‘AEW: Dynamite’ Review (Oct 15th 2025)
Welcome to this week’s review of AEW: Dynamite, which was broadcast from Kansas City, in a packed three-hour Dynamite/Collision special ahead of Wrestledream this weekend. With that, let’s get into the review…
Match #1: GOA (Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) def. The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Kaun and Benjamin began just as they ended last week, trading huge shots right in the middle of the ring. Benjamin gained early control and kept him in the wrong corner to allow Lashley to tag into the match. Lashley continued to grind down Kaun with a stalling suplex and shoulder thrusts, not letting him get close to Liona for a tag. Kaun tried to kick his way free, but Lashley answered right back, as the crowd expressed displeasure with being denied another Lashley-Liona showdown. Kaun got free so that Liona could make a blind tag, but Lashley was ready for it and sent Liona immediately over the top to the outside. Ricochet distracted the referee so that Kaun could kick the middle rope into Lashley’s lower region. Liona took advantage and snatched Lashley off the apron right into a Samoan drop on the floor! The Demand continued the damage on the outside, using the guardrails and anything they could get away with, as Lashley struggled to fight back. Finally, Lashley hit a desperation, overhead belly-to-belly suplex and made the tag to Benjamin! Liona tagged in Kaun on the other side, bringing us back to how this match started. Benjamin hit a splash in the corner and a high kick to stagger Kaun, but when he went for more, Ricochet jumped on the apron. Benjamin hit a step-up knee that made a sickening smack on Ricochet’s chin to send him sprawling to the floor. Kaun rolled up Benjamin for a two, so Benjamin got up and hit two big release German suplexes, but Liona came in before he could hit a third. Benjamin dropped Liona with a pendulum DDT, only for Liona to get right back up! Liona then put Benjamin down with a headbutt. Lashley came back in and clotheslined Liona, who went outside. Lashley followed Liona out and sprinted around the ring, but both men had the same idea with a clothesline and exploded in a heap when they connected! Back in the ring, Benjamin ran up the ropes and threw Kaun from the top. Before he could capitalize, Ricochet hit a Spirit Gun on Benjamin behind the referee’s back. MVP blasted Ricochet with his cane on the outside, but the damage was already done, which allowed Kaun to pin Benjamin for the victory! That’s the first pinfall loss for Benjamin and Lashley in AEW!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #2: Claudio Castagnoli def. Roderick Strong
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Castagnoli and Strong grappled down to the mat and back up before Castagnoli fired off a huge uppercut. That staggered Strong for a moment, but he came right back with chops. Strong had the advantage in the corner, but another uppercut got Castagnoli right back in control. He stayed on Strong with headlocks, breaking them off when necessary to subdue Strong with strikes. Strong got back up to his feet only for Castagnoli to hit a lunging boot, sending Strong to the floor. As Strong returned to the apron, Castagnoli met him, although neither man could execute a suplex, so Strong lured Castagnoli through the ropes and dropped him with a backbreaker on the edge of the ring! With Castagnoli struggling to get up, Strong went for a double boot under the second rope, but right into the waiting arms of Castagnoli. The anticipation allowed Castagnoli to swing Strong into the guardrail with a smack heard throughout the arena. For the first time in the match, one of the two men had control for an extended period, as Castagnoli continued to wear out Strong with rapid-fire uppercuts in the corner. Strong showed signs of life with a dropkick, which allowed him the chance to recover. Castagnoli cut off Strong’s elbow strike combo to drop him with a clothesline for a two count. Another set of uppercuts in the corner led to a big slam, although Strong refused to stay down for three. Strong fought through another swing attempt and battled back with some flying kicks to send Claudio outside. A second attempt at the double boots through the ropes found its mark on Castagnoli, so Strong followed him out for a high-angle backbreaker across the top of the guardrail. Strong and Castagnoli went back and forth on the top rope, with Strong finally getting the best of the exchange when he dropped Castagnoli back-first across the top turnbuckle. Just when it looked like Strong had control, Castagnoli blocked a leaping knee attempt and shoved Strong up in the air to finish him off with an uppercut out of nowhere for the win! That’s his 100th win in AEW!
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #3: Kenny Omega and Jurassic Express (Jack Perry & Luchasaurus) def. The Don Callis Family (Mark Davis, Josh Alexander & Hechicero)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Within a minute of the match starting, Hechicero caught Omega’s left leg in an awkward position and tried to stay on it with his impressive array of submission wrestling. Luckily, Omega recovered enough to launch himself onto Hechicero with a plancha to the outside, but when he went after Alexander, Davis was waiting to flatten Omega with a clothesline. Back in the ring, each member of the Family clotheslined Omega in the corner after Alexander tagged back in the match. Alexander tried to target the left leg, but Omega fought him off and finally made a desperation tag to Perry! Perry and Luchasaurus made quick tags, showing fantastic teamwork to take down Alexander. Davis tagged in and shoulder-blocked Perry right out of the ring! Perry got stuck in the wrong corner, as all three members of the Family worked him over with no end in sight. A brief opening to make a tag was closed when Hechicero and Davis ran around the ring to take out Omega and Luchasaurus so that Perry couldn’t make a tag. Alexander trapped Perry in an ankle lock, although he was able to kick loose, but there was no one in his corner to tag. Omega took his time walking up to the apron and reached out for the tag, which was met with a massive ovation from the Kansas City crowd! Omega hit the fireman’s carry into a moonsault, but it only got a two! Callis picked Omega’s ankle and hung on to hit a pair of German suplexes. Omega blocked a third and ran through Alexander with a huge knee, which looked like it would be enough only for Alexander to grab the rope to break the count just in time. Luchasaurus and Davis tagged in to exchange huge shots before taking each other out with clotheslines. Perry came back in with a DDT on Alexander, only for Hechicero to put him down with a swinging hammerlock. Omega took out Hechicero with a knee, but Davis knocked Omega out of the way with a right hand. That brought us back to Davis and Luchasaurus, who stunned Davis with a big shot. Omega tagged back in and looked primed for a V-Trigger on Davis until Callis got off commentary and distracted him, long enough for Alexander to chop block his bad leg. Davis tried to take Omega’s head off with a lariat, but Perry shoved Omega out of the way to take the bullet! With a chance to recover, Omega chopped away at Davis, but the bigger man stuffed Omega with a quick piledriver to get a two count. Hechicero came back and went for a cross armbreaker on Omega, which Alexander tried to defend, but he was chokeslammed by Luchasaurus onto Hechicero to break the hold! Omega showed no hesitation in making the tag to Perry and charged back across the ring to take out Davis with a knee. Luchasaurus got Hechicero on his shoulders so Perry could hit a Doomsday Device for the win!
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #4: Jamie Hayter def. Skye Blue
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Despite the vicious rivalry between Hayter and Triangle of Madness, this match started with some fundamental wrestling on the mat before Blue took the first big shot at Hayter, which only seemed to wake up Hayter. Blue had no chance trading shots with her, as Hayter both figuratively and literally flexed her strength, beating Blue down to the mat. She kept the punishment up with pointed elbow strikes and lit Blue up with 10 punches in the corner. A snap suplex got a two count, so Hayter followed with a second, and Blue bailed to the floor. Julia Hart stepped in Hayter’s way, so Blue took advantage with a thrust kick and then a dangerous neckbreaker from the apron! The numbers game was a crucial factor in the success of Triangle of Madness. Blue slowed the pace down but didn’t give Hayter many chances to recover. A desperation suplex followed by a second-rope dropkick got Hayter rolling once again. After a clothesline in the corner, Hayter threw Blue with an exploder suplex and tried a pin to no avail. The two traded multiple reversals until Hayter finally hit the backbreaker across her knee she’d been looking for all match. As Blue lured Hayter to the outside on the apron, she blasted Hayter with a knee, although her attempt to follow up was caught by Hayter on the floor and turned into a fallway slam, as Blue cried out in pain! Hayter dropped Blue with a neckbreaker across her knee and a low clothesline, but Blue kicked out! Blue reversed a Hayterade attempt into Sliced Bread, which almost won the match. Blue came off the ropes right into a huge clothesline, so Hayter finished her off with Hayterade and the pin for the win!
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #5: The Opps (Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs & Katsuyori Shibata) def. LFI (RUSH, Dralístico & The Beast Mortos)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Hobbs and Beast Mortos gave us plenty of beef to get things started, as Hobbs pounded away on Mortos with clotheslines in the corner, although that ended when a Dralístico distraction gave Mortos the chance to hit a slingblade to Hobbs from the middle rope! Hobbs came back with a jumping shoulder tackle, so one half of the ROH World Tag Team Champions, RUSH, tagged in for the first time. He called for the man who made the challenge for this match, Shibata, and got his wish with Hobbs making the tag. Shibata and RUSH went back and forth with strikes and chops before exchanging German suplexes. Shibata hit a desperation STO to put both men down, which brought Joe and Mortos into the match. The crowd loved the face-off and came alive even more as Joe pounded away at Mortos in the corner. Shibata tagged back in and set up Mortos for a PK but made a detour with a big boot to RUSH on the apron. Dralístico and Mortos immediately jumped on Shibata until RUSH recovered to join in for a three-on-one attack, including a triple dropkick to put Shibata in big trouble. Mortos and Dralístico hit a double-team wheelbarrow spear that bounced Shibata’s head off the bottom rope, yet he still kicked out in the nick of time. Dralístico tried to pound away at Shibata in the corner, but Shibata came firing out with a big boot and returned the favor with his own strikes. Hobbs tagged back in and put all three members of LFI in the corner. Initially, RUSH booted his way out only to go down alongside Mortos at the hands of a Hobbs’ double clothesline. Hobbs caught Dralístico coming off the top rope and slammed him hard with the World’s Most Dangerous Slam. Hobbs tagged Joe, who looked like a man possessed as he hammered away on Dralístico. Dralístico found enough separation to get to the top rope, but jumped right into Joe’s waiting arms. With the Coquina Clutch locked in deep, Dralístico had no choice but to tap out.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Final Verdict: 4/5
This week’s Dynamite delivered a mostly strong night of wrestling and storytelling that set the stage well for WrestleDream. The highlight of the show was the escalating tension between Darby Allin and Jon Moxley, whose feud now feels like it’s about to boil over. Promos across the board hit their marks, with Toni Storm and Kris Statlander standing out for both presence and delivery. The in-ring lineup was diverse, offering everything from chaotic trios action to hard-hitting singles bouts, and the pacing stayed sharp despite the extended runtime. That said, some matches leaned too heavily on interference and cluttered finishes, and the Don Callis Family segments are starting to overstay their welcome. A few bouts didn’t quite connect emotionally, either. Still, Dynamite came through where it mattered most — it built anticipation, entertained consistently, and left AEW on solid footing heading into WrestleDream.