SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HOUSEKEEPING
•”Speedball” Mike Bailey came up short in his effort to take the CMLL World Historic Welterweight Title from Mascara Dorada at CMLL Dream Match last Friday (12/19). The match was excellent and well worth the $10. Elsewhere, Claudio Castagnoli retained the CMLL World Heavyweight Title over Ultimo Guerrero. The match was fine, but it did feel at times like watching Claudio beat up an elderly Mexican man given Guerrero’s physical limitations.
•Andrade El Idolo retained an attorney who was successfully able to get him released from his non-compete clause. That means he’s free to sign with AEW again and perhaps renew the rivalry he seemed to be starting with Kenny Omega.
•WrestleKingdom 20 takes place this weekend at a sold-out Tokyo Dome and will of course be headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement match against Kazuchika Okada. Also, Konosuke Takeshita will defend his IWGP World Heavyweight Title against IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji in a title for title match.
INTRO
Well everyone, we made to the end of 2025. It was an overall strong year for AEW. As we head into 2026, there’s a new AEW Men’s World Champion, Jon Moxley seems to be a changed man, and the Don Callis Family could be dealing with internal strife. Pour yourselves a glass of bubbly (or sparkling grape juice if you prefer) and let’s toast to the new year as we watch the very last Dynamite of 2025. Cheers everyone and Happy New Year!
And New
Latest Developments
MJF won a four-way match by pinning Samoa Joe with the Heat Seeker to become the men’s AEW World Champion for the second time.
Analysis
What was initially a three-way match became a four-way two weeks ago when MJF officially cashed in his Casino Gauntlet contract for a title shot. MJF’s return was much-welcomed and suddenly made the outcome of Saturday’s match even more unpredictable. Four-way matches are normally randomly thrown together affairs, but this one had strong history between all four competitors: MJF, Joe, “Hangman” Adam Page, and Swerve Strickland.
The actual match itself was pretty good. It didn’t feel like any one guy was on the floor an overly long amount of time. MJF was his typical weasel self trying to take advantage of any opportunity to steal a win. The moment when Hangman and Swerve were left alone in the ring to square off with each other was electric. The way the crowd reacted it’s clear theirs is THE definitive feud for AEW thus far.
The interference of the Opps mid-way through the match was unsurprising, but needless. I thought the finish with MJF throwing Hangman out of the ring and hitting the Heat Seeker on Joe after Joe had already absorbed two Buckshot lariats was well done. Credit where it’s due – twice in the last four months titles have changed hands in a four-way match and in both cases the champion took the pin. That’s unusual as four-way matches have typically been an out to get the belt off the champion without them having to eat a pin.
Now comes the follow up. MJF’s previous title reigns got derailed by all the Brochacho nonsense and devil storyline with Adam Cole. That can’t happen now. MJF needs a string of strong babyfaces to challenge and he needs to cut more incisive promos without insult comic humor or attempts to be edgy that feel shoehorned in. He’s absolutely capable of it.
The first test will be tonight when he celebrates his win and presumably address his first challenger, Bandido. Bandido won the right to challenge MJF by winning the Dynamite Diamond Ring match over Ricochet, something that strongly hinted at MJF’s eventual win. Hopefully MJF has creative material to use against Bandido and he doesn’t really on a bunch of ethnic jokes.
He really needs to establish that this reign is going to be different from his first.
Grade: B+
The Meltdown Continues
Latest Developments
The Babes of Wrath retained the AEW Women’s Tag Team Titles after Willow Nightingale pinned Mercedes Moné. The loss propelled Mercedes to meltdown even further, ransacking her own dressing room and challenging Willow to a match for the TBS Title.
Analysis
The match these four had at Worlds End was pretty good, albeit not the smoothest at times. That lack of smoothness played into the story, though, as Mercedes and Athena were intentionally less cohesive than the Babes of Wrath. For the finish, Willow reversed the Moné Maker into a leg trap pinning combination. It was executed flawlessly.
In recent weeks, Mercedes has lost the ROH Women’s TV Title (to Red Velvet), the Rev Pro Undisputed British Women’s Title (to Alex Windsor) and now failed to capture the Women’s Tag Titles.
The frustration seems to be getting to Mercedes as she threw a Grade A temper tantrum in the back when Lexy Nair attempted to interview her. She destroyed her own locker room while emitting primal screams. Once she composed herself and approached Lexy, she angrily challenged Willow Nightingale to a TBS Title match vowing to beat her “f—–g ass.”
Between the tantrum and the F-bomb Mercedes is doing well conveying an egomaniac who’s not used to losing not handling it well. This promo was one of her best she’s cut since coming to AEW because it felt like someone who was genuinely frustrated as opposed to the more performative promos where she sings the town name. I don’t see her dropping the TBS Title to Willow, although her losing streak does create some doubt. If anything, her CMLL World Women’s Title is more immediately in danger whenever she defends it next.
Grade: B+
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Dynamite: CLICK HERE (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
Callis Family Intrigue
Latest Developments
Kazuchika Okada used Don Callis’s trademark screwdriver, later revealed to have been planted inside the turnbuckle by Kyle Fletcher, to defeat Konosuke Takeshita in their Continental Classic semi-final match.
Analysis
Okada and Takeshita opened up Worlds End in their much-anticipated showdown. The match was largely a contest of one-upsmanship with each man trying to prove their superiority over the other. Okada actually gave some real effort in this one. The ending was ultimately the story, though.
Okada, growing increasingly desperate to beat Takeshita, approached the left turnbuckle pad on the hard cam side of the ring and extracted a screwdriver from inside it. He swung at Takeshita who ducked but then connected with the weapon on the second attempt. This sequence would’ve been less of a letdown if it hadn’t been so horribly botched by referee Paul Turner. A fan shot video posted to social media clearly shows Turner completely out of position to the point that he had to just turn around for no reason other than to not see Okada wielding the screwdriver. I don’t how the ref doesn’t know the finish of the match, but he really fouled this one up.
Getting back to the story, Don Callis was on commentary and pretended that he didn’t even see Okada knock out Takeshita. To their credit, the other commentators immediately called BS. The match that immediately followed was Kyle Fletcher vs. Jon Moxley. In her pre-match report, Renee Paquette let the viewing audience know that Fletcher had been so intensely preparing for the match with Mox that he hadn’t watched the previous bout. That became an important fact when Fletcher, in his own moment of desperation, went for the screwdriver himself, unaware that Okada had already used it and disposed of it underneath the ring.
This leaves the Don Callis Family in an very interesting predicament. The screwdriver always comes from Callis himself. Fletcher went for it, strongly implying that he planted inside the turnbuckle. The unanswered questions here are did Callis know about the screwdriver and did he relay it to Okada? As it stands, both Takeshita and Fletcher are going to be livid with Okada for very different reasons and looking for answers thus causing turmoil within the Family.
Grade: B
Random Questions
What’s Next for the Death Riders?
Throughout the Continental Classic, Jon Moxley has been leaning more and more babyface. On Saturday night, he had the majority of the crowd cheering when he first defeated Kyle Fletcher and then when he overcame Okada to win the whole thing. Following his win, he cut an impassioned, profane promo that was pure uncut babyface. Oddly, the rest of the Death Riders were there in the ring with him and just clapped after he finished his promo.
If you’ve been reading this column weekly, then you know that I’ve been predicting that the Death Riders are going to turn on Mox for months at this point, but it hasn’t happened yet. With Mox a face now and the rest of the Death Riders firmly heels, the turn needs to happen, tonight. Perhaps it can be precipitated by Mox expressing remorse for his horrific actions over the last year because he certainly needs to address them if this turn is to feel earned at all.
How much longer is the Statlander title run sustainable?
Kris Statlander and Jamie Hayter beat the absolute dog mess out of each other on Saturday night. It took that though to get the crowd to engage with the match. Certainly part of the problem was that it was a face vs. face match and therefore there was no heel to cheer against which would’ve given the perception of a reaction to Stat.
Stat is good in the ring, especially when she has a strong worker like Hayter opposite her. It’s everything else that she’s lacking. Her promos are shallow and lack any sense of vulnerability, authenticity, or connection with the crowd. She isn’t possessed with natural charisma. She’s a lot like babyface Lex Luger. The difference is that she has the likeable quirkiness about her whereas there was nothing likeable about Luger. He was always better as a heel and I think she would be too if she hadn’t turned heel and back so quickly last year.
Yes, they’ve put a lot of equity into her by having her beat Toni Storm and Mercedes Moné in back-to-back months, but at this point Thekla or even Megan Bayne need to be set up to take the belt from her ASAP. Having a monster heel for babyfaces to chase is better than having a weak babyface champion.
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