AEW Dynamite 7/2/2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," the show where you get to talk tough to someone after they beat you up, and YOU get to talk tough to someone after they beat you up, EVERYBODY GETS TO anyway you get the idea. Tony Khan might not be the most creative wrestling promoter in town but there is one thing that can't be denied, which is that this was the 300th episode of "Dynamite," and Khan gave us quite the lineup to celebrate, from Mercedes Mone wrestling her 1000th career match against Mina Shirakawa to the Golden Lovers reuniting after a Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi main event — that is a bonkers sentence.

The question is — did "Dynamite 300" deliver? Which parts of the show did the WINC staff particularly enjoy, and which parts did we particularly despise? This isn't about covering the entire show; we have our "Dynamite" results page for that. This is about our personal opinions on what we saw Wednesday night, or as we like to call it, three things we hated and three things we loved about the 7/2/25 episode of "AEW Dynamite."

I will preface this by emphasizing that this is specifically geared at the stipulation confirmed between "Hangman" Adam Page and Jon Moxley at All In rather than anything that happened around it; outside of Page's initial promo, there was really nothing to write home about and if you had seen any Death Riders angle ever, recall that and you'll be caught up. But as touched on, Page did cut a promo that would have been fine enough on its own to build for July 12, firing up the crowd and challenging Moxley to face him in a Texas Death match – in Texas no less. 

The segment devolved into this weird mess after Moxley came out and rejected the proposal on the basis that Page "couldn't walk away from Texas Death," hilarious given that firstly, no one really walks away from death of any kind, and secondly the very same man he was saying that to had beaten him in a Texas Death match two years ago. Then after he walked away with the answer being no, Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli did what they do and ambushed the babyface before retreating. Page then called Castagnoli back, and to put a long story short Moxley wound up saying yes to an apoplectic Page. 

Thus, at last, we have the Texas Death that was promised. Sure, we could have saved time and had Moxley agree to the match. But at the end of the day it will be Page against Moxley in a Texas Death Match at All In Texas, their last bout was entirely my cup of tea and the stage has been set for a sequel to go one or two steps further. At the very least, it can be expected to devolve into an AEW-branded Bloodline Rules match, but at best it will be an exhibition of violence and a baptism of fire for the potential Moxley-slayer. 

Written by Max Everett

Hitting 1000 matches is a big deal. Having your thousandth match be at "AEW Dynamite's" 300th episode is a big deal. Successfully defending your title in your thousandth match at a big event should be a big deal.

Mercedes Moné's AEW TBS Championship defense against Mina Shirakawa on Wednesday's "Dynamite" opener should have been a big deal, but as the match went on, it quickly became apparent that this match wasn't a big deal. Making it to 1000 matches in such a physically demanding profession like wrestling is something that deserves to be celebrated. This match just wasn't the celebration that a performer of Moné's longevity and caliber deserved, from start to finish.

Some of my colleagues enjoyed Shirakawa and Moné's in-ring performance, but I just could not get behind it. Shirakawa was notably slow, which would be fine if she was one of the powerhouses that Moné thrives off of working with (Zeuxis, Kris Statlander). However, Shirakawa isn't a powerhouse; she was working a more technician and high-flier role here. Have you ever seen a slow high-flier? Maybe today was just an off-day for Shirakawa, or maybe she's assimilating to competing in an AEW ring (the latter is less likely given her experience with the "Timeless" Toni Storm/Mariah May feud, but I digress) — regardless, today was not her finest work, and it showed in her lack of chemistry with Moné. I thought Shirakawa and Moné moved around each other in slow-motion, especially during their supposed high-intensity fight on the outside. That is disastrous for wrestlers who rely on agility over pure strength like they do.

Speaking of the outside, Storm is typically a great performer, but her dissociative state on the outside was not it. I'm holding out some hope for this near-catatonic angle because I trust in Storm's work, but her super low-stakes reaction when Moné was doing everything she can to rile Storm up was kind of anticlimactic. Storm simply sat there during the match like an empty husk.

Speaking of booking endings, we gotta talk about the ending. I get that Shirakawa is positioned to be a big deal in AEW, but tonight was not the night to defend her. It's Moné's 18th title defense during her 1000th match — let her come out with a big, spectacular win! Don't have her win via an inside cradle during an already slow match. If I were in Moné's position, I'd be fuming at that booking; it just feels disrespectful to not give a big win to a top star during such a milestone match. Moné didn't even look particularly good in the post-match beatdown: she just knocked Shirakawa and Storm over and licked a sheet cake. I don't know who booked that, but that ending was not the serve AEW thinks it is.

Moné walked out of WWE because of poor treatment and horrible booking. I'm not saying that AEW is at that level yet, but Moné deserved a better thousandth match.

Written by Angeline Phu

Wrestling fans have been inundated with advertisements galore in wrestling rings (and on tables, ladders, turnbuckle pads, and really anything with space to slap a logo on) across many promotions in recent months and weeks, some more egregious than others, of course. But tonight's integration of "Superman" movie promotion during "Dynamite" was actually extremely well done on AEW's part, in my humble opinion. The company was promoting the upcoming film due to their connections with Warner Brothers Discovery and honestly, it didn't feel like it was overwhelming. In addition to a pair of cute videos, AEW also ran two "Heroes versus Villains" trios tag team matches, which made a lot of sense when promoting a superhero film.

AEW also did a really good job of booking the right heroes and villains in the two matches, even though on the surface, they may have seen a bit thrown together. The Young Bucks teamed up with Konosuke Takeshita against Bandido and The Paragon's Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly. It was a good match and it also highlighted ROH Champion Bandido and his Supercard of Honor Challenger Takeshita. The Bucks also needed to be the villains involved in that match to help lead into the second match involving Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay, with whom they had words and set up their All In Texas Match.

Ospreay and Strickland were the heroes to take on Dralistico and Beast Mortos, which to me, fit a heroes versus villains kind of theme, with the heels looking like movie star villains. I might not love the stipulation for the All In match, but I'm never going to be upset about an Ospreay and Strickland match, even if it wasn't a very long bout.

Of course, we were going to see "Superman" actor David Corenswet's face and details about the movie on the screens around the ring, but I think that's something we're all used to in wrestling, including AEW, these days. I know in AEW there have been a few instances of actors' or others peoples' faces in ads behind the ring, and oftentimes, it can be funny if it's even noticeable. The two cute commercials involved the movie's actors alongside "Timeless" Toni Storm, Kenny Omega, and MJF, which were fun, albeit a little awkward, though I found them pretty endearing.

While we as fans may be terribly sick of advertisements splattered all over our wrestling shows, I thought AEW did it extremely well tonight. I can't say I'm anymore excited to see "Superman" than I was before, but I appreciated the "Heroes versus Villains" aspect to the show as the brilliant small piece of marketing it was.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I think Will Ospreay, Swerve Strickland, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson are capable of having one hell of an undercard tag match at All In. Their styles complement each other. They have plenty of history. It all just feels pretty natural.

Which is why I'm so frustrated that they keep hanging stipulations on this match. First, it's a match for the EVP Titles, but actually no it's not. If Ospreay and Swerve win, the fans become the EVPs, whatever the hell that means. Also, if they lose, they can't challenge for the world title for over a year. It's all so needlessly convoluted for an undercard tag match. I have no idea who wins a regular tag match between those two teams.

I do however have a pretty solid idea of who wins that match when one of the stipulations is a wishy-washy "Everyone's a winner" stipulation, and the other is a way to keep Swerve and Opsreay away from the world title, and likely at each other's throats, until next year's stint in Wembley Stadium. By adding these silly sentences to the tag match, all of the drama has been sucked out of it for me. It's all so senseless, too, considering Ospreay and Swerve don't actually win anything, right? They don't want to be EVPs. They are fighting to protect the status quo of them being world title contenders.

Considering how much of tonight's show hyped up the concept of a "heroes vs. villains" match, it's kinda ironic that when the chips are down, the company can't actually book "heroes vs. villains," and needs to add as many stipulations to what should be an easy, breezy superstar tag match.

Written by Ross Berman

After the tag team division seemed to be getting back to a place where it could be seen as "good" again way back in February, The Hurt Syndicate have held the titles for five months and have no real credible challengers. That's not through a lack of trying, after all The Outrunners, The Gunns, and The Sons of Texas all gave it a good go to avail, but their gimmick of hurting people has actually been counter-productive when it comes to this feud (if you can call it that) with Kevin Knight and "Speedball" Mike Bailey, better known as Jetspeed.

Before that, a big shout out to MJF, Brody King, Anthony Bowens, and AR Fox who put on a fun, clash-of-styles four way match that once again made King look like an absolute behemoth (give him an actual singles push please Tony), but it's the aftermath that really did nothing for me personally. Mark Briscoe comes out and reminds everyone about MJF's small pickle, before challenging him to a "Talky-Talk" next week, essentially a promo battle that will likely be a fun segment that serves as a build up to the Casino Gauntlet match at All In: Texas.

Then Knight and Bailey hit the ring as they want revenge for being beaten up by Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin last week, and they...wait for it...got beaten up again. These guys are meant to be the next in line for a shot at the AEW Tag Team Championships, and the champions are beating them black and blue. But Jetspeed are getting up! How courageous! Never mind, Lashley and Benjamin go back down and beat them up some more, leaving them in a scrambled heap on the mat, putting an exclamation point on their beat down. BUT WAIT! THEY'RE GETTING UP AGAIN! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?! Oh wait, no Bobby and Shelton go back do once more to really lay it into Bailey and Knight, to the point where you could say "man they are taking liberties here."

WAIT A SECOND...THEY'RE GETTING UP AGAIN?!?!? Now even at this point, I was agreeing with MJF when he was shouting "STAY DOWN" because please guys, stay down and let this segment end. One beat down was enough, but three? Three whole beat downs followed by Knight dissing Shelton's mom (which he didn't get beaten up for ironically) and you have Knight saying that they will have to be killed in order to be beaten, which if you've been paying attention to the show lately, has been said by both Toni Storm and Hangman Page in two much more interesting programs.

If they do have a match at All In: Texas, Jetspeed simply have to win because if they don't, they will never be able to be taken seriously again, and The Hurt Syndicate will get even more burial allegations than what they were already getting. You got the idea of this segment, but the execution was long, messy, and a bit dull.

Written by Sam Palmer

This week's "Dynamite" certainly saved the best until last as Kota Ibushi turned back the clock and erased the memory of that NOAH match with a classic Strong Style bout with Kazuchika Okada. The primary concern coming out of the confirmation that Ibushi would be wrestling Okada this week pertained to whether Ibushi's body can take the stress of continued wrestling, and then of course whether or not the match was going to be anywhere near good. But on both accounts the match proved to be a success, with Okada actually bothered to give a degree better than what he has been offering over recent weeks, dialing up the ante before his much-awaited rematch with Kenny Omega. 

The match itself saw the pair going back-and-forth from bell-to-bell, a match pulled from their NJPW saga and brought to the US audience for the first time. Ibushi was never going to win this match, that's not what he was here for, but he still gave some very believable moments and captured that rare feeling in modern wrestling. There wasn't an overt reliance on the tropes that AEW plays host to, with no interference to mar the in-ring action and no pantomime referee spots. It was just a pure wrestling contest between two of history's best practitioners of the sport. Ibushi was ultimately let down by a tactical decision, taking the fight to the ropes at several points with his Kickboxing and Karate-coded offense, thus forcing the referee to step between them. 

This was a recurring spot throughout the match and it played into the finish, once again with the referee stepping between Ibushi and Okada; Ibushi then spent time arguing with the referee, allowing Okada to deliver a Rainmaker followed up with a second for the winning pinfall. Only once the bell had rung and the contest was over did the inevitable Don Callis Family run-in occur. But that in itself was used to set up Omega's return to make the save, thus reuniting the Golden Lovers for the first time since 2023 and make this writer very happy.

Written by Max Everett