AEW Dynasty 2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s annual review of AEW Dynasty, the show whose second installment had actually a lot of interesting things happen — Kevin Knight's PPV debut, FTR's heel turn, MJF making his last bid to join The Hurt Syndicate, etc — but that will ultimately be remembered for the main event. In fact, we're not talking about any of those things listed above, and we're not talking about any of the Owen Hart Cup matches, either; while you're more than welcome to check out our Dynasty results page, which has way more information on the entire first half of the show and then some, in this column we are only talking about five matches. And yes, that most definitely includes AEW's controversial decision to have Jon Moxley retain the world title with the help of the returning Young Bucks.

There are a lot of strong opinions coming out of this PPV, including our own, and the WINC staff wouldn't have it any other way. From Toni Storm somehow changing the ending of "Rocky" to the moment the lights went out on Swerve Strickland's championship dreams, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about AEW Dynasty 2025.

One month after nearly bleeding to death in front of dozens of celebrities at AEW Revolution, "Timeless" Toni Storm was back defending her AEW Women's World Championship against "The Megasus" Megan Bayne at AEW Dynasty. By now, Storm is far and away the most developed character in the company besides maybe a Hangman Page, but even then Storm seems willing to go the extra mile for her cause, and this time around, her cause was making Bayne out to be an unstoppable beast that could murder anyone who steps in front of her. Some fans had called for Bayne to receive a push similar to Brock Lesnar in 2002 where he arrived, killed everyone, and won the biggest prize in the company almost immediately, and in a way, AEW played up to that in this one with Storm embracing her role as the underdog.

Yes, the "Rocky" theme was predictable as anything — they were in Philadelphia after all, one of the only cities in the world where one of their biggest sporting icons is a person who doesn't technically exist — but it worked in this match given the story going into it. Bayne had already pinned Storm on a recent episode of "AEW Dynamite," she hadn't lost coming into Dynasty, and given everything that Storm had been through with Mariah May in the previous months, maybe a challenge like Bayne would be too much for her.

This was evident in the structure of the match. Bayne, while still a monster, was inexperienced in big title matches which led Storm to take the early advantage. However, once Bayne understood that she could throw her weight around with ease, it was her match to lose. Not many women in AEW would be able to throw the AEW Women's World Champion over their head three times in a row and not even break a sweat, but Bayne achieved that with relative ease. The use of Penelope Ford could have been a little overkill to some people, including myself, but she was taken out of the match with little to no interference when it really mattered, allowing all of the focus to be on the ring.

Of course, Storm's experience led to her getting back in the match, selling like her life depended on it and knowing that, even though she's been through wars before, this was an entirely different beast to tame. The four hip attacks in the corner, the Storm Zero, she threw everything that she could at "The Megasus" in order to get the job done, eventually getting over the line, whilst also making Bayne look strong throughout the match by looking genuinely scared at the fact that she may have taken a role that was too big even for her.

Storm continues to be one of the marquee players in All Elite Wrestling, with this being another solid performance in her portfolio. However, it wasn't all perfect, as there was one thing that some people simply could not get past...

Written by Sam Palmer

The AEW Women's World Championship match was always going to be a tough one for AEW to get right, and honestly, after Toni Storm and Mariah May's gory, bloody Hollywood Ending Match at Revolution, there wasn't ever going to be a right, or satisfying way, to move on from that. I didn't hate this match overall, but the ending was pretty lame for AEW having built Bayne up so strongly in the past month. 

I guess you could consider it a sneaky win on Storm's part, but it just didn't work for me, as she wasn't being sneaky at all leading up to the finish. It didn't work for me when she rolled up May at "AEW Collision Grand Slam: Australia," either, but I suppose at that point we knew there was going to be an even bigger blow off match. When Bayne kicked out at one after a Storm Zero, getting her shoulders to the mat for a three count off a roll-up pin mere minutes later just seems really silly.

I don't think I would have heated Bayne up right after the May feud ended. AEW could have went with someone else to feud with Storm, though I suppose just where you fit Bayne in gets a little difficult when you factor in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament, Double or Nothing in May, and then All In Texas in July. Bayne taking the title off Storm tonight also didn't seem to be the way to go, and it seemingly put AEW in a hard place. 

I don't know if a disqualification finish, or a double count-out finish, or whatever, would have worked better here, but it might have, since we didn't have any other DQ finishes tonight. That could have led more easily into a rematch between these two leading in to Double or Nothing, where Bayne could be more established to hold the championship, or the feud continuing could just hold Storm over until she likely faces Mercedes Mone at All In. Overall, it just sucks that the first feud for Storm after May was always going to be put in a weird position, and Bayne coming in to dominate for over a month just seems a bit wasted, now. Both women looked great here throughout the vast majority of the match, but the finish just didn't work, and for once, I'm hopeful AEW runs it back.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I get that AEW is a fan of its finisher kickouts. I get that AEW is a fan of its wild match finishes. I get that AEW is a fan of being so ridiculous, you can't help but laugh.

The finish of Chris Jericho's Ring of Honor World Championship match against Bandido was all of the above, but in the worst way.

I understand that this is Jericho and Bandido 3, and that the series is currently held high in the minds of those who have watched their previous two clashes. For what it's worth, I don't have a problem with the match itself — and that's coming from someone who only finds value in Chris Jericho when he becomes a meme (only half-joking). Bandido is really just that good. His sheer athleticism, his combination of cardiovascular fitness and incredible strength, made every top-rope dive, minute-long standing suplex, and counter absolutely effortless. Jericho was an okay performer next to Bandido — not enough to overshadow the luchador, but enough to keep up with him. The more I watched the match, the more I understood this feud's popularity — the more I had faith in Chris Jericho.

Then, the match finish happened. Oh, dear heavens.

The Jericho victory itself was nothing special. Sure, it's a heel move to use a weapon in order to win a match — especially in a match with a serious stipulation like a Title vs. Mask match (which they did next to nothing with in the match's choreography) — but it is not the worst thing Jericho has done. No, the finish got really weird when Bandido's mother and sister leapt out towards ringside to intercede for Bandido. It wasn't until referee Aubrey Edwards arrived to ringside to console the distraught family, who immediately informed her of Jericho's cheating ways. Bandido's sister and mother guided Edwards to Jericho's baseball bat, which led to Edwards restarting the match. Bandido, having had time to recover from Jericho's assault, was brought back to life, and successfully defeated Jericho upon a match restart (though not before Bandido's sister slapped Jericho, which one would think would also violate the rules).

What are we doing here? Seriously, what are we doing here? This is the goofiest ending to a pay-per-view match I have ever seen, and it was for a world title. If you wanted to put the title on Bandido, why not...just put the title on Bandido? Why have this whole convoluted storyline beat, with Bandido's family and the referee finding a bat? While I will acquiesce that I have not seen Jericho and Bandido 1 or 2, I legitimately cannot wrap my head around why they would go with this convoluted match-restart route instead of going with the finish that is right in front of them. Do I just not get it? Is this finish just a huge inside joke that I, and many others who do not watch Ring of Honor, don't get? Why would AEW not acknowledge the significance of this finish for those unaware? Why not just put the title on Bandido?

I feel like I'm going crazy!

Written by Angeline Phu

You would have been forgiven for believing Adam Cole was on the fast track for a championship of some form – maybe even the world title – when he made his debut at All Out 2021. But it's been far from plain sailing for the longest-reigning NXT Champion since opting to switch from WWE, having suffered through concussions, a broken ankle, and inconsistent booking and reception. 

He won the Owen Hart Cup in 2022 alongside Britt Baker – nothing more needs to be said there – but other than that whenever it appeared he was starting to gain some steam something would throw a spanner in the works. But now on the other side of potentially career-threatening injuries and booking which hardly helped matters, there does appear to be a glimmer of hope for both Cole and his first title in AEW. Once again, the booking has been spotty at best as it pertains to the respectful title feud between Cole and TNT Champion Daniel Garcia; their first match ended in no-contest and their second was a time-limit draw, and while the matches themselves delivered glimmers of what endeared fans towards Cole in the first place, they continued to stall the pay-off until this weekend. 

It could be argued that this was a must-win for Cole, and now that he has done he has the opportunity to restore some of the prestige which has faded from the company's maiden workhorse title. Flanked by Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong, there is an opportunity to tap back into what brought the Undisputed trio such success before, and provide some value and meaning behind the title which has left much to be desired for quite some time. At the end of the day it's not like Cole and Garcia's match is going to be inducted to any Hall of Fame classes anytime soon, but it did a really good job to spotlight two supremely talented individuals who have deserved more for some time, finally giving Cole a moment to celebrate after such personal adversity, and carving a path for him to rediscover his groove. Can't really complain.

Written by Max Everett

I absolutely loved the first portion of the International Championship match pitting Kenny Omega against Ricochet and "Speedball" Mike Bailey, and while it kind of fell off for me at the end due to how long the match was when it had the most natural conclusion that made sense, it was still probably my favorite match on the show. The highlight from the beginning was Ricochet, who is playing into his heel character so well. He was great during his feud with Swerve Strickland, but I'm admittedly a huge Swerve fan, so Ricochet's star was even brighter tonight, in my eyes, when I felt I could root for him more. It also helped that I was certain Omega was winning, so no matter what, I could just enjoy this match for the action with no real expectations when it came to the title changing hands.

Ricochet fit right into place beside Omega and Bailey and the match was so fast-paced and enjoyable. His heel antics were both exciting and some to be expected, but in a good, heel way. Ricochet grabbing the headset off of Tony Schiavone's head on commentary and s*** talking until Bailey about took his head clean off with a kick was expected, but not in a negative way in the slightest. I also loved him staring down the camera and primping after dropping Bailey across Omega's shoulders as they all battled on and around the ring barricade, kind of like a "Yeah, I did that" to the audience at home.

Seeing Ricochet, who I only knew from WWE, hitting a 450 splash and a shooting star press on Omega, and countering One-Winged Angels was pretty crazy. Who would have thought he'd be in the ring with someone like Omega with the way he was booked before? At risk of comparing companies, it's just so cool to see Ricochet and his crazy athleticism get to compete in excellent matches like this and honestly, this cemented him as an AEW guy to me and no further comparisons or thinking about "the other place" seems necessary moving forward. The decision to send both him and Bailey to Dynasty after their double pin during the number one contender's match was a great one that really paid off.

With the way Dynasty went off the air (spoiler alert: I absolutely hated it along with many of us here at WINC), this was probably the best match for a semi-main. It went long, yes, but we got the right result at the end and Ricochet got to show off nicely, both in terms of his heel work and just how incredibly talented he is in the ring. I was quite entertained, and this is the match I'll look back on most fondly when thinking about Dynasty and its terrible end.

Written by Daisy Ruth

It's been said for weeks that this night was AEW's best chance to fix the one main problem that the company has — that being the AEW World Championship scene — and have Swerve Strickland become the new AEW World Champion for a second year in a row in the Dynasty main event. Not everyone was in agreement, but the general consensus was that Jon Moxley being on top had run its course and that this was final chapter. We were wrong.

This match will likely be more enjoyable in a vacuum, as it does have a big fight title match feel to it that naturally builds throughout. However, this show (including the Zero Hour pre-show) lasted just under six hours, and this was the finish that we got. From the moment the referee went down, you could tell where things were heading — Marina Shafir gets involved, and Hangman Page almost makes a decision based off his recent interaction with Swerve on "AEW Dynamite." He was taken out by the Death Riders, who were subsequently taken out by The Opps, which was a refreshing change of pace that made everyone think that this could be it. Swerve hits the Stomp, he's about to make the cover, and then the lights go out, and oh no. 

It was around this time last year that The Young Bucks and their hostile takeover of AEW began when they attacked Tony Khan, and we are of course doomed to repeat history if we don't learn from it. Clearly, The Young Bucks, Tony Khan, and AEW have not learned. For a company that has gone on about "restoring the feeling" for so long that it's become a running joke, the feeling that AEW keeps talking about had naturally returned over the course of the past few months, and this was the chance to solidify AEW as "back," so to speak. Instead, they opted for a dramatic, over-the-top ending that will shock people at first, but anger them once the dust settles.

AEW had all the momentum in the world heading into Dynasty, and this finish derailed all of it in a matter of minutes. All of the good will that the company earned back through consistent booking and a strong babyface to route for in the face of villainy in their World Championship storyline has been squandered. They can earn it back, sure, but AEW have misread what their fans want massively, wasting so many future avenues almost immediately. It's not the end of the world — Cody Rhodes finished his story one year after his WrestleMania 39 loss, after all — but on this night, it wasn't just Swerve who lost. It was the fans, and the company too.

Written by Sam Palmer