The Queen of Thorns 2025 took place on Saturday, August 9, 2025 and is available on IWTV On Demand, as well as YouTube. This is the 5th Queen of Thorns tournament, with previous winners being Chrstina Von Eerie, Rebel Kel, Amira and Liiza Hall.

The tournament has six singles matches in the first round, two 3-way matches in the second round, and a singles match in the finals. 

First Round Match: Abigail Warren vs Brooke Havok

Brooke is more well known across the country, but Abigail is very accomplished in DOA. This is Abigail’s third Queen of the Thorns tournament and she is a former DOA Grand Champion. This is very much a match of quickness against power. Abigail takes some shortcuts, but Brooke keeps coming back. Abigail gets the win with a running boot. This was an excellent way to start the tournament, as it looked like the match could go either way the whole time.

First Round Match: Naomi King vs Amira

This match looks very lopsided on paper, as Amira is the 2023 Queen of Thorns and former DOA Grand Champion against the newcomer, Naomi. Naomi is able to go hold to hold with Amira early on. Amira puts a very deep Sharp Shooter on Naomi, but Naomi hangs on and gets to the ropes, which even impresses Amira. The crowd is getting behind Naomi, even though Amira is one of the most popular wrestlers in the area. Amira gets the win with the Tower of Power and embraces Naomi afterwards. Great student versus teacher match.

First Round Match: Rebel Kel vs Murphy Madsen

Kel has accomplished about everything that you can in DOA, she is the 2022 Queen of Thorns winner and 3 time DOA Grand Champion. Murphy is a crowd favorite, as she comes out with her 90s look and music. Kel has the height advantage in the match, as she does in pretty much every match she has. Kel seems to be very confident and angry. This is a different Kel than we have seen in previous tournaments. Rebel Kel dominated the match and got the win. The ending was a little weird, but the match accomplished what it needed to, showing that Kel can still be extremely dominate. 

First Round Match: Big Anne Beretta vs Liiza Hall

Hall is the 2024 Queen of Thorns winner and is in her fourth Queen of Thorns tournament, while Big Anne is in her first year of wrestling. Anne appears to have a power advantage, but Hall has the advantage in about every other category including experience and height. Anne gets a lot more offense in early, than I thought she would. Liiza unloads a Buzzsaw Kick and locks in a Rings of Saturn, but Anne gets to the ropes. Liiza then locks in the Rain City Stretch and forces Anne to tap out. Anne looked very good for someone that is in her first year and up against one of the best.

First Round Match: Kikyo vs Su Yung

Kikyo is welcomed back by the DOA fans, as this is her first match back, coming off a serious leg injury. She has to take on a very accomplished and unique opponent in former TNA Knockout Champion, Su Yung. They fight on the floor, and Kikyo goes for a dive, but Su throws a member of the ring staff at her. Kikyo drops Su head first on the apron, then hits a cannonball to the outside from the apron. Kikyo is getting better as the match goes on, but Su rolls her up for the win.

First Round Match: Izzy McQueen vs Dark Sheik

Both wrestlers are veterans, so they are not going to be easy to defeat. This is the last first round match, so they should be trying to end the match early, but neither one is able to get an advantage early on. They fight to the outside and Izzy slams Sheik on the chairs. Izzy’s friend, Charlie helps her out and Izzy is able to keep the advantage in the ring. The match starts to pick up as Sheik hits some kicks, takes out Charlie with a kick and hit a leg drop for the win.

Second Round 3-Way Match: Abigail Warren vs Kel vs Su Yung

Lots of different personalities and styles in this match. All three were members of the “Hell’s Bells” faction, which has splintered and does not appear that any really have respect for each other at the moment. Abigail gets misted by Su, but Abigail answers back with a big boot. Kel hits her with a bottle as she is pinning Su. Kel pins Su for the win. This was a fun quick match, that showed the dissolving of friendships.

Second Round 3-Way Match: Liiza Hall vs Dark Sheik vs Amira

These are three of the top female stars from the western part of North America. Liiza has the most technical skills in the match, Amira has the most power and Sheik is the wild card. Sheik brings a chair into the match and the violence picks up a notch. Amira hits Hall with a Tower of Power Slam and she flies out of the ring. Amira then battles with Sheik and rolls her up for the win. It will be two former Queen of Thorns Champions in the finals.

DOA Tag Team Championship: Flaming Aces (c) vs Heartbreaker Club

The Heartbreaker Club is using a lot of impressive tag team maneuvers. I think both of these teams are heels, so I am not sure who to root for. The Heartbreakers do seem very athletic and looked really good in this match, but the Flaming Aces win with a really nice corkscrew off the top to retain. 

The Queen of Thorns Finals: Amira vs Kel

This match will not only crown the 2025 Queen of Thorns champion, but also the first 2-time champion. Amira attacks Kel right as she comes to the ring. The crowd is clearly behind Amira, as she throws Kel into the chairs in the crowd. Kel then turns the table, throws Amira into a ringpost, then into the chairs on the other side of the building. Amira gets Kel up for three straight suplexes, which is quiet a feat with someone as large as Kel in her third match of the night.

Kel hits a stunner, but takes a little too much time to celebrate, and Amira picks her up for the Tower of Power Slam for the win. This was an incredible final. I feel like Amira is more known around the country right now, but both of these women are incredible and deserve to be on a national and international stage.

This was a really good tournament, as it always is. It has become one of my favorite tournaments of the year. The finals was the match of the night, as it should be. The other matches that I really enjoyed were Abigail Warren vs Brooke Havok, Amira vs Naomi King, and Big Anne Beretta vs Liiza Hall.