AEW Dynamite 3/26/25: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," the show that definitively moved things forward toward AEW Dynasty and beyond, with both an ROH world title match and an AEW world trios title match added to the PPV card and "Switchblade" Jay White added to the 2025 men's Owen Hart Cup field. Here at WINC, though, we don't have time to comment on any of that stuff. It's all on our "Dynamite" results page, you can go check that out if you just want to know all the stuff that happened on the show.

No, here in our opinion/analysis column, we only have time for the things that made us feel most passionately — one way or the other. From Bobby Lashley faction-blocking MJF (despite the apparent wishes of MVP) to Megan Bayne pinning the world champion in the main event, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 3/26/25 episode of "AEW Dynamite!"

There wasn't too much I hated at all on "Dynamite" this week, but the opening with International Champion Kenny Omega facing off against ROH's Blake Christian was kind of a dud for me. I wasn't looking forward to it when it was advertised, though not knowing much about Christian was on me, but let's face it, anyone facing Omega, especially as a champion, wasn't going to get the win here. It was a quick win, at that, which Omega even mentioned when he got on the mic following the bout. I'm sure it was great for Christian, who commentary said was on a win streak in ROH, and I'm sure he was geeked to be in the ring with Omega, but it just seemed pretty pointless.

The match was basically a segway to get Omega talking for "Speedball" Mike Bailey to come out. I didn't mind that too much either, Bailey just said he respected Omega, but he was still going to kick his face in at Dynasty. All to be expected there, but then Ricochet, who wasn't at the show, appeared in an obviously pre-recorded video on the tron that wasn't the best quality, to say the least. The audio was absolutely terrible and wasn't synced. Ricochet was dressed in what he said was his wedding fit, so at least he looked cool, but this didn't do him any favors and was pretty awkward to watch.

If AEW knew Ricochet was going to be off this week for his wedding (and congrats to him and Samantha Irvin), I would think they would just do this segment next week when he could be there in person. Unless Omega really wanted to be wrestling in St. Paul, Minnesota, though he could still do that, too, and just address the fact he has to face two people instead of just one at the pay-per-view. Next week is the go-home to Dynasty ahead of the International Championship triple threat between these three men, so a pull-apart brawl or something with Ricochet as the heel going after Omega and Bailey would have fit better. Of course, AEW can still do that, but the opening segment just felt like filler on what was a pretty good show. A lot of other things on "Dynamite" got me excited for Dynasty coming up here soon, but this wasn't one of them, so it really stuck out when I thought back on it. It's a shame, because I like all three of these guys, but at least we know their match at Dynasty is going to be good.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Emasculating your opponent is out. Convincing your opponent that he is only a washed-up shell of his former self is in.

After this week's call-out segment between Swerve Strickland and Jon Moxley, I'm convinced that Strickland should be given everything he wants in this company, ever. I mean, he surely has shown that he can handle the pressure. When going toe-to-toe with the gruff Moxley in a war of words, Strickland absolutely obliterated the current AEW World Champion, showed the world why he should repeat history at Dynasty, and even formed a temporary alliance with Willow Nightingale, which will not only help him against the Marina Shafir problem, but will feed families.

I'm not going to lie, Moxley was done the moment Strickland noted he was hiding behind Wheeler Yuta. Like, I don't know how you can recover from an accusation — however true — that you're hiding over your wimpiest henchman that is seemingly afraid of haircuts. In all seriousness, Strickland absolutely dismantled Moxley's sense of self. He meticulously dissected the character Moxley had become with the Death Riders, and pointed out just how stupidly far from himself Moxley had become ever since he began his self-righteous (and only moderately successful) crusade to clean up AEW's roster and company culture. The reason Moxley carries around the AEW World Championship title in a briefcase, Strickland contested, is because Moxley doesn't see himself as worthy of holding the title either.

I'm sure it wasn't planned for Strickland to absolutely flay Moxley open in front of Minnesota, because Moxley had a response. I just can't remember what he said, because Strickland outshone him so much. That is truly a way to come out victorious in a promo exchange. It's not that Strickland spoke over Moxley, or cut him off. In fact, he did the opposite: Strickland provided Moxley a platform to respond, but had such good points and flawless execution that, even when Moxley had a chance to counterargue, Strickland stood tall, like Moxley never spoke in the first place.

I can also always appreciate Nightingale's presence on AEW programming, especially as she tussles with the men. She had a brief stint as part of Orange Cassidy's crew however many years ago, and came to the aid of Cope when Cope was challenging for Moxley's world title. In my opinion, she is the perfect answer to the Shafir problem, and I'm glad she made a return to help Strickland even the score against the Death Riders.

While Nightingale and Strickland may be an odd pairing, I do think that they'll work well together, considering they're both top babyfaces at the moment. Nightingale's involvement with Strickland has also set up a mixed tornado tag team match between them and the Death Riders' Moxley and Shafir, so if nothing else, it's giving Shafir an in-ring AEW debut.

Wednesday, Strickland showed everyone why he should be the AEW World Champion. I know Tony Khan wants to wait for Moxley to drop the title to Darby Allin, but...come on.

Written by Angeline Phu

I may not know a lot about Minecraft, but I understand there is some mining and possibly even some crafting involved. I haven't played the game but I've seen the movie trailer. It is mostly Jack Black introducing the main characters to various props like a pickaxe or a sword or any of the other implements players use to break up the many boxes that make up the Minecraft universe.

So why was the Minecraft-themed "AEW Dynamite" bereft of any kind of Minecraft mayhem?

There was a match seemingly sponsored by Minecraft and it was a run-of-the-mill Kyle Fletcher match. No one hit anyone with a pickaxe or a foam sword. No one threw a block at the other guy's head or put them through a pixelated box. It was not a bad show, it was like any other episode of Dynamite, but I kept getting distracted by Jason Momoa and Jack Black at the edges of the screen, or a terrifying llama that was staring into my soul. The Minecraft flourishes were never incorporated in a way that enhanced the show, instead distracting me and other co-workers endlessly. Outside of the Minecraft-themed opening, the distracting banners were nothing more than ads. Ads that suggested a level of whimsy that the show never delivered.

To quote the poet laureate of Fox's Animation Domination, Peter Griffin, "For crying out loud, somebody throw a pie!"

Written by Ross Berman

Going into this week's episode of "AEW Dynamite," something that stood out to me was that a number of the matches were heavily loaded with members of The Don Callis Family. Kyle Fletcher returning for the first time since Revolution, Mark Davis getting a solo effort for the third week in a row, and Konosuke Takeshita looking to continue his case as an early front runner for a potential wrestler of the year vote (seriously, the track record is crazy). Out of the three of them, two men had great performances, while the left a fair bit to be desired, but this was an episode that proved why Don Callis' group have been such a focal point of AEW so far in 2025.

Starting with Fletcher, his match with Brody King really gave the show a needed shot in the arm after a shaky start. It's been known for a while how good both of these guys were as they were both standouts of the 2024 Continental Classic, but they really pushed each other far in this one. King's babyface shine by throwing Fletcher all over the ringside area, and the front row, was strong, and it was aided by Fletcher being a fantastic heel who you genuinely want to see get beaten up, a rarity for a company like AEW when even the biggest of heels get cheered purely because they can work in the ring. Fletcher came back and looked great in the closing stages, picking up the win, and now that he's done with Will Ospreay, I'm excited to see what's next for him.

Moving on to Davis, he didn't hit the heights of last week. A satisfactory match with Powerhouse Hobbs that had a few missed moments and not a lot of heat didn't really do any favors for the Australian, even if there were some bright spots. Of course, Davis is bottom of the family pile right now, so this is most likely by design, or maybe that's just me being a bit optimistic. Whatever it is, Davis has got a strong singles run in him, but that seems a little further away now than it did seven days ago.

Then there is Takeshita, who had another excellent showing, this time against Mark Briscoe who also had a great night in between the ropes. Takeshita is starting to enter that tier of wrestlers who are incapable of having a bad match with someone, and while it's hard to have a stinker with Briscoe, everyone can have an off night. However, this wasn't an off night, particularly for Takeshita, who might have people regretting him losing the AEW International Championship if he keeps things going. It's been a long time since a faction like The Don Callis Family existed, just a murder's row of insanely talented athletes assembled by a non-wrestler who knows what talent looks like. I'm not saying they are at the level of Paul Heyman's Dangerous Alliance in WCW, but they're getting there.

Written by Sam Palmer

The looped Minecraft animations in the background were the last straw, really.

Wednesday marked a huge development in the Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Hurt Syndicate saga, and I feel like it should have stayed there. MJF took to the microphone in St. Paul to formally accept MVP's invitation to become a member of the Hurt Syndicate, and while I struggle to see how the wildly popular and established MJF would harmonize with the similarly popular and established Hurt Syndicate, I didn't have a problem with AEW's bold booking choice — they've made plenty of worse booking decisions. I wasn't even particularly mad when Bobby Lashley stepped to intercept MJF and MVP's business deal. Sure, it's weird that seeds of dissent are being sown when the Hurt Syndicate is less than six months old, but Lashley's hesitance to invite the notorious instigator MJF to their seemingly solid ranks is also understandable. The opening part of this promo segment wasn't bad, and honestly, if things had ended there, I wouldn't be writing about this.

Things really took a nosedive when MJF's presence was replaced by the Big Bill and Bandit Keith. To start a completely different storyline with the Learning Tree in the middle of this ongoing storyline with MJF is a questionable move, and the booking possibilities don't really justify how awkward the Learning Tree felt wedged into the tail end of the Hurt Syndicate's air time. Like, I guess MJF can help the Hurt Syndicate retain their titles over the Learning Tree and Chris Jericho, but why Lashley and Shelton Benjamin — the former of which is so-far undefeated in AEW — would need MJF's outside interference to retain the titles (especially when they have MVP)?

What made this segment especially rough was MVP and Big Bill's exchange on the microphone. I genuinely think AEW saw Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton's recent promo exchange and decided to counter with something even worse. Typically MVP is smooth on the microphone — that's his whole job — but his "exchange" was especially rough.

You should not be talking over each other in a promo exchange. Not only does it make things unintelligible for the listener (antithetical to the purpose of a promo exchange), but it completely buries the person you're trying to hold an exchange with (again, antithetical to the purpose of a promo exchange). When MVP and Big Bill kept cutting each other off, it made an already awkward segment clunky at best, and downright unlistenable at worst. I don't turn on wrestling to watch people argue like they do in real life. The priority of a promo exchange should be to communicate a story or character traits (ideally, both), not to try and overshadow the other guy. I don't even have time to cover how moronic and played out MVP's attempted emasculation of Bandit Keith was (we are so over using "girlfriend" as a derogatory term).

Honestly, by the time it was all over, I felt like the Creeper blowing up on the screen behind Big Bill.

Written by Angeline Phu

Megan Bayne gained a huge psychological advantage over the AEW Women's World Champion, Toni Storm, during this week's main event tag match between Bayne and Penelope Ford against Thunder Rosa, scoring a rare pin on the woman she will be challenging for the title at Dynasty. 

In a world where challengers are being trounced by the champions ahead of their attempts at the title, with everyone from Tiffany Stratton, to Jey Uso, or even with effectively the entirety of Jon Moxley's challengers throughout this reign, suffering the curse of booking designed to keep the champion strong at the detriment of legitimately building someone compelling enough to believably challenge for the gold. Sure, it's a tag match pitting two babyfaces against two heels adjacently aligned and in no way does that break the mold. But it has been refreshing to see Bayne kept strong since re-emerging earlier this year and smashing her way into the title picture, and to do it opposite Storm in the immediate aftermath of the "Hollywood Ending" at Revolution, someone who would rank as many's de facto face of AEW's women's division, has delivered one of the more genuinely exciting programs currently ongoing. 

This is the second week in a row Bayne has been in the main event of "Dynamite," and while that in itself is nothing to scream about in 2025, it does at least communicate an acceptance that this is important and deserves focal booking. AEW has been looking for someone that can be booked like Jade Cargill since she went to WWE, and it really does feel to me that Bayne could fit that role – and potentially even thrive as a subjectively better in-ring worker – to the benefit of the promotion. But that starts with keeping her momentum going before she's even considered for a title run, and this week was another step in the right direction.

Written by Max Everett