Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," in this case the official go-home show for Revolution 2025! And on this go-home show ... nothing happened, really. Well, obviously two hours' worth of things happened, but nothing with much in the way of stakes, and no changes to the PPV card even the Continental title match between Okada and Brody King was announced on social media before the show. This was largely a collection of multi-person matches, last-minute angles, and final PPV-selling promos, and we will talk about all those things as well as the overall low-key vibe of the entire broadcast.
Definitely be sure to check out our "Dynamite" results page if you're looking for the basic facts of the show. If you want to know what the WINC staff actually thought, however, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 3/5/25 episode of "AEW Dynamite."
It's been quite a while since I had anything nice to say about the Death Riders, but on a show that really didn't have much else going on, the match between Cope and Wheeler Yuta and everything that followed really stood out for the character work at play. It was good to see Yuta act with agency for the first time in a long time not just after the match, when he rejected Moxley, but earlier when he kept pace with Cope in the ring, keeping the contest competitive and earning Cope's respect.
Still, we've seen young AEW stars put up a good fight against older AEW stars, thus winning their respect, a million times before. Hell, we've seen it before with Wheeler Yuta that's literally how he first became associated with Jon Moxley. But this was more than just a mirror image; this was Cope taking out the last of the Death Riders surrounding Moxley, not with physical violence this time, but with psychological warfare. Cope and Yuta didn't just happen to wrestle a technical match that allowed Yuta to show off his skills. Cope began the match by deliberately turning it into a technical match, playing to Yuta's strengths directly, while the confused announcers wondered why he wasn't coming out with haymakers. In doing so, he turned it into something that always ends the same way a competitive AEW TV match between a young homegrown star and an ex-WWE veteran. Which is to say, Cope won, but Yuta earned his respect. To cap off his manipulation, Cope called for a microphone, shook Yuta's hand, and said "this is what respect feels like." And after Cope walked away, the inevitable happened, as Moxley came down to confront Yuta about the interaction, and Yuta responded by deserting him, having been reminded of the difference between a mentor and a bully.
I don't expect to love this twist in the narrative very long. In all likelihood, what we saw on Wednesday was setting up a swerve and Yuta will cost Cope the title match against Moxley at Revolution, and even if he doesn't, a heel-turning Jay White probably will. But it would go a long way toward salvaging the Death Riders storyline if AEW just ended it on Sunday, with Cope beating Moxley because Moxley ultimately wasn't the man he said he was, as demonstrated by his treatment of Yuta. His promo following the match was almost pathetic, the AEW World Champion practically begging to be put out of his misery by someone who can match him in both the brutality and the mind games. It wouldn't make the story great, but it would make it mean something.
I don't know, just a thought, it doesn't matter. Jay White is totally turning, y'all.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
One thing I appreciate about AEW is that it can be chaotic as hell. This is a show where Nick Gage sliced Chris Jericho with a pizza cutter, Hangman Page burned down Swerve Strickland's house, and Darby Allin lit Jack Perry on fire. Which is why I was irritated by the fact that commentary decided to say "We will not be show you what just happened" about MJF pouring a little gasoline on Hangman Page and threatening to set him on fire.
Had AEW never shown someone get lit on fire before, I'd understand, but Darby Allin lighting Jack Perry ablaze happened barely a year ago and it was all over social media. To make matters worse, Ricochet's attempted stabbing from earlier in the show was replayed, leaving me completely confused about where "the line" is with AEW.
"The Line" is a concept that many wrestling fans don't like, but having one is a very good way to make it clear who is good, who is bad, who is becoming good, who is becoming bad, etc. etc. AEW's line is constantly shifting. Sometimes people get asphyxiated with a plastic bag, sometimes a little gasoline is beyond the pale, it becomes a very muddled image when these kinds of needless inconsistencies show up.
AEW should just lean into the chaos instead of pretending they're a respectable, upstanding company. This is supposed to be for "sickos" according to Tony Khan, they should act like it.
Written by Ross Berman
I am admittedly never a fan of AEW go-home shows before what are always excellent pay-per-views, but this week's segments with MJF and "Hangman" Adam Page were as good as it can get on the "Dynamite" ahead of a big show. The show started off strong with MJF outside of the arena calling out Hangman in what I thought was a strong promo, and the angle continued later in the night with MJF still waiting around outside, to almost being run over alongside Renee Paquette by Page, who chased him into the arena. It's a kind of storyline we see often on go-home shows for all promotions, but to me, it's a heck of a lot more interesting than a contract signing, so I didn't mind it.
Things got even more interesting when they did get inside, with MJF putting his scarf around another guy, who Page attacked and drug out onto the ramp before realizing he wasn't MJF. I thought it was a nice swerve and was a good distraction for MJF to get the jump on "Hangman." Inside the ring, MJF stopped Page in his tracks by countering the Buckshot Lariat with a low blow, then he absolutely went off on the mic. What I am finding most interesting about this all is the fact that MJF seems more angry at the fans for forgiving Page for everything he's done and for loving him for it, more than he actually is at Page for anything else. It's an interesting aspect to MJF's character, because it seems like's he's after the adoration of the fans and he wants the kind of energy that they're giving Page all for himself.
That was most obvious when he revealed his "MJF Did Nothing Wrong" t-shirt. Those of us watching "Dynamite" here at WINC couldn't figure out exactly what MJF has done wrong on a Page-esque level. Since he hasn't drank anyone's blood or burned down anyone's home, we were kind of stuck. That got me thinking more about MJF's character and what his motivations really are in this story he wants the kind of "can-do-no-wrong" love from the fans that Page gets. I'm not 100% sure how beating Page gets that for him, but I think it's going to make for a fun match at Revolution, so I'm not thinking too much into that aspect.
Both MJF and Page certainly did nothing wrong on this boring episode of "Dynamite." They added some excitement to the show, even if the ending of their segment was pretty silly. I'm excited for Revolution overall, and I didn't see their match against each other in 2019, so I'm looking forward to see how they vibe together in the ring.
Written by DaisyRuth
I've said this before and I'll say it again: everyone loves a good Open Challenger, but there needs to be a point to it in order to make it worth something.
Since adapting the "Best Wrestler Alive" persona as a singles star, Max Caster has done nothing except issue open challenges only to lose very quickly to whatever opponent he faces on any given night. While there is a certain comedic element and irony in such, the way that Caster plays the character comes off as incredibly serious in a way that almost feels counter productive to what the character should be on paper.
On the other hand, Jay White has an endless amount of talent and can do it all. Yet, all he did in the five or so minutes of television time that he was given was score an instantaneous win over Caster and wish Cope all the best in his Revolution AEW World Championship match against Jon Moxley. Although he's been positioned as Cope's number one ally at the moment, there were better ways for him to have shown his support to Cope whether it was in a backstage segment or in person exchange between Cope's own match against Wheeler Yuta. White was literally given a win for the sake of giving him a win, and if this was AEW's end goal all along, then there is an entire roster full of better opponents that would've felt more effective in adding another win to his record.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Every now and then, scattered amongst the tens of thousands wrestling stories, angles, and gimmicks that lead absolutely nowhere, a wrestling company stumbles upon one with the legs to carry its own feature film. And while AEW is one promotion offering plenty of matches and moments of spectacle, oftentimes with very little other than metatextual reasoning and narrative, it's clear that they have struck gold with the Toni Storm-Mariah May saga. This week was yet another double-edged demonstration that in the most ironic way, "Timeless" Toni Storm and her unhinged ex-protege have become the vivid color in the black-and-white blur of the rest of the card.
That's by no means to degrade everything else that is going on either, but everything pales in comparison to the storyline that has clearly had the most care put into it by those involved. Each time they share a segment or a match it feels like the unfolding of a new chapter in an organic way, and especially on a go-home show that did very little to enhance this weekend's card it felt as though this was the only must-see prelude segment. The story is clearly presented in a tongue-and-cheek manner wrestling does happen to be a little goofy but it's anchored with a very real sense of emotion between the characters, and they have been shaped week-in-week-out on the interactions and the consequent reactions.
This week was the chapter that truly sold the psychological games of Storm and the effects on her challenger, who prior to Grand Slam Australia was rattled but all the same confident she could beat her opponent like she had at All In; heading into All In, May herself held the psychological advantage having betrayed Storm abruptly. But since she's been beaten and that confidence has been erased, she was a shell of "The Glamour" before as she sat across from her rival. Storm was genuinely hilarious throughout the segment, maintaining the sternest of looks as her challenger effectively unraveled in front of her, even after she had been spat in the face. Her words were limited in the segment in stark contrast to May's ranting and proclaiming about the damage she was going to do, only delivering a one liner, "Nice to see you still care," when she had been spat at before coolly delivering a promise to leave May in mediocrity, knowing she can be good but never be great as a result of this weekend. Seriously, how does this not get more time when it's the best thing the show has going for it?
Written by Max Everett
The go-home show is something in TV wrestling that is used to build anticipation to the next major event, which in AEW's case is Revolution this Sunday. However, this was less of a go-home show and more of a show where everything has already been set up and put in place so let's just have some things happen because we have two hours of TV to fill.
Granted, this show had some very good wrestling. The eight-man tag is quietly becoming one of AEW's strongest match types as the roster is filled with so many guys who pop in those short bursts they get in those matches. The main event was the same in that it gave everyone enough to satisfy the TV audience while leaving you wanting more for Sunday, and the women's tag furthered a story that isn't going to make it on the Revolution card (that is unless they announce something for Zero Hour before Sunday). Having said all that, there wasn't anything truly newsworthy, nothing that makes itself feel like it deserves to be on the go-home show to arguably AEW's second biggest show of the year outside of All In.
This has been a problem that AEW has actually had for some time. If you truly want to get the highest level of excitement heading into an AEW show, skip the go-home show and treat the one before it as the last show before the pay-per-view because you'll get the same effect. AEW has had an issue of peaking their builds one week early multiple times, and this is a perfect example. The pull-apart brawl between MJF and Hangman Page last week felt like it belonged on this show, the same goes for Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher, and the fact there was no sign of Kenny Omega or Konosuke Takeshita this week outside of a video package that will be reused on the pay-per-view itself shows that you can easily not watch this show and not miss any of the important story beats.
For the record, I'm very used to these sorts of things happening after watching countless "Road To" shows from New Japan Pro Wrestling where most of the matches are set in stone and the shows are just multi-man tags for days on end. However, while it works in Japan, it doesn't really translate to a western TV product. It's part of the reason why WWE's five match Premium Live Events have actually benefited the TV shows to some extent as it gives people a reason to tune in to the weekly programming as fans know they will be watching matches that have stakes, especially on go-home shows.
All in all, there isn't anything wrong with this show, and it doesn't take anything away from Revolution. However, the fact that I'm once again coming out of a go-home "AEW Dynamite" with almost nothing to talk about is not something that should be happening. Let's hope "AEW Collision" delivers something more substantial on Saturday.
Written bySam Palmer
