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AEW Dynamite Recap – 12/10/25

WINTER...IS...HERE!!!
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AEW Dynamite Recap

So, yeah, it’s time for “Winter Is Coming,” Part 1!!!! This is an event that All Elite Wrestling takes great pride in, and tonight PROVED why they are where the best wrestle. So, shall I start my AEW Dynamite Recap?

There was a lot of debate online about who should start first, and while I’m sure that debate will continue, I will say I’m glad they started with…

Yep! It was time to crown the FIRST AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions! They put a lot into this tournament, and while it’s a bit atypical to do two “face teams’ in the finals, it was worth it, as this had the crowd going the whole time, and the winner was most deserved.

Seriously, this was a fun match, and I’m glad that all four women got to shine, as they’re all really good! Plus, we really got to see how they grew as tag teams and were able to do moves together to really show that they were units:

I appreciate the crowd being behind both sides, and all four of these women are truly fan favorites, and that really meant that when the time came to decide a winner…it could’ve been any of them! It really was a coin flip on who would come out ahead.

In the end, though, someone would…FEEL THE WRATH!!!!

That pop at the end says it all. Willow and Harley weren’t the “1st-round draft picks” for AEW. They very much came up from the bottom via AEW Dark, QTV (if you know, you know), and so on to win the hearts of everyone, and they are very worthy AEW Women’s Tag Team Champs:

Now, though, the REAL challenge begins. As I noted in a past piece, AEW really started cranking hard on making the women equal to the men in the beginning of 2024 (especially once Mercedes showed up) and they’ve had big moments, matches, and rivalries for the main women’s belt and the TBS championship. But now, they have the tag team belts, and Tony Khan needs to go full-tilt to showcase that these are just as important as the other women’s titles.

In truth, neither TNA nor The Fed has been able to do this without heavy sacrifices to TV and PPV time for the other belts. I hope AEW breaks this trend.

While we wait, how about another great promo from Jon Moxley?

He’s so good at this. Oh, you want to go back to wrestling? Good! Because up next is…

This was a key match for multiple reasons. Yes, it’s another bout in the Continental Classic, but it goes beyond that. As I noted last week, Darby Allin is out, and Jack Perry is in, which means that he has a lot to showcase to prove that he was a worthy replacement for Darby.

…thankfully, it took only one match to show AEW made the right call putting him in. I really was worried about what would happen if Okada/Perry didn’t “show out,” but I guess I had nothing to worry about, as the two brought it, and even busted out new moves!

…while also showing off classic ones…

This was a great back-and-forth bout, and just when you thought that Okada was about to put Jungle Jack away, he pulled out something to keep himself in the fight. Oh, and remember what I said about “new moves?” Well…even Bryan Danielson said he didn’t think he had seen this “exchange” before…

Yep, they did that! I’ll add this to the reasons to be grateful for AEW…because that’s freaking hilarious!!!!

Sadly, while the “dick jokes” you could make there are endless, the end of the match had to come eventually…and Okada was able to pull out another big win:

Am I surprised by this one? Not really. All signs point to him and Takeshita being in the World’s End finals, but this match really was more about Jack Perry, and he really proved why he’s a worthy alternate. He’s got a few more matches to go, and I fully expect them to be incredibly quality bouts.

Oh, look, it’s Don Callis…

Yeah, this will lead to something…and we’d find out what sooner than you’d think!

After that, we had the arrival of Mark Briscoe, who has his first TNT title defense on Saturday against Daniel Garcia, and yeah, things got personal…

Back to the wrestling we go! It was time for the tornado tag match between…um…what’s their tag name “Whose Horse?” “Burning Down The House?” I don’t know, we’ll think of something eventually.

I loved this match for multiple reasons, not the least of which was that they started things out in the ring and didn’t get inside for a while!

One of the ironies of this match was that there wasn’t a “can they work together?” aesthetic for Hangman and Swerve, as we all knew they would focus on The Opps. The only real question was…how seamless could they pull off their moves and have each other’s backs? Plus, this was Swerve’s first match back since his injury, and that left many wondering how he’d do in the ring…until we saw stuff like this and went, “Nah, he’s fine!”

So, yeah, “Whose Burning Down Our House?” won! Congrats! And later, Hangman made it clear that whoever won in the world title main event would be facing him at World’s End. Intrigue!!!

…speaking of which, AEW is doing a bit of an “international stint” to end the year, with Cardiff, Wales, on Saturday, and Manchester, England, next Wednesday, and two big matches were confirmed for next week! First, FTR will face the Bang Bang Gang, and the Don Callis Family will face off against…

Yep! DCF vs. The Elite!!! Love to see it, and I know it’ll be a great match. Tony Khan is really treating the international fans, and I’m sure they are grateful, just like I know the Atlanta, Georgia fans were grateful when this match happened…

This one was a match I couldn’t wait for from the moment I knew it would happen. Fletcher has been killing it in his matches, and Speedball is “the truth” when it comes to incredible wrestling ability. I knew the clash would be awesome, and possibly my “match of the night.” However, what I didn’t expect was for them to go nearly 20 minutes…and a “Match of the Year” contender!!!

Kyle was as shocked as I was!

…and Speedball was shocked, too!

Jokes aside, this match kicked all kinds of butt. It’s THE match of the C2, so far, and that’s saying something, given what we had on Dynamite and Collision last week!!! This is why the Continental Classic matters so much. The wrestlers are given the time and ability to go full-tilt and rock it as hard as possible, and both Fletcher and Speedball went “bet!”

Yeah, when the Ultima Weapon was hit, I thought Bailey was winning it right there…and when Fletcher kicked out…I thought Speedball would lose. Yet, the match kept going, and going, until with one minute left…this went down:

BAILEY WON!!!! SPEEDBALL WITH THE WIN!!!! I was screaming at my TV when this happened, because it was so awesome. Speedball Mike Bailey has quickly become one of my favorite wrestlers to watch, and this match sealed that with a passion. I know he won’t win the C2. It’s not his time. But this match alone proved why he’s in it, and he’s still got some big matches to go…

Finally, there was the main event—Samoa Joe vs. Eddie Kingston for the world title. I know a LOT of people hoped that Eddie Kingston would “shock the world” and pull off the upset of a lifetime, and in my heart of hearts… Yeah, I wanted that, too.

I also know a lot of people wanted an old-school beatdown of a match, and we definitely got that:

The one thing I wasn’t expecting was such a clean finish. It might have been because of timing or intent, but Eddie tapped out a bit quickly to Joe, making me wonder what happens next with him, Joe, the world title in general, and so on.

Oh, but Eddie absolutely had the last word once the cameras went off…

In the end, Winter Is Coming was incredible. There were shocking upsets, moments, crowning achievements, and impassioned questions about the future. AEW is on fire right now, and they’re aiming to close 2025 with fire and fury.

What did you think of the show tonight? Let me know in the comments of my AEW Dynamite Recap!

AEW Collision Matches:

  • Sisters of Sin vs. Jamie Hayter/Kris Statlander
  • Mark Briscoe vs. Daniel Garcia
  • Konosuke Takeshita vs. Claudio Castagnoli
  • Swerve Strickland vs. Josh Alexander
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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!