Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," the show that now officially has more episodes than "WCW Nitro!" To celebrate ... Tony Khan decides to spit in the face of WCW's legacy by having the wildly unpopular cheating heel group LOSE to the babyfaces? Sending the crowd home HAPPY? Who does he think he is? We have many thoughts about that main event including, of course, the fact that it was the main event as well as nearly everything else that happened on "Spring Break Thru."
Not quite 100% everything, mind you; the WINC staff didn't really have any strong feelings about Josh Alexander debuting, losing, then immediately turning heel. But hey, that's what our "Dynamite" results page is for; this column is for our strongest opinions! From Mercedes Mone and Athena tearing it up in the opener to Will Ospreay and Konosuke Takeshita doing their best to top them in the semi-main,here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 4/16/25 episode of "AEW Dynamite."
It can certainly be said that the long-awaited maiden bout between Athena and Mercedes Mone turned out to be worth the wait, staging a performance as the show opener in the semi-finals of the Owen Hart Cup deserving of a main event in the final, as the pair went back-and-forth and everywhere around and in the ring for over 20 minutes before reaching the conclusion.
It was a match between a triple-champion and the longest-reigning ROH World Champion, and two competitors who had been angling to face one another since their time in WWE; both wrestled the bout exactly as you would expect, having been dying to work with one another they through everything and the kitchen sink into putting together a classic wrestling contest. Each move was about doing what they could in the moment to secure the upper hand, with very little gimmick work and a tangible degree of care put into the transitions between them.
They weren't rushing to the next spot, but they took time for whatever had happened to breathe and that helped to weave a credible contest of combat something that can be lost in the very performative and athletic approach today. It certainly didn't hurt that the crowd was audibly into the match throughout, and neither competitor came out looking inferior either. The bout ended on the fine margins it had walked, dropkicked, and suplexed, with Mone just managing to sneak the victory with a little pin-ginuity for the three-count. All in all, there was more than enough justification from the match alone for a rematch and potentially a complete trilogy further down the line, but even in itself it was a thoroughly enjoyable opener that once again demonstrates the talent possessed by the women's division when tapped into.
Written by MaxEverett
For the most part, the idea of MJF pleading with The Hurt Syndicate (namely Bobby Lashley) and being shaken down by them for doing so is actually quite entertaining even if it is still a waste of trying to tell a compelling story with the immense talent possessed by those in the ring. But the segment was dragged through the back streets of a cliche movie gangland as MJF presented his "offerings." Enter a bunch of unnamed women, a moment of Shelton Benjaminchecking the merchandisebefore asking for MJF's watch. At this stage the segment was corny if not stepping the line, but then MJF closed the segment off after getting rebuffed by The Hurt Syndicate once again by simply saying there would be more women when they let him join the group.
It doesn't really sit right that all involved and those in charge felt it was okay to use women as a form of commodity, and the connotations that there would be more to come aren't exactly great, all things considered. Where would this steady stream of women come from? Are we supposed to believe MJF just has women queuing up with the purpose of handing them out to others? Does that last question in itself read like a problem to you? It should. Wrestling is entertainment and there are certain liberties you can take with the product to ramp up the excitement, but this didn't serve to do anything for the product or the story and it did carry a heavily outdated tone. Wrestling already had The Godfather, and at no point did it ever need another man cosplaying as a pimp to please himself and the lowest common denominator.
Written by MaxEverett
We are currently in the fun part of an MJF storyline. The part after MJF has made some kind of convoluted initiation with his new rival, and before he's found a way to connect the rivalry to some kind of childhood trauma so that he can get fans back on his side. We are in the wonderful scumbag days of MJF's feud with The Hurt Syndicate.
Now look, obviously this will inevitably lead to a weeping monologue about how MJF had a learning disability and didn't have friends growing up. But for right now, we get to enjoy MJF, soaked in flop sweat, desperately trying to ingratiate himself with The Hurt Syndicate, and The Hurt Syndicate completely aware of how much leverage they have over him.
Watching MJF try, and fail, to conjure the spirit of WWE Hall of Famer The Godfather, plying Shelton Benjamin, MJF, and Bobby Lashley with beautiful women was a delight, and then watching Shelton Benjamin realize MJF was desperate enough to give up his fancy watch was even better. If this leads to a weekly shakedown, with MJF giving away as much of his possessions in the hopes of having some friends, then we are in for some very good television. It's a rich vein to mine, not unlike the Safdies' 2019 classic "Uncut Gems."
Now, I'm not sure that MJF will end up in quite as grisly a predicament as Howard Ratner, but it's very possible that this goes poorly for him, and that's very good for sickos like me.
Written by Ross Berman
Lots of people really loved Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita, and I knew that even before I went on Twitter to confirm it. I'm sure some of my WINC co-workers here also enjoyed it, but apparently there are other things they enjoyed more, so you get me for the Ospreay match. I'm not happy about it either but let's just buckle down and get through this together.
I don't think I even consciously understand all the things I dislike about Will Ospreay matches, but if you were somehow able to input all of them into a supercomputer and ask it to create a wrestling match that perfectly embodies all those things at the same time, it would be this match with Takeshita, which just felt fake. And I know it is fake, all wrestling is fake, but not all wrestling feels fake, and this did. It was the sequence where Ospreay took a massive strike from Takeshita, kicked out at one, then hit the Hidden Blade on Takeshita, who kicked out at one. It was the big spot off the top turnbuckle where Takeshita went for a clothesline (not generally a move one does while on the top turnbuckle) and Ospreay backflipped over it and landed on his feet, a move that just looked like two friends trying out something cool they'd learned how to do. It was the fact that AEW has never given me a good reason to care about either of these two beyond their ability in the ring, and to me that makes their performance in the ring feel less authentic. The logical part of my brain won't become immersed, refuses to shut up and let the id have fun, insisting that if this was real, I'd be able to tell. If this was real, I would care.
And honestly, I don't even know that it's Ospreay's fault. He takes the heat from people who don't appreciate his style because he's the best one at doing that style, but it's not his fault that it's 2025 and his style felt overplayed and excessive five years ago. If this exact same match had happened in 2015 I would probably be screaming about it but if that had happened, it would have probably at least been the main event of a Takeover or a New Japan show or something. This was the semi-main on a TV special, and while I do understand that's partially because the financial model is shifting, I also think it's telling that even Tony Khan recognized this match could and should be followed by a more emotional moment like somebody finally taking a championship off the Death Riders.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
I will absolutely be the first person to admit that the main event of this week's show with the mess of people who got involved in the AEW World Trios Championship match between The Death Riders, The Opps, and Powerhouse Hobbs as well as the over the top nature of the locker clearing champagne celebration. However, there was something about it all that still managed to work well and feel like a big deal for a "Dynamite" special when the norm has become for not much to really happen on them.
The Death Riders have been pushed as AEW's top act (or at the very least, one of their top acts) for the last few months, so it only makes sense for them to be dethroned as AEW World Trios Champions in a grand fashion and for it to be treated as a major deal. It also helps to propel The Opps into a higher positon on AEW's card, and automatically gives off the aura that Samoa Joe as a real chance of dethroning Moxley as AEW World Champion with him being the one to put Moxey to sleep with a Coquina Clutch when they eventually compete for the title as a direct result of this match. While it could be argued that there was one too many people involved in this match on top of the six men already in it, at least names like Willow Nightingale, The Young Bucks, and Swerve Strickland made sense given their interactions with one another and The Death Riders over the past few weeks.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
I will start this out by admitting that the ending of "Dynamite" was actually better than I expected, especially with the nice little champagne celebration after The Opps (and that included Powerhouse Hobbs instead of HOOK, which was interesting) captured the Trios Championships from the Death Riders. But once again, Jon Moxley's crew is in the main event of a show where there were far better matches that deserved to be in that spot. Yes, the crowd was really in to that final match, but it could have gone south very quickly if the Death Riders retained those championships. And honestly, I thought that was going to be the case when we got the Hobbs surprise instead of HOOK.
Before even knowing this, however, I was surprised that Athena and Mercedes Mone opened the show. I guess I kind of forgot about the Trios Championships being defended, because I assumed "Four Belts Mone" was going to get the main event in her home town. The match was also excellent and one of Mone's bests in AEW. It sucked that Athena took her first singles loss in over two and a half years, but I guess I expected it, so it didn't bother me too much, especially with how great the match was. That's when I started to dread the main event, because I knew it wouldn't live up to this women's match and the only women's match on the show.
Then, Will Ospreay and Konosuke Takeshita had an absolute banger of a match my favorite of the night and I'm sure we're going to wake up to it being rated five stars by Dave Meltzer onFriday. It was another Owen Hart Foundation Tournament match that we all pretty much knew the outcome of, but the match was absolutely excellent and more pay-per-view quality than a regular episode of "Dynamite" thanks to the two incredible talents in the ring. I was pretty amazed that the crowd stayed hot for the main event match after this, but I'm certainly glad for all the talent involved and the fans in attendance.
I suppose this is more of a mild dislike than a true "hate," since the Trio Championships were finally taken off the Death Riders, and by the right trio, at that, but the overall feeling I had until we got to the slightly overbooked main event stuck with me throughout the match. I can't be too mad, because I actually really enjoyed this episode of "Dynamite" overall, and I'm glad The Opps are the new Trios Champions, but you can't deny the fact we saw two instant classics elsewhere on the show that could have also fit well into the main event.
Written by DaisyRuth
