The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 12.17.25

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 12.17.25

Holiday Bash

Apparently this is another combo Dynamite/Collision show, which means here in Canada we get the first two hours on TSN and then the last hour is a separate Collision show on USA Network, which I don’t subscribe to. Apparently Collision is on Crave now, though, so I might check it out tomorrow.

Taped from Manchester, England

Your hosts are Excalibur & Tony Schiavone

Continental Classic Blue League: Jon Moxley v. Roderick Strong

Jumping right into it without entrances. They trade takedown attempts and Strong goes for the ankle, but Mox headlocks him and they slug it out. Strong goes for the leg and sends Mox to the floor for a brawl out there, as Moxley retreats into the crowd and Roddy chases him back into the ring and then hits him with a dive at ringside as we take a break. Back with Moxley working for a crossface, but Strong cradles him for two. Mox beats him down with knees, but Strong backdrops him to the floor and follows with a dive before making a comeback. Angle Slam gets two. Back to the floor and Strong decides to pull out the stairs and try to slam Mox on those, but Mox blocks and so Roddy hits him with a backbreaker on them instead. Back in the ring, they fight to the top and Strong brings him down with a superplex for two. They slug it out again and Strong wins that one, but Mox hits him with a lariat on the rebound and hits a Tiger Driver into a Stronghold, which Mox reverses into a cradle for two. Moxley with a cutter for two. Piledriver gets two. Moxley tries a rear naked choke and Strong smiles and taps out. No I’m just kidding because that would be a STUPID finish. Strong with a high knee for two. Stronghold and as usual Moxley seems ready to tap at the slightest provocation, but he sends Strong to the floor and then hits him with a DDT on the way back into the ring. That gets two. And the Death Rider finishes at 17:57 and Roderick Strong is Para-Gone from the tournament. ***1/2

Meanwhile, Eddie Kingston lets us know that he learned from tapping out to Joe and so Joe will see him again.

$1000000 Winner Takes All: Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero & Kazuchika Okada v. The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega

Back to full babyface music for the Bucks. Kenny and Takeshita fight for a takedown and the Elite triple-team Takeshita in the corner before the Bucks run wild for a bit. And we take a break. Back with Hechicero going after Kenny as the Callis Family works him over in the corner. Okada and Takeshita have trouble figuring out a double suplex and Hechicero has to step in and take over, so an annoyed Okada does his own and then Kenny reverses him. Hechicero tries to use magic, but Kenny hits him with a rana and then You Can’t Escape on Takeshita, albeit with some hiccups from Kenny. Bucks with moonsaults off that, but Okada decides to take care of them, and he gets sent to the floor as a result. Elite with a Triple Terminator Dive and we take another break. Back with Okada working on Matt with a chinlock, but he fights out and hits Takeshita with a surprise stunner on the floor. Back in the ring, it’s HOT TAG Nick and he runs wild and flies all over with a rana off the apron on Okada and Risky Business on Takeshita for two. Over to Hechicero and he hits Nick with the swinging hamerlock, but Nick gets a Destroyer to escape that in a crazy reversal. Back to Kenny for a showdown with Okada, and they slug it out with forearms. One Winged Angel is countered, but the Bucks hit Okada with a superkick and everyone is in for the big moves and everyone is out. Bucks with a double sunset flip on Takeshita in a fun spot, and it’s a SUPERKICK PARTY, but Nick springboards in and Okada counters him with a dropkick. Hechicero takes care of business again and they all go after Matt, but Okada and Takeshita screw it up again and Hechicero has to make peace, without much success. Omega with a dragon suplex on everyone until poor Hechicero is left alone with a triple superkick, V-Trigger, and One (Million Dollar) Winged Angel at 22:42 to finish him. This was a PPV quality PARTY MATCH. ****1/2

Afterwards, Takeshita and Okada reunite long enough to attack the Bucks, but Omega makes the save with a symbolic broom and retrieves the cash from Don Callis.

Contract Signing: Samoa Joe joins Hangman Page & Swerve Strickland for the World’s End main event signing. Swerve and Hangman have mutual respect for each other and mutual hatred for Joe, and Swerve reminds Joe that he won the title from Joe the last time they met. Also he’s gonna stomp Joe’s face in and leave him uglier than “the time he had that face tattoo in 2007”. Then Hangman points out that they spent the past year fighting together against Jon Moxley and learning to work together. But now Joe is worse than the Death Riders because of the Opps, and Hangman is sad that Joe is in the twilight of his career and he’s gonna be remembered as a piece of shit like he is today. But then the lights go out and MJF returns, back from Hollywood with a new hairstyle and his magic contract, thus adding himself to the match to make it a four-way. And then he makes friends with everyone, comparing Swerve to Diddy for the gasp of the night from the crowd. Oh man he’s got his groove back. They should just put the title back on him.

Meanwhile, Jet Speed plots their impending trip to the finals of the Continental Classic. I wouldn’t hold your breath for that one.

Marina Shafir, Megan Bayne, Athena & Mercedes Mone v. Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa, Harley Cameron & Willow Nightingale

The Babes double-team Mercedes to start, but Athena slugs Harley down and it’s over to Marina. Toni and Mina double-team her and we stop for a dance break as we take a break. Back with Athena breaking up a tag attempt before Toni gets the hot tag and cleans house. Hip Attack on Marina in the corner, but Athena breaks it up and they all trade the big moves. Willow comes in and slugs it out with Bayne before hitting a powerbomb for two. Megan gets a top rope rana and everyone ends up on the floor for a dive from Mina, and then Athena, but Willow pounces Mercedes, only for Athena to hit the O-Face and Mercedes steals the pin at 10:00. Not a big fan of beating the new tag champs in their very first match as champions. Match was fast-paced but felt really rushed. ***

Continental Classic Gold League: Pac v. Kyle Fletcher

They trade wristlocks to start and Pac takes him down with a rana before they head to the floor, and Kyle hits him with a lariat out there to take over. Back in, Fletcher charges and hits the floor, and Pac takes him down with a rana off the apron. Back in the ring, Pac is enjoying his babyface reaction too much and gets superkicked by Fletcher, but he recovers with a belly to belly off the top as we take a break. Back with them trading suplexes, but Pac charges and runs into the Michinoku Driver, which gets two. But then Fletcher charges and Pac suplexes him into the corner and goes up for a Black Arrow attempt. Fletcher bails to the floor to escape, but Pac moonsaults him and then back in with a tiger suplex for two. Pac to the top again and Fletcher retreats again to escape, but Pac hits him with a poison rana. Pac winds up for another lariat, but Fletcher catches him again, with a superkick this time, and a Last Ride powerbomb gets two. Pac necks him on the top rope and goes up with a bodypress, but Fletcher catches him, so Pac wraps him up in a Brutalizer and Kyle has to make the ropes even as he’s passing out. So Pac winds up for a THIRD attempt at the lariat, and this time he hits it and gets two. Back to the top, but Fletcher springs up and crotches him to bring him down, setting up the brainbuster for two. So he brings Pac to the top for another try, but Pac gets a top rope poison rana to bring him down, and he follows with the Black Arrow to finish at 14:48. Some impressive parity in the Gold League this year. Hell of a match, too. ****

Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal

So in fact, there is no MJF in the match, so it’ll be someone else getting the ring for the first time ever. We’ve got Ricochet, the GOA, Luchasaurus, Brody King, Ace Austin, Shelton Benjamin, Mark Davis, Josh Alexander, Bandido, Anthony Bowens & Max Caster. Max and Bowens have a funny moment where Max stops to do the chant to the disgust of Bowens, and they do Scissor Me Timers on Kaun before teasing a reunion. And Max is thrown out at 2:02 by Ricochet because he’s still a geek. Ace Austin runs wild on the Callis guys but gets dumped out at 2:57. Bowens throws Ricochet to the apron but can’t get him out, and Davis throws out Bowens at 3:34 as we take a break. Back with Brody and Davis trading shots, and Alexander tosses out Shelton Benjamin at 7:57 and Davis and Luchasaurus at 8:00. Richochet and the GOA triple-team Brody, but he fights back and demolishes everyone, allowing Bandido to alley oop Josh at 9:27. Bandido battles Kaun in the ring while Brody brawls on the floor, but Brody returns and sacrfices himself to take out Toa at 10:37. Kaun tries to powerbomb Bandido out of the ring, but he reverses Kaun to the floor at 11:10 and it’s Ricochet v. Bandido next week for the ring. Well that’s a clear win for Ricochet. But that should lead to a lot of fun stuff with Brodido at least.

Super hot and packed Manchester crowd tongiht made for a GREAT show, for the second week in a row, and MJF felt like the shot of star power that the main event needed.