By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite Hits
AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi in a non-title match: They couldn’t recreate the magic of their matches in New Japan Pro Wrestling at this point in their careers, but the match exceeded my expectations for both wrestlers in 2025. The avalanche Tiger Driver spot was insane, and I’m not just talking about the high-risk aspect. The Tiger Driver has been positioned as the most deadly move in AEW, with an entire storyline around Will Ospreay being leery of performing the move because of how damaging it was to his opponents. And yet, now a top rope version of the same move is only good for a near fall?!? Putting that aside, Kenny Omega returning to save his Golden Lovers partner from a post-match attack was perfect. It’s especially cool for fans who are familiar with their story from Japan, and yet, more importantly, fans who don’t know their history won’t feel late to the party, as they simply see Omega saving a friend who showed up to avenge him while Omega was injured.
ROH Champion Bandido, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O’Reilly vs. Konosuke Takeshita, Matthew Jackson, and Nicholas Jackson: The usual trios spot-fest, which got a big rise out of the live crowd, and not just because the show was held near the Young Bucks’ hometown. In fact, the live crowd’s reaction to the Bucks during their entrance felt subdued by hometown fan reaction standards. Bonus points for the Bucks not being idiots by putting their EVP titles on the line for nothing. That said, I’m taking away some of those bonus points because it wasn’t explained why the Bucks would care if Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay can’t challenge for the AEW World Championship for a year.
Jon Moxley and Hangman Page verbal exchange: The crowd made it known that they’d had enough of Moxley droning on. Otherwise, this was a good segment with Page calling for the Texas Death Match at AEW All In Texas. It’s odd that the previous Texas Death Match the two had at Revolution 2023 was not acknowledged by the wrestlers or the broadcast team. As much as I typically frown on male-on-female violence, Marina Shaffir slapping Page several times made Page hitting her with a Buckshot Lariat feel justifiable in the world of pro wrestling.
Mercedes Mone vs. Mina Shirakawa for the TBS Title: The predictability regarding the outcome worked against the match. Granted, the TBS Title isn’t on the line at All In Texas, but there was no reason to think that Mone would take a loss this close to her showdown match with Toni Storm. This was a good match, and it gets a Hit for that reason. But I would have preferred to see Mone plow through a different challenger to look as strong as possible while saving this match for after the pay-per-view. More on Mone and Storm later.
MJF vs. Brody King vs. Anthony Bowens vs. AR Fox in a four-way for the second entry spot in the Casino Gauntlet match: We haven’t really seen an early entry position help anyone in previous Casino Gauntlet matches and we probably never will because it would be a disappointment if the match were to end early. Even so, low stakes are better than no stakes, and this gives AEW a chance to push that MJF and Mark Briscoe will face one another to start the match. If AEW wants to raise the stakes for future qualifiers, they could make it a winner-takes-all scenario, meaning that the winner qualifies for the first or second spot, and the match losers (or just the person being pinned) are ineligible for a spot in the Casino Gauntlet.
Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay vs. The Beast Mortos and Dralistico: There was no mystery regarding the outcome of this match, nor should there have been. It was a solid showcase win for Swerve and Ospreay. I am a little disappointed that the early teases of Strickland, Ospreay, and Hangman Page coming together in Avengers’ style to take down The Death Riders. Sure, the Bucks have been loosely associated with Jon Moxley, but it feels like the direct storytelling has ended, and The Opps have been doing more to help Page in recent weeks.
AEW Dynamite Misses
Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin destroy Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey: Again… Only this time, the babyfaces took a beating and refused to stay down. While that’s better than having Knight and Bailey stay down, the build to the tag match has been a flop. And now there’s a lot of buzz that Christian Cage and Nick Wayne could be added to the match. That’s fine unless the idea is to move the titles off The Hurt Syndicate without having them factor into the finish. Benjamin did countless jobs in WWE. Surely one more wouldn’t hurt him, especially given how dominant he and Lashley have been booked at the expense of damn near everyone they’ve worked with.
Don Callis: In this case, the Miss is not on the performer, it’s for the disappointing use of him. I really liked the idea of Kazuchika Okada joining the Callis Family. It seemed logical to have Callis speak for Okada, while also carrying the verbal weight for Omega. Unfortunately, Callis’s verbal segments have mostly been limited to sitting in on commentary. Please tell me they didn’t add Callis to the mix just so they could work another goddamn screwdriver spot into the match.
Toni Storm and Mercedes Mone build: A minor Miss. It hasn’t been bad, but the company has failed to present this as an epic showdown of its top two female stars. The steak dinner bit is weird, and not in a fun Timeless Toni way. Here’s hoping they have something good in mind for go-home week.
300th episode presentation: The 300th episode celebration consisted of, well, a standard Dynamite with no extra fanfare. This is the latest example of AEW failing to celebrate and showcase its own history. I would be a little more understanding in this case because the company’s biggest show of the year was just ten days away, but they managed to find time for those nothing happening Young Bucks videos.
Havent watched, but All In sounds no diff than any of their regular ppv’s.
And how reviews look, it gives ppl like me 0 reason to start watching again.
Boy, Aew’s really boosted MJF/Cole’s careers since main eventing Wembley.
I tried watching for the first time in a while and couldn’t make it through the first segment. Moxley and Page are two of the worst mic workers in the business but Tony just won’t ever admit what they’re doing isn’t working. Knowing that they followed those two with Mone was enough to not check back in at all.