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AEW DYNAMITE REPORT
JULY 9, 2025
GARLAND, TEX. AT CURTIS CULWELL CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON TBS & MAX
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness
Ring Announcer: Justin Roberts
Attendance: WrestleTix reported that 2,298 tickets had been distributed earlier; arena is set up for 2,644. The arena has a capacity of 8,500 spectators when configured for professional wrestling.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR POST-SHOW PODCAST
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PWTorch editor Wade Keller and PWTorch’s Chris Lansdell 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.
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[HOUR ONE]
-After the opening theme for Dynamite, they cut to a wide shot of the crowd and then Excalibur introduced the show. He noted they were live on TBS and HBO Max. (The name switched back to HBO Max today from just Max.)
-Mercedes Moné made her ring entrance first, setting the standard for ring gear as usual. Mercedes said, “Texas, say hello to your CEO!” Some fans said “CEO” and other booed. She told Toni Storm, “Let’s get to it.” Storm appeared on the big screen and said, “Two things come from Texas, and I am at least one of them.” Fans laughed. Mercedes said she’s sick of her “silly little games.” She said she’s hiding behind a screen but Saturday there will be nowhere to hide, “so how about to come out here and face me face-to-face, you mark.” She promised not to hurt her too badly.
Storm said, “Who said I was hiding? Hit my music!” Storm made her way to the ring with Luther. When Storm entered the ring, Mercedes offered her “a civil toast.” She then said, “A toast to me, your future new AEW Women’s World Champion, seven belts Moné. Heh heh heh heh HEH.” She complained about the champagne.
Storm told Mercedes to “save the performative bullshit for your entrance, Mercedes.” She said Mercedes has treated her as some sort of underdog. She said she speaks in catch phrases and has “the authenticity of a spray tan in a rain storm” and “the emotional depth of a kiddie pool.” She said she is also a (bleep)-faced fraud. Schiavone said, “Coming in hot.” Taz said, “Stiff city.” Storm said all the belts she wears are little masks for her to hide behind, “so tell me, what the hell are you so afraid of, Mercedes.”
Mercedes sat and told Storm they have traveled similar paths, but they are nothing alike. She said she will always outshine her in success and class and she is not afraid of anyone or anything. She said she traveled to “hell and back and I made the devil my bitch.” She said the more that fans hate her, the more she wins, and no one will stop the Moné Train, “not even you.” She said the AEW Women’s Title is her destiny. She said she is the “one woman revolution.”
Storm said legacies don’t exist. She said one day they will all turn to dust and be forgotten. “We’re all gonna die, Mercedes. Don’t you get it, Mercedes? All that matters is one moment – the moment you step into this ring and look me in the eyes and realize you fear an ordinary life but I only fear an ordinary death.” She said Mercedes deserves all the titles in the world except for hers. She said she will go down as the woman who just couldn’t win the big one.
Mercedes said she hoped it would be civil, but she was wrong. “This Sunday, I mean this Saturday, may the best woman win.” Fans immediately seized on that and chanted, “You f—ed up!” (Be nice.) Storm and Mercedes toasted each other. Storm swallowed and Mercedes spit hers out. “Eat shit, bitch!” said Storm. They had a brief scuffle, and Mercedes fled the ring. Storm’s music played and she saluted the crowd with a bottle of champagne.” She then held up her belt and yelled, “Eat shit, bitch!”
-Backstage, Mox cut a promo about “Hangman” Adam Page. He said he has been beaten before and outmaneuvered and outmuscled, but he has never lost a war of attrition. He asked if Hangman can hold the line against the pressure of attack or expectations. He said everyone is counting on him, but he’s pathetic and a waste. “You have one chance to prove me wrong,” he said. He told him to walk the aisle on July 12 like it’s the last time he ever will. He said he is All In. “This time, whether you like it or not, you are all the way in.”
(Keller’s Analysis: Storm was great here as a confident, edgy alpha. Mercedes’ performance was mixed, and getting the day wrong just messed up any momentum they had, but fans jumped on it too much.)
-Excalibur hyped the All-Star Eight-Man Tag coming up later with Mox and Hangman.
-The Young Bucks drove up in their limo with decals of them on Mt. Rushmore. Excalibur called it gaudy. He said they were just arriving, but call time was earlier in the afternoon.
(1) BANDIDO & BRODY KING vs. KOKOSUKE TAKESHITA & KYLE FLETCHER (w/Don Callis, Lance Archer)
As Bandido made his entrance, Excalibur said he is defending his ROH Title on Friday and also is entered in the Casino Battle Royal. Schiavone explained the rules. Excalibur noted Brody is among possible entrants in the Casino Battle Royal. The bell rang 17 minutes into the hour. Callis said he’ll only acknowledge Taz because he’s only acknowledging people “who have drawn money in this business.” (This is the weaker part of Callis’s act, where he’s trying to pop people with meta-like insider references that just feel besides the point and just him trying to “be clever.” Why not say he only associates with winners or former champions or something along those lines instead?) They cut to a double-box break at 5:00. [c/db]
Takeshita finished Bandido with Raging Fire after knocking him out of mid-air with an elbow.
WINNERS: Takeshita & Fletcher in 13:00.
(Keller’s Analysis This felt like the Collision Special, with some good, hard-hitting action but largely serving the purpose of being a backdrop to sneak in some ROH PPV plugs and show that Takeshita might have Bandido’s number going into Friday’s PPV. Bandido losing in a tag match on Dynamite makes him look like a weak champion, though.)
-A clip aired of The Outrunners saying they stood toe-to-toe with FTR on Collision, and they showed they will never give up.
-Excalibur plugged FTR & The Patriarchy (Christian & Nick Wayne) vs. Jet Speed & The Outrunners tomorrow night on Collision. [c]
-Renee Paquette interviewed FTR and The Patriarchy backstage. Christian said he expects nothing but success teaming with FTR. He said if they scratch their backs, they’ll scratch theirs after they become AEW Tag Team Champions. Stokely Hathaway said there’s been a lot of miscarriages of justices in AEW, but the biggest is that they’re not involved in the AEW Tag Team Title match at All In. He said they are former champions and they have classic matches. He said they’ll be at All In watching, but as for back-scratching, “let’s see how things go tomorrow night first.”
(2) RICOCHET vs. BLAKE CHRISTIAN
Ricochet’s ring entrance aired. Blake was already in the ring. An inset soundbite aired with Blake saying that his partner Lee Johnson isn’t cleared to wrestle after what The Gates of Agony did to him, so he is going to the head of the snake to whip that “bald ass one-on-one.” The bell rang 38 minutes into the hour. Schiavone talked about Ricochet being entered in the Casino Battle Royal. They cut to a double-box break at 2:00 after The Gates of Agony walked out to distract or intimidate Blake when he was taking it to Ricochet at ringside, opening up Ricochet to whip him into the ringside steps and take over. [c/db]
Gates of Agony attacked Blake at ringside, opening up Ricochet to dive through the ropes onto Blake. He threw Blake into the ring and then landed his Spirit Gun followed by Vertigo for the win.
WINNER: Ricochet in 8:00.
-Gates of Agony double-slammed Blake after the match.
-Renee interviewed The Hurt Syndicate backstage. MJF said he’s looking to get one step closer to getting his World Title back when he wins the Casino Gauntlet Battle Royal. MVP interrupted and said they needed to get to a photo shoot. MVP discovered a ink board that showed a note from Jet Speed. “Since I already pinned you on Collision, I figured we would take the belts early!”
(Keller’s Analysis: Jet Speed’s handwriting was as nice as you’d expect, and they signed it with Jet Speed as two separate words, if anyone is keeping track of how to stylize it. Of course, some tech probably wrote the note, though.)
-A video package aired on Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada with soundbites from Omega. He said he is a different man than the last time they wrestled, but so is Okada. “One final time for everything,” Omega said as the video ended.
(Keller’s Analysis: Really good video package. They took advantage of what they have to work with in terms of their pre-AEW history and also their AEW history along with the Omega-Callis history. Omega came across as a dignified, serious person here.)
-Mark Briscoe made his entrance. Then MJF. Briscoe said it’s time for their Talky Talk. Fans chanted “Talky Talk!” MJF said “Talky Talk is about the dumbest shit I’ve heard in my entire life.” He said like the fans, he’s a stupid white-trash hick. He then said he would talk in a way he and the fans can understand. He went into a mocking twangy Southern accent. He vowed to dog walk Briscoe at All In. MJF asked the fans if they understand. They chanted, “Shut the f— up!” He said Briscoe is throwing rocks at a man with a machine gun. He said there will be no Talky Talk, so he suggested he take “a walky-walk back to his meth lab in Dumpster Fire, Delaware so you can keep feeding all 95 of your inbred children shoe leather and chicken feed, you pathetic poor.”
[HOUR TWO]
Briscoe said it sounds like MJF needs a good ol’ country ass whipping. Fans chanted “Whoop his ass!” He said it’s coming and it’ll be an ass whooping “the likes of which you’ve never experienced before.” He said Saturday is ass whooping day, but Wednesday is “Talky Talk Day.” Fans chanted, “Talky Talk!” He told MJF that he tried to berate him, but it didn’t work because he’s proud to be a country boy and a redneck who has worked hard for every dollar he has earned.
Briscoe said MJF’s suit costs more than his entire wardrobe. Briscoe said he has his family and friends, which means more than the materialistic possessions of MJF. He said MJF is bankrupt. He said “bankrupt” is the word of the day because he is morally bankrupt and has no soul. He said he sees right through him. He said he knows what’s next. He said MJF is about to talk some dumb shit about his brother and try to get him riled up. “Have at it,” he said.
MJF said he would never say anything about his brother. He said his brother will go down as one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time. He said he’ll go down as one of the greatest human beings ever and there’s a special place in Heaven for Jay Briscoe. Fans chanted, “Jay! Jay!” He said he pities his brother, not because he died, but because he has to look down to see what his brother has become. He said he knows he must be “rolling in his (bleep)” because he has had to watch his baby brother go from one-half of the greatest tag team of all-time to being nothing more than a joke. He said he’s no betting man, but if he were, he would be willing to bet that if his brother was able to be there in the flesh tonight, he knows what he’d say to him.”He’d say chicken, it shouldn’t have been me in that accident, it should have been you.” Briscoe tackled MJF. The announcers said that was too far.
MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin came out. Jet Speed ran out to even the odds. MJF fled through the crowd as Briscoe pursued him. Kevin Knight and “Speedball” Mike Bailey beat up Shelton and Lashley. Jet Speed celebrated at ringside. Christian led The Patriarchy to the ring. They further attacked The Hurt Syndicate. Taz said MJF wasn’t there to help because he got chased away by Briscoe. Christian bashed Lashley’s leg with a chair at ringside. Jet Speed attacked Shelton in the ring including a spinning hook kick from Speedball and a UFO Splash by Knight. Excalibur said this seems to have shifted expectations to a toss-up on Saturday.
(Keller’s Analysis: This could mean Jet Speed will win the tag titles, although doing so if Shelton and Lashley are weakened from this attack, it won’t mean a lot. It also hurts Hurt Syndicate’s heel heat that they were beaten up by a heel faction in The Patriarchy in additi0n to Jet Speed.) [c]
(3) MEGAN BAYNE (w/Penelope Ford) vs. TAY MELO (w/Anna Jay) vs. “THE TOXIC SPIDER” THEKLA vs. QUEEN AMINATA – Winner Earns No. 2 Spot in Casino Gauntlet Battle Royal
As Bayne made her entrance, they showed Kris Statlander watching. Excalibur noted this is Thekla’s Dynamite debut and said she was fired from Stardom for attacking the president of the company. The bell rang 14 minutes into the hour. They cut to an early double-box break. [c/db]
They showed Statlander chomping on gum and observing at ringside. Bayne tossed Melo over the top rope onto Thekla and Aminata. Bayne then dove through the ropes and tackled all three opponents. More rapid-fire action took place. When Ford and Jay battled at ringside, Bayne took down Aminata in the ring. Bayne then landed a running powerbomb for the win.
WINNER: Bayne in 8:00. [c]
-As Paquette interviewed Thekla backstage, Aminata attacked Thekla. Security quickly intervened. Briscoe then walked in and cut an intense promo with his eyes squeezed shut acting completely bonkers. He called MJF a son of a bitch and barked and snarled.
(4) SAMOA JOE vs. WHEELER YUTA
The bell rang 30 minutes into the hour. Fans pelted Yuta with a “Get a haircut!” chant. They cut to an early break after Joe side-stepped a dive by Yuta at ringside. [c/db]
Joe landed an inverted atomic drop, a big boot, and a leaping senton for a near fall at 8:00. Yuta bit Joe’s ear, but Joe countered with a Koquina Clutch for a tapout win.,
WINNER: Joe in 9:00.
-Gabe Kidd attacked Joe with a belt afterward. As he pounded away at him, Powerhouse Hobbs and Katsuyori Shibata ran out for the save. Kidd fled through the crowd. Excalibur plugged the main event eight-man tag. [c]
(5) “HANGMAN” ADAM PAGE & WILL OSPREAY & POWERHOUSE HOBBS & KATSUYORI SHIBATA vs. JON MOXLEY & CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI & THE YOUNG BUCKS (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson)
During Moxley’s ring entrance, Excalibur noted the “special early start time” for All In of 3 p.m. ET, plus a two-hour “Zero Hour” pre-show. The bell rang 48 minutes into the hour. Hangman went on the attack at the start against Matthew in the ring and the other three on the ring apron. Taz said Hangman’s flaw is that he has a short temper. The Bucks took over and struck a pose. Hangman, meanwhile, tagged in Ospreay who went on the attack. They cut to a double-box break at 2:00. [c/db]
Hangman rallied after the break including a sitout powerbomb on Matthew. Nicholas broke up the cover. Claudio and Powerhouse tagged in next. The Bucks powerbombed Hobbs into the arms of Mox and Claudio who then dropped Hobbs through a table at ringside. The Bucks gave an EVP Trigger on Shibata. Mox then put Shibata in a bulldog for the tapout win.
WINNERS: Moxley & Claudio & The Bucks in 11:00.
-Afterward, Hangman went after Mox, but Kidd joined the heels in stopping him. Marina Shafir supplied Mox with a chain and he used it against Hangman, Ospreay broke it up quickly. The heels ganged up on Ospreay and Hangman. Shafir brought plastic bags into the ring to place over the heads of Hangman and Ospreay, but they were interrupted by Swerve Strickland on the big screen. He smashed the Bucks’ limousine with a fork lift.
Ospreay leaped off the top rope onto a crowd below. Swerve then got out of the fork lift and asked, “Whose house?” He smiled. Back in the ring, Hangman gave Moxley a discus lariat and then went for a Buckshot Lariat, but Claudio cut him off with an uppercut. Hangman knocked Claudio aside and faced off with Mox mid-ring. Hangman wrapped his fist with a chain. Shafir charged in and tackled Mox out of the ring to save him. The Death Riders retreated through the crowd passed a sign that said, “I Feel Bad for Renee.”
The Bucks ran to the parking lot to see their damaged limousine. Prince Nana approached them with a coffee in hand. Matthew told him he’d pay for it. Swerve then leaped off a forklift at Matthew with a Swerve Stomp. He laughed and said, “I found the fathers.” Back in the ring, Hangman’s music played and he stared down a retreating Mox. Swerve and Nana walked onto the stage all smiles. Ospreay greeted them with a hug.
(Keller’s Analysis: That was an expensive angle. It seems like such a waste as that wasn’t a junker limo! That was a lot going on at the end, and perhaps too much since the focus wasn’t on Hangman-Mox, but it was wild fun that felt like a crescendo leading into a big PPV.)
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 Chris Lansdell 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.
VIP VIDEO CALLER CODE: CLICK HERE
https://streamyard.com/4pengcghd7
Click that link during the post-show to enter the waiting room as “live video caller” (or just audio if you turn off your cam, which is fine). This is a private link, so don’t share. It’s just for VIP members at this time.
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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