AEW NEWS - NOVEMBER 2025

[The Natural]

I'm not feeling the field in all honesty. I was hoping for Bandido and Brody King. Bandido is a huge miss.

[porksweats]

5 minutes ago, The Natural said:

I'm not feeling the field in all honesty. I was hoping for Bandido and Brody King. Bandido is a huge miss.

I think if anything it says to the strength of the lineup that there's so many great names on it, that there's equally as many names that could've made the cut.

[username]

4 hours ago, Go2Sleep said:

Hayes being done at 36 seems crazy in retrospect, but there were a lot of factors that led to guys washing out earlier back then.

I've been struggling to find a less grim way to say this, but this is also the era of wrestling where an absurd number of people were dying before reaching 45-50 years of age. Drugs of both the performance and recreational variety were probably the biggest factor but regardless the lifestyle was very hard on a large number of people.

[Cleavy]

16 minutes ago, SovietShooter said:

Cannot believe Bandido isn't in this at all...

ROH Final Battle is on Dec 5th, so probably keeping him fit for that

[Go2Sleep]

5 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Chalk that up to Vince being a good promoter but not a good booker and not very imaginative, in my opinion.   Hogan had a second career by turning heel in WCW, and Savage got his edge back there as well, and was pretty awesome.  Piper…okay, Piper had awful ideas and could never adapt.  His WCW act was cringeworthy.   Still, what did Vince do with these guys in the early 90s?  Savage and Piper, two of the most diabolical heels of the 80s, were neutered babyface commentators, gleefully cheering on the good guys.  It was awful.  And Hogan’s babyface shtick got tired and Vince couldn’t conceive of anything else he could possibly do with him.  Three legends whose major WWF run lasted all of, what, 5-7 years each?  It’s insane.

Eh, Hogan still floundered through a couple years of being a stale face in some really bad angles before Bisch or whoever finally got him on board with going heel. Even then, it was Hall and Nash carrying the cool factor of the NWO. Savage wasn't quite to the point where crowds were forcing him heel, but he wasn't quite shoved down everyone's throat like Hogan. He looked like a massive putz after Flair and Hogan ate his lunch for all of 96, only to become Hogan's lackey again. He pretty much stayed in the upper midcard for the rest of his tenure with a couple of 1-day gold-watch title wins. Once Goldberg caught fire, Hogan could never find a comfortable place either. He didn't really revive his career after Starrcade 97 until WM 18 when fans decided they were cool with nostalgia again.

On the AEW front, I gotta say there's at least some interesting matchups even if Okada/Takeshita in the finals is a foregone conclusion. Pac has some fresh matches against everyone except Darby (particularly interested in him vs. Fletcher and Okada). I can't recall Fletcher working with Darby either. All of Takeshita's match-ups look great. Claudio/Dorada is a great style match for both guys, and Mox could have an interesting B-story. I wonder if they'll actually have him get shut out.

[Marcel]

9 hours ago, DreamBroken said:

Continental Classic participants announced:

GOLD League: Darby Allin, Pac, Kevin Knight, Speedball Mike Bailey, Kyle Fletcher, Kazuchika Okada

BLUE League: Konosuke Takeshita, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, Mascara Dorada.

Definitely looking forward to Okada/Pac - I loved their match at Dynasty last year.  Knight and Bailey will probably tear it up as well.  Okada/Fletcher will probably be the Gold League Final but I wouldn't be surprised if Allin or Pac sneaks in there.  Either way, Okada makes the Final.

Takeshita all the way in the Bue League.  Pretty sure Mox taps more than once in the league to continue that story.  Looking forward to seeing how Dorada does.

[Shartnado]

15 hours ago, mystman said:

I think this was a third grade class photo. 

Oh, it's like NINE year old Arn Anderson, instead of a nineTEEN year old! Makes more sense now!

[Shartnado]

11 hours ago, DreamBroken said:

Continental Classic participants announced:

GOLD League: Darby Allin, Pac, Kevin Knight, Speedball Mike Bailey, Kyle Fletcher, Kazuchika Okada

BLUE League: Konosuke Takeshita, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, Mascara Dorada.

GOLD league looks about perfect. Was thinking Josh Alexander in one of the leagues, but I guess that's too many Callis Family members. He could have taken Claudio's spot, because I don't think it's fair that someone gets in every year, unless they are the defending champion. That's why I'm glad no Garcia, Briscoe or Brody this year, even if that may affect the overall average match quality negatively. Bandido could have replaced someone who was in last year (or definitely Claudio, if Alexander wasn't getting in anyway). I think Eddie Kingston could have been given a spot, since he missed out last year, but he probably wouldn't have faired too well this time around, so probably for the best?

Takeshita takes BLUE. Hell, I think he'll take the whole thing in the end.

[Technico Support]

I'm looking forward to every match in the gold league.  Blue league is a little rougher for me, as Claudio and Strong both bore me.

[HarryArchieGus]

C2 announcement was bound to disappoint with who wouldn’t be in (Bandido, the aforementioned Josh Alexander). Nonetheless, love the prospects of every single match in the tournament. Despite the prize being a lesser title belt, this tournament is my favourite thing in aew. The simplicity and guarantee of straight mat action makes me think of our man Dean. 

[The Natural]

2 hours ago, Marcel said:

Definitely looking forward to Okada/Pac - I loved their match at Dynasty last year.  Knight and Bailey will probably tear it up as well.  Okada/Fletcher will probably be the Gold League Final but I wouldn't be surprised if Allin or Pac sneaks in there.  Either way, Okada makes the Final.

Takeshita all the way in the Bue League.  Pretty sure Mox taps more than once in the league to continue that story.  Looking forward to seeing how Dorada does.

Kazuchika Okada vs. PAC at Dynasty 2024 is up there for Okada's best AEW match. There's Okada/Danielson at Forbidden Door 2023/Wrestle Kingdom 18, Okada vs. Takeshita vs. Dorada at All Out 2025 and Okada/Takeshita vs. Brodido at WrestleDream 2025. I'd go with Okada/Danielson.

[The Natural]

1 minute ago, HarryArchieGus said:

C2 announcement was bound to disappoint with who wouldn’t be in (Bandido, the aforementioned Josh Alexander). Nonetheless, love the prospects of every single match in the tournament. Despite the prize being a lesser title belt, this tournament is my favourite thing in aew. The simplicity and guarantee of straight mat action makes me think of our man Dean. 

AEW RULES THE MOTHERFUCKING WORLD!

We love and miss you, @DEAN xxx.

[Curt McGirt]

11 hours ago, username said:

Drugs of both the performance and recreational variety

Since we're talking Vince, besides all his other faults, you can truly damn him for his muscle hard-on forcing so many people to get on the juice. If the best-paying, highest-level promoter wants body guys, then you do whatever it takes to get that money, and it cost a lot of lives. 

I like Josh Alexander but I would still consider him cannon fodder in the tourney. Aside from that I really have no opinion aside from, they're not even done with the WOMEN'S TAG TOURNAMENT and they're starting this. Just like that, it will last for-ev-er. Do we have to have a tournament going at all times? It's as bad as the amount of belts. 

[Shartnado]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Since we're talking Vince, besides all his other faults, you can truly damn him for his muscle hard-on forcing so many people to get on the juice. If the best-paying, highest-level promoter wants body guys, then you do whatever it takes to get that money, and it cost a lot of lives. 

I like Josh Alexander but I would still consider him cannon fodder in the tourney. Aside from that I really have no opinion aside from, they're not even done with the WOMEN'S TAG TOURNAMENT and they're starting this. Just like that, it will last for-ev-er. Do we have to have a tournament going at all times? It's as bad as the amount of belts. 

Well, someone has to test the theory that you just can't have too much muscles, titles and tournaments (as in the 3 best things in wrestling) and the results seem to come back as "well, it seems like there actually IS a limit". The same damn thing happened with the very best thing in wrestling: head-drops! The empirical studies eventually showed that, unfortunately, there IS a limit to those, too!

[HarryArchieGus]

2 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

I like Josh Alexander but I would still consider him cannon fodder in the tourney. Aside from that I really have no opinion aside from, they're not even done with the WOMEN'S TAG TOURNAMENT and they're starting this. Just like that, it will last for-ev-er. Do we have to have a tournament going at all times? It's as bad as the amount of belts. 

Yeah, adding belts and tournaments while another tournament is on is classic AEW poor timing. They badly need a details person in that creative huddle. Maybe one day.

Nobody in the C2 is canon fodder. Canon fodder is faceless nameless enhancement talent or the Workhorsemen on pre-shows. If Alexander had been selected he’d definitely have eaten some pins, but I also suspect, as per usual, he would’ve been quietly one of the best workers in there. 

[Curt McGirt]

So this tournament isn't single elimination? I must've forgot. In that case let me remove the "cannon fodder" comment because I thought, "yeah if he's in then he's just jobbing and out". I wouldn't have any problem with him being in, if he's in multiple matches, because like you said he's a consistently good worker and that would actually give him a bit of rub. But of course, he isn't in.  

And now that I remember it's like the G1 my instant thought is 

Spoiler

GODDAMMIT NOW IT'S GONNA BE EVEN LONGER ARRRRRRRGH THEY'RE GONNA HAVE A SECOND TOURNAMENT RUNNING AT THE SAME TIME BEFORE IT'S EVEN FINISHED AND THEY ALREADY HAVE ONE GOING NOW GAHHHHHHH

I don't know why I like to complain about good singles matches in AEW though, because it's rather stupid as I prefer them. It's something I need to work on, personally, as much as they need to work on this belt/tournament obsession.

[Ramo2653]

I don't mind the concurrent tournaments. Feels like an actual sport league. Granted combat sports probably wouldn't do this since guys need recovery time, but that's why wrestlers are so tough right?

A little wrap around segment would be helpful here and there though. Did they announce what you get for this years CC? 

[twiztor]

a bit behind on AEW news, so i'm ignoring the C2 talk for a moment (at least until this weekend when i can finally get caught up on Full Gear and tomorrow's Dynamite...)

On 11/21/2025 at 6:34 PM, Curt McGirt said:

Anyway. The UFC titles are necessarily separated by weight class so there is really no need for a World belt or anything. I'd gather 1/2 their roster is from overseas anyway, so they are all technically World titles.

just to note, that almost all of the UFC champs are from somewhere other than the US (all 8 men and 1 of 3 women).
And while nobody refers to them specifically as "World" Titles, the belt itself does say "World Champion" (one of the side plates specifies weight class).

[HarryArchieGus]

I wonder if we'll ever get a C2 tag tournament. Anybody wanna join in on Willing that one into existence.

[The Natural]

Just now, twiztor said:

a bit behind on AEW news, so i'm ignoring the C2 talk for a moment (at least until this weekend when i can finally get caught up on Full Gear and tomorrow's Dynamite...)

just to note, that almost all of the UFC champs are from somewhere other than the US (all 8 men and 1 of 3 women).
And while nobody refers to them specifically as "World" Titles, the belt itself does say "World Champion" (one of the side plates specifies weight class).

Man, I hate that belt. I much prefer the one before:

[twiztor]

yeah, i MUCH prefer the older design. newer one, while a vastly different design, has always reminded me too much of the "WWE Title" style, which i absolutely hate.

[StevieNippz]

26 minutes ago, HarryArchieGus said:

I wonder if we'll ever get a C2 tag tournament. Anybody wanna join in on Willing that one into existence.

I'd be down for one of those and also one for the women's division one day. 

 

I really like the lineup to the C2 this year and I'm excited I'll actually get to watch the whole dang thing for once. I'm a little bummed Brody didn't make the cut this year but I'm glad he won't have to eat a bunch of losses like last year. I think Takeshita/Okada might actually happen in the Semifinals to throw a little curve ball. Curious to see how Mox fairs in all of this 

[SovietShooter]

2 hours ago, The Natural said:

Man, I hate that belt. I much prefer the one before:

Yeah, if I were starting a promotion, I would want my belts to be copies of this. Big gold one for the singles, two silver ones for tag. 

[The Natural]

7 hours ago, The Natural said:

Man, I hate that belt. I much prefer the one before:

 

7 hours ago, twiztor said:

yeah, i MUCH prefer the older design. newer one, while a vastly different design, has always reminded me too much of the "WWE Title" style, which i absolutely hate.

 

5 hours ago, SovietShooter said:

Yeah, if I were starting a promotion, I would want my belts to be copies of this. Big gold one for the singles, two silver ones for tag. 

In full agreement. Cheers.

[The Natural]

AEW Dynamite (26th November) will have:

AEW Continental Classic Gold League: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kyle Fletcher.

AEW Continental Classic Gold League: Darby Allin vs. Kevin Knight.

AEW Continental Classic Blue League: Jon Moxley vs. Mascara Dorada.

The Opps celebrate new AEW World Champion Samoa Joe.

Edited November 26, 2025 by The Natural