With a snowstorm washing over Omaha and their backs against the wall, this episode of AEW Dynamite was far better than it had any right to be. With two terrific matches in Mone/Starks and Statlander/Bayne, quality up and down the card was solid, though a tedious and dull Moxley/Cope snoozefest, awoken only by a legitimately impressive moment of nail bat brutality, did sink the overall score. The opening 4 way found it’s stride in it’s second half despite a very rocky start and Ospreay/Fox was a fun if inconsequential physical showcase. Storytelling took a back seat on the show, though Toni Storm and Megan Bayne built their rivalry well and good backstage promos from MJF and Hangman Page kept their plates spinning. In the circumstances AEW did what it does best, give 5 matches time to shine, and just let the best wrestle. A very enjoyable show, even with one match not landing.
Tonight on AEW Dynamite, Cope gets a second chance at Jon Moxley’s AEW World Championship in a Street Fight. A Fatal 4 Way will also decide Kenny Omega’s next challenger for his International Championship as Mike Bailey, Orange Cassidy, Ricochet and Mark Davis face off. Elsewhere on the card, Mercedes Mone takes on Billie Starks for the TBS Championship and Megan Bayne battles Kris Statlander. Lets get at it!
GREAT Orange Cassidy vs Mike Bailey vs Mark Davis vs Ricochet
A hard opening match to rate, as there were a great number of pros and cons. There were clear chemistry issues between all 4 guys in a lot of the early sequences, as no one could seemingly get into position and so a lot of spots looked contrived or downright bungled. Davis was an amazing heel base while Ricochet provided some super heel fun as a complete coward throughout, but that did not save numerous botches. Once the Picture in Picture was through though things got drastically better and in one on one sequences everything began to click and the last few minutes were superb. If only the whole match was that good it could’ve been at the higher end of our scale. As is, it had a very hot crowd and some excellent character work, but the botches in the first act are hard to ignore. The decision to take a 3 way match at Dynasty with both Bailey and Ricochet is interesting. Could prove genius or could be a swerve for the sake of one. Remains to be seen
Results: Mike Bailey and Ricochet by dual Pinfall.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.5 Stars
AMAZING Billie Starks vs Mercedes Mone- TBS Championship
These two women absolutely tore the house down with undeniable chemistry. A clean match with excellent simple psychology and some amazing innovation. Billie is just incredible and worked so well with Mercedes in the perfect face/heel concoction. Hard to critique much of anything here beyond a lack of major story as it did exactly what it was supposed to do about as perfectly as is possible. Mercedes gave Billie just enough and also took the correct amount of the match herself. Just an excellent title bout that hopefully signals the coming of Athena as Mone’s next challenger.
Result: Mercedes Mone by Submission via Mone Maker
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.25 Stars
Fantastic promo from MJF that, while clearly filler until next week, is nonetheless a great way to keep plates spinning as he runs down all his allies.
AVERAGE Jon Moxley vs Cope- AEW World Championship- Street Fight
The beginning of this match gave me horrible flashbacks to Edge’s guided tour of the performance center at Mania 36 against Randy Orton, and in truth I found the match about as fun. Slow, plodding and criminally lacking in violence for much of its runtime, it was a match that really tested my patience. The match will be remembered though for the spiked bat lodging into Moxley’s back which was a legitimate bit of danger that I appreciated. I just wanted the rest of it to come up to that level. It was the same tired format as usual and lacked any sense of innovation or fun. The crowd were massively into it which helps the rating massively, so maybe it was just me, but I really did not get on with this, especially for a world title match.
Result: Jon Moxley by Submission via Bulldog Choke
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 2.75 Stars
Good promo from Bandido responding to Jericho’s unmasking of Gravity on the Revolution Zero Hour. He is approached by Johnny TV and a match is set up for Collision this week.
GREAT Will Ospreay vs AR Fox
This was exactly what the show needed between the bigger story matches, a bit of mindless fun that allowed you just to invest in the spectacle of good wrestling. Ospreay and Fox had some incredibly innovative sequences and had a beautiful lightning match here with excellent chemistry. Nothing groundbreaking, but a bit of light entertainment before the main course of the main event, with very good selling from Ospreay.
Result: Will Ospreay by Pinfall via Hidden Blade
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.5 Stars
Hangman Page is entering the Owen Hart Cup. Smart decision to stack it with top quality talent, as him vs Ospreay sounds mouthwatering.
AMAZING Kris Statlander vs Megan Bayne
This may have had a small lull in the middle, but when this was on it was superb. Very hard hitting with fantastic chemistry and some amazing Strong SStyle sequences that would look right at home in Stardom or Tokyo Joshi Pro. Not quite the best of the night because of the aforementioned lull in the action in the second act, but picked up and built well. AEW have a new top talent here if they can correctly utilise Bayne’s terrific physical charisma.
Result: Megan Bayne by Pinfall via Fates Descent
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4 Stars
AMAZING Toni Storm Promo
Throughout the entirety of the Bayne/Statlander match, one of the biggest highlights was Toni Storm’s hilarious commentary, not unusual with her exceptional charisma. She cut a brilliant promo on Bayne to close the show, promising a ‘date at dynasty’ and ran her down well without ever compromising Bayne’s character. Great delivery in a strong segment to close the show.
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4 Stars
Overall…
With a snowstorm washing over Omaha and their backs against the wall, this episode of AEW Dynamite was far better than it had any right to be. With two terrific matches in Mone/Starks and Statlander/Bayne, quality up and down the card was solid, though a tedious and dull Moxley/Cope snoozefest, awoken only by a legitimately impressive moment of nail bat brutality, did sink the overall score. The opening 4 way found it’s stride in it’s second half despite a very rocky start and Ospreay/Fox was a fun if inconsequential physical showcase. Storytelling took a back seat on the show, though Toni Storm and Megan Bayne built their rivalry well and good backstage promos from MJF and Hangman Page kept their plates spinning. In the circumstances AEW did what it does best, give 5 matches good time to shine, and just let the best wrestle. A very enjoyable show.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 1/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling – March 19th 2025
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here :
