AEW Dynamite Review - January 28, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kenny Omega def. Rocky Romero; Omega, "Hangman" Adam Page and Swerve Strickland Staked Their Claim at an AEW World Championship Opportunity

Omega vs. Romero was rather throwaway, but it was better than just starting the show with Omega talking. It served as a backdrop for everything that came after it and never overstayed its welcome. The mic work from Omega, Page and Strickland was all strong and once again made the AEW World Championship feel coveted. Page not being involved in this mini tournament to determine MJF's Revolution opponent is odd, but I assume Samoa Joe not being cleared to compete at the moment has something to do with that.

AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley def. Ace Austin in an AEW Continental Championship Eliminator Match

Austin hasn't gotten too many opportunities to show what he can do since he signed with the company over the summer, but it was cool he got to do his thing here with a notable name in Moxley. It was similar to most of Moxley's other matches, but it was well wrestled and Austin got to score some offense before predictably eating defeat. I don't know what to make of what we're getting with The Death Riders at the moment because there's nothing interesting about it.

AEW TNT Champion Mark Briscoe def. El Clon; Tommaso Ciampa Debuted

I thought this might be where Hologram returned from injury to cost Clon the win, but apparently not. Clon is very talented, as seen in this match, but there isn't much depth to his character other than being an "evil" version of Hologram. Nonetheless, I enjoyed their outing, and Ciampa's AEW debut afterward came off perfectly. Here's hoping he doesn't get lost in the shuffle in AEW. Hey, at least he isn't a member of The Don Callis Family (yet)!

Brody King Confronted AEW World Champion MJF

All of the interactions between these two in recent weeks have been well done. It's a simple story with King wanting a shot and MJF being too afraid to give it to him, but it's logical that he'd have to earn it by first beating MJF in an Eliminator next week. Eliminators are a silly concept, but this one is meaningful. They had a solid segment here to further the feud and set up the match.

AEW Women's World Champion Kris Statlander def. Thekla

I liked the stipulation that Sisters of Sin would get a shot at Babes of Wrath's AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship if they didn't get involved here. I didn't buy into the possibility that Thekla would take the title from Statlander, but she was the only option that make sense at this stage to challenge for the championship and I thought they had a really good match. Statlander's character lacks meaningful development, but her matches never cease to deliver.

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR def. Davis & Doyle

This had an unconventional dynamic with both teams being heel, but they made the most of it and had quite the hard-hitting affair. Apparently Jake Doyle got injured at one point and that sucks, but props to him for finishing out. Death Riders costing Davis & Doyle the win was because Davis & Doyle had gone after Moxley earlier in the show. Again, Death Riders feuding with The Don Callis Family does nothing for me.

Andrade El Idolo def. Swerve Strickland to Advance to Next Week's AEW World Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

It's so refreshing to see Andrade in the upper mix, be in AEW or anywhere. The guy is great and belongs at that level. This was the excellent outing I was hoping for from these two and Andrade winning was absolutely the right call. Omega will beat Andrade next week to become the number one contender, but I'm looking forward to that match, nonetheless, especially after Andrade attacked Omega all the way back in October and it was never followed up on.

Overall Show

This edition of Dynamite was a noticeable improvement over last week's. The AEW World Championship scene continues to take center stage, but it should because it's been a lot of fun to follow. The rest of the show was entertaining and it helped that there were three title matches to raise the stakes. Ciampa's debut was obviously newsworthy as well. Thumbs-up episode here.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews