November has come to a close! Where has 2025 gone, honestly? A better month for better wrestling, with the year ending on a high note so far. I have high hopes for December.
But, let's not get too ahead of ourselves here. Let's see what stood out in the month of November, shall we?
The Young Bucks vs. FTR vs. Jurassic Express vs. JetSpeed - AEW Fright Night Dynamite 2025 - 10/29/2025
A very compelling and exciting four-way tag team match pitting the very best teams AEW has to offer, aside from the reigning champions Bridido, of course. I'm sure many of you that are familiar with AEW and how their wrestlers like to format these multi-man matches can picture how this one would go and, for the most part, they play to that strength very well. In no way is this a mark against this match, saying it "is exactly what you'd expect," because the level of expectation for these types of matches in AEW, for me at the very least, is pretty darn high! I was looking forward to this match going into the show and it more than lived up to my expectations. It was wonderful to see Jurassic Express back teaming together, JetSpeed is an exceptional pairing of two incredible singles wrestlers, something of a rarity if we can be honest. The Bucks were... well, the Young Bucks, and FTR were fantastic shitbag heels that did everything they could to neutralize their faster, more aerial opponents. In the end, FTR picked up the win to give themselves a shot at Brodido at Full Gear. Loads of fun from all four teams.
Chigusa Nagayo vs. Devil Masami - AJW Dream Slam 1 - 04/02/1993
Featured in Weekly Watchlist 073
Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs. Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki - AJW Dream Slam 1 - 04/02/1993
Featured in Weekly Watchlist 073
Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs. Eagle Sawai & Harley Saito - AJW Dream Slam 1 - 04/02/1993
Featured in Weekly Watchlist 073
Dynamite Kansai vs. Yumiko Hotta - AJW Dream Slam 1 - 04/02/1993
Featured in Weekly Watchlist 073
Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori - AJW Dream Slam 1 - 04/02/1993
Featured in Weekly Watchlist 073
Bandido vs. Mascara Dorada - AEW Fright Night Collision - 11/01/2025
Continuing his fantastic 2025, Bandido has an absolutely stellar match on a random episode of Collision against fellow luchador Mascara Dorada. The shit these guys were pulling out in this TV match were unreal, honestly, the dives, the flips, the counters and reversals. So much fun, I was hooked from the opening bell. I don't know if it's just because of AEW's partnership with CMLL that makes Tony want to feature the lucha libre stars more, or maybe TK just knows how to book an exciting show, but getting to see Dorada get more of a spotlight in the back half of 2025 has been a real treat. I wholeheartedly believe that the quality of this match is not just down to how good Bandido is, Dorada more than holds his own and is more than equal to the task of going blow-for-blow with 'Dido. Exceptional match, loved it.
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Orange Cassidy - AEW Dynamite - 11/05/2025
Getting the jump on Claudio during his entrance, Cassidy made a pretty strong case for himself before the bell even rang, but the unreal strength of Claudio was on full display once he was able to get his hands on the slippery Cassidy. I can't help but feel like I've seen Claudio and Cassidy wrestle in different configurations for years now, going all the way back to their time in CHIKARA, but that doesn't mean these matches get stale or boring. Far from it! The sneaky push that Claudio has been getting recently has been doing wonders for him, especially when he squares up against opponents that are much smaller than him and can be easily manipulated and tossed around like training dummies in a gym. Cassidy, as always, has moments of brilliance and makes a compelling case for himself at points in this match, but sometimes the best counter wrestling is just being the strongest motherfucker in the building, and Claudio more than qualifies for that. Swiss Death, one of the sickest moves in wrestling, gives Claudio the win over Cassidy in this match.
Kyle Fletcher vs. Ace Austin - AEW Collision - 11/08/2025
Adding another title defence to his resume, Fletcher continues his stellar 2025 with a fantastic match against Ace Austin. A recent signing by AEW, Austin has more than proven he is an AEW-level talent through his work in TNA, his recent singles run coming after his tag partner, Chris Bey, suffered a life-threatening injury. Best wishes to you in your continues recovery, Chris. Austin and Fletcher have very similar styles of wrestling, the key differences coming from Fletcher leaning more to the power side of offence, whereas Austin tends to favour his flips and aerial manoeuvres to gain an advantage. They're evenly matched throughout, with the TNT champion able to gain small advantages throughout to thwart the best efforts of Austin. It's a very compelling title defence and does a lot of work to help elevate Austin to a higher level at the early stages of his AEW career, being able to go toe-to-toe with someone the calibre of Fletcher. In the end, it's another successful title defence for the Protostar.
Women's Blood And Guts Match - AEW Dynamite - Blood & Guts 2025 - 11/12/2025
Featured in Weekly Watchlist 074
Adam Page vs. Powerhouse Hobbs - Falls Count Anywhere Match - AEW Dynamite - Blood & Guts 2025 - 11/12/2025
Featured in Weekly Watchlist 074
Men's Blood And Guts Match - AEW Dynamite - Blood & Guts 2025 - 11/12/2025
Featured in Weekly Watchlist 074
Deonna Purrazzo vs. Jordynne Grace - TNA Rebellion 2023 - 04/16/2023
Featured in Weekly Watchlist 075
Brodido vs. FTR - AEW Full Gear 2025 - 11/22/2025
Featured in Weekly Watchlist 076
Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe - No Disqualification Match - AEW Full Gear 2025 - 11/22/2025
Featured in Weekly Watchlist 076
There we have it! I know, I know, I did a lot of "Featured in blah blah blah" for this Matches of the Month, but when you already gave a paragraph of thoughts on a match right after it happened, I didn't really think it was necessary to give it another paragraph of thoughts from a month later. I prefer my first impressions to remembering what I felt weeks after the fact.
As always, send any and all hate mail to cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com. Same inbox for fan mail and charitable donations of (no less than) $2500.
Until next time, take it easy, be well, and love one another.
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