AEW Dynamite Review - November 19, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bobby Lashley def. Ricochet to Earn the No. 1 Spot in the AEW National Championship Casino Gauntlet Match at Full Gear

I don't think it'd be a stretch to say Ricochet's pre-match promo lasted longer than the match itself. Uhm, what was the point of that? I understand Lashley was going over decisively regardless, but why have it end in a matter of minutes and book it like a straightforward squash of Ricochet? In a weird way, this actually increases the chances of Ricochet winning the National title on Saturday.

Josh Alexander and The Young Bucks def. SkyFlight (Top Flight and Scorpio Sky)

Alexander and the Bucks will battle Kenny Omega and Jurassic Express in a $1,000,000 match (yes, seriously) at Full Gear, so this was essentially a warm-up for them. Scorpio Sky and the rest of SkyFlight have been appearing infrequently on Collision for months, but I don't tell you the last time Sky wrestled on Dynamite. It's been a while, if I'm not mistaken. It was a nice match, even though the outcome was never in doubt.

Shelton Benjamin def. "Speedball" Mike Bailey to Earn the No. 1 Spot in the AEW National Championship Casino Gauntlet Match at Full Gear

Both of these guys are great, so unsurprisingly, this was a really fun match with enjoyable action. Obviously, my only nitpick was with the finish, which appeared to be botched. I don't know what went wrong there, but at least they recovered quickly. I wish a bigger deal was made over Benjamin earning the number two spot in the Casino Gauntlet because it means he'll be starting out with Lashley, his Hurt Syndicate stablemate.

The Death Riders (Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli) def. The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong)

We literally just had Blood and Guts a week ago with Darby Allin and The Conglomeration beating Death Riders, yet four of the guys involved ran it back a week later. It's almost as if Blood and Guts didn't even matter. I know Moxley will face Kyle O'Reilly at Full Gear (as announced after this) and Allin will face Pac, but Moxley and Castagnoli faced Cassidy and Strong here to get a rebound victory. There was nothing wrong with the match, but this feud desperately needs to end so everyone (including the viewers) can move on.

Timeless Love Bombs def. Alex Windsor and Riho in an AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match

After what went down in the closing moments of last week's women's Blood and Guts match, it was always going to be Timeless Love Bombs vs. Megan Bayne and Marina Shafir in the semifinals of this tournament, making the result of this match a foregone conclusion. It was a well-wrestled outing, but it probably didn't need to last as long as it did because no one believed for a second that Windsor and Riho were going over.

AEW World Champion "Hangman" Adam Page def. AEW World Trios Champion Katsuyori Shibata (Non-Title)

Page just survived a Falls Count Anywhere war with Powerhouse Hobbs last week, so there was no way he was losing to Shibata here. Despite that, they had a solid match. Page's post-match promo (which technically aired during the Collision portion of the three-hour block) was more notable than the matchup itself, but it accomplished what it needed to as far as building toward his Steel Cage main event with Samoa Joe at Full Gear.

Overall Show

As a go-home show for Full Gear, this was a perfectly fine edition of Dynamite. I can't say it made me any more interested in the pay-per-view than I already was, but I will be attendance for the event, so I'm looking forward to it for that alone. We got the usual quality wrestling and last-minute match announcements and hype for Full Gear, so the two hours were serviceable. Collision was basically its own show, so I'll share my thoughts on that in a separate review.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews