AEW Dynamite Review - June 24, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Death Riders (AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta) def. Brodido and Mistico

We already saw Brodido beat Death Riders in a normal tag team match, so this was simply an extension of that to not only give Death Riders their win back but also provide another preview of Moxley vs. Bandido for the AEW Continental Championship at Forbidden Door. We also got Mistico in there as well, who will apparently be a part of a three-way tag team match on the pay-per-view. It was a good opener.

Harley Cameron def. Marina Shafir to Qualify for the AEW TBS Championship Survival of the Fittest Match

Most of these TBS title qualifiers have been pretty predictable so far, so Cameron upsetting Shafir was pleasantly surprising. It was a pretty basic bout with Shafir dominating a majority of it before Cameron pulled out the victory. Granted, I don't see Cameron taking the title next week, but you can't completely count out the possibility of it happening, especially since I didn't expect her to win here, either.

Will Ospreay def. ELP

Does El Phantasmo go by just ELP these days? That's what he was introduced and referred to as, so that's what I'll stick with. Anyway, this was a fun sprint from him and Ospreay. Of course, the outcome was never in doubt, but these two have history dating back to their days in New Japan-Pro Wrestling, so it was cool they got to renew their rivalry for one night. It was given an appropriate amount of time, too.

Swerve Strickland def. Daniel Garcia

This followed the same formula as Ospreay vs. ELP in that it only existed to give Strickland an additional momentum boost before he and Ospreay battle in the finals of the men's Owen Hart Cup. It was a little longer, which was unnecessary, but at least it was a nice, well-wrestled match. Garcia and Ospreay are allies, so that was the significance of Strickland taking on Garcia here.

Zack Sabre Jr. def. "Jungle" Jack Perry

You can take what I said about the previous two matches and apply it to this as well. Sabre Jr. is set to face Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door, so it was logical for him to face a different member of The Elite before then. Perry is a bit more credible than ELP and Garcia, though, so I was fine with this being competitive. It accomplished what it needed to and it was solid, so I can't complain.

The Young Bucks def. TMDK (Bad Dude Tito and Mikey Nicholls)

It's been announced that the Bucks will take part in a three-way tag team match at Forbidden Door with El Sky Team (Mistico and Mascara Dorada) and Unbound Co. (Shingo Takagi and Titan), so this gave the Bucks a win heading into that clash. Plus, it tied into Omega vs. Sabre Jr. because these teams are in factions with both men. There was nothing wrong with this, but thankfully, it was kept short and sweet.

Queen Aminata def. ROH Women's World Television Champion Red Velvet to Qualify for the AEW TBS Championship Survival of the Fittest Match

Aminata is the perfect person to be adding to next week's Survival of the Fittest match. In fact, I'd love to see her win the whole thing. She's someone who could greatly benefit from holding that TBS title. Velvet was never going over here, but it's worth noting that she's improved immensely in her time in Ring of Honor. This was a competent contest with the correct outcome.

AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita def. Ricochet

There was no way Takeshita was losing the AEW International Championship so soon after winning it and right before Forbidden Door, but Takeshita and Ricochet have proven in the past that they work well together and thus this was another enjoyable outing from them. Ricochet never really wins when it matters most, but I'll take him as a championship challenger over a random midcard who never wins at all.

Team Briscoe Attacked AEW World Champion MJF and The Don Callis Family

​This was a very standard segment to build toward the cage match at Forbidden Door. The interaction between Briscoe and MJF was well done, and MJF accidentally hitting Andrade El Idolo was an interesting twist to tease more tension. Briscoe standing tall made sense since his squad fell short in last week's main event, and it effectively made him look more like a threat to MJF before their inevitable AEW World Championship clash.

Overall Show

Forbidden Door has potential on paper, but I'm sorry, this was an extremely boring go-home show. I knew that was going to be the case just looking at the lineup coming into this edition of Dynamite, and there was plenty of adequate action, but there wasn't nearly enough storyline development. I mean, there was almost nothing. The Forbidden Door build has been serviceable, but this less-than-stellar show is exactly why I'm ready for AEW to get it over with.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews