AEW Dynamite 2/26/2025

AEW Dynamite 2/26/2025

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/02/aew-dynamite-2192025.html

Cope is in an ambulance. He says he wants to show The Death Riders their ride tonight.

We see MJF getting a tattoo removed. He says he watches people chant cowboy sh!t at a phony while he's here literally giving you an arm and a league. MJF says he's mad at the people for choosing Page over him. He says the only 3 letters that matter to him now are MJF.

Adam Page arrives in a pick-up with bullhorns on it.

"Hangman" Adam Page vs Aaron Solo

Page running facekicks him. Page hits punches on him in the corner. Solo corkscrew kicks him then Page lariats him. Page hits a buckshot lariat and wins in this quick squash.

Page says there's 3 things he hates. English Ivy, running out of biscuits and when a little b!tch with a bad spray tan spits in his face. He says he will sit in the ring until he gives MJF the beating of a lifetime.

MJF comes out. He asks if Page is nuts. He says Page is heartless and says he's not fighting him now. MJF says he has to leave and get ready for the match. He says he forgot why he came out here. MJF says he's worried about his friend and tells him to check on him. MJF says this is where we find out who is actually ready.

We then see Christopher Daniels with fake blood in the back. Adam Page goes looking for MJF and seens Daniels in the back.

Thoughts: As always, the big issue with Daniels being the punching bad is that Page was beating the crap out of him prior to MJF doing this. So it's hard to feel Page really cares.

We see Don Callis and Kyle Fletcher watching the show in a box.

We see a Chris Jericho interview from earlier in the day. CJ says Renee is here for how she treated him last week. Don Callis and Mark Davis then walk out of CJ's locker room. Don says sometimes they need to handle problems in house. He calls Will Ospreay a degenerate piece of garbage and needs someone like a bounty hunter to take care of these people. CJ says bigger isn't necessarily better but says Bryan Keith is better. He says Bryan has what it takes to beat Will.

Bounty Match - Will Ospreay vs Bryan Keith

They lock up. Will wristlocks him. BK takes him down and they stand off. BK hits forearms and Will flying headscissors him. Will hits chops. BK double throat thrusts him. Will hits armdrags and armlocks him. Will boots BK in the chest then slams him. Will standing corkscrew moonsaults him.

BK slides out then Will plancha's him. Will is thrown out. BK running facekicks him outside. We go to PiP break and return. BK hits chops then exploders him in the corner. Will hits chops. Will handspring corkscrew kicks him.

Will hits shots on BK then corner facekicks him. Will springboard forearms him for 2. Will goes up and over. BK high kicks him. Will enzugiri's him then BK lariats him. Will hits a stunner then hits an os cutter for 2. BK knees him in the face then does a spinning tiger driver for 2.

BK sunset flips him. Will picks him up and hits a styles clash. Will hidden blades him for the win.

Thoughts: It was average. I had a hard time buying that Bryan could win here which brought things down some. They didn't do anything too wild here. 

Will motions to Callis and Fletcher in the stands. Kyle tells him to come on and they fight on the steps. 

We get a video on Momo Watanabe ahead of the match with Mercedes Mone.

We see Mercedes Mone. she says she has things to do and says Momo made a big mistake choosing her to face. She asks Billie Starkz if she has seen Momo and knocks her water in her face. Starkz asks who she things she is. She calls her a narcissistic b!tch and says Mone kows who she is. Starkz tells her to watch her back and Momo Watanabe swings a bat at her. Mone drops her belt and Momo grabs it. She says she wants the title and is taking it.

The Outrunners (Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd) vs The Murder Machines (Lance Archer and Brian Cage)

Cage and Truth go at it. Truth is double teamed and Turbo is knocked off the apron. The Runners hit dropkicks. Cage and Lance are sent over the top. The Runners then pose. Cage and Lance hit lariats on the outside. Truth is sent into the rails. We go to PiP break and return.

Lance foot chokes Truth. He running back elbows him. Cage euros Truth. Truth hits a jawbreaker and gets Turbo in. Turbo hits shots on Cage and Lance. Turbo 2nd rope twisting crossbodies Cage and rolls him up for 2.

Lance footpresses Turbo down then Lance splashes Truth. Turbo takes forearms and a facekick for 2. Truth is suplexed on the floor and Lance chokeslams Turbo for 2. Lance goes for blackout. The Hurt Syndicate's music hits and they come out. Turbo then pins Lance while he's distracted.

Thoughts: It was average and the finish wasn't that good here. I don't like the faces winning in a cheap way and this was kind of a lose-lose as neither team really needed to lose here. I thought The Runners should have been thrown around more.

We get a video on Cope vs Mox. Mox says he appreciates Cope putting his money where his mouth is. Claudio says he tips his hat to Cope. He says this is not Cope hunting them, it's Clauding hinting him.

Swerve Strickland comes out to talk. He says he told Tony Schiavone he would come here and win championship gold. He says he showcased the AEW Title to the world. Swerve said Nana was right when he said his focus wasn't the title. He says he's still the man around here and needs gold around his waist to prove it. He says he has wrongs to right and one of them is with Ricochet.

Swerve tells Ric they are done when he says they are done. Ricochet comes out. Ricochet asks if Swerve is dumb. He says he told him he's done with him. He said Swerve had his chance and he won. He says winners don't chase losers.

He says he's chasing gold and trying to be something Swerve won't be - a champion. Ric says he will have gold around his waist the next time Swerve sees him. Nana says he has an offer for Ric that he might want to consider. Nana says the fans deserve a rematch. Nana says he has a contract that says the winner between Ricochet and Swerve will be #1 contender.

Ric says that's good and says he's on. He says they aren't doing it tonight. He says the fans don't have enough money to pay his fee. He says they will do it in Revolution.

Thoughts: I don't like this being a #1 contender's match as Swerve has done nothing but lose lately and I don't see how he earns this.

Ric leaves. Nana says he has to talk to Swerve. Nana says he's glad Swerve is making the title a priority again and taking the steps to get it. He says he wants him to go back to being the most dangerous man in AEW. Nana says he took a lot of bullets for him. Nana says he needs Swerve to get his robe back or he doesn't know if he can do this anymore.

Renee interviews Adam Page. Page says MJF is gone and he left. Page says if he doesn't run MJF over, MJF will wish that he had.

Daniel Garcia and FTR vs Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong

Cash wristlocks Kyle. Kyle trips him and they trade hammerlocks. Kyle leglocks Cash and Cash ropebreaks. Cole and DG go at it. They end up doing a stand off. Dax does an armdrag on Strong. Strong chops him in the corner. Dax chops back. Dax suplexes him and legdrops him for 2. DG hits a twist and shout on Strong. Cole gets in and checks on Strong. Cole and DG argue. Kyle then boots DG over. The 6 wrestlers then fight.

Cole superkicks Dax outside and Kyle dropkicks Dax against the rails. DG dropkicks Kyle against the rails and DG is backbreakered on the rails. Cash tornado ddt's Strong on the floor.
We go to PiP break and return. Dax and Strong trade forearms. Strong olympic slams him then flying knees Cash. Strong drops Cash on his chest. Strong lariats Cash over the top. KYle flying knees Cash off the apron. Dax takes a gutbuster > backcracker > PK.

Dax fights off the 1v3 then he sharpshooters Kyle. We get a trple cradle spot then a triple lariat spot. DG and Cole hockey fight. DG facekicks Strong then lariats Cole. Dax sharpshooters Strong. Kyle tries to break it up with a guillotine but is abdominal steretched by Cash. Cole then jack knife pins DG to win.

Thoughts: It was a good tag with everyone really firing up here and taking this up a notch. I didn't expect that out of this one and it was a nice surprise. This was much better than expected.

They shove each other after. We are told Adam Cole will face Daniel Garcia for the TNT Title on Collision. 

Claudio looks for Cope backstage. Cope finds him and hits him. Cope hits him with some kind of object and sends him into a hockey board. They fight to the ring. Yuta comes out to help Claudio then Marina Shafir appears. Claudio chairs Cope. Claudio goes for a conchairto. Jay White copes out. Cope chairs the heels and spears Claudio.

Shafir gets on Cope's back with a sleeper. Yuta flying knees Shafir when Cope moves. Jay hits a bladerunner on Yuta. Cope chairs Claudio. Cope conchairto's Claudio. Mox comes out but doesn't really get involved as Jay threatens him with a chair. Cope goes to conchairto Shafir. Willow Nightingale's music hits. Willow comes out and conchairto's Shafir.

Harley Cameron vs Deonna Purrazzo

HC goes down off a lock-up. DP knees her in the gut. HC tries to grab the leg and is thrown back. We see Taya Valkyrie watching in the back. HC hits armdrags on DP. HC flying headscissors DP then neckbreakers her for 2.

HC gets stuck up top and DP pump kicks her down. DP baseball slides HC. We go to PiP break and return. HC jawbreaker her and lariats her on the ropes. SP spin kicks her then russian legsweeps her for 2. HC is in tree of woe and kicks DP. HC hits forearms and step up enzugiri's her. HC leg lariats hr for 2.

DP pump kicks her then powerbombs her for 2. HC hits a twisting reverse ddt and wins.

Thoughts: I was surprised they had DP lose here, but that's really all she does since she formed The Vendetta The match wasn't anything too special here. Harley's strength is on the mic, not in the ring.

We see Claudio and Shafir being taken away in an ambulance with Cope, Jay and Willow closing the doors.

AEW International Title - Revolution International Championship Series - Konosuke Takeshita vs Orange Cassidy

KT takes off OC's glasses. He breaks them and chews on them. OC then puts another pair on and wrestlers with them. KT knocks him over and takes the 2nd pair. KT gives Don Callis the sunglasses.

OC armdrags KT. KT ducks an orange punch. OC does his weak chops. KT facekicks him. OC superkicks him. OC dropkicks him then does weak kicks. OC boot flurries him in the corner. 

OC slingshot ddt's KT. KT drops him with a big forearm. We go to PiP break and return. OC bangs KT's head off the buckles. OC top rope flying elbows KT. KT hits a big lariat. OC's ddt is blocked and he ends up taking a blue thunder for 2.

OC hurricanrana's KT over the top. KT forearms OC outside. OC sits on the commentary table and tells KT to hit him. OC then puts his hands in his pockets. OC beachbreakers KT throug hthe commentary table.

OC orange punches KT in the ring. He topes him into a ddt on the floor. Don Calli complains and OC takes his sunglasses back from him. OC comes off the top and runs into a KT forearm. OC hits a stunner. KT package tombstones OC then OC flips him forward from that position for 2. KT hits a raging fire on OC and wins.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. It had the usual OC big match issues where he fools around with weak kicks and playing around with sunglasses. There's just no explanation for that in a title match. I wasn't really impressed with the selling in this one either. 

Overall thoughts: It was a long episode of Dynamite. It felt every bit of 2 hours here. I didn't like the Page/MJF segment as Page was beating the crap out of Daniels a month ago and is now coming to his aide. Swerve and Ricochet's segment wasn't bad and the 6-man with FTR impressed me. I thought The Outrunners/Murder Machines and Deonna/Harley were both lose-lose segments with people taking unnecessary losses as well. I'd give this one a 5 out of 10. AEW is trying to put on better shows just the booking hasn't improved.