‘AEW Dynamite: Fight For the Fallen’ Review (Jan 1st 2025)
This week’s episode of AEW: Dynamite marks the return of AEW’s special Fight For the Fallen programming (though this is the LEAST “special” of all these particularly themed shows). This episode was broadcast on TBS and simultaneously streamed on MAX live from the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina and saw Excalibur and Tony Schiavone on commentary. Let’s get into the review!
Match #1: “Hangman” Adam Page def. Orange Cassidy
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Page ducked an Orange Punch and went for the Dead Eye, but Orange escaped. Orange tried for another Orange Punch, but Page evaded it and tried for the Buckshot, but Orange dodged that. Page planted Orange with a belly to belly suplex for a near fall. Page landed a lariat and sent Cassidy spilling to the outside. Page whipped Cassidy hard into the barricade. Orange backdropped his way out of power bomb attempt. Page intercepted a cross body press and hit Orange with a fallaway slam. Orange rattled Page with a PK and then a Stun Dog Millionaire. Hangman interrupted a tope attempt and then rocked Orange with a fallaway slam on the arena floor. Page nailed Orange with a rolling elbow strike. Hangman hit Orange with a high boot to the face. Cassidy jumped at Page with a tope suicida. Hangman absorbed it. Cassidy staggered Hangman back to the ropes with a dropkick. Orange spiked Page with two consecutive DDTs for a near fall. Page rocked Orange with a lariat. Cassidy countered a Buckshot with a Beach Break, but Page kicked out at the two-count! Orange cracked Page with three Orange Punches. Page was still on his feet and then blasted Orange with the Buckshot lariat to score the pin!
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #2: The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) def. The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Lashley stomped a mudhole into Caster. Lashley launched Caster with a belly to belly suplex. Lashley worked over Max in the corner and then knocked him over the top rope with a lariat. Benjamin bounced Max back and forth between the barricade and the ring and told Bowens to stand back. Bowens grabbed a tag and rocked Benjamin with strikes. Caster disrupted Bowens’ momentum with a blind tag. Benjamin flung Caster with German Suplexes, four to be exact. Lashley tagged back in and speared Caster, cutting him in half. Lashley choke slammed Caster and then applied the Hurt Lock. Caster had no choice but to tap out. Bowens stood outside the ring and watched in disbelief and disgust at his partner for being so selfish.
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #3: Julia Hart def. Jamie Hayter
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Julia yanked Hayter down with a handful of hair. Hayter returned the favor and dragged Julia down. Julia attempted a cross body off the apron, but Hayter caught her. Julia slipped out. Julia pulled Hayter down, slammed Hayter’s back into the steel ring steps. Hayter retaliated with back fists in the ring. Hayter hoisted up Julia and wrecked her with a Hate Breaker across the knee. Julia tried for a moonsault, but Hayter avoided it. Julia locked in the Heartless Submission. Hayter managed to pick up Julia and get to a vertical position. Julia hung on but Hayter countered with a Death Valley Driver. Julia pulled an arrow out from beneath the ring. The ref saw it and pulled it away. As the ref was getting ride of the arrow, Julia sprayed Hayter in the eyes with black mist and Julia stole the pin!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #4: 3-Way for the No.1 Spot in the Casino Gauntlet Match – Jay White def. Swerve Strickland and Roderick Strong
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Swerve hip tossed and then suplexed Roddy. Swerve back flipped over the top rope and crashed onto Jay White on the arena floor! Jay White cracked Roddy and Swerve with a double DDT. Jay White hoisted up Swerve and face planted him onto the apron, and then served one up for Roderick Strong. Roddy crushed Switchblade with a back breaker and then threw Jay White over the top rope at Swerve. Back in the ring Swerve power bombed Roddy onto Jay White. Swerve power slammed Switchblade and made the cover but Roddy broke it up. Roddy smashed Jay White with a Tiger Driver for a near fall. Swerve scored with a Swerve Stomp on Strong. Roddy dodged the House Call. Swerve planted Jay with the Flatliner. Swerve walked the barricade and pump kicked Jay White. Ricochet was in the crowd and decked Swerve with a golden pair of scissors! Jay White blasted Roddy with the Blade Runner and picked up the victory via pinfall!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #5: Two-on-One Match – Powerhouse Hobbs def. Jon Cruz & Rob Killjoy
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Hobbs bulldozed through his opponents. Hobbs powerslammed Cruz and then planted Killjoy with a spinebuster. Hobbs smashed Cruz with a spinebuster onto Killjoy, stacking them and pinning them!
My Score: 0 out of 5
Match #6: Rated FTR— (Cope & FTR – Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) def. The Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Dax chopped Yuta and then back dropped him. Cope tagged in, as did Claudio. Copeland shoulder tackled Cope, but neither man was willing to give ground. Cope hip tossed Claudio over the top rope and then dropkicked Claudio through the ropes. Marina shoved Cope, sending Cope crashing into the steel post. Cash tagged in and cleaned house on the Death Riders! Claudio blasted Cash with an uppercut. Dax grabbed Claudio and spiked him with a brain buster. Dax suplexed Wheeler off the top rope and covered him but Claudio was there to break up the pin. After a guillotine from Mox, Claudio suplexed Cash and then Wheeler splashed Cash from the top rope for a near fall. Mox and Cope slugged it out, neither man backing down. Cope spiked Moxley with the Impaler. Cope was sizing up Mox for the spear and Mox knew it and bailed out of the ring. Cope and Moxley brawled through the stands! Back in the ring, Cope Liger Bombed Wheeler Yuta for a near fall! Cope was looking to spear Wheeler, but Mox and Claudio swept out Cope’s legs from behind. Cash charged at Mox for a tope, but Claudio countered with a European Uppercut. Moxley had Cope on the announcers’ table. Back in the ring, Jay White blasted Yuta with the Blade Runner. Cope back dropped Moxley on the desk! Cope speared Mox off the desk through the barricade! FTR nailed Yuta with the Shatter Machine and then Cope speared Yuta, good for the pin!
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
An auspicious “debut” for Dynamite on MAX, with plenty of post-World’s End match-ups, the development of new storylines and feuds and some cracking in-ring action too. What’s not to like? Page and Cassidy opened the show strong and matches like Hayter/Hart and White/Strickland/Strong continued that trend right up until the main event – which ended the show on a high note. The only downside? THe terrible 2-on-1 squash match and the oh-so-nearly-a-squash tag match between Hurt Syndicate and The Acclaimed… WTF is going on with the latter is all I have to say!