‘AEW: Dynamite’ Review (Oct 22nd 2025)
Welcome to this week’s review of AEW: Dynamite, which was broadcast from San Antonio, Texas, and gave us the fallout from last week’s Wrestledream pay-per-view. With that, let’s get into the review…
Match #1: AEW World Trios Championship Match – The Opps (Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs & Katsuyori Shibata) def. The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashey, Shelton Benjamin & MVP)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
After a brief faceoff between the six men, Shelton Benjamin and Katsuyori Shibata kicked off our first match of the evening for the AEW World Trios Titles. The two veterans traded some mat wrestling until Benjamin gained a brief advantage to bring in Lashley. The crowd chanted for Hobbs, prompting Shibata to make the tag. As a “BEEF” chant rang out, Joe tagged Hobbs on the back before he made any contact with Lashley and covered up Hobbs’ chest with a towel, much to the chagrin of the beef-loving crowd in San Antonio. Lashley ended the fun and games as soon as Joe turned around with a big shot that knocked Joe to the ground. Lashley punished Joe in the corner and tried to do the same in the other, but Joe made a brief comeback until Lashley dropped him with a front-face slam. Benjamin tagged in and went right to the top, so Joe walked away as Benjamin came off, although Benjamin was also ready and landed on his feet! Joe had enough of that and tagged out to Hobbs. Benjamin cracked Hobbs with a heel kick, but Hobbs battled back with a clothesline over the top. Lashley did the same to Hobbs and walked right into a high boot from Shibata. MVP entered to clobber Shibata with a big boot of his own. Joe got back in and threw MVP over the top rope, but turned right into a Benjamin knee strike in the corner. Hobbs was waiting for Benjamin with a running powerslam, which Joe followed with a running senton to put Benjamin in serious trouble. After all three members of The Opps punished Benjamin for an extended period of time, he looked completely worn out, which Bryan Danielson attributed to the level of competition The Hurt Syndicate faced in The Demand at WrestleDream. Benjamin finally rattled Joe with a massive reversal into a DDT, and Lashley tagged back in. Shibata also tagged back in, and Lashley absolutely decimated him all over the ring until a Dominator nearly won the match, until Hobbs broke it up. We finally got the faceoff that was teased early as Hobbs and Lashley started throwing bombs in the middle of the ring. Hobbs hit a shot to Lashley’s throat, but Lashley was briefly able to apply the Hurt Lock until Hobbs backed him into the corner for some elbows. The two connected in a giant collision after both going for clotheslines. Shibata remained the legal man, so he nailed Lashley with a PK and got a two count. MVP and Joe tagged in, but Joe immediately cut him off by ripping at the eyes, so MVP countered with a shot to the throat and a Ballin’ elbow for a nearfall that Shibata broke up. Benjamin threw Shibata with a German suplex, but walked into a huge spinbuster from Hobbs. Lashley was waiting for Hobbs with a spinebuster of his own, but he didn’t see a big boot from Joe that knocked him from the ring. MVP broke out of a Coquina Clutch with a jawbreaker and went for the Play of the Day until Ricochet arrived and jumped on the apron. The distraction allowed Joe to reapply the Coquina Clutch for the submission victory and successful defense of the AEW World Trios Titles.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #2: 4-Way Tag Match – Queen Aminata & Jamie Hayter def. Skye Blue & Julia Hart, Willow Nightingale & Harley Cameron, and Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
The winners of this match got to pick their first-round opponent in the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship Tournament. Nightingale and Blue started off with Nightingale asserting her power over Blue, but then she brought in Cameron for some tandem offense. Cameron lost control when Blue nailed Cameron with a side kick, but she couldn’t capitalize when Ford made a blind tag. Ford hit a handspring shoulder thrust in the corner, which brought Bayne into the match. She continued to pound away on Cameron in the corner, but when she and Ford went for a double suplex, Nightingale pulled Cameron out of harm’s way. Ford sent Nightingale to the outside, where Blue and Hart went to work while Cameron fought off Bayne long enough to tag Hayter. The crowd was amped to see Hayter and Bayne face off, and to make sure they wouldn’t be interrupted, Hayter knocked Ford off the apron. Hayter and Bayne came to blows in the middle, and Bayne won the battle with high elbows and then a big boot. Bayne escaped a suplex and wound up in front of Aminata so she tagged Hayter and they went for a double suplex, but Bayne reversed it into a suplex on both of them in a ridiculous display of power. And she wasn’t done! Bayne dove to the outside to take out Nightingale, Hayter, and Aminata with a dive as Ford moonsaulted from the top to the floor onto Blue and Hart! Bayne and Ford were in total control. As Bayne punished Aminata in the ring, Hart made a blind tag to take over on Aminata. Hart walked her the ropes and struck down on Aminata from an arm wringer. Blue tagged in, but Hart remained in the ring for some double-team offense, although they tried to do too much, allowing Aminata to make a desperation tag to Nightingale. She ran through both Blue and Hart and stacked them in her corner before crushing them with a hip attack. She kicked Hart from the ring and nearly won the match with a spinebuster, but Blue kicked out in time. Nightingale called for Cameron, who came in to ping-pong Blue with chops and then a kick. Nightingale set up for the Babe with the Powerbomb, but was quickly stopped by a Bayne clothesline. Cameron jumped on Bayne’s back, but escaped when she backed into the corner. Bayne dragged Blue to her corner to allow Ford to tag back in. Bayne threw her into an assisted cutter on Nightingale, but Hart was back in to break up the pin. Hart and Blue were dropped by a double stunner from Ford and a double German suplex by Bayne in another fantastic display of power. Bayne got Nightingale on her shoulders as Ford went to the top for a doomsday device, but Nightingale sent Bayne into Ford, knocking her all the way to the floor. With Bayne dazed, Nightingale pounced her from the ring. Hayter made a blind tag on Nightingale, making her and Ford the legal women in the match. However, Hayter and Aminata decided to double-team Nightingale and knocked her from the ring with a double back elbow. They turned their focus to Ford with a double big boot. They snatched Ford back to her feet so Aminata could thump her with a headbutt immediately followed by Hayterade, and that combo was lethal enough to get the three count.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #3: Kyle O’Reilly def. Jon Moxley (DQ)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Accompanied to the top of the ramp by Orange Cassidy, Willow Nightingale, Mark Briscoe, Tomohiro Ishii, and eventually Roderick Strong, O’Reilly got an encouraging send-off from The Conglomeration and Strong. They returned to the back while Moxley entered through the crowd with Shafir. Moxley danced around O’Reilly as the crowd reminded him of the words he said at WrestleDream. Moxley got frustrated by some early mat wrestling and flipped off O’Reilly out of frustration. O’Reilly stayed on Moxley as they continued to battle on the mat. O’Reilly caught Moxley in a flying armbar, but stomped his way free and started to chop away at O’Reilly. O’Reilly came right back with shots of his own, but Moxley bit him and shoved O’Reilly to the outside. After weathering an extended attack on the outside, O’Reilly nailed a flying dropkick from the apron to a seated Moxley on the floor! He got Mox back in the ring and took him down with a series of powerful kicks. O’Reilly was locked in a triangle sleeper, but Mox broke it by catapulting O’Reilly into the bottom rope neck-first! They found themselves on the outside of the apron until O’Reilly slammed Moxley’s arm into the edge. O’Reilly came off the top with a knee to Moxley’s shoulder and nearly pinned him. Moxley and O’Reilly traded submissions until Moxley barely escaped a cross armbreaker. Mox crushed O’Reilly with a big lariat and followed with a piledriver, but O’Reilly kicked out! Moxley went to the Bulldog Choke, but O’Reilly escaped with his foot on the ropes. Moxley missed a stomp, so O’Reilly chopped his knee. O’Reilly went for a rebound lariat, but Moxley avoided it, so O’Reilly put him in an ankle lock! Mox grabbed and elbowed referee Paul Turner, as other referees swarmed the ring and the bell rang, signaling a disqualification.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #4: Roderick Strong & The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe & Orange Cassidy) def. The Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta & Daniel Garcia)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Cassidy and Yuta showed how well they knew each other by trading many pin attempts to open the match, but Yuta tagged out to Garcia when OC went for the Orange Punch. Garcia celebrated a small victory of outwrestling Cassidy on the mat, so Briscoe tagged in, unbeknownst to Garcia. He pounded away on Garcia, then brought Strong in for the first time. Strong got a few shots on Garcia before he made a desperation tag to Castagnoli. Strong fought with everything he had to strike Castagnoli with powerful shots and even battled out of the Death Riders’ corner by nailing Garcia and Yuta. Garcia came back in for a brief distraction, so Castagnoli was able to knock Strong to the outside. Yuta tried to attack Strong, but ate a backbreaker on the guardrail! Castagnoli went out to chase Strong, who dove back inside the ring to come flying at Castagnoli with a pair of boots, but they were caught. Strong kicked himself free and hit the running boots on the second attempt, followed by another backbreaker on the guardrail. Castagnoli was sent back into the ring, but Yuta grabbed Strong’s foot as he tried to get back in. That opened the door for Castagnoli to attack and drop Strong throat-first on the guardrail. Castagnoli continued to work over Strong in the ring, but he eventually hit some desperation offense and tagged in Cassidy! Cassidy sent Yuta and Garcia to the outside, but faked a dive to lure them back in, so he took them down with a double dropkick. Castagnoli came back in and ate a Stundog Millionaire from Cassidy, who immediately followed with a dive to Garcia on the outside. Briscoe fought off a 2-on-1 advantage for Castagnoli and Yuta and then hit a pair of boots through the ropes to Garcia. With all three Death Riders on the floor, Briscoe hit a twisting press from the top to take them all out! He threw Yuta in the ring and hit a fisherman’s buster for a two count. Briscoe tried for a Jay Driller until Garcia came in to cut it off. Strong saved Briscoe from a guillotine, but Castagnoli threw Strong to the mat. Cassidy came off the top looking for a diving DDT on Castagnoli, only to be caught and dropped by an uppercut. Briscoe returned with a boot to Castagnoli, but turned into a 3-on-1 attack from the Death Riders. Strong saved Briscoe again, leaving Yuta alone with Briscoe in the ring. Briscoe hit a huge lariat and Jay Driller on Yuta for the pinfall!
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #5: AEW Unified Championship Match – Kazuchika Okada def. Bandido
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Our main event began with a feeling-out process between the two until Okada took a shortcut with a kick to the gut. Bandido fought back and played some mind games by sticking his finger gun in Okada’s face. A hurricanrana sent Okada to the outside, but when Bandido tried to dive to the outside, Okada bailed. When Bandido chased, Okada hid and then attacked Bandido right in front of his family. Bandido quickly turned it around with an arm drag from the apron. Back in the ring, Okada took control back with a flapjack and remained in control. Okada hit his middle finger pose, but that gave Bandido the chance to recover and hit a tornillo from the top to Okada. He sent Okada to the outside and struck him with a dive to the floor. Bandido sent Okada back in and punished him with a series of kicks. Bandido leapt to the top and hit every bit of a frog splash, but Okada kicked out. Okada found some separation by pulling Bandido’s bad shoulder into the ropes. He started toying with Bandido’s shoulder by kicking it away and adjusted his normal tombstone into a shoulderbreaker on his knee! Bandido tried to get medical help from the ringside physician, but Okada pulled him back to the ring and continued to work on the shoulder. Bandido somehow battled back with one arm and hit a spinning back fist! He nailed Okada with the X Knee and successfully attempted a 21 Plex! He was too hurt to get to Okada in time, and Okada kicked out at two! Bandido reversed a powerbomb out of the corner, but was planted by a picture-perfect Okada dropkick. Okada went for the Rainmaker, but Bandido turned it into a small package, and Okada just kicked out in time. Bandido went for a splash in the corner, but jumped right into a pair of boots to the chest. Okada went for the Rainmaker, but Bandido ducked and hit one of his own with his healthy arm! He crushed Okada with another X Knee and went for another 21 Plex, only for Okada to avoid it and put Bandido down with a Rainmaker to get the three count.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Final Verdict: 4/5
This episode of Dynamite was a tightly structured, story-driven show that balanced strong in-ring performances with meaningful progression toward the next big angles. The night opened with The Opps retaining the AEW World Trios Titles over The Hurt Syndicate, a smartly booked match that combined technical control with fiery crowd energy. The women’s four-corner tag was an energetic showcase, with Jamie Hayter and Queen Aminata earning a deserved win that could signal a bigger push ahead. Kyle O’Reilly versus Jon Moxley ended in disqualification, a deliberate choice that furthered O’Reilly’s underdog narrative while keeping Moxley dangerous and unpredictable. The Conglomeration’s victory over The Death Riders was pure chaos, while the main event, Kazuchika Okada defeating Bandido to retain the AEW Unified Championship, was a crisp, dramatic closer. Overall, Dynamite delivered a strong mix of storytelling and athleticism, cementing AEW’s knack for blending spectacle with substance.