AEW Dynamite Review - March 25, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kenny Omega def. Swerve Strickland in an AEW World Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

Omega's EVP status was also on the line. Not only would he have lost had Strickland won, Strickland also apparently would have become an EVP. That pretty much foreshadowed the finish, especially considering Strickland won their original encounter last month, but this was another excellent outing from them, nonetheless. Omega vs. MJF for the AEW title at Revolution makes a lot of sense with the event emanating from Omega's home country of Canada.

The Death Riders (Daniel Garcia, AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley and Marina Shafir) def. SkyFlight (Top Flight and Zayda Steel)

Top Flight were in their home state here, so this was a nice spot for them to be in, even though there was next to no chance of them winning. They scored some offense, but this was mostly about Death Riders and giving them an additional momentum boost so they'll feel like more of a threat to Will Ospreay. Speaking of Ospreay, we found out he'll face Moxley at Dynasty. I have to imagine the AEW Continental Championship will be on the line, but I don't know if that was confirmed.

AEW World Trios Champion "Speedball" Mike Bailey def. Rocky Romero

You'd think this was one of those stupid "standby" matches because it didn't really serve much of a purpose. Not that it was bad or anything, but the outcome was never in doubt since Romero never wins anything of note by himself in AEW. The match felt like it existed to give Bailey more credibility in case he challenges Kyle Fletcher for the AEW TNT Championship again at Dynasty. There was no hint of that on this show, but he did interact with Omega backstage afterward.

Kenny Omega Confronted AEW World Champion MJF

I was wondering why Omega vs. Strickland opened the show instead of closing it, and this explained why. We're getting the contract signing between them next week, but I'm glad we got them face-to-face on this episode considering Dynasty is right around the corner. This was a strong verbal exchange from them that left me looking forward to their championship clash.

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR Responded to Adam Copeland and Christian Cage

Copeland and Cage spoke about FTR in a backstage interview and FTR (along with Stokley, who's no longer bound to a wheelchair) promptly responded on the stage. Everyone's mic work was solid and effectively recapped their history, specifically the longtime friendship between Copeland and Cash Wheeler. I still see Copeland and Cage taking the tag titles, but what if FTR find a way to beat them on their own home turf like they did with The Young Bucks at Revolution?

The Dogs (Clark Connors and David Finlay) def. The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong)

I didn't have any interest in this feud continuing after Revolution, and I still don't, but to the credit of the four guys involved, this was a well-worked tag team match. Granted, Finlay doesn't feel special in the slightest at this point, but it was imperative that he and Connors won here, so I was happy with the outcome. The Dogs chasing the AEW World Trios Championship might be the best use of them for the time being.

AEW Women's World Champion Thekla def. Mina Shirakawa

Shirakawa winning that No Holds Barred match against Shafir on last week's Dynamite was enough to earn her a shot at the AEW Women's World Championship, but instead of building it up a bit, it was quickly given away on Dynamite and she lost. Shocker, I know. They had a quality contest, but I'm hoping Thekla cheating to win means there will be a rematch, possibly at Dynasty.

Darby Allin def. Rush in a No Count-Out Match

If you were going to do a No Count-Out match, why not just make it No Disqualification, too? Or at the very least Falls Count Anywhere? It was an odd stipulation for two guys who aren't actually feuding, but they made the most of it and had a fun main event. This couldn't compare to the stakes in the opener, but it's clear Allin is being groomed for a future opportunity at the AEW World Championship, so I get putting him in the main event. The Don Callis Family attacked him afterward, so I guess they'll be the ones to keep Allin busy in the meantime.

Overall Show

As I noted earlier, I understand why Strickland vs. Omega didn't go on last despite having the highest stakes of the night, but it hurt the flow of the rest of the show. This was an enjoyable edition of Dynamite on the whole, but it peaked there and nothing else matched that same energy. On the bright side, the card for Dynasty already looks promising and there's only three matches official as of now. This wasn't an overly exciting effort from AEW, but everything accomplished what it needed to.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews