AEW Dynamite Review - January 21, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Brody King Confronted AEW World Champion MJF

This was a logical way to follow up on King saving Bandido from MJF at the end of last week's episode. King staked his claim at the next title shot and MJF understandably said he'd have to rack up some meaningful wins first while also acting scared. It was a simple segment yet an effective one. I assume we get that match within the next month as it doesn't feel worthy of being saved until Revolution.

Samoa Joe def. AEW World Trios Champion "Speedball" Mike Bailey

This was a really fun clash of styles with both guys excelling in their respective roles. Bailey is a blast to watch and Joe is always awesome, so I enjoyed this as much as I thought I would. I don't think Joe needed interference to beat Bailey of all people, but that was my only nitpick. For those wondering, I don't think the absence of Powerhouse Hobbs (who has indeed departed AEW since last week ahead of a rumored move to WWE) was acknowledged.

The Death Riders (Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta and AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley) def. The Don Callis Family (Rocky Romero, Lance Archer and Hechicero) in a Street Fight

This was basically the B-team of Don Callis Family, so that foreshadowed the finish. Like I said last week, I can't bring myself to care about this faction feud, but to their credit, this was a well-worked Street Fight where they made the most of the stipulation. It's way too early in the rivalry for there to be this kind of chaos, but it did make the matchup more interesting.

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR def. Jordan Oliver and Alec Price (Non-Title)

In case you missed it, Oliver and Price were recently reported as being "All Elite" by Fightful. Both have been standouts in MLW and on the northeast independent scene for a few years now, so I'm happy AEW picked them up. Of course, the outcome wasn't in doubt here, but it was a nice showcase for FTR before they defend against Davis & Doyle next week.

Kenny Omega def. Josh Alexander

If I'm not mistaken, the two "dream" matches Alexander has gone on record in saying he's wanted for a while now are AJ Styles and Omega, so I'm glad he got to have one of them. Although I never bought into the possibility of Alexander actually winning, this was still a great match. Hopefully this win puts Don Callis Family in Omega's rear view for the foreseeable future as he focuses on the AEW World Championship.

Penelope Ford and Megan Bayne def. Timeless Love Bombs

This was a fairly standard outing with nothing out of the ordinary about it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not like this feud has been lighting the world on fire, either. With Ford just returning to the ring, it made sense for her to be the one to pick up the pinfall win for her team and for Marina Shafir to interfere. Ford and Bayne should get the next AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship opportunity, but I guess it depends on whether this rivalry will continue or not.

Swerve Strickland def. AEW World Trios Champion Kevin Knight

The seed shave been planted for this over the last few weeks with Strickland praising Knight but saying that he wasn't ready for that next level yet. This effectively told that story with Knight having a stellar showing in defeat, and I'm sure this won't be the last we see of them against each other. This was an excellent main event, and I assume Strickland sets his sights back on the AEW World Championship coming out of this.

Overall Show

Although there was plenty of quality wrestling on this show, it was rather light on significant storyline developments. It was an average edition of Dynamite on the whole and far from a weak show, but if you didn't tune in, you didn't miss much. Revolution isn't for another two months, so not every episode is going to be must-see in the meantime, but hopefully Dynamite will have more of an urgency in the weeks ahead.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews