‘AEW: Tailgate Brawl 2025’ Review (Sep 20th 2025)
Welcome to this week’s review of AEW: Tailgate Brawl, which was an opening hour special for this year’s All Out pay-per-view, broadcast on TNT and HBO Max for free. Let’s get straight into the review of the show!
Match #1: Samoa Joe & Powerhouse Hobbs of The Opps def. The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake and Anthony Henry)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
We were underway in Toronto, and here come The Opps, Powerhouse Hobbs and Samoa Joe, and the crowd was going wild for two-thirds of the AEW World Trios Champions. Hobbs decided to explain why he’s calling Powerhouse right away, as he went to work on Anthony Henry with bodyslam after bodyslam after bodyslam after bodyslam after bodyslam … until Henry tagged Drake, who was promptly, you guessed it, bodyslammed. Joe got the tag in and took advantage of the downed Drake with some quick, precise strikes. However, Drake fought back for a short time. Hobbs tagged back in and started bouncing Drake and Henry from corner to corner. Henry tried to fight back but was nearly beheaded by a huge clothesline from Hobbs. Joe came back in and tried to set up Drake on the top rope for a Muscle Buster until Drake got some separation. Unfortunately, his attempt to hit a senton was for naught, as Joe simply walked away. Joe locked Drake in the Coquina Clutch as Hobbs stopped Henry with a huge spinebuster. The referee called for the bell, as Drake was out cold.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #2: Daniel Garcia def. Katsuyori Shibata
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
At the bell, Shibata immediately caught Garcia with a kick in the corner, but Garcia bailed to the outside before any more damage could be done. Shibata chased after him and introduced him to multiple guardrails around the ring the hard way. Back in the ring, Shibata locked Garcia in a Figure Four Leglock until Garcia escaped back outside. Shibata chased after again but walked right into a DDT on the floor. As Garcia admired his work, Daddy Magic came off commentary to level with him, but he was ignored. Instead, Garcia put Shibata’s head between the corner post and steel steps before hitting a dropkick to the steps! He walked back toward Daddy Magic but never looked in his direction. Garcia brought Shibata back in the ring for a pin, yet Shibata kicked out! Somehow, Shibata fought back into the match, and the two traded German suplexes with Shibata getting the better of the exchange. Shibata went for a triangle choke, which he locked in for a short time until Garcia reached the ropes to break the hold. Both men exchanged forearms on the apron until Garcia took a page right out of Jon Moxley’s book with a bite to Shibata’s head! Shibata came right back with a Death Valley Driver on the apron, sending both men crashing to the floor. Shibata got back in the ring first, but Garcia was able to beat the count just in time. The two traded rear-naked choke reversals, both peppering in downward elbows, although neither could hold an advantage for long. Garcia seemed to get the advantage with a Boston Crab until Shibata reversed it into a heel hook that Garcia fought out of multiple times. The two got into a chop battle while their legs were tied up in the submission and wound up back on their feet in another strike exchange. Garcia locked in a guillotine choke and turned that into a piledriver, but Shibata kicked out at two. Garcia immediately hit another piledriver, but Shibata kicked out at 1! Garcia was shocked and Toronto loved it! However, when Shibata got up, he threw one chop and then crumbled to the mat. When Garcia went to strike, Shibata hit another chop across the chest and put Garcia in another rear naked choke in the middle of the ring. Garcia rolled through for a two count, but Shibata rolled back into the submission. Marina Shafir got on the apron to distract the referee as Garcia tapped, so Shibata broke the hold to confront Shafir. That gave Garcia the opportunity to hit a double axehandle to the back of Shibata’s head. Garcia stayed on the head with a sickening stomp to get the win.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #3: Hologram & Paragon (Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly) def. The Frat House (Preston Vance, Griff Garrison and Cole Karter)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Vance and the Frat House attacked Hologram, Strong and O’Reilly before the bell, although it didn’t do much to help them. If you were wondering if Strong and Hologram would work out as tag partners, we got an early answer when Strong flip-suplexed Hologram somewhat violently onto Garrison. O’Reilly tagged in and was having his way with both Garrison and Vance, until he was distracted by Karter and Jacked Jameson on the outside. A short time later, as he dispatched some pledges with kicks through the ropes, Hologram got rid of Garrison with a Spanish Fly. Then, Hologram jumped into a triple team of kicks on Vance with O’Reilly and Strong. How Paraglomerate of them. Hologram hit a huge dive to the outside to take out Jameson and confused pledges. He immediately returned to the ring with a huge double stomp from the top rope to Garrison’s chest to get the win for his team.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #4: Tailgate Tornado Match – Willow Nightingale, Queen Aminata, Harley Cameron & Mina Shirakawa def. Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
The two sides faced off until Shirakawa, Cameron and Nightingale all got down in a three-point stance (shoutout Argonauts!) while Aminata threw something over everyone’s head outside the ring. The distraction worked! Aminata led the charge with the rest firing out of their stances to attack. Bayne got isolated and got low bridged, allowing Nightingale, Aminata, Cameron and Shirakawa to rip off their shirts to reveal even more personalized attire! Unfortunately, the fashion show ended quickly as they were all attacked from behind. Bayne press slammed Ford over the top onto Shirakawa, Aminata, and Cameron on the floor. That left Willow and Bayne in the ring and the two powerhouses decided to exchange forearms. Bayne got the better of it only to run right into a Nightingale spinebuster. All eight women ended up in the ring completely locked in a suplex with Willow’s side winning the battle by completing the up and over with precision Dean Malenko would be proud of. The match moved to the outside, and all of the legal weapons in this Tailgate Tornado Brawl were introduced. Ford and Aminata had a duel of utensils, and back in the ring, Cameron stapled Blue twice! Trying to keep up with all the chaos of this brawl brought us to Hart and Blue hitting a combo powerbomb from the top to coolers on the mat. Aminata and Shirakawa took everyone out with the coolers, which was the natural set up to Chocolate Kisses on Hart. Cameron was then caught in a trash can in a corner only to have Shirakawa and Aminata stacked in front of her. Ford hit a beautiful handspring into the trash can followed by a step-up moonsault onto Cameron, who somehow kicked out at 2! Nightingale saved Cameron from further punishment with a huge Pounce on Bayne! As Bayne struggled to her feet, Shirakawa and Aminata ran through her with a beer pong table! Shirakawa introduced a charcoal grill to the festivities and trapped Blue inside it with a little help from Aminata, as they took Blue out with stereo kicks. Back in the ring, Nightingale hit Ford with a trash can and followed it with The Babe with the Powerbomb to get the win for her team!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3/5
A nice opener for this year’s All Out, the Tailgate Brawl was everything you expect from a Zero Hour show – just without the name! We got two light-hearted, throwaway matches and two decent, hard-hitting matches. A great combination to tease for what was to come during the PPV, and it managed to get some faces we haven’t seen in heavy rotation since the days of Dark and Elevation on TV too!
