The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynasty 2026 – 04.12.26

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynasty 2026 – 04.12.26

They literally didn’t put this up for ordering on YouTube until this morning, which was stressing me out a bit. But here we are.

Live from Vancouver, BC! I gave serious consideration to flying out and getting tickets but then my credit card statement wanted to have a word with me and it won the argument.

Your hosts are Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness

The Young Bucks v. Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita

The Callis Family drops elbows on Nick to start and enjoys a begrudging handshake of teamwork and respect, but Nick takes them both down with a headscissors and Matt comes in for the double-teams on Okada. Once again, Don reminds us that we’re here for Kyle, #FLETCHERSTRONG. Bucks clear the ring and Nick dives onto the heels. Back in, we get a funny headfake spot where Okada mistimes his dropkick and lands on his ass with a great facial expression, but he regroups and breaks up the Bucks’ double-team attempt. Takeshita with a chinlock on Matt while Okada beats on Nick outside. Callis: “I don’t want to get into words like bounty, but here’s some money on the line if someone can bring me Nick’s right eye tonight.” And then he goes over and tries to gouge out the eye himself, just to prove his point. Back in the ring, Okada hits Matt with an elbow in the corner and hits him with a DDT for two. Matt fights them off in the corner and backdrops them out, but Takeshita yanks Matt out and Matt retaliates with a stunner on the floor. Back in for a tag attempt, but Okada cuts it off and stops to dress as a Young Buck while begging for the tag from Matt and then flipping him off.

Takeshita hits Matt with an exploder off that, for two. Matt manages to hit them with a double bulldog and it’s hot tag Nick, as he runs wild with a double stomp off Okada’s back and into a backstabber on Takeshita. Bucks with stereo sharpshooters, but the heels slap each other to fire up and make the ropes. Takeshita and Matt slug it out and Takeshita smashes them both, but the Bucks return fire with the double-teaming. Bucks to the top for a senton / elbowdrop combo, and that gets two. Bucks try the Meltzer and Okada catches it, setting up stereo tombstones for two. Matt to the top and he fights them off, but Takeshita brings him down with a german suplex from the top and then Okada hits Nick with the dropkick. Takeshita with the power knee on Matt for two, but Nick saves. Okada goes up with the flying elbow, but Matt fights out of the Rainmaker and we get a triple german suplex spot off that. Takeshita with the Blue Thunder on Matt, but Nick dives off Matt with a destroyer to save the pin, and then Takeshita nails them both for a double down. They slug it out and that transitions into Takeshita and Okada slugging it out, which allows Matt to roll up Okada for two. But then Takeshita hits Okada with the power knee by mistake before fighting out of the BTE Trigger and hitting the Bucks with stereo lariats. But Okada hits Takeeshita with the Rainmaker to prevent the pin, and the Bucks hit HIM with the BTE Trigger instead for two. But then the Bucks try the Meltzer and Takeshita looks like he’s going to break it up…and then he doesn’t. And the Meltzer Driver finishes Okada at 20:21. That seems like it’s going to be a problem in the future. An incredible opener, as expected. ****1/2

Ricochet v. Jericho

Apparently Chris has lost his first name with his new contract. Well things are tight for everyone right now. Probably had to sell it in order to finance his new moustache. Jericho actually coaxes the fans into a standing ovation before the match, but let’s face it, Vancouver doesn’t have much to cheer for with how the Canucks are playing this year. Jericho with an armdrag and the crowd gives him “You still got it” in a funny bit, and then we get some mocking of Ricochet’s hair loss. Ricochet grabs a headlock and does some gymnastics off that, so Jericho chops him down and hits him with a bulldog. Ricochet blocks the Lionsault and they slug it out on the apron, where Ric gets a death valley driver on THE HARDEST PART OF THE RING. They brawl on the floor and Jericho gets run into the railing to further hurt the shoulder, and back in the ring for a mule kick before wrapping the arm around the ropes for more punishment. That gets two, but Ricochet misses the dropkick and Jericho comes back with the Lionsault off that.

The Walls is reversed and Jericho goes to a chinlock while putting his own hair over Ricochet’s face to really rub it in, but Kaun sneaks in and runs Jericho into the turnbuckle for two. Standing shooting star gets two. Jericho with a codebreaker for two. They slug it out and Jericho wins that battle before they take it to the top and Jericho brings him down with a rana. Another codebreaker is countered into a superkick and he follows with a rolling suplex into the Vertigo for two. They fight to the top and Ric bites his nose, but he tries a shooting star and lands in a codebreaker, which gets two. Jericho with the Walls, but Toa pulls them to the ropes to break it up, and Ric bails to the floor. So Jericho goes up with a dive onto the pile and takes out GOA by himself, but then Toa regroups and smashes him on the rebound. Back in the ring, Ricochet goes up with the shooting star press for two. And the Spirit Gun looks to finish, but Ricochet chooses to hit a Lionsault for good measure and that finishes at 19:16. What a spectacular dickhead. This overdelivered to an insane degree thanks to the crowd going crazy for Jericho start to finish. ****1/4

Andrade el Idolo v. Darby Allin

Darby grabs a headlock, but Andrade takes him down and puts him in the bow and arrow, but Darby escapes that and sends him to the floor to break up the Tranquilo. And of course Andrade stops to make time with a fan and decides to show off by carrying Darby into the ring with a suplex. That earns him a selfie, but we turns around and Darby smashes into him with a well time coffin drop in a funny spot. Into the crowd for a brawl up the stairs, where Darby dropkicks him back down in a spot that that had to suck for both guys. Back in the ring, Darby misses a charge and Andrade hits him with the Three Amigos and finishes with a suplex into the corner, but then he misses his own charge and Darby flips over him with a stunner for a double down. They fight to the top and Andrade tries to bring him down with a samoan drop, but Darby manages to reverse to a crossface on the way down and Andrade has to make the ropes.

So he bails to the floor and Darby hits him with another dive, smashing his own body into the announce desk in the process, and then he goes up with a missile dropkick to the floor. I swear this kid is just gonna drop dead on PPV one day. Back in the ring, Andrade takes him to the apron and suplexes him to the floor for another crazy spot. Back in the ring, Andrade fires up with the running knees in the corner, and that gets two. So now the crowd chants TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF and Andrade finally obliges before going up for the double moonsault, which gets two. Of course, during my last physical, my doctor also gave me that chant and it went much differently for me. Also thank god they didn’t chant it during the Jericho match. They slug it out, but Darby hits him with the Death drop and goes up with the coffin drop for two. Darby tries the Code Red, but Andrade flips him out of it and hits the elbow strike for two. Darby with the Last Supper to finish at 16:35. I guess taking off the pants was the fatal error. Holy shit this show has had some bangers to start. ****. So I guess this makes Darby the challenger at Double or Nothing, which feels like a mistake. Darby is a TV challenger, not a PPV challenger.

AEW World tag team title: FTR v. COPE & CAGE

The crowd sings O Canada and COPE gets all inspired and sends FTR to the floor to kick their asses, but Cash hits him with a draping DDT on the way back into the ring and they go to work on the neck. Dax with a chinlock, but Cope escapes with a suplex and then dodges a charging Cash and makes the tag to Cage. He chokes them both out repeatedly and bites Dax’s head because he’s still an asshole, and then he goes low on Dax repeatedly and backdrops him to the floor before hitting them with a dive. FTR collides and Christian rolls up Dax for two off that. Dax escapes the Killswitch, but Christian hits it on a second try and that gets two. But then Cash goes after the arm and Dax slams it on the desk to pay off the injury angle on Dynamite. Back in the ring, Cash works the arm with a top wristlock and Dax cuts off the top before taking Cage down for two. FTR tries the Powerplex and Cage fights that off before hitting Dax with a diving headbutt and making the hot tag to Cope.

Cope reverses a piledriver into the Impaler for two. To the top and they try their own Powerplex on Dax, but he gets the knees up, and then Cope gets his own knees up to block a diving Cash. So Cope uses the Edgecutioner submission and then turns it into a crossface, and Cage adds his own on Cash before Cash powers out of it. Cash brings the belt in and manages to hit Cope behind the ref’s back, putting Dax on top for two. Cope breaks up the Shatter Machine and they hit their own on Dax for two. So Cope has been busted open by the belt shot and he goes after Stokely, and runs into a Shatter Machine for two as Cage throws Stoke at them to break it up. Cope spears Dax for two, but Cash saves and piledrives Cope. And then Cash runs Cage into the post and tosses him into the timekeeper’s pit to get rid of him, leaving Cope alone in the ring. But he fights on by himself as FTR hits him with superkicks, but Cope escapes an FTR Trigger and spears both of them. But then they hit him with the Shatter Machine and he’s done at 20:41. Not quite up to the level of the first three tonight, but it was really good despite some rust from the C&C. ***1/2

Meanwhile, Kamille returns and attacks Willow on Zero Hour. And wasn’t the world just waiting for that.

TNT title, Casino Gauntlet

We’ve got Ciampa at #1 and Rush at #2. Really this should be where they just end it early and put the belt on Ciampa. They slug it out to start and trade chops until Rush decides to knock him down with a forearm and choke him out in the corner. So Ciampa also puts Rush in the corner and stomps him down before hitting a running knee, and Bandido is #3 at 3:15. He hits Ciampa with a dive and Rush with a cannonball, and the frog splash gets two. Ciampa takes him out and Rush runs him into the railing for good measure. Back in the ring, Rush goes for the mask and Mike Bailey is #4 at 6:17. He cleans house with kicks and hits Ciampa with a shooting star for two before trading chops wit Rush. And El Clon is #5 at 8:04. He hits Bandido with some wacky offense and a backbreaker for two. And then Pac is #6 at 9:31. And he’s back to terrifying tiny shorts again. He suplexes some guys and dives onto the pile outside and we get a three-way showdown with Bandido and Bailey and Pac in the ring. And we get more Death Riders with Daniel Garcia at #7 at 12:30. He rolls up Bandido for two and Ciampa for two, but he stops to dance and Clon superkicks him before tying him up with a rolling cradle for two.

But then the Death Riders double team him until Anthony Bowens is #8 at 14:30. He runs wild despite having zero chance here, and hits Pac with a draping DDT for two. Kevin Knight is #9 at 16:55 as the match feels like it’s running out of steam. JetSpeed double-teams Rush and they do a slugfest with the Death Riders before taking it to the floor with stereo dives. Rush goes back to beating up Bowens in the corner and hits the Bull’s Horns, but Bandido hits the 21 Plex on Ciampa for two before everyone saves. Wheeler Yuta is #10 at 20:00 and I SWEAR TO GOD THEY BETTER NOT. Bailey hits him with a dive and Bandido hits the pile with a dive and everyone is out on the floor. Knight tries his own dive and Ciampa cuts him off and suplexes him onto the pile instead. But Pac tosses Speedball in and hits him with the Black Arrow for two. Ciampa saves with a knee strike on Pac for two and Garcia puts Bailey into the Dragon Tamer, but Knight saves with the UFO splash and pins Garcia to win the TNT title at 22:45. He deserves a singles run, I’d say, and this was certainly a surprise result that gave the gauntlet a bit of an “anyone can win” twist. Ran a bit long but it was overall really good. ***3/4

AEW Women’s World title: Thekla v. Jamie Hayter

Hayter immediately boots her and slugs away, and Thekla spears her and puts her in a submission hold before Jamie makes the ropes. They fight on the floor and Thekla beats her on the railing, but Jamie slugs back and back in for a snap suplex that gets two. They fight to the floor again and Jamie walks her up the ramp with a suplex, but Thekla DDTs her at the top of the ramp. Back to ringside and Thekla hits a dive off the post and then tosses Jamie out of the ring and back in for some forearms and a superkick for two. Thekla spins her into the hanging armbar, but Hayter powers out of that and makes the ropes. So Thekla hits her with a running boot on the ropes, just kicking her right in the fucking face full force, and they fight on the apron, where Jamie suplexes her to the floor. Back in the ring, they slug it out and Jamie hits her with a big boot and follows with the corner clotheslines and a missile dropkick. Powerbomb gets two. Thekla rolls her up with a handful of tights for two, but Hayter piledrives her for two. Hayter to the top and they fight up there before Thekla brings her down with the spider suplex and a double stomp to set up a series of kicks for two. Thekla tries the spear and Hayter blocks it with a backbreaker, but Thekla rakes the eyes and rolls her up for the pin at 16:32 to retain. May have been a hand on the ropes, who’s to say? They worked hard but couldn’t really get the crowd, mostly because no one gave Hayter a chance here. ***

Continental title: Jon Moxley v. Will Ospreay

Will hits the Hidden Blade right at the bell, but doesn’t even try to cover because he’s still got time left. So he hits another Hidden Blade to put Moxley on the floor, and then hits him with a sick looking draping neckbreaker from the apron. Back in the ring, Will hits him with a forearm shot to the back of the neck and then powerbombs out of a triangle attempt and runs him into the stairs. But then he stops to talk trash and misses a running kick, hitting the stairs as a result. Mox with a Paradigm Shift on the floor to take over, and back in with a sleeper suplex. Mox slugs away and beats on him with chops, but Will handsprings into the corkscrew kick and follows with a springboard elbow. They take it to the floor and Will clotheslines him back into the ring, but he tries another springboard and Moxley clobbers him on the way down.

They trade chops and Mox demands more, but Will absorbs a lariat and hits him with a C4 for two. Moxley reverses that pinfall into the bulldog choke, and then switches to a Gotch piledriver for two. To the top, but Will lands on his feet, so Mox drops him with another sleeper suplex. Ospreay reverses the lariat into a powerbomb for two. Mox blocks the Ozcutter with a DDT, but Will absorbs that and hits the Hidden Blade on the way down. They engage in the fisticuffs and Will gets too worked up and shoves the ref down, allowing Moxley to hit a lariat. But Will flows into the Styles Clash and that gets two. Will gets his own bulldog choke and Mox powers out of it, so Will hits him with yet another Hidden Blade, and this one gets two. Will’s arm is hurting so he decides to go nuclear with the Tiger Driver, but Mox powers out of it and takes him to the floor with a piledriver on the stairs. That doesn’t seem like it’s in the spirit of the Continental title. The doctor checks on Will, but he still beats the count, so Mox curb stomps him on the way in and hits a pair of DDTs for two. Mox with the Death Rider this time, and that finishes at 18:35. Did not expect that finish. But the match ruled. ****1/2. I’m guessing we’re getting Ospreay losing and losing and losing to build sympathy for the big comeback win at Wembley where he finally wins the World title, but they need to sell tickets and I don’t think that’s the right play.

AEW World Trios title: The Dogs v. Roderick Strong, Orange Cassidy & KYLE O’REILLY

Apparently the Dogs won the title on Collision. Guess I should have watched that one. Glad to see Kyle back after the injury since he was super hot in that Death Riders feud. The Conglomeration has a couch at the ramp for their wacky entrance, and Clark Connors does a dead-on perfect JD Vance impression on the way to the ring. That poor couch. Kyle takes Finlay down to start and goes for the ankle right away, but David boots out of it. Roddy comes in for some double-teaming, and Orange adds the super dangerous elbow from under the bottom rope. They clear the ring and everyone brawls outside, but the Dogs hit the Full Clip off the apron to take over. Roddy comes back strong, but he’s not #FletcherStrong and that allows the Dogs to cut him off. Clark spears Orange on the apron for good measure. Back in the ring, the Dogs work on Orange in the corner and Connors gets a snap suplex for two. Strong gets a tag and runs wild with backbreakers before using Ornage as a weapon against the Dogs, and a gutbuster gets two. But then Finlay and Connors double-team him for two to cut that off. Strong fights back with backbreakers and makes the hot tag to Kyle, and he destroys Connors with kicks and rolls him into the ankle lock to finish at 10:00 and end the Dogs’ reign at 24 hours. Not much to this one as the Dogs just can’t get any momentum going. **1/2

AEW World title: MJF v. Kenny Omega

The ref actually catches MJF trying to load up the ring in his trunks and confiscates it, which I’m sure will pay off later in the match. The crowd immediately gets on MJF with “You’ve got hair loss”, which is pretty cold. Kenny immediately tries the One Winged Angel on a distracted MJF, but Max rolls him up for two. Kenny tries a V-Trigger and MJF runs away, so Kenny welcomes him back into the ring and offers a handshake. So MJF slaps him away, and Kenny gives him a rana to put him on the floor. MJF walks away from the Terminator Dive, but he makes the mistake of pointing to his head to indicate intelligence and Kenny hits him with a dive. MJF drops him on a chair and into the timekeeper pit, but Kenny uses some Canadian Kung Fu and moonsaults him off the railing. He puts a table on MJF’s body and comes off the apron with a double stomp onto the table, and then sets up the table again after a sarcastic exchange with the ref. Max rolls away to evade that predicament, and then crotches Kenny on the top rope and beats him down in the corner to take over. Kenny fights back with chops, but MJF hits him with the Alabama Slam for two.

MJF gets some shots in the corner and tricks him into a piledriver for two after taking out the knee, but Kenny gets the snapdragon for a double down. Kenny with the facecrusher and You Can’t Escape for two. MJF rolls out to regroup, so Kenny comes with the Terminator Dive. Back in for a One Winged Angel attempt, but MJF rakes the eyes to escape and they fight to the top. MJF tries a tombstone up there, but Kenny escapes with a powerbomb. MJF lands on his feet and they trade suplexes, but Kenny hits the poison rana. MJF with the Panama Sunrise (“little closer!”) but Kenny rolls into a knee strike for two. MJF with the Heatseeker, but Kenny blocks, so he hits a cutter for two instead. MJF with You Can’t Escape, but he misses the moonsault and Kenny gets his own version , hitting the knees this time. Kenny takes him down with a rana that puts MJF on the floor, but the diverticulitis is acting up now, you’d think. He hits an Ibushi moonsault to the floor, but now his guts are really messed up. Back in the ring, MJF hits him with a knee RIGHT IN THE DIVERTICULITIS and he goes to work on the stomach. Kenny gets a rollup for two and they collide on a bodypress attempt for a double down. Kenny’s guts are feeling like he just ate a Double Down. Kenny slugs away in the corner and hits him with a buckle bomb, setting up a missile dropkick for two. Omega tries to power him up into a One Winged Angel on the top, but can’t make the cover after hitting the move and Max rolls out of the ring to avoid the pin. Back in the ring, Kenny kicks him into the corner and follows with the V-Trigger and Snapdragon, and into a knee strike for two. He can’t get MJF up for the Angel due to the lack of intestinal fortitude, and then MJF reverses a second try into a Cross Roads and package piledriver for two.

MJF smacks him around, but Kenny wakes up and slugs away on him, beating him down in the corner to set up a V-Trigger. Kenny just punches him in the face and adds another V-Trigger to set up the One Winged Angel , but MJF escapes again and the ref is bumped this time. So MJF goes to the nuts and steals his ring back from the ref to pay off that gag. Kenny ducks that and hits the One Winged Angel, but there’s no ref. So a second ref comes out and MJF gets to kick out of the One Winged Angel, the first person to do so. With an asterisk I guess, but still. I’m kind of annoyed that they let MJF be the first guy to do that. To the apron, but MJF hits Kenny in the guts with the ring and piledrives him off the apron, through the table, and the Heatseeker finishes at 38:52. Look, I understand the MJF character and why he keeps winning but FORTY MINUTES for THAT finish? Was the match great? Yes. Was it a huge bummer? Also yes. ****3/4

So this show was pretty rad although I can see people being annoyed by the ending because I sure was. This didn’t have the razzle-dazzle and surprise returns of the last show, but if you want some hot and fresh wrestling action for four hours, this is probably for you. Thumbs up.