AEW Dynamite: Spring BreakThru Review - April 16, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW TBS/NJPW Strong Women's/RevPro Undisputed British Women's Champion Mercedes Mone def. ROH Women's World Champion Athena in a Women's Owen Hart Cup Semifinal Match (Non-Title)

Personally, I had no problem with this first-ever encounter taking place in the tournament (albeit not in the finals), assuming the idea is that there will be more matches between them. I have no idea why this couldn't have main evented this show considering it emanated from Mone's hometown of Boston, but at least it made for a hell of an opening. Mone didn't win decisively, so a rematch is inevitable. All In should be where the feud culminates.

"Hangman" Adam Page def. Josh Alexander in a Men's Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match

Alexander was the Wild Card of the tournament. There were rumblings among fans that it might be the returning Jack Perry, but Alexander was a much better option, even if he didn't win. Page was the smarter choice to advance and Alexander got to look credible in defeat following a very good match. Plus, he officially aligned with Don Callis afterward, which made sense given their history in TNA.

AEW World Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin) def. The Gates of Agony

Gates of Agony won one match on last week's Collision and apparently that was enough to earn them a shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we got this match as it was a hard-hitting affair in the allotted time, but no one honestly believed Gates of Agony were taking the titles. The post-match stuff with MJF again trying to win over Hurt Syndicate was even better. He bought off Benjamin here, but he has yet to change Lashley's mind.

Will Ospreay def. NEVER Openweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita in a Men's Owen Hart Cup Semifinal Match

This was an AEW special in that the action was excellent and yet they went a little too far with all of the constant kickouts and no-selling. I don't want to complain too much because I'll take this over a boring bout, but they could afford to be a bit more selective with certain stuff. Otherwise, this was a wonderful match and the crowd ate up everything they did, even from the get-go. Ospreay will face the winner of Page vs. Kyle Fletcher in the finals at Double or Nothing. Obviously, Ospreay vs. Page is where we're headed.

The Opps (Samoa Joe and Katsuyori Shibata) and Powerhouse Hobbs def. The Death Riders (AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta) to Win the AEW World Trios Championship

Moxley filled in for the injured Pac, Hook was taken out by Death Riders earlier in the evening. Hook apparently threw up while in the ring last week (which I completely missed and that's probably a positive thing), so it's possible he's sidelined temporarily. Hobbs was a worthy replacement given his own issues with Death Riders this year. The match was decent, and while I wouldn't have had that close the episode over Ospreay vs. Takeshita or Mone vs. Athena, thank God that we got that much-needed title change. Joe beating Moxley in particular to win for his team was a pleasant surprise.

Overall Show

This was a special show because it officially marked Dynamite surpassing WCW Nitro as TBS' longest-running wrestling show. If you don't care about that sort of thing, then oh well, but you can't say this wasn't a hot episode. There was a lot going on, including the title change at the end. The wrestling was fantastic on the whole and this Boston crowd being as lively as they were all night definitely helped.

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