AEW DYNAMITE BLOG

By Cory Strode on 2025-03-19 22:14:00

It is Wednesday and AEW Dynamite is held at the Liberty First Credit Union Arena in Omaha, NE. Our commentary team is Excalibur, Taz, and Tony Schiavone.

Orange Cassidy vs Mike Bailey vs Mark Davis w/Don Callis vs Ricochet - Winner faces Kenny Omega at Dynasty for the International Title

Don Callis joins commentary.

The three smaller men team up against Davis and dump him to the floor, and once Ricochet is dumped as well, Cassidy and Bailey get a chance to do their shtick, and when Ricochet pulls Cassidy from the ring, we get a nice spotlight on Bailey as he works with Ricochet. Front here, it is Davis as the monster the three smaller men are trying to cut down to size.

Ricochet does some good heel work here like trying to blame an attack on Davis from behind on Cassidy or playing coward when Davis is beating down people, trying to attack from behind or stealing a tag. They also do a good job of making Davis a monster, able to plow through the smaller wrestlers with ease.

Before the commercial break, they do a good job of avoiding having two people on the floor, dazed. After the commercial break, we do move into one on one sequences, which is the thing I dislike about these types of matches. They DO keep Ricochet jumping in to try to steal a pin, which works well. Ricochet is the top heel by crowd reaction in AEW. Davis hits a pile driver on Cassidy that looks utterly brutal.

The match ends with Bailey getting a backslide on Davis and then Ricochet leaps on to also pin while his feet were on the ropes.

Winners and Challenging Kenny Omega: Mike Bailey and Ricochet

Much like Taz on commentary, I love that Ricochet joined in the pin like a vulture as it fits the character and gets the crowd to hate him even more.

Mercedes Mone (TBS Champion) vs Billie Starkz

They have a short video package to introduce Starkz as she’s mostly been on Ring of Honor since getting signed by AEW.

Starkz adheres to the Code of Honor and Mone slaps her hand away. They talk about Starkz working with Athena over the last few years, which has been a great story on Ring of Honor, but I don’t know how much Athena means to an AEW crowd since she hasn’t been on an AEW show in ages.

The work Mone is doing now is being overlooked by her detractors. Her facial expressions, such as her look of utter disdain at Starkz, have been great lately. The match is filled with big moves and the story is that Mone has underestimated Starkz. Starkz looks much more polished since the last time I saw her on AEW.

Starkz does a version of Omega’s One Winged Angel with two hands grabbing the head of Mone and it looked like she killed Mone. Mone dodges a senton and Starkz lands back first on the edge of the apron. Money then gets the Statement Maker and Starkz has to tap out.

Winner and Still TBS Champion: Mercedes Mone

A good spotlight for Starkz if they are going to bring her up to the AEW Roster.

We get the Outrunners firing up the Omaha Mavericks as a promo for the NCAA tournament. The Outrunners were fun in this segment.

Next up is a recap of MJF and MVP in the ring for a promo last week. We then get MJF talking about who is the best challenger for the AEW Title and it’s him. He then says if he wants a shot at Jon Moxley’s title, he may need some back up against the Death Riders, so he will give MVP his answer next week.

Jon Moxley (AEW Champion) vs Cope - Street Fight

First, I have to admit, I am burned out on street fights. And having this in the middle of the show instead of the main event is an odd setting.

Cope attacks Mox outside the arena as Mox is entering and they brawl in an equipment truck. The fight then moves into the back of the building and they fight in a back hallway. This brings the fight into the arena, and through the crowd before going to the ringside area. They fight against the barricade and Mox grabs a Kendo stick.

The fight goes back into the crowd. Cope drives Mox back to the ringside area and it’s time for the announcer’s table to get destroyed. Mox gets the double underhook DDT on Cope as we go to picture in picture.

When we return to full screen, the fight has finally gone into the ring where Mox has a chair for a series of shots to the back. Mox then wraps the chair around Cope’s neck and goes to the top. Cope gets up and tosses the chair at Mox’s face. They fight on the top and Cope gets a superplex from the top.

Cope goes under the ring for the 2 by 4 studded with nails that he calls Spike. Mox gets a stunner and pulls out a table, so now we have a table set up at ringside and another set up in the corner. Cope is able to grab Spike, nails two blows and then drops Mox onto it so that it is stuck in his back.

Gross and unnecessary. And they really get in there with the camerawork.

This is when Yuta hits the ring to get a psycho knee, and after Yuta pulls out Spike, Cope puts him through a table. AAaaaaand the Death Riders are back. Pac and Claudio Castagnoli hit the ring and it became a three man beat down. Why not 4? Yuta is down after going through the table.

FTR show up and take out Pac and Claudio, with Dax giving Mox a DDT for good measure. Cope then spears Mox through the table in the corner. Cope covers and Marina Shafir breaks it up, but Willow Nightingale takes out Shafir. THEN Kip Sabian and Nick Wayne show up to take out Cope. Mox covers for two and then Mox grabs a bulldog choke and Cope passes out.

Winner and still AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley

Much better than the match at Revolution, but still utterly overbooked so that Cope is still seen as tough. Bringing back the Death Riders was inevitable, but they had best give them a REASON for their actions beyond Mox’s messy promos.

As Willow and Cash Wheeler help Cope, Cope holds out a hand to have Dax Harwood help him up and Dax leaves, and as he goes to the back, he blows off Cash.

The commentary team wonders if this is Cope’s last bite at the apple and I have to say that I hope so.

We get a recap of Jericho taking out Bandido’s brother Gravity at Revolution. This leads to Renee Paquette backstage with Bandido. He says he can handle the dangers of wrestling, but what Jericho did crossed the line and he will never forgive Jericho for making his mother cry. So, Sunday, he wants Jericho to face him. Johnny TV shows up to berate him and challenge him to a fight. Bandido accepts.

Will Ospreay vs AR Fox

The crowd is LOUD for Ospreay. AR is someone I like, but after a great first few months, he’s become a jobber to the stars, which is a shame. Fox also looks to have leaned out over the last few months.

They shake hands to start, and it goes right into hold/counterhold. It then becomes a spotfest, which is exactly what you would want between these two. There’s not much story here, but I like a good spotfest as long as it’s just one match on the card. It was quick, fun, and both guys looked good. Ospreay wins with a Hidden Blade after Fox misses a 450 splash.

Winner: Will Ospreay

Renee is in the back with Adam Page and he’s not happy that Swerve Strickland gets a title match, and he will make sure to keep his promise that Swerve Strickland will never hold the world title again. He also says he is in the Owen Hart tournament.

Renee is with Mone and Mone says Billie Starkz has a lot of heart and whoever trained her knows nothing about wrestling.

Toni Storm and Luther come to the ringside area for Toni to do commentary on the main event.

Megan Bayne w/Penelope Ford vs Kris Statlander

Kris attacks right out of the gate and Bayne gives as good as she gets. And Toni calls Bayne a Megasys as she does commentary. After getting a big kick from the apron, Kris is able to task control of the match. Kris hits a lot of big power moves, but Bayne is able to turn it around and takes over with a lot of attacks in the corner.

Kris goes to the top for an attack and Ford is able to distract her so that Bayne reasserts control. After the commercial break, both women are throwing huge power moves at each other. This is the first match since her return that Bayne has had to sell. Ford trips Kris and she…is…outta here!

As they keep up with what might as well be a hoss fight, Toni talks about how nervous she is with both women being so powerful. As they fight, Bayne throws Kris into Toni and then hits the Face Descent (An F5) on Kris on the floor. Kris is rolled into the ring and Bayne hits a second Face Destroyer for the pin and the win.

Winner: Megan Bayne

Toni tapes her fists and hits the ring as Bayne and Toni throw hands. It’s a pull apart brawl! Toni is able to dump Bayne to the floor and grabs a mic. She says that she and Bayne will have a date at Dynasty.