As Forbidden Door is just days away, it should be of no surprise to fans of AEW to be shocked and drawn into what is promising to be an excellent PPV experience.
Surprises galore at AEW Dynamite 8/20/25, from match results to surprise returns. Let’s get right to it!
Bryan Danielson joins commentary tonight
Will Ospreay is not cleared to wrestle, but since he is competing in a “Lights Out” Cage Match we learn effectively means an “unsanctioned” match, the lack of medical clearance is irrelevant. Ospreay will fight and he will do his best not to die.
Cue the “please don’t die chant.”
His promo is interrupted when Mox enters, this time few words are spoken as the Death Riders come out to fight, leading into the first match of the night:
Hiroshi Tanahashi and JetSpeed defeat The Death Riders
The chaotic brawl of an opener led straight into a crazy six-man. Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Tanahashi is on his retirement tour and it seems AEW Forbidden Door is one of the last stops. It’s clear it is his time, and while everyone will point out he’s not in his wrestling shape anymore, one has to admit he still has the endurance to be in the ring. Marina Shafir gets caught cheating, is tossed out, but is then seemingly abducted by Ospreay. After the finish, these jobbers name Nick and Matt Jackson superkick Ospreay and rescue Shafir from the bodybag, which turns out to be Darby Allin. This leads to an all out brawl, out comes The War Dogs led by Gabe Kidd come out, while Paragon and The Opps rush out to even the odds. Holy cow.
In the ring, Adam Copeland and Christian Cage agree on terms, in which they are not reuniting or patching things up, they will agree to help each other out with their common foes in Nick Wayne, Kip Sabian, and FTR. On the big screen, Nick Wayne reveals he is out of action and will miss Forbidden Door, but found someone to take his place:
LUCHASAURUS! [Editor’s Note: He’s still going Killswitch, sadly].
The big mean human-dino-hybrid machine is back and decimates Cage and Cope.
Now that is called a return. Did not see this coming at all.
Tag Team Tournament Finals: Brodido & FTR go to a 30-minute time limit draw
We’re in Scotland so let’s appropriately call this a banger of a match. Fantastic. So many near-falls. Going to a draw was the right call. The best part is the freaking standing ovation the live crowd gave. Unlike American crowds who boo and get verbally violent.
This will be the PPV where the Hurt Syndicate will drop the belts. Neither Lashley nor Shelton will get pinned, but it takes the belts off them in a way where they can claim to still be on top. I hope this won’t derail the momentum they’ve had.
FTR wins, later sets up FTR vs. Cage & Cope.
Calling it.
Earlier in the night, Mark Briscoe vows to murder MJF. Later on, MJF recruits Ricochet and the Gates of Agony to take care of their respective problems in Briscoe and “Hangman” Adam Page. Later on, Page is in the ring calling out MJF, but reveals along with Ricochet, has beaten up and is holding Briscoe captive. MJF threatens to do something really bad unless Page agrees to MJF’s stipulations, where the title can change on DQ or count out, plus this is an “earned” championship match, keeping MJF’s contract unused.
Page agrees.
Well this took a turn. Page can lose his championship if he’s DQ’d or counted out, and now MJF still can cash in at a later and unpredictable time. Not sure why the reversal unless a longer story plot is in the works. Certainly makes MJF menacing as opposed to cowering from last week.
Main Event: ROH Women’s World Champion Athena and TBS Champion Mercedes Mone defeated AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm and Alex Windsor
Fantastic main event with a fantastic finish. Storm eats a stiff piledriver on the ring stairs from Athena while Mone is trapped in the cloverleaf by Windsor. Athena then cracks Windsor with the O-Face for the pinfall.
It felt like it could have gone either way and everyone would look spectacular no matter what. The tag match perfectly set up everyone for their respective championship bouts come Sunday. Very unpredictable and no way to know who will walk out of Forbidden Door as champions.
Great go-home show for Dynamite, everyone involved looked solid, little-to-no weakness from any opponent.
