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AEW DYNAMITE REPORT
JANUARY 29, 2025
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. AT VON BRAUN CENTER – PROPST ARENA
AIRED LIVE ON TBS & MAX
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness
Ring Announcer: Justin Roberts
Attendance: WrestleTix reported right before showtime that 2,171 tickets had been distributed out of a 2,403 configuration. The arena has a capacity of 10,000 spectators when configured for concerts.
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PWTorch editor Wade Keller and PWTorch’s Darrin Lilly to review AEW Dynamite LIVE tonight right after Dynamite. Join us and let us know your thoughts on Dynamite during the show.
Email our post-show at wadekellerpodcast@gmail.com with your comments and questions about Dynamite. We’ll read your emails live during the post-show.
Subscribe to all of our free podcasts by searching “wade keller” and “pwtorch” in your podcast app of choice including Spotify and Apple Podcasts and most other iOS and Android apps.
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[HOUR ONE]
-They cut right to a wide shot of the arena as Will Ospreay’s entrance theme played and Excalibur introduced the show.
(1) WILL OSPREAY vs. BRIAN CAGE (w/Don Callis, Lance Archer)
Ospreay acknowledged a lookalike teenage fan at ringside wearing a robe like his. Cage came to the ring accompanied by Archer. Cage somehow looks more muscular than ever and his hair is somehow makes jet black feel greyish by comparison. Before the bell, Callis pointed at the big screen and laughed as Kenny Omega was shown down on the floor being tended to from an apparent backstage attack. Callis joined in on commentary and said “apparently Omega has been attacked.” Ospreay looked at the screen, which opened up Cage to attack him from behind. The match began 3 minutes into the hour.
They battled back and forth at ringside. When Cage re-entered the ring, Archer attacked Ospreay. Callis then joined in as the ref’s back was turned as he chatted with Cage, ignoring the fans and all the noise at ringside. Cage threw Ospreay back into the ring. Excalibur hyped upcoming segments and matches as Cage gave Ospreay a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.
Omega landed a running handspring flip dive onto Cage at ringside. An Archer distraction opened up Cage to take over afterward and score a near fall. Archer shoved Ospreay’s leg off the bottom rope during a Cage cover. The ref saw it but didn’t boot Archer from ringside. Ospreay knocked Archer off the ring apron and then delivered a Styles Clash for the clean win.
WINNER: Ospreay in 13:00.
-Afterward, Archer attacked Ospreay just as Ospreay began to celebrate. Callis said, “This is the end of Ospreay.” He said no one was coming out. He said he didn’t want him getting to Brisbane, Australia. Cage recovered and joined in the beatdown. Omega’s music played and he charged to the ring with a chair. He bashed Archer and then threw the chair into Cage’s head. Fans chanted, “Kenny! Kenny!”
Archer yelled at Omega and Ospreay from the ring apron as Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita attacked them from behind. Schiavone said Omega was getting beaten up twice tonight. Fletcher and Takeshita each piledrove Ospreay and Omega and then stood over them. Cage jabbed Omega in the gut with the chair. Excalibur noted that is the area where Omega had surgery for diverticulitis. Taz said Ospreay appeared to be bleeding from his mouth. Callis and his four wrestlers raised their arms. It appeared to be over when Fletcher stomped Omega some more. Ospreay draped his body over Omega and then the heels left.
(Keller’s Analysis: At least no security guards got beat up for just doing their jobs! The pauses between beatdowns was a little awkward and made the segment drag a little. Overall, though, a standard segment of heels outnumbering babyfaces to inflict injury before their match. Why did they bother to do an off-camera backstage attack of Omega was going to show no signs of it when he made the save.)
-Renee Paquette was standing outside of Swerve Strickland’s locker room when “Hangman” Adam Page opened the door and looked inside. He then then walked away. Renee asked him what he was doing. He said it was none of her business. He then bumped into MJF and they had a brief tense staredown. Hangman continued on his way. MJF said Hangman just walks around like he’s Kingshit. He said fans love him, but if he breaths funny, fans are all over him. She asked for thoughts on Jeff Jarrett. MJF said tonight he gets to prove his words aren’t just poetry, they’re prophesy. He said he told Jarrett last week you’re better off making a deal with the Devil rather than defying him. He said Jeff’s narcissism is leading to him paying a heavy price against Claudio later. He said he’s making him an offer he can’t decline. “And it goes something like this,” he said. “The Last Outlaw’s last ride. Ain’t I great!” MJF laughed with self-satisfaction.
(Keller’s Analysis: MJF is good in that backstage interview setting. He got across everything he needed to in one minute. I like this as part of the mix in how he appears on TV.)
-In a pre-taped promo, Powerhouse Hobbs said he told Big Bill they’re going to hell right before they crashed off the stage through two tables. He said he’ll now show him that Hell is just the beginning.
(2) CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI vs. JEFF JARRETT – If Jarrett wins, he gets an AEW World Title match against MJF
Claudio made his entrance first. Jarrett then made his entrance. They got right to it with the bell ringing 29 minutes into the hour. Jarrett applied an early figure-four leglock. Claudio slid to the ropes and forced a break. He then rolled to ringside to regroup as Jarrett soaked up cheers. Some fans chanted “Double J!” Wheeler Yuta arrived at ringside. Jarrett dropped to ringside as the ref warned Yuta to leave, then held Jarrett back. They cut to an early double-box break. [c/db]
Jarrett went on the attack and then broke into the Jarrett strut before charging at Claudio. Claudio side-stepped Jarrett and threw him out of the ring. Claudio then took control at ringside and back in the ring. Back to full screen, Claudio scored a near fall. Jarrett made a comeback and set up another figure-four. Claudio kicked out of it, but Jarrett went right back on the attack. Jarrett applied a Sharpshooter at 9:00. Yuta ran onto the ring apron. Jarrett let go of the hold and punched him. The ref scolded Yuta as Claudio grabbed a chair and swung it at Jarrett. Jarrett ducked and then set up a Stroke. Jon Moxley, though, ran in and DDT’d Jarrett. The didn’t see (or apparently hear) any of it. Claudio gave Jarrett a Neutralizer. He looked over at Mox, Marina Shafir, and Yuta in the crowd and then drove Jarrett’s head into the mat and scored a three count. Schiavone said it’s going to be next to impossible to deal with these guys.
WINNER: Claudio in 10:00.
-MJF walked out to his music and said he wanted to talk to Jarrett. He sounded consolatory in tone, but then nailed him with his Dynamite Diamond Ring. He stood over a KO’d Jarrett and said he truly respects his elders. “And that’s precisely why I’m not going to say ‘I told you so.'” He dropped the mic and paraded around the ring and left to his music. Schiavone said it’s hard to imagine a person more horrible in life than MJF. Excalibur said there may be no more detestable at being human being than him. [c]
-Renee told Ricochet backstage that if Swerve Strickland interferes in his match tonight against A.R. Fox, the match is off next week. Ricochet liked that, but then complained that he was put in a match against Fox tonight a week before one of the biggest matches of his career.
(3) RICOCHET vs. A.R. FOX
The bell rang 50 minutes into the hour. Schiavone said these two have wrestled prior to their time in AEW. Fox got in early offense and landed a running dive over the top rope. Excalibur said he “came out of the gate hot.” Ricochet hip-tossed Fox over the top rope and then teased a dive, but then stopped and yelled at the fans. They cut to a double-box break at 3:00. [c/db]
They battled back and forth for several more minutes after the break, earning a “This is awesome!” chant from the crowd. Ricochet eventually finished Fox with a Spirit Gun and a Vertigo.
WINNER: Ricochet in 10:00.
(Keller’s Analysis: Good, athletic action. Ricochet played up being a heel well. The announcers got across that there is history with these two.)
[HOUR TWO]
-After the match, Ricochet pulled scissors out of a turnbuckle behind him. Schiavone asked if those were in his tights. Swerve yanked Ricochet out of the ring by his boots and attacked him as fans chanted “Swerve’s House!” He threw Ricochet into the ring and then climbed to the top rope. Ricochet held the scissors against Fox’s throat to force Swerve to pause. He then pulled Fox out of the ring, scissors still to his throat, as he returned to the back. Excalibur said calling the match next week “a grudge match” is an understatement.
(Keller’s Analysis: What are we supposed to think Ricochet was going to do with the scissors if Swerve didn’t intervene? Murder him? The weapons in AEW are so over-the-top, it just takes you completely out of any kind of believable, immersive viewing experience. It’s just hack amateur hour the way one deadly weapon after another is wielded in this company. It’s like it’s being booked by fourth graders, sometimes, with no sense of restraint.)
-A snippet aired of Renee’s long-form YouTube interview with Moxley and Claudio. She asked Mox why he’s hiding the title belt in a briefcase. Mox asked why anyone needs to see it. “What, is this a petting zoo?” he said. (Funny!) He said he is the AEW World Championship and the living definition of it. He pointed at himself and said the championship lives in him. “It’s not something you win, hold, show off, or pose for a picture with.” He said it has to be forged in the white-hot fires of combat. He said he wants to build a thousand Jon Moxley’s and backfill them behind him, so he will put them through what he went through and worse.
-Daddy Magic plugged AEW’s online merchandise.
(Keller’s Analysis: Two words – Don West.) [c]
-A New York Minute aired with Big Bill telling Chris Jericho he now understands his words better than before after putting them into action. “I feel stronger,” he assured Jericho. Jericho said that makes him proud of himself for being such a great mentor. Jericho said he told Bill to take out Hobbs permanently, but he didn’t, so he’ll have to do a better job next time. Jericho said Saturday on Collision, he and Bryan Keith battle The Outrunners. He said they claim to have been around for decades, but he’s never seen them on TV before AEW. He said he’ll teach them a lesson. He said he expects Bill to make him proud for real next time.
-Taz complained that The New York Minute is longer than a minute.
(4) “SWITCHBLADE” JAY WHITE vs. WHEELER YUTA
The bell rang 14 minutes into the hour. They fought back and forth for several minutes. Yuta worked over White’s knee and beat him up at ringside before cutting to a double-box break at 6:00. [c/db]
Fans chanted “Yuta sucks!” Yuta countered a Blade Runner with a roll-up for a two count. Yuta then gave White a German suplex into a bridge for a near fall. He followed up with a top rope dive, but White m0ved. Yuta gave White a back elbow and then charged, but White countered into a Blade Runner for a three count.
WINNER: White in 14:00.
-White gave Yuta another Blade Runner after the bell. Taz said he didn’t blame him. Fans chanted, “One more time!” Claudio and Mox attacked White and stomped away at him. Adam Copeland’s music played and he charged out with FTR. Mox, Claudio, and Yuta retreated alongside Shafir. Dax Harwood said afterward that he hates when they try to end the career of a 67 year old man who is his idol, Ricky Morton. He said Dennis Condrey is at the event, and in his name, he challenged the Death Riders to a Mid-South Street Fight against them on Collision on Saturday.
(Keller’s Analysis: Are we supposed to think Mox and Claudio are heels for saving their partner from a post-match attack by White?)
-A video package recapped the Mariah May-Toni Storm storyline with Storm saying that one day, she wanted to be just like her and then being dejected when Mariah talked to her like she was pathetic trash. Then they showed footage from Collision of Storm revealing she played herself all along.
-Excalibur said it was a performance of a lifetime, but she’ll have to repeat the performance on Saturday, Feb. 15.
(Keller’s Analysis: This is a key example of a serious weakness in Excalibur as the main voice of AEW. He reacted to that recap of Storm and the big reveal like he was reading a script announcing a big sale on furniture for a commercial on TV. There was just no sense of genuine emotional connections or human reaction to the words he was reciting and that angle payoff really deserved better than that.)
-Renee interviewed Mariah on the ramp. She said maybe they should change the first letter of Huntsville to a “C.” Renee talked about the metamorphosis of “Timeless” Toni Storm. Mariah looked rattled and said, “We’re playing this? This isn’t real, Renee. None of this is real. Toni Storm isn’t real.” She lost her composure, then regained it and looked into the camera and said if she wants to play the role of Toni Storm, how about playing the role of the Toni Storm who gave her heart to a woman who used her or playing the role of the Toni Storm whose most memorable moment was bleeding and crying in her hands or playing the role of the Toni Storm who walked out of Wembley Stadium and Japan and Mexico “because she couldn’t touch me.” She said she can play whatever Storm she wants, but the ending stays the same. She said she doesn’t need to role play “because when you’re this good, you don’t need to change a thing.” She said she is the woman from hell and she always will be and she will remind her for the rest of her life.
(Keller’s Analysis: I really disagree with this as the follow-up promo to the Storm angle on Saturday. What was the point of the entire escapade if Storm gained nothing at all from it? Mariah was believably unaffected by Storm’s ruse. She should have been shaken up or rattled by what Storm did all along, but she went from seeming rattled to just completely composed after five seconds and was back to being self-assured and ultimately unaffected by Storm’s whole charade.)
-A vignette aired hyping the return of Austin & Colten Gunn.
-Excalibur plugged Nick Wayne & Kip Sabian vs. Hook & Samoa Joe, The Outrunners vs. Chris Jericho & Bryan Keith, Daniel Garcia vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Lee Moriarty for the TNT Title, and a Toni Storm promo on Collision on Saturday.
-A vignette aired with MVP saying they could gloat, but they’re too classy so they’ll celebrate. He said Private Party had a warrior spirit and fought hard so it wasn’t their fault they ran into “the most devastating tag team in all of professionall wrestling.” He said they will hold the tag belts as long as they want them.” He said they’ll defend against any challengers, anytime. [c]
-A video package aired on Takeshita.
-Clips aired of the show-opening angle with Omega & Ospreay and The Don Callis Family.
-Excalibur commented on a clip of MJF hitting Jarrett earlier. He said the Death Riders “ended the hopes of Jeff Jarrett.” He then said MJF had to come in and gloat.
(Keller’s Analysis: Replaying clips of key happenings in the first hour is smart. It catches people up who didn’t watch the whole show and it underlines what’s most important to viewers. It was good that Excalibur mentioned they ended Jarrett’s hopes of a World Title match here. It should have been the emphasis earlier, but at least it got mentioned in passing here.)
-They went backstage to Deona Purrazzo and Taya Valkyrie. They blamed Harley Cameron for costing them the title match tonight, so they said they’d make her pay. They said they’re coming to collect on Collision on Saturday.
(5) MERCEDES MONE vs. YUKA SAKAZAKI – TBS Title match
Justin Roberts did formal ring introductions. Schiavone said he’s never seen anyone so decorated with so many belts. Excalibur said it’s four belts representing three championships and detailed them. The bell rang 51 minutes into the hour. They cut to a double-box break 4 minutes in. [c/db]
Mercedes dominated during the break. Sakazaki made a comeback and needed two tries to execute a double-springboard dropkick. It caused Mercedes to have to awkwardly stand there and wait. Schiavone tried to cover for it by saying it helped that Mercedes was still stunned from an earlier move.
[OVERRUN]
Sakazaki leveraged Mercedes’ shoulders down for a near fall. She then went for a springboard splash, but Mercedes lifted her knees. Mercedes then landed a powerbomb and a Money Maker for the win.
WINNER: Mercedes in 14:00 to retain the TBS Title.
(Keller’s Analysis: Very flat backstory to this match with a challenger fans just aren’t connected with. There was no work put in during the show to build anticipation or make it seem like Mercedes had any chance to lose. Mercedes carrying around four belts just makes the TBS Title feel less important rather than making her feel more important. One of the weaker overall Dynamite main events in terms of context and build, made worse by some less-than-smooth spots, although there was plenty of good action too so it was mostly entertaining in a vacuum of wrestling spots.)
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR POST-SHOW PODCAST
JOIN US LIVE ON YOUTUBE TONIGHT FOR THE VIDEO-FORMAT OF OUR LIVE POST-SHOWS…
PWTorch editor Wade Keller and PWTorch’s Darrin Lilly to review AEW Dynamite LIVE tonight right after Dynamite. Join us and let us know your thoughts on Dynamite during the show.
Email our post-show at wadekellerpodcast@gmail.com with your comments and questions about Dynamite. We’ll read your emails live during the post-show.
Subscribe to all of our free podcasts by searching “wade keller” and “pwtorch” in your podcast app of choice including Spotify and Apple Podcasts and most other iOS and Android apps.
LIVE ON YOUTUBE RIGHT AFTER AEW DYNAMITE TONIGHT: CLICK HERE TO WATCH
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