Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite" here on the last Wednesday before Double or Nothing 2025! Even though it seemingly won't be the main event of the PPV, AEW spent a significant portion of the evening building up the now formally announced Anarchy in the Arena match, and we'll have a lot to say about that here.We'll also talk about the women's division main event and the promo exchange that preceded it, as well as the episode's overall vibe and, perhaps most importantly, an excoriation of Ricochet's scissor maintenance.
If you haven't seen the show and/or you just want some unbiased facts to read, you can do that on our "Dynamite" results page. If you want to know what the WINC staff thought about what we saw this week (or least the things we felt most strongly about) here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 5/21/25 episode of "AEW Dynamite."
I'll admit, I am notorious for hating go-home shows no matter the promotion, but tonight's episode of "AEW Dynamite" was entirely too predictable when it comes to the format of the show. I don't know if that's because of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals or what, but it didn't exactly feel like anyone tried tonight when it came to the show's booking.The opening promo featuring Will Ospreay and "Hangman" Adam Page was fine in places, but it was nothing spectacular and seemed like it went on for far too long. AEW advertised that they'd be going face-to-face before their Owen Hart Cup tournament finals match, as did Mercedes Mone and Jamie Hayter, which was all to be expected before it was even promoted on social media.
I'm also so tired of promotions running multi-man tag team matches ahead of a big event where everyone is already involved. Thankfully, the match with Swerve Strickland, Samoa Joe, and Powerhouse Hobbs against Jon Moxley and the Young Bucks wasn't a kind of "Can TheyCoexist?!" match, but it was still just kind of predictable. It of course led to the equally as predictable show-ending segment, which was like a mini-Anarchy in the Arena match featuring all the competitors in the bout, as well as Gabe Kidd. Everyone was knocking each other around, taking each other out with weapons, and everything else you'd expect from Sunday's match. While Ididn't necessarily mind the ending, it was just predictable on a predictable show.
Overall, like every go-home show has been everywhere for what seems like forever now, there was nothing too exciting or shocking to get me more excited for Sunday. EvenMJF's contract signing with the Hurt Syndicate pretty much went off without a hitch and the only people that interrupted the segment were Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin's Double or Nothing opponents, the Sons of Texas, and Dustin Rhodes ran them all down. I suppose it doesn't matter too much, because Iam really looking forward to Double or Nothing on Sunday, but it just always feels like the show before a pay-per-view is just another thing to get through before the big event. AEW usually always shows out for its pay-per-views, so here's to a better, more exciting, more interesting Sunday night for us all.
Written by DaisyRuth
Wednesday's "Dynamite" featured both pairs of 2025 Owen Hart Cup finalists meeting for one last promo exchange before the deciding matches at AEW Double or Nothing. "Hangman" Adam Page and WillOspreay came first, and while I thought the exchange had real life to it at times particularly when Ospreay said he had to learn how to beat Jon Moxley by beating Page there ultimately was no heat to any of this for me. Page and Ospreay took turns stating their case for why they want and/or need to win on Sunday, but they still don't dislike each other or have any reason to fight beyond having met in the tournament. This feud is dripping with mutual respect, and mutual respect is incredibly boring.
In contrast, Mercedes Mone and Jamie Hayter had their final confrontation later in the evening, right before the main event. Theirs was a sit-down interview with Renee Paquette rather than a one-on-one exchange in the ring, which to me made it feel more like the two competitors disliked each other they needed a mediator. Historically neither Hayter nor Mone are necessarily the best on the mic, but this segment actually went pretty well, with Hayter in particular framing the contest as class warfare, with herself as the scrappy underdog fighting from the bottom against the power of wealth and privilege. It made the matchabout something in a way that Page vs.Ospreay can't be. Mone played into this framing with her arrogant dismissal of Hayter's journey, prompting Hayter (playing into the framing herself) to fight dirty, needling the "belt collector" about having lost the NJPW STRONG Women's Championship. This escalated perfectly into someverybelievable physicality from Mone, followed by Hayter getting the upper hand and leveling her with a lariat while the crowd went wild.
Maybe the promo delivery wasn't perfect, but this was awesome and got me considerably more invested in the match on Sunday, simply by putting two characters together and letting their differences create conflict. It's not rocket science but itdoes have to be well-executed, and this was. Some other 2025 Owen Hart Cup finalists should take notes.
Written byMiles Schneiderman
Any competent military will teach a recruit about proper weapon maintenance. A weapon must be clean and ready to be used at a moment's notice. Ricochet has failed this basic tenet of weapon ownership, as his once sharp scissors are now too dull to cut the skin.
When Ricochet first took up the blades, he did so in such horrific fashion that the initial bloodying of Swerve Strickland has managed to keep the scissors as a mere threat for much of his time brandishing them. Then, on Wednesday's "Dynamite," he unsheathed his weapon and stabbed Anthony Bowens in the head, leading to absolutely no blood. The blade is dull, the weapon has lost it's threat. Sure, Bowens still lost the match, but now the scissors might as well be a pair of brass knuckles. They have lost the sickening presence they once had, as they now leave no more of a mark than a basic punch. It's a shame to see such a creative weapon neutered so swiftly.
Ricochet will be able to come back from this, but he will likely need an even more gruesome display than the previous one to help get the object's heat back. But it will be an unnecessary spectacle, reinflating a balloon that went flat. It is probably time for Ricochet to find a new office implement to hurt people with. Is anyone using a stapler these days? Perhaps he can slice his opponent open with the sharp end of a ruler?
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
Written by Ross Berman
The ladies of AEW got the main event match of "AEW Dynamite" tonight, which is enough to love in itself, but it was what happened after the match that pit number one contender to the AEW Women's World Championship, Mina Shirakawa, against Julia Hart that I really loved. Shirakawa got the victory over Hart, but then caught a beatdown from Hart, with the assistance of a newly-returned Skye Blue. Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm was on commentary for the match and jumped in to help Shirakawa, as to be expected, but the pair didn't end this segment all cutesy and lovey-dovey like their segments prior when Mariah May was in the picture.
After the babyfaces ran off the other women, Shirakawa took advantage of having her Double or Nothing opponent in the ring. The pair briefly fought over the championship and Shirakawa took out Storm. She put Storm in a figure four leglock around the ring post in an attempt to soften her up before their title match on Sunday. If you had watched anything in prior months between these two women, you wouldn't really have thought that Shirakawa would rough Storm up like that. It was the challenger who walked out on her own two feet, and Storm, though likely playing up the dramatics, had to be carried to the back by Luther.
I loved this simple act of violence from Shirakawa to show she means business now that she's officially part of the AEW roster. She can be cute and fun and had the whole love triangle thing with Storm and May, but now, she's all business before Sunday.
Written byDaisyRuth
This week's show finally saw the battle lines drawn (and the competitors announced) for Anarchy in the Arena, though I must say I was scratching my head at the omission of Gabe Kidd. The NJPW star was unveiled as the newest member of the Death Riders at the close of Jon Moxley's World Championship defense against Samoa Joe, with Moxley then making it clear that he was a part of his faction.
But then he was conspicuously absent for much of his group's fighting tonight, especially as the babyfaces got the upper hand over the heels to make them retreat. Then the match was announced, and he was confirmed not to be a part of the official six-on-six lineup. He did eventually show up, minutes before the show ended to swing a ringside brawl in the Death Riders' favor.
It's just odd that Kidd was debuted to in such a way only to not to be included in the match, and it flat out doesn't make sense that he was just waiting for a brawl that, if the heels had it their way, would have never happened; the brawl itself started as the Bucks were bragging about leaving untouched by Samoa Joe's team, only for them to be ambushed. What was Kidd doing while all of that was going on? Why didn't he attack any of the babyfaces beforehand?
The AITA match itself is sure to be entertaining and maniacal in the best way, and Kidd is surely going to be featured in some way. But that makes it even weirder that he wouldn't be in the match, he has every reason to be, with his Wrestle Dynasty feud against Kenny Omega and the fact he cost Joe the title. Even in the way he was presented, it was as though he was intended to make a surprise appearance as the difference-maker. So why put that emphasis on someone who isn't going to be in the match?
Written by Max Everett
There are plenty of matches to look forward to at Double or Nothing on Sunday, but Anarchy In The Arena is undoubtedly one of the biggest if not the biggest match on the entire card. For that reason, it was nice to see such a large portion of tonight's show dedicated to an All Star Trios Match that Jon Moxley, The Young Bucks, Swerve Strickland, and The Opps were involved in, a post-match brawl, and a second pull apart brawl to close out the show. While it may have been a lot within the span of two hours, more often than not in modern day professional wrestling, large scale matches like Anarchy In The Arena will only have one short pull apart brawl after a match between one or more competitors. It was a much needed change of pace to see that pattern be broken, and have so much time emphasized on just how much tension there is between all of the competitors in the match on the whole. On a "Dynamite" that was otherwise pretty forgettable (especially for a go-home show), this was one of the only really memorable things that happened to create some last minute excitement for Anarchy In The Arena.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
