AEW Dynamite Review: 3/19/2025

AEW decided to give us one of the best in-ring TV episodes in their history during a blizzard in Omaha?

Last week’s episode of Dynamite did a great job at setting the course for Dynasty and beyond. However, I thought the in-ring content was generally lacking. This week moved forward some storylines without a doubt, and it might be the best in-ring episode from front to back that the company has done in some time.

The show started off with a four way match, the winner of whom would get a shot at Kenny Omega’s International Championship at Dynasty next month. Speedball Mike Bailey, Orange Cassidy, Mark Davis and Ricochet qualified after winning their tournament matches last week.

This was one of those classic PWG style matches that AEW pulls off so well when they get the right combination of people in the ring. In 18 minutes, everyone involved got their chance to shine. Speedball already has the audience behind them in just two weeks (check out this list of Mike Bailey matches you can find on YouTube!) and this might be the best Mark Davis has looked in his heel role thus far. Orange Cassidy did creative Orange Cassidy things in the way only he knows how, and Ricochet took every opportunity he could to get booed.

One thing that these matches exceed at is setting up future possibilities for the company. For example, Speedball and Cassidy had a sequence when they had the ring to themselves that the crowd loved. They also teamed up to gain an advantage with the heels at crucial moments. This might not go anywhere but it does leave the door open for the possibilities. I know I’d like to see a Speedball/OC match!

The match ended with Ricochet and Bailey pinning Mark Davis at the exact same time, setting up a three way match against Omega at Dynasty. While I would have loved to see a one-on-one match with Omega against either opponent, this gets both of them on the card and gives them a chance to continue AEW’s tradition of stellar three-wrestler bouts.

From a storyline perspective, this is the most basic level of wrestling storytelling but it works so well. Everyone wanted a Bailey/Omega dream match on a big stage like Dynasty, but the crafty/annoying (in a good way) Ricochet had other plans.

The second match of the night was Mercedes Mone vs. Billie Starkz for the TBS Championship. This is a match that has actually had a decent little build for it over the last few weeks, and it was nice to see them pay that off in a great match. I’ve mentioned it over and over again, but I think Mone is one of the best wrestlers in the world at selling her opponent’s offense and making them look good. You can almost believe that they have a chance to pull off the upset.

Starkz took full advantage of Mone’s preternatural selling ability and landed some truly devastating moves, including an electric chair driver near the ropes where Mone was saved by a rope break.

The match itself continued Mone’s strong run of form. She wrestled against Indi Hartwell over the weekend at House of Glory and this match was even better. It was also a showcase for Billie Starkz who hasn’t had a match on AEW TV in some time.

Later in the show, Mone did an interview segment with Renee Paquette in which she alluded to Starkz’ training not being adequate. We’re heading towards Athena vs. Mone, and it has the potential to be an all-time feud for the womens’ division and the company.

In the next segment, MJF talked about his meeting with MVP last week and his plans for the future. He seems focused on retaining his AEW World Championship, but he also brought up Adam Page so that doesn’t seem over yet. He also mentioned that he would give an answer to MVP on next week’s show after MVP invited him to join the Hurt Syndicate last week.

This is quite the intriguing confluence of storylines given what happened later in the show: Page said that he plans on entering the Owen Hart Tournament to win a title shot at All In. He also reiterated that he would never let Swerve Strickland, who has a title shot at Dynasty, hold the world title again and took a shot at Will Ospreay as well.

MJF linking up with the Hurt Syndicate is a fascinating idea that opens up a large number of future possibilities for this storyline. MJF has history with Hangman, and Swerve has history with both Hangman and Hurt Syndicate.

One criticism I’ve had with AEW is that they, at times, treat storylines like isolated pocket universes within the show; they could do a better job at intersecting storylines (even momentarily) to make their wrestling company seem like a larger, living world. They’ve done a better job with that lately, and this segment proves it. Strickland, MJF, Adam Page and Will Ospreay now seem squarely focused on the world title. The top of the card is really solidifying heading towards what will hopefully be a monumental All In.

Surprisingly, the next match of the night was the AEW World Championship Street Fight between Jon Moxley and Adam Copeland. I attended Revolution, and I was very disappointed with the main event match between these two. I thought the match was slow and the cash in from Christian Cage didn’t make much sense.

While they can’t fully wash away the stink of a bad main event storyline, this match felt like what they should have done at Revolution and I enjoyed this one significantly more. This was a car crash of a match that took place outside and throughout the arena, ending in the ring with (and I mean this in a complimentary manner) some overbooked nonsense.

It also had quite possibly the most memorable and shocking moment of this Jon Moxley run since he put a plastic bag over Bryan Danielson’s head. Copeland pulled out his trusty bat full of nails, Spike, and suplexed Moxley’s back directly onto the nails. The nails got embedded deep in Moxley’s skin and it looked like they were having a hard time removing the bat from his back. Luckily they finally were able to extricate Spike. On Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez reported that Moxley drove 11 hours to Omaha due to the weather conditions, all to take a bat full of nails in the back. It gives a different meaning to “for love of the game.”

This was, quite frankly, a wild spot to do on a Dynamite in the middle of March but it got the fans invested in the match very quickly leading into a final stretch featuring run ins from the entire Death Riders faction, Nick Wayne, Kip Sabian, Willow Nightingale and FTR in which Moxley came out on top.

Post match, Copeland remained in the ring with Willow and FTR. While Willow and Cash Wheeler consoled Cope, Dax Harwood looked frustrated. He walked out alone after refusing to help Copeland up.

It seems like FTR are finally leaning into a character change, and it’s fun to imagine the possibilities. FTR and the Outrunners could have a feud after their team up a few months back. Looking past that, it’s hard not to think about this leading to a potential Copeland and Christian Cage reunion in which they wrestle a heel FTR down the road.

I’m glad to see this storyline finally over. The Death Riders haven’t worked as a company-shattering faction, but Swerve is Moxley’s biggest test yet and someone who the crowd really believes in. These are the highest stakes the company has booked for a Moxley feud thus far and it has the potential to turn things around.

Next, Renee Paquette was backstage interviewing Bandido who finally seems to have had it with Chris Jericho after the latter man unmasked his brother and threatened his mother and sister on Revolution’s pre-show. Bandido called Jericho out and asked him to show up on Collision, but Johnny TV showed up and challenged Bandido for a match on Saturday.

This isn’t my favorite feud on the show but when compared with past Jericho feuds, I find it inoffensive. It is, however, feeling a bit long at this stage. Bandido is such an obvious candidate to take the ROH Championship from Jericho after losing to him twice and I had some hope that would have happened a few weeks ago.

In the penultimate match of the show, Will Ospreay wrestled AR Fox in a decent TV match. At less than eight minutes, this felt like more of a sprint and obviously both wrestlers are well-suited to that type of match. Ospreay got the win, and looked over at the All In banner before exiting.

In the main event of the night, Megan Bayne and Kris Statlander faced off with Toni Storm on commentary. This was a hard hitting, well worked match from both competitors and Bayne feels like a worthy challenger for Storm’s first post-Mariah May defense. Both wrestlers looked strong in this match and I was especially impressed by Kris Statlander here. She has looked so good in 2024 and early 2025 that she really should win the world title soon.

The match ended with Bayne hitting her finisher on Statlander both on the floor and in the ring for the victory.

Post-match, Storm entered the ring and in an innuendo-laden promo, challenged Bayne to a match at Dynasty. The two then brawled in the ring before being broken up by security.

Bayne’s push up the card has been well done, outside of that post-match moment a few weeks back where she and other wrestlers didn’t look like they were on the same page. It’s exciting to see a new star established in the division and Bayne has been worth the wait for AEW.

This was perhaps the best Dynamite episode of 2025, with no bad match on the card, and locked in some intriguing matches for Dynasty. With two more weeks of shows left to go, they have a chance to set up another outstanding PPV for the company.