The build to Forbidden Door continues on, live from Cincinnati, Ohio for AEW Dynamite: Summer Blockbuster 2026. No time is wasted as Tony Schiavone brings out Tommaso Ciampa to explain The sudden obsession with Chris Jericho. The Psycho Killer becomes unhinged rather quickly, threatening our favorite ring announcer, which prompts Jericho to respond by confronting Ciampa face to face in the ring. Jericho manages to blend comedy with a serious tone.
The two work very well together as Ciampa tries to keep it serious while Jericho flusters him with wise cracks and jokes. The segment ends in a bra which needs to be broken up by security. It’s pretty interesting how aew is making this Feud bigger than it seemed to be on paper. Having a horde of security come out to separate them gives this a bigger fight feel than anticipated.
Jericho continues to be masterful in the microphone.
Jon Moxley retains the Continental Championship against Shane Taylor
Shane Taylor is an absolute monster. From throwing suplexes, to hard-hitting brawling, with the addition of the meanest trash talk, Taylor really should be featured more often. Granted, Taylor and his stable are mainstays on the Ring of Honor program, but having STP feud with the death writers would certainly be an interesting plan if executed correctly. Taylor looked like a beast and a legitimate threat to Mox. While he did not win, Taylor and the STP had the last word with the stable standing over the Death Riders.
Don Callis and Kevin Knight promo:
It seems Knight is Callis’ new flavor of the month, but it seems Knight is still hung up on going after MJF. Blurring the face and heel lines quite a bit. The crowd seems to lose interest in Knight, until Darby Allin returns and beats the TNT Champion senseless.
It appears another story arc is developing where some members of the Family are content, while others seem to feel jilted by Callis constantly recruiting new toys to play with. I’m wondering if an exodus will soon take place. Trent, Rocky Romero, and Lance Archer don’t seem to be of much use other than jobbers.
Knight has more work to do on his promos. Too much with the smirking and fake cocky laugh. He’s in the Don Callis Family, they should let Don Callis do the talking for him.
Mark Briscoe defeated PAC
Prior to the match, Briscoe is seen talking to Tony Khan. Interesting.
While in one segment the Death Riders are cheered by the live crowd, turn to boos for the next one. While PAC and Briscoe have extremely different wrestling abilities, they worked extremely well together, both keeping pace at the onset of the match and later one trying out-maneuver the other. At one point it seemed PAC took a bad fall and was dazed through the second half of the match. Briscoe gets the win, which helps elevate him to the next part of the segment.
Briscoe once again demands a match for the AEW Men’s World Championship, but MJF comes out through the crowd to decline the challenge, with less-than-polite verbiage. However, Briscoe says he spoke to Tony Khan who agrees that each one will put a team together to face off in a steel cage match at Forbidden Door. Should Team Briscoe win, he gets a title match.
MJF cleverly touts his wealth saying he can buy anything and anyone, which prompts Jay Lethal, Lee Johnson, and Blake Christian to attack from behind. The Conglomeration rushed out to fight them off.
Andrade El Idolo defeated Orange Cassidy
An excellent match. As the Conglomeration stayed in the ring, orange Cassidy had his next match with Andrade. They excel at changing the pace and flow of the match on a dime. First speed up, then slow it down for the bigger moves. A very well-timed mix of humorous spots during the match helped keep it feeling unpredictable. Speaking of, while Andrade got his ringside selfie, Lio Rush showed up to get one of his own. First awkwardly with Freshly Squeezed, and then began having a conversation with Andrade exchanging “How you know” with “He knows!” When Andrade asks Lio who he is referring to, he replies with “It’s fine” and skulks away. Have to hand it to Lio Rush, he makes this shtick work well.
After this excellent match, Don Callis hits the ring with Kevin Knight as the IWGP Global Champion, Andrade, wants a shot at the AEW World Championship. Callis rebuffs him, saying he will get one, but first Kevin Knight has to get his turn.
Add Andrade to the list of disgruntled family members.
Maya World defeated Skye Blue to advance in the Owen Hart Memorial
Yep, this was the upset victory of upsets. It seemed Skye Blue would advance given Saree was unable to compete, and Maya World didn’t exactly seem like a credible threat.
She is now. Starting off at a slow pace, the match gradually quickened and intensified the longer it went. Maya was firing on all engines with crushing move after move. Lots of near-falls. Really got the live crowd hopped up, and the fans at home thinking Maya could credibly get a win. However with each kick out or reversal, Blue appeared poised to win. However, World busted out a crazy rolling pin combination for the shocker of a three count.
Dedicating the match to her late brother who passed just weeks ago, Maya World is now a tournament contender.
Swerve Strickland defeated Big Bad Brody King
WHAM. A chop from Brody sent a shockwave which might have shorted out power in a small town. Swerve’s angry and dismissive demeanor only went so far, as King was easily provoked into delivering some crushing offense early on. The top turnbuckle pad was ripped off at the beginning, and then King took a head bump into it about halfway through. Both kept the match physical and furious. Swerve somehow struck with the Vertebreaker for the win.
Swerve vs. Ospreay seemed likely for Forbidden Door, and like their last meeting, do not expect any dance contents. An excellent match. Shame Brody was booked to lose again, but if he is going to do this redemption arc, they better give him a golden boy babyface gimmick.
Overall a very good show. A show where there seemed to be a pattern when it took time for the live crowd to gradually get into a match. They were heavily into the Jericho segment at the beginning, but then tapered off depending on the match. Shane Taylor and his faction better get more Dynamite time. It seems lots of stable matches are going to be made for the next few weeks, and it promised to be fun.
