AEW returned to St. Louis’ Chaifetz Arena on Saturday night for an action-packed AEW WrestleDream 2025 card. Darby Allin finally won the big one with some help from old friend Sting, Mark Briscoe fell short against Kyle Fletcher, the women’s division feels like there’s a changing of the guard, and Brodido might have been the biggest winners of all.

After another wild night on pay-per-view, here’s our biggest takeaways on what happened and what comes next in AEW.

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1. Darby’s big win underwhelms

The build to Saturday’s main event always signaled a Darby Allin victory, but it’s hard not to be a little disappointed in how this one came together. With two insane characters coming off a casket match, the expectations were set unrealistically high for what levels of torture they’d encounter.

Their match came away feeling quite lopsided, with Allin taking the bulk of the punishment; he got beaten down by the Death Riders, saved by Sting, and a quick slew of moves later, he suddenly had Moxley tapping out. For a show that’s never lacking creativity, it felt anticlimactic for a Scorpion Death Drop, a Coffin Drop onto broken glass, and a Scorpion Death Lock to be the way Allin won the big one. Perhaps if there was more of an emphasis that Moxley was in the submission hold on broken glass, it wouldn’t have felt like they left part of the match on the table.

Tracking back to July’s All In pay-per-view with revisionist history now at our disposal, a better route for this storyline would have seen “Hangman” Adam Page pinning Moxley clean and Allin then using the choke-over-the-ropes maneuver to win Saturday’s “I Quit” match. That’s not the case, though, and this weekend’s match felt less like the end of a rivalry and more of a bump along the road. We’ll see how AEW creative navigates the fast-approaching Blood and Guts show and Full Gear pay-per-view a month from now.

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2. Samoa Joe gives AEW what it needs

The build to Samoa Joe’s championship showdown with “Hangman” Adam Page was missing something. His inclusion in a world championship match came a bit out of left field, and genuinely felt like a program that was thrown together hastily due to a lack of other options. But Joe’s turn at the conclusion of Saturday’s championship defeat is top-tier booking and exactly what AEW has desperately needed.

With Jon Moxley firmly moved on from the men’s World Heavyweight Championship picture and MJF absent, the organization has severely missed a clear top heel to pit against the fan-favorite champ. No champion in AEW truly embodies the collective audience in the way Page does and his emotional explosions bring energy to the fans. He simply has a natural ability to connect that’s quite rare in wrestling, and it’s a relationship Joe will feed off of. The transition of fans chanting “Joe, Joe, Joe” at the end of the match to “F*** you, Joe” needs to go into his Hall of Fame résumé for his incredible ability to seamlessly transition from pure good guy to despicable bad guy. This rivalry is far from over.

3. Brodido brings new life to the tag-team division

Bandido and Brody King’s tag-team run thus far has been easily the most unique championship pairing in recent memory. Bandido, a certified main-event-level star who has put on banger matches in AEW, and King, a solid trios wrestler who’s evolved into an outstanding solo star as well, have somehow both seen their levels rise. Their partnership is one that’s been manufactured in a way that hasn’t negatively impacted either man as they continue to build consistency in the tag division and a solid case for their own individual breakouts. It’s made for one of AEW’s unlikeliest duos and easily a fan-favorite title run.

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Saturday’s finish was predictable as the Don Callis Family continues to slowly collapse, with a Kazuchika Okada inadvertent Rainmaker to Konosuke Takeshita opening the door for Brodido to retain. But Bandido pinning Okada clean — and subsequently earning a shot at the Unified Championship — feels like a perfect utilization of both a top star the caliber of Bandido and one with the notoriety of Okada. We’re one Takeshita-accidentally-costing-Okada-the-title stumble away from a full implosion.

4. Ultimo Moné

Mercedes Moné is inevitable. Another match, another championship, and her hilarious title collection is only growing. Belts aside, Moné’s unreal 2025 campaign soldiered on with a sleeper Match of the Night candidate Saturday against Mina Shirakawa. Moné continues to be exceptional in the ring and Shirakawa showed she belongs right alongside her in championship consideration. Moné, like Toni Storm, has reached a point where she could be beltless and still one of the top challengers in the division.

The question moving forward is whether she’ll join Storm in propping up Statlander as the face and future of the women’s division, or if the belt collector will cut the reigning AEW Women’s Champion at the knees and add another belt to her inventory?

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5. Statlander’s time is now

Kris Statlander’s win at All Out in September could have been seen as a fluke, and WrestleDream felt like a night that would define whether she’s ready to compete at the next level of the AEW women’s division. She lived up to the expectations and more with a strong showing Saturday that left no doubt where the women’s division is headed after a clean pinfall victory over “Timeless” Toni Storm. Her first two months on top of the division feels like a true sink-or-swim test, as her next challenger has already been announced to be the aforementioned 11-belt champion, Mercedes Moné, at Full Gear next month.

As for Storm, after bringing the AEW women’s division to maybe its highest point, it would appear she’s turning her attention to the women’s tag division. After losing clean to Statlander, she was met by Mina Shirakawa, who teased that all they have is each other. It’s coincidental timing, weeks after the new tag-team titles were introduced. As of now, there’s no firm timeline for when that happens, but I’d expect these two to be heavily involved.

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6. Fletcher thrives, Briscoe falls upward

Kyle Fletcher is the unquestioned future of AEW. The Randy Orton comparisons feel less about two guys looking similar and more about what he’s capable of. Fletcher pulled out his arsenal for another really exceptional TNT Championship defense on Saturday night in a match that was one of the best of the night against Mark Briscoe.

Despite the loss, Briscoe has now put together two main event-level matches in as many months. His match against MJF in September was another show-stealer, and Briscoe has positioned himself as a legit championship contender.

7. The Elite is (maybe) back

Wrestling is at its best when you have an emotional connection to the product. Jack Perry absolutely needed to spin off as the Scapegoat, but his return alongside Luchasaurus has brought life to the collective duo. Fans love them together, and a return program Saturday with the Young Bucks was about as good as it gets.

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The Broke Bucks is an exceptional bit that I thought was going to be cut before it could really get going, but here we are again. After falling just short of getting themselves back on top, an attack by the Don Callis Family on Jurassic Express had the Bucks considering joining Kenny Omega to help them out of danger. They ultimately walked back up the ramp, but the tease of reuniting is enough to keep an element of intrigue on where the Bucks go from here.

8. Thekla can fill a void

For an organization that so consistently gets it right in terms of match order and card structure, WrestleDream felt like it crawled out of the gate. Thekla and Jamie Hayter put on a fine match, but they just didn’t have the chemistry that kept the action moving. It was hard-hitting, and what you’ve come to expect from the duo, but this one just didn’t land.

A bright spot coming out of this one is how strong Thekla looked in the loss. Just four months into her AEW tenure, she’s set herself apart with a distinct look and consistently solid matches. She fed Hayter really well to open WrestleDream, and if she can get things moving in the upcoming months, Thekla could fill an opening for AEW’s top heel in the women’s division.

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9. They all hurt trios

Two months after dropping the AEW World Tag Team Titles, The Hurt Syndicate is on the cusp of claiming even more AEW gold as they immediately jumped directly into trios action. The prevailing theme when they fell at the hands of The Demand at All Out questioned whether MVP still had it. A month later, the trio has beaten The Demand twice in a span of 11 days to jump to first in line against The Opps.

They’ve earned the right to be the next challengers to Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs and Katsuyori Shibata, and odds feel like they’re with the Hurt Syndicate to continue adding to their impressive AEW résumé.