AEW Dynamite 01/22/25: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," the show that this week saw the signing of a huge match for Grand Slam Australia, the crowning of new tag team champions, and the official retirement of an indie wrestling legend. Here at WINC, we had strong feelings about two of those things (sorry, Christopher Daniels) along with the latest MJF machinations, Death Riders drama, and more!

As always, you can recklessly moonsault your way over to our "Dynamite" results page if you're looking for plain, objective facts. For opinions and analysis of the show, stay right where you are. These are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 1/22/25 episode of "AEW Dynamite."

When "AEW Dynamite" kicked off with an exciting opening segment between formerly mortal enemies Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay, I was somewhat apprehensive towards AEW running the "Can they co-exist?" trope with two wrestlers I have grown accustomed to hating one another, without it very much breaking the canon that had been laid previously. As Omega himself noted, Ospreay was coming after him with a screwdriver the last time they shared a ring. Ospreay had called his contemporary every name under the sun before their bloody Wrestle Kingdom match, and until this point there had been a line-blurring animosity presented between them.

This segment did very well in folding that history into the ongoing plot, with Omega outright telling Ospreay he wasn't just going to team up with him, common enemy or not. In fact, it looked very much like we were going to be getting a fight between them, had it not been for the emergence of a gloating Don Callis. In a programming schedule that also contains the Hurt Business and the Death Riders running roughshod over their opponents, I was admittedly apathetic to the idea of a similar angle to open the show – to begin with. But this segment did something different with the format, kickstarted by Omega dismissing his ongoing altercation with Ospreay to make a bee line for Callis.

He wasn't just randomly teaming with his rival but actively ignoring him for the greater prize, and it was only when Ospreay joined the fold to help him did there become a sense of partnership between them. Even still, as the action spilled into the arena they were largely fighting their own fights with the group, only coming together after a period of sustained dominance from Lance Archer by the merchandise stalls. That momentary working together to take out one member clicked something into place, and only then did they get the upper hand of the fight with respective leaps from scaffolding and balcony seats. The segment worked to communicate the gradual cohesion between them in a thrilling way, making it clear that there is much for them still to iron out while also putting into perspective the marriage of convenience against a common foe. It was a night and day way to open the show compared to way it ended. Irrespective of the way I feel towards the idea of Don Callis' forever feud with Ospreay and Omega, this had me eagerly excited for the match between them against Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher at Grand Slam (hopefully to end the feud and free them up for bigger and better things). 

Written by Max Everett

I don't know if it's because AEW Grand Slam: Australia seemingly hasn't sold as many tickets as AEW would have liked, even after moving to a smaller arena, or because the time difference makes it nearly impossible to be a pay-per-view event, so it's taking the spot of an "AEW Collision," but it's not working for the AEW Women's World Championship at all. It's disappointing to see as a fan of these women and everything they have done so far to get here. Toni Storm versus Mariah May has had all its good segments (and there are few, with the best seemingly yet to come) relegated to the Saturday show, and the fact these two women with such rich storyline history aren't going face-to-face on "Dynamite" is a crime. Especially before what was meant to be a big show in Storm's home country, which is seeming less and less like a big deal unless you're going to be in attendance.

This week, we saw a pretty great video package, with the voiceover done by May, but it just wasn't enough for me, as I had seen it all before, and I'm ready for some new confrontation now that Storm seemingly doesn't remember anything that happened in the video. Even though I'm going to make a point to seek out their face-to-face segment on "Collision," whether that be by catching up on the show or finding it on social media, it's the fact that AEW isn't making it feel like a bigger deal by putting it on their flagship show that bothers me. May hasn't been in the ring with her championship on "Dynamite" for weeks, and it seems strange when Mercedes Mone is always there on Wednesdays. Both women's champions can be on "Dynamite," especially with the reputation that AEW has when it comes to its women's division.

We also saw a really fun segment with Storm and Harley Cameron, where they spoke in full Aussie lingo and confused everyone, including Renee Paquette, and it almost seemed like a band-aid to make us forget May wasn't there in person. We all love Cameron (at least, I know I do) and the segment was charming with Storm telling her there's no reason she shouldn't be on the show in their home country. That led to a story for Cameron, going to hunt down Mone, but Storm is stuck waiting around until Saturday to finally "meet" May.

While their story won't be over, not by a long shot, at Grand Slam: Australia, it's still the first time these women are meeting with Storm in her "Toni Time" gimmick with amnesia, or whatever is going on. It's a big deal for them, but AEW isn't making me feel like they think it is. They've only got one shot at May and Storm colliding for the first time like this, and if the build isn't on "Dynamite" where more eyes can see it, it's not going to do Grand Slam viewership any favors.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I'm going to start off this loved section with a small hate which is, of course, Private Party's AEW Tag Team Championship reign. I was so happy for them when they beat The Young Bucks in October and really hoped it would go somewhere, and then it just didn't, and now it's over, and I'm a bit sad about it. Not that it's over, but because it was pointless.

Now that I've got that out of the way, can we all take the time to appreciate how much of a beast tag team Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin looked like? There was a part of me that thought they'd pull some crazy stuff out of the bag and give Zay and Quen the victory, but Tony Khan pulled the trigger on an act that looks great, feels hot, gets treated like a big deal, and the fans are behind! Like, this is 2025 AEW, that never happens!

Going over the match from bell to bell, I actually really enjoyed this for what it was. It wasn't necessarily a squash or anything as Private Party got their fair share of stuff in during the opening moments, but not too much to make the match feel less believable. Like Zay and Quen are champions, there is a world where they can gain the advantage against a team like The Hurt Syndicate, it's not that hard to imagine. However, once Zay went through, say it with me, THE SOLID OAK ANNOUNCE TABLE, which by the way Excalibur, if it was so solid, why does it collapse like an IKEA flat pack furniture set built by a four year old every time someone goes near it? But yeah once Zay went through that, there was only one result coming; the right one.

Shelton throwing Quen from pillar to post, and the fact that Quen kept trying to get back in the ring only for Shelton to continuously drag him back out was a nice touch. Both champions being thrown around the ring as if they were weightless was a fantastic sight to see, and the fact that they absolutely killed Zay in the end made Lashley and Benjamin look like two killers. A fantastic performance from the challengers, the champions made them look great, and the right team won, what more could you want?

The AEW tag team division has been long overdue a facelift, and now it has two men holding the titles who are strong enough to lift said face. Add in the potential duos of Brody King and Buddy Matthews, any combination of The Don Callis Family, and dare I say Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay (they aren't going to last but let a man dream please AND thank you) and 2025 could finally be the year that AEW reclaims its crown as the home of tag team wrestling.

Just one more thing guys; lose the baseball caps. You look like two dads about to coach a little league softball team.

Written by Sam Palmer

With formidable snowstorms and delayed flights having already impacted the card, I was confident that we weren't going to see MJF after Jeff Jarrett had a solo promo segment on Wednesday's episode of "AEW Dynamite." Imagine my surprise when MJF showed up — without Jarrett — to force some local competitor out of the ring to cut a promo of his own.

Now, it's not uncommon for wrestlers to go back and forth in separate segments. However, there's got to be some mental gymnastics that Tony Khan had to go through in order to book two separate MJF/Jarrett segments, especially when he could have easily booked them to have one, singular face-to-face altercation (whether that is another promo segment, a backstage segment, or literally *anything* else). Regardless of what you may think of MJF and Jarrett's feud, it's pretty clear that it is not a storyline important enough to receive two individual segments, especially when other feuds, like Mariah May and Toni Storm's AEW Women's World Championship bout, desperately need the air time.

These logistical misgivings would have been a bit more excusable if MJF had something interesting to say about or to Jarrett, but there was not much to MJF's promo besides frustration at Jarrett's rejection of his offered services to claim the AEW World Championship. When was the last time MJF took to the microphone to be frustrated at Jarrett's dismissal? Before you bust a vein trying to remember (can you hear my sarcasm, dear reader), it was the January 15 episode of "AEW Dynamite: Maximum Carnage." A week ago. At least during that promo, the two men veered into some very personal territory, and if you're a fan of mud-slinging and too-close-to-home promo beats, you had something there. MJF's Wednesday promo didn't even have that sauce.

What's even worse is that MJF's microphone time was wedged into a segment that he wasn't even involved in. MJF came in, kicked out "Hangman" Adam Page's opponent out of the ring, then backed off without a fight when Page came out to confront him. After Page's squash match, MJF didn't come out to confront Page for his earlier aggression (not like he should have, but MJF's absence truly makes his segment's placement feel even more out of place, since they never follow it up). It feels like the worst crossover ever — MJF is being inserted into a part of the show that he doesn't even have stake in, just to say absolutely nothing.

While I was one of the many who loathed MJF and Jarrett's aforementioned January 15 war of words, I would have much rather have sat through another round at that than whatever this logistical obstacle course was. Better yet, I would have preferred that they took a break with this feud, and let last week's deeply personal war of words sit for another week. The booking of MJF's segment was just so weird and non-linear, and MJF did not put out a good enough promo to justify its oddity.

Written by Angeline Phu

There always seems to be some kind of rumor and innuendo surrounding Malakai Black. The House of Black leader was suspected to be leaving AEW at the end of last year, after hugging Adam Cole in a display many felt was a goodbye. Black soon said this was not the case. Then rumors broke that Black's contract, initially believed to be expiring in 2027, could be up this year. Everyone is seemingly waiting for the other shoe to drop, as word of creative plans already being pitched for Black in WWE.

Which is why it was so funny that the remaining House of Black members seemingly took out an advertisement on AEW programming that seemed to say "Thank god THAT a*****e is gone!"

Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart talked about a "shadow" being lifted from House of Black, narrating shots of the faction that would not look out of place in the second half of an SSRI commercial, where the meds have kicked in and the depression is gone. I'm not used to thinking of the House of Black as "sunny" but there was something about the promo that struck me as uncharacteristically upbeat. Yes they're coming to pillage WWE and sacrifice it to their dark lord, but even these overly-serious goths are glad that other guy is gone.

I do feel for Black though. I have a feeling that if I ever left Wrestling Inc., and the staff put together an article that says "Finally, we can stop talking about the cinematic work of Michael Bay or the disastrous results of Lee Atwater's legacy, now that a certain somebody is gone," I would probably take it a little personally. But I am not Malakai Black, and thus am allowed to say watching House of Black's catharsis was the highlight of my "Dynamite" experience.

Written by Ross Berman

Cope took on PAC in the main event of Wednesday's episode of "AEW Dynamite," and while Cope and PAC are both establish in-ring performers that deserve most, if not all, of the hype they get, their match was just fine overall, and is not the subject of today's vitriol. No, I need to chew out the Death Riders for doing the same old stuff, week in and week out.

Frankly put, the Death Riders *wish* they could pull off the unsanctioned brawl that Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay put on at the beginning of "Dynamite." Instead, after Cope took the victory over PAC, the Death Riders ambushed Cope (not before taking out Dax Hardwood and tying Cash Wheeler to a chair, whose bondage which was the one saving grace of this segment by virtue of sheer comedy). Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and AEW World Champion Jon Moxley surrounded the exhausted Cope like the hyenas from "The Lion King," and proceeded to do what they do best: use the numbers game to conduct a post-match beatdown. "Switchblade" Jay White appeared to attempt a save, but he ultimately succumbed to the numbers game as well, and Castagnoli and Yuta left shoe marks on White's back as Moxley choked out Cope in the center of the ring, all while Marina Shafir looked on. By the end of it, White laid lifeless, and Cope's quivering lip closed out the show.

I'm sorry, what is the intended effect this segment has on the audience? Are we supposed to be shocked at the Death Riders' horrible actions (can you, again, hear the sarcasm)? Are we supposed to feel sympathetic for Cope? For White? Maybe I'm a sociopath, but the last moments of "Dynamite" did not inspire those feelings in me in the slightest. The Death Riders' attacks are all too similar for me to feel any stake in their actions — sure, it establishes them as heels, but right now, Ricochet feels more like a more veritable threat than Moxley. At least Ricochet does different things every week to continue escalating his heel character. Moxley just ambushes people behind the scenes and beats them up with his cronies.

This is not even the worst thing to happen to Cope. You mean to tell me that getting choked out — while a bad time, objectively — even breaks the top ten things Cope has experienced at the hands of dastardly heels, throughout his entire career? You can quiver your lip all you want, Cope, but I have seen you tolerate more pain than Moxley's huge bicep can inflict.

If Cope was Moxley's first victim, I would have felt more heightened emotions from this post-match beatdown, but because The Death Riders have done this same exact thing to several other guys, I have become desensitized to it. The Death Riders' tactics are so routine that they have become insignificant. SOS. Same old stuff.

Written by Angeline Phu