AEW Dynamite 7/16/25: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," the show that, in true wrestling fashion, was essentially a victory lap following Saturday's All In. That event saw "Hangman" Adam Page wrest the AEW World Championship from the hands (and briefcase) of Jon Moxley and the Death Riders, a decision that generated tons of fan good will despite the abnormal length of the PPV, and not only did he open Wednesday's show with a true "You deserve it" style promo, he closed the show as well, renewing hostilities with Moxley in the trios main event.

Of course, whether or not you think All In deserves a victory lap is your own business, as is whether or not you think Page and Moxley should be wrestling four nights after their blood-spattered gore-fest on Saturday. The WINC staff actually does have an opinion on that last one, along with things like the Young Bucks going full bum (as we predicted!), Toni Storm's crude balcony poetry, and Kazuchika Okada's hew entrance music. We're not covering the whole show, of course, because that's what our "Dynamite" results page is for, and because this column is specifically for our strongest opinions, no matter where in the show those might come from. In other words, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 7/16/25 episode of "AEW Dynamite."

Considering that this was the first episode of "Dynamite" since All In (or any weekly AEW show for that matter), everything overall felt pretty lackluster and boilerplate. However, there was one shining spot on the show that redeemed it for me: The Young Bucks, former EVPs of AEW.

Every single time the re-named Matt and Nick appeared on the screen, you just couldn't look away because of how entertaining and fun it was. Everything they did was pure comedic gold, whether it was the comic sans font that appeared on their new jumbo tron video during their entrance or having to witness the EVP label on their former dressing room being scratched out or Justin Roberts "used to be EVP's" ring intro as part of their Eight Man Tag Team Match or them arriving to the arena in a sedan that doubled as an Uber or realizing they couldn't call the EVP Trigger that anymore (the latter two of which were my personal favorite). My eyes were glued to the screen each time they appeared, and Matt and Nick's commitment to the bit just made everything that much better. It infused some much needed fun into a show that desperately needed it, but still furthered their character development by showing just how many different luxuries they no longer have now that they're nothing more than wrestlers in AEW.

On one final note: if anyone in the company is somehow reading this, then please, please, please give me more of these segments with Matt and Nick!

Written by Olivia Quinlan

After a spectacular All In, AEW really threw in the towel with Wednesday's episode of "AEW Dynamite," and this women's $100,000 Four-Way Fight did not help matters. Queen Aminata, Willow Nightingale, Thekla, and Kris Statlander all locked up to contest a ridiculously large sum of money that I, honestly, think is too generous a prize for a match this quality.

I don't like speaking ill about the women's division in AEW, because they're pretty good. It was just this match — and maybe there was something in the Chicago air, because every match on "Dynamite" felt like this — that was so painful to get through. Everything clunked together like a bunch of gears that are fine on their own, but just are not fitted together. They creak and groan, and sometimes the machine that is their wrestling match skips. It just does not work together, and during an already stale episode of "Dynamite" (one that pales in comparison to the glory of All In), it was just another nail in the coffin for this week of AEW programming.

I know they're building a feud based on Queen Aminata and Thekla's alleged heat, but those two just did not have chemistry. I felt like Aminata and Thekla were just not in sync; their strikes and spots did not flow together like they should have, if they connected at all. They are also just not good enough to support each other. While Aminata has been in AEW for a hot minute, she's mostly been used as enhancement talent before her recent exposure. I know Thekla is renowned for her STARDOM run, but even then, I don't think she is a strong enough performer to hold up a match between her and a relatively green (or struggling) Aminata. Hopefully the two of them can get some extra hours of practice in to really fine tune their craft, because watching them wrestle felt less like beautiful, choreographed violence and more like two toddlers awkwardly smacking each other.

Maybe this was just an off-night for Statlander and Nightingale, or maybe they're fatigued from their performances at All In. Regardless, they were not operating at their prime either in Wednesday's match. While they were more watchable than Aminata and Thekla, something just felt off. They did not move with their typical strength and confidence; it almost felt like they were tiptoeing around the entire match. This sucks, because Nightingale is not in a position to be having bad matches — she is barely getting a push from Khan as it is, and we quickly could be seeing a Daniel Garcia situation happen to an otherwise bright and powerful performer.

Some have speculated that this is the emergence of the AEW women's tag team division, and if that is the case, there needs to be some serious reconsideration. This was among the worst women's matches in the past week, if not *the* worst. Building a tag team division off of *this* is a laughable prospect. Rough night all around.

Written by Angeline Phu

Following the events of AEW All In Texas, it wasn't exactly clear where the company was going to go with "Timeless" Toni Storm. She just had the biggest women's match in company history, Luther is in desperate need of surgery after something needed reattaching (you can figure out for yourselves what he broke), and with no real contenders lined up for her ahead of Forbidden Door on August 24, a victory speech didn't light the world on fire when it was announced.

However, Storm has become one of the most reliable promos in all of wrestling over the past year or so, spitting out quotable lines that some of the most talented writers in the world couldn't think of and having the fans hanging on every word she says. Naturally, she put herself over, something she has become a master of when talking in front of a live audience as she is really able to gage how far she can go with the sexual innuendos before she either runs out of material or hits a dud note. She put over Mercedes Moné for her efforts at All In Texas, even teasing an eventual rematch between the two because obviously they are going to run it back, why wouldn't they? On top of this, Storm made it very clear that she not going to back down from anyone who wanted a piece of her as there is plenty of her to go around, and she is always in the mood to eat.

This is when the promo took an interesting turn as Athena and Billie Starkz popped up on the big screens. Personally, I thought AEW might have had Athena wait around for a little bit until after Forbidden Door, or even Death Before Dishonor in September as that's the show where Athena will reach, and potentially surpass 1,000 days as ROH Women's World Champion. Instead, the company are putting her front and center when it comes to next credible threats to Toni and her title, a move I personally enjoy as it keeps her involved in the hunt for a while, rather than having her cash in her shot straight away. Storm is going to be facing Billie Starkz next week, so maybe they are going to use the shot very soon, but it makes sense to just keep her in and around the scene rather than front and center. 

Finally, and this is more of an aesthetic point, but how gorgeous did this all look on the eye? The red details shining through the black and white filter, combined with the venue making it look like a mix between a genuine 1950s film set and something out of a medieval movie. The shot of Storm from behind where you can see the whole building, incredible camerawork. She might not have taken any bumps, and she might not have had much time, but Toni Storm, as usual, left her mark on "AEW Dynamite" tonight, let's see where she goes next.

Written by Sam Palmer

There's already something "less than" about Kazuchika Okada's run in AEW, and that was exacerbated by a baffling choice on Wednesday.

I don't know if it was a creative decision, or a music licensing issue, or just plain stupidity, but Kazuchika Okada's iconic Rainmaker theme is no more, replaced instead by a song that sounds like it lost out on being the "Raw" theme song to Papa Roach in the mid-00s. Sure, the trademark coinflip is still there, but Okada's theme song has been something of a clarion. To strip Okada of his anthem takes away a certain intangible electricity. It's not like Okada has replaced the song with something equally iconic, like Hulk Hogan did when he started using Jimi Hendrix's classic "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" or when Sting used Metallica's "Seek & Destroy." This is just some Angry White Boy song that sounds like it could be the entrance music for literally anyone, and it threatens to turn Okada into "some guy," just as he's been crowned the Unified Champion.

It has a rippling effect, as now Swerve's teased upcoming Unified Championship feud also feels "Less Than" because it's not like he's facing Okada Okada. He's just facing some version of Okada that likes screamy nu-metal. Give us some balloons to work with because Don Callis's gentrified Paul Heyman act isn't helping either. It's going to be up to Swerve Strickland to make this feud interesting now, and that means he's going to commit at least one felony. When Okada's house burns down, or Don Callis is strung up over the Aragon Ballroom like Mussolini, it will likely be the fault of whoever decided one of Okada's last interesting aspects needed to go.

Written by Ross Berman

After they turned on Christian Cage to set up the return of Adam Copeland at All In, Nick Wayne, Kip Sabian, and Shayna Wayne appeared in a backstage segment to rationalize their actions and put forward their plans for the future. In truth, The Patriarchy had run its course quite some time ago and the split was a welcome change of pace for all involved. Christian was nowhere to be seen this week, probably off to find himself per the order of Cope, and that gave the other three characters in the story ample time to breathe and become their own – albeit for a small segment on an overrun show. 

Was it a bit odd that Sabian framed himself as the architect of the turn, despite quite literally no indication that would be the case? Of course. But Wayne had the opportunity to actually feel like a "Prodigy" sitting front and center with his title, admittedly a ROH TV title but a title nonetheless. And then his mom had the opportunity to show the first bit of character advancement – brutally, a bit of relevance – since she aligned with the group in the first place, introduced as "The Matriarch," which was such a low-hanging fruit it would have been criminal not to grab; this is pro wrestling after all. 

Honestly, while it seems trivial on the face of it, AEW needs more moments like this where it feels like the characters are doing more than just treading water until it's their time to wrestle for contendership. Sabian has long been underutilized for his character work and Wayne is still just 20 years old and learning on the job, it would be good for them to have something decent to stick their teeth into.

Shayna Wayne has been with her son for quite some time but for much of it she was reduced to being an extended innuendo attached to "The Patriarch" gimmick. That's just weird, and wrestling has a tendency to be weird enough without introducing Brazzers-level storytelling to the mix. There is a sense of catharsis in the fact she is continuing with the group in the mentor role for Nick Wayne, having kicked Christian to the curb and hopefully getting beyond being just the punchline to a really distasteful joke. That's why it doesn't really make sense that Christian is going to be the babyface when all is said and done, but as said before, wrestling is really weird.

Written by Max Everett

I was surprised to see on social media this afternoon that both new AEW World Champion "Hangman" Adam Page and former champion Jon Moxley would be competing tonight, albeit in a six-man tag team match, following their hellacious Texas Death match battle at All In Texas on Saturday. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, because I'm well aware of how AEW is booked, and I also am quite familiar with the "Hangman" and Moxley characters and how they're pretty brutal bada****. It could have been worse, of course. They both could have been wrestling in singles matches against other opponents, but they both certainly got their licks in during the six-man without selling the devastation from Saturday too much tonight.

At the beginning of the show, Page was limping a bit during his promo where he thanked the fans for believing in him. But during the match, it took him awhile to start selling again and he only did so toward the end when he was fighting Wheeler Yuta. Moxley didn't act like he had been in a Texas Death match at all, though, I suppose that's probably pretty on brand for his character. With Moxley, you wouldn't have known it if it wasn't for the bandage on his head where "Hangman" brutally, and repeatedly, stabbed him with a fork. He ended Saturday in a pool of his own blood, however, so you'd think he look a little more woozy in action tonight.

I also initially thought before the show that it was a little strange the Young Bucks were in action tonight, but after seeing the video vignettes and backstage segments of their fall from grace, I deemed their match necessary, especially because they didn't compete in hardcore action like Page and Moxley on Saturday. That, I can forgive, especially because of how funny it was, but I don't think Page and Moxley needed to be booked in the match. I thought it would have been much more effective if the men came out to help and beat each other and the opposing team down after Mark Briscoe and Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Claudio Castagnoli and Yuta. They both could have limped themselves out there to help, rather than compete in a long match. 

Page did get the pin, thankfully, on Castagnoli, but another gripe I had was the jackknife pin during a 15 minute overrun – an overrun which AEW absolutely didn't need tonight on a pretty lame show. I went into tonight expecting a lot after Saturday, but overall, I wasn't a fan of this "Dynamite" episode, one where nothing really happened at all until Darby Allin showed up at the end for brief moment, and I went into it from the start very confused by the booking of Page and Moxley.

Written by Daisy Ruth