-The trainer room interactions between Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega are just fantastic. It feels like the audience is watching grizzled soldier rivals getting stitched up after a war. It’s authentic, real, and emotional all at the same time. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife when Omega asked Ospreay why he didn’t ask him for help coming back from his injury. The tension got even thicker when Ospreay gave him the straight reality that he isn’t around enough. Moxley appearing on Ospreay’s shoulder at the end of the segment like a devil added to all the drama.
A triple threat we need to see
-I don’t think Tony Khan is building toward a match between Omega, Ospreay, and Moxley, but that’s one triple threat match I’d certainly like to see.
-The best part of the angle with these three guys is that it’s future is completely cloudy. They could take this a variety of different directions. Ospreay could have to go through Moxley to get to that eventual title match at All In, Ospreay may face Omega for the title in the end, and Moxley and Omega may end up in a side feud. All of that is on the table and it makes the show exciting.
-Not sure you could have a scripted out a better heel promo segment for Kevin Knight than what transpired this week on AEW Dynamite. Knight didn’t change up much in terms of his tone and delivery, but everything he said was heelish an unlikable. He got plenty of strong heat. That can be attributed to two things — Knight has a natural heel presence, which is a great sign this early in his heel run and Darby Allin elevated himself into one of the top babyfaces in the company with his recent world title run.
From The Takedown on SI
-The only negative aspect to Knight’s night this week was the interaction with MJF. Knight planted his flag opposite from MJF. Against him. That automatically is going to earn you some fan support. There’s a way from them to interact on this show, still showcase Knight’s quest for the title, and keep him unlikable at the same time.
Jericho is Jericho … and impressive
-Chris Jericho is ….. well, Chris Jericho. That reality comes with a lot of baggage these days. That said, it’s impressive that he’s having the kind of matches he did this week with Ricochet in 2026. This was about as good as could be expected for Jericho and a testament to the skill of Ricochet. He generated all the movement in the match and helped make Jericho look like a million bucks.
-Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jericho looks to be the direction now that Jericho has wrapped up with Ricochet. Sign me up. A good use of both guys.
-Well, hey, there wasn’t much drama around who would win the four-way match this week between Orange Cassidy, Lio Rush, Brian Cage, and RUSH. I give AEW an “A” for effort on making sure RUSH got a win heading into his world title match with MJF, so that match has a stronger reason to exist.
-Speaking of MJF, a fine heel championship celebration promo. Nothing special, but it’s an MJF heel promo, so it certainly wasn’t anywhere close to bad. RUSH and Mark Briscoe are C-level challengers for the world title. They aren’t great from the perspective of creating drama around MJF world title match outcomes. They very much work as challengers that define the tone around the world championship. Everyone is looking at it and that helps the show long term.
-Brody King. Claudio Castagnoli. Owen Hart Cup Tournament. An awesome television match. Hard-hitting and intense. Glad to see King get the victory. King vs. Swerve Strickland in the semifinals is the best match they could have gotten to on that side of the bracket.
The five second pose
-I chuckled at the potential of a five second pose from Adam Copeland and Christian Cage. That’s what nostalgia is supposed to make happen. AEW utilized that nostalgia perfectly. Like me, fans got excited to see it again, but then The Dogs snatched it away from everyone like a good heel should. Copeland and Cage vs. The Dogs instantly became a match that fans will want to see and it’s because of the pose — or lack thereof in this week’s angle.
-Jack Perry and Mark Davis shouldn’t be anywhere near a potential main event world championship at All In. That’s a fact. Their first round Owen Hart Cup tournament match was pretty damn good. That’s a fact too.
-We’re on the road to Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kyle Fletcher. Thumbs up. Fletcher cut an effective heel promo this week. The guy is a tremendous in-ring worker and has come a long, long way on the character and promo side of the house. It might be crazy to say, but he’d be better off turning the volume down on the mach quality, so fans have a character they can truly invest in from only a negative direction.
-Keep giving Andrade El Idolo wins. He essentially worked a squash this week in his victory over Ace Austin. A total filler match for the show, but a worthwhile one because it gave Andrade a little juice.
Too violent?
-They got to the big blowoff match with Hikaru Shida and Kris Statlander quickly. Too quickly. The match was pretty good, but it seemed to be much more violent than the actual feud called for at this moment.
What did you think of AEW Dynamite and AEW Collision this week? Let us know in the comments!
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I liked it but a weaker than average show. Loved both of the Owen matches and really enjoying the current presentation of Lio Rush