AEW Dynamite Review - February 19, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

MJF and "Hangman" Adam Page Faced Off

I thought AEW might hold off on this feud until closer to All In, but their brawl last week made it clear that they're on a collision course toward Revolution, which was made official after this segment. They did an excellent job of recapping their history over the last six years and I loved the camera shots throughout. This was strong stuff that left me looking forward even more to their upcoming matchup than before.

The Opps (Hook, Samoa Joe and Katsuyori Shibata) def. The Patriarchy (Nick Wayne, Christian Cage and Kip Sabian)

For as long as Hook has been at odds with The Patriarchy, Joe and Shibata being added to the mix has breathed new life into the rivalry. This was a fairly standard six-man tag team match, but the action was solid. I feel like there's a likely chance Christian will face Joe one-on-one at Revolution before Christian attempts to cash in his guaranteed AEW World Championship shot later in the night.

Powerhouse Hobbs def. Big Bill in a Street Fight

This feud has been one of the few recuring highlights on AEW TV over the last month. Sure enough, they delivered an entertaining brawl where they made the most of the stipulation. The finish looked brutal, but the question is whether it was designed to write Bill off television or if Bill will be back quickly. Regardless, I'm happy AEW has found a way to keep Hobbs hot after he unsuccessfully challenged Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship last month.

AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm Addressed the Audience

Although I originally wasn't a fan of Storm bringing back the Timeless persona, it clearly has some significant shelf life left based on the strong crowd reaction she received here. She mentioned Mariah May so many times that I thought she'd crash her celebration, but apparently not. I could see them having a rubber match at Revolution, but I'd also be fine with them finally moving on from that feud. Either way, this was a fun promo from Storm.

Cope and Jay White Attacked The Death Riders

It's difficult to care about Moxley's promos with a majority of them blending together because they lack substance. Thus, White couldn't have come out a second sooner. The babyfaces' brawl with Death Riders was basic albeit logical after Death Riders beat them at Grand Slam: Australia. Cope promising to take out every member of the group before Revolution has to mean Beth Phoenix will debut to thwart Marina Shafir, right?

Megan Bayne def. Kris Statlander

How far in advance was this advertised? They only just interacted for the first time last week I believe. You'd think they would've done the tag team match with them, Thunder Rosa and Penelope Ford first before building to the singles match between Bayne and Statlander, but oh well. This was well wrestled and Bayne winning was the correct result. The post-match angle with Rosa attempting to fend off the heels with a chair came off terribly. I have no idea what went down there.

Prince Nana Confronted Ricochet

I'm not going to say Ricochet has always been a skilled talker because that's not true, but he undoubtedly has improved on the mic during his heel run. He's slowly but surely putting the pieces together. Other than going a little long, this was a nice promo from him and Nana also played his role well. I assume Strickland will be back next week so they can have their rematch at Revolution.

Orange Cassidy def. Roderick Strong in an AEW Revolution International Championship Series Match

I know Cassidy's been off television for several weeks, but it didn't feel like he was gone long enough for his return to pack a punch. Nonetheless, this was a quality contest, much like it was at last year's Revolution. I'm just not sure why it had to close the show, though, especially considering the outcome was pretty predictable. It's also pretty predictable that Konosuke Takeshita will retain against Cassidy next week before defending against Kenny Omega at Revolution, but I appreciate the renewed focus on the AEW International Championship for a few weeks.

Overall Show

While this wasn't on the same level as last week's great edition of Dynamite, I still thought this was a good show on the whole. The opening segment was the highlight of the night, but the fallout from Grand Slam: Australia and the continued build to Revolution were well done and we got the usual enjoyable wrestling. AEW TV is thankfully trending in the right direction heading into what's shaping up to be a promising pay-per-view on paper.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews