Can this week’s Dynamite live up to the expectation of being the “Go Home” show before AEW All In at Wembley Stadium? Last week delivered a show that deservedly felt like the Go-Home, but there is a lot more in store for us wrestling fans.
Will Ospreay opens the show in Glasgow, Scotland and boy is he fired up! One of the most passionate promos to date, invoking the great history of wrestling throughout the UK.
If there is a guy to send a crowd into a frenzy kicking off the show, it’s Ospreay. This feud feels special, and it feels very important.
Jon Moxley defeated Claudio Castagnoli to advance to the finals of the Continental Cup Challenge Tournament
This is wrestling. Very brief chop vs. forearm exchange, but the match was dominated by grappling and jockeying for advantage. Two tough badasses using every move in their respective arsenals, then turning up the pain meter. Claudio swung Mox into the barricade for one, then swung him around while in a sleeper hold. Mox delivered multiple Paradigm Shifts followed by the Bulldog Choke for the win.
This was excellent. This also underlies a potential story point. Mox had to go through his own stable to advance.
Adam Copeland and The Young Bucks defeated Brian Cage, Jake Doyle, and Rocky Romero (The Don Callis Family)
Okay, they desperately need to stop having Rocky go on a roll, then do his sliding showboat only to get mauled. It’s happened, what, three weeks in a row now? Come on guys. He actually looked damn good tonight too. Cage and Doyle are muscle monsters but the Bucks and Copeland managed to outsmart and outmaneuver the imposing trio. Bucks and Cope worked very well together, even avoiding a potential disaster with superkicks.
Post-match, things turned heated as Christian Cage came to the ring, throwing subtlety out the damn window with his complete disdain and disrespect for the Young Bucks. Cage continued to tear into his challengers, while Cope tried to calm things. However, Cage was the one to cross the line, kicking Nick Jackson low! Matt retaliated only to get speared by Copeland.
This is going to be an intense tag match, but one has to wonder if Cage and Cope will be on the same page.
Andrade El Idolo’s music hits, but no Andrade. Instead MJF came out to trash-talk both his opponent and Glasgow. He then began to copy Andrade’s antics, finding the planted female in the crowd. She looked displeased until someone else’s arm wrapped around her… Andrade! “How You Know?!” He saves the day and chases MJF off. It’s champion versus the self-proclaimed champion kicking off the Casino Gauntlet Battle Royale.
Backstage: Mercedes Mone attacks Willow Nightingale backstage, again. Hard to say who is going to come out as Women’s World Champion. Mercedes’ story is failing to win “the big one,” while Willow’s is whether she can truly prevail in the biggest main event ever by repeating history, defeating Mercedes again.
This could be the show stealer.
Nigel McGuiness defeated Kyle O’Reilly to advance to the finals of the Continental Cup Tournament
Despite O’Reilly being a credible threat to Mox in the past, he will not be the one standing across the ring on Sunday. Not entirely a surprise, Nigel defeated Kyle, but how he defeated him was the surprise. Kyle tapped out to Nigel’s London Dungeon submission. It’s rare to see O’Reilly tap, so this made the win feel bigger. Both wrestlers are well-known for their versatility of submission-based wrestling. Nigel seemed to continue favoring the injured leg, moving slowly, but used some of his classic antics to gain advantage, confusing both his opponent and the referee. At one point, he draped Aubrey Edwards’ arm over Kyle, who grabbed and nearly went for an arm submission when he realized what was happening. This was an excellent match, and here we are in 2026 with Nigel and Kyle putting on a match rivaling the likes of Dean Malenko and Lord Regal.
I wonder if this whole injury is a work, making Nigel look like the ultimate underdog. Defeating Mox at All In just doesn’t seem likely unless Nigel can pull off the biggest form of confusion imaginable. This might be the way to believably get a win over Mox. Not only with submission tactics, but by completely confusing and keeping the pace unpredictable.
CMLL Women’s Champion Persephone and AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions Divine Dominion defeated TBS Champion Maya World and the Brawling Birds
Six of the hardest hitting women in the ring at the same time? It happened all right. While the babyfaces did not gain victory momentum heading into All In this Sunday, they sure put up one hell of a fight. It does seem likely Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor will win, finally dethroning and ending the long reign of Lena Kross and Megan Bayne. It has to happen eventually and it might as well happen at the biggest show of the year. Persephone came off looking the strongest and with the most dominating presence. She really has every part of the “It factor.” Wrestling repertoire, check. Charisma, check. AEW better not let her slip away. They already have a great roster of women, but golly gee, she would be one of the best official additions if they can come to an agreement. Maya World continues to impress. Pulling off some heavy shots and moves of her own, she will easily become one of the top toughest women in the company.
I imagine we might get Persephone vs. Maya World this Sunday. If so, it’s time for her to win AEW gold.
Backstage: Don Callis is with Kyle Fletcher and they discuss sticking to “the plan.” Fletcher does not seem enthused, but Okada interrupts, pushing “this is all about family.” I smell another turn coming. But from who?
Main Event: Swerve Strickland defeated “Jungle” Jack Perry
This was a really good match. Main event? Not sure, but Perry showed up and showed out for certain. He outsmarted Swerve with an eye poke when Swerve decided to goad him. Their riskier moves complement well; each one tries to top the other until a stalemate. For a while Swerve played the unintimidatable heel, even letting Perry get some shots in until Perry got too aggressive for Swerve’s liking. Fans rallied behind Perry, but after taking a mid-air House Call, followed by the Big Pressure Driver, it was three seconds for Perry to be down and out.
After the match, Swerve fist-bumped Perry out of respect. It’s interesting. Swerve, while booked as a heel, continues to tread the grey area of doing something honorable.
Disappointingly, there was no mention of trios from Swerve. While I did not expect a debut of any type, follow-up about the World Trios Championships would be something.
A good show overall, but it didn’t surpass the level of program from last week. A notable and decent “Go-Home” show, but last week’s would have been much better for a send off.
