AEW Full Gear 2025
All Elite Wrestling
The latest edition of AEW Full Gear was built around big moments, multiple title changes, and a staggering amount of blood that somehow matched the stakes of every match. The event once again emanated from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which has hosted this pay-per-view three of the past four years and continues to be a strong home base for one of AEW’s top annual shows.
The night closed with Samoa Joe defeating Adam Page for the AEW World Championship in a very pro wrestling main event filled with heel turns, a major return, and plenty of chaos. Kris Statlander also stepped in for her second AEW Women’s World Championship defense, this time against Mercedes Moné.
So what went down at Full Gear? Here are three lingering questions from the show:
Jon Moxley’s Time As Leader of The Death Riders Is Almost Over, But When?
The writing has been on the wall for a while. The story continues to move in the direction of Jon Moxley losing so often and so decisively that something has to give regarding his status as the leader of the Death Riders. The likely outcome is that someone will replace him as the group’s figurehead, or that the faction will turn on him entirely in a brutal attack similar to what happened with Bryan Danielson.
Moxley lost again by submission to Kyle O’Reilly in a brutal and bloody match at Full Gear. It was yet another example of Moxley appearing unreliable and cowardly, backing down at the first sign of adversity while insisting that everything within the group is fine.
Anyone who watched Moxley’s backstage promo after the loss, or saw the reactions on the faces of the other Death Riders, knows that everything is clearly not fine.
The turn could happen on Dynamite to give the next stretch of programming a major jolt, or AEW could wait until Worlds End on December 27. In either case, the end seems near for the big blowoff moment that resets this faction. Pac feels like a natural candidate to take over, and Claudio Castagnoli is another possibility. Pac defeating Darby Allin at Full Gear may have been the seed planted for what comes next, especially since he has built steady momentum since returning from injury.
Who Steps Up Next to Challenge Kris Statlander?
Everything Kris Statlander has done, from winning the AEW Women’s World Championship at All Out to defending it successfully against Toni Storm and now Mercedes Moné, should finally put to rest any doubt that she is an underdog. She is a top star in AEW and someone the company elevated at a time when the women’s division needed more main-event names beyond Storm and Moné.
Statlander beating both of them clean opens the door for AEW to elevate someone new.
Many of the women who are consistently featured on television are currently involved in the tag team title tournament, which leaves room for a fresh challenger to emerge. Jaime Hayter, who is not part of the tournament, could return to the world title picture for the first time in years. Britt Baker is also a possibility, as Tony Khan has expressed hope about bringing her back, although Fightful Select reported she has not been discussed in recent creative plans.
The most obvious money feud is with Willow Nightingale, given her long-standing friendship and alignment with Statlander. Nightingale is teaming with Harley Cameron in the tag team title tournament as the Babes of Wrath, and that program appears to be a major focus for AEW. This makes a world title feud unlikely in the immediate future, particularly since Nightingale and Cameron seem poised to be central players in the tag division whether they win the belts or not.
Was It Too Soon for Hangman Page to Lose the AEW World Championship?
It felt like a quick four months with Adam Page as AEW World Champion, partly because of how packed the schedule was in between. For anyone who wondered whether it was too soon for a title change, his résumé speaks for itself. Page defended the championship against Jon Moxley on Dynamite, against MJF at Forbidden Door, against Kyle Fletcher at All Out, against Lee Moriarty on Dynamite and against Samoa Joe at WrestleDream. He also added seven more televised wins during his reign.
All of this came within a span of only a few months and included three pay-per-views, each against top names on the AEW roster. There is nothing negative about that output.
The Full Gear main event felt like it flew by. Page was busted open early, and the match clocked in at just 14 minutes and 22 seconds, which is far shorter than the amount of time AEW usually gives its main events. The steel cage naturally limited what both wrestlers could do, even within the boundaries of a traditional gimmick match.
The moment Page lost the title felt jarring. It carried that instinctive “already?” reaction, yet the story itself works. Samoa Joe gets one last world title run before he winds down his career, supported by Powerhouse Hobbs, Katsuyori Shibata and the newly turned heel Hook. Page now chases Joe and tries to understand why Hook, who is getting another chance to elevate himself, would realign with Joe. On top of that, Page must navigate teaming with the returning Swerve Strickland to combat the Opps, even as both men appear to have the AEW World Championship on their minds. Their shared history makes that tension compelling.
Strickland, meanwhile, returned looking like the babyface superstar AEW has been missing. Page provided a strong foundation as champion, but the roster still needed more top good guys, especially after Joe turned heel at WrestleDream and Hook followed soon after. If Jon Moxley turns next, it will help, but Strickland brings a different kind of presence. His energy and charisma inject life into the division, and he feels like someone who could realistically carry the world title in the near future.