The John Report: AEW Dynamite 08/20/25 Review
This week’s AEW Dynamite featured Toni Storm & Alex Windsor teaming up against Athena & Mercedes Mone, plus Will Ospreay confronting Jon Moxley, and more.
It’s the final Dynamite before AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door on August 24th in London, England, and they were in Scotland for this one. Due to the time difference, there were spoilers for this show, but I didn’t pay close attention to them.
For this review, I’m going to do a different style. I watched this on Thursday afternoon while lying on the couch because I have a headache and I didn’t feel like sitting at my desk to type 5,000+ words in a review. This will be abbreviated with more of my basic thoughts. I will likely have a preview of Forbidden Door and also review it live on Sunday.
My good friend Lyle Kilbane from TJRWrestling was at Dynamite and the Collision tapings in Glasgow, so he wrote about the experience as well. Please check that out if you haven’t done so.
This was AEW Dynamite episode #307 from the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.
It’s Wednesday night, and you know what that means. The commentary team was Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Bryan Danielson filling in for Taz.
Will Ospreay Promo About Forbidden Door
The English superstar Will Ospreay was given a huge ovation from the UK fans. Will did a promo about how he’s hurting, but he’s going to fight at Forbidden Door because he wants revenge against Jon Moxley and The Death Riders. It was a good babyface promo.
Jon Moxley got in the ring to stare at Will Ospreay, who told Moxley that he is coming for him. The Jetspeed team of Kevin Knight and “Speedball” Mike Bailey went into the ring to fight with the Death Riders. The legendary “Ace” Hiroshi Tanahashi made his entrance for the tag team match leading off the show. Tanahashi is the President of NJPW and in his final year as a wrestler. They went right into the tag team match.
Match #1: Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jetspeed – Kevin Knight & “Speedball” Mike Bailey defeated Death Riders – Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta by pinfall
It was a solid TV match to put over Tanahashi going into the Forbidden Door match since he’s on Ospreay’s team. Any time Wheeler Yuta is in a tag team match with his Death Riders friends, it usually means Yuta is eating the pin if his team loses, and that’s what happened here. Tanahashi got the win for his team. Rating: *** (out of 5).
After the match, there was a chaotic brawl involving The Young Bucks, Paragon, Darby Allin, and The Opps group as well. Darby ended up doing a Coffin Drop off a balcony on a bunch of wrestlers who were standing there to catch him. Crazy Darby, of course.
Adam Copeland And Christian Cage Reunite
The best friend duo of Adam Copeland and Christian Cage talked about how they were on the same page again. Cope had some good lines about how Christian was an asshole, but he’s “my asshole” meaning his friend. Christian said that it wasn’t a happy reunion for them, but it was a reunion of necessity so they could help eachother with their problems, like Christian’s former Patriarchy group and Cope’s problem with FTR. Christian guaranteed Cope that this version of Christian will be the best tag team partner you have ever had, and they shook hands.
Kip Sabian and Mother Wayne showed up for the interruption. Nick Wayne wasn’t there because he has a broken foot and will be out of action. Killswitch (former Luchasaurus) made a surprising return to help Wayne’s team. Killswitch hit Chokeslams on Cope and Cage, so the heels stood tall. At Forbidden Door, it’s Killswitch & Sabian against Cope & Cage.
Analysis: I thought it was well done in terms of getting heat on the heels and bringing back Killswitch in an impactful way. I think Killswitch should go back to the Luchasaurus name.
There was a backstage segment with MJF talking to Ricochet and Gates of Agony, which set up something for later.
Match #2 – AEW World Tag Team Titles Eliminator Tourney Finals: FTR – Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler (w/Stokely) vs. Brodido – Brody King & Bandido Ended In a 30-Minute Draw
This was an awesome match that was easily the best match on this show. After the first 15 minutes or so, I felt like it was a lock for a draw because then it obviously sets them up for a triple threat match at Forbidden Door. We see that kind of booking often in contender matches where there’s a DQ or countout finish to set up a triple threat match, so in this case, they went for the 30-minute draw ending. I wouldn’t say there was a standout in the match, but King’s performance was notable, especially considering he was a bloody mess and dominated much of the match. I really enjoy the teamwork between King and Bandido, and FTR are my favorite team in AEW, especially when they are heels. There were so many counters throughout the match, and when FTR hit Shatter Machine late, it was nearly enough to win, but King made the save, and it led to the draw. Rating: ****1/4
It was announced that at Forbidden Door, The Hurt Syndicate’s Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin defend the AEW Tag Team Titles vs. FTR vs. Brodido. I think FTR will win the titles and THS won’t be pinned.
MJF Makes A Deal With “Hangman” Adam Page
The AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page was in the ring for a promo segment when he called out MJF to the ring, but he knew Max wouldn’t join him in the ring. Announcer Tony Schiavone spoke on the microphone to reveal that Max had some demands, but that Page couldn’t leave the ring.
There was a backstage scene where Max enlisted the help of Ricochet and the Gates of Agony. Together, they had beloved babyface wrestler Mark Briscoe tied to a chair, and they were pouring gasoline on him while threatening to set him on fire.
While speaking into a camera backstage, MJF made three demands of Hangman going into their AEW World Title match at Forbidden Door.
- The title can change hands via disqualification.
- The title can change hands via countout.
- MJF does not have to use his contract to get his match at Forbidden Door.
Hangman: “Fine, you got it! Fine!” Hangman felt like he had to agree or else MJF and his friends would light Page’s friend Mark Briscoe on fire. MJF said that’s what he thought, and he blew out a flame while telling Page that he is still a hero.
Analysis: The part about MJF and friends wanting to light Mark on fire was a bit hokey, but I get that they wanted it to be something serious. I’m not calling it bad television or anything like that, although I wouldn’t say it was excellent TV either. As for the actual stipulations, it will allow MJF to keep his “Guaranteed Championship Match” contract, so that’s something he can use down the road. I expect Hangman to retain at Forbidden Door, and I’d be shocked if there was a title change.
After a break, Page hit Ricochet with a chair in a backstage attack. Security pulled Page off Ricochet. Page wanted to know where MJF was, but he was told that Max had already left. Page punched a security guy and left.
Match #3: Mercedes Mone & Athena defeated Toni Storm & Alex Windsor by pinfall.
They got about 17 minutes here and had a very competitive match. One of the big spots late in the match was when Athena gave Storm, her Forbidden Door opponent, a piledriver on the steel steps. Unlike some wrestlers in AEW who don’t sell moves very well, Storm sold this very well, like she was hurting and shaken from it, so that puts over Athena as a deadly badass that could beat Storm. Selling is so important, and Toni knows that. Windsor was in control against the TBS Champion Mone, and Windsor put Mone in the Sharpshooter, but referee Aubrey Edwards told Windsor that Mone wasn’t legal. After Windsor let Moe go, Athena jumped off the top and hit her O-Face finishing move for the pinfall win. It was timed really well, and it was one of those “out of nowhere” finishes where Athena jumped onto the screen to hit her finisher. Rating: ***1/2
The show ended with the women doing some staredowns at ringside.
===
Three Stars of the Show
- FTR
- Brodido
- Athena & Mercedes Mone
===
The Scoreboard
This Week: 7.5 out of 10
Last Week: 7.5
2025 Average: 7.38
===
Final Thoughts on AEW Dynamite
I thought it was a good show. It’s weird seeing an AEW show only have three matches, but the middle match went 30 minutes, so that’s why there was less in-ring action. The Brodido-FTR tag was excellent, and I don’t mind that it was a draw. The women did a good job in the main event, too.
Bryan Danielson was excellent on commentary, which is no surprise since he’s done it before, and he knows what he’s doing out there. I wish he’d do that role full-time, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
They furthered a lot of the big Forbidden Door stories as well, so I think this episode of Dynamite accomplished a lot in terms of getting us ready for that PPV on Sunday.
AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door takes place on Sunday, August 24th, in London, England, with this lineup so far:
* AEW World Championship: “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman
* Lights Out Steel Cage Match: Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Darby Allin, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) & Gabe Kidd
* AEW Unified Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Swerve Strickland
* AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm vs. Athena
* AEW Tag Team Championship Match: The Hurt Syndicate – Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin vs. Brodido vs. FTR
* AEW TBS Championship Match: Mercedes Mone vs. Alex Windsor vs. Persephone vs. Bozilla
* AEW TNT Championship Match: Kyle Fletcher vs. Hiromu Takahashi
* Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. Kip Sabian & Killswitch
* IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Nigel McGuinness
===
Thanks for reading. Go Toronto Blue Jays. You can contact me using any of the methods below.
John Canton
Email: [email protected]
Twitter/X: @johnreport