Wrestledream (2025)

The felt like the opposite end of the dividing line that was Forbidden door. Very little in this show was exceptional but it crossed some threshold that Forbidden Door didn't where I didn't feel let down. This was a great show, but the greatness was spread pretty evenly throughout. This might have been the best spread of women matches at an AEW PPV, which might be bumping it up for me? The tag matches were also all great, but currently like AEW has the tag TALENT, their tag STORIES don't carry the same weight, so they never hit as hard for me as they could.

Anyways, reviews...

Jamie Hayter vs Thekla

Two of my favorite Stardom gaijins of all time.

I feel like this was missing the crowd connection to be as good as it potentially could have been. Not that the crowd was bad -- the crowd ruled all night and was good in this one but there is a difference between "loud" and "invested".

Not that I blame the crowd. Jamie has had a hard time reconnecting with the crowd. The fans like her -- and want to like her more -- but I feel like her identity has felt... confused ever since she first came back. But she's still great in the ring and Thekla rules and I hope they do more.

Kris Statlander vs Toni Storm

This was my favorite of the three womens matches and I have very little to say. They're just good together. I love how they built to this match too... Wrestlers wanting to fight in frustration with each other, but not wanting to take that extra step of violence. Between respect, desire, and bitterness there is yuri.

Mercedes Mone vs Mina Shirakawa

They're extremely good together and have lots of chemistry and their styles are pretty close to each other and I am a big fan of both of them, but also as soon as Mina came out like....

Yeah. It's an execution. I'm not going to sit here like a lot of people like "The belt collector gimmick is hurting womens wrestling!!" when I think it's sick, but it's at its worst when it feels like a afterthought. This isn't the main event of some indie show, this is a throw away match to mad numbers.

I still liked it. I like both of them too much not to, but ugh.

Hangman Adam Page vs Samoa Joe

One of those matches that is kinda both unremarkable but also great cause like... Sometimes you just need to be mean and hit each other??? Real meat and potatoes. I will appreciate Joe while I still can.

Darby Allin vs Jon Moxley

What was great was great. I don't feel confident in my own rating, but idk Darby died enough for it. The end though... it just didn't feel right. Darby proved his end of things, but Moxley didn't... Maybe that's the story though? It'll be nice if that plays out in future stories, but right now I can only take the match at face value. That didn't feel like Moxley wasn't true to his values, it felt like a misfire.

(relucently)