AEW Dynamite Review - June 17, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kenny Omega def. Tony Nese

The commentators said Nese (who was already in the ring) was granted an impromptu match by Tony Khan and Omega emerged as his opponent. There are a lot of instances of lower-level talent taking bigger names to the limit in AEW, but thankfully, that was not the case here. Rather, this was a short and sweet showcase for Omega. Post-match, he addressed Zack Sabre Jr. in the ring while The Elite and TMDK were also present. It was basic hype for their bout at Forbidden Door.

Brodido def. The Death Riders (Daniel Garcia and AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley)

Was this the first time Brodido have teamed together all year? Bandido and Brody King have been busy doing singles stuff since the beginning of 2026, but it was cool to see Brodido back in tag team action. Granted, it felt random, but with Bandido pinning Garcia for the win, we found out afterward that it was enough to earn him a shot at the AEW Continental Championship in Moxley's eyes. This was an enjoyable outing.

AEW World Tag Team Champions Cage & Cope Attacked and Addressed The Dogs

The Dogs have been bullying stagehands backstage for weeks, so Cage & Cope coming back to give their comeuppance was always going to be the payoff. This felt like an appropriate time to pull the trigger and announce their tag title match for Forbidden Door. I still don't buy The Dogs as legitimate threats to the belts despite them beating The Young Bucks on Collision last week, but it's a fine filler feud for Cope & Cage for now.

Mercedes Mone def. Hazuki in a Women's Owen Hart Cup Semifinal Match

Hazuki was impressive against Persephone in the opening round, but there was no way Mone was returning to television and not making it to the finals of the women's Owen Hart Cup. That said, I appreciate that they were given an ample amount of time because it ended up being a damn good match. We'll find out Mone's opponent in the finals when Athena faces Maya World on Collision this Saturday.

Will Ospreay Attacked Swerve Strickland

This was a fantastic segment that did an extremely effective job of recapping the history between these two men, building up their bout for Forbidden Door and establishing that Ospreay has never beaten Strickland before. Of course, Ospreay is absolutely beating him this time around, but the drama and story are excellent, nonetheless. This left me more excited for their upcoming encounter than I was before and that's saying something.

AEW World Champion MJF and The Don Callis Family (Andrade El Idolo, AEW TNT Champion Kevin Knight, Kazuchika Okada, Kyle Fletcher and Jake Doyle) def. The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe and AEW World Trios Champions Roderick Strong, Kyle O'Reilly and Orange Cassidy), Darby Allin and AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita

It makes zero sense why AEW would do this match on this show and then run it back at Forbidden Door. Sure, the rematch is going to be inside of a cage and will be way more violent, but this felt pretty pointless seeing as how there was nothing at stake here. Having them announce the members of each team would have been better. It was an entertaining main event, but the heels winning all but guarantees the babyfaces are going over at Forbidden Door (which is why I figured was going to happen, anyway).

Overall Show

Illogical main event aside, this was a thumbs-up edition of Dynamite. The hype for Forbidden Door is heating up, and while it largely feels like an inconsequential event on paper (as it normally does), the quality of Dynamite isn't suffering too much in the meantime. The wrestling delivered on this episode as always and the storyline progression was well done, making for a fun watch on the whole.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews