AEW Dynamite 10/28/2026: 3 Things We Hated & 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "AEW Dynamite," the show that once again graced us with a Halloween-themed episode dubbed Fright Night! Of course, there wasn't much actual Halloween content on the show, and the WINC staff has some thoughts about that. We also have thoughts on Queen Aminata winning the TBS Championship, Darby Allin retaining the TNT Championship, and more!

If you missed the show, please feel free to catch up by checking out our "AEW Dynamite" 10/28/26 live blog, which contains nothing but objective information on everything that went down Wednesday night. If you're more interested in the subjective opinions of the WINC crew, centered around the matches and segments we found most worthy of comment, you're in the right place. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 10/28/26 episode of "AEW Dynamite!"

I feel like AEW had been on a hot stretch of themed episodes for awhile in 2026, but sadly, it ended with "Fright Night Dynamite," which was really disappointing when it came to being the company's Halloween episode. There were zero spooky-themed stipulation matches on the show tonight, though that's likely because of Blood & Guts next week, as well as the strict "no blood" rule enforced by the Missouri Athletic Commission. Outside of a few stars wearing costumes and some nice graphics, there was nothing that screamed "Halloween" to me at all.

Though it is AEW, blood doesn't have to be necessarily used in a stipulation match, like a "Nightmare on Elm Street Fight" or whatever. Maybe that's more of a WWE-like gimmick, but I expected something a little more from an episode with "Fright Night" in the name. I think AEW has a bit of a problem right now, though it's obviously something that will right itself here soon, especially as we get to the end of the year, and it's not exactly something that anyone could have prepared for after a string of benefit and tribute shows.

That problem is there are too many events trying to do too much in a short period of time. The build to WrestleDream was rushed, at no fault of anyone in AEW's, and it still feels like things are a bit chaotic and moving too quickly. Maybe Tony Khan and those booking tonight's show didn't want anything too over-the-top with Blood & Guts next week. We did get, however, another big announcement, that Anarchy in the Arena will take place at AEW Full Gear, only adding to the packed slate of things AEW has going on right now.

I wasn't asking for much tonight — maybe a single stipulation match with something a little spooky and goofy. We did get a lot of good in-ring (nothing new for AEW), a fantastic title change in the main event, and some more setup for a few Full Gear matches, but I just wanted to feel more in the Halloween spirit.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I will admit right off the top here that I've done a full 180 on Swerve Strickland demanding a Texas Death rematch for the AEW World Trios Championships, held by his arch nemesis "Hangman" Adam Page, Brody King, and Bandido. I shouldn't have doubted AEW's ability to tell a story surrounding Strickland and Page. I started to get on board with Kofi and Austin Creed's social media posts about Texas Death, and this week brought me right back in.

I loved Kofi and Creed coming out tonight to address Strickland putting forth the challenge, as they weren't on "Dynamite" to be consulted about it last week. They were appalled, and said they came to AEW to face the best of the best, but after that, they just want to clock out and go home safely to their families. Kofi said it best — they haven't been there long enough to even begin to hate anyone to the level it requires to face off in a Texas Death match. As they hit their hip swivel as they declared they'll be the "new AEW World Trios Champions," an incensed King came out, demanding to know where Bandido was, and that's when I knew things were about to get real.

Creed asked King where Strickland was, but that first brought out Page who only continued to beg King not to agree to Strickland's death match terms. I loved that he even told New Level that he knew Strickland was going to show them his true colors with time, and that time was now, as both he and Bandido were mysteriously missing.

They weren't missing for long, however, as Prince Nana came out to point at the tron, which showed Strickland carrying Bandido's mask toward a fallen, bloodied ROH World Champion. If he wasn't teetering on the edge of unhinged already, he certainly is now, and that's the best form of Strickland. He once again stated that the Full Gear match wasn't enough, and he demanded the match he asked for, because he wasn't going to ask again.

I'd be curious to see what happens here if New Level and Page and Brodido both deny Strickland Texas Death, but I'm sure that's where we're headed. It's likely Page who finally gives in, with Strickland pushing him to the edge. I'm interested to see not only Kofi and Creed in a Texas Death match, but also King. I've fully come around on this, and the fact there are still two weeks before Full Gear makes this all the more intriguing.

Written by Daisy Ruth

One of the most interesting developments on the Fright Night edition of "AEW Dynamite" was the Death Riders challenging The Cut (formerly known as The Last Outfit until people made fun of the name) to an Anarchy in the Arena match at AEW Full Gear 2026. Having that sort of a match away from its signature home of AEW Double or Nothing is a refreshing change of pace and makes the match feel like it fits a feud rather than falling into the common trap of "It's that time of year again" like with other matches.

However, that feud would pop up later on in the show, which sadly took the shine away from another match that really needs more time to be built up. That match is Mercedes Mone vs. Marina Shafir for the AEW Women's World Championship, which did get a moment in front of the crowd after Shafir won a quick squash match and called out "The CEO" to finally accept her challenge since the match hasn't been made official yet. All seemed to be going well, with the two women coming to blows while Jon Moxley was loving life on commentary, but then The Cut come out to attack Moxley, which then prompted the rest of The Cut and the Death Riders to bleed into the segment, and by the end of it, the main talking point was Claudio Castagnoli being taken out on a stretcher.

I get that you need to do everything you can to build up this feud, especially since it's not taking place inside Blood and Guts which a lot of people had originally expected. With that said, taking the shine away from what is literally going to be a world title match seems very disrespectful to the women's division. The main feud over the main title in the women's division is getting overshadowed by a faction war that only started last week, and that shouldn't be happening. Do everything you can to build up Anarchy in the Arena, just don't do it at the expense of another match that clearly needs more time to cook.

You can say that the whole thing is justified because it's Marina Shafir and she is in the Death Riders, so The Cut coming out is completely fine since Moxley is there. But you're sacrificing the build for your main prize in one of your divisions, and that's just poor booking. Either give Mone and Shafir the whole segment or don't do it at all. We've still got time to build towards Mone and Shafir, but a chance for story progression was lost in favor of the guys needing more time.

Written by Sam Palmer

Darby Allin put his TNT Championship on the line against Josh Alexander this week, Alexander representing the Don Callis Family one week ahead of Blood & Guts pitting Allin and his team against the DCF. 

One might have forgiven him for going a little bit easier one week before a match that rather exclusively exists on the premise it will be dangerous. But this is Darby Allin so that obviously wasn't the case, and the match was all the better for it. Personally, Alexander could have easily gotten the win here and continued as champion. But there was never an expectation that he was going to get the win when all was said and done. 

Nevertheless, Alexander spent much of the match on top and Allin was bumping around accordingly. As the match went on the story became that of Allin's survival, and how that was going to come. He took a piledriver onto steel chairs from the apron, he had his ankle turned nigh-on inside out and it became clear he wasn't going to be winning the match by any conventional means. The DCF's resident jabronis, Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero, threatened to derail the match for a little spot, but then Steven Borden ensured that wouldn't be the case. 

That didn't change the fact that, inside the ring, Allin was still getting his rear-end handed to him; Alexander cinched in the ankle lock in the middle of the ring, and would have had the match won had he not been maneuvered onto his shoulders for three seconds. It was a clever finish that kept Alexander strong in defeat, having been undone purely for having a tight submission locked in. 

More importantly, it was just a fun match tailor-made for TV. It might have been nice to have a title change here, even if another was to come later on, but the match itself left no complaints otherwise. Alexander is a technically solid wrestler; Allin is a human crash test dummy who also happens to be solid at the graps. It's one of those matches that could easily be revisited to even better effect, because they went together like strawberries and cream.

Written by Max Everett

There has been virtually no build up to the AEW Women's Blood & Guts Match this year, and the Fright Night "Dynamite" television special did absolutely nothing to help that issue in any way whatsoever.

The 2026 Women's Blood & Guts Match has felt like it's a total afterthought to me, and has come off as though AEW realized a couple of weeks ago they had to throw something together for the women. AEW has essentially taken bits of storylines going on in the women's division and tried to merge them into one, from the "can they co-exist" angle between The Brawling Birds and Wrathlander ahead of their Full Gear AEW Women's World Tag Team Match to the heel Triangle of Madness teaming up with Divine Dominion (despite Sisters of Sin and Divine Dominion having a match against one another on the WrestleDream Saturday Tailgate Brawl only just over a couple of weeks ago). It hasn't really gelled super well or come together in a way that feels cohesive, and feels lazy in comparison to the men's Blood & Guts match that has been given a bit more thought.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

For long-time readers of the AEW loved/hated pieces, you will know that we have always rated Queen Aminata highly, and have been actively annoyed at the fact that she simply doesn't get the credit that she deserves. She's excellent in the ring, has a fantastic look, but has always fallen into the role of being a reliable hand that can be trusted for a good match but never actually get the job done. 

Thankfully, that all changed on the Fright Night edition of "AEW Dynamite."

In the main event of the show, Aminata challenged Persephone for the AEW TBS Championship in what was a great contest between two of the best the AEW women's division has to offer. The fact that it was given the main event slot got my hopes up for Aminata, who outside of a loss to Mercedes Mone in Paris has been on a roll throughout the summer and fall in both AEW and ROH. The commentary team have gone out of their way in recent weeks to really put over how dominant she has been, and how if it was a straight one-on-one match at AEW WrestleDream 2026 rather than a four-way with Dani Luna and Hyan, Aminata could have very well won the title there.

These two have great chemistry together, primarily because neither Aminata or Persephone are afraid to lay in their shots just a little harder than usual. Both women really beat the tar out of each other at times, with Aminata's finisher being a running Penalty Kick against the ropes that looked nasty as anything both times she landed it. The first one especially sent Persephone out of the ring and if the match ended by count out on that one, I personally wouldn't have been surprised.

You could kind of see the result coming when Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D, who seemed to be the only person who got the memo of it being Halloween this week since she was dressed as Miss Trunchbull from "Matilda," hit Aminata with the title belt to allow Persephone to land a moonsault, which Aminata kicked out of emphatically. As soon as something like that happens, it's fairly obvious which way the match is going to go, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does give the game away to the point where I would have liked a bit more unpredictability in the closing stretch.

Overall, a long overdue title win for Aminata who absolutely deserves to have a strong run as champion. She brings the best out of a lot of people she faces, and hopefully she does that as the new AEW TBS Champion.

Written by Sam Palmer