The John Report: AEW Dynamite 01/21/26 Review

This week’s AEW Dynamite features Swerve Strickland facing Kevin Knight, plus Samoa Joe in action, Jon Moxley’s Death Riders in a tag team match, and more. 

This week’s show doesn’t have a slick nickname like Maximum Carnage last week, so it’s just regular carnage, I guess. I’m doing a quickie review this week because I didn’t watch it on Wednesday night and had no time or energy Thursday to write a long review. This winter is kicking our ass where I live. Anyway, so this will be a Friday quickie review, although I will do play-by-play for the main event. I’m going to use AEW’s website review and then add my thoughts on things.

This was AEW Dynamite episode #329 from the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.

It’s Wednesday, and you know what that means. Excalibur was on commentary with Tony Schiavone and Taz. Welcome back to Taz.

Interview with MJF

The AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman was interviewed by Tony Schiavone in the ring when Brody King interfered.

King said after what MJF did to Bandido last week, he’s only thinking of all the ways he wants to hurt MJF. And nothing would give him greater joy than to reach into MJF’s chest and pull out his spine, but he’s not going to do that. Because MJF is a bitch and if King touches him, King won’t get what he wants. He wants a match with MJF so he can choke the life out of him and take his World Title, right here, right now, tonight!

MJF backed into the corner and asked for complete silence to think over the interesting proposition. Surprisingly, Orlando didn’t comply. MJF said he thought about it long and hard, and his answer is no. Not because he’s afraid of Brody. Brody barks. But the barking makes sense because he’s all bark, no bite. Under what grounds does he deserve an AEW World Title shot? Over the last couple of weeks, King has beaten “tomato cans, jabronis, jobbers.” Until King beats elite-level talent, this match won’t take place.

“And I just want to make one more thing clear, if you ever interrupt the champ again, we’re gonna have a problem…”

MJF stuck a finger in King’s chest and immediately regretted his decision. Instead, he backed off and out of the ring.

“…but I got a lot of stuff on my plate, tonight, everybody. I got a lot of real competition around the block. It’s been real.”

King woofed MJF out of the ring and up the aisle, but not before MJF demanded his music be hit.

Analysis: I liked this. Brody King is a very likable badass type of babyface and MJF is something of a cowardly heel champion. It also makes sense that MJF wouldn’t just give King a title shot because King has to win some more matches. They are building a lot of different potential challengers for MJF, so it’s either leading to a multi-man match to earn a title shot or they have MJF defend the gold against multiple opponents.

The new AEW Trios Champions “Hangman” Adam Page and Jetspeed came up with a team name in an interview segment. They teased “Horse C**k” as a name, but then went with Jet Set Rodeo, which is fine.

Match #1: Samoa Joe defeated “Speedball Mike Bailey

Bailey went corner to corner with a spin kick that nailed Joe in the side of the face and slumped into the mat. Bailey went to the top, so HOOK jumped on the apron. Joe took the referee away yet again, so Bailey feigned hitting the Ultimate Weapon, but landed on his feet and elbowed HOOK to the floor. Joe missed a charge in the corner, which allowed Bailey to roll him up for a two count. Bailey missed a head kick, and Joe locked in the Coquina Clutch, so Bailey ran up the turnbuckle to flip over Joe for a near-fall! Bailey hit a spin kick to Joe and went to the top. HOOK grabbed the referee’s attention, so Shibata could hold Bailey long enough for Joe to recover and nail a Muscle Buster on Bailey for the pinfall victory.

Analysis: *** The match went about 15 minutes and it was okay, but never felt great. Joe is slowing down a lot as an older wrestler while Bailey is better against the quicker guys. Bailey just won the Trios Titles on Collision last week, and then he lost a singles match. I guess it’s a case of AEW wanting to keep Joe strong after losing the Trios Titles and setting him up for a singles match with Page again.

Match #2: Trios Street Fight: Death Riders (AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia) defeated Don Callis Family (Hechicero, Lance Archer and Rocky Romero)

Archer brought Yuta up the ramp and grabbed him for a chokeslam, but PAC came out with crutches and smashed Archer in the back. Archer was knocked off the side of the ramp and remained on his feet until Claudio Castagnoli leaped from out of nowhere to grab the crutch from PAC’s hand and nail Archer in one violent motion! He threw Archer into an electrical box that exploded! Hechicero went up the ramp to help, so Shafir followed and stopped him with a low blow. Yuta took Hechicero out with a flying knee! Back in the ring, Moxley locked Romero in the bulldog choke, but Romero was able to roll out. Garcia nailed Romero with a piledriver and locked in a Dragon Tamer, which Moxley punctuated with a stomp to Romero’s head! The referee called for the bell with Romero unable to answer! The Death Riders win!

Moxley and the Death Riders surrounded Callis at the commentary desk, with Moxley delivering a simple message. “Hey, you just tell your boy, he knows where to find me.”

Analysis: ***1/4 This went about 15 minutes. It’s the usual AEW garbage match with weapons being used. The problem is that the Don Callis Family guys are the guys who never win matches, so it’s hard to get into a match like this. It also felt like the first time Garcia and Yuta have won a match just because they were on the same team as Moxley, who tends to win most of his matches. I should point out, too, that Moxley had tacks in his back for most of the match and walked away with the tacks in his back, too, so it was an interesting look.

Thekla says AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander gives out title shots to everybody, but when Thekla pinned her, Statlander asked what she wanted to do about it. Thekla wants to give Statlander one week to enjoy her life. And then, she wants her title shot in Austin, Texas, next week on Dynamite. Skye Blue said the Triangle has room for more. Julia Hart brought up TBS Champion Willow Nightingale and said she never got a rematch with Nightingale and wants one this Saturday at Collision.

Analysis: I don’t know if Thekla will take the AEW Women’s World Title from Kris Statlander, but she makes a good point about deserving a title shot. I think it would help the Triangle of Madness to get one of the singles titles, so they will probably get one of them soon.

Match #3: Non-Title Tag Match: AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) def. Alec Price & Jordan Oliver

Oliver scored a pair of near-falls on Harwood, but that only seemed to piss him off. He put Oliver down with a pair of nasty lariats before moving Oliver to the corner for chops. He put Oliver on the top and nailed more chops. Wheeler went to the other turnbuckle to get ready for Power and Glory, but he was met by Price, who sent him to the mat with a hurricanrana. On the other side, Oliver came down on top of Harwood’s superplex attempt and nearly got him the win. Oliver tagged Price, who had to fight off Wheeler on the apron. Meanwhile, Harwood sent Oliver over the top to the opposite side. Price tried to come off the top on Harwood’s, but he ducked, and Price walked into a Shatter Machine to give FTR the victory one week before they face Davis and Doyle with the AEW World Tag Team Championships on the line!

Analysis: **1/4 A short match by AEW standards since it went about 8 minutes. FTR is defending the titles as mentioned above, so it makes sense for them to win here. Price and Oliver are new AEW hires and instead of putting them over in their debut, they lost to the champions. I don’t think it’s the best way to debut new talent, but they can only go up from here.

Kris Statlander says Thekla doesn’t know who she’s dealing with, and if you wanna drown her in toxic, Statlander will take Thekla down with her. And if anyone wants an eliminator match on Collision, she will show you exactly what she means. Nightingale said this TBS Championship was all about silencing doubt, and she’s been waiting two years to get another shot at Julia Hart, so on Collision, she’s going to powerbomb her into the mat. Harley Cameron said she’ll be there too, and if Skye Blue tries anything, she’ll punch her in the face.

Analysis: It’s a trio of likable babyfaces.

Match #4: Kenny Omega defeated Josh Alexander

Alexander grabbed Omega and suplexed him over the top, with both men crashing to the floor! They slugged it out on the floor, as the referee continued his count, but when Alexander went to an eye gouge, the referee came to stop it. Omega slammed Alexander’s head into the announce table over and over before chasing Callis into the crowd! When Omega tried to get back in the ring, Alexander grabbed him from the floor with an ankle lock. He smashed Omega’s leg into the apron and tried to suplex him back in, but Omega blocked it. Alexander changed course and leg-whipped Omega over the second rope. With Omega hurting, Alexander sent him crashing to the floor with a running crossbody! Alexander took his time getting congrats from Callis, so when he got back on the apron, Omega was waiting with a V-Trigger! He snatched Alexander for a powerbomb on his neck and nailed another V-Trigger that got a two-count! Omega put Alexander on his shoulders and nailed a One-Winged Angel to get the victory!

Analysis: *** A good TV match that went about 11 minutes. I don’t want to say that Omega was going half speed, but when you’ve seen Omega a lot, you can tell he wasn’t doing crazy stuff here. It was smarter wrestling. I’ve seen these guys have some classic matches in the past (in TNA), but it was still fun to watch. Omega needed just four moves to finish off Alexander.

Post match, Omega got the mic to say that Callis struck while the iron was hot, knowing that Omega was nowhere near 100%. But in Omega’s new home of Orlando, he’s feeling better than he has in a long time and said Callis didn’t have anyone on his roster to beat him. But maybe they can try again once he’s the AEW World Champion! Goodbye and goodnight! BANG! Callis watched helplessly as Omega continued to celebrate with the fans.

Analysis: It continues the build to Kenny Omega, believing he deserves a shot at the AEW World Title. Based on his promo, I assume Omega will face more Don Callis Family members in the weeks head. As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of babyfaces coming after MJF’s World Title. Omega may be the guy to challenge MJF at Revolution in March, but it could be at a PPV after that.

Match #5: “Megasus” Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford defeated Timeless Love Bombs (“Timeless” Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa)

Storm held Ford in the ring for a top-rope Slingblade from Shirakawa, which connected, but Bayne broke up the pin. She threw Storm to the floor and ate a kick from Shirakawa, but came back with a boot to Shirakawa’s face. Bayne threw Ford into a cutter on Shirakawa, but Storm got back in to break it up. Storm put Bayne down with a DDT, so Ford took Storm out with a stunner! Shirakawa connected on Ford with a spinning back fist and called for a figure four, but took too long and was taken out by Bayne! Bayne put Shirakawa on her shoulders, and Ford came off the top for a Doomsday Device to get the pin on Shirakawa! Storm tried to make the save but was subdued by Marina Shair, who trapped Storm in Mother’s Milk behind the referee’s back! Storm was out cold on the floor!

Analysis: **1/2 An average tag team match that got about 10 minutes. Storm was protected in the match by having Marina Shafir take her out on the floor to prevent Storm from making the save. Shirakawa taking the loss wasn’t a surprise. It makes sense for the heel team of Bayne & Ford to win since the champs are babyfaces Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron.

Match #6: Swerve Strickland (w/Prince Nana) defeated AEW World Trios Champion “The Jet” Kevin Knight

They spent a couple of minutes doing basic holds to try to show that it was evenly matched. The AEW World Champion MJF was watching from a private box. Knight hit an armdrag into an armbar. After Swerve broke free, he went to the floor, and Knight hit Swerve with a slingshot cross body block onto Swerve on the floor. Back in the ring, Knight went up top and hit a cross body block. Knight mocked Swerve’s strut, but Swerve had his back turned. They battled on the floor, where Swerve teased a move, but Knight hit a back body drop on Swerve on the floor. Knight jumped off the apron with a dropkick on Swerve on the floor. They went to a picture-in-picture commercial break.

Swerve was in control as he put Knight on his shoulders and hit a backbreaker variation. Swerve jumped off the middle ropes, followed by a forearm to the back. Swerve wrenched on the leg, Knight fought back with strikes and a punch to the jaw. Knight countered Swerve and hit a suplex. They exchanged some holds, leading to Swerve hitting a jumping clothesline. Knight hit a body slam. Knight went for a splash, Swerve avoided it and Swerve hit a flatliner. Swerve went for a kick, Knight avoided it and Knight hit a splash to the back for two. They battled by the turnbuckle, where Knight tried a Powerbomb, but Swerve held onto the ropes. Knight was resilient as he hit a Powerbomb out of the corner and a DDT for two. Swerve gave Knight a Death Valley Driver on the apron. They went over to the barricade where Swerve hit a piledriver on the top of the barricade. Ouch. Swerve protected him well. Swerve was back in the ring, Knight crawled back in and Swerve hit a 450 Splash on the back. Swerve applied a Dragon Sleeper. Swerve let go of it and put Knight onto the top turnbuckle. Knight managed to get to the apron while Swerve was on the top and Knight jumped to the top with a Dragon Rana. Knight hit a Coast to Coast dropkick off the top. Knight went up top and hit a UFO Splash for a two count because Swerve’s foot was on the bottom rope. It was pretty obvious there would be a rope break there based on where they were. Knight tried a lift, Swerve hit him with elbows to the head and Swerve kicked Knight a few times. They ran the ropes, Knight jumped and Swerve hit a House Call kick. Swerve hit a Vertebreaker. Swerve hit the Big Pressure sitout slam for the pinfall win after 17 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Swerve Strickland

Analysis: **** I enjoyed that. It turned into a 4-star match (out of 5). It was a great match between a top guy in Swerve and a star on the rise like Knight. The result was never in doubt here because Swerve is a main event guy while Knight isn’t at that level yet. You could tell that Swerve wanted to give Knight a lot of offense to make Knight look credible as an opponent. Swerve was selling for most of the match before going on a roll and putting Knight away.  It’s a match that perhaps they could go back to in the future when Knight is pushed more, and we can see if he can beat Swerve when they go at it again.

After the match, Swerve Strickland celebrated the win while MJF looked on from the private box. End of show.

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Three Stars of the Show

1. Swerve Strickland
2. Kevin Knight
3. Kenny Omega

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The Scoreboard

This Week: 7.25 out of 10

Last Week: 7.5

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Final Thoughts on AEW Dynamite

The main event between Swerve and Knight was great, but the rest of the show felt pretty average to me. They didn’t have much talking other than the opening MJF-King segment.

I think because the Revolution PPV is on March 15th, there’s still a lot of slow-playing in terms of storylines. It just feels like every show is match-heavy, and it’s not about building big storylines because they are saving them for Revolution.

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Thanks for reading. Go Los Angeles Rams, Toronto Raptors, and Toronto Maple Leafs. You can contact me using any of the methods below.

John Canton

Email: [email protected]

Twitter/X: @johnreport