AEW Dynamite 1/1/2025

AEW Dynamite 1/1/2025

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/aew-dynamite-12252024.html

This is first AEW broadcast that is simulcasted on HBO MAX.

The intro for this show had "I'm So Excited" as the song.

We see Jon Moxley talk with The Death Riders after World's End. He says everyone talks but when things get real, they are different than what they say. He says Shafir took a bullet from Jay White. He said he grabbed the company by the strap and took bullets for the company. He says they aren't rebels because no one has authority over them. Mox says he is king and says Adam Copeland was just the loudest guy in the room.

Adam Copeland and FTR talk. Dax says they will give The Death Riders a fight. Adam says The Riders tried to take out his friends. He says let's get going and said he saw fear in Mox's eyes at world's End. He says he's sicker than Mox and it'll be fun tonight.

"Hangman" Adam Page vs Orange Cassidy

OS misses an orange punch and then avoids a buckshot lariat. OC rolls him up for 2. OC forearms him and gets slapped. Page chops him in the corner. Page hits a belly to belly for 2. Page springboard lariats him off the apron.

Page sends OC into the rails. Page takes a back body drop on the floor. OC stands on a chair and hits punches on Page. OC boots him out of the corner. Page catches OC's 2nd rope crossbody and fallaway slams him into the buckles. OC backrolls him for 2 and PK's him.

OC hits a stunner. Page catches OC's tope outside. Page fallway slams him on the floor. We go to PiP break and return. Page spinning forearms him. Page goes for a buckshot lariat and OC rolls out. Page throws him in then OC topes him outside. OC is then sent into the rails. Page chokes OC and OC puts his hands in his pockets. OC dropkicks him with his hands in his pockets.

Page's head is banged off the buckles. OC jumps off the top onto him but is caught. OC spinning ddt's him. OC hits another ddt for 2. OC superkicks him and takes a lariat. Page goes for a buckshot lariat and takes a beachbreak from OC.

OC sunset flips him and hits an orange punch. OC hits more orange punches. Page buckshot lariats OC for the win.

Thoughts: The ending seemed a little sudden. It was an average match. I didn't like OC sticking his hands in his pockets and I thought Page should have just beaten the crap out of him.

Page beats him up after and hits deadeye. Page holds on for another. Refs and Christopher Daniels try to stop it. Page punches out Daniels. 

Page tells Daniels to stay out of his business.

Jay White says 2025 didn't start as he planned. He said he planned to be AEW champ then Wheeler Yuta cost him the pin. He says he will show Yuta how he feels and says he still has a path to Mox at Maximum Carnage. He says he will win the casino gauntlet next week. He says he will be Swerve and Strong tonight in the 3-way to get in. 

The Acclaimed do an inset promo. Max goes to rap and Bowens says enough of it. Bowens asks if Max hit him on purpose in the match against Jericho. Max says it was an accident and tells him to get his head in the game. Max says no scissoring tonight and says he won't even rap. He says they will just do what they do best tonight.

The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin) vs The Acclaimed

Bobby rushes both opponents and pounds on Max. Bobby foot chokes Max then belly to belly suplexes him. Bobby neckbreakers him. MVP joins the commentary desk and says Bobby and SB didn't want Ricochet. Bobby corner spears Max. Bobby lariats Max over the top.

Max is sent into the rails by SB. Max flips out of an SB backdrop. Bowens lariats SB and SB doesn't move. SB takes punches from Bowens. Bowens kicks SB in the leg then chops him. Max tags himself in. SB release germans Max three times. Bowens watches from ringside as Max takes another. SB step up knees Max in the corner.

Bobby rolling spears Max then chokeslams him. Bobby puts Max in a full neslon and submits him.

Thoughts: It was a quick one used to push the issues between The Acclaimed. The Hurt Syndicate had no issues here. This was basically a squash.

Bowens walks out on Max after and leaves him laying.

Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana are interviewed. Swerve says he's been distracted the last few weeks but gets back to doing what he does best. He says he will prove why 2024 belonged to him. He says he's never been in a casino gauntlet because he's been world champ. Nana then says, "Happy New Year, everybody". 

Jamie Hayter vs Julia Hart

This one is a lose-lose as neither needs to lose this one. Hart ducks a lock-up then pushes Jamie off of one. Hart pulls her down by the hair then Jamie does it to her. Hart takes forearms and hiptosses Hart.

Jamie hits corner lariats. Hart back elbows her and lariats her from behind. Hart is caught off the apron. She pushes Jamie into the steps. Jamie back elbows her. Hart pulls Jamie down backwards by the head on the steps. We go to PiP break and return.

Jamie step up enzugiri's her and facekicks her. Hart misses a top rope moonsault. Hart STO's her for 2. Hart puts her in hartless. Jamie stands up out of it then AA's her on the knee. Jamie sliding lariats her for 2. Jamie lays her on the top rope and clubs on her. Jamie is swept off the 2nd rope and hits her head on the landing.

Hart grabs an arrow, the ref grabs it and Hart mists Jamie. Hart then picks up the pin.

Thoughts: The match wasn't that good. Hart is still limited and didn't get much better during her time away. Hart misting Jamie gives her an out for losing and likely will lead to a rematch.  

Kazuchika Okada does a promo. He says he won the Continental classic and proved he's the best tournament wrestler alive. He calls Will Ospreay little brother and says nice try. Okada asks how many times he has to beat Kenny Omega and tells him to stay out of his business.

Mercedes Mone comes out. She wishes herself a happy new year and shows a video package on the tron. We see clips of her 2024. She says if you thought 2024 was good, wait and see what she does this year. she says Wrestle Dynasty is the first step on the money train. She says she will defend against Mina Shirakawa. She says Mina has gold she wants and says money changes everything.

They showed some first responders in the crowd but forgot to put the lights on them so we couldn't really see them.

Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong are interviewed. Cole says The Undisputed Kingdom is complete and this is their year. Kyle says they got all the bases covered. Strong says he guarantees himself a spot in the casino gauntlet next week and says it's every man for himself.

Thoughts: Well, they are now a group. Taven and Bennett weren't with them and I wonder why.

Casino Gauntlet Qualifying Match - Roderick Strong vs Swerve Strickland vs Jay White

Swerve hits shots on both opponents. Swerve gets double teamed. Swerve lariats Jay over the top then hiptosses Strong. Swerve suplexes him then fosbury flops Jay outside. Jay ddt's both opponents at the same time.

Jay chops and hits corner attacks on both. Jay exploders Strong over the top. Jay suplexes Swerve on the apron then drops Strong gut first onto it. Strong half-nelson backbreakers Jay and dumps him onto Swerve outside. We go to break and return.

We get a 3 person russian legsweep off the buckles that no one seemed to really benefit from. Swerve knocks Strong down a few times and backbreakers him. Swerve  powerbombs Strong into Jay in the corner. Swerve powerslams Jay for 2. Swerve rolls into a codebreaker from Strong. Strong olympic slams Jay then tiger drivers him for 2. Swerve does an M. Bison stomp on Strong.

Jay is pushed into Strong. Swerve rolls into a flatliner on Jay. Swerve walks the rail outside and boots Jay in the face. Ricochet then hits Swerve with a pair of golden scissors from the first row. Jay bladerunners Strong in the ring and wins.

Thoughts: It wasn't much and the finish wasn't done that well. Ricochet furthered his feud with Swerve. It had the usual issues 3 ways had and they did what they could with it, but it was nothing too special.

Swerve is bleeding and is crawling away from Ricochet. Nana goes up to Ric and Ric threatens him. Ric stabs Swerve with the scissors then hits punches. Ric then hits headbutts and Tony Schiavone calls it gross.

Nana and Ric fight over a chair and Nana is pushed into the steps. Ric chairs Nana. Ric headbutts Swerve in the ring and seats him in a chair. Ric then hits a spirit gun on him. The Undisputed Kingdom then come out to save Swerve, minus Taven and Bennett.

Thoughts: No toilet paper here. Ric looked cool with the blood all over him. I'm not sure where this Ric was the last weeks when he was getting punked out and TP'd. Is he going to go after Hurt Syndicate now?

Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh are interviewed. Jay said they hadn't heard from Jarrett. Jarrett then walks in. Dutt asks if Jarrett is sure. Jay says they will support Jarrett 100% and want to make sure that he's sure. Karen Jarrett, who Jeff was looking for, comes in. Karen says she knows the business is in Jeff's blood but what he wants, she wants. Karen says they are unbreakable.

Mariah May does a promo. She says the women's division is great. She said she had more matches last year than any other women. She said she did her job better than any other woman alive. She says she's the woman from hell and says you can't touch her.

Jeff Jarrett comes out and says "slappy new year", referencing his old slapnuts phrase. Jeff says he has a lot to be thankful for in his career. He says he thought about how it began for his family. He said his grandma took a 2nd job selling wrestling tickets and it changed his family's life. He said she became the CEO of the Tennessee territory and took high risks for high rewards He said his dad promoted shows in high school, wrestled and bought the promotion in a high risk and high reward situation. He said he got into wrestling in 1986 and went against his family's wishes. He said he dropped out of school and started his wrestling career.

He said he bet on himself in 2002 and launched his own promotion. He said that promotion produced some of the best wrestlers of all time. He has his wrestling boots in his hand. He said he has to ask himself if he should just ride off into the sunset and says, "hell no". He says when he takes the biggest risk, he gets the biggest reward. He said he signed his last talent contract and has re-signed with AEW. He says he wants AEW gold and says he wants to take the biggest risk of his career. He says he wants in the gauntlet next week and says his new years resolution is to become AEW champ.

Thoughts: This was a great promo. Jarrett is probably the best promo in the company and really laid out his reasons for wanting the title well. I hope they roll with this storyline because it will work. I don't get why Jarrett can declare himself for the casino gauntlet but others need to win to get in it.

Nick Wayne does a promo. He said he hopes Christian isn't looking forward to his new year. He says his job isn't finished and says to ask Nick what it's like to be in the redrum. He says he will choke him out. Hook fights Christian in 2 weeks.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs Jon Cruz and Rob Killjoy

Hobbs shoulders Cruz over. Rob tries a chop and Hobbs doesn't move. Hobbs hits a short arm lariat then corner lariats both opponents. Hobbs powerslams Cruz then spinebusters Rob. Hobbs spinebusters Cruz onto Rob and pins both.

Thoughts: It was a quick squash here with Hobbs winning as expected. The jobbers got nothing in.

Big Bill and Bryan Keith are interviewed. Jericho isn't with them. Bill says this place is great. Keith says, "it's aight". Bill says Jericho isn't coming here. They then see FTR and Copeland. Bill says he doesn't know who should be more ashamed - the people of Asheville or them for being proud of Asheville. Bill says home is where you find yourself and says the hometown heroes need to be taken down a notch or two. Keith calls Adam a "Rated R Dumb@ss".

Adam says Keith isn't a bad apple, he's a tumbleweed. He says Bill's face is stupid. Adam challenges them to a trios match on Collision and says, "bye guys".

We get a graphic for Sweet Daddy Siki who died today.

We see an MJF promo from after World's End. He says Adam Cole lost and it took his entire army to beat him up. MJF says finally his saga with Cole has come to a close. He says now it's time for retribution. He says something was taken from him - his title. He says his title is now being paraded around in a briefcase by a man claiming to be king of these lands. MJF says what's a king to a god? He says nobody is on the level of the devil. He says he doesn't have a problem with Mox, he just wants his title. He says he's getting it back come hell or high water. He says the devil gets his due part 2 in 2025.

Rated FTR (Adam Copeland, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) vs The Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Claudico Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta

Adam's graphic said "Rated R Superstar Cope". Dax and Yuta lock up. Yuta slaps him in the corner. Yuta armdrags him and slaps him. Dax hits chops then back body drops Yuta. Adam and CC go at it. Adam side headlocks him. CC boots and euros him. Adam hiptosses him over the top and dropkicks him through the ropes. CC's head is banged off the apron. Shafir pushes Adam into the post.

We go to PiP break and return. Mox hits forearms on Adam in the corner and foot chokes him. CC chinlocks Adam. Adam back body drops Yuta. Cash comes in with a diving double clothesline. Cash backdrops Yuta. Cash powerslams Yuta off a leapfrog attempt. Dax suplexes CC for 2.

Dax 2nd rope twisting crossbodies Yuta. Yuta does a drop on him. Dax top rope backdrops Yuta. CC jackhammers Dax then Yuta top rope splashes Dax for 2. We go to another PiP break and return. 

Dax backdrops Yuta. CC falls into Dax and bangs the back of his head off of him. Mox and Adam trade forearms. Adam hits an impaler ddt. Mox avoids a spear. Mox and Adam go into the seats to fight. Adam throws Mox back into ringside. Back in the ring, Adam sit out powerbombs Yuta for 2.

Adam goes for a spear but is pulled into the post crotch first. Cash goes for a tope and takes a hard euro from CC. CC lariats Dax on the floor. Jay White comes into the ring when the ref isn't looking and blade runners Yuta. Adam back body drops Mox on the commentary table. Adam then jumps off the table onto Mox, sending him through a rail. Yuta takes a shatter machine and a spear. Yuta gets pinned.

Thoughts: This really got cut up by 2 breaks. What we got was a good main but not great. CC really nailed Cash hard with a euro on the tope attempt. They tied in Yuta and Jay's issues here which was good.

Overall thoughts: It was a longer show with a lot of wrestling on it. But the show was decent overall. Jeff Jarrett's promo was the best thing on here and the main was the best match, but it wasn't great. There were a lot of people missing from this show. I'd give the show a 5 out of 10 overall but I wouldn't recommend it.