AEW’S TOP MATCHES OF THE WEEK: Which three matches should you go out of your way to catch up on plus who’s been the big letdown on the mic and who had the line of the week during a match

I thought there were some pretty solid matches this week. Dynamite and Collision were both solid, not spectacular shows. The farther we get from not having MJF, Swerve Strickland, and Will Ospreay, the more you can feel a little bit of a lack of star power and a little bit of that extra juice missing from these shows, especially Dynamite.

I think what’s really missing though is another title to add to the already absurd number of titles in AEW. What we need is another title that most of your audience doesn’t know the history of, and then let’s throw a Casino Gauntlet on a PPV two weeks out to crown that new champion (insert eyeroll). I try to keep this article as positive as I can, and keep my complaints small and leave them for the notebook section at the end of the article.

This new title though is just so absurd, and when I saw it announced on TwitterX, I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn’t a fake AEW account posting it. How about we bring back the prestige of the TNT Title? And not have Kyle Fletcher wrestle a 15 minute match against Ace Austin when he should be beating him in about three minutes. Alright, rant over. Let’s get to the positives this week because the positives did definitely outweigh the negative in both shows.

Mercedes Mone (TBS Champion and Some Other Belts) & Athena (ROH Women’s Champion) vs. Willow Nightingale & Harley Cameron – Dynamite 11/5/25

I guess it never really hit me that if Mercedes and Athena made the finals of this tag team women’s tournament, then Mercedes would be wrestling twice at Full Gear. So, I was honestly stunned when Willo & Harley won here. Then I realized that Mercedes would have had to have wrestled twice, and that shock somewhat wore off.

To be honest, I wouldn’t have put it past Tony Khan to put two titles on Mercedes in one night. I guess this means that Mercedes is winning the Women’s World Title at Full gear? The only other option would be to have her lose, and then have her spiral and lose all her titles, but I’m not sure they are there with her yet. The Statlander title reign has really become a rudderless ship, so I think they may finally put the title on Mercedes.

As far as this match goes, I thought all four women did a great job and this match was a lot of fun. Mercedes and Athena really worked well together as a team, and Harley Cameron has really improved. The crucifix bomb she had into the double clothesline from her and Willow was a really great spot. Her jumping into Athena’s arms on that fall away slam was a rough look, but I thought she did a great job in this match otherwise.

Speaking of that fallaway slam, damn is Athena strong, huh? As someone from Boston, I also got a good laugh at the “Boston Sucks” chants from the crowd. Just a word of advice to future crowds: People from Boston actually enjoy these chants and we love the hate. They don’t call us “Title Town” for no reason. Willow Nightingale is just so good too. I enjoy her in the ring so much. Just an absolute professional in every sense of the word. I thought the ending was a little clunky with the Statlander run in, but I liked the visual at the end of the match of all the competitors in the upcoming Blood and Guts match staring each other down.

Orange Cassidy vs Claudio Castagnoli – Dynamite 11/5/25

When they showed the stat that Claudio has won 100 matches in his time in AEW, I was absolutely blown away. Quick! Name me your three most favorite and memorable Claudio matches in AEW…  don’t worry I’ll wait… I’m still waiting. I swear this is supposed to be a positive article. I’m trying this week, but if you’ve seen one Claudio match, you’ve seen them all.

With that said, I did think this was a great match and I was really entertained by it. I thought both guys did a great job here. There was a shot of Claudio’s back during this match while he was lifting up Orange Cassidy and it was the most impressive thing I saw on the show. The guy has muscles on top of his muscles. That overhead press he did with Orange Cassidy from the outside of the ring, up the ring stairs, and into the ring was so impressive.

I thought Orange Cassidy played his part in this match really well too, and he really sold for Claudio. I can still do without the hands in the pocket spot at certain points, but it still makes me laugh, and I hate myself for doing it. Orange Cassidy also had a penalty kick to Claudio in this match, and it was a hell of a kick. He really laid it into Claudio. I also liked the ending here with Claudio, launching Orange into orbit on that uppercut. Just a great match to kick off Dynamite and laid the foundation for the other advantage matches for Blood and Guts.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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FTR vs. The Bang Bang Gang – Collision 11/8/25

Other than Kenny Omega, I seriously think the Bang Bang Gang has the best entrance in AEW. I still remember them coming out to “Many Men” by 50 Cent at that PPV a few years ago. One of the all-time great entrance moments in AEW history. This was my favorite match from Collision, and for whatever reason there were like two or three spots with guys going over the ropes that were really brutal looking.

There was one spot where Austin Gunn pulled the rope down on Cash Wheeler, and I actually yelled “OMG” when he went over. He caught his back on the ring apron and kind of just stayed there for a minute. It was like a bug hitting a windshield.

I’m also such a big fan of Juice Robinson. I don’t know what it is about him, but I always find myself rooting for him. I really liked the setup on Stokely Hathaway at the end of the match with Bandido being in the crowd too. Stokley is so good at what he does, and his facial expressions may be the best in wrestling.

NOTEBOOK

– I don’t know what it is, but Samoa Joe is just off on the mic in this Hangman rivalry. I thought he had another rough showing while he was on the ramp accepting the Trios Title match.

– Don Callis telling Mark Briscoe not to worry about those hungry mouths back in Delaware was so funny. Callis has been on fire lately.

– I said it last month, and I’ll say it again. I think they are putting the TNT Title on Briscoe, and it would be a mistake.

– So, the Death Riders run away from Roderick Strong, now?

– I feel like Toni Storm’s return should have been a bigger moment. Having her just on commentary seemed a little anti-climatic. That orgy line she had though was unreal. Made me spit out my coffee, and I wasn’t even drinking any.

– Megan Bayne needs new entrance music.

– Eddie Kingston is slowly but surely getting back to the old Eddie in the ring.