AEW Dynamite - 1/7/2026: 3 Things We Loved And 3 We Hated

The first "AEW Dynamite" of 2026 has come and gone. Nestled between New Year's Bash and next week's Maximum Carnage, the January 7 edition of the AEW flagship was a muted affair, but still had plenty of action to write about.

There were dizzying highs, mostly surrounding the in-ring action, with everyone from Jon Moxley to The Young Bucks showing up, ready to jump into the new year. There were also woeful lows, like whatever the hell was going on with the main event Lights Out Match. The main event wasn't the only "lights out moment" though, as Willow Nightingale and Mercedes Mone did their best to overcome a faulty lighting rig during their hectic in-ring segment. Enough about what happened, though; that's been handled by our dutiful results page.

Instead, it's time for the Wrestling Inc. Staff to get into their feelings and talk about how the first "Dynamite" of the new year made them feel. Sometimes they were split about a single segment, much like the great match that ended in the return of Andrade El Idolo. Without further ado, the best and the worst of this week's "AEW Dynamite."

On Wednesday's episode of "AEW Dynamite," Matthew and Nicholas Jackson returned to AEW programming, but they didn't have their nice-pressed suits, sunglasses, or "You Leave Us No Choice" theme. When we were introduced to The Young Bucks as they appeared to assist "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry on Wednesday, we were met with nostalgic tassels, wide smiles, and a match that reminded us just why we fell in love with The Young Bucks in the first place.

Full transparency: I'm an enjoyer of flippy wrestling. So, when the lithe Perry and Bucks took to the ring to lay waste to Ricochet and the Gates of Agony through fanciful flips, ornate jumps, and electrifying springboard moves, I knew I was in for a fun night. I struggle to pinpoint a match highlight: everything was consistently engaging, from the beginning of the bell to the final one, two, three. Ricochet, Perry, and the Bucks made great use of the ropes to mad scientist some moves together, with the Destroyer off the ropes being a memorable moment that will be replayed long after the night is over, for sure. Perry and the Bucks went absolutely hog wild on Ricochet, and Ricochet, for his part, ate and sold a considerable amount of offense, all to put over Perry and the returning Bucks. I'm surprised Ricochet took as many blows as he did, considering his status as the AEW National Champion, and I'm even more impressed with how consistently great the selling was. I may think his bald head is the biggest cornball to grace AEW, but I have to give him credit where credit is due: Ricochet took so much to put his colleagues over.

Toa Liona was a very pleasant surprise. I was never a Toa Liona girl; I didn't follow him before his alliance with Ricochet, and within The Demand, I always saw him as a third wheel to Ricochet and Bishop Kaun. However, his strong, stalwart offense proved to be a great balance to the insane flips and tricks Ricochet, Perry, and the Bucks pulled out. That Triple Samoan Drop onto Perry and The Bucks was impactful in its short lifespan. The fact that it took over three Superkicks to drop Liona was a great move that kept Liona looking strong while also putting Perry and the Bucks over. Liona was the match's unsung hero: unmoving and firm in the breakneck speed of his compatriots.

Bringing back the Bucks as faces was the right call, and this incredible match only embellished their appeal. This was a quintessential AEW bout, with crowd-pleasing pops, incredible action, and a few too many kickouts. It was, however, followed by a quintessential AEW ending...

Written by Angeline Phu

If you stop and think about it, Andrade El Idolo has had one of the most unique journeys in modern-day professional wrestling history. He's the first star to go from WWE to AEW, back to WWE, and then to AEW once again, but this time, it took him not one, but two attempts to get back on "AEW Dynamite," though it was seemingly at no fault of his own. However, I thought his return to "Dynamite" tonight was pretty anticlimactic. I really hate that for the guy.

First, he wasn't the only Don Callis Family member to debut/return tonight. Earlier in the evening, Callis revealed that TNA star Jake Something, now known as Jake Doyle, was joining the ridiculously stacked faction. I don't know too much about Doyle, but adding another person to the DCF, almost just for the sake of it at this point, is getting old. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it seems like if you're debuting on AEW programming as a heel, you're automatically recruited by Callis. I'd love to just see a new heel on "Dynamite" think for themself. Especially when Callis had a heel, who had already mostly returned, waiting in the wings.

When the lights went out during the post-match beatdown involving the DCF, following The Young Bucks and Jack Perry's victory over The Demand, we all knew it was going to be Andrade showing up. AEW President Tony Khan alluded to it following Andrade's successful appearance at Wrestle Kingdom over the weekend. It certainly didn't help Andrade's return feel exciting, as it just felt like he rocked up to beat some guys down, rather than finish what he started when he showed up on the October 1 episode of the show and attacked Kenny Omega. That felt like a big friggen' deal.

Omega wasn't on the show tonight, but I think you could have saved Andrade's return for when "The Cleaner" will be back on "Dynamite" next week. While it looks like AEW plans to move right into Omega vs. AEW World Champion MJF, which they kind of revealed with a video package tonight, Andrade still could have attacked Omega next week, and hopefully he still does, to set something up in the future. I don't know if I'd mind Omega's world title aspirations being put on hold to establish Andrade further upon his return, though. I don't think either man could lose in that situation.

While we all knew Andrade was headed back to AEW, something about his return just didn't click this time around. "El Idolo" really needs a solid year after everything he's been through, and this made me a bit worried for him.

Written by Daisy Ruth

We're only seven days into 2026, but I see great things ahead in this upcoming year for Willow Nightingale and Mercedes Mone if their segment from tonight's show is any indication of what's to come for both of them.

Given that the storyline between Nightingale and Mone thus far has largely been more on the serious and tense side of things, a comedic segment involving both of them was a great change of pace and added some renewed interest back into things with a new element. Everyone who was involved in this segment went all in and fully committed to the bit to make for something fresh – whether it was Mone's physical comedy with destroying the table and falling into the cake, Nightingale getting the better of Mone by being ready for anything Mone would've thrown at her, or Kris Statlander, Harley Cameron, and Renee Paquette adding to the comedy without taking anything away from Nightingale or Mone. It all worked together perfectly, and was a campy standout moment on a "Dynamite" with a second half that felt like it just dragged on.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

If there was one match on the January 7 episode of "AEW Dynamite" that had the potential to be a sleeper hit, it was the bout between 'Timeless' Toni Storm and Marina Shafir. Both ladies have been feuding since crossing paths in the tournament to crown the first-ever AEW Women's World Tag Team Champions, and it looked like a great style clash to kick off the new year on AEW's flagship show. Given the strides the AEW women's division took in 2025, surely they wouldn't be relegated back to the third quarter of the second hour of the show and have the worst finish of the night, right?

...Right?

That is exactly what happened. The magic of the Mixed Nuts Mayhem bouts that the Death Riders had with The Conglomeration and 'Timeless' Toni in the dying embers of 2025, combined with everything that happened between Toni and Marina in December, meant that this was arguably the best built match on the entire show, and they were saddled with a disqualification finish.

I don't know if AEW doesn't quite trust Marina with a big singles match just yet, after all, this was her weakest performance in quite some time (and please Marina stop doing the Tiger Feint Head Scissors for a while). Maybe they went with the non-finish so they could set up and even bigger match later on down the line, and I'm just being a little impatient wanting to have a definitive winner here. If it is the second option, maybe don't have two women you don't want losing facing each other at this stage in their respective stories, then. I get that Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta are going to stick their noses into things, but at least give some finality to the first match so you can allow someone to get their revenge later down the line.

The post-match angle was also a bit of a problem for me. I totally understand AEW wanting to lean in on the fact that Toni and Orange Cassidy got over 100 million views on social media for their Worlds End spots, but using the already bad finish to a women's match just to further a men's story between the Death Riders and The Conglomeration doesn't sit right.

Overall, a match that was going perfectly fine ended in a way that no one wanted it to. The match became an immediate afterthought to what happened afterwards, and I don't know when or where Toni and Marina are going to lock horns again, but after the way tonight finished, I'm not exactly foaming at the mouth to see them go at it right away.

Written by Sam Palmer

Jon Moxley continued his reign as Continental Champion this week with a second Eliminator match against another rather unsung workhorse – following on from Josh Alexander last week – in Shelton Benjamin.

It feels almost a given to say this, but the match was excellent and really helped to heat up the crowd at the beginning of the show. Moxley was continuing this vein of work he has been on since the beginning of the Continental Classic, wherein he endures and overcomes almost in a way to make up for the submissions dotted throughout the year. He never beat Benjamin. He survived him. And that did well to put Benjamin over even in defeat.

Benjamin is a World Championship worker who has yet to be World Champion, and it was quite something to see Moxley surrender himself to letting that shine through. For much of the bout, it was Benjamin doling out the a** kicking, throwing Moxley around, and ragdolling him on the mat. That's not to say that Moxley was a helpless little lamb doing nothing while this happened, but rather that he was very clearly the inferior competitor in a raw offensive sense. Moxley shone through in his defense, and the argument could be made that his focus was not on getting the win but just ensuring he did not lose.

I am talking about this like it were a real contest. Obviously, it was not. But that should go to show the effort put into presenting this performance, as a fight was on full display. There was a psychology to everything, and less was absolutely more. And that carried across perfectly in the finish; Benjamin had Moxley in a tight triangle choke – once again sticking Moxley in a position where submission appeared inevitable – until Moxley managed to leverage himself to pin Benjamin's shoulders on the mat for the three-count.

Benjamin had lost in a momentary lapse of concentration, pushing for the victory and subsequent title shot, and getting caught for just three seconds. It went exactly how Moxley had said it would happen in a backstage promo on "AEW Collision." Benjamin was better than Moxley in every way. But he still couldn't beat him.

It's egregious that Shelton Benjamin has yet to hold a World Championship because he is legitimately one of the best workers on the planet. This match was a testament to that fact but also a promise of something better. I don't hold any delusion that he will win a World title any time soon, but there is a clear effort being made to present him as a credible threat. And I've got to love that on sheer principle, the match being good is just a bonus.

Written by Max Everett

The first "AEW Dynamite" main event of 2026 was a Lights Out Unsanctioned tag team match that saw Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland take on Powerhouse Hobbs and Hook, at least I think it was.

Earlier on in the night, the championship celebration for Willow Nightingale looked surprisingly dim, but maybe it was just a different lighting setup that Tony Khan wanted to try out. However, that wasn't the case as something must have gone genuinely wrong in the arena because when did the lights out gimmick for this match, the whole rig blew out and a cloud of smoke engulfed the entrance stage. This meant that the portion of the main event that aired just before the overrun was a literal Lights Out match, and for the people watching at home, we couldn't see much of anything that wasn't under a spotlight.

But that's not why this match lands itself as something that I hated, it's here because it was a clunky mess that is actually starting to make me think that having Swerve and Hangman as a duo isn't the best idea. Given what we've seen from Lights Out matches in the past, this was exceptionally tame, and before you say, "Well, it's on TV and not pay-per-view, they had to tone it down," just look at everything that happened at Blood and Guts back in November and come back to me. Sure, they bring out the cinderblocks and a piece of drywall, the latter of which I think ended up in the crowd, but the visual of a pallet of cinderblocks and a ring skirt doing the equivalent of "That doesn't work for me, brother" while Swerve and Hangman struggle with it is a perfect representation of what this match was.

The Opps' feud with Hangman and Swerve has been underwhelming to say the least. If Samoa Joe and his dojo really wanted to make an example out of Swerve and Hangman, why not come out at the start? There are no disqualifications, no one is going to stop anything, build the numbers up and really put the babyfaces in danger from the jump. That way, you wouldn't have Jim Ross saying "Get this thing over with already" on commentary. That's the other thing, this match did not need to be as long as it did. A rare case of an AEW plunder match overstaying its welcome and, much like the lighting throughout parts of the second half of the show, just being a bit dim.

I highly doubt that this is the end of this feud, but if it was, even the lighting rig couldn't be bothered to stick around for it.

Written by Sam Palmer