AEW Dynamite Review - April 30, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Elite (AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada and The Young Bucks) and Ricochet def. Mark Briscoe, Kevin Knight, "Speedball" Mike Bailey and AEW International Champion Kenny Omega

AEW does a lot of these "all-star" type of matches (especially on Collision), but this one actually stood out with all of the star power involved and thus I had no issue with them getting as much television time as they did. The action was entertaining and we got some small previews of a few potential matches, including Omega vs. Okada (ideally at All In). The Elite is essentially a dead faction at this point, but I guess this win gives them a little bit of life.

AEW World Trios Champions The Opps (Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata and Powerhouse Hobbs) def. Myles Hawkins, Rhett Titus and Nick Comoroto) (Non-Title)

The match itself was a total squash as it should have been, though it was slightly odd to see Comoroto (who was on the AEW roster at one point and might still be) and Titus (a former ROH World Television and World Tag Team Champion) team with a dude I've never heard of before. The focus was more so on what happened afterward with The Opps brawling with The Death Riders and Joe making his upcoming AEW World Championship clash with Jon Moxley a Steel Cage match.

AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm def. Miyu Yamashita in an AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Match

I've seen Yamashita in action a number of times across AEW, TNA and MLW and she's a hell of a talent. Although l didn't think she had much of a chance against Storm here, they had a well-worked match in the time they were allotted. Post-match, Mercedes Mone briefly addressed Storm from the stage (after already doing a sit-down interview with Renee Paquette right beforehand) and Jamie Hayter also made a quick appearance to hype the finals of the Women's Owen Hart Cup at Double or Nothing.

The Hurt Syndicate Once Again Denied MJF

As I've said before, this ongoing angle with Hurt Syndicate and MJF is the best thing on AEW TV at the moment, but I'm ready for them to reach the next step of the storyline. Hurt Syndicate continue to deny MJF, or at least Bobby Lashley is. He actually got physical with MJF here, which was a nice development, but there wasn't much meaningful progression otherwise. I'm very curious if this is leading to MJF vs. Lashley at Double or Nothing or MJF finding a partner to challenge Hurt Syndicate for the AEW World Tag Team Championship.

ROH World Television Champion Nick Wayne def. Jay Lethal

These two confronted each other backstage earlier in the episode, leading to this match being made. I'm shocked this wasn't saved for Saturday's Collision, especially since that show will be emanating from Lethal's home state of New Jersey. I like Lethal, but most viewers have zero reason to care about him in 2025 (he hadn't had a match on Dynamite since last August). This was fine, but it seemed to only exist to further tension between Wayne and Christian Cage.

"Hangman" Adam Page def. Kyle Fletcher in a Men's Owen Hart Cup Semifinal Match

Page vs. Will Ospreay in the finals of the tournament felt like a given, not to mention the amount of times we've already gotten Fletcher vs. Ospreay in the last six months, but they delivered some suspenseful nearfalls nonetheless ​and had an excellent main event. Fletcher is the real deal and Page is a phenomenal performer in his own right. This went for a while and justifiably so. The crowd loved it as much as I did.

Overall Show

Props to AEW for maintaining the strong streak of shows with Dynamite as of late. This was another enjoyable effort on the whole. Wayne vs. Lethal was random and unnecessary, but everything else held my attention. They started and closed the night on a high note and hyped up the Spring Break edition in two weeks as well as Double or Nothing. The energy of these crowds has made a major difference.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews