Wooooooooooooo! What a pay-per-view! The immediate impact this will have at World’s End will be interesting to play out over the rest of the year. Full Gear 2025 was a legitimate company-changing pay-per-view. It changed the trajectory of a handful of wrestlers-Mercedes, Statlander, Joe, Hangman, Briscoe, and Hangman.
Not only that, but every single title was affected in some way or another. Whether the title switched hands or gave it the boost it needed, everything has changed for AEW. It was unpredictable; check out how wrong my predictions were.
That is why I needed a day to really let everything that happened this weekend sink in. What does every decision made at Full Gear mean for AEW in the immediate future and in the long run? What is the fallout from Full Gear? I’m here to tell you what that is.
Samoa Joe Is Champion Again, to Everyone’s Shock
Be honest, nobody saw that coming. Samoa Joe winning his second AEW World Championship was not what the odds were showing. Especially considering there were two other title changes–three if you think the new National Champion.
Was this world title reign booked as Samoa Joe’s last, or was it just another hurdle for Adam Page to jump? This win could even be a transitional reign to get it to Swerve Strickland or someone else.
Whatever the reasoning is, Joe brings something to the title that few others can. I mean, nobody else can pull off a crimson mask like him. He’s a menace, and having that as your champion is a good thing. Joe’s immediate feud/program is and should be against Swerve and Hangman. Where it goes from there is any
Unpredicatability
Three title changes, fellow stablemates fighting each other, and a 14-belt champion unable to win the big one. If Full Gear taught us anything, it’s that Tony Khan and AEW creative are not afraid to zig when everyone thought they were zagging.
Khan had been booking very predictably since All In, which is not a bad thing, but neither is keeping the fans on their toes. Even if you aren’t a fan of the decisions made, you can’t deny the intrigue of where the company can go from here to close out 2025.
What happens to Hangman? Do Bandido and King finally get those singles pushes? Do the Death Riders finally turn on Moxley? Where does Mercedes go from here? All very intriguing and engaging scenarios that will start to take form at World’s End.
Hagman’s Title Rum Ends Andswerve Strickland Returns
Where does the Hangman go from here? Is the loss to Samoa Joe used as another notch in his redemption arc? Or was that really it for his second title reign? Adam Page has always been a very complex, nuanced wrestling character, so losing the title, when nobody was expecting it, is right up his alley.
The next chapter in his story is teaming up with the returning Swere Strickland to take down the Opps. Testing Hangman’s resolve by having him team up with his arch-nemesis seems like a logical step for his character.
Swerve is healthy–as big as he’s ever been– and he is now eyeing Joe, whom he beat for his first AEW title reign. While taking down the Opps and their dojo, his prime objective will be the title, and not necessarily helping Hangman. Helping Page will be a means to an end — the world title —so, to him, that will be the reason he needs to team up with his old enemy.
I can see a tag team match at World’s End between two Opp members — preferably Joe and Hook —against Hangman and Swerve. That will be the build for the end of the year in the World Title picture.
Jon Moxley Is a Dead Man Walking
The clock is ticking for John Moxley. You can see it in the faces of the rest of the Death Riders, their leader is no longer viable to lead them. His latest loss to Kyle O’Reilly can start to show the cracks within the Death Riders. Their confidence in their dear leader is fading.
Just like they did to Bryan Danielson, Moxley will be seen as weak and ineffective. You could see it in the Death Riders’ faces. They are disappointed. They know what they need to do, like taking their family dog out to pasture.
After tapping the same man twice in a row for the first time in his career, the only questions that remain are who lands the first knife in his back and when. The odds are on Marina Shafir, and it will more than likely take place at World’s End. The major shift in storytelling has to happen before the end of the year.
This Might Be the Best Continental Classic Ever
In the only non-wrestling segment at Full Gear, it was announced that three (!!) members of the Don Callis Family would be entering the Continental Classic. Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita, AND Kyle Fletcher all announced they would be partaking in the yearly tournament. The tension between the three aces of the DC family is finally going to boil over. And the CC tournament will be their arena. It’s the start of the Don Callis Family Civil War.
Not only will the in-ring product be great, but this year’s continental classic will be heavily influenced by the stories being built around it. Will the three men knock each other out before the finals, or who will be the odd man out? Who won’t make the final? Such an intriguing CC, which will make us tune in every week to watch it.
Mercedes Can’t Win the Big One; Statlander Is the Best Woman in the Division
No matter how many belts the “belt collector” can win, Mercedes Mone still can’t win the big one. This is now her second attempt at trying to win the AEW Women’s World Title, and her second time falling short. The actual journey to the title will start now. Mercedes has to drop all of her 13 other belts to win the AEW title. That storytelling is intricate and will pay off. Mercedes will get her big moment later in 2026. Preferably at All In.
On the other corner, Kris Statlander is in her moment. After beating Mercedes for the first time, Statlander will now have to defend her title against the best women’s division in North America. Who is that in the immediate future? It would be fun to see Stalander go against Marina Shafir. It all depends on how far she goes in the tag title tournament.
Ricochet Wins the National Title
Ricochet is about to go on the best run of his life. Most of it won’t even come in an AEW ring. After being treated like an absolute dummy the entire match (complimentary), Ricochet picked the right spot, and got the pin to win the first-ever AEW National Championship.
With that title, now comes the responsibility to grow the promotion outside of the AEW ring. Ricochet has positioned himself perfectly as the man to do that. His heel schtick travels easily across the indies and other promotions worldwide.
He will similarly be doing a lot of what Mercedes has been doing, but instead of that promotion title on the line, it will be an AEW title. It’s going to be fantastic. The outcome of this is not only to grow AEW, but also to build up other promotions and their talent.
Brodido Lose the Titles, What’s Next?
Brodido losing will hopefully mean they get the solo runs they so rightfully deserve. During this tag team run, they proved they can carry themselves well and have now positioned themselves as the top guys in the company. If losing the titles to FTR means they can now be pushed to the moon, which will likely happen, then this was a very successful tag team run for the two future singles champions.
As for FTR, they clawed themselves back to the top of the tag division and are now in charge of continuing the momentum Brodido built. They will continue this momentum until Cope and Cage come back.
The Elite Are Back Together
While this result wasn’t as unpredictable as some of the other decisions, it is nice to see the Elite back together again. They will immediately turn their attention towards the Don Callis Family. Could we see the return of Hangman to the Elite as well? He and Swerve could use the help against the Opps.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – AEW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on AEW Full Gear 2025 and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8 pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their YouTube
