The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 06.25.25

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 06.25.25

The Arena Mexico episode last week was fun and different but now it’s time to get down to hyping that PPV!

Live from Seattle, WA

Your hosts are Excalibur, Taz & Ian Riccaboni

Meanwhile, Toni Storm is on the way to the ring, but Mercedes attacks her in the tunnel and chokes her out on the entranceway until the refs and Mina Shirakawa make the save. The direct approach is much more effective than eating steaks or whatever.

Meanwhile, the Young Bucks pop up on the KhanTron and announce that Swerve & Ospreay are kicking off the show as a team instead of working in the second hour.

Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay v. Blake Christian & Lee Johnson

Nice touch as Will runs out still taping his wrists and tying his shoes because the Bucks messed up their timing. Johnson and Swerve fight to a stalemate and it’s over to Will, who is still sporting an impressive shiner. He chops Blake down and the faces double-team Blake, setting up a standing moonsault from Ospreay for two. Ospreay with the handspring kick and he tosses Johnson and follows with a pescado, but now the Bucks interrupt again. So this allows Christian to get some offense and a dive to take over as we take a break. Back with the heels hitting flying splashes on Ospreay and Blake gets two. Hot tag Swerve and he buckle bombs Christian and hits the middle rope elbow and dance before rolling into a cutter for two. Swerve holds Blake in a delayed suplex and Ospreay superkicks him into the brainbuster, and the House Call kick finishes at 9:27. ***. Afterwards, Swerve is sick of dealing with the Bucks, so he makes the challenge for All In…with the EVP titles on the line. Oh now that’s some good stakes.

Meanwhile,the Bucks aren’t into the idea of putting up their EVP titles, but Okada and RPG Vice stop by as Trent promises to destroy Ibushi. And then we get a moment with Takeshita and Okada that is probably gonna pay off in the Tokyo Dome.

Kota Ibushi v. Trent? Beretta

Ibushi’s graphic lists him as “Kenny Omega’s long time tag team partner”, which sounds like old-timey slang for lesbians. They trade takedowns and Ibushi gets a crucifix for two and dropkicks Trent into the corner. Rocky Romero gets a cheapshot from the floor and that allows Trent to take over. Ibushi with a powerslam out of the corner and he puts Trent down with a kick series and a standing moonsault gets two. Trent boots him down and follows with a knee strike and Gotch piledriver for two. Trent with a half and half, but Ibushi pops up with his own suplex and it’s a double down. They trade cradles for two and Trent gets a crucifix for a very close two, which freaks the crowd out a bit. Trent with a short arm clothesline, but Ibushi stomps him down and finishes with the kamigoye at 7:30. Kota was still looking a little rusty but much better than his last run. **1/2. Afterwards, we get a staredown with Okada, setting up a match for next week and yeah they’re just doing Okada v. Ibushi on free TV next week.

Meanwhile, AR Fox talks about his momentum, but Ricochet interrupts, still looking for stooges. So tonight they’re gonna team up as a test.

Speedball Bailey & Kevin Knight v. Ricochet & AR Fox

Everyone slugs it out to start and Ricochet gets the worst of that, leaving Fox to bail him out and clear the ring. Ricochet claims credit for that. Back in, Fox with a twisting suplex on Knight for two. “He’s doing great!” notes Ricochet while staying away from the apron. So he comes in and tries to save Fox, but gets dumped to the floor and that allows the faces to hit stereo dives as we take a break. Back with Fox and Ricochet unable to figure out how to suplex Knight, and Speedball gets the hot tag and kicks the crap out of Fox. Standing shooting star gets two. Knight with a leaping lariat on Fox for two. Bailey gets run into the stairs on the floor and Fox hits him with a dive and then takes him off the top rope with a Spanish fly for a double down. But then Ricochet has had enough of Fox and walks out on him, leaving Fox to be double-teamed and finished by Knight at 9:40 with the UFO splash. So I guess Ricochet will keep looking. Mostly just a silly comedy match but the babyfaces continue to look impressive. **1/2. Afterwards, Jet Speed issue the challenge to the Hurt Syndicate because apparently the titles have been held “hostage” by the best and most dominant team in the promotion. That’s a weird definition of “held hostage” but the champs come out and beat the crap out of their challengers anyway, setting up All In. And Jet Speed goes through the Slim Jims table as MVP leaves them laying there dead and they head to the ring for their regularly scheduled promo time.

So the Syndicate brushes off the challenge of Jet Speed, given they already destroyed them, and MJF promises to come back for his AEW World title after All In. But Mark Briscoe interrupts because MJF is talking too much and the producers want him out of the ring. But MJF tells him to go back to Delaware and pick up chicken shit at his ranch and leave him alone. But Mark’s word of the day is “empathy” because MJF was bullied as a child and has a “teeny tiny kosher pickle”, which explains why he wants to hang out with the Hurt Syndicate.

Mark Briscoe v. Konosuke Takeshita v. Bandido v. Roderick Strong

Winner gets the #1 spot in the Casino Gauntlet. They all slug it out and Bandido dropkicks Takeshita to the floor, where Briscoe follows with a blockbuster off the apron as we take a break. Back with Briscoe and Strong slugging it out, and Roddy cleans house with backbreakers and then collides with Bandido for a double down. Bandido goes up and Takeshita sends him flying to the floor, but then Briscoe puts Takeshita down and tries the froggy elbow on Strong, which misses. Strong cradles for two and comes back with the running elbows on the ropes, but Takeshita breaks it up and takes Strong to the top for a superplex. And then Briscoe and Bandido drop elbows on THEM, before Briscoe turns on Bandido and gets two on Strong. Briscoe comes back with REDNECK KUNG FU, but Takeshita hits both guys with a german suplex at the same time and gets two on Bandido. Strong comes back on Takeshita, but Takeshita hits him with the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Bandido with the 21Plex, but Takeshita bails to escape, and Strong hits the End of Heartache on Bandido, and Briscoe drops the Froggy Bow on Strong for the pin at 11:20. Excellent TV match. ****

Meanwhile, Adam Cole is sick of Don Callis, like everyone else, so he’s issuing an open challenge for the TNT title tomorrow night against any member of the family.

Kris Statlander v. Athena v. Willow Nightingale v. Thunder Rosa

Another one for the #1 spot in the Casino Gauntlet. Athena gets dumped to the floor and hit with a senton by Willow while Rosa and Statlander trade takedowns and Rosa cradles for two. Athena cleans house and goes up, but we get a Tower of Doom spot with Willow powerbombing everyone for two as we take a break. Back with Rosa getting a rollup on Athena for two. Willow and Statlander get acquainted again and trade piledriver attempts, but Athena breaks it up and gets suplexed as a result. Rosa and Athena trade cradles and Statlander pushes them over and hits Rosa with a knee strike as this is kind of falling apart. Rosa gets yanked out by Athena, and Billie Starkz retrieves the ROH title for her while Athena suplexes Rosa off the stairs. In the ring, Willow with the cannonball on Statlander, but now Marina Shafir and Wheeler Yuta hit the ring to annoy everyone again, distracting Willow and allowing Statlander to piledrive her for the pin at 11:00. They had a lot of timing issues. Wasn’t bad but never really took off. **1/2

Meanwhile, FTR still doesn’t know why the Outrunners aren’t their friends anymore but they’ll meet tomorrow on Collision to figure it out.

Hangman Page v. The Beast Mortos

They trade legsweeps and Mortos hits him with a headbutt, and then they trade corner clotheslines and Mortos bumps to the floor off a charge. Back in the ring, Hangman with a fallaway slam into the corner for two and we take a break. Back with Page blocking a headbutt and hitting a lariat for two. Sky High powerbomb gets two. They fight to the floor and Page misses the moonsault, allowing Mortos to get his own dive. Mortos with a pop up samoan drop for two. Lungblower gets two for Mortos. They trade tombstone attempts, but Mortos rolls him up for two, only for Hangman to hit a poison rana, lariat, and Buckshot to finish at 9:45. Mortos still can’t buy a win to save his life but I’m glad to see him getting a main event spot to show what he can do. ***1/2. Afterwards, the lights go out and the Bucks show up for an EVP Trigger on Page, which kind of shoots down their claim that they were trying to help originally.

Afterwards, the Death Riders hit the ring and destroy Page, as Mox chokes him out with a chain, until the Opps make the save, and Hangman is left laying as they continue to step up the heat on Moxley leading into the PPV. I don’t wanna get my hopes up too high but this really feels like the last stand for Moxley and Hangman is walking out with the title and moving onto a feud with MJF next.

Really good show tonight despite the lack of advertising coming in, and they put in some work hyping up All In.