AEW Dynamite Review - November 5, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW World Champion "Hangman" Adam Page, Eddie Kingston and Hook Saved Tony Schiavone from AEW World Trios Champions The Opps

It made total sense for Joe to have an issue with Schiavone after he was outsmarted by Page at the end of last week's show and the role that Schiavone played in that ruse. Page, Kingston and Hook making the save built toward the already-official six-man tag team match in the main event, and I liked how they established here that the AEW World Trios Championship would be on the line as well.

Claudio Castagnoli def. Orange Cassidy in Blood and Guts Advantage Match 1

This is the first time I can recall there being a best-two-out-of-three approach to the Blood and Guts/WarGames advantage. With this being the first of the series for the men, the outcome virtually didn't matter, but they did have a well-wrestled affair, even though I feel like I've seen this several times before. I'd love for Castagnoli to do more beyond this crap with The Death Riders.

The Babes of Wrath def. ROH Women's World Champion Athena and AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone in an AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match

Willow Nightingale is better than being a permanent partner for Harley Cameron, so I hope this Babes of Wrath pairing is short-lived. That said, I'm fine with them advancing to the next round as Kris Statlander preventing the heels from cheating here was logical. This was a nice match. Cameron pinning Athena leaves me wondering if she'll get the next shot at the ROH World Championship. From a storyline standpoint, she absolutely should.

The Demand Interrupted The Hurt Syndicate

It was announced here that AEW will be introducing an International Championship at Full Gear, where the inaugural champ will be determined in a Casino Gauntlet match. Why? What's the point of debuting yet another title when they just merged the AEW Continental Championship with the AEW International Championship a few months ago? Ugh. The rest of the segment was fine, but The Demand vs. Hurt Syndicate has wore out its welcome for me.

Darby Allin def. Daniel Garcia in Blood and Guts Advantage Match 2

Call me crazy, but I honestly don't think Garcia is in a drastically better spot than he was before he joined Death Riders. He's probably on television more and winning more matches, but it doesn't feel like it. Nonetheless, he and Allin had a good match, even if it was fairly obvious Allin would win. The post-match chaos laid the groundwork for Jon Moxley vs. Roderick Strong in Blood and Guts Advantage Match 3 on Saturday's Collision.

AEW World Tag Team Champions Brodido Fended Off FTR

This was a simple segment with FTR doing their usual effective job of garnering heat by going after Bandido's family at ringside while Stokley Hathaway had Brodido locked up backstage. It helped that we just saw Bandido's mom shown in a video package on a recent Dynamite. This didn't make me any more excited for their AEW World Tag Team Championship at Full Gear, mind you, but it served its purpose.

Megan Bayne def. Mina Shirakawa in Blood and Guts Advantage Match 1

Is it just me or does Shirakawa lose way more often than she wins? Bayne is largely protected, so I wasn't surprised Shirakawa lost yet again here, but it was the correct result. They had an average outing. Marina Shafir attacking Toni Storm at ringside distracted Shirakawa and cost her the win, but the babyfaces competing in Blood and Guts were the ones who stood tall afterward.

AEW World Trios Champions The Opps (Powerhouse Hobbs, Katsuyori Shibata and Samoa Joe) def. Hook, Eddie Kingston and AEW World Champion "Hangman" Adam Page

I'm not going to lie: I totally forgot until right before the finish that Hook used to be in The Opps. I realize that wasn't supposed to be the focal point of this match, but that element has been treated like an afterthought. As a main event, this was entertaining. Part of me was hoping for a shock title change, but Page, Hook and Kingston were never going to be a unit long-term, so The Opps retaining was the way to go. Hobbs in particular was made to look like a badass, leading to the announcement that it will be Page vs. Hobbs in a Falls Count Anywhere match on next week's Dynamite.

Overall Show

All of the focus was on Blood and Guts next Wednesday. The last-minute hype was solid, but I'm personally more interested in the women's one than the men's. I just want Allin's war with Death Riders to be over. The AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship Tournament progressed and I liked the main event, so I'd give this episode a slight thumbs-up. My only real complaint is that we're getting another pointless title for some random reason. Tony Khan must be stopped.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews