AEW Dynasty 2026 was a night full of booking surprises. Effective booking surprises.
It would have been easy for Tony Khan to load up the card with feel good finishes, but instead, the finishes served the story arch more than an in the moment fan reaction. The booking was smart, patient, and will make payoffs land stronger in the future.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. Period.
The Young Bucks vs. Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita
A fantastic opener. Stellar action as expected, but an excellent story too. Yes, that story was about whether or not Takeshita and Okada could get along — which we get a lot of in wrestling these days, but the match dove right into it unapologetically. Takeshita and Okada hit one another with batches of moves on accident and they also did it on purpose. In both instances the crowd wanted to see them fight. Takeshita letting The Bucks hit Okada with a Meltzer driver for the win finally gave the audience permission to cheer him. The Bucks got a strong win and the Okada and Takeshita feud got a near perfect chapter of build. Win-win.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
Chris Jericho vs. Ricochet
This match was better than it had any right to be given that Jericho was in it. He hasn’t been a beacon of light on physical prowess lately, but he worked a match with Ricochet that clicked. It was smart. Not too much and not too little. The spots were timed out perfectly and the Jericho schtick was even further locked into nostalgia. The announce team talked about Jericho doing his “greatest hits.” That’s a red flag. Something is afoot with Jericho in storyline. The benefactor of it all? Heel Ricochet. Ricochet’s heel run has been hot and cold in terms of TV time. This win means Tony Khan is ready for even more from him.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 3/4
Darby Allin vs. Andrade El Idolo - If Darby Allin wins, he gets. a Men’s World Championship match
Damn. This one was insanely hard-hitting. You’re like “It’s a Darby Allin match, duh.” No, this had brutal bumps in it. Allin took most of them, but Andrade took his fair share as well. Like most matches with Allin, this was about the Allin character surviving and overcoming the odds to win. He did and now he has an AEW Men’s World Championship match because of it. I don’t understand where in the story it called for Andrade to break character to shake Allin’s hand, but alas, that didn’t impact the grade too much.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/2
FTR vs. Adam Copeland and Christian Cage - AEW World Tag Team Championship
Most of this match didn’t leave the ring, so it complimented the Allin/Andrade match that preceded it. This delivered. Copeland getting busted open by the tag title belt was unplanned, but very much gave the match extra intensity. The timing on that belt shot was perfect. As was the way Dax Harwood cut the ring in half — that belongs somewhere in the Smithsonian. This was your standard heel vs. babyface tag formula, but it worked because the audience was invested in seeing Cope and Cage win. The fact that they didn’t? Chef’s kiss. When it makes sense, it’s important to keep fans on their toes and this was the right time and the right crew to do it with.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO
TNT Championship Casino Gauntlet Match
All action and that’s a good thing. Action-packed is all these Casino Gauntlet Matches can really be and this one certainly fit that bill. Ciampa held the match together as the heel and everything else was built around spot after spot after spot as the ring filled with competitors. Kevin Knight is a strong choice as TNT Champion. You could have certainly argued for Ciampa in this spot, but Knight winning nets him a clear moment of elevation in the company. Plus, they clearly plan on moving to a Knight vs. Bailey, tag partner vs. tag partner feud soon. Compelling stuff there for the middle of the card.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
Thekla vs. Jaime Hayter - AEW Women’s World Championship
It always seems like the women’s title matches are in the spot where the audiences start tiring. That happened in this one. Thekla and Hayter had a fine match, but they had a bit of trouble hooking everyone in the building into the story they were telling. They pulled them along, but it wasn’t easy. The finish of this match was money. Thekla cheated to win and then actually acted like it afterward. She sold it and Hayter did too when she screamed “you’re fucking dead” to her as she celebrated. This wasn’t “oh, she did what she had to do to win.” This was heat and it worked.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley - AEW Continental Championship
Ospreay crushing Moxley with a Hidden Blade instantly when the match started was a thing of beauty. It set the tone for the match and things were off to the races from there. Moxley essentially beat Ospreay clean and it’s strong booking when the Ospreay mountain climb to the top is going to be the lead story in AEW for the next few months on the way to All In. Ospreay walked close to the line of overselling the neck injury, but didn’t cross it. The ending story in the match surrounding Ospreay’s neck connected because the piledriver on the steps was so damn violent. The story doesn’t work if that exact narrative plays out after a DDT.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
The War Dogs vs. The Conglomeration - AEW World Trios Championships
A come down match before the main event and the right one for that spot. The action was fine, but this was designed to a be a break for the audience and not an edge of your seat thriller. The fact that The Conglomeration won the match was surprising. The War Dogs just won the belts and losing so quickly continues to muddy their definition on the roster. Sidebar. What was with The War Dogs destroying and peeing on The Conglomerations’s entrance set? It looked juvenile and silly. No heat.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 1/2
MJF vs. Kenny Omega - AEW Men’s World Championship
A wonderful match. Omega and MJF leaned into drama with this one and then surrounded that with wild action and physicality. It was a tad slow to start, but then bounced into second, third, and fourth gear seamlessly. MJF is at the top of his game right now. His matches feel like real main events and when he walks out it feels like he’s the reason the PPV was purchased. For that reason he had to win and did. As for Omega, his selling during this was a work of art. He can make you feel his pain in a tremendously effective way.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
What did you think of AEW Dynasty 2026? Let us know in the comments!
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