AEW Dynamite 4/2/2025

AEW Dynamite 4/2/2025

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/aew-dynamite-3262025.html

 Jon Moxley and Marina Shafir vs Swerve Strickland and Willow Nightingale

SS = Swerve Strickland

SS and Mox fight outside as SS enters. The girls also fight out there. Marina hits knees to Willow's gut. Marina is sent into the rails. Mox hits SS with a chair in front of the ref and Marina suplexes Willow on the floor.

A table is set up outside. Mox and SS fight on the commentary tabke. Marina hip throws Willow. Mox is sent into the steps. Willow suplexes Marina. Mox shoulders over SS in the ring. SS dropkicks Mox. Mox takes a backbreaker then Willow dropkicks Mox.

Mox takes corner attacks from both opponents. Marina chokes Willow on the ropes with her leg. SS is thrown over the rail. Willow takes corner shots and Willow slaps Mox. Mox and Swerve both grab the girls. Neither of them do a move despite the girls being willing to do it to them.

Willow hits hots on Marina then Marina hip throws her. Marina powerbombs Willow off the apron through a table and Willow of course mostly just bangs her head off of it in a dangerous spot.

We go to PiP break and return. Marina rakes SS' back then Mox does as well. Willow then does a tower of doom spot on her opponents and her partner. Willow corner splashes both opponents and facekicks Marina. Mox grabs Willow, Swerve jumping knees Mox. Willow corner cannonballs Mox.

Willow spinebusters Marina for 2. Mox throws Willow out instead of just knocking her out and winning. Mox and Swerve fight. Mox grounded sleepers SS. Willow powerbombs Marina onto Mox and SS. Mox and SS trade. Mox bites SS then SS rolls into a flatliner on him.

SS hits a house call kick on Marina when she pushes Mox out of the way. Willow sends Mox through a table but the camera's miss it. Willow doctor bombs Marina to win.

Thoughts: It was the worst of AEW all in one with the missing camera shots, Willow getting her head smacked off a table, partners doing moves to partners and the girls beating up the guys with the guys doing nothing in return. Mox will choke people with bags, put people through fire and barbed wire but hitting a woman is just too dastardly for him. This was stupid, dangerous and had horrible logic.

Mox then ddt's Willow after, because he's an idiot who likes to lose matches. The announcers make it seem like he did such a bad thing but had no problem with Willow hitting the guys. Doc Sampson then checks on Willow after.

Renee interviews FTR and the ref Paul Turner. Dax was fined for putting his hands on the ref. He apologizes to Paul and gives the money he was fined to Paul. Paul thanks him and says it means a lot. Renee asks if FTR can put their issues aside and Dax says they can as they've been together for 11 years and can't let it go over one event on Collision. Dax apologizes to Cash and tries to hug him. Cash says they are brothers and will be fine, but they need to talk on Sunday.

They announce the Owen Hart Tournament brackets. It's Ospreay/Knight, Brody/Takeshita, Briscoe/Fletcher and Page/?. Jay White was supposed to be in the open spot but was attacked by The Death Riders off screen. The women's bracket has Hayter/Starkz, Rosa/Statlander, Julia Hart/Mone and Harley/Athena.

Toni Storm vs Penelope Ford

Toni pounds on her. Ford clubs on her and is sent into the apron. Toni chops her. Toni spinning backbreakers her. Toni suplexes her.

Ford dropkicks her then double knee drops her back on the apron. Toni hits forearms on Ford and Ford jumping facekicks her. We go to PiP break and return. Ford handspring back elbows Toni. Toni bites Ford's tongue and they trade forearms. Toni thesz presses her and hits punches.

Toni hits lariats then backdrops her. Toni corner hip attacks her and ddt's her for 2. Toni STF's her. Ford moonsaults off the apron onto her. Toni germans her and Ford back body drops her. Ford ducks a lariat and takes a storm zero. Toni pins her.

Thoughts: Toni won as expected. It was a way to get Toni on TV and get her win. It was acceptable and they kept things moving here with lots of action.

Megan Bayne comes out and claps for Toni after. Toni tells her to come on and holds the title up at her. 

Willow is being checked on in the back. Swerve says Willow is strong and brave. He says Willow welcomed the challenge tonight. Swerve is mad at Mox for DDT'ing Willow even though he knew she had neck issues. Swerve says he won't rest until he has his hands on Mox.

Thoughts: This was stupid. Willow wasn't exactly some angel out there as she hit Mox first during the match.

MVP and Bobby Lashley come out to the ring. MJF then comes out. MJF says MVP looks good tonight. MJF says "Bob" disrespected him last week but he will let it slide. He says he doesn't know him like MVP does. MJF then introduces himself. MJF then says he loves Shelton, who he said has travel issues today. MJF says Bobby is standing on the block he built.

MJF says he can help Bobby and Shelton hold onto the tag titles. He says they can help him get the AEW Title back too. MJF says him with them is just good business.

MJF says he might not want MJF, but he needs him. Bobby says he doesn't like or trust him. He says The Hurt Syndicate doesn't need him. Bobby says he needs to prove himself or get out of the ring. MJF tells the crowd they stink and leaves.

Bryan Keith and Big Bill come out. Bobby stares down Bill. Bill puts a chair down and tells Bobby to sit and watch.  

The Learning Tree (Big Bill and Bryan Keith) vs 2 jobbers

Bill throws a jobber then hits a facekick. MVP and Lashley watch. Bill gorilla presses the jobber out. Another jobber hits Bill from behind. Bill chokes him then throws him into a Bryan knee. Bill chokeslams the jobber and pins him with his foot on his face.

Thoughts: It was all squash as expected and just there to get some interaction between The Hurt's and Bill/Bryan.

Bill says they whooped Top Flight's @ss, whooped them tonight and says they will whoop The Hurt's on Sunday for the tag titles.

Renee interviews Mercedes Mone. Mone says Julia Hart is serious and unpredictable. She says she's a former TBS champ but the greatest TBS champ like her. Harley Cameron then puts the Mone puppet in Mone's face. Harley said they tore the house in Australia. Mone tells her to stay out of her way on Collision. Harley says they will be called the Money Wrath Train on Collision.

Will Ospreay and Kevin Knight vs Lee Johnson and Blake Christian

This is so random. Blake has ice cream cones on his tron.

Blake side headlocks Will and Will reverses it. Will shoulders Blake over and Blake kips up then struts. Blake spin kicks him in the gut then shoulders him over. Will then kips up and struts. Will flying headscissors him then trips him into a Kevin splash for 2.
Will is thrown out. Kevin is tripped then takes a basement dropkick. Will and Kev then hit near stereo dropkicks then they each do dives outside. Blake spears Will on the apron. We go to PiP break and return.

Blake rolls into a lariat on Kevin. Kev jumps over a double lariat. Will does a springboard double crossbody. Will hits a handspring corkscrew kick. Blake does a corkscrew tope on Will outside. Blake 450 foot stomps Will. Will stunners Lee.

Will hook kicks Blake. Lee is put on Blake's shoulders then Kevv dropkicks Blake. Will plancha's outside. Kev springboard lariats Lee.

Thoughts: They did a nice job highlighting Kevin Knight here. It was all flying as expected. I guess I was alright with this as it was all flying and they didn't overdo it.

Tony Schiavone says on the mic that Will vs Kevin Knight in the Owen Hart Tournament takes place at Dynasty.

Thoughts: Will has been featured as one of the top AEW guys and this is definitely a step down for him on a PPV.

The Ops do a video in the garage. Joe says the battlefield and nature of war was changing so he needed a different arsenal when he came back. Joe says they will be at Dynasty and will watch all.

Brody King vs Lance Archer

They lock up, let go and charge at each other. They shoulder battle and trade forearms. Lance facekicks him and lariats him over the top. Lance cannonballs him off the apron. King crossbodies Lance against the rail. Don Callis trips Brody. Lance then kicks Brody.

Brody is sent into the steps. Lance chops him and Brody chops back. Brody's head is banged off the commentary table. We go to PiP break and return.

Lance hits running back elbows then Brody germans him. Brody crossbodies Lance and slams him. Brody sentons him for 2. Lance black hole slams him for 2. Lance hits a choke slam for 2. Lance corner lariats him then takes a corner splash. Brody hits a corner cannonball. Brody lariats Lance for 2 then hits another and wins.

Thoughts: Oh of course Lance lost. There's no one on the roster he hasn't lost to at this point. It was a decent heavyweight match with them dropping bombs on each other and having a hoss style match. It wasn't the best it could have been but they did fine here.

Cope vs Claudio Castagnoli

Cope has some bright neon green and black gear on.

CC goes after Cope as he enters. CC hits boots in the corner. CC sends him into the rails. CC corner euros him against the rails then foot chokes him there. Some fan in a ref shirt counts at him to break it in a funny moment. Cope hits CC as he tries to get in. Cope knocks CC off the apron into the rails.

CC's head is banged off the steps then he is sent into the rails. Cope hits forearms outside. CC hits euros and headbutts him. Cope hits short arm lariats. CC bites him and Cope hits a headbuster on him for 2. Cope spears CC off the apron by going through the ropes. Cope goes to dive and gets euro'd. We go to PiP break and return. Cope's throat is pulled down over the top rope. They go up on the buckles and Cope hits a top rope diving bulldog.

CC eye pokes him then double stomps him. CC giant swings him. Cope hits an impaler for 2. Cope 2nd rope sunset flips him but CC rolls through. CC sharpshooters him. Cope crossfaces CC and CC ropebreaks. CC powerslams Cope on the apron then throws him over the rail. CC running lariats him as he gets in for 2. CC springboards into a big boot from Cope. CC pop-up euros Cope. CC neutralizers Cope for 2. CC goes for a conchairto. The ref stops him. Cope low blows CC. Cope spears CC and wins.

Thoughts: I don't know why The Death Riders didn't interfere here. It was long and not that good. They did a bit too much and didn't sell enough in this one for me. It also had a slow pace. I thought Cope was really risking injury with the top rope bulldog.

Renee tries to talk to Swerve and Nana in the back. The argue and Nana leaves. Swerve says he's looking for Renee's husband Mox. Adam Page pops up behind Swerve. He tells Swerve he's wasting his time. Page says he promised Swerve won't hold the title again. Security breaks them up as they argue. Page says Swerve broke into his house. Swerve says Page burned his house down. Page says he deserved it. Swerve says "he knows". Page walks off. Swerve then gets jumped by The Death Riders.  Swerve is sent into some kind of glass.

Serve is dragged to the ring. They pour broken glass into the ring. Swerve is powerbombed onto glass. Swerve then sits up.

Overall thoughts: It was a heavy wrestling show as often is the case. I hated everything about the opener and thought the main was long, but the other matches were okay enough. I didn't really get what the point of the MJF/Hurt Syndicate segment was but maybe it'll play into something at the PPV. I thought the Ospreay tag was random, but at least the match was okay. Brody/Lance was also fine. I'd give it a 5 out of 10 overall as some of the low points of this brought it down.