Samoa Joe defeated Hangman Adam Page for the AEW Championship.
AEW
AEW Full Gear 2025 offered up another bloody, violent, non-family-friendly showcase from the Prudential Center in New Jersey. The show’s defining moment came when new world champion Samoa Joe was covered in blood in the main event Steel Cage match. Joe’s face looked like a crimson mask over another crimson mask. In terms of violence, Full Gear 2025 seemed to overcompensate for the sanctions placed upon AEW talent during last month’s WrestleDream pay-per-view from the St. Louis Athletic Commission.
Several new champions were crowned on a show filled with legitimate surprises, including Samoa Joe’s second world title win in AEW and Hook’s shocking heel turn.
AEW Full Gear 2025 Highlights
- Samoa Joe defeated Hangman Adam Page for the AEW World Championship as Hook turns heel.
- Kris Statlander retained the AEW Women’s World Championship over Mercedes Mone.
- Ricochet wins National Championship in a Casino Gauntlet Match.
- Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa became the first AEW Women’s Tag Team champions.
- FTR defeated Brodito to become the new AEW Tag Team champions.
- Kyle O’Reilly shocked Jon Moxley in a No Holds Barred Match.
AEW Full Gear 2025 Winners
Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe left Full Gear 2025 as the night’s big winner as the bleeding legend left with the AEW World Championship. Joe outlasted Hangman Adam Page in an ultraviolent Steel Cage match where the +1200 underdog scored the upset with a little help from his opps, particularly Hook.
Joe will now reign as a heel champion with a top heel stable in tow, and it’ll be interesting to see who will be built up as AEW’s next Great White Hope to dethrone Joe.
Mercedes Mone and Kris Statlander
Mercedes Mone and Kris Statlander had the match of the night in a back-and-forth AEW Women’s World Championship match. Mercedes pulled off an incredible 14 Amigos Suplexes, but Ultimo Mone came up short yet again in her quest for the AEW Women’s World Championship. This further established a story of Mercedes being unable to win AEW’s top women’s title despite laying claim to a record 13 concurrent belts.
By beating Toni Storm twice and now Mercedes Mone, Kris Statlander has no choice but to level up as one of AEW’s biggest stars.
Mark Briscoe
Mark Briscoe dethroned Kyle Fletcher for the TNT Championship in another wild, violent match. Briscoe would have had to join the Callis Family had he lost, but his victory was a long overdue title win for one of AEW’s most natural babyfaces.
Briscoe will likely settle into a gatekeeper role as a popular babyface defending the TNT Championship against promising midcard heels. Kyle Fletcher is a favorite of Dave Meltzer, which means he’s also obligated to be a favorite of Tony Khan, who is almost guaranteed to elevate Fletcher to the top of the card.
Ricochet
Ricochet’s tenure in AEW has been all but a bust. Two years into his AEW run, he had yet to win any title, and served as the third-leg of a three-man stable. Despite being mildly amusing as a heel, Ricochet was going nowhere fast until AEW created yet another belt out of nowhere. After suffering a one-sided loss to Bobby Lashley on AEW Dynamite this past week, Ricochet scored a Casino Battle Royale win over Kevin Knight, securing his first National Championship and his first AEW Championship simultaneously.
Kyle O’Reilly
Kyle O’Reilly scored the biggest win of his career after submitting former AEW champion Jon Moxley. Moxley has now failed to beat O’Reilly in their last four matches against one another, and the 38-year-old Reilly secured a submission win that Kevin Knight or Speedball Mike Bailey could only dream about given AEW’s crowded roster.
O’Reilly should be strongly considered as the next challenger for Samoa Joe, who is in need of top babyfaces. Samoa Joe vs. Kyle O’Reilly is about as box office as Kyle Fletcher vs. anybody, but from a resume standpoint alone, O’Reilly has a head of steam and deserves to be elevated based on his recent dominance of Mox.
AEW Full Gear 2025 Losers
Hangman Adam Page
After a hapless 133-reign following one of the most memorable coronations in AEW history, Hangman Adam Page messed around and had one of the worst title reigns in AEW history. Page’s surprising loss to Samoa Joe puts him in no-man’s land, where the Cowboy suddenly went from AEW savior to a babyface without a belt. Page would benefit from the return of Swerve Strickland if it led to a superteam between the two former rivals.
Joe’s upset win is a good thing for AEW’s pay-per-view brand. Full Gear was an uninspiring card on its face, and many of the matches seemed to have a predictable finish. But between Hangman losing, Mox losing and Mercedes coming up short for the AEW Women’s World Championship, AEW Full Gear created a much-needed “anything can happen” vibe for those who were still awake by the time the show ended past midnight.
Darby Allin
Darby Allin’s return has been fumbled like nobody’s business. Allin climbed Mount Everest. He was the centerpiece of the outside interference that led to one of AEW’s most monumental title changes in its young history. Unfortunately, the follow-up has been terrible. After losing a Coffin Match to Mox at All Out, Allin defeated Jon Moxley in an “I Quit” match last month at WrestleDream. Allin followed up his 50/50 win with a loss to Pac; one of Mox’s goons.
Allin was set to become one of the biggest superstars in all of wrestling given his unique journey to the top of the world. AEW’s toothless storytelling has undercut 13-belt Mone as the promotion has dropped the ball conveying the true importance of the history she has made. That same inability to downplay historic achievements has also sabotaged Darby.