AEW Dynamite Review - July 9, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm Fended Off AEW TBS/RevPro Undisputed British Women's/EWA Women's/CMLL World Women's Champion Mercedes Mone

I hate to sound like a broken record, but most of this feud has blended together for me, and I don't say that as a bad thing. I haven't been impressed with some of the segments, while other interactions of theirs have been basic yet effective. I thought this one fell in the latter category. Both women played their roles nicely, though Storm was definitely the stronger on the mic of the two. I'd prefer to see Storm win at All In, but I'm prepared for that likely Mone win.

The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher) def. ROH World Champion Bandido and Brody King

You put four guys of this caliber in the ring together and you won't get anything less than the entertaining outing we were treated to here. It won't be remembered a week from now, mind you, but it was fun while it lasted and successfully served as a preview of what we're going to get this weekend, specifically when Takeshita and Bandido clash for the ROH World Championship at Supercard of Honor.

Ricochet def. Blake Christian

I know The Gates of Agony attacked Christian and Lee Johnson backstage on last week's Collision and Ricochet approved of the attack, but this was still a weird match to do with Christian being a heel prior to this point. It was a perfectly fine sprint, and if nothing else, it gave Ricochet an easy win. We've already seen Gates of Agony aligned with Brian Cage in the past, so I would've rather seen Ricochet recruit CRU as part of his new, well, crew instead.

Mark Briscoe and MJF's "Talky-Talk" Broke Out Into a Brawl; JetSpeed and The Patriarchy Attacked The Hurt Syndicate

Although I maintain that MJF feuding with Briscoe feels like a significant step down for MJF (and I'm well aware of the report that he requested the rivalry), I am looking forward to them working together more coming out of All In because of the drastic difference in their characters, which made for a quality verbal exchange here. The rest of the segment helped hype the AEW World Tag Team Championship three-way match at All In and sent the message that Hurt Syndicate could be in jeopardy of losing the titles with the odds not being in their favor for once.

Megan Bayne def. Queen Aminata, Thekla and Tay Melo in a Four-Way Match to Earn the No. 2 Spot in the Women's Casino Gauntlet Match at All In

This was along the lines of pretty much every other four-way we've gotten on AEW and WWE TV recently in that it was well worked, even if it wasn't given a ton of time. Perhaps that was for the better. Bayne continuing to be pushed aggressively despite losing to Storm at Dynasty has been encouraging and I can certainly see her winning the women's Casino Gauntlet. By virtue of becoming the number two entrant, she'll start out with Kris Statlander.

AEW World Trios Champion Samoa Joe def. Wheeler Yuta

The Opps and The Death Riders have been feuding for months, so this wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but it didn't last long and Joe went over decisively as he should have. Plus, he was super over with this crowd. Let the record show that The Opps have not defended the AEW World Trios Championship since winning them three months ago ahead of their upcoming defense at All In.

The Death Riders (AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli) and The Young Bucks def. AEW World Trios Champions The Opps (Katsuyori Shibata and Powerhouse Hobbs), Will Ospreay and "Hangman" Adam Page

AEW has done enough "All-Star" matches to last a lifetime, especially in 2025 alone. I don't know if I constitute that as good booking, but the matches consistently deliver, so at least there's that. The action was enjoyable and fast-paced. Hopefully the heels winning means they're all losing on Saturday. Swerve Strickland closing the show by destroying the Bucks' limousine with a crane outside of the arena was a cool visual.

Overall Show

While this go-home edition of Dynamite didn't do a ton to move the needle as far as my excitement level for All In, I was already pumped for the pay-per-view and this show merely reinforced that. The wrestling was solid per usual and the All In hype was what it needed to be. Nothing stood out as special, but it was still a thumbs-up episode with pretty much everything existing for a reason.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews