzenegger’s character Dutch from the original 1987 film, and Danny Glover’s hardened LAPD officer Lt. Mike Harrigan.

    Five months later, Predator: Badlands released in theaters on November 7, 2025, and like the previous two releases was met with a widely positive reception to continue the franchise’s upward swing, critically. Unlike all the franchise’s film entries, though, Badlands would be the first to follow a Yautja during a hunt instead of a human that finds itself being hunted.

    Badlands follows Dek, a Yautja from the species’ homeworld of Yautja Prime, who is considered a runt by his father and potential clan. After escaping an attempt on his life with the aid of his brother, Dek ends up on the planet Genna to hunt a creature considered unkillable by the Yautja in an attempt to prove himself. During this hunt, Dek encounters a Weyland-Yutani synthetic named Thia who offers her aid in hunting the creature after leaving her cut in half and her legs missing.

    Narratively, Badlands is the culmination of what Trachtenberg had been building to in his previous two films of truly exploring the Yautja as a people versus just deadly alien hunters to be overcome.

    This is something that previous entries all the way back to Predator 2 had done a tiny bit of, but never teased going anywhere nearly as deep as Trachtenberg has in his three films. It came across as the studio trying to “have its cake and eat it too” by drip-feeding information about the Yautja as a species but without giving away so much information that the race loses their mystic and sense of danger.

    Predators and The Predator would even tease the idea of a Yautja conflict between different tribes or different types of Yautja, but never paid off those teases.

    Trachtenberg instead took a deep dive into exploring the Yautja on screen, starting with Killer of Killers depicting how some Yautja handle those who best one of their people. Badlands gave a much clearer idea of their society, though, and how clans valued strength and shunned weakness in a manner similar to ancient Sparta.

    It also managed to create a tangible link between the Predator and Alien franchises without it feeling shoe-horned thanks to the presence of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation in Badlands. Whether this means the Xenomorph and Yautja will cross paths one more time on cinema screens, though, remains to be seen.

    As the saying goes, “once is an accident, twice is a coincident, three times is a patter,” and that certainly appears to be the same case for Predator and Dan Trachtenberg. The director, who made his feature debut with 2016’s Ten Cloverfield Lane, has reinvigorated a franchise some believed was on “life support” after The Predator failed to make any real splash critically or at the box office.

    Three successful entries later and it is safe to laud Trachtenberg as the “golden child” of the Predator franchise for his work and it may continue based on how well Badlands performs. The director has previously teased having three live action films in mind with Prey, Predator: Badlands, and one more film that has not officially been announced.

    Even if it doesn’t end up happening, it will not change Trachtenberg’s impact in keeping Predator alive. That said, let’s hope Trachtenberg continues to lead the charge on Predator.

  • DEADLOCK Pro-Wrestling – The New Kings of the Indies

    DEADLOCK Pro-Wrestling – The New Kings of the Indies

    It seems as though every few years, one promotion in particular emerges to become the hotbed of indie wrestling during that period of time. This list includes early Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and Game-Changer Wrestling, among others.

    In the year of 2025, though, one indie promotion has arguably stood heads and shoulders over many promotions in the U.S. also having great years – DEADLOCK Pro-Wrestling.

    The brainchild of content creators Anthony Douglas, James Darnell, and John Blud that started in 2021, spawning out of the trio’s successful and popular DEADLOCK Podcast, which itself began in 2019. Darnell, Blud, and Douglas quickly attracted a following online for their chemistry and selection of wrestling to talk about.

    Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and the indies largely shut down. Some would run isolated shows with bare bones crews and no audience to stream on YouTube or Twitch. As the world started to reopen in 2021, the three jumped on an opening left by the pandemic, whether intentional or not. Wrestling fans searching YouTube or longtime podcast listeners who signed up to DPW On Demand would then discover DEADLOCK Pro-Wrestling, or DPW, Fire starting on December 11, 2021.

    Over the next four years, the North Carolina-based promotion would grow in popularity with both fans and wrestlers. Within weeks, DPW would run its first internet pay-per-view and fans quickly appeared to attach to the idea of a new promotion truly “by fans, for fans.” The trio backed this up, too, as they would quickly bring in some of the biggest names available to work indies along with a collection of eye-catching rookies starting to appear along the Mid-Atlantic indie scene.

    In turn, this meant DPW quickly became a destination spot for independent wrestlers looking to turn some heads. Established acts like ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey and Bryan Keith before being signed by AEW helped provide some major credibility to the quality of the shows, backed up by an incredible crop of young names including Lucky Ali and Jay Malachi, both of whom are now signed to WWE. This told talent that “big eyes” are watching this place, so they need to get there.

    If this sounds familiar to longtime indie wrestling fans, its akin to how hot Pro-Wrestling Guerilla got during the 2010s. Seemingly every big name working the indies visited the hot and small American Legion Hall in Reseda, California. Kevin Steen, El Generico, The Young Bucks, Ricochet, WALTER, and countless others worked PWG during this time before ending up in WWE or AEW by the time it was 2020.

    DPW takes it a step further as active, contracted wrestlers to AEW/RoH continue to work the independent promotion fairly regularly. Queen Aminata, who has had a breakout 2025 on AEW TV, is the DPW Women’s World Champion at the time of this writing while Grizzled Young Veterans and The WorkHorsemen have previously been tag team champions.

    Former-DPW Worlds Champion Adam Priest has also found his way to AEW TV, most recently tagging with Tommy Billington, though was reportedly still not under any contract as of this writing.

    And DPW’s hot streak comes at a period where several promotions have seemingly been having hot streaks of shows. GCW, Defy, and Progress are just three of many independent global promotions all having very good 2025s in terms of show quality, and DPW, arguably, stands atop that.

    Darnell, Blud, and Douglas aren’t wasting time in expanding DPW’s reach, either.

    Along with DPW On Demand, DPW has partnered with Wrestle Universe to make their shows available on the wrestling streaming service alongside Pro-Wrestling Noah, DDT, and Tokyo Joshi-Pro, even growing to be able to tour Japan by 2023. It had also been running joint shows with West Coast Pro-Wrestling and Prestige Wrestling in the U.S., though Prestige is set to close its doors in 2025.

    All this adds up to a company set to close out 2025 strong with two more shows as of November 2, 2025.

    So if you consider yourself a true fan of indie wrestling, do yourself a favor and check out DPW to see some of the best in professional wrestling in 2025. And just support independent pro-wrestling in general, whether it be the promotions running shows or particular talent you want to see succeed.

  • Destiny and Bungie – Anything But Smooth Sailing

    Destiny and Bungie – Anything But Smooth Sailing

    Destiny 2, and Destiny as a franchise really, has had a rollercoaster existence since the first Guardians awoke in the Cosmodrome in 2014. In the universe, players would go on to challenge gods and fight against the apocalypse in the decade that followed as part of the Light and Darkness Saga.

    The first saga has since ended and Bungie began the Fate Saga, starting with The Edge of Fate as Guardians ventured to Kepler at the behest of the mysterious Nine.

    As much of a rollercoaster as the universe has experienced, though, players have been on an even crazier rollercoaster during that same period. Destiny and Destiny 2 would experience extreme highs and lows, whether it was the first Destiny being meme’d to death in its first year for a seemingly non-existent narrative to Destiny 2: Forsaken breathing new life into the sequel after a rocky first year.

    This cycle continued with the release of The Edge of Fate, which seemingly encapsulates the ups-and-downs Destiny 2, alone, has experienced in roughly three and a half months.

    The Edge of Fate faced its fair share of criticism, either, especially as the weeks went on and players dug into all the reworks Bungie introduced in the new expansion. One point of criticism ended up being the new Portal system, which was intended to help feed players into the game faster. However, many complained in its initial state that it was still too unwielded and failed to consistently communicate information to players clearly.

    Criticism only intensified after the Ash & Iron update, which left many players disappointed with an apparent lack of content and bugs that would take weeks to get out of the game. The addition of the Heliostat exotic mission was a welcome addition in the weeks that followed the Ash & Iron update, but ultimately didn’t change players’ feelings on the update’s total content.

    On the other hand, THE Edge of Fate did receive praise from across the player community for delivering what many felt was one of the best expansion narratives in Destiny’s history. Many in the community praised Bungie’s narrative team for their willingness to tackle the Nine, beings that have been one of Destiny’s deepest and longest-standing mysteries. Outside of Xur and The Emissary, players only had theories about who or what the Nine were and why they chose to interact with Guardians when and where they did.

    There was also plenty of praise for the newest character to join the Destiny universe, Lodi. Portrayed by Brian Villalobos, Lodi is revealed to be an agent from 1960s Chicago working for a space agency known as the Department of External Observation who ended up being pulled forward in time by the Nine. Players and critics had almost universal praise for Villalobos’ performance as Lodi along with the writing team for how strongly written Lodi is.

    A strong narrative wouldn’t be enough to keep players from leaving the game, and they would in record numbers before Destiny 2 finally hit its all-time lowest active player count in October 2025.

    Bungie hasn’t been sitting on its hands, though, as multiple updates have rolled out in an attempt to address various player issues and entice them to come back to the game. These included simplifying the Portal, addressing gear drops and leveling, Unstable Core usage and economy and various other issues.

    These arrived at the perfect time to as Destiny 2’s annual Halloween event, Festival of the Lost, is live as of this writing, and has been met with generally positive feedback. Several players and content creators said while there is still work to be done, the changes made to the Portal and making high-tier gear drops and leveling easier were steps in the right direction. Combine this with the positive feedback for the Festival’s new activities, Haunted Altars of Sorrow and Red Rumble, and there hasn’t been as much of a malaise around the game as there had been.

    Bungie has confirmed even more changes will becoming over the next year, with the next batch of major updates set to arrive in December with the new expansion, Renegades.

    Then there is the departure of longtime Bungie CEO Pete Parsons in August 2025.

    Parsons had long been a controversial figure within the Destiny community for the state of the game, and Bungie as a whole. As the studio’s CEO, he was commonly one frustrated players pointed to as one of several executives in Bungie responsible for the state of Destiny and Destiny 2. The executive would only add fuel to the fire when showing off his personal car collection on social media amid mass layoffs all across the games industry, including within Bungie.

    When he announced his departure from Bungie, many in the community were quick to jump on social media to give their own “goodbyes” to the now-former Bungie CEO.

    In the same post announcing his departure, longtime Bungie developer and executive Justin Truman was confirmed to be taking over as the new Head of Studio. Truman was no stranger to controversy, himself, as several years earlier he faced blowback for a presentation he did at the 2022 Game Developers Conference where he said studios need to be careful not to “overdeliver” so as to manage customer expectations for future releases.

    Truman indirectly addressed this as part of Parson’s departure announcement with a playful line about hoping to “overdeliver” when it comes to building worlds players want to invest in.

    It should be noted that while Truman will be the new Head of Studio, he will not be taking over as CEO as Sony becomes more directly involved with Bungie after acquiring the studio in 2022.

    As for what the future holds, that remains to be seen.

    The departure of Parson, promotion of Truman, and Sony’s more direct involvement with the studio all happening so close together was jarring for the community, but it is something that they likely won’t be felt in full until 2026. It can typically take time for the impact of a major executive shakeup to be felt across a whole company, especially a game developer, and it would not be surprising if that was the same at Bungie.

    As for the game itself, Destiny 2 doesn’t appear to be going anywhere despite player counts hitting record lows. Renegades is still on the way and already has some fans excited for what is to come in the next entry of the Fate Saga.

    Renegades will send Guardians back to Mars to face off with a new Cabal force amassing on the red planet, dubbed the Barant Imperium, and a superweapon it has been developing. To do so, Guardians will need to collaborate with multiple crime syndicates operating out of a thriving black market on Mars known as Tharsis Outpost. Guardians will be working with The Drifter and a Warlock from the Praxic Order, as well, to stop a dangerous new Dredgen that is connected to the Imperium’s efforts.

    Renegades also marks the first collaborative expansion Bungie has produced for Destiny 2 as the studio partnered with Lucasfilm Games to create a Star Wars-inspired experience inside the game. This ranges from the space western influences on the narrative, gear, and overall aesthetic. The Barant Imperium’s design is very much inspired by the Galactic Empire while the Praxic Order and Dredgens serve as stand-ins for the Jedi and Sith, respectively.

    More general changes and updates are set to arrive, as well, to continue improving the player experience after the first set of changes rolled out. These include additional vault space, the Orders system to streamline how players earn rewards with daily and weekly objectives to complete. Bungie said the idea is to make it so player’s don’t have to worry as much about loadout management “or step away from the activities you and your fireteam are interested in.”

    And more updates are planned through the first half of 2026, though details have not been outlined as of this writing.

    It remains to be seen if this will be enough for Destiny, as a whole, to recover from the latest valley it found itself in. It isn’t the first time the game has been in this sort of low and wouldn’t be the first time its managed to claw itself out of it. That said, only time will tell if the Destiny experience continues to be one of peaks and valleys or if the changes in the game and at Bungie means some long awaited stability for both.

  • AEW WrestleDream delivers an in-ring dream

    AEW WrestleDream delivers an in-ring dream

    AEW took to pay-per-view once again on Oct. 18, 2025, for WrestleDream live from the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Missouri. Coming less than a month after All Out, some fans wouldn’t be wrong for feeling WrestleDream was thrown together in fairly short order. That being said, it is still AEW on pay-per-view and no show in 2025 may have delivered a better in-ring than WrestleDream.

    Tailgate Brawl

    Kicking off evening was the second edition of AEW’s Tailgate Brawl, the new lead-in for the pay-per-view that airs live on TNT and HBO Max.

    Claudio Castagnoli, PAC, Wheeler Yuta, and Daniel Garcia, accompanied by Marina Shafir, represented the Death Riders against Orange Cassidy, Tomohiro Ishii, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong of The Conglomeration. The match was exactly the type of multi-man tag match AEW fans are accustomed to seeing on TV as both teams went back and forth until PAC scored the pin for his team on Ishii after a distraction and assist by Garcia and Yuta, respectfully.

    Next up was Eddie Kingston and Hook, who are still getting their feet under them as a team, against Cole Karter and Griff Garrison of the Frat House. It was three minutes that saw Kingston and Hook dominate most of it, unsurprisingly, while a backstage promo by La Faccion Ingobernable aired effectively calling out Hook and Kingston.

    The show then cut to a brief promo from a tailgate party in Boca Raton, Florida, Hosted by Big Boom AJ and his family. Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta appear to challenge AJ to a tag match at Full Gear before attacking AJ wrecking the party.

    Third was the first of many tag matches to dot the evening as it was Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford versus Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron. The match continued to tease what fans will see when the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship Tournament kicks off. Both teams traded momentum as Bayne and Nightingale threw their opponents around while Ford and Cameron used their speed and smaller sizes to their advantage. Nightingale and Cameron took the win after Nightingale dropped Bayne on the outside with a cannonball from the turnbuckle as Cameron hit suplex on Ford, who then tagged in Nightingale to perform the Doctor Bomb on Ford to score the pin.

    To close out the Tailgate Brawl was FTR, comprised of Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, taking on ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight, or JetSpeed for short. Immediately something seemed off as the teams made their entrances with about ten minutes left on the pre-show. As time wound down, it became clear the match would effectively be kicking off the pay-per-view when it went live in an overall cool spot, but one that AEW should use sparingly. As many fans would expect, this match delivered in every way possible. FTR served as the perfect bases to JetSpeed’s style of striking and high-flying offense. After many close calls, FTR was able to steal the win as their manager Stoke held Bailey’s feet during the pin to stop him kicking out.

    On the whole, this was as solid an hour of AEW TV wrestling as a viewer can find. It continued building some stuff for weekly TV, such as Kingston and Hook versus LFI and the Women’s Tag Team Title tournament, and gave people a taste of what was to come on the main pay-per-view, especially when it came to tag team wrestling, but wasn’t anything to write home about either.

    OVERALL GRADE – B

    The Main Card

    Thekla vs. Jamie Hayter

    The first official match of WrestleDream’s main card was Jamie Hayter battling “The Toxic Spider” Thekla in what was as physical a match as a fan could see without using weapons.

    Hayter and Thekla laid into each other for roughly 15 minutes with all the heavy-handed strikes and suplexes they could think of. It was the type of physicality both women have been known for in and out of AEW, especially Thekla who previously wrestled for Stardom in Japan which is known for its physical, high-paced in-ring style. Hayter was able to emerge victorious after cutting of Thekla’s spear with a lariat and then the Hayter-aid for the pin.

    Jurassic Express vs. The Young Bucks

    Next was the highly anticipated bout between the newly-reunited Jack Perry and Luchasaurus, aka Jurassic Express, taking on Matt and Nick Jackson, The Young Bucks, in a tag team match with $500,000 on the line.

    These are two teams with history going back to the formation of AEW in 2019 and it showed, though they also made it clear these four are not the same people they were back then, either. Like most Young Bucks pay-per-view matches, the energy and speed was up for most of it as both teams showed off their athleticism for around 20 minutes. After multiple close pins, Jurassic Express were able to win after blocking the Bucks from hitting the TK-Driver and then hitting Matt Jackson with the Countdown to Extinction.

    But wait…..there’s more.

    As Perry and Luchasaurus go to leave with their bag of money, the pair decide to go and offer a handshake to the Bucks in a show of respect. The Bucks hesitate and before they decide what to do, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer and Mark Davis of the Don Callis Family jump Jurassic Express. The Young Bucks decide not to get involved and walk off, but not before Kenny Omega comes out to help Jurassic Express and try to get the Bucks involved. The two ultimately go to the back as Jurassic Express and Omega are able to fight off the Don Callis Family.

    The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Demand

    Bobby Lashley, MVP, and Shelton Benjamin of The Hurt Syndicate versus The Demand’s Ricochet, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona in a tornado trios match.

    Fans were informed as the match began that the match was now a number one contender’s match for the AEW World Trios Championships. As with these two teams previous matches, it was a mix of athleticism and physicality as Ricochet was able to use everyone in the match as a base for his high-flying while Lashley, Benjamin, Kaun, and Liona delivered the physicality. MVP would be a regular target for The Demand as he has only wrestled three times in AEW, as opposed to Lashley and Benjamin, while the Syndicate would try to get their hands on Ricochet for much of the match.

    Just as the Syndicate believe they have Ricochet corned, Kaun pulls him out of the ring and takes Ricochet’s place. It proves pointless as the Syndicate are able to hit a combination that ends with a Lashley spear to get the win and earn a match against the AEW Trios Champions, The Opps.

    TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe

    Next comes the first title match of the evening as TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher, representing the Don Callis Family, battled Mark Briscoe for the TNT Championship in the pair’s fifth singles match.

    The chemistry between Briscoe and Fletcher is undeniable at this point as Fletcher’s high-speed, high-impact and cleaner looking offense seems to just gel with Briscoe’s wilder and more chaotic, homegrown style. It resulted in what is likely the best of the pair’s five match series that began back in June 2024 on Ring of Honor.

    Briscoe and Fletcher went back and forth for almost 25 minutes before Fletcher emerged victorious to retain his TNT title. It would take multiple brainbusters, including a brainbuster to the top turnbuckle, to keep Briscoe’s shoulders down for the three-count.

    AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander vs. “Timeless” Toni Storm

    The former champion “Timeless” Toni Storm attempting to regain her title from the current champion, Kris Statlander, was next on the docket for WrestleDream.

    It marked the first singles match between Storm and Statlander in AEW history, which may surprise some fans given Statlander joined AEW shortly after Dynamite began in December 2019 and Storm in March 2022. Despite that, the two had only ever met in multi-person matches in the past including at All Out in September when Statlander pinned Storm for the title, though it was with the seatbelt pin and not the definitive defeat Storm had been searching for.

    There was a big match feeling in the air as Statlander and Storm, who have long been focal points of AEW’s women’s division, locked up for their first singles match. The two traded holds for the first few minutes as the match ramped up the deeper it got into its roughly 16 minute runtime. Statlander was able to his a Night Fever before locking in a submission that Storm struggled to break out of. Storm started to break free while yelling “kill me” at Statlander, who promptly hit another Night Fever and score the definitive pin Storm had been looking for.

    Statlander would celebrate in the ring after a show of respect from Storm when TBS Champion Mercedes Mone would make her entrance, using the Frat House to hold her nine other championship belts. Mone promptly told Statlander to go to the back as Mone could celebrate becoming the longest-reigning TBS Champion in AEW history and issuing an open challenge for “any champion” to put their title on the line against Mone for the TBS Championship.

    TBS Champion Mercedes Mone vs. Ring of Honor Interim Women’s World TV Champion Mina Shirakawa

    Mone’s challenge would be answered by the Ring of Honor Interim Women’s World TV Champion Mina Shirakawa in the title-for-title open challenge.

    The match was exactly was viewers have come to expect from Mone’s matches, and this was right there in quality with the rest. If there was any notable downside to this match, it was that this was the first where the crowd showed how tired it was as a result of the high in-ring pace that dominated the night. Mone and Shirakawa were still able to deliver in the ring for its own 16 minute runtime.

    Shirakawa and Mone began trading submissions and pinfall attempts as the two tried to walk away with one more belt. Ultimately, Mone won the match after a backslide pin where she was able to get a foot on the rope to stop Shirakawa from kicking out. Mone is now “11-Belt Mone” and broke Ultimo Dragon’s record of holding 10 belts simultaneously.

    Statlander would come back out during Mone’s celebration as payback for earlier and made Mone flee after Statlander hit Mone with a Samoan Drop.

    AEW World Tag Team Champions Brodido vs. AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita

    In what was the culmination of the evening’s tag team matches, Brody King and Bandido put their AEW World Tag Team Championships on the line against the Don Callis Family’s Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita.

    Takeshita is fresh of winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship from Zack Sabre Jr. at New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s King of Pro-Wrestling. This appeared to only fuel the animosity between Okada and Takeshita which has been brewing for weeks.

    Anyone who had seen Takeshita challenge Bandido for the Ring of Honor World Championship at Supercard of Honor in July already knew what those two would bring to the match, on top of everything King and Okada bring to the table. The next 27 minutes would see Brodido and the Don Callis Family representatives trade heavy-handed strikes and big spots, all with tensions between Okada and Takeshita bubbling underneath.

    Things came to a head as Bandido tried to survive a two-on-one situation against Okada and Takeshita. After catching Bandido, Okada attempted a Rainmaker but Bandido ducked and Okada ended up clotheslining Takeshita instead. Okada feigned regret for a minute before a giant smile formed on his face and he flipped off Takeshita, who rolled out of the ring to the floor. Bandido took the chance to regain his composure and catches Okada as he turns back around before hitting him with the X-knee. Bandido attempted the 21-plex after but couldn’t hit it due to his left arm, which had been hurt in a title defense about two weeks before against Hechicero. King came back in the ring to help Bandido soften Okada further before diving to the outside, taking out Takeshita. Bandido was then able to hit a one-armed 21-plex on Okada to retain the World Tag Team titles.

    Cut to backstage where Lexi Nair is with a bereft Toni Storm, who is joined shortly after by Mina Shirakawa. Storm laments how the pair have nothing left before Shirakawa reminds Storm that they have each other, hinting that these two will likely be a team chasing the new Women’s Tag Team titles.

    AEW Men’s World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page vs. AEW World Trios Champion Samoa Joe

    “Hangman” Adam Page, the current AEW Men’s World Champion, then made his entrance to defend his title against one-third of the World Trios champions and former-AEW Men’s World Champion, Samoa Joe. The match came about after Page unwittingly offended Joe in what Joe read as a show of disrespect after defeating the Death Riders in a trios match on Dynamite weeks earlier.

    Like most of Joe’s matches, it was a reminder that age really is just a number for the 26-year veteran and former world champion. Joe’s physicality was on full display against Page, who has made his career in AEW with wars against the likes of Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, and MJF, and this is exactly what fans got for 19 minutes.

    Joe was eventually able to catch Page and apply the Coquina clutch, though Page was able to get to the ropes to break it up. After escaping Joe’s attempt at a Muscle Buster, Page hit Joe with the Deadeye for a two-count. Page followed this up with a pair of Buckshot lariats and scored the pin to retain his world title.

    Joe’s teammates in The Opps, Katsuyori Shibata and Powerhouse Hobbs, came to the ring afterward to check on their partner. Page handed Joe his Trios title and the two embraced in a show of respect before Joe dropped Page with a lariat as Hobbs and Shibata began attacking Page. Joe would then crack Page with the AEW Men’s World Title and hit him with a Muscle Buster.

    The camera then cut to the back where Mone let Statlander know she isn’t happy with Statlander raining on Mone’s parade and challenged Statlander for the Women’s World Championship at Full Gear. It was then confirmed on the next Dynamite that The Opps would be defending the Trios Championship against the Hurt Syndicate, Kazuchika Okada will defend the Unified Championship against Bandido, and the brackets for the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship tournament will be revealed.

    “I Quit” Match – Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley

    It is time for the main event as Darby Allin and Jon Moxley face off in an “I Quit” match to close out the show.

    Allin comes to the ring alone while Moxley is joined by his Death Riders’ compatriot, Marina Shafir.

    The next 25 minutes saw Allin and Moxley, two wrestlers known for their violent and physical matches, delivering war as the two tried to make the other quit. Shafir would make her presence known at random points during the match, though much of its first half kept the focus on Allin and Moxley as the two didn’t waste time getting physical. Allin, especially, would be put through the physical ringer as he was slammed, thrown, and even tased and have a skewer shoved into one of his fingers by Moxley.

    Allin would get back at Moxley randomly, thanks in part to a bag of weapons he brought with him which included the AEW flag Allin took a photo with after summitting Mt. Everest earlier in 2025.

    As Allin would start to pick up momentum later in the match, the rest of the Death Riders would emerge to help their leader try to finish Allin off. This resulted in an aquarium being taken out and filled with water, which Moxley held Allin’s head under multiple times though he refused to quit. Eventually, the lights cut out for a few moments and when they returned, Sting was in the ring armed with his metal bat to aid Allin. Sting ran off the rest of the Death Riders, tossed Allin the bat, and carried Shafir backstage. Allin didn’t waste time taking the aluminum bat to Moxley before using the AEW flag to choke Moxley and hitting a Scorpion Death Drop and Coffin Drop. Allin then locked in a Scorpion Death Lock and Moxley quickly quit as Allin celebrated with flag as WrestleDream faded to black.

    Final Thoughts

    AEW has had a banner year in 2025, with the overall quality of the product managing to pick back up after a rocky few years tracing all the way back to the infamous “Brawl Out” backstage fight in 2022.

    While it could be argued the build to WrestleDream felt a bit rushed due to the relatively short-turnaround from All Out, AEW was able to deliver what may be its best in-ring pay-per-view of 2025.

    Each match felt different enough from the one previous that the crowd, even when tired, was engaged for the roughly 4.5 hour pay-per-view, or 5.5 hours if including the Tailgate Brawl. It highlighted something AEW has done better in 2025 than it had in recent years which was keeping the core focus on the ring and only shifting focuses when it needed to.

    Tag team wrestling, in particular, was the star of the show at WrestleDream between an 8-man tag, a trios match, and five traditional 2v2 tag team matches. The women’s tag match on the Tailgate Brawl helped provide a quick preview of what fans can see in the tag title tournament while the three men’s tag matches showcased a division that has experience a massive rebound in 2025, especially in the last several months.

    To further this point, the best match of the night would have to go to Brodido vs Takeshita and Okada for the AEW Tag Team Championships.

    Bandido has been considered by many outlets one of the best wrestlers in 2025 with a catalog of matches including two potential Match of the Year candidates in his Ring of Honor World Championship defenses against Takeshita and Hechicero. He has also had many standout bouts south of the border for CMLL in Mexico, main eventing the legendary Arena Mexico against names including Mistico, Mascara Dorada, Volador Jr., Difunto, and others.

    There appeared to be some frustration with fans online over the end of the “I Quit” match and it feeling rushed, along with some other points, but nothing that seemed to set off any major backlash from fans in a way that ruined a particular match or the show.

    That said, show length is something that AEW should address.

    It may have been a Saturday but there’s something to be said about a pay-per-view starting its main card at 8 P.M. not needing to go well past midnight. If the show had started in the early or mid-afternoon as All In: Texas, Forbidden Door, and All Out have, then longer shows don’t appear to be a problem for most fans based on the reception those shows received. For evening pay-per-views, though, Tony Khan may want to consider trimming the shows down for the benefit of AEW’s audience.

    OVERALL GRADE: B+