AEW Dynamite 1/29/25: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," the show it took Mercedes Mone almost a year to finally main event for some reason! While the WINC staff broadly agreed that Wednesday's offering was pretty bland — perhaps owing to a medical issue resulting in late re-writes — we still found things to praise and censure it for, from continued Death Riders shenanigans to continued Ricochet shenanigans to Mariah May showing why she probably should be doing more in-ring promos.

As always, purely objective and comprehensive details of the show can be found via our "Dynamite" results page, but if you want our opinions, there's only place to find them. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 1/29/25 episode of "AEW Dynamite."

I am not much of a fan of interference in matches because of how overused the trope is in modern day professional wrestling, but even I will admit that there is a time and a place for them. The match between Jeff Jarrett and Claudio Castagnoli was one such time and place for interference as it was pretty clear that a third party would be present in the closing moments of the match to prevent Jarrett from earning the right to challenge Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the right third party was chosen to intervene in things.

Jarrett has two ongoing storylines right now with The Death Riders and MJF, and this week's show seemed to be the perfect opportunity to converge them by having MJF cost Jarrett his title shot by interfering and helping Castagnoli win. Instead, what we got was Moxley and Wheeler Yuta helping Castagnoli to win, only for MJF to come to the ring post match, attack Jarrett, and send a message to him. The entire ordeal felt needlessly convoluted especially because there was a much more streamlined way to do things. The Death Riders also were already set to appear after Yuta's match against Jay White to set up a Mid-South Street Fight between them and FTR, so there wasn't a good reason to involve them in Castagnoli's match when they already had another appearance set. It was a nonsensical booking decision, and didn't do much of anything to significantly progress either of the ongoing storylines.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

When Ricochet let his contract expire with WWE over the summer, everyone and their pet hamster knew he was going to end up in All Elite Wrestling. Some were excited as they knew what Ricochet was capable of before his time in WWE, and surrounded by enough guys from his PWG days might turn him back into a freak of nature again. However, some were worried that he was going to slip down the card as a generic babyface who can just do some good flips but not as many as the younger guys he inadvertently helped inspire. Instead, we've got neither, because we've got what I like to call "Bald Ricochet."

For all of the flips, tricks and dives he can execute to absolute perfection, Ricochet is becoming one of the most punchable people in AEW right now and I mean that in the nicest way possible. Unlike The Death Riders or Chris Jericho who people actively groan at when they see them coming, Bald Ricochet is getting that good heat right now, the type of heat where you don't want to change the channel because you want to see him get annihilated by the babyface. His match with AR Fox, while not as good as their match from "AEW Collision" last year in my opinion, Ricochet just being a little bald rat for half the match was actually a joy to watch.

His mannerisms, his crowd work, that little tribute to The Rock that he did which ended up with a picture perfect standing moonsault, you find yourself actually enjoying yourself watching Ricochet because you can appreciate he's a great worker, but you sit there and go "I want to see this man's a*s get kicked." Fortunately, he has got the perfect dance partner coming up.

Swerve Strickland is one of the biggest stars in the company, someone who so over with the fans you wonder why they ever took the belt off him, and he looks like a killer while doing it. AEW have held off on the major interactions since January 1, allowing the anticipation for their match in Atlanta on February 5 to grow naturally, and I personally cannot wait to see it. Ricochet is putting in some of the best heel work of his career right now, and he's got the perfect babyface to bounce off of, both figuratively and when it comes to their match next week, literally.

Finally, to anyone who reads this who is from Atlanta and is going to the show next week, I urge you with every ounce of energy I have in my body: find as much toilet paper as humanly possible and hurl it at that bald head. Steal it from Denny's, buy it from Walmart, bring it from home, whatever the case might be, Ricochet is at the top of his game right now and by getting under his skin even more will only add to the atmosphere. Make us proud Atlanta, make us proud.

Written by Sam Palmer

I'm saying I "hate" this because that's required by the format, but I really don't think I "hated" Jay White vs. Wheeler Yuta. To say I "hated" it would be to imply that it was possible to watch Jay White vs. Wheeler Yuta and feel an emotion, which is clearly untrue. More than that, I'm mostly just confused as to where those 13 minutes and 37 seconds of my life went, because I cannot account for them. Were they even real? Did Jay White vs. Wheeler Yuta even happen? Would anyone know if it didn't?

Let me tell you what I remember about Jay White vs. Wheeler Yuta, a match I "watched" barely an hour ago. I remember Yuta got a ton of offense and then two commercial breaks later White suddenly hit the Blade Runner and won. Which, yes, that is naturally what happened, because even though there was never any doubt about who was winning — by which I mean, it was an AEW TV match — it was still also a Jay White match, so of course he couldn't spend any time looking strong. This match didn't benefit anyone; White isn't elevated by beating Yuta because everyone beats Yuta, Yuta isn't elevated by getting offense against White because everyone gets offense against White, and the match was ultimately used to set up some stuff between the Death Riders and Cope and FTR in which White is completely not involved.

So once again I ask, did Jay White vs. Wheeler Yuta even happen? And I see now that the answer is, who cares? The entire match and post-match angle could functionally have been replaced with a graphic announcing FTR vs. Yuta and Moxley on "Collision," and we would all be better off if we just collectively agree they were. Just let those 13 minutes and 37 seconds go, don't worry about what may or may not have happened to them. You weren't really using them, anyway.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

Ladies and gentlemen, it finally happened, the AEW Women's World Champion was on "AEW Dynamite" cutting a promo that was in front of actual human beings. Coming off the back of the most talked about segment of the year so far for AEW, Mariah May was given a microphone to promote her match against "Timeless" Toni Storm at Grand Slam Australia on February 15. Mariah had actually stated recently that one of the things that she really wants to improve on as a performer is her ability to cut promos in front of a live audience because, as much as she knows her pre-tapes rule, she needs to learn how to bounce off a crowd in order to know what to do and not to do.

With that in mind, some of this promo didn't exactly light the world on fire, and that's fine because it didn't need to. All that needed to be achieved was the story of Mariah and Toni needed to be moved along to a point where a response from Toni (which will be coming on "AEW Collision" this Saturday) will push it even further. Storytelling 101, leave a scene with new information and the characters in different spots than where they were before the scene, and that's what happened here.

Mariah walked in with her cocky attitude, telling the people of Huntsville, Alabama that Huntsville should start with a C instead, but was immediately thrown off by Renee Paquette when Toni's name got brought up. Right there it was clear as day that what happened on "Collision" got under her skin, it's been eating away at her since Saturday night, and she needed to let Toni know that she's going to massacre her in Brisbane, Australia. No matter what Toni Storm shows up on February 15, it will be no match for the woman from hell, and for all the roles that Storm has played in AEW, the most critically acclaimed was when Mariah was sharing the spotlight with her.

Now that we're getting a Toni promo on Saturday, by the time next week's "Dynamite" rolls around, we might be looking at the most exciting feud in AEW heading into Grand Slam Australia all through the power of letting the top women on the show go out and tell you why should care. This promo might not seem like much, but it's a small piece of a puzzle that is the most fun to solve out of everything that is going on in AEW right now. It's got the most life, it's got the most energy, and it's got the most vibrancy despite the fact that one of the people involved is literally black and white 90% of the time.

There wasn't much in terms of promotion for Grand Slam Australia, but the fans in Brisbane should count themselves lucky as they are going to witness the next chapter of the greatest feud in the history of the AEW women's division. Roll on February 15.

Written by Sam Palmer

Wednesday's show was felt like a big nothing burger, nothing outwardly terrible or hate-worthy, with a few good segments and a great women's match thrown in. However, that highlighted (to me, at least) that AEW isn't really putting much effort into Grand Slam: Australia at this point, just three weeks out. I would think they'd want to hype it up before the major event of another company, to not act like they're waiting to do anything too major until after that event is over. Only two matches have been announced thus far, including two of the three Australian talents on the card. I will say that AEW put a bit more effort into the AEW Women's Championship feud this week, with Mariah May actually live in person in front of the crowd rather than just in a prerecorded video, but that was about the only exciting thing we got for Grand Slam.

The opening match attempted to further the story of the tag team match where Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega will team up against Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita, but even that wasn't much. The main factor has already been decided, Omega agreeing to team with Ospreay, so there's not too much more exciting to build on here, other than what we saw, a backstage beatdown, and Omega coming out to save Ospreay after his match against a member of the Don Callis Family. I imagine that's what we're going to see for the next few weeks when it comes to this story, and it's going to get old, fast.

There is also no promotion on AEW's end of just when Grand Slam will be available for those not in Brisbane to watch. Basically all we know thus far, from what the company has promoted, is that it's on February 15. It's assumed it's going to take the place of "Collision" that evening, which will go up against another WWE event, but there are differing reports as to when it would even go on the air. That's my biggest gripe about the show thus far, AEW is almost completely leaving fans hanging, left to assume things through other reports than AEW itself. This was a bland show, and AEW just seems to be spinning its wheels before Grand Slam, and waiting to get bigger things in motion for Revolution in March.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Much has been and will likely continue to be said about the parity in effort and opportunities when it comes to the women's division compared to that of the men's in AEW, but the main event was yet another testament to the untapped potential on the roster. Now I'm aware this might be a minority opinion but I have thoroughly enjoyed much of Mone's work in the ring throughout her AEW run, and Yuka Sakazaki was an interesting opponent as Mone rarely carried the size advantage going into things. What transpired was a fun breaking of the mold then in terms of what Mone did in the ring with her opponent, as she worked the more grounded style and sought to cut down the faster Sakazaki.

It was just a really excellently paced, fun match, and sure there was never for a second any sort of belief that Sakazaki would win the match. But this one was all about the journey, and a well-needed breath of fresh air after a frankly mundane show. In terms of milestones, this was Mone's first "Dynamite" main event since joining AEW, which in itself felt like an unreal statistic when you consider the level of talent she is, but it was such a way to do it and prove that the spot really should be shared with the most exciting aspect of AEW in 2025. Giving those who paid to watch a wrestling show close with an actual wrestling match feels academic at this stage, but in a timeline marred by interference finishes and Death Riders shenanigans this week's TBS Championship finally ticked all the right boxes for a "Dynamite" main, at least for me.

While you may not be entirely familiar with her name or previous body of work, it can't be denied that Sakazaki herself didn't also put in the work to prove her belonging, and I feel that the performance was the perfect introduction for someone new to her. It's said a lot because it means a lot, but the women's division really does have an edge to it that the rest of the divisions appears to have lost, and yet it's still fundamentally overlooked for what it could be. Mone-Sakazaki was a prime example of that.

Written by Max Everett