AEW Dynamite – 10/22/2025: 3 Things We Loved And 3 We Hated

The road to AEW Full Gear has begun, and it began in San Antonio, TX, where “AEW Dynamite” brought a night of wild action. With the dust settled and the results written, it’s time to break down what worked and what didn’t from the October 22 broadcast.

There was plenty of good and there was plenty of bad, and the Wrestling Inc. Staff has done their best to flesh out what was what. There were tremendous highs, like much of the title action throughout the night, or Mercedes Mone’s ever-intensifying feud with her puppet doppelganger. There were also woeful lows, like the fact that there are a number of feuds sticking around past their WrestleDream expiration date, or the overwhelming sense that everyone is twelve now.

As usual, we will not be stepping on the toes of the results page, but instead coming straight from the heart, straight from the gut, straight off the dome, and whatever off-the-cuff synonym you can think of. So without further ado, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly from Wednesday’s show.

Bandido got one of the biggest victories of his career at AEW WrestleDream 2025 when he became only the third man in AEW to pin Kazuchika Okada, while also retaining the AEW Tag Team Championships in the process. Naturally, this led to an AEW Unified Championship match for this week on “AEW Dynamite,” and while I personally think a match of this size could have sat very nicely on a Full Gear card that I literally can’t predict right now, this was an excellent TV wrestling match.

One of the biggest issues that people had with Okada when he initially came to AEW was that his big matches on pay-per-view always delivered, but he would always short-change you on television for the simple fact that he isn’t used to wrestling shorter singles matches. However, “The Rainmaker” seemed to figure it out during last year’s Continental Classic tournament, and now he is flourishing in this new role in The Don Callis Family as the AEW Unified Champion.

For Bandido, I don’t even think it’s an exaggeration to say that he might genuinely be one of the purest babyfaces in all of wrestling right now. Whenever he is in the ring, the crowd gets lost in his infectious energy, and he has a catalog of impressive moves that he can basically use on anyone, even with one good arm. That was the story in this match as Okada zoned in on Bandido’s already beaten-up shoulder, knowing full well that he might be able to do certain moves with one arm, but it would take everything in Bandido’s being to get it done.

The closing stretch of this bout is particularly special as Bandido hits a Rainmaker of his own on Okada, and thanks to how protected that move has been in AEW, there was a genuine rush through the crowd of “wait a minute, is Bandido going to beat Kazuchika Okada?” Obviously, that never happened, and Okada got his win back after hitting a Rainmaker of his own in a breezy watch that gives you just enough to call it a great match, while also preserving a few things for if they ever meet on a bigger stage.

The aftermath of the family being torn between Okada and Konosuke Takeshita builds anticipation for their eventual match, and “Dynamite” went off the air with a sense of satisfaction that you don’t always get. Sometimes, “Dynamite” is main evented by whatever match Tony Khan thinks is cool, but Bandido versus Okada felt like a main event, was treated like a main event, and performed by two guys who belong in the main event. A great finish to a great show all around.

Written by Sam Palmer

There’s a new unified theory sweeping online circles called “Everyone is twelve now,” and it does explain a lot of the issues I tend to have with a night of AEW programming.

“I think the bravest thing a man can do is a kickflip on Mt. Everest,” of course you do, you’re twelve. “Every other tag match should be for half a million dollars,” hell yeah, homie, you’re twelve. “I think the ring should be surrounded by the faces of comic book characters,” bless your heart, my twelve-year-old buddy.

Nowhere else was that more apparent than in the announcement that the brackets of the AEW Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament would be partially decided by the winners of a four-way tag match picking their first-round opponents. 

Women’s wrestling fans have been waiting for the tournament ever since Tony Khan announced the long-expected titles and then went radio silent for a number of weeks. The announcement of the teams alone could’ve been enough of a hook, but the four-way tag match, as well as the somewhat last-minute, unserious union of Athena and Mercedes Mone, added a certain immaturity to the proceedings. The team of Athena and Mone actually works as a metaphor for the women’s tag titles, as everything about it is tremendous on paper, but there’s something about the slapdash way that it’s come about that leaves me feeling a little cold, as if they don’t trust the allure of the women’s tag division.

“This long-awaited women’s tag title tournament is so boring! How can we make it fun and gimmicky?” Aw, my guy, that’s exactly what I’d expect a twelve-year-old to ask.

Written by Ross Berman

The one consolation the smallfolk can take solace in is that while Empires will rise, absorbing what they can until there is very little left, oppressing and depressing the many for the benefits of the few, is that they will at some stage or another begin their descent.

Tying that to professional wrestling, the same can be said for the heels that surround themselves with numbers and exert their own will upon others for their personal gain – whether described as a mission or a familial obligation – only to make enough enemies to make their position untenable. The more prominent example in recent memory would be that of Roman Reigns with The Bloodline, though more recently, Seth Rollins experienced a similar yet necessarily abrupt end with The Vision, and now in AEW, it certainly appears as though Jon Moxley and the Death Riders are entering that territory. Moxley did what he had promised he would never do, uttering the words ‘I Quit’ to a Scorpion Deathlock applied by Darby Allin in the middle of the ring.

His reign with the World Championship ended in July, failing to get it back in a rematch, losing alongside the Death Riders and their allies against Allin and his in a Lights Out Steel Cage match, and now, with the loss to Allin in such a way, a question had to be asked whether he would still have the support of his faction. The immediate answer during “AEW Dynamite” was yes, with them coming out to aid him after he was exposed in a singles match with Kyle O’Reilly, forced to attack the referee and prompt a disqualification as he neared submission for the second time in the space of a week. But while they fought, Moxley retreated, rattled and visibly defeated by O’Reilly and, even having lost so much in recent months, looking the most vulnerable he has for quite some time.

His faction also lost to the Conglomeration in a subsequent trios match, further rattling the entire group as they sought to run roughshod over their rivals in a post-match attack. They, more specifically Claudio Castagnoli in the ring, were caught by Allin with a baseball bat to save Orange Cassidy, and were swiftly run off by the group. It will be interesting to see how they address the clear cracks in their group, especially with Moxley dragging them into battles they keep on losing. After all, this is the same group that turned on Bryan Danielson. In any case, it was cool to see Moxley’s character reacting to his defeat this past weekend organically and believably, and it was a wrestling disqualification done right. That deserves some love.

Written by Max Everett

If there’s one thing that AEW affirmed in my mind tonight, it’s that the combination of little airtime and a pointless sentiment in a promo doesn’t make a good mix with one another.

Darby Allin is coming off a big win in his I Quit Match against Jon Moxley at WrestleDream. While it makes sense to have him appear on “Dynamite” because of that, his appearance during the post-match brawl that broke out between The Death Riders and The Conglomeration would’ve sufficed. There was absolutely no reason for him to come to the ring simply to say that he was willing to die for AEW and wouldn’t stop coming after The Death Riders as long as they’re breathing, as his coming to the aid of The Conglomeration would’ve gotten across the message that Allin isn’t set to stop feuding with The Death Riders anytime soon. This entire segment was completely pointless and lame, feeling like it was nothing more than a way to eat up some extra television meant to get in as much screen time for Allin as possible.

Written by Oliva Quinlan

I thought tonight’s celebration of Mercedes Mone and her now 12 belts would be a bit boring. Not because I dislike the “belt collector” gimmick or Mone, but it just feels like we so often get these celebration segments for her, and they’re not too exciting. Thankfully, tonight, I was very wrong, and I should have figured something fun would be in store following AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander accepting Mone’s challenge for a match at AEW Full Gear earlier in the night. When “Stat” accepted the challenge during the backstage segment, she gave a little, not-so-subtle wink and nudge to the audience when she told Mone to enjoy her championship celebration tonight.

What I didn’t expect was an appearance at the celebration by “Mini Mone,” or puppet Mone, or whatever you want to call Harley Cameron’s Muppet-like version of the TBS Champion. I thought it was cute that Cameron must have just rolled under the ring after the women’s tag team fatal four-way to get in positions to sneak under the table that was set up, complete with a big ol’ sheet cake and a bottle of vodka. I figured Cameron had just moved on to be Willow Nightingale’s tag team partner, so I really didn’t expect this.

I don’t think I have to openly gush anymore about how much I love Cameron and her puppeting skills, though I will admit this was slightly less impressive since it wasn’t exactly a ventriloquist act, but when the puppet popped up instead of Mone’s music hitting following Renee Paquette’s grand introduction talking about how fantastic “Ultimo Mone” is, I had to laugh. Eventually, we did get “The CEO” down the ramp with all of her belt boys, but she shooed them and Paquette off to run down the fans, Cameron, and “Mini Mone” in the ring.

And, of course, if there’s a cake involved in a wrestling segment, someone’s going through it. First, that was Puppet Mone, much to poor Cameron’s shock, but in the best part of the segment, Statlander was revealed to also be under the table. Mone then got a face full of cake, followed by a chokeslam through the table by the AEW Women’s Champion. There’s a lot of hate for Mone floating around on social media right now, and while I’m already not here for that, you can’t deny the fact that she is willing to look silly for a good moment to benefit her opponent and the story overall.

Written by Daisy Ruth

For the record, I have no problems with feuds spanning over multiple pay-per-views. Jumping from feud to feud based solely on the fact that there is another marquee event isn’t a formula that should be followed, and I’m glad that we have mostly moved away from all of that. However, I do have a problem when it seems like a feud has ended, and because there is no real idea of what to do with people, the feud just continues.

That was one of my main gripes with the October 22 episode of “AEW Dynamite.” Fresh off a pay-per-view like AEW WrestleDream 2025 where we saw the fifth match between Kyle Fletcher and Mark Briscoe, and the “I Quit” match between Darby Allin and Jon Moxley, “Dynamite” gave us no signs of anything new on the horizon and instead decided to hint at the fact that two of the feuds that looked to be over on the weekend are somehow still going.

Part of the reason why Darby and Moxley headlined WrestleDream was because it was built as the final showdown, the ultimate example of violence, the most wince-inducing match this side of the millennium, and it ended with the hero conquering the villain in the exact way that they had laid out in the build up. Outside of the fact that St. Louis didn’t allow them to bleed all over each other, there is really no need to keep the Darby and Moxley story going, and while they seem to have a neat direction for Moxley, Darby being like “As long as the Death Riders exist I’m not finished with you” doesn’t really seem like inspired booking. They are an inspired pairing for sure, but that story has been told for now. Move forward, not sideways.

The Briscoe and Fletcher situation is even more frustrating because their whole deal was that Briscoe had Fletcher’s number, but as time went on, Fletcher grew in confidence and now has beaten Briscoe in their series three wins to two. Tony Khan probably wasn’t going for a best-of-five series when he booked them for a match in June 2024, but the way it naturally ended up like that was such a good way to finish it. However, Briscoe wants one more match, and, thankfully, Don Callis said no to that offer, and it should stay that way, giving Fletcher something new and different heading into the final few months of the year. He’s proven he’s better than Briscoe, let’s leave it there. This was a great show, all things considered, but the direction of some of the top stars in the company just seems a bit uninspired.

Written by Sam Palmer