AEW Dynamite Review - August 20, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley Went Face-to-Face; Hiroshi Tanahashi and JetSpeed def. The Death Riders (Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli and Moxley)

Ospreay and Moxley were advertised as having a face-to-face on this show, and technically they did, but I thought we'd actually hear from Moxley before the brawl broke out. Oh well. Ospreay's promo was fine. He attempted to explain how he's able to wrestle at Forbidden Door despite saying last month he has a neck injury, but it was weak. The subsequent six-man tag team match was solid, but I can understand what everyone's been saying as far as his knees being shot. It's painfully apparent at this point. The post-match brawl was pretty chaotic, serving as a fitting preview of what we can expect in that Lights Out Steel Cage match on Sunday.

Killswitch and Kip Sabian Attacked Adam Copeland and Christian Cage

Although I still feel like their storyline is being rushed, the portion of this segment with Copeland and Christian getting on the same page was well done. Christian is still acting like an asshole heel, but he's willing to coexist with Copeland because of their common enemies. I'm sure they'll warm up to being partners over time. I'm not sure if Nick Wayne's injury is legitimate, but Killswitch returning to replace him (after being gone for almost exactly one year) for the tag team match at Forbidden Door was a pleasant surprise.

FTR vs. Brodido in the Finals of the AEW World Tag Team Championship Eliminator Tournament Ended in a Time-Limit Draw

This felt genuinely unpredictable since either of these teams could have realistically won, so I probably should have expected the time-limit draw. It's a logical finish, but AEW relies on the time-limit draw more often than they should and thus it got a groan out of me, not to mention that the tag titles were just defended in a three-way tag team match at All In. Nonetheless, FTR vs. Brodido was very entertaining.

MJF Interrupted AEW World Champion "Hangman" Adam Page

Page's promo was basic stuff. I didn't have an issue with MJF threatening to inflict further harm on Mark Briscoe backstage unless Page agreed to his stipulations for their Forbidden Door match, but one of those stipulations being that he doesn't have to use the title opportunity he earned at All In was stupid. Why set that up in the first place in that case? This was the sort of segment you'd see a few weeks prior to the pay-per-view, not a few days beforehand.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena and AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone def. Alex Windsor and AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm

For some reason, I thought this was supposed to be a Glasgow Street Fight. I must have misheard what they said last week when they announced it. Regardless, it was cool to see these four spotlighted in the main event and it was as well-wrestled as you'd expect. It never quite reached that next level for me, but the action was enjoyable. Windsor being the one to eat the pinfall loss made sense since she was the only one involved that wasn't a champion.

Overall Show

Dynamite has been held in Canada and Mexico before, but I believe this was the first edition to take place overseas. The Glasgow crowd made for an electric environment. I'd love if AEW was able to take Dynamite and Collision overseas more often and not just when they have Forbidden Door or All In. Bryan Danielson being on commentary was awesome, but it was slightly strange since it was the first time we've heard from him on AEW TV since he stepped away from active competition. There were some cool moments and matches throughout the night, so all in all, it was a successful go-home for Forbidden Door.

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