”Down Goes the CEO”- AEW Dynamite New Years Smash Review

AEW Dynamite New Years Smash features a huge clash for the TBS Championship as Willow Nightingale gets her rematch against champ Mercedes Mone. We will also hear from the new AEW Champion MJF for the first time since his victory at Worlds End. Elsewhere on the card Jack Perry faces Ricochet for the National Championship, Josh Alexander battles newly valiant Jon Moxley in a Continental Eliminator, and Bandido takes on Beast Mortos!

AEW Dynamite New Years Smash 2025 Highs

AEW Dynamite’s New Years Smash will be best remembered for its superb main event. The incredible chemistry Mercedes Mone and Willow Nightingale share has been evident since their first encounter in 2023 and they brought it again here. A desperate Mone clawed at Willow, trying every roll-up and way out to win but getting caught out more easily than you would expect. I think the match could’ve benefitted from another few minutes at the climax but I cannot deny being swept up in the feel-good and being delighted for Willow’s victory. The post match with Statlander and The Conglomeration was also delightful.

In fact feel-good was really the name of the game on this show, as even if not every result went the babyface way, they still felt broadly like party matches for a new year show. Half the matches on the show incorporated some form of comedy into their work, be it Ricochet’s hair, Bandido wielding a cape at Mortos or the existence of the opening trios match. They were all pleasurable to watch, enjoyable if fleeting nibbles of good graps to tide you into 2026. The matches also showed good diversity with flavours of technical, lucha, high spot and big match power wrestling. Every match delivered in it’s own way, with the standout outside the main event being Moxley and Alexander’s excellent Eliminator Bout, which featured strong psychology around both men’s legs and knees.

Outside of the bell-to-bell action the biggest positive for me was the tease of an MJF/Kenny rematch. I adored their Collision outing during MJF’s first run with the gold and I am excited to see Kenny scramble and claw up the division to get back to the title picture. I also appreciate the depth in challengers with Joe, Swerve, Hangman and Bandido all in the mix. Finally the reintroduction of the BBB was a nice touch, and MJF’s presentation on the show with the Burberry ramp way and sickening white fur coat was a great touch.

AEW Dynamite New Years Smash 2025 Lows-

The biggest low for me on this episode of Dynamite was the lack of follow up to the Callis Family dissention from Worlds End. I am fully aware both Okada and Takeshita are in Japan preparing for Wrestle Kingdom, but for an angle as important as this I feel at least a pre tape or mention of it outside the opening recap package was crucial to keep the cogs turning. Kyle Fletcher could have come out to set the world to rights over his shot in the final being taken from him, but his absence undermines the story and made it feel unimportant.

I was also dissapointed more wasn’t done to advance Thekla and Kris Statlander. A backstage promo from the Sisters of Sin kept the plate spinning, but when so much focus was given to the men’s world title I didn’t feel the women were afforded the same courtesy. I also do find Julia Hart and Skye Blue’s delivery to be more comical than unsettling when they try and emulate the Shining twins, which maybe doesn’t help me buy the actually charismatic Thekla as more of a threat.

In terms of the ring product my only complaint is that I feel Lee Johnson needed much more of a shine against Brody King. Johnson is one of ROH’s most reliable workers on a winning streak on that show and a big tag match with Bandido and Lethal against Johnson and Blake Christian for tommorows ROH show was advertised. Him getting utterly trounced therefore did him no favours and didn’t really do much for Brody either.

While I am very much excited for the depth in the main event mens picture, I could really use less of what I call ‘scrappy doo’ Hangman and Swerve. I find them much more intimidating when they’re calm and calculated and them trying to claw and scrap their way to a man who beat them fair and square makes them look frankly a bit like entitled children. They absolutely should want it back, but I just found the manner they went about it on this show to be ineffective. I also would’ve included Bandido in this segment to sell him as a bigger threat, as only having a brief backstage interaction between the two really sold that Bandido is not winning that title match and is still a step below the other challengers in terms of prestige.

The final negative for this show is one that has impacted most AEW shows over the last few months, simply far too many belts. It was very difficult to invest in Jack Perry going for the National championship when if he loses he can just pick another belt and try that instead. Same with Moxley scratching and clawing to defend a title we haven’t seen in months. Mone has done wonders to make the TBS Title mean something and because there aren’t 1000 women’s belts Willow going for it had real stakes. On the men’s side however the market is so flooded with mid-card belts that none of them really mean anything, which undercut a lot of the stakes and tension in the second act of this show.

Summary-

AEW Dynamite New Years Smash was a very enjoyable end to 2025, with strong wrestling up and down the card and teases of some exciting things to come in the new year. The main event was a superb clash between Mercedes and Willow, with a feel good result, while Moxley and Alexander had a compelling technical clash earlier in the night. The show certainly had a party atmosphere, but that didn’t entirely excuse some of its shortcomings, with too many men’s belts devaluing the stakes in several matches, poor Lee Johnson being trounced in a squash match and the complete lack of follow up to Okada/Takeshita/Fletcher. It was an entertaining watch and a great way to spend New Year’s Eve, but it unfortunately dropped the ball in a few key areas which keeps it from being a total home run.

Matches- 0.75/1

Show Structure- 0.75/1

Atmosphere- 0.75/1

Storytelling- 0.5/1

Production/Theme- 0.75/1

Overall Rating- 3.5/5 Stars

Photo Credit- AEW- December 31st 2025

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