AEW Dynasty 2025

[sek69]

All signs point to this being another typically overstuffed AEW PPV that will no doubt have excellent matches but will have everyone saying "dang it didn't need to be THIS long" by the end. I suppose there could be worse problems a promotion could have than having too many great matches on ever show.

 

My big prediction is of course ol' Cope getting Sting'd by FTR, since it seems like the plan is going to be FTR vs Edge & Christian at All In.

[sek69]

Looks like Anthony Bowens is in line for a push which sounds good to me.

[sek69]

Big Match Bill getting this show kicked off proper.

[The Thread Killer]

48 minutes ago, sek69 said:

Looks like Anthony Bowens is in line for a push which sounds good to me.

If he wants anybody to take him seriously, he needs to ditch that American Gladiators ring gear, stat.

[The Thread Killer]

Apparently it is Big Bill’s lot in life to be saddled with untalented Tag Team partners. (Well, aside from Starks, I guess.) But Brian Keith looked pretty useless in that match.

[sek69]

Toni Storm going full Rocky for this match is top notch btw.

[Johnny Sorrow]

AEW doing the old WWE shots of "wrestler is backstage awkwardly watching a monitor" is hilarious. Everyone hates it and I can't remember the last time WWE did it. 

[Jmare007]

This Moxley shit has really reached late 2010's Vince McMahon levels of "fuck this company" booking. How can the payoff for this be worth it at this point?

[Boss Rock]

The stubbornness to try and see this through is really frustrating. Considering AEW has managed to change course when things weren't working in the past, it boggles my mind that they didn't learn their lesson from Revolution.

[Jmare007]

The fact they introduced the Bucks, an act fans have been pretty clear in not giving a flyng fuck about for about 2 years now, to this angle is dumbfounding. How the hell is TK dumb enough to copy the "be mad at the company to get heat" formula that never worked for WWE?

[KingBoggs33]

lo fuckin l

TK is going to be TK. That’s for sure. I can’t wait to see people try and bend to make this any sense. Cause even storyline wise it makes none. The way the bucks left made absolutely no sense they would return and help Mox or have any reason to screw Swerve  

people online are saying it’s setting up swerve and hangman vs bucks but who wants that match? We’ve already seen bucks vs hangman and Kenny and no way anything can top that match involving the three. 

Am I like missing something with Mox? Why is he treated like an unbeatable machine and an Ace for? His work has nosedived off a cliff from when he first joined the company. Everyone in the death riders angle hasn’t improved any of their stock

Another PPV ruined due to a shitty ending in my own opinion

[MoS]

Caught the end of the main event angle and it was a bad one. The Young Bucks jumped the shark years ago, and they ruined what could have been an all-time moment. It is impossible for me to get mad at them, simply because they are just not interesting enough. This is the most disappointed I have felt at the end of the show this whole year. 

[strobogo]

Show was fucking amazing until the main event and angle. This Deathriders shit wore out its welcome 4 months ago and it's definitely going to go on another 4 months. Please, wrap this angle up. It is not good. 

[sek69]

2 hours ago, KingBoggs33 said:

. The way the bucks left made absolutely no sense they would return and help Mox or have any reason to screw Swerve  

The last time we saw them the Bucks were hauling ass out of the building because the Death Riders were causing havoc everywhere. It makes zero sense for them to return just to help Mox win. If anything they should have cost him the title as a "fuck you' for messing up their company.

I was shocked at the finish just because I thought the whole reason they did what they did last time was to set up Swerve winning as the big blow off.

[Stiva]

3 hours ago, Jmare007 said:

This Moxley shit has really reached late 2010's Vince McMahon levels of "fuck this company" booking. How can the payoff for this be worth it at this point?

That was my first thought. This really feels like those WWE eras where they wouldn’t move from the plan, no matter how the crowds were reacting. They’re lucky that nearly everything else on the show feels hot and is strong because otherwise, it’s madness

[strobogo]

Literally everything on the show and the stories going in and out, I'm into. Except Deathriders main event shit. It is kind of fascinating to have so much awesome and interesting shit in every part of the card except the main event. I think the moment has even outgrown Darby ending the angle. And who knows if that will even happen or matter, because Darby's always been vanishing from TV to go do some weird shit for the past 3-4 years every time he builds momentum. Kenny's been the International champ for a month and it feels more important than Mox's whole 6 month run with this angle.

[KawadaSmile]

Very bold of AEW to halt any momentum they have* just to book some of worst fucking endings they can come up with.

 

*hyperbole, they'll be fine I guess

[Stiva]

1 hour ago, strobogo said:

Literally everything on the show and the stories going in and out, I'm into. Except Deathriders main event shit. It is kind of fascinating to have so much awesome and interesting shit in every part of the card except the main event. I think the moment has even outgrown Darby ending the angle. And who knows if that will even happen or matter, because Darby's always been vanishing from TV to go do some weird shit for the past 3-4 years every time he builds momentum. Kenny's been the International champ for a month and it feels more important than Mox's whole 6 month run with this angle.

At this point, I’m presuming Hangman is winning in Texas but who the fuck knows anymore. I totally forgot DoN has Anarchy in the Arena every year so I guess it’s Death Riders vs Swerve and The Opps in that

[Blehschmidt]

11 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

Apparently it is Big Bill’s lot in life to be saddled with untalented Tag Team partners. (Well, aside from Starks, I guess.) But Brian Keith looked pretty useless in that match.

Keith is far from untalented. He put on some fantastic matches in PWG and had some fun matches in AEW as well.

But when he's in there against two guys who have a foot in height on him, and aren't gonna sell shit for him... I'm sure he looks pretty untalented.

[strobogo]

It was weird they really little brother'd Keith considering he's been booked as a tough guy fighter his whole run so far. Also amazing how much better they were without Jericho around. 

Storylines coming out of the show that are interesting: 

FTR vs Edge/Christian 

Both Owens have a bunch of interesting stuff like Mercedes vs Athena, Hangman vs Fletcher, Ospreay vs Brody or Takeshita, and probably Hangman vs Ospreay in the finals

The Learning Tree perhaps ending as Jericho takes a break and Big Bill going solo

The Opps vs Yuta/Pac/Claudio

The continuing build to Okada/Kenny at All In and I assume a big run for Speedball

Whatever Garcia is going to be up to after dropping the belt

How this MJF/HS thing is going to turn out

Imagine the main event had gone the way it went up to the point of Hangman's interference, and he actually HELPS Swerve win the title, the Deathriders shit could end, and Hangman's run in the Owen would then lead to Hangman/Swerve at All In for the title. 

 

[KingBoggs33]

23 minutes ago, Blehschmidt said:

Keith is far from untalented. He put on some fantastic matches in PWG and had some fun matches in AEW as well.

But when he's in there against two guys who have a foot in height on him, and aren't gonna sell shit for him... I'm sure he looks pretty untalented.

They why book it? if the object is to get talent over but then decide to feed that talent to two guys that everyone knows isn’t losing for a while. Why do that match. We know Cage got hurt and made them have to shift but they could have chosen at least someone else.

I think something needs to be asked who in the tag division has even been built up enough to beat the Hurt Business or whatever they call themselves now. Say what you want but this tag division is in shambles compared to previous years. 

4 hours ago, sek69 said:

The last time we saw them the Bucks were hauling ass out of the building because the Death Riders were causing havoc everywhere. It makes zero sense for them to return just to help Mox win. If anything they should have cost him the title as a "fuck you' for messing up their company.

I was shocked at the finish just because I thought the whole reason they did what they did last time was to set up Swerve winning as the big blow off.

yeah that’s what I was getting at. They didn’t just leave they ran away and said why they were leaving. So to just randomly show back up and cost Swerve the title and give Moxley the win is absolutely stupid logic. WWE gets flak for writing teams but it looks like TK needs some help cause his stories are dogshit. 

We don’t think The Bucks join the Deathriders in some hybrid Elite Deathrider thing do we? God, that would be the worst ever. 

[strobogo]

Oh man Elite Deathriders why would you put that into the world

[KingBoggs33]

1 hour ago, strobogo said:

Oh man Elite Deathriders why would you put that into the world

Cause it sounds like something AEW would do. Especially with Double or Nothing coming up and Anarchy in the Arena match. 

[Timbo Slice]

The assumption they’re working with the Death Riders doesn’t have a lot of legs to me; they didn’t interact at all, the Bucks celebrated and then went to the crowd. If anything, it’s them working with Page to make sure Swerve never won the title again. That doesn’t mean they will be with The Death Riders going forward, especially given the end was about the Bucks, Page, and Swerve. And Page was shaken a bit when Swerve admitted fault on Wednesday, so you wonder if the Bucks acted in their own best interests based on old info from Page. 
 

The Death Riders already have five for Anarchy. The assumption was that it would be Rated FTR, but now you get The Opps, more than likely Willow coming back, and a fifth. I’d say Darby has a chance to be there, but I think he’s the mystery person to fight Hangman and win that first round matchup. 
 

My money is on Eddie. 

[The Thread Killer]

So overall, I thought it was a decent show but I didn't even bother with the Main Event, not going to lie.

-> I have seen very little of Kevin Knight. Dude is obviously super talented, and I don't blame him one little bit for not signing with WWE, where he would undoubtedly get massively lost in the shuffle or end up in NXT purgatory for a year or two at the very least. Then again, talented wrestlers have been known to vanish into the Tony Khan vortex for extended periods of time as well, so who knows.  But he's probably better off in AEW. I like Ospreay well enough, provided he keeps his mouth shut, bruv. This match was pretty damn good...really leaned into the flippity doo dah of course, but if you're going to do it, do it well...and these guys did. Really fun match.

-> So from this thread, I am hearing that Bryan Keith is talented and has had some good matches. If somebody like @Blehschmidt says that is the case, I am inclined to believe him. But I have only seen him a couple times in AEW and he didn't do a whole lot for me...and he didn't do much of anything in this match. To me, he kind of got eaten up in this match, and not in the "face in peril who tags his bigger partner in" sense. If Keith got any significant offense in during this match, I don't remember it. This match really didn't seem to be structured all that intelligently. Big Bill looked really good in spots, but this didn't really flow like a great tag match should, in my opinion.  Unlike a lot of people, I have no issue with Lashley and Benjamin as a team or even as the Tag Team Champions, but it does seem ridiculous considering the massive amount of talented teams in AEW that the last PPV they fought the Outrunners and this PPV they ended up facing Big Bill and Bryan Keith.  Put these guys in there with an established, decent team, FFS. And I have no clue where they are going with this MJF deal, and I have no confidence that it's anywhere good, considering TK's booking. This match didn't do anything for me.

->Mone vs. Hart was what it was. I am not a big fan of either of them. It wasn't too offensive and at least it was short.

->The Trios Title match was excellent.  Really great work by everybody in this match. I thought it was hilarious how much heat Wheeler Yuta has. I'm not sure if the fans really hate him like WWE fans hate Dom Mysterio or Logan Paul, or if he has the proverbial "go away" heat.  I have never liked the guy and never understood Tony Khan's obsession with putting the guy on TV, but what are you gonna do.  Even though we all pretty much knew the FTR turn was coming, it was still done to perfection.  I laughed my ass off when Wheeler stole the neck brace and put it on, and then Dax started giving him chest compressions.  No complaints about any of this, this was just great stuff all the way around, and if it is leading where we all think it is, then sign me up.

-> Man, I loved the Storm/Bayne match. Generally I much prefer the WWE Women's Division to AEW, but it's hard to find fault with this match. Bayne is a superstar and Toni Storm is definitely up there with Rhea as one of the elite talents in Women's Wrestling right now...and Toni definitely has Rhea beat when it comes to character work. I kind of want to see these two fight again, I suppose it's too much to hope that this program would continue. This felt like a definitive end, so we'll see what's up next for Toni Storm I guess.

-> I thought Briscoe vs. Fletcher was excellent.  Probably went a bit longer than it needed to, but it was still an outstanding match. I really wish they'd do something significant with Mark Briscoe, (aside from the ROH stuff because...come on, that doesn't count) but Fletcher going over here was probably the right call. To quote Don Callis: "That kid is money." 

-> I totally admit I was kind of dreading the next match, so maybe I went into it biased...but I did not enjoy the Jericho/Bandido match, not one little bit. Jericho still tries to work like he did when he was good, and now he moves like he's knee deep in mud. Bandido is great, but I just didn't like the story this match was supposed to be telling. I have seen a million matches in AEW where somebody gets beat because of a weapon being used, or outside interference, and not once do I ever remember a second referee reversing the decision or restarting the match.  And IF you're going to do that...why would you not just call for a DQ?  Dude just got hit with a baseball bat, and you restart the match?  Like most things Jericho related, this was crap.

-> If Adam Cole and Daniel Garcia were going to work a program, they really should have found a way to work in a posedown like they did with Rick Rude and The Ultimate Warrior at the 1989 Royal Rumble. Anyhow, I guess this match was okay. Daniel Garcia has never really done anything for me, and I liked Adam Cole well enough in NXT, but I don't remember anything he's done in AEW that I liked...and he's done a lot that I really didn't like. If I live to be 100 years old, I will never get over the fact that he of all people was in the Main Event of the highest attended Pro Wrestling show of all time. I don't really like either guy, and I didn't really care about this match.

-> I have mixed feelings about Omega/Ricochet/Bailey.  I have actually grown to appreciate Omega a lot more over the past couple of years.  I don't think he's anywhere near the Greatest of All Time status, and I think anybody who does think that is clearly sniffing the glue. However, I have grown to appreciate him and his style a lot more than I used to.  I'm at the point where if he's in there with somebody I like, I can enjoy the match.  I've never liked Ricochet, I've always found him bland, uninteresting and just another flippy guy in a sport full of flippy guys.  I give full credit to both him and Tony Khan that they have managed to get more personality and character out of Ricochet in a few months than WWE did in all the years they had him, so full credit to them.  As far as "Speedball" I have seriously mixed feelings.  The guy is obviously a very talented high flyer.  However, he is also a geek.  Between that haircut, and his "physique" I am betting that dude got dunked in the toilet in school...like...a LOT.  Like his nickname was probably "swirly."  He's probably so fast because he spent most of his youth running away from bullies. As I suspected, this match was fast paced, and had a whole bunch of cooperative and overly choreographed spots.  But it was entertaining, and it was fun enough.  All three guys worked really hard and unless it's stupid hardcore garbage crap, I have a hard time criticizing guys who work that hard and do that much high risk stuff to entertain the fans.  It's not my favorite style of Pro Wrestling, but I enjoyed it for what it was.

-> I didn't watch the Main Event.  I stopped watching AEW TV partially because of Jon Moxley and partially because of The Young Bucks. I knew that I was going to have to see Moxley and I saw the rumors that the Bucks would be returning, so I tapped out before this match even started, and from everything I have read, I have no regrets about that decision. It's funny...I don't like Chris Jericho, for example...but I can suffer through his crap.  But the mere sight of Jon Moxley just makes me want to shut my TV off. From the widespread reaction to this show online, I am not alone in those feelings...so of course Tony Khan felt the need to double down, beat Swerve, and add the Young Bucks to the mix, because of course he did.

This was a really good show. Ospreay vs. Knight, The Deathriders vs. Rated FTR, Storm vs. Bayne, Fletcher vs. Briscoe, and the Triple Threat Match were all really good (and in some cases excellent) matches.  You give me a PPV with 5 great matches like that, and I'm generally not going to complain about the actual show. So it was a definite thumbs up PPV for me.  

I'm not a hardcore AEW fan, I don't watch the weekly TV (although I will, if the FTR/Cope & Christian angle kicks off) and I'm generally not a huge fan of the AEW style of Pro Wrestling. But objectively, (and not to sound like a broken record here) there are clearly some problems with Tony Khan's booking. Let's ignore the fact that the Main Event of both nights of Wrestlemania this year are featuring talents that AEW had under contract, but through general managerial ineptitude he let both of them slip through his fingers. (But hey...he got to keep Jungle Boy, and that's what's important.)

The bigger issues are that his booking is pretty predictable. I don't even watch this stuff regularly, and I knew that there was very little chance of Knight beating Ospreay, or Big Bill and Bryan Keith winning the Tag Titles, or Julia Hart beating Mercedes Mone, or Briscoe beating Fletcher, or Omega losing to either Ricochet or Bailey.  The finish to the Trios match was also a foregone conclusion, but that was part of a larger story so I would give Tony Khan a pass on that...but my point remains. With the exchange rate, AEW PPV's are $70.00 on Amazon Prime or YouTube in Canada.  Why should a fan pay 70 bucks for a show where the outcome of at least 5 of the matches are not in doubt.  Yeah, you can still enjoy the matches for sure, but a little unpredictability wouldn't kill the guy.

But obviously the bigger issue is that the fans at large (not just me) seem to hate this whole Moxley/Deathriders angle, but Tony Khan appears to have adopted Vince McMahon's "You will take what we give you and you will like it" attitude...and that's just crazy. It's not working, the guy needs to pivot. From what I understand, AEW has actually improved over the past couple of months, so more power to them.  But let's be honest...their big show in Texas in July...they're aiming to get basically the same number of fans in attendance for that show that the WWE gets for a normal episode of RAW, for gawd's sake...and AEW is running their show in a fucking stadium. It's going to look like the World Class Parade of Champions at this point...and I have to believe that a lot of the reason for that is because fans don't want to attend a stadium show headlined by this kind of bullshit. I know I sound like I'm on repeat at this point, but I REALLY wish Tony Khan would give somebody else a chance to book this stuff for a while.  He clearly needs a break.

And my final observation is this... @sek69 you are absolutely correct.  Dang...the show did NOT need to be THAT long.