AEW Dynasty Review - April 6, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zero Hour: Nick Wayne and CRU def. AR Fox and Top Flight

I'm aware of the issues Wayne and Fox have had in the past, but it wasn't really explained why Wayne would want to team up with CRU otherwise. Despite that, this was an enjoyable outing, fitting for the pre-show. The outcome was irrelevant, but Wayne teased tension with Christian Cage coming out of Revolution, so it made the most sense for him to pick up the win for his team.

Zero Hour: Anthony Bowens def. Max Caster

We all assumed Bowens returning and giving Caster his comeuppance was the endgame of Caster's weekly open challenges, I just wasn't sure when it would be. It feels like he hasn't been doing them for all that long, so I was slightly surprised Bowens returned here. That said, Caster has lost a majority (if not all) of his open challenges, so there was no reason for this to be a competitive contest. Bowens got a great reaction from this crowd. We'll see how high his ceiling is on his own. Hopefully The Acclaimed don't got the Santana and Ortiz route (at least in terms of how they were used in AEW because Santana is currently killing it in TNA).

Will Ospreay def. Kevin Knight in a Men's Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match

Knight was a last-minute replacement for the injured Jay White and he ended up being an excellent choice. He was already impressive when he debuted against White on Collision a week ago and he had a stellar showing in defeat here as well. It was an exciting spot-fest and a smart choice to serve as the opener for the event. Knight's off to a strong start in AEW.

AEW World Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate (Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley) def. Bryan Keith and Big Bill

I don't blame AEW too much for the lack of buildup behind this match because it was supposed to be Hurt Syndicate defending against The Murder Machines before Brian Cage got hurt, so this "rivalry" had to be rushed. It ended up feeling like a television match, but it was decent. The big takeaway was that MJF helped Hurt Syndicate to retain, seemingly to get in Lashley's good graces.

AEW TBS/NJPW Strong Women's/RevPro Undisputed British Women's Champion Mercedes Mone def. Julia Hart in a Women's Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match

I liked that this match had some history behind it with Mone attacking Hart the night she debuted in AEW last year. Hart has lost a lot of her momentum since then due to the injury that sidelined her and questionable booking, but I thought they had a quality contest here and I appreciated that it was competitive, even though it was fairly obvious that Mone was advancing.

AEW World Trios Champions The Death Riders (Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli and Pac) def. Rated FTR

The finish and the immediate aftermath were foreshadowed weeks ago, but that doesn't necessarily mean this wasn't well done. As a match, this was entertaining enough. Yuta in particular got massive heat from the Philadelphia crowd. The post-match angle was nicely executed with FTR revealing that they were in cahoots all along and attacking Cope. That should write out Cope for a while and allow him to return in time for All In where he can reunite with Christian, though there's a lot they'll have to do to mend fences first.

AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm def. Megan Bayne

As I've said before, AEW has done a hell of a job building up Bayne since her debut earlier this year. I was hoping they'd go all the way with her here, but no such luck. She'll be fine, especially since she was protected in defeat. Storm previously won the title in similar fashion at Grand Slam: Australia, so I had no issue with her beating Bayne the way she did. This was a top-notch match.

Kyle Fletcher def. Mark Briscoe in a Men's Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match

I'm glad Fletcher ... but this really could've happened on Dynamite or Collision considering we already got Ospreay vs. Knight in the opener. Don't get me wrong, these two have proven that they have terrific chemistry, but there was never any doubt Fletcher would win. This also didn't need over 15 minutes as a result, but to their credit, they worked hard and it was another above-average encounter from them.

Bandido def. "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho in a Title vs. Mask Match to Win the ROH World Championship

You can add this to the list of unnecessary matches on this card, but you can say that about almost any Chris Jericho pay-per-view match in the last few years. It's wild how "washed" he is at this point and it becomes clearer and clearer with every match he has. I loved the first match Jericho had with Bandido back in 2022 and even the rematch was one of Jericho's better bouts in recent memory, but this was abysmal and the restart spot made matters even worse. As most fans figured would be the case six months ago, Jericho's entire second stint with the ROH World title was a waste of time. I have no clue why this couldn't have happened at ROH's Supercard of Honor pay-per-view next month instead.

Adam Cole def. Daniel Garcia to Win the AEW TNT Championship

Their first championship clash ended in interference from Shane Taylor Promotions and the rematch ended in a time-limit draw, so it was announced that this would have no interference and no time limit. They had the well-wrestled affair you'd expect from them, but the crowd was as quiet as could be. That Jericho crap killed them for a while, but to be fair, this should've happened closer to the start of the show. Regardless, it was a cool moment for Cole to capture the TNT title on his 17-year wrestling anniversary.

AEW International Champion Kenny Omega def. Ricochet and "Speedball" Mike Bailey in a Three-Way Match

This was exactly what this crowd needed to be brought back to life at this stage of the show. It was fast-paced and full of thrilling action. Bailey didn't look out of place in the slightest while Omega and Ricochet delivered as always. It's worth noting that Ricochet ate the pinfall loss and not Bailey, which tells me that Bailey won't fade away into obscurity anytime soon. Kazuchikda Okada coming out afterward to confront Omega all but confirms we're getting that Title for Title match at All In.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley def. Swerve Strickland

Jon Moxley pay-per-view main events are the kiss of death in 2025. Nothing against Strickland, but the style and pace of Moxley's matches as a heel have been incredibly bland and boring. Thankfully, this improved down the stretch with some of the suspenseful nearfalls. This wasn't a Street Fight, but that didn't stop them from getting a tad extreme in the home of ECW. We also got the usual shenanigans right before the finish, but at least Adam Page and The Opps thwarted Death Riders' interference this time. Unfortunately, The Young Bucks returned to attack Strickland and help Moxley retain. Not only did it lack logic, it was terribly unsatisfying. It looks like Moxley will indeed hold the gold through All In, guaranteeing us at least three more months of this trash. Is it safe to say this was the worst pay-per-view ending in AEW history, even more so than Revolution last month?

Overall Show

AEW consistently struggles with lengthy runtimes for their pay-per-views, but almost four-and-a-half hours with an ending that awful is egregious. The overall event was actually mediocre by AEW's typical pay-per-view standards. The three-way was tremendous, the opener was awesome and Storm vs. Bayne was what it needed to be, but the rest of the show dragged for me and there weren't any other standout moments or matches. AEW desperately needs to trim these shows down if they're going to make them monthly. Oh, and put a nail in the Death Riders coffin, please. It's doing undeniable damage.

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