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AEW Dynamite Recap – 1/14/26

It's time for carnage. MAXIMUM CARNAGE!!!
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AEW Dynamite Recap

It’s yet another Wednesday in 2026…AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! Tonight wasn’t just Dynamite, it was “Maximum Carnage,” and Tony Khan made sure that everything was STACKED tonight, as my AEW Dynamite Recap will prove!

Let’s get it all started with…

Oh yeah, this match was all kinds of special, and a perfect way to kick off “Maximum Carnage.” I figured it would be intense…but I didn’t expect it to start out like this!

Then, for basically the next FIVE MINUTES, even though the match hadn’t officially started, the two went berserk on each other in the crowd and beyond, and then, when they got to the outside area of the ring again, Pac did this!

You could not have hit that spot more perfectly to make it seem as painful as possible. For those who remember Christian Cage vs. Darby from the original WrestleDream, this was more brutal than that match’s stairs spot by a decent margin.

Then, after they finally got back into the ring to actually START the match, they went another ten minutes, beating the crap out of each other with every breath they took!

Darby, you know you can NOT take all of those bumps to please the crowd, right? …right? Darby? Can you hear me?

…I don’t think he can hear me.

Seriously, this match was NUTS, and these two didn’t hold back, which made it all the more fun! You almost had to wonder just how long it would go, and then, Darby decided to show that he’s got a little “Death Rider” in him, too!

The reason I loved that is quite simple. As they alluded to during the match, when Pac and Darby last met at Full Gear, the Death Riders were the reason he won, despite all his bluster about being a “better athlete.” Here, he tried to pull that same stunt, and Darby reversed it in the most epic way possible.

So, does Darby really move on from the Death Riders now? Or will he continue to go after them because Pac won’t “let him go without revenge?” Guess we’ll find out.

The next match was a surprise, as Samoa Joe put out a bounty on Hangman Adam Page, and a Bounty Hunter came to collect.

Yep, for the first time in three years, it was the Hangman versus the Bounty Hunter Bryan Keith! Despite being a tag team wrestler for a while now, Keith is still an incredible singles talent, as proven with matches against Ace Austin and Bandido. So, it was going to be fun to see him go at it with Hangman, and sure enough, he came to play.

It was a fun match, but the thing that everyone will rightfully talk about is what happened at the end, when Big Bill tried to “tip the balance,” and Swerve said, “Nah.”

I love that Swerve and Hangman have a “dangerous alliance” going on right now, as it fits with their characters and where they are currently. They KNOW they’ll go to war again one day, but not until one of them achieves their goal of being AEW Men’s World Champ again. So, for now, they’ll work together…to go take out MJF…

…but they’re not the ONLY ones going after the belt…

…and then Don Callis had to ruin things:

But hey! At least, at LAST, we’re getting Kenny Omega vs. Josh Alexander, and it’s happening next week! That’ll be a great start for Kenny’s trek to the top, and you know that Andrade is back in town…so…

After that, Brody King beat the CRAP out of Jon Cruz because…well…he’s just so punchable…

After wishing Bandido luck in his main event title match, we got a match MANY of us had been looking forward to…

So, this was going to be a lot of fun, and I’m not afraid to say that this was PWG (Pro Wrestling Guerrilla) personified in many respects. All four teams were going at it “Tornado Tag” style, which led to amazing moments like this…

…and this…

…and this combo…

Oh, and look, it’s Jack Perry!

Yet, in the end, and probably to the surprise of many, the winners of the match were…Mark Davis and Jake Doyle!

Personally, I loved this move, as it helps establish a new tag team on the scene incredibly quick, gives FTR a title challenger that they haven’t faced before, and allows for other tag teams to do certain things “in the meantime.” I’ll get to that portion later…

Next up was the women’s match of the night, and I’m happy to say that this delivered, AND, went well over ten minutes. Not to mention, set up some future title matches, which is what the fans want right now.

All the ladies were firing on all cylinders tonight, and the audience was grateful:

There was a lot to love here, but the biggest thing is that not only did Kris Statlander eat the pin, but she also saved Willow from taking the spear!

The power of friendship!!! So, if this goes the way we think it will, it’ll be Kris vs. Thekla, and the Triangle of Madness versus the Babes of Wrath soon enough. We are getting close to Grand Slam Australia…

By this point, Dynamite was already incredible, and Collision looks pretty stacked…and then THIS match was added to the mix!

Yep! Really! We’re getting the “Speed Jet Cowboys” (or whatever you want to call them) versus The Opps for the trios titles! I’m fine with this, as they established afterward that Hangman and JetSpeed HAVE tagged in the past, and even won as a trio. Plus, if it gets the belts off The Opps…we might see more defenses…just saying.

…oh, and speaking of trios to fight against…

Yeah, THAT HAPPENED! It was JUST announced recently that The Rascalz were gone from TNA, and Tony Khan clearly didn’t waste time in signing them! If you haven’t seen them, they are a treat, and they could easily be injected into both the tag team and trios divisions to add an extra “spark.”

And you thought the AEW roster couldn’t get more stacked!

Finally, we had the main event that we’ve been waiting for a few weeks on: MJF vs. Bandido!

First and foremost, look at this outfit from Bandido!

…he just loves dressing up epically, and I can’t blame him!

One thing I loved that they established early was that Bandido wouldn’t put up with MJF’s crap and would come full-tilt at him from the word go:

And when MJF mocked the Macarena? Oh, he paid for it…

…and when MJF tried to get out of Bandido’s range? The “Most Wanted” politely went after him…

I love wrestling.

These two were clearly having a blast wrestling this match, and the crowd was eating it up, including giving it a “Fight Forever” chant at one point, and even reacting wildly to this sequence:

I got exhausted just from watching that sequence!

And as you would expect, they tried to make it seem like Bandido would indeed get the win, including hitting the 21 Plex at one point, but not being able to pin MJF in time. Then, MJF locked in Salt of the Earth, and while Bandido didn’t give up, he did pass out, and that was enough for Max to get the win…but not before saying a few words…

So, is MJF versus Brody King next? That would seem to be the build-up, and I’m not opposed to that for something like Grand Slam Australia, as that would allow time for Swerve, Hangman, Kenny, and even Darby to start stacking up wins to get at MJF.

As my AEW Dynamite Recap ends, let me just say that this was an incredible night of WRESTLING. AEW is on fire, and they’re not letting the foot off the pedal! I can’t wait to see what they do next.

AEW Collision Matches:

  • The Opps vs. Hangman Page & Jet Speed (AEW Trios Title Match)
  • Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford in Action
  • SkyFlight versus The Don Callis Family
  • Andrade El Idolo versus Angelico
  • Marina Shafir vs. Zayda Steel.

 

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A self-proclaimed Nintendo fanboy, born, bred, and Mushroom fed! He’s owned every Nintendo handheld and every console since the SNES. He's got a degree in video game development, is a published comic book writer and an author of several novels!