AEW Dynamite 3/12/2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," the show that sometimes brings you two hours of PPV-quality wrestling ... and sometimes gives you episodes like this one, where the locker room is banged up from AEW Revolution and all of a sudden it's time to cut a lot of promos! Here at WINC (surprising no one) we have some thoughts about that, as well as some other broader subjects like squash matches, International title tournaments, and the state of the women's division in the wake of the Toni Storm vs. Mariah May feud.

Of course, that broader focus comes slightly at the expense of individual matches and segments, of which we're only really going to dig into one or two here. If you're after a more comprehensive look at everything that happened on the show, you can check out our "Dynamite" results page; this column is about our opinions and analysis. From the debut of "Speedball" Mike Bailey to the unexpected meeting between MVP and MJF, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 3/12/25 episode of "AEW Dynamite."

Time is precious, especially on television. For this reason, AEW's high-intensity, long matches don't always translate to the weekly rigors of "AEW Dynamite." The squash match was essentially made for this purpose. Get some local dweebs in the ring, give them about three minutes against a star. Get in, hit your s***, and get the hell out. Every now and then, AEW remembers that these matches exist, and suddenly you get a little adrenaline boost.

There was a very solid, brief trios contest between Hook, Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, and a trio of local competitors. There was no comeback. There was no hope spot. In fact, there was no hope at all for the trio, and sometimes that's exactly what a pro wrestling show needs. Furthering the fun, Max Caster, thorn in the side of anyone with a working brain, was absolutely trounced by former AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita.

Takeshita, fresh off a big loss to Kenny Omega, toyed with Caster, like a lion playing with its food. He pulled him out of an easy pinfall to deliver more punishment, and folks, they call stuff like that a "classic" for a reason. It always works. The delight in Takeshita leveling Caster, pinning him, and then letting him up for more misery was delicious. Takeshita gets a win, Caster looks like a geek, everyone wins. Booking a wrestling show isn't as complicated as AEW sometimes makes it, and they'd do well to utilize these entertaining, brief flashes of matches instead of endless 50-50 contests.

Written by Ross Berman

If you were to ask me to describe the current state of AEW's women's division in one word, that word would be messy.

I already wasn't a fan of Megan Bayne being set up as the one to get the next shot at Toni Storm's AEW Women's World Championship. Don't get me wrong, I've liked what I've seen from her so far in the ring but it feels far too soon to already have her challenging for the AEW Women's World Championship. It still feels like there needs to be a bit more done to establish her amongst the AEW fan base and as a credible threat to Storm and anyone else in the women's division before giving her a shot at the title, with a proper storyline with Kris Statlander being a perfect option in order to do so.

Yes, Bayne and Statlander did come face-to-face when the former took the latter out with an F5, but that came after Willow Nightingale scored a win over Penelope Ford and Statlander had came to the ring to help out Nightingale when Ford has given a (rather awful looking) chair shot to her. There are too many storylines that are currently attempting to be combined with one another including the issues between Statlander and Bayne, Statlander working to earn Nightingale's forgiveness, and the out of the blue newfound sort of alliance between Ford and Bayne. Choosing to refine and rework things a little bit would allow for a storyline that's much easier to follow, as well as allow for Bayne to continue to be established by having her run through every single woman on the roster as a means of getting to Storm.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

They have been one of the most exciting talents in professional wrestling for the past decade, competing in nearly every independent promotion you can think of, as well as making name for themselves in New Japan Pro Wrestling, DDT, and PWG, but now "Speedball" Mike Bailey is in All Elite Wrestling and what a debut they had.

The former TNA X-Division Champion (yes, they also made a big impact there as well ... no pun intended) arrived as the wildcard entrant in the AEW International Champion Eliminator Tournament, being pitted against The Beast Mortos, and as far as debuts go, this went as well as any debut could possibly go. On the whole, Bailey showed enough of themselves to the AEW audience to get excited about, while also not showing their full hand quite yet as those who have followed "Speedball's" career know that they can do insane things involving kicks, flips, and kicking while flipping.

It must also be said that flowers need to be given to Mortos as well, a man (or beast, whatever he prefers) who has regularly become a member of the AEW roster that Tony Khan can turn to for a reliable in-ring hand that is guaranteed to get themselves over, even in defeat. Because of that, this match was a lot more evenly contested than some might have suspected with a new signee. Sometimes, the person who is debuting gets the vast majority of the offense to showcase what they can do, but Bailey gave Mortos more than enough in this one for the luchador to get strong reactions of his own. Despite the result never being in any doubt, Bailey is finally in AEW after months of speculation, and the question of where he goes after this week is a very interesting one.

On the one hand, putting Bailey in this tournament is a great way of showcasing what they are made of against a host of solid names in a short space of time, and is an easy way of getting them on the pay-per-view. On the other hand, the pay-per-view match is against Kenny Omega, who has just won the AEW International Championship and isn't going to be dropping that title any time soon. You don't want to have Bailey beaten straight away, but you don't want Omega to drop the title when there are bigger fish to fry later down the line, and yes we are looking at your AEW Continental Championship Kazuchika Okada.

Overall, it will be interesting to see where Bailey goes on their AEW journey, especially in the immediate future. They are a welcome addition to the roster, and is more than unique enough to develop a strong following with an audience that buy in to performers who aren't your stereotypical wrestlers, many of whom will end up having some of their best matches with Bailey because they are capable of doing that. "Speedball" has an extremely high ceiling in AEW, so let's see how far they can go.

Written by Sam Palmer

For a moment, on a show that had mostly been an advertisement of things to come (the outlier there being Speedball's debut) to fill the scheduled time slot, it appeared as though there was a coherent sense of direction in a segment — and involving MJF, who feels like he has been on a particularly bad stretch of late and could really use something to get stuck into. Alas, running much to the grain of the rest of the show, there wasn't much of an answer given outside of a glimpse of cookie-cutter babyface MJF. 

In an offer that would surely have any other heel in the company rightfully biting his hand off, MVP effectively invited MJF to become the new member of The Hurt Syndicate. To be clear, heel MJF, the man who has made it clear ad-nauseam that he will take whatever short cuts either not to wrestle or to ensure he wins; The Hurt Syndicate is comprised of Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley, two legitimate fighters. But we're supposed to believe that the same man that joined the Inner Circle, started The Pinnacle, and routinely pays other larger heels in the company to take out his rivals, suddenly wants to do things on his own? 

I completely understand wanting to stretch storylines out across shows to unfold different layers and directions. But the entire show was doing that and this was a segment that really should have been a yes or a no – and even no didn't make sense in the context it was teased as. MVP had sent Lashley and Benjamin home earlier in the night, so it could have even been the right time for MJF to take his frustrations out on the manager and set a feud in motion. Or he didn't need to send them home and they could have rushed MJF themselves when it became clear he wasn't going to join. Or, and this is my personal preference, MJF could have accepted the invite and given him some well-needed direction and refreshment. But the way it transpired just felt like a fumbling of a potential talking point from an otherwise very disappointing show.

Written by Max Everett

Tonight's "Dynamite" was a promo/video heavy show, likely due to the state of AEW's stars after Revolution, but one segment in particular stood out to me, because it was something very different than what I was expecting. MJF went out to the ring for what I expected to be his usual "woe is me" promo after losing a big match. That was partially the case, but thankfully, not the larger portion of the segment. MJF was interrupted by MVP, who gave Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin the week off after Revolution, as seen in a video earlier in the night.

I didn't ever think I'd see MVP and MJF, two amazing talkers, in the ring together, as I just assumed their paths in AEW would never cross unless maybe Lashley and MJF were feuding. I was interested to see just how they knew each other. I could tell the story was at least true in some degree, because MJF was smiling hard as he stood back and let MVP talk. MJF can be so likeable when he wants to be, and just seeing him smile to himself made me realize how real this all likely was. After going through the history of how they met, with MJF volunteering to drive MVP to a documentary shoot when he was just 18, MVP praised the young star. He went on to say he's not proud of how MJF lost to Page on Sunday and asked why MJF wasn't angry. MVP then asked the interesting question – why wasn't Max hurting people?

MVP told MJF he lost his edge and the boys in the back don't fear him, but they do fear the Hurt Syndicate, and that's what Max is missing. MVP got out the business card he was handing out to stars, like Mercedes Mone and Ricochet, when he first got to AEW and handed it to MJF. Though MJF initially turned it down, he took it after MVP reminded him he "was" the AEW World Champion. While I lost interest for a second when MJF didn't grab the card the first time, they got me back at the end there.

I'm not sure it will ever happen, but MJF alongside the Hurt Syndicate, at least for maybe one pay-per-view cycle, could be interesting. I haven't found him interesting in awhile, since he was off TV and filming for awhile there, and this could be what he needs to be interesting again. Lashley and Benjamin certainly wouldn't like MJF in their ranks, which would create an interesting dynamic. On the more likely end of things, MJF could turn down MVP and then feud with the likes of the AEW Tag Team Champions, getting Lashley and Benjamin involved in a singles feud while holding the gold to add more depth to AEW's stories. No matter what, the segment made tonight's "Dynamite" a little more interesting, and least, and I'm grateful for that during a show where everyone must have been banged up.

Written by Daisy Ruth

When it was announced that CMLL's Hechicero would be returning to AEW to face Orange Cassidy, a man who has Lucha background of his own and can adapt to virtually any opponent he faces, I was very excited. I was even more excited when they were given the main event spot as these two men are very capable of putting on a sleeper classic under the right circumstances, and while the match they had was very good, it did leave me a bit underwhelmed as it seemed like it was a little rushed towards the end. Clocking in at just over 10 minutes, Cassidy and Hechicero didn't have the time to get out of third gear at best, and it's largely down to how many promos this show ended up having.

Given the fact that most of the AEW roster came out of Revolution on March 9 with more bumps and bruises than what Tony Khan had anticipated, this show felt very thrown together at the last minute. On top of this, being an episode that followed a major pay-per-view, many of the top names that hadn't been booked in matches needed to find a place on the show in some shape or form, which resulted in a show that, in a rarity for AEW, was arguably more focused on promos than it was matches.

Now, there is nothing wrong with promos, some of the best moments in wrestling history involve someone holding a microphone, but a lot of the promos on this show didn't really land in the way they intended. Will Ospreay entered the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, but he took the long, unnecessary route of telling everyone, in as many words as possible, how annoyed his wife was about the Spanish Fly he executed during his steel cage match with Kyle Fletcher at Revolution. 

Jay White had a promo where he asked the crowd if they thought he hit Cope on purpose at the pay-per-view, who all said yes, only for him to say he still had Cope's back, while also managing to fit Ospreay's name in, and say "Swerve Smerve" on national television. Max Caster's match with Konosuke Takeshita was literally a promo with two moves attached to it, and even a reliable promo like Toni Storm seemed to be padding for time in a segment that didn't really go anywhere until after she stopped speaking.

Had the rundown of the show been tweaked, some promos been worked over a little more, and other segments completely removed, Orange Cassidy and Hechicero could have given the fans in Fresno, California the match that most people know they can have. Instead, they were forced to squeeze everything into a 10 minute package because some people on the show just couldn't stop speaking. It's okay to do a promo, but only if it's going somewhere, and tonight we got promos that went almost nowhere, and others that got to the desired destination, but took an age to get there.

Written by Sam Palmer