Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s live coverage for "AEW Dynamite" Maximum Carnage on January 15, 2025, coming to you live from the Andrew J Brady Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio!
Jon Moxley will be putting the AEW World Championship on the line for the first time since retaining in a Four-Way Match at AEW Worlds End on December 28, 2024 as he defends against Powerhouse Hobbs. Hobbs emerged victorious over several other competitors in a Number One Contenders Casino Gauntlet Match during last week's edition of "Dynamite", hitting a spinebuster on Kyle O'Reilly in the closing moments to secure his spot in tonight's match. Later that night, Hobbs came to the aid of Cope after he was attacked at the hands of Moxley and his Death Riders stablemates.
Kenny Omega will be competing on AEW programming for the first time since he emerged victorious over Ethan Page on the December 9, 2023 episode of "AEW Collision" as he goes one-on-one with Brian Cage. Omega and Cage came face-to-face last week when he and his fellow Don Callis Family stablemates Kyle Fletcher and Lance Archer blindsided him while he was speaking until longtime rival Will Ospreay provided him with a helping hand.
The inaugural Women's Casino Gauntlet Match will be held tonight, with the winner receiving a shot at Mariah May's AEW Women's World Championship at AEW Grand Slam: Australia on February 15. Kris Statlander will be the first entrant in the match, having defeated Willow Nightingale and Toni Storm in a Three-Way Match last week to maximize her chances of earning a pinfall or submission victory quicker while there are less entrants inside the ring.
HOOK looks to finally settle his issues with longtime rival Christian Cage when the two square off with each other. HOOK has been looking to exact his revenge on Cage and his Patriarchy stablemates after they took out HOOK's father Taz with an attack a number of weeks ago, leading to a handful of messages, physical, and verbal exchanges between the two parties.
Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and MVP of The Hurt Syndicate will be colliding with AEW World Tag Team Champions Private Party and Mark Briscoe in a trios match. Lashley and Benjamin made it clear that they were coming for Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy's title last week before Lashley defeated Mark in singles competition and Private Party confronted The Hurt Syndicate following the match.
Additionally, Ricochet will be making an appearance on tonight's show after coming up short in the aforementioned Number One Contenders Casino Gauntlet Match last week.
