AEW Live In Glasgow – What Was It Really Like?

For the first time ever, AEW ventured to Scotland as Dynamite and Collision were held before Forbidden Door heads down south to London, England.

Glasgow has long been a home for wrestling in Scotland, with WWE running shows in the OVO Hydro after previously making the Braehead Arena and SECC its home. Tony Khan’s love for London has long been known, with his role in Fulham Football Club and AEW finding a perhaps unlikely starring role in the cavernous Wembley Stadium.

So how did AEW fare on its Scottish debut, and what’s it like to be there to take in the action live?

As always, our own John Canton will provide his expert insight in the official Dynamite review as he does every week. But the live experience is worth some explanation as well.

Arkady Aura began her first ring introduction at 18:29 local time as Trish Adora of Shane Taylor Promotions defeated Alexxis Falcon in a Ring of Honor match. One of the first surprises of the night came in the next match as Jon Cruz teamed with Bret Levi as they took on the father-son duo of Keegan and Scott Garland. The elder Garland is, of course, none other than Attitude Era star Scotty 2 Hotty.

Scott Garland gave a veteran masterclass in how to get the most out of not doing very much. Fans cheered his every move while Keegan looked assured in the ring and surely has a bright future ahead of him. Long before four letters, one word meant YEET in WWE, it only meant W.O.R.M., and Scotty rolled back the years to nail the most ridiculous move in wrestling history to win the match.

The final match under the ROH banner saw Lance Archer decimate two talents who were dragged to the ring by The Murderhawk Monster. Archer won, and what happened next won’t air anywhere for very good reason. Tony Khan has shown he has deep pockets for theme music but surely he won’t even splash the cash to get the rights to air Madonna’s Like A Prayer, which got the first singalong of the night as Scottish sensation Grado ambled to the ring. Grado gingerly jumped into the ring and attempted a chokeslam on Archer who remained unmoved. As Archer went to tackle Grado, he managed to dump Archer over the top rope which is about the best he could have hoped for.

Tony Khan then welcomed everyone to the arena for the first AEW show in Scotland and it wasn’t the last time the company president addressed the fans.

FTR Draw With Brodido In Classic AEW Match

Bryan Danielson received a huge ovation as he replaced Taz on commentary for the night and his reaction bled into the roar that Will Ospreay received. Ospreay got a chant for Greggs the bakers and sausage rolls that might leave US-based fans utterly confused. But in a more serious tone, he laid out his plan to take out Jon Moxley and get his revenge at Forbidden Door.

The Death Riders then appeared and the first match was on as Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta faced JetSpeed and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tanahashi proved he’s still the Ace as he won the match for his team in his second and final ever match in Scotland. A brawl involving Ospreay, The Young Bucks, Darby Allin, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong, Game Kidd, and The Opps then broke out with Darby heading to the nearest balcony to nail a Coffin Drop on anyone beneath him.

Tony Schiavone introduced Adam Copeland as the crowd showed that AEW might not need Chris Jericho to have an a cappella sing-along in the future. Killswitch’s return was a genuinely pleasant surprise, given his health battles, and although it’s bad news, Nick Wayne has a broken foot; his addition to Forbidden Door is a welcome one.

Brodido took on FTR in a tag team match, with the winners earning an AEW Tag Team Title shot at Forbidden Door. Simply put, this was wrestling. On a personal note, I’ve seen FTR live twice now, once in Calgary for that match with Jay White and Juice Robinson and now for this bloody affair with Bandido and Brody King. Bandido and Brody King had the crowd behind them for the most part and the two teams had one hell of a match. The time limit draw finish did get booed but it didn’t suck the air out of the room as it might have done for lesser matches.

To paraphrase the legendary football manager Brian Clough, FTR might not be the best tag team in the world, but they’re definitely in the top one.

Match-wise, Athena and Mercedes Mone defeated Toni Storm – who received another huge ovation – and Alex Windsor. And the first two hours of the event absolutely flew by as Dynamite came to an end.

Before Collision, Khan appeared again to set up a skit with Anthony Ogogo. Khan looked genuinely surprised when he heard the volume of booing when he mentioned England, but that amplified greatly when Ogogo came out waving an English flag. Powerhouse Hobbs was Scotland’s unlikely hero and borrowed a St. Andrews Cross from a fan as the Glasgow crowd showered him with love.

Collision followed packed with eight matches, without going into results as the show is yet to air – full spoilers for the show can be found here – you simply have to watch Konosuke Takeshita vs. Tomohiro Ishii which is one of the best matches of the year as both men looked hugely impressive and got the quickly tiring crowd back on their feet.

At the end of the night, Tony Khan brought out Tanahashi as they said their goodbyes. Khan all but promised that AEW would be back in Glasgow before the summer of 2026, when the company is expected to try and run Wembley Stadium again.

Overall, the show was great, but it was simply too long. Ticket prices aren’t cheap, so fans want to see every bit of action they can, while Khan only promised that some of the best wrestlers would compete on Collision without revealing any of the matches beforehand. People did leave long before The Young Bucks made it to the ring for their Collision main event with Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly, and whether it was to get their transport home or simply because they’d seen enough, nobody could blame them.

A hugely enjoyable experience, and fans in Scotland will be hoping Tony Khan comes through with his tease that AEW will be back in the country sooner rather than later.