10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2025
5. Jon Moxley Vs. Hangman Page (AEW All In: Texas)
The genius of the main event of AEW All In: Texas is that it was impossible.
A booker can’t just script themselves into a permanent return to form - they’d simply do it all the time - and ultimately, Tony Khan didn’t. AEW quickly reverted to a very good if lukewarm and flawed promotion. But that main event felt monumentally special, and if nothing else, proved that Khan is still capable of booking one awesome pay-per-view cycle - which is very encouraging, since All In is evolving into AEW’s WrestleMania equivalent.
AEW could not have orchestrated a more palpable sense of drama and anticipation, even if that isn’t necessarily an endorsement. The Death Riders stuff was hokey and oppressive for ages; the tacit promise of Mox losing the World title was more respite from bad booking than the grand payoff to a long-term story.
But then, about two months before the PPV, Mox hit form.
This balance, which AEW arrived at by accident almost, was incredible. There was a desire on the part of AEW fans to see Mox lose, but from AEW’s perspective, there was no great need. Mox had become an incredible big bad. The memory of WWE WrestleMania 39, a successful gamble, loomed.
The match was disgustingly violent throughout, the tone for which was set when Hangman immediately stabbed Mox repeatedly with a fork. This was incredible. Within seconds, fans knew that a classic was imminent.
The structure was incredible. Mox took an ultra-cathartic beating - the powerbomb taken on the back of two standing chairs was grotesque - before the Death Riders arrived on the scene. Hangman made quick work of Wheeler YUTA and blasted Marina Shafir through a table with a Death Valley Driver. This was a pulsating, blood-soaked celebration of graphic violence. Everything Mox had taken from AEW, Page gave back to him tenfold.
Claudio Castagnoli proved far more effective as back-up. He kicked the piss out of Hangman Page, who was close to being suffocated before Darby Allin symbolically climbed down from Mount Everest to save the day, alongside Bryan Danielson, in a scene that was joyfully, unironically cinematic. The Young Bucks again deprived the fans of the payoff before Shafir was handcuffed to the timekeeper’s table. A beaming, dancing Prince Nana revealed the ruse as Swerve Strickland, Hangman’s arch-nemesis, became his saviour.
This was signature deft, dovetailing booking - a euphoric reminder of AEW’s storytelling prowess - and the suspense built around the bed of nails spot was frightening. That too was paid off with a shocking Buckshot lariat.
In the end, Mox nearly died, hanging with a chain around his neck, tapping to save his life. His wild, jerky movements were incredibly well-done. Has anybody ever sold, believably, the imminent threat of internal decapitation?
Hangman Page opening the briefcase as a moment of closure: this was intended to be AEW’s ‘Avengers’ moment, but really, it was far more sophisticated than genre fare.