Coming off an excellent Forbidden Door PPV last weekend, AEW Dynamite was back this week and taking residency at the world-renowned 2300 Arena in downtown Philadelphia! I’m your local AEW geek, Jen, ready to dissect tonight’s episode. Are you ready? Let’s begin the AEW Dynamite Recap!
We started the show with boos raining down on FTR and Stokley. They had a bone to pick with the referee, Paul Turner, because he called their 3-way tag-team loss at Forbidden Door. Adam Copeland and Christian Cage (C&C Wrestling Factory) came out to get physical with FTR. Christian Cage did a ‘your dads are dead’ taunt to Dax and Cash. I’m dead.
For the sickos. #AEWDynamite
— TDE Wrestling (@tdewrestling.com) 2025-08-28T00:12:27.104Z
Copeland issued a challenge to face them at the ALL AOOT(Canadian pronunciation) PPV on Sept 20. So, it’s official: C&C vs FTR! This is a true dream match, and I hope it lives up to the hype!
Next, we got a vignette from Darby Allin. He cut a gory promo while spelling the words “ALL OUT” with his own blood on the wall to the Deathriders while simultaneously bursting into flames. Well, damn Darby, tell us how you really feel.
What that in mind, the Deathriders arrived in the ring to face Danny Garcia. While Danny had a game plan to focus on picking part of Mox’s knee, he couldn’t recover from a DDT on the steel steps and lost on an inside cradle. This was interesting, as Mox usually wins with his finisher, not a rollup, so that could be the beginning of something later on.
After the match, there was a skirmish on the outside with Mox and Danny. Perhaps he’s trying to bring out a darker Danny Garcia?
Anyway, the Human Pomeranian, Yuta, cut a promo and proclaimed that Darby will never get to Mox at ALL OUT. In a pleasant surprise, HOOK shows up with a new theme song and lays him out. Thanks, HOOK.
Afterwards, we saw a seething MJF blaming his loss to Hangman on Mark Briscoe. To add insult to injury, Tony Khan changed the rules on his casino gauntlet contract. He must now give 7 days’ notice prior to executing the contract. Poor MJF. He needs a new plan, and apparently, that plan starts by getting “payback” on Mark Briscoe!
The next match involved Penelope Ford and Megan Bayne vs Stat-Daddy and Harley Cameron. Both Statlander and Megan showed off their power in the match. I liked the combination moves from Stat and Harley. This was their first tag team match in AEW, but it didn’t feel that way, which was awesome! Statlander grabbed the victory with a knee trap submission. Bayne wasn’t too happy losing and wanted another taste of Statlander. Willow came out for the save, but there’s still tension between her and Stat. Could they settle things at ALL OUT? Just as important, many are hoping we’ll get a women’s Blood & Guts match at ALL OUT! Make it so, Tony Khan!!!
Our next segment was ‘9 Belts’ Mercedes Mone, celebrating her accomplishments. She wants to surpass Ultimo Dragon’s 10-belt achievement. I felt this segment fell flat. I was hoping somebody, anybody (Evie fka Dakota Kai or Shayna Baszler) would show up. But nope, all I heard was crickets. What a bunch of nothing burger.
Afterwards, Mark Briscoe fired back at MJF with a impassioned promo. He also has eyes on Kyle Fletcher’s TNT Championship. We will see that matchup very soon. MJF might interfere with that match but given Kyle and Mark’s history in the ring together, it’ll be a great match no matter what!
Don Callis introduced us to the third match of the night between Hechicero, Josh Alexander, Konosuke Takeshita, and Kazuchika Okada vs Jetspeed and Brodido. I was impressed with the Bandido moonsault and Jetspeed combination dives. I’m so glad Josh Alexander got the win for the team. He needs to be built up stronger from here on out.
This match also helped build Bandido vs Hechicero for their Death Before Dishonor ROH World Championship Match and the rising tension between Takeshita vs Okada.
I’m hyped for their eventual match. And I MEAN HYPED! I’m wondering where they will have it. I was surprised there wasn’t an announcement for NJPW Wrestle Dynasty at Forbidden Door. Will there be 2 nights at Wrestle Kingdom then? Will they have it there? Also, Takeshita is facing ZSJ on Oct 13th for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. What if Takeshita becomes a dual champion? Ahh, the ramifications are killing me!
After a brutal attack from the Deathriders took out everyone’s favorite Bruv, Will Ospreay, we saw Hangman Adam Page giving Ospreay his best wishes. Hangman mentioned he will miss him. Well, Hangman, we are all going to miss him!
An interesting tidbit is that Hangman wants to give Ospreay a shot at his championship once he comes back healthy. Could this be a clue for next year’s ALL IN match at Wembley Stadium? My spider senses are tingling…
Then we entered the Don Callis vortex…again. He mentioned that the AEW Men’s World Championship belongs in the DCF (because Kenny Omega had it in the past) but lost it because the previous holder (Kenny) was too weak. He sent out his goons (Hechicero, Josh Alexander, Rocky Romero, and Lance Archer) to surround Hanger. Jetspeed came out to assist but was quickly beaten down by a secret Don Callis member, Mr Steel Baton! It was the same dastardly Baton that Okada used to beat down Kenny before AEW ALL IN. What a true heel.
So, while this is all happening, a wild Kenny Omega appeared! He probably overheard Don talking smack about him and decided to seek vengeance. A beautiful callback was when Hangman and Kenny did their buckshot/v-trigger combo when they were AEW Tag Team Champions back in 2020. What a time that was, eh?
Anyway, this sets up next week’s Dynamite All-Star tag team match between Kenny, Hanger, and Jetspeed vs Kyle Fletcher, Josh Alexander, and the Young Bucks (Rod and Todd). That’ll be a banger, and you have to wonder…could we get Kenny vs. Hangman 3 soon…?
Next, Mina and Timeless Toni Storm cut a promo to hype up Mina vs Athena for the ROH Women’s championship at Death Before Dishonor. Mina wants revenge against Athena for breaking her hand at AEW ALL IN, and rightfully so! I hope Mina wins so Athena can pursue AEW gold again!
The fourth match is the OPPS vs Bald (Ricochet) and GOA for the AEW Trios Championship. Toa Liona and Hobbs collided, as meat chants rang out. Things were going well for Bald and GOA until MVP came out of nowhere and clobbered Bald with his cane. This led to Team Bald losing. To add insult to injury, The Hurt Syndicate came out afterwards and got revenge on GOA for making them lose their tag team titles at Forbidden Door. Clearly, these two sides will build to something at All Out.
The final match of the night was a Falls Count Anywhere match between ‘the human crash test dummy’ Darby Allin vs Claudio Castagnoli. Darby tried to surprise Claudio from backstage, but that didn’t work out too well at first. Claudio got the upper hand and tossed him around, slammed him into a TV, spun him around with a giant swing, and dragged him to the ring like a rag doll.
My OMG moment was when Claudio pressed Darby over his head and heaved him onto the commentary desk. That led to the commentary being out for a few minutes. There was also a “I AM THE TABLE” moment when Claudio tried to go for a gut-wrench suplex onto a table. In the end, Darby won by sheer willpower and dropped a double coffin drop. After the match, a wild Gabe Kidd appears along with Mox to end the show. They’ll probably clash before All Out.
The ending was a bit clunky, but it wasn’t that glaring. I had hoped we would see an Eddie Kingston sighting. Keep in mind that it was Gabe Kidd who suplexed his knee into the guardrail. It would be fitting to finish that line of business first before getting to Mox.
Other tidbits:
- Shoutout for spotting Alex Lajas out in the crowd.
- The Lighting looked great at the 2300 Arena.
- I have to say, it’s so nice to hear Taz back on commentary.
- Are we supposed to forget that Mina still holds the Women’s ROH TV Championship?
- Why couldn’t Cope and Christian call themselves, “The Pure Plank Dad Bods”?
- After watching this episode, I’ve realized something. AEW is the only promotion that could pull off selling out the O2 Arena in London and have their next show at an intimate venue like the 2300 Arena. What a time to be alive.
Well, folks, that sums up my review of this show. What are your thoughts on it and my AEW Dynamite Recap? Please let us know!
