Written by Brandon Hoffman
It (was) Sunday. You know what that means. We’re live in the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia to witness AEW Dynasty. First off is Zero Hour, which features a few matches before the main card at 8 p.m. EST. Your commentators for the evening are Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness, and Tony Schiavone. And later Bryan Danielson joins the call!
Alex Windsor v. Marina Shafir
Very Shafir-heavy offense with lots of bare feet in Windsor’s face. When things turned around, there were lots of kicks and punches and firing up from Windsor. And that all led to a Half Nelson Driver thingy to give Windsor a strong win. It’s surprising that Shafir’s getting PPV time after losing most of her big-time matches. Still happy for both getting grap-time on this Zero Hour.
Kamille v. Big Anne
Kamille returned to attack TBS Champion Willow Nightingale right before this show, so this match got created on the fly to show off Kamille’s ability in the ring. Then, a less than two minute squash match happened. Whatever, at least Willow came out looking as beautiful as ever to create a confrontation ahead of their future TBS Title match. That’s confirmed to be happening at Spring BreakThru this Wednesday by the way.
Jack Perry (c) v. Mark Davis – AEW National Title Match
Mark Davis always impresses everyone when he wrestles in singles action, how he hasn’t won a singles title yet in AEW is beyond my understanding. That included this match after dominating Jack Perry for several minutes. Davis then fell for the classic rollup ending which gave Perry a get-out-of-defense free card. The former Jungle Boy held his title like a baby as he celebrated, putting another great match on his and Davis’s singles resume.
Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne & Lena Kross) (c) v. Maya World & Hyan – AEW Women’s World Tag Title Match
Some of those kicks Lena Kross threw in this match looked nasty in the best way possible. Lots of individual spots shined through as looking devastating, but it was truly the teamwork that made both teams credible threats towards each other. Maya and Hyan put in their efforts, but the title retention was hardly in doubt with the dominant champions remaining that way after the final bell rang.
And now we move onto the main show!
Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) v. Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita & Kazuchika Okada) – Tag Team Match
AEW started off with one of the most entertaining and exciting tag matches they have put together in a long time. As my friend called it, this match saw the American Hippies wrestle the Japanese Hunks. Okada’s facial expressions were so funny throughout this whole thing, stealing the Bucks’ jacket at one point. Once the comedy took more of a backseat to the in-ring amazement about halfway through, the energy just refused to die down.
Takeshita and Okada smacking each other while each in Sharpshooters played up to their rivalry. False finish after false finish towards the end got the crowd jumping up and down in joy. Both Callis Family guys actively screwed each other over and furthered their own story while making the Bucks look strong. The finish saw Takeshita allow the Bucks to hit Okada with the TK Driver for the pinfall win. So surreal to not only see Okada eat a pinfall, but also the big catalyst for that Takeshita v. Okada singles match we’ve been waiting for this whole time.
Ricochet v. Jericho
His name is still not “Chris Jericho,” only the surname. But at least he’s not bald like Ricochet. Jericho can say that he’s the best sports entertainer all he wants, but this is a wrestling company after all. The Shooting Star into the Codebreaker spot looked amazing, otherwise this match was slowed down to match Jericho’s pace above all else.
The winner surprised a ton of people though, with Ricochet pinning Jericho after some interference and a Spirit Gun. If this new Jericho character means that he’ll put over people with a one-and-done big match like Ricochet, that’s actually a big improvement. As accomplished as Jericho is, now is the time to give others the rub.
Andrade El Idolo v. Darby Allin – If Allin wins, he gets an AEW Men’s World Title Match TBD
Darby Allin continued to be the most extreme case of concern throughout all of wrestling. Just in the first few minutes alone, some of those landings on the floor struck Darby very stiff. Andrade stripped down to his lovely yellow trunks as the action picked up, and he managed to stop a count after a Coffin Drop by stopping referee Aubrey’s arm. Brilliant. Because of the stipulation, the winner of this one wasn’t in doubt. Darby’s special leg-trapped rollup thing would keep Andrade’s shoulders down for the pinfall win.
Andrade and Darby shook hands after the match with a shared hatred of MJF in mind. It’s a tad bit contrived to present that Andrade can defeat Bandido clean as a whistle at Revolution, but he can’t beat Darby after destroying his body for several minutes. It makes Darby look strong for his future World Title match if nothing else. Bah humbug, I just really want to see that MJF v. Andrade match.
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (c) v. Cope & Cage (Adam Copeland & Christian Cage) – AEW Men’s World Tag Title Match
This one featured lots of dramatic spots that made these old Canadians pop the crowd no matter what they did. Cope legit got busted open with that title bouncing off his head though, ouch. With all the double teaming and smarmy business from FTR, it made for an entertaining match. Late in the match, some cheeky Young Bucks references from FTR would take over their moveset to try and finish off Cope.
The multi-time Tag champions in promotions past still wanted to fight up to the end though, finally failing to a Shatter Machine to give FTR the win. Another shocking win on the night saw the ultimately right decision ring true over a big fight-feeling match. To be honest, the heel turn Christian Cage looked to be in the plans after this match with the way he eyed up Cope. Although, the turn didn’t happen, another shocker.
Casino Gauntlet – TNT Title Match
There were a total of ten or so competitors that started with Tommaso Ciampa and Rush in this Gauntlet match. Anyone could have realistically won this, so each finisher hit got the crowd hooked on every false finish. When it came to the in-ring action though, it felt very reliant on adrenaline. If you ever wanted to just have a compilation of twitter highlights of a given wrestler, just watch a match like this.
Every minute there was something involving two wrestlers who don’t typically interact with each other, and usually something innovating involving El Clon. It’s very much a cocaine-style booking choice, but the crowd loved it regardless. There was little cohesion, and the purest form of a spot-fest you’ll ever get tonight. Also, Kevin Knight won with his UFO Splash out of nowhere. Kevin Knight is a singles champion, FINALLY! With Kyle Fletcher injured, Knight was a well deserved choice to continue the TNT Title lineage.
Thekla (c) v. Jamie Hayter – AEW Women’s World Title Match
Here was the hardest hitting match of the night. Good Lord, Jamie got bruise after bruise as this match raged on. Unsurprisingly, she’d answer in kind by smacking the hell out of Thekla. The Toxic Spider improved her presentation from the previous PPV match with Kris Statlander because she didn’t use her sinful sisters (Julia Hart & Skye Blue) to win by cheating. Instead, she used the ropes to gain leverage on that final pinfall like a true heel.
I really liked the vibes this match brought even if it didn’t properly kick into that second gear. There’s a fear deep down within the long-term effects of this Thekla reign. That fear strictly comes from her running through the AEW Women’s roster too quickly to be deemed important. After she beat Statlander and Hayter and most likely Windsor in the future, then what? Shida, perhaps Mercedes? The women’s roster isn’t as in-depth as the men’s, basically. Hopefully, Tony Khan knows that.
Jon Moxley (c) v. Will Ospreay – AEW Continental Title Match
We started this match with TWO Hidden Blades immediately because why not? Right from the very beginning, this match created an atmosphere that made peeps hang onto every move. Those collective “oohhhs” from the crowd whenever the time calls came in were such a cherry reaction to place on this match’s sundae. Ospreay’s seizure selling also came straight from Bryan Danielson, scaring the hell out of everyone.
After multiple piledrivers and Paradigm Shifts from Moxley, he’d nail the ending, which I personally loved, akin to Swerve v. Ospreay at Forbidden Door 2024 Move after move saw Ospreay somehow survive until Moxley forced a finish with a sickening Death Rider finisher. Moxley figured out that Ospreay is not human, he’s a video game Mox needed to hack in order to win and retain his Continental Title. All within the 20 minute time limit, the first time Ospreay lost a singles match in less than 20 since the C2 Finale in 2024 against Okada!
The Dogs (David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, & Clark Connors) (c) v. The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, & Kyle O’Reilly) – AEW Trios Title Match
”Did somebody say Conglomeration?” Welcome back Kyle O’Reilly. Also, Clark Connors simulating sex with his title on the couch, somewhere Thekla’s blushing I’m sure. This match had all the ingredients to get messy in the best way, but the vibes got significantly shafted because Gabe Kidd got hurt early on. Tony Khan later said on the post-show scrum that Kidd is out indefinitely. What a shame.
The positives of this match shone through completely though, with Clark Connors flipping and bumping around like a true madman in Kidd’s stead. The Glommy Boys would pick up the win and the titles, ending The Dogs’ reign in one singular day. Hot potato’ing the Trios Titles like this is fun, it makes the entire division unpredictable and exciting. No matter who the next challengers are, the matches will be filled with action.
MJF (c) v. Kenny Omega – AEW Men’s World Title Match
MJF going very nose-on with the Devil references. Kenny, likewise, got his god-mode tights on with some good ol’ white and gold. There were lots of setup early on with the table at ringside and concerning selling from Kenny “Bi God” Omega. Seriously, it was a mystery as to whether or not Kenny was really dead on his feet out there or he’s just very good at feigning fatigue. At the worst points of this one, things got slow with MJF’s constant attacks on Kenny’s tummy. The diverticulitis Kenny previously obtained came into play and it was the main motivating factor for MJF’s offense.
The action picked up though with lots of callbacks to spots during the match itself. It led to counters upon counters with the story of both men changing their deliveries on the fly to try and outpace the other. Suddenly, there was a referee bump and things broke down into Max cheating a ton. But then, Kenny hit the One Winged Angel…which MJF kicked out of. No. No on every account. The most protected finish in wrestling today and you give the third kickout to Maxwell? Really? (For reference, first was Kota Ibushi in DDT, and second was Kenny himself multiple times)
Head-pounding moment aside, the match ended with a tombstone through the ringside table and a Heat Seeker pinning Kenny for the MJF victory. After this 39 minute long match, another AEW pay-per-view ended with an MJF win. The crowd didn’t react as strongly as they did when MJF stood over a bloody Hangman to end Revolution. Whether they loved Kenny too much or not, The Devil had to assert his will over The God of Professional Wrestling.
Overall Thoughts
This show had a ton of bold choices made to create statements. For one thing, the nostalgic acts like Adam Copeland, Christian Cage, and Jericho all lost decisively. Then, AEW pulled the trigger on big names like Darby Allin and Kevin Knight. It was all fabulously done albeit with one factor that made this show differently from usual AEW pay-per-views. There was a more balanced heel to face ratio of champions leaving the night.
Thinking about it now, Moxley, FTR, and MJF retaining their titles created a ton of levity against their challengers and reinforced their power a lot. Meanwhile, Knight won the TNT Title from a vacancy and The Conglomeration won the Trios after an ill-timed injury. The show ending with some deflation due to Kenny losing when most wanted him to win also dampened things a bit.
Sappiness and cynicism aside, the positives of this show were amazing and made the show PPV-worthy. Even with the absence of big players like Swerve Strickland, Brody King, and Mark Briscoe, everyone else found spots on the card. My personal favorite match of the night was the Young Bucks v. Don Callis Family tag. The best part about this show, there were no outright bad matches! Some like the main event were a bit too long, but the wrestling to fill in those minutes was electrifying.
Even matches people would consider a “pee break” segment had something worthwhile to lay eyes upon. It’s simply a show that knows how to exceed in quality over quantity.
AEW Dynasty 2026 is available for purchase on HBO MAX, Prime Video, YouTube, PPV.com and traditional cable pay-per-view.
