AEW Worlds End 2024 was another thumbs up PPV for AEW in a series of thumbs up shows on PPV for the company. Pretty indisputable if you ask me.
What the show wasn’t was a cohesive watch in which matches mattered in a way that was bigger than the matches themselves. Are tremendous Will Ospreay and Mercedes Mone matches doing anything for the company? They are there and they were on this show, but do they matter more than just existing as great matches? They didn’t and that’s pretty indisputable as well.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the show and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. Period.
Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher - AEW Continental Classic Semifinal
Just a tremendous match. We know Ospreay and Fletcher have chemistry and they certainly showed that off in this one. More impressive was how this match fit into their last one. The last one was more about rivalry. This one was about blood and there was lots of it. Ospreay bled buckets, but it very much helped the aura and story of not only this match, but the finals match with Okada later on as well.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
Kazuchika Okada vs. Ricochet - AEW Continental Classic Semifinal
Fine. Not special though, but that’s ok. This match was a puzzle piece for the overall tournament final and that final needed Okada to be strong. Ricochet helped give it that by losing and losing definitively. The loss helps his heel turn, so in the end, he wins. Nothing we’ll remember, but again, that was the point.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Mariah May vs. Thunder Rosa - AEW Women’s World Championship
Appropriately violent, but not overly violent. May and Rosa struck the right tone with this one. The stuff between May and Rosa’s Dad didn’t land because AEW didn’t set the table well enough on that story. That said, the action was strong and May added another successful title defense to her run.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
MJF vs. Adam Cole
The worst match of the night. It had blood, but it didn’t need blood. It had Cole’s Undisputed Kingdom friends help him out and it DEFINITELY didn’t need that. Who’s out to get Adam Cole in AEW? The only good thing about this was that Cole did the job. It’s not a great place for Cole to be, but that’s the reality.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - O 3/4
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Powerhouse Hobbs - AEW International Championship
I had low expectations for this one because of a lack of seeing Hobbs having Takeshita level matches. It over delivered by a lot. Takeshita really helped carry Hobbs to an excellent match and one that accentuated all of Hobbs’ strengths — even in losing. This match not only proved out Takeshita’s value to AEW, but it showed how much upside Hobbs has too.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/4
Mercedes Mone vs. Kris Statlander - TBS Championship
Awesome. The slow pace was necessary. Mone and Statlander had to setup what the last 25% of the match would mean and it took some time to do that. It worked in the end as the crowd was hooked and into what they did. Unique bumps and stiff moves were in abundance and like Ospreay vs. Fletcher, it played off of what had happened in their first bout. Great chemistry between both women and Statlander shines (like most do) when they are working with Mone.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO
Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada - AEW Continental Classic Finals
Wonderful. Just wonderful and what you’d want from both guys in their first-ever clash in AEW. This had the action that Okada and Ospreay are known for, but the story as well. Ospreay didn’t rinse off any blood from his first match of the night and that visual helped this out. Ospreay had to climb uphill against Okada. He was the underdog and looked the part with that blood. Okada winning keeps the secondary Continental Championship off of Ospreay. That alone is a smart reason to keep things on Okada. Also, good to see big match Okada finally come out. AEW needed it. AEW needed Kenny Omega to return too. He did and it felt special. Clearly, they are setting up Okada vs. Omega and many fans are going to love that.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Adam Page vs. Jay White - AEW World Championship
This will be a forgotten main event. Largely because the match was only ok, but also because it just didn’t feel like a main event on this night. Moxley won and everyone expected him too. Adam Copeland returning was a nice surprise, though it wasn’t all that surprising. Copeland vs. Moxley is where they look to be headed next and that’s a smart direction.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
What did you think of AEW Worlds End 2024? Let us know in the comments!
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