AEW Dynamite Review - January 7, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley def. Shelton Benjamin in an AEW Continental Championship Eliminator Match

I enjoyed Moxley's match with Josh Alexander on last week's Dynamite, but I think I enjoyed this match more. Benjamin missing that kick on Moxley at one point was probably my only nitpick, but even that they recovered from quickly. A rule was recently introduced that the "challenger" would earn a future title if they can last the time limit (a la Ring of Honor's Proving Ground matches), so I thought this might end in a time-limit draw, but Moxley ended up beating Benjamin with seconds to spare. This was a great opener, and I hope Benjamin can continue to be used in the injured Bobby Lashley's absence.

"Jungle" Jack Perry and The Young Bucks def. The Demand (AEW National Champion Ricochet and GOA)

The match itself was good, but more memorable than that was the Bucks going back to their babyface gear and entrance theme. Perry pinning Ricochet (as he did at on the Worlds End Zero Hour pre-show) likely means he'll be challenging for the AEW National Championship again soon, or at least he should. Post-match, The Don Callis Family laid out the babyfaces, including the debuting Jake Doyle (f.k.a. TNA's Jake Something) and the returning Andrade. It was nice to see them, but I hope they don't get lost in the shuffle in The Don Callis Family.

AEW Women's World Tag Team Champions Babes of Wrath and AEW Women's World Champion Kris Statlander Embarrassed Mercedes Mone During Nightingale's AEW TBS Championship Celebration

This wasn't exactly the most exciting follow-up to Nightingale dethroning Mone last week. Mone comes off as extremely likable and her promo was solid, but Mone going face-first into the cake was weak, especially since we basically saw the same segment with her not too long ago. Mone's "crashout" continues, but I don't know what this was supposed to accomplish.

ROH World Champion Bandido def. Sammy Guevara (Non-Title)

Bandido knocked off The Beast Mortos last week and this week it was Guevara. Is this leading to Rush, the leader of La Faccion Ingobernable, costing Bandido the AEW World Championship next week to set up the ROH World Championship clash we were supposed to get at Final Battle before Rush got hurt? I don't think so, but it's not impossible. At any rate, this was well wrestled, but the outcome was never in doubt. I'm glad we got the post-match segment with MJF confronting Bandido and Bandido laying him out because the build has obviously been rushed.

"Timeless" Toni Storm def. Marina Shafir (Non-Title)

Although she's improved, Shafir remains wildly uninteresting to watch in the ring, at least to me. It helps having Storm as an opponent, but this match still did nothing for me on paper and it ended up being throwaway, anyway. What we got was fine, but the disqualification finish was lame. We're clearly headed toward a rematch between Timeless Love Bombs and MegaProblems, but it's not something I'm particularly interested in.

"Hangman" Adam Page and Swerve Strickland def. The Opps (Hook and AEW World Trios Champion Powerhouse Hobbs) in a Lights Out Match

Stop me if you've heard this before, but this Lights Out match would've meant a lot more if we didn't see this same sort of stuff so often in AEW. It was entertaining enough and the crowd had fun with it, but it wasn't the spectacle it should have been despite all the violence. Hey, at least there wasn't any blood. Page and Strickland work so well together that I wouldn't mind seeing them chase after the AEW World Tag Team Championship eventually.

Overall Show

The lighting issues during Nightingale's segment and early on in the main event were embarrassing, but putting that aside, this still wasn't a strong show on the whole. Rather, I'd say it was a rather average edition of Dynamite, not that there's anything wrong with that. It was very much a middle-of-the-road effort with a few highlights but nothing must-see. Perhaps next week's Maximum Carnage edition of Dynamite will be bigger.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews