AEW Dynamite Review - January 8, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Will Ospreay def. Buddy Matthews

It makes zero sense that Matthews hasn't been featured on AEW TV at all since winning that random four-way on the Full Gear Zero Hour pre-show. This was also announced on social media earlier in the day without any fanfare. Don't get me wrong, this was a fun opener, but as I say about most matches in AEW, it would've been nice if there was more of a reason for why it happened. Ospreay praised Matthews afterward, but there was no indication of what was next for him.

The Hurt Syndicate Interrupted AEW World Tag Team Champions Private Party; Bobby Lashley def. Mark Briscoe

I'm all for Hurt Syndicate holding gold, but I do question the decision to put Lashley in the tag team ranks. He defeated Swerve Strickland decisively at Full Gear and has done nothing of note since then. Thankfully, he returned to his winning ways with a victory here in what was a good match against Briscoe. Private Party's AEW World Tag Team Championship reign has been pretty underwhelming, so I honestly wouldn't mind Hurt Syndicate taking those titles.

Powerhouse Hobbs Won an AEW World Championship No. 1 Contender's Casino Gauntlet Match

I complained about AEW holding too many Casino Gauntlet matches in 2024 and running the risk of watering down the concept, but it's been a bit since the last one. This was another enjoyable installment with a frantic pace and plenty of action. I can't say I saw Hobbs winning, but as the commentators explained, Hobbs got injured against Moxley in an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship last April, so there is some history there.

Jeff Jarrett Declined MJF's Offer

Jarrett was supposed to be an entrant in the Casino Gauntlet match but got attacked by Wheeler Yuta before he could enter the ring, so that pretty much confirms we'll be getting Jarrett vs. Jon Moxley for the AEW World title at some point. In the meantime, it looks like he'll be feuding with MJF. This was a solid exchange, but after MJF just got done with Adam Cole, this isn't exactly what I had in mind for him.

Powerhouse Hobbs Saved Cope and FTR From The Death Riders

Cope pinned ROH World Champion Chris Jericho in a six-man tag team match on last week's Collision, but aside from a few quick highlights, Cope made no mention of that here. Perhaps that's for the better. He's clearly coming for Moxley and this was a simple segment to get close to that as well as build toward Hobbs vs. Moxley for next week. This rivalry isn't off to a strong start, but at least this accomplished what it needed to.

Kris Statlander def. Toni Storm and Willow Nightingale to Earn the No. 1 Spot in Next Week's AEW Women's World Championship No. 1 Contender's Casino Gauntlet Match

All three of these women are talented, so unsurprisingly, this was a well-wrestled three-way. I thought Storm would win with Statlander and Nightingale canceling each other out, but apparently not. It's not like it matters since I'm sure Storm and Nightingale will be involved, anyway. In fact, Storm is the safe bet to come out on top considering the winner will get their title shot at Grand Slam in Australia, which isn't far from Storm's native New Zealand.

Will Ospreay Saved Kenny Omega From The Don Callis Family

Despite what Omega has said publicly in interviews, AEW absolutely needed him and it's wonderful that he's finally back. He recapped his road to recovery before getting interrupted by Don Callis, who he quickly went after. The rest of The Don Callis Family (sans Konosuke Takeshita) then attacked Omega before Ospreay made the save, so it looks like we're headed for a tag team match at Grand Slam (or potentially before then). It was also announced that Omega will face Brian Cage on next week's Maximum Carnage edition of Dynamite.

Overall Show

Between the Casino Gauntlet match and Omega's return, this show felt more special on paper than what's being advertised for the Maximum Carnage edition next Wednesday, and even then, it was only a decent episode on the whole. Unfortunately, the AEW World Championship scene is difficult to get invested in at the moment because everything revolves around the lame Death Riders storyline, and I'm not a fan of so many of the older wrestlers getting more focus than the younger wrestlers. I liked this show, but AEW needs to be careful with the creative direction they're headed in.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews