‘AEW: Dynamite’ Review (Dec 10th 2025)

Welcome to this week’s review of AEW: Dynamite, which was broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, and continues the yearly tradition of a Winter is Coming special. 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: AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship Final – The Babes of Wrath (Willow Nightingale & Harley Cameron) def. Timeless Love Bombs (“Timeless” Toni Storm & Mina Shirakawa)

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Mina and Harley opened with rapid reversals, neither gaining ground until Cameron hit a slingblade. Willow and Toni tagged in to a huge pop, trading strikes before both teams spilled into chaos. Willow used Harley as a weapon to dropkick the Love Bombs off the apron, then wiped them out with a running cannonball. Back inside, Willow slammed Harley onto Storm for a near fall, but Shirakawa grabbed Cameron on the ropes, letting Storm spike her. Mina re-entered and launched herself onto Cameron from Storm’s shoulders, but Cameron survived and hit a side suplex to bring in Willow. Nightingale tore through both Love Bombs, then POUNCED Storm to the floor. Willow dominated Shirakawa until Cameron returned with a shining wizard for two. Mina escaped a chinlock, only for Willow to shut her down—until Mina countered into a DDT that let Storm re-enter fiery-hot. She dropped both Babes, but Nightingale broke the Chicken Wing. Shirakawa then hit a wild combo: figure-four on Cameron while DDTing Willow. Storm and Nightingale struggled in the hold before submissions were broken. A flurry of headbutts and slingblades left all four down. Storm saved Shirakawa on the top rope, set up Cameron, and Mina nailed a top-rope slingblade. Storm Zero followed, but Willow broke the pin with a senton, then suplexed Storm on the floor. In the final exchange, Shirakawa rocked Cameron with strikes and set up the Glamorous Driver—only for Cameron to reverse into her finisher. Willow tagged in, hit the Babe With the Powerbomb on Mina, and scored the decisive pin.

My Score: 5 out of 5

Match #2: Continental Classic Gold League – Kazuchika Okada def. “Jungle” Jack Perry

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Stepping in for the injured Darby Allin, Jack Perry told Renee Paquette he intended to savour his first AEW singles match in over a year and his Continental Classic debut. Don Callis joined commentary under Continental Rules. Perry jumped Okada at the bell, hit headscissors to the floor, connected with a dive, and rammed him into the guardrail. Okada answered with his own guardrail shot and a brutal rail-hung DDT before taking control in the ring. Perry kept firing back, finally dropping Okada with a flying clothesline and hitting a German suplex and DDT for two. Okada reset with a neckbreaker, body slam, and top-rope elbow, signalling the Rainmaker, but Perry dodged until Okada blasted him with a signature dropkick. Perry rallied again – superkick, poisonrana, knee strike – almost stealing the win. He locked in the Snaretrap on a second attempt, but Okada made the ropes. Okada grabbed a chair outside; Perry kicked it away and rolled him back in. A scramble led to a sudden Rainmaker. Okada held wrist control, countered Perry’s next charge with an Emerald Flowsion, then hit a second Rainmaker to score the pin and three points.

My Score: 3.5 out of 5

Match #3: “Hangman” Adam Page & Swerve Strickland def. The Opps (Powerhouse Hobbs & Katsuyori Shibata)

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Hobbs and Shibata hit the ring flanked by Opps Dojo members, but Hangman and Swerve emerged through the crowd armed with chains and a staple gun. A brawl erupted immediately, spilling into the concourse. Page put Hobbs through a table near the bar — earning a beer and a high-five from the bartender — while Shibata kicked Swerve off a chair nearby. None of this was in the ring, and the match hadn’t even started. All four finally fought back to ringside, and once Page and Hobbs entered, the bell rang under Tornado Tag rules. Hobbs and Shibata brutalised Page with alternating suplexes, a corner splash, a PK, and heavy strikes. Nana distracted Hobbs, letting Swerve superkick him and setting up stereo dives from both Page and Swerve to the floor. Swerve took control of Shibata until Hobbs yanked him outside. Shibata dodged a Buckshot and low-blowed Page, while Swerve brawled Hobbs up the stairs. Swerve then hit a top-rope stomp to break Shibata’s armbar on Page. A wild four-way exchange followed. Hobbs accidentally wiped out Shibata, Page and Swerve cracked Hobbs with rolling elbows, and Swerve hit a 450 on Shibata. Page smashed Hobbs into Swerve for improvised double-team offence, and together they powerbombed Hobbs from the apron to the floor. Back inside, Page hit the Buckshot on Shibata, and Swerve sealed it with the House Call for the win.

My Score: 3.5 out of 5

Match #4: Continental Classic Gold League – “Speedball” Mike Bailey def. “The Protostar” Kyle Fletcher

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

This first-time AEW meeting saw Fletcher enter tied with Okada atop the Gold League at six points. Bailey opened by repeatedly going for quick pins, frustrating Fletcher to the floor. Once he re-entered, Fletcher stomped Bailey down, but Bailey answered with speed — headscissors to the floor — only for Fletcher to return fire with a hurricanrana through the ropes. Bailey leapt off the top, but Fletcher caught the crossbody and seamlessly hit a backbreaker–slam combo, drawing praise from Bryan Danielson. Bailey fired back with a top-rope dropkick and a barrage of kicks, sending Fletcher outside again. A springboard moonsault followed, but when Bailey chased, Fletcher stopped him with a thrust kick and hit a stunning falling Michinoku Driver off the guardrail. With control secured, Fletcher punished Bailey back in the ring. A fight on the apron ended with Bailey moonsaulting knees-first onto Fletcher, swinging momentum again. Bailey hit a top-rope hurricanrana, but his shooting star press landed on Fletcher’s knees. Fletcher capitalised with a lawn dart and a huge powerbomb, but Bailey survived. They traded vicious strikes, suplexes, and counters — Bailey snatching near falls, Fletcher answering with kicks and a half-and-half suplex. Bailey drilled Fletcher with a head kick and hit The Funtime Adventure, but Fletcher kicked out to the crowd’s disbelief. Bailey’s Ultima Weapon to the back also failed to finish things. Bailey tried Ultima Weapon on the floor and crashed hard, allowing Fletcher to hit an apron powerbomb, then a brainbuster — and still Bailey kicked out. Somehow Bailey countered late, and a rapid series of roll-ups ended with Bailey trapping Fletcher for the three-count with one minute left.

My Score: 5 out of 5

Match #5: AEW World Championship – Samoa Joe def. Eddie Kingston

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

The crowd was molten for Kingston as HOOK accompanied Joe to the ring. Before the match could settle in, HOOK grabbed Kingston’s leg, got caught, and was ejected. Joe pounced immediately, dumping Kingston on his head with a suplex and hammering him with strikes. Kingston fired back, flooring Joe with a huge lariat as the arena roared. They traded heavy chops until Kingston took control in the corner, battering Joe with body shots, uppercuts, and slaps before dropping him again with a clothesline. Joe dodged Kingston in the corner and swung momentum, smashing Kingston with strikes and his trademark facewash boot. Kingston fought through Joe’s barrage, landing chops and back-to-back lariats, but Joe countered the third with a crushing powerslam. Joe’s knees lit Kingston up, but Kingston caught him charging and spiked him with a head-and-neck suplex for a near fall. Joe recovered with a fireman’s carry slam and an STF, but Kingston bit his way free and drilled him with a DDT — only for Joe to roll outside to avoid the pin. Back inside, Kingston aimed for the spinning backfist; Joe blocked it, Kingston hit a cutter, then swung again… straight into the Coquina Clutch. Joe cinched it in, Kingston passed out, and Joe retained the AEW World Championship.

My Score: 3.5 out of 5

Final Verdict: 4.5/5

Easily the best Winter Is Coming AEW has delivered in years. The night kicked off with a killer tag-team final, rolled straight into a strong Continental Classic bout and a lively tag match, then hit a whole new gear with an instant-classic from “Speedball” Mike Bailey and Kyle Fletcher – honest to god, if that match doesn’t prove my “tournaments make everything better” agenda, nothing will. The main event capped things perfectly with Samoa Joe and my guy Eddie Kingston going to war. Eddie didn’t get the win, but he fought his heart out… and if you’ve seen the post-show footage of Bryan Danielson leaving commentary just to put him over afterwards, you’ve got to believe big things are coming for Kingston. A superb show from top to bottom.