Heydorn's AEW Dynamite Receipt 2/26/25
The good, bad, and ugly from this week's episode of AEW Dynamite.
-I’ll start the AEW Dynamite column this week with a nitpick. A fair nitpick, but I suppose a nitpick nonetheless. Did Cope tell the ambulance driver, “hey, let me get in the back of this and turn on the little siren, ok? And then back up and I’ll jump out!” Like, I get it, this is show business, but the ambulance stuff throughout with Cope was too cute. Cutesy stuff that sounds like a good idea, but isn’t thought out or logical if you think it over for five seconds.
Hot feud
-Adam Page vs. MJF continues to simmer nicely. Both guys feel much more important and valuable to the product since they’ve started feuding and a match between both is a suitable bout for PPV. They each stayed in their lanes and the angle with Christopher Daniels got the heat they wanted. Simple, but as I always say, sometimes that’s the best and most efficient way to get a job done.
-AEW did a nice job putting context around why Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Keith was happening. The company historically has not gone out of their way to do that on things, so doing it here was a big deal. It was a really good match that didn’t overstay it’s welcome. Ospreay was smarter in how he had a good match here. It didn’t feel like a tremendous match just to have one, right? Ospreay was the focus, gave Keith a little here and there, but then Ospreay came back and won definitively. Ospreay hit the right tone.
-At least we got a little build for Momo Wantanabe vs. Mercedes Mone? I mean, there isn’t much AEW can do here. It begs the question, why do the match if you aren’t going to be able to give it proper hype.
That’s why
-Well, I guess we know why The Outrunners haven’t been pushed to the moon as they’ve gotten their gimmick over. Yikes. They are a rough watch in the ring. They mistimed spots and just didn’t feel comfortable having the match they were having. As for the Murder Machines, I don’t think the finish this week could have made them look worse. The MURDER Machines getting distracted by some entrance music?
-Wow, the Ricochet vs. Swerve Strickland feud continued to be a show highlight this week. That was a near-perfect promo from everyone involved — Ricochet, Swerve, and Prince Nana. There was a strong reason for Ricochet to take the rematch when he didn’t want to, the match itself has intense stakes because of that reason (it being a world title number one contender match), and the added bonus of Nana giving Swerve an ultimatum to win gives it a personal touch too. Just an all around strong segment that built up a major match in an impactful way.
-Ehh, a fine win for The Undisputed Kingdom this week over FTR and Daniel Garcia, but like, it’s still Undisputed Kingdom and they are still not good. Did you forget that FTR was a part of the company until you saw them out there this week? I kinda did.
A close call
-Thank goodness Cope didn’t hit Marina Shafir with the steel chair. That would have been an epic disaster. They walked the line by just showing the audience that Cope considered doing it, but Willow Nightingale going forward with it for him was a much better choice.
-Nice win for Harley Cameron over Deonna Purrazzo this week. She isn’t there yet, but the upside is massive.
-Strong main event, but no real drama for Konosuke Takeshita vs. Orange Cassidy. With Kenny Omega getting an AEW International Championship match at Revolution, it was nearly impossible for this to make you believe Cassidy would win. They built in a nice near fall for him at the end, but alas, this was good action with a predictable finish. Where was Kenny at the end of this? A little stare down would have been appropriate.
What did you think of this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments!
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