AEW Dynamite 12/31/2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite" on this, the final day of 2025! Tony Khan closed out the year with a bang, main-eventing "New Years Smash" with Willow Nightingale reclaiming the TBS Championship from Mercedes Mone. We also had a speech from new AEW World Champion MJF, which the WINC staff has several thoughts about, as well as an eliminator match between Jon Moxley and Josh Alexander and a Brody King squash!

We'll talk about all that here in the column, though fans of Ricochet vs. Jack Perry will have to be content with reading about in on our "Dynamite" results page. We just didn't have strong feelings about it, and that's literally the name of the game here in this space. So for one last time in 2025 (because some of us are on the west coast) here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 12/31/25 episode of "AEW Dynamite!"

When Darby Allin came back from climbing Mount Everest, something that he could fit into a conversation about anything at this point it seems, the natural story waiting for him after AEW All In: Texas was going back for Jon Moxley and the Death Riders. Over time, he would get victories over Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, and the aforementioned Moxley, and probably would have gotten a win over PAC in the Continental Classic had he not gotten injured and if Tony Khan wanted everyone in the Gold League to go into the final matches with six points each. 

At Worlds End, Darby tied up a loose end that he really didn't need to in the form of the Death Riders-adjacent Gabe Kidd, and many people thought that 2026 would bring something different for him, but no. Instead, Darby cut a promo on the New Year's Smash edition of "AEW Dynamite" from what could only be described as Skid Row if Darby built it himself, stating that he still needs to beat PAC at some point in the future. This would be followed by a promo from Wheeler Yuta later in the night who claimed that Darby hasn't faced him one-on-one yet and that he would have to get through the self-proclaimed "Most Unhinged Man in the Death Riders."

I understand wanting to have a complete story and sorting out every single aspect of it before moving onto the next arc, but there comes a point where even the most loyal AEW fans have to say "Darby, it's over buddy, move on." Jon Moxley has moved on. He's moved on so much that he's getting as big of a reaction from the crowd as Darby does, if not bigger. The rest of the Death Riders are more focused on Toni Storm these days than Darby, the group is starting to evolve into something different, and Darby is kind of following them around like an angry ex-partner who doesn't believe that someone can change.

This is all coming from someone who truly believes that Darby is one of the best wrestlers on the planet and knows his matches with PAC and Yuta will be good (the latter taking place this Saturday on "AEW Collision" by the way), but even I feel like Darby needs something fresh. The Death Riders angle started with Darby in September 2024, we are now in 2026 and he's still after them. Darby did tease going after the AEW Men's World Championship in 2026, but that title scene is crowded enough as it is. I know that Darby wants to complete his Death Riders story, but he's going to need something very fresh soon to keep him interesting.

Written by Sam Palmer

I'll be honest: I had my doubts about how things would go when MJF won back the AEW World Championship at Worlds End because I wasn't sure that he was the right person to put the title on with how much talent is on the roster. Things are looking good if they continue playing out like the opening segment on "Dynamite."

It's rare that I actually like to see multiple challengers being introduced to a world championship picture or be set up for rematches. However, in the case of MJF and the current AEW World Championship picture, I actually think it works to AEW's advantage to introduce Kenny Omega as a new challenger whilst still setting up Samoa Joe, "Hangman" Adam Page, and Swerve Strickland for a rematch or rematches. Not only does it establish just how hot of a commodity the AEW World Championship is for several major names on the roster, but it also shows that MJF has a target on his back now that he holds the title.

While the opening segment was a little bit chaotic in terms of so many things happening back-to-back, it was still very fun to watch play out, and accomplished quite a lot in the 15 or so minutes that it was given to play out. Using the mix of jumbotron and in-person elements was also an interesting addition to things, helping to break up everything that went on in order to make it easier to follow.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

While I enjoyed tonight's opening segment with the parade of challengers for MJF and his newly-won AEW World Championship, I also couldn't help but feel like, "Well, f*** Bandido then, I guess." I'm not sure it would have been as blatantly obvious if commentary wouldn't have noted that the ROH World Champion has next against MJF just seconds before the champion strolled down to the ring to deliver his promo. It was acknowledged later in the night, but it was just a little too late by then, and it felt kind of disrespectful to someone many consider their Wrestler of the Year.

In the show-opening promo, MJF immediately launched in to addressing his competitors at Worlds End: former champion Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland, and "Hangman" Adam Page. While I didn't think MJF's initial promo portion of the segment was anything to write home about, it did get a bit more exciting as it went on. However, Bandido was no where to be seen amongst the video promos calling out MJF, including one from Kenny Omega, or amongst those who came out to face off against the champ. 

The main focus of the segment, after Omega's appearance, was Strickland and Page, which I'm usually fine with, but Bandido has his title shot he earned by winning the Dynamite Diamond Ring. He's the first person who is not named MJF in the history of AEW to win the ring, which came with a shot at the title at "Dynamite: Maximum Carnage" this year, set for January 14. 

You'd think MJF facing off against the only other person to win that distinction would be a big deal, especially as he's still wearing the ring that he really doesn't have anymore, though I have read that he's passed it off as the Dynamite ring being something like a Super Bowl ring. While that does make sense, I still picture MJF being upset that someone else has marked their name in the history books alongside his, and it has everything to be a nice little feud for the new champion.

Bandido and MJF did briefly face-off in a backstage segment alongside Brody King and Renee Paquette, but Paquette failed to mention Bandido as a challenger, and it was King to step in to remind the champion who he's up against next. While Page, Strickland, Omega, and Joe are all bigger names for MJF to feud with, I still think Bandido would have been a great, larger feud for him. AEW could have booked Bandido to win the ring without a title shot, then he could have been waiting in the wings, with a legitimate stake to a match at a later date.

Written by Daisy Ruth

What a year 2025 was for Jon Moxley. He had borderline go away heat for the first few months of the year as people were desperate for him to drop the AEW Men's World Championship, but after driving nine hours to take a spiked bat to the back, the tide started to turn in favor of the Death Riders leader and that tide didn't stop turning. Now look at him, only the third-ever AEW Continental Champion, winner of the 2025 Continental Classic, and getting babyface reactions despite being the closest thing to a wrestling terrorist that AEW has ever seen.

He made his first defense of the AEW Continental Championship on the New Year's Smash edition of "AEW Dynamite" against Josh Alexander and to put it simply, it rocked.

Not enough credit has been given to Alexander throughout 2025 for how solid he has been as a dependable workhorse in the midcard, but he actually turned out to be a perfect choice for Moxley's first post-Worlds End match given everything the champion has been through in recent months. Moxley was forced to say "I Quit" by Darby Allin, he couldn't find a way out of Kyle O'Reilly's Ankle Lock, and his Worlds End matches with Kyle Fletcher and Kazuchika Okada saw him take heavy damage to the ankle as well. So it's only right that the first man he defends his newly won title against be someone who also has the Ankle Lock as one of his patented finishers.

Naturally, the injured leg was the story of this bout. Even before the bell had even rang, Moxley took a little slip hopping over the guardrail and immediately started limping. I don't know whether that was legitimate or not, but I guess that's the art of selling something and right now there might not be anyone better at selling danger than the AEW Continental Champion. Alexander repeatedly going after the ankle as he knew that would be Moxley's undoing, using big bombs on the apron to really knock the wind out of the champion. The "Walking Weapon" even getting the tiniest bit of color added an extra layer of physicality to this one as well as I'm not exactly sure where he got it from but it looked like he had been in a war by the time it was over.

Moxley getting the win by elbowing Alexander in the head so hard that Alexander's headgear fell off was a great visual, and the submission victory was more than enough to make this my personal match of the night. Shelton Benjamin is next up, and if it's half as good as I think it will be, that match will also rock.

Written by Sam Palmer

On a show that saw a first promo from the world champion and his incumbent challengers – sans the one that already has a title shot, he was wrestling elsewhere on the card – and an almost 600-day TBS Championship reign ended, there was also a little nugget – a hidden gem, if you will – of a match between Brody King and Lee Johnson. 

I apologize, the match actually lasted 52 seconds and was not in fact a hidden gem nor a nugget, but rather... just a 52 second match.

There's not much "hatred" one can really conjure for a 52-second match, but rest assured it wasn't enjoyable or good either. Bandido, Brody King's partner in a make-shift team that got too over not to be Tag Team Champions, is preparing to challenge for MJF's World Championship, so that naturally means King had to wrestle for 52 seconds against someone better known in ROH. This win alone will have done wonders for his singles prospects going forward. 

As for Lee Johnson ... poor Lee Johnson. First AEW appearance for months, and it's in a singles match with a guy the company clearly sees a tag team guy, and said match lasts only 52 seconds. I get that enhancement talent needs to do what enhancement talent does, and I am not necessarily saying Johnson should be seen as an enhancement talent either – but he lost in 52 seconds and never seems to win when he appears on AEW TV. I also get that King should have something to do while his partner is pursuing his own singles goals, since he is far too good to remain as a mascot. But what is mind-boggling is the thought process behind booking a match so intentionally short that does nothing for either of the talent involved. 

Maybe King could also be a singles guy and do something with a little more significance? Maybe this writer is missing the abundantly clear benefit this had for the talent or the product. All that can be said is at no point does a TV show call for a random squash match, unless the attempt was to pay homage to "AEW Dark" again. In the words of John Cena: "It doesn't matter. None of this matters."

Happy New Year everyone!

Written by Max Everett

I am so happy for Willow Nightingale after she defeated Mercedes Mone to become a two-time TBS Champion, as well as the first woman in AEW history to hold two belts at the same time, alongside her historic first reign alongside Harley Cameron with the AEW Women's World Championship. I'm happy for many reasons, and one of the big ones is the fact I've been complaining for what feels like weeks now that all recent wrestling shows (outside of Worlds End, of course) felt like they were phoning it in for the holiday season and not many things were happening on taped shows. 

While AEW wasn't the biggest offender there, and I'm certainly glad talent got time off for the holidays, Nightingale's victory was a breath of fresh air going in to the new year. When we learned that Nightingale and Mone would be the main event of "Dynamite" tonight, a lot of us starting to get the inkling that maybe Mone's downfall was going to continue. "The CEO," alongside ROH Women's Champion Athena, has lost to the team of Nightingale and Cameron twice now, and her third loss being for her beloved TBS Championship was a good booking move.

While I'm a huge fan of everything Mone's done in 2025, it was time for her to lose the TBS title, and Nightingale was the perfect opponent to drop the gold to. Mone cut an incensed backstage promo on Nightingale after her Worlds End loss, telling Nightingale she would "beat her f****** a**" at "New Years Smash," and it's obvious the crash-out for the now former champion is going to be real. AEW can really lean into that now that Mone has lost her TBS gold. It just wasn't going to mean as much with her dropping her other belts from various other independent promotions here and there over the coming months. No offense to any of those indies, but this one means more.

The pair put on a banger of a match and it was the perfect exclamation point on the last episode of "Dynamite" in 2025, a great year for AEW. Nightingale is such a fan favorite and the Nebraska crowd was hot, making for a really fun conclusion of the show. Even AEW Women's World Champion Kris Statlander came out to celebrate with her on-and-off again friend. A first-hesitant Nightingale then forgave her, and jumped right into Statlander's arms in the ring. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about that part yet, but I'm curious to see it play out and with commentary mentioning it, I don't think their reunion is going to just be a one-off, feel-good moment.

Written by Daisy Ruth