AEW Dynamite
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The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 06.04.25

By Scott Keith on 5 June 2025

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 06.04.25

“Fyter Fest 2025”

I only have time for Dynamite tonight. Collision will have to wait until tomorrow night.

Live from Denver, CO

Your hosts are Excalibur, Ian Riccaboni & Taz

Will Ospreay joins us to start, and we get footage of last week where Will and Swerve are not able to get onto the same page. Will has a great idea if Moxley hates AEW so much: Piss off. And now he’s wondering if maybe Swerve is a big threat as well because he doesn’t want Hangman to win the title from Moxley. And if he’s gotta be the guy to stop him, he will. And then the Cru interrupts and they want a match, although this wasn’t a great promo for them and they kind of killed off Will’s groove here.

Meanwhile, Mark Briscoe is ready for a fight tonight.

Jon Moxley v. Mark Briscoe

They brawl on the floor to start and Mark slugs away on the railing, and back in for an attempt at his own choke and some REDNECK KUNG FU. But then Mox slugs him down and chokes him out on the ropes, until Briscoe necks him and takes him down to the floor for a cannonball that misses. And then Mox runs him into the post to bust him open as we take a break. Back with them slugging it out and Mark tries the Jay Driller, but Moxley fights out of it. So Mark goes up with the froggy bow, but lands in Moxley’s choke and has to make the ropes. This allows Yuta to annoy everyone again and assault Mark outside, but he fights him off and hits the Jay Driller for two. He tries the Burning Hammer, but Moxley escapes that and puts him down with a curb stomp before going back to the choke. Mark walks the ropes and rolls through that for two, but Moxley switches to a rear naked choke and taps him out AGAIN at 13:14. Good lord they really need to stop beating Briscoe all the time. ***1/4

Meanwhile, Mistico is on the way!

Toni Storm & Mina Shirakawa v. Julia Hart & Skye Blue

Mercedes joins us at ringside for commentary, complete with her own table and “shoot steak” according to Taz. The babyfaces double-team Skye to start while Mercedes enjoys some wine with her steak. Skye escapes the Glamourous Driver and the heels go to work on Mina in the corner and then take out Storm on the floor as we take a break. Back with everyone fighting in the ring, and Mina goes up and hits Julia with a sling blade off the top that mostly misses. Hot tag Toni and it appears to be time for an energizing kiss, but the heels break it up with a pair of suplexes. So Storm PROCURES THE CHICKEN WING on Skye Blue and taps her out instead at 9:34. And then she goes over to eat a bite of Mercedes’ steak in a goofy build for what should be the biggest women’s match they’ve ever done. Match was goofy but OK. **1/4

Meanwhile, Will Ospreay is quickly interrupted by MJF, who points out that if Hangman wins the belt, Will has no chance of winning it from him. And then MJF drops the name of Will’s son and the brawl is on.

The Hurt Syndicate joins us and MVP wants to know where the challengers are? Also Bobby once represented Denver but now he’s much happier in Texas. Also MJF apparently has Mistico in Arena Mexico, but the wacky team of Speedball, Kevin Knight and Komander interrupt, which gives us Komander doing a promo in Spanish on Max. Bailey notes that they’re a “group of international killers” and MVP cracks up. And then he does the “Do you want a match with the Hurt Syndicate tonight? “ bit before pulling the rug and telling them to earn a shot.

Rush, Dralistico and The Beast Mortos v. Kevin Knight, Speedball Bailey & Komander

Wait, so the babyfaces already had a match on this show and they somehow thought they’d just leapfrog their opponents? That’s just outright rude. Everyone fights to the floor and Komander gets run into the post. The babyfaces regroup in the ring and triple-team Rush in the corner with clotheslines, but Bailey gets distracted and worked over by LFI. Rush beats on Bailey with chops and we get a wacky triple press slam before they javelin Bailey to the floor and we take a break. Back with Bailey making a comeback and fighting them off, and Komander comes in and flies off Mortos before hitting Dralistico with a moonsault for two. Over to Knight and Rush of course wins a slugfest with him and beats him down in the corner before showing his tranquilo. The heels try for triple piledrivers but the babyfaces hit them with triple dropkicks to put them on the floor for triple dives. Back in with a code Red from Komander onto Mortos for two. Mortos with a destroyer on Komander and Dralistico comes flying in with a crucifix bomb for two. The babyfaces come back on Mortos after clearing the ring and Komander stops to dive onto the heels outside, and Knight finishes Mortos with a flying splash at 14:05. We knew who was doing the job here as soon as the bell rang but this was a fun, if longer than needed, LUCHA PARTY MATCH. ***1/2

And afterwards, the Hurt Syndicate accepts the challenge for a match and tries to attack, but the babyfaces fight them off to set up next week.

Meanwhile, the Paragon challenges the Don Callis Family to an 8 man match later tonight, along with new friend Daniel Garcia.

Meanwhile, Christian puts over the effort of Nick Wayne at the Super Junior tournament, and then books him in a four-way ROH TV title match later tonight so he can continue to show his greatness.

Platinum Max Caster Best Wrestler Alive Challenge: Max Caster v. Powerhouse Hobbs

So now we have a 5:00 timer that the opponent has to survive, but he only needs 0:47 to finish Caster with a spinebuster. Max is funny in this role getting beat week after week and they gave it a good try with him and Bowens as singles, but perhaps it’s time to put them back together again.

AEW International title: Kenny Omega v. Brody King v. Claudio Castagnoli v. Mascara Dorada

Everyone Hates Claudio to start and the babyfaces clear him out of the ring, but Claudio runs away from an Omega dive, which the camera totally misses. There’s been some weird camera angles tonight, like shooting people from below and missing shots. Everyone hits the floor and Kenny gets his dive onto Claudio on the second try. Brody puts Claudio on the railing and then catches a flying Dorada and powerbombs him onto Claudio. But then Kenny catches Brody with a dragon suplex on the floor and follows with the Terminator Dive as we take a break. Back with Kenny hitting You Can’t Escape on Claudio, but the moonsault portion is blocked. So Kenny runs wild with snapdragons until Brody breaks that up. And then Claudio hits him with the pop up forearm for two. Claudio goes up and Brody cuts him off, but Kenny turns that into a Doomsday Device on Brody and Claudio gets two. Dorada hits Brody with a swanton for two, but Kenny breaks that up and tries the One Winged Angel on Dorada, which is turned into a poison rana for two. Brody and Claudio continue smashing each other and Claudio hits King with the Giant Swing, but Dorada breaks that up with a dropkick on Brody for two. Claudio with the Neutralizer on Brody for two, but Kenny makes the save. Dorada with a springboard rana on Claudio for two as Claudio is an incredible base for this guy, and Dorada dumps him and follows with a shooting star to the floor before diving on Brody as well. Back in the ring for a rana on Kenny, but Omega catches him and finishes with the One Winged Angel at 17:07 to wrap up the Dynamite half of the show. ****1/4

So at this point we’re taking a break and I’ll review the Collision half of the show on the USA Network here in Canada, tomorrow.

Damn that second hour was DOOOOOOOOPE tho.

Overall this was a hot crowd and a lot of good to great wrestling, but the actual matches weren’t really anything I was particularly hyped to see. So I guess this one depends on what you were looking for out of the show as far as your enjoyment level will go.