AEW Dynamite 2/19/25: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," where the build to Revolution 2025 continues — specifically in the form of "Hangman" Page and MJF talking about 2019 for some reason and the challenger for the International Championship awaiting the mini-tournament-determined champion. Spoiler alert: here at WINC we think both those sentences are a little it backward, and we're allowed to say that here because it's an opinion space. Our opinions, which are totally subjective. If you're more into plain facts and you just want to know what happened on the show, check out our "Dynamite" results page.

Don't get the sense that Wednesday night was all negative though — far from it. While there were a few things we just didn't care about at all, this column is about our strongest opinions, and most of those were actually on the positive side this week. From Powerhouse Hobbs destroying Big Bill to Megan Bayne clashing with Kris Statlander to Toni Storm cutting a promo as women's world champion once again (which just feels right) here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 2/19/25 episode of "AEW Dynamite."

Did you know that back in 2019, MJF and Hangman Page faced off in the first match in AEW history? Because back in 2019, MJF and Hangman Page faced off in the first match in AEW history. You see the Casino Battle Royal at Double or Nothing 2019, the first match in AEW history, featured MJF and Hangman Page. It's history that AEW, MJF especially, loves to bring up whenever possible.

It's become a tired note. 2019 was 6 years ago and it feels like MJF has been living in the past more and more. He talks about Cody. He talks about Punk. He talks about facing Adam Page in the first match in AEW history (the Casino Battle Royal at Double or Nothing if you didn't know) and it's starting to become its own vortex. MJF might not have the clout of a Chris Jericho, but watching the crowd reaction dwindle with each barb really underlined just how much air MJF and Page let out of the balloon over the course of their repetitive harping to open the show.

Last week, the explosion between the two men was a highlight of the show, and this week they made me want to rip my fingernails out one by one. The extended riff on Christopher Daniels is becoming especially tiring, as it's very hard to miss a guy who shows up the second you say his name. Daniels might not be able to wrestle anymore, but he's still there, and every time MJF or Adam Page talk like they robbed the world of Daniels, the more hollow it rings. These guys have painted themselves into a corner and at this point I'm not sure how they wrestle their way out of it effectively.

Written by Ross Berman

I will admit, I had to make sure Powerhouse Hobbs was fully in the back before claiming this as a love in fear that Chris Jericho was going to appear, but thankfully, that wasn't the case. Tonight's street fight between Hobbs and Big Bill was pretty good and I quite enjoyed it. I'm someone who always loves a good stipulation match, and this didn't disappointed. It was even positioned well in the show and wasn't outshined by anything and didn't over stay its welcome. I'm a big fan of both of these guys, but Hobbs needed the win here after Big Bill and The Learning Tree put him on the shelf for awhile. Hobbs hitting Bill with the backpack full of bricks, the weapon that injured him in the first place, was a nice touch.

The used a few different weapons that you don't usually see in a street fight, including the backpack, I believe a keyboard or something from a sound system, and a wrench, which is what Bill used to bust open Hobbs. We didn't see any of Jericho, since he's too busy dealing with Bandido, but we did see "Bad Apple" Bryan Keith come out to try and help Bill set up some tables in the ring and move some of the weapons around. He was sent through a table set up in the corner for his troubles, taking him out of the match at a good time where he didn't interfere too much, but he was still there and involved just enough to be useful, so it wasn't like he abandoned Bill.

The match ended with what I thought was a pretty great spot. The ring steps were set up on the stage, and Hobbs climbed them with Bill, and sent "The Redwood" crashing down through a table covered in barbed wire below. Bill was struggling to get himself untangled from the wire, which looked brutal, but not too awful and bloody to be shown on television rather than a pay-per-view, and Aubrey Edwards counted to 10 before declaring Hobbs the winner. I thought it was a good way to keep Bill looking a bit strong as well, since he was literally wrapped up in barbed wire and couldn't physically get out to stand up and continue the match. It was a spot I haven't seen, at least in recent memory, and I thought it looked pretty cool.

I can't tell if this feud is over or not by how this match ended, but I think I'm fine with it either way. If Bill wants to challenge Hobbs to something even more brutal at Revolution, cool. If this is the end and Hobbs moves on to better things, and hopefully Big Bill and Bryan Keith move father away from Jericho, that would also be excellent. Overall, I thought this worked well on tonight's show, and I had fun watching this match.

Written by Daisy Ruth

There's no question that professional wrestling is full of people who know how to cut a great promo, but perhaps, none are more creative than Toni Storm in the modern age of wrestling.

The beauty of the segment that the brand new four time AEW Women's World Champion didn't necessarily lie in its content, but rather its uniqueness and suitability to the "Timeless" character that Storm has been portraying for some time now. Everything about it from the theatrics to the presentation of the singular spotlight in the ring and Storm's outfit to the way that she spoke was virtually flawless. It all came together to make for an entertaining, fun, and memorable part of the show that will linger in the minds of fans for quite some time whilst still working to promote the upcoming Queen Of The Ring film and set up the next chapter in the storyline between Storm and May. On a "Dynamite" that was almost entirely comprised of segments and matches that were solid, if not great, this one still managed to be a bright spot by standing above everything else and acted as the perfect way to call action on Storm's reign as titleholder.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

It's becoming a bit of a tradition for me to praise AEW for making a certain division feel like it's on the cusp of something promising. Two weeks ago it was the tag team division, last week it was the trios division, and this week it's the women's division, and it's all thanks to Megan Bayne and Kris Statlander.

After their altercation last week, plus the fact that Tony Khan may or may not have forgotten to book a women's match until earlier today, the match that could have genuinely been a dream match to some people with a little more build was given away in the second half of this week's "AEW Dynamite" and let me tell you something right now: it was great.

If there is one thing unique about AEW's women's division, it's that they have gathered some of the biggest, most physically imposing women in the world under one roof. Bayne, Statlander, Jamie Hayter, Willow Nightingale, Nyla Rose, and so on, and this match was a perfect example of what these girls can do when they are allowed to just go out and do what they want. Aided by the fact that the show felt a bit promo-heavy at times, the matches all got a little extra added to them and these girls made the most of it. Hard-hitting strikes, huge bombs being landed, Megan Bayne showing the world that she can not only throw people around with ease, but that she can take some nasty bumps too. That back suplex on to the apron where there was absolutely no give, fantastic.

For me personally, Statlander has a tendency to work better with people nearly half her size, just look at the AEW TBS Championship matches against Mercedes Mone as examples. However, Bayne being the immovable object allowed Statlander to show off her athleticism a little more, allowing her to really lean into babyface bag that she is so good at digging in to. Plus, and this is just a small detail, but her axe kick is a thing of beauty.

On a show that was main evented by Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong, two incredible wrestlers and former AEW International Champions, a show with the dream team of Samoa Joe, HOOK, and Katsuyori Shibata being the coolest guys in the world, a show with Big Bill getting thrown into barbed wire, Bayne and Statlander got the crowd going arguably more than anyone just by being excellent at what they do. While it might have been a wiser choice to have them nearly tear the building down and brawl all over the place, these two girls put on a damn fine wrestling match, and I for one cannot wait to see a rematch later on down the line.

You'll notice I haven't mentioned the finish of the match, or the post-match angle with Penelope Ford and Thunder Rosa, and there is a reason for that: it deserves its own entry, but not for the right reasons...

Written by Sam Palmer

First off, Megan Bayne got a huge win over Kris Statlander after a fantastic match. I am not here to undermine any of the work those two put on display, and everything about the match really matched my vibe – except for one thing. Towards the end of a brilliant performance specifically in the case of Bayne, one that really should have been capped off with a clean win, Penelope Ford emerged to distract Statlander for the finish. Ford was on the losing end of Stat during last week's show, after which Bayne emerged to set the wheels in motion for this week's bout. But aside from that, there feels to be very little rhyme or reason to having Ford aligned – temporarily or not – with Bayne at all. The interference wound up tainting an otherwise star-making performance for Bayne, and pushed it into the box of countless other matches throughout AEW's small history where such a finish happened.

It really took the wind out of the sails of a great match, and by no means is this meant to be disrespectful to Ford herself; but why does she need to be a part of this arc? It often feels like much is trying to be crammed into a short space within AEW, and that's more apparent in the women's division, with several talent banded together seemingly as a means of ensuring they're featured at least semi-regularly. But it feels like that is saturating the storylines and removing a nuance that can be achieved with one-to-one storytelling. Not every babyface loss needs to come with an asterisk, especially when it comes at the detriment of truly cementing a burgeoning talent. Give Ford another reason to exist within the canon without being tied to another heel, and let the characters stand alone as their own thing.

Written by Max Everett

I completely thought I missed something tonight when I realized that AEW had announced the International Championship Series Match pitting Orange Cassidy against Roderick Strong. I was confused because, when I caught up on "Grand Slam: Australia," I distinctly remember Kenny Omega calling out Konosuke Takeshita. Omega went off backstage, stood beside Will Ospreay, and called out Takeshita in part, because he hates him and The Don Callis Family, and he wants his shot at the International Championship. He said quite a bit more than that, but from what I remember, that was a good gist of it after he and Ospreay defeated Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher. I thought to myself, "Oh! That will be a great match at Revolution!" and went about my day. While I'm happy Cassidy got the win tonight, I just think it's pretty pointless.

I don't think that Cassidy is going to defeat Takeshita next week. I don't think Strong would have won the belt, either, so it's just silly. I truly believe the match at Revolution is going to be Takeshita versus Omega for the International Championship anyway, so I'm not entirely sure why these extra matches had to be added for both Strong and Cassidy to take losses. I can't even really say I hope that I'm wrong, because while I like Orange Cassidy, I want to see Omega versus Takeshita more at the pay-per-view.

The entire "International Championship Series Match" thing is just pretty dumb, in my eyes, at least. Even the graphic screams "silly" to me, with "Omega versus Champion" at Revolution being what's listed as the final. I have no idea why AEW thought this was necessary, and I think we all would have been fine with Takeshita versus Omega being booked outright. It's not like there's a super long time before Revolution, and there's enough that could be done between the pair, including the Don Callis Family, and maybe further help from Ospreay for Omega, to fill the weeks before Revolution.

Written by Daisy Ruth