I know there were quite a few factors keeping Darby Allin and Gabe Kidd from meeting in the AEW ring until tonight, including Allin’s latest injury, the one that took him out of the Continental Classic, but this match still felt like too much, too late. To make things worse, if you weren’t watching the holiday episodes of AEW over the last week (and if you were smart enough to avoid social media, as well), you were probably confused to see the card. It really did feel like it was thrown on there extremely last minute.

Sure, Allin and Kidd have gone back and forth over the second half of 2025, including as participants in the lights out steel cage match at AEW x NJPW Forbidden door, the time that Allin put Kidd in a body bag and drug him out of the arena with his truck on an episode of “AEW Dynamite,” and I believe most recently, when Kidd drug Allin out of the Blood & Guts match. I’m just not sure how many fans would remember it all, as there have been weeks and even months in between their interactions, and Kidd wasn’t ever the main focus of Allin’s ire, it was Jon Moxley. 

If AEW was going to do this, it should have been as soon as they were able, though, that may very well have been at Worlds End. It also just feels kind of strange to have Allin and Kidd in this match, an extremely bloody bout for a normal singles match, at that, when Allin is seemingly done with the Death Riders. I know most all of the faction was busy with other things tonight, but you’d think at least one of them would be ringside for Kidd if he’s still their mercenary. 

While blood doesn’t necessarily bother me, I’m sure this match is once again going to spark plenty of discourse online. The one thing I don’t exactly understand is the constant biting, as it seems like it should be a blatant disqualification. This was yet another match, which both major companies are guilty of, where way too many finishers were traded between the competitors. Toward the end of the match, Kidd hit a piledriver which didn’t keep Allin down too long at all, as he was able to win with a roll-up, despite just being injured a few weeks ago. 

While I felt like this show flowed extremely well, after a few AEW pay-per-views that felt way too long, this is still one match that I could have done without. I feel like I dislike it even more because I really have no idea where AEW goes with either man, especially Allin.

Written by Daisy Ruth