AEW Dynamite - 9/10/2025: 3 Things We Loved And 3 We Hated

The Philadelphia residency of "AEW Dynamite" has come to an end. While there's still one more "Collision" in the 2300 Arena, the Wednesday night flagship will go back on the road next week. The final "Dynamite" in Philadelphia was an action-packed stop on the road to All Out in Toronto.

The biggest shock of the night was the villainous turn of Daniel Garcia, who appeared in the main event to help the Death Riders attack Darby Allin. Also, Hangman Page accepted the challenge of TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher to a match at All Out, with Page's title hanging in the balance. Enough about "what happened," though, that's already been studiously covered on the Results Page.

Instead, it's time to break down the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of Wednesday's show. There was plenty of good and plenty of bad, from Toni Storm's Street Fight victory to whatever the hell is going on with the repetitive build to FTR vs. C&C. Enough bloviating, though, let's let the Wrestling Inc. Staff speak for themselves.

Tonight is certainly not the first time that AEW has ran a multi man tag team match with a very big cash prize on the line on "Dynamite" (nor will it likely be the last), but traditionally, when AEW has put on this kind of match, there hasn't really been any sort of reason for the cash prize to be on the line other than characters taking home a huge bonus. In the case of tonight's Ten Man Tag Team Match pitting The Death Riders and The Young Bucks against Brodido and The Opps, it actually made sense for there to be $500,000 on the line as The Bucks are very much in need of the money and Jon Moxley happily gave them the entire sum since his mission is all about taking over AEW alongside the rest of The Death Riders.

Beyond having stakes that made sense, especially with The Bucks and The Death Riders going over, the action throughout this entire contest was fast and a fun one to watch. There wasn't really a dull moment at all throughout the entire contest, and it made for an engaging watch from the opening bell to the final pin. It was a great match to close out the entire moment, and well, the fun didn't stop after the match either.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

If there's one thing that has actually been very entertaining throughout AEW's 2300 Arena residency, it's the level of heat that FTR have gotten from the fans. Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood must have been studying their Dudley Boyz tapes, because every time they arrive in the former ECW Arena, they get in the fans faces in the same way that Buh Buh Ray and D-Von would in the 1990s. It has been very fun to see, as have their matches on "AEW Collision" that have featured the current DPW Worlds Champion Adam Priest, and all of the build towards their match against Adam Copeland and Christian Cage for All Out. However, something was missing in their segment this week, and that was a point to all of it.

FTR came out on this week's episode of "AEW Dynamite," got into it with the fans on the way down the ramp, tried to cut a promo with Stokely Hathaway, and then just started confronting the fans again before assaulting the cameramen and leaving. That was it, that was the whole segment.

For me this segment came across as AEW just wanting to capitalize on FTR being so hated right now without actually having any reason to be on the show. There was no mention of their upcoming rematch against the team of Adam Priest and Tommy Billington on "Collision," Copeland and Cage weren't even in the building for them to have another showdown with (which would have been a bit long in the tooth anyway considering they've already done that angle twice now), and the whole thing just seemed a bit unnecessary.

I understand the desire to push their match at All Out, considering it will be the first time since 2001 that Copeland and Cage have teamed up in Canada, but FTR literally have a match this weekend, use that segment to push the match, and maybe allow something that needs more work to get a spotlight here. We all know that there are going to be more matches added to All Out between now and September 20, so why not shine a light on one of those potential bouts here instead of having Dax and Cash squaring up to people? "What are you going to do about it? You're going to do nothing, you coward!" Yes, and you're not going to do anything either, Dax, because if you did, you'll either get sued, fired, or both, so just give it a rest.

Like I said, I've enjoyed FTR's work over the 2300 Arena residency, but this whole segment was pointless. There was no new wrinkle to their feud with Copeland and Cage, and it kind of took away precious time for other stories to be told. Plus, if FTR tried to start something with me, I could just tell them that was I was also featured on "Dynamite" this week (my tweet about Riho got shown on screen), and they'll probably just leave me alone out of respect.

Written by Sam Palmer

Over three years ago, when Bryan Danielson pitched the idea of the Blackpool Combat Club to Jon Moxley, he mentioned three young talents whom he would love to take under his wing: Wheeler Yuta, Lee Moriarty, and Daniel Garcia. Since then, Yuta has been a staple of the group now known as the Death Riders, and is routinely booed out of every building for just being someone that people love to see get beaten up on a weekly basis. Moriarty floated from group to group before joining forces with Shane Taylor Promotions, and is currently enjoying a reign as the ROH Pure Champion, which has currently lasted 14 months. Then there is Garcia.

Garcia's AEW career has been strange to say the least. You could argue that he was one of the few people who actually benefited from being associated with Chris Jericho, he's had multiple pushes that have led to moments where AEW needed to pull the trigger but didn't for reasons only known to Tony Khan, and after a solid reign as AEW TNT Champion, he kind of became a side character to other people's stories. It also hasn't helped that he's had multiple promos where he's said things like "everyone has beaten me," and "if someone takes my spot, that spot wasn't meant for me." Now, we FINALLY have a direction for Garcia that is both interesting and positions him in a major spot on the card.

The brief TV feud between Garcia and Moxley has been one of the most interesting developments to come out of the 2300 Arena residency so far. Moxley seeing potential in a man who has tried and tried to break through the glass ceiling, unlocking something inside of him that makes him realize that maybe Moxley's vision for AEW wasn't so bad after all. Since the start of the Death Riders, people have argued that Moxley has actually been a babyface in AEW as he is doing something that is beneficial for everyone, he's just going about it the wrong way, and seeing that theory rub off on other wrestlers in the company is a great little detail.

It's only early doors, but this is probably the most exciting position Garcia has been in for a long time. Not since his win over Bryan Danielson has Garcia actually felt like someone who people are actively engaged in. He's a great wrestler for sure, but in a company that is built on being "where the best wrestle," people have to go the extra mile to stand out, and this is Garcia's chance to stand out. Making the Death Riders stronger right before Darby Allin was supposed to take everything away from Moxley has added a new level of intrigue for their Coffin Match at All Out, and it's got me wondering how far Garcia can go with this new story.

Daniel Garcia is a Death Rider. It's now down to himself and Tony Khan to book him properly because things could get very interesting.

Written by Sam Palmer

It feels like a weird rite of passage – like a court of wrestlers or something like that – in AEW that one must be told by a champion they are challenging that they are not ready. Jon Moxley is coming off of a reign that purely predicated on the idea that absolutely no one else was ready to be the AEW World Champion, to be defeated by a man that he told wasn't ready, despite having had a feud to win his first World title four years ago, again purely predicated on not being ready, who is now telling his next challenger – a man who is already a reigning champion – that he is not ready. 

Apparently, AEW is either comprised of the best wrestlers in the world or a bunch of guys who aren't ready.

"Hangman" Page tonight spoke to Kyle Fletcher completely out of character and in a forced "I am the face of the company" rant, one that saw him speaking like he hadn't only won his first World title four years ago and was decades his senior, when in actual fact Page is in just his second singles title – midcard or otherwise – reign in a major company. Fletcher actually has more titles than Page in his career. He's objectively more of a winner than Page is, and that would be a fine delusion for a heel to veer into with their promo. But Page is supposed to be the protagonist of AEW, and he's coming off in this promo like a deluded villain with some grandiose picture of who he is.

The idea that Page can rise to be the champion of the people and then talk about his superiority when the facts don't support that statement it's indicative of a rush to become something you're not. It completely ignores what drew people to Page in the first place, the fact that he had been on the cusp of finally breaking through, and then going on a downward spiral just to once again break through four years later in a redemption arc, just to have him move forward with the exact same messaging from the heel champion he deposed. It cheapens his story; it does no favor for Fletcher, who is genuinely as ready as one can be at this point, and really undercuts the value in their match.

Fletcher is now tasked with proving Page wrong, which is hardly a heel narrative, or he isn't ready to be champion. Which in itself is an issue, because he is already the TNT Champion. It speaks with an emphasis to sound cool and say the right things in the moment, but without any thought into what message it is that's trying to be brought across. And it exposes the segment for what it is, filler that serves more to harm the excitement around a match than to enhance.

Written by Max Everett

I couldn't think of a better way to end a residency in the historic 2300 Arena, home of ECW, than with a Philly Street Fight. I also couldn't think of a better person to put in that match than AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm. The "Timeless" one absolutely crushed it from the very beginning with her Sandman-inspired look. She even had the gimmick down to the beer can, but in her case, it was small box of red wine. When she smacked it off her forehead like Sandman, the red in the wine caught the black-and-white filter of her entrance and showed up the way the reds do, and it looked really fantastic. Maybe it was just me, but I thought that was a really nice touch.

You'd think AEW would put a Philly Street Fight to cap off the "Dynamite" portion of the residency as the main event, but even though Storm and Skye Blue worked their butts off to have an exciting match full of big spots, I thought it actually fit really well in the middle-ish of the show.

Storm immediately went for all the weapons during her entrance, including a sign straight off the stage, but one of the most memorable spots of the match was Blue taking a staple gun to Storm. While staples are often used in AEW, it's where Blue stapled Storm that was memorable. It was enough that even Taz on commentary said that he had seen a lot in that building, but hadn't seen something like that before.

Blue had another cool spot where she took what looked like a fan's sign at ringside, but it was a street sign underneath the paper, and she smacked Storm a good one with it. We didn't get blood in this match, which was surprising for AEW (but fine by me, as I didn't really think it was needed here), but we did get a table full of mouse traps that Storm revealed to the audience. She was the one who ended up taking the mousetraps, with Blue sending her trouble the table with a powerbomb. I feel like Blue wrestles more often on "AEW Collision" these days, but it was nice to see her in action in a more hardcore stipulation match, and I think she did an excellent job tonight against Storm.

Storm won the match with a Storm Zero on a chair, which was a pretty predictable ending, but it made sense. Of course, Thekla, Julia Hart, Kris Statlander, and Jamie Hayter all came out to brawl afterward, and they really could have used some of the weapons, too, but overall, it was a solid women's bout with a post-match angle that also made sense before the fatal four-way women's title match at All Out next weekend. I really enjoyed it, and I absolutely loved that the women got the street fight stipulation to pay homage to ECW tonight.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I get that he's a heel, but come on.

Ahead of his match with The Hurt Syndicate's Shelton Benjamin, Ricochet approached his opponent with a peace treaty: if Bobby Lashley and MVP stayed out of Benjamin's corner during their upcoming contest, the Gates of Agony would not interfere in the Wednesday match-up. Ricochet called the deal a "gentlemen's agreement," and, to his credit, Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona abided by Ricochet and Benjamin's agreed-upon terms. There seems to be, however, no honor among thieves, because as soon as Benjamin seemed to get the upper hand over a scissor-less Ricochet, Kaun and Liona appeared to run their usual ringside interference, with a strike from Liona ultimately opening the door for a Ricochet victory.

Before you go to the comments, I know Ricochet is a heel. I know that dishonesty, betrayal, and broken promises are in Ricochet's wheelhouse — really, we shouldn't even be surprised that this happened. However, I think that, if Ricochet was just going to rely on Kaun and Liona anyway, why even make a big deal about his proposed "gentlemen's agreement?" I get it's to sell that Ricochet is no gentleman, but don't we know that already? If this was to sell Benjamin and The Hurt Syndicate as chivalrous men, as implied by MVP's initial response to the deal and The Hurt Syndicate's compliance with Ricochet's terms, then I feel like we might have been able to do it in a more satisfying way (if we even have to at all — anyone would look like a saint next to Ricochet and the Gates of Agony). Why push this gentleman's agreement, just to have it be broken in the least exciting way possible, with nothing more than a referee's distraction and a strike?

Maybe it's not a mortal sin to have Ricochet go back on his word — after all, dishonesty is in the "Heel Work for Dummies" handbook — but it just didn't hit for me. Like, if you want to really sell Ricochet as a heel ahead of his Trios match against The Hurt Syndicate at All Out, you could have had him do something more dramatic than violate a word-of-mouth contract. If you wanted to put The Hurt Syndicate over as babyfaces (in this feud, at least), you could have had The Gates of Agony stand on business and go to an even more dastardly low. You could have even had Ricochet follow through with the scissors!

It's kind of pathetic. That's what it is. On an episode of "AEW Dynamite" full of highs like the Philadelphia Street Fight and the main event (match and fallout), Ricochet's sneaky trick was kind of pathetic. My timbers were not shivered. Philadelphia is the home of ECW — extreme wrestling lives and breathes here. I get you don't want to oversaturate the card with blood, but this felt a bit too tame, all things considered. Nothing that we should crucify Tony Khan for...I just wish they added a bit more sauce.

Written by Angeline Phu