‘AEW: Dynamite’ Review (Dec 3rd 2025)
Welcome to this week’s review of AEW: Dynamite, which was broadcast from Fishers, Indiana, and continues this year’s Continental Classic. Also, AEW’s official recaps are getting rather long, so we’ll be making them more concise where we can to save your eyes! With that, let’s get into the review…
Match #1: Continental Classic Gold League – Kazuchika Okada def. PAC
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
PAC opened strong, taking Okada down and pie-facing him before landing a low kick and a top-rope dropkick. Okada bailed outside, dragged PAC out with him, and slammed him into the guardrail repeatedly. Back inside, Okada hit an elbow and neckbreaker for one, but PAC fired back with boots and head kicks, then battered him around ringside. A missed PAC dropkick let Okada answer with a shotgun dropkick. Okada strung together a back-elbow, corner elbow, and DDT for a nearfall, then hit his trademark top-rope elbow and flipped off the crowd. PAC blocked the Rainmaker, hit a cutter, but ran into Okada’s perfect dropkick. A cazadora pin nearly caught Okada again, but he kicked out. PAC rallied with boots, a pump kick, and two Germans for a close two. Okada countered PAC’s pickup into a tombstone, but PAC answered with a super brainbuster and a huge lariat. He went for the Brutalizer, only for Okada to trap him in a sudden pin for the upset win.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #2: Continental Classic Gold League – Kyle Fletcher def. “The Jet” Kevin Knight
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Knight’s speed challenged Fletcher early, but Fletcher powered through and regrouped on the outside. Knight followed with a clothesline to the floor and a step-up lariat from the apron, then drilled Fletcher with a huge springboard lariat that had the crowd roaring. Fletcher countered the next springboard with a running elbow and slowed things down until Knight blasted him with a sky-high dropkick. Knight surged back with another dropkick, a corner hurricanrana, and a DDT for a nearfall. Fletcher answered by lawn-darting Knight into the buckle, landing a running boot, and surviving Knight’s towering springboard clothesline. The pace escalated: apron superkick, apron DDT, and Knight’s coast-to-coast dropkick all followed, but Fletcher kept finding escapes. After Knight missed a UFO Splash, Fletcher snatched a cradle, then hit a crushing Liger Bomb for another nearfall. Knight countered a brainbuster for his own two count, but Fletcher shut him down with a sharp kick, another running boot, and finally the brainbuster for the win. Fletcher now leads the Gold League with six points.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #3: AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship Semifinal Hardcore Holiday Death Match – Timeless Love Bombs (“Timeless” Toni Storm & Mina Shirakawa) def. MegaProblems (“The Megasus” Megan Bayne & “The Problem” Marina Shafir)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Storm and Shirakawa opened hot with stereo Thesz presses and DDTs on the floor. Storm smashed a bottle over Shafir’s head and jabbed the shards into Bayne before Shirakawa hit a barbed-wire candy cane Slingblade. Shafir was left bleeding as the fight spilled up the ramp. Bayne powered out of a suplex attempt, then Shafir spiked Storm on the apron and Bayne hurled Shirakawa onto her. Armed with a wrapped chair and a frying pan, Bayne and Shafir pummeled both opponents until they collided by mistake. Shirakawa dropkicked the chair into Bayne, and Storm followed with a Storm Zero through a ringside table. Shafir locked Shirakawa in Mother’s Milk, but Shirakawa escaped by stabbing her with a broken cue, then rocked her with a backfist. Storm and Shirakawa hit a top-rope splash outside, then a top-rope slingblade onto a chair, but Bayne broke the pin. Bayne speared Shirakawa through a table, but Storm dropped Bayne onto Shafir with a Storm Zero. Santa Luther appeared with a “gift,” flipping off Shafir. Storm nailed a release German, cracked Shafir with a shoe, and finished her with The Big Package to send Timeless Love Bombs to the finals.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #4: Trios Match – The Opps (Powerhouse Hobbs, Katsuyori Shibata & HOOK) def. Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver & Alex Reynolds)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
The Opps attacked Dark Order on the apron during their entrance and beat them around the ringside area before throwing them back into the ring to start the match. HOOK threw Silver with a capture suplex. Reynolds came in and went for a dive on Hobbs but was caught and dumped to the ground. Shibata kicked Evil Uno off the top rope to the outside and The Opps were in full control. Silver fought back and made a tag to Uno, who decided to take on HOOK and Shibata with some successful splashes in the corner before dropping both with double DDTs! Hobbs shook off Uno’s chops and flattened him with a running body block. He dropped Uno with the World’s Most Dangerous Slam, but Reynolds and Silver came in to break up the pin. Silver and Reynolds got caught in chokes by Shibata and HOOK while Hobbs finished Uno with a spinebuster for the win!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #5: Continental Classic Blue League – Claudio Castagnoli def. Jon Moxley
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
There was no hesitation from the two at the bell, but neither gained an advantage on the mat. The referee had Marina Shafir leave the ringside area because of Continental Rules. Castagnoli powered Moxley to the mat and stomped him in the chest. Any questions about how this match will go had been answered, as they started trading big shots with Moxley gaining an advantage. He mounted Castagnoli with 10 punches in the corner and gouged his eye. Castagnoli turned things around and the two fought to the outside where Castagnoli swung Moxley into the steel steps. They are holding nothing back. They returned to the ring and traded blows as Moxley was bleeding from the head! Castagnoli swung Moxley again in the ring and stepped into a Sharpshooter as the blood poured from Moxley’s head! Moxley fought his way back to his feet and they traded punches again! Castagnoli was sent to the outside and Moxley followed with a big dive sending Castagnoli into the announce desk. Back in the ring, Mox reversed an uppercut into a backslide for a two count, but Castagnoli fired back up for a huge lariat! Moxley got out of the Gotch-style piledriver twice and nearly caught Castagnoli in a pinning predicament for the win. Castagnoli hit an uppercut and tried to go for another, but Moxley came back with a lariat! Claudio avoided one stomp but couldn’t avoid another, and Mox went for the pin, but it was only good for a two count! Claudio escaped from a choke and dumped Mox to the outside. He followed with a running uppercut into the barricade and then stomped a sitting Moxley in the chest! Castagnoli propped Moxley against the stairs and hit another uppercut. He threw Mox back in and got a lariat for another two count. A powerbomb from Castagnoli earned yet another two count! Mox shook his head and the two Death Riders went forehead-to-forehead! They traded shots again, but Mox hit a Paradigm Shift out of nowhere and both men were down. As the five-minute warning was announced, Castagnoli ran through Moxley with a running uppercut to get the pin on Moxley and take six points to top the Blue League!
My Score: 4 out of 5
Final Verdict: 4/5
This week’s episode delivered a lively, well-paced show that kept the Continental Classic rolling with purpose. The big tournament matches all hit the mark, with Moxley vs Claudio and Okada vs PAC standing out for their intensity and clean storytelling. The Samoa Joe and Eddie Kingston confrontation added real bite to their Winter Is Coming build, giving the episode a strong emotional through-line. The women’s tag-team tournament also got a boost thanks to another chaotic “Holiday Death Match” that actually felt meaningful rather than throwaway. Overall, this episode was consistently engaging and never dipped into filler. It did feel very much like a bridge to next week’s bigger moments, but as a chapter designed to tighten rivalries and push stories forward, it worked well. With strong wrestling, crisp pacing, and compelling promos, Dynamite delivered a solid night of TV.