AEW Dynamite & Collision recap & reactions (Oct. 15, 2025): No quit

AEW heads into WrestleDream this weekend, but first the go-home three-hour special of Dynamite (Oct. 15, 2025) to set the stage for the PPV. Darby Allin and Jon Moxley have no quit for an I Quit fight, Kris Statlander and Toni Storm may have no clothes for the women’s world title bout, and Hangman Page and Samoa Joe will have no chill when battling over the AEW world title.

No quit

Darby Allin wrestles Jon Moxley in an I Quit match at WrestleDream. The problem is that neither will quit, or so they claim. AEW arranged a meeting face to face inside a prison booth with the plastic window in between to prevent any physicality. Allin had thoughts of joining the Death Riders, but he could never trust Moxley after the betrayal of Bryan Danielson. Allin plans to choke Moxley with the AEW flag he posted on Mount Everest. Moxley is a man with a plan. The plan for this evening was for PAC to attack Allin from behind. This scene is interesting for the bloody visual of Allin on the window. It’s not a typical type of scene we see in professional wrestling. I respect the creativity.

Later in the show, Allin staggered out on stage like a zombie to confront Moxley. Claudio hammered an uppercut, but Allin still rose up to walk to the ring. Allin received cheap shots from the Death Riders along the way. The idea was that Allin would not quit. He pulled out the AEW flag from Mount Everest. Moxley reacted by planting Allin with a Paradigm Shift onto the flag.

That is how AEW sets up the idea that neither man will quit at the PPV. At the least, it will definitely be interesting to see how that match finishes. Moxley has been shown to quit in the past. Granted, he never uttered the words, however, he quit by tapping in the Texas Death Matches against Hangman Page. It will take something extreme for Moxley to lose.

Famous last words

Kris Statlander and Toni Storm were scheduled for a sitdown with Renee Paquette. Words were exchanged, but they were more interested in fighting. Clothes were shed, and they agreed to meet in the ring. Renee’s exasperation takes the cake dealing with those loons.

Fight!

Both engaged in mind games to see how badly the other wants to win in the AEW Women’s World Championship bout. Storm offered a free shot with the title belt. Statlander declined. Statlander then offered the same. Storm teased longer about striking, but she declined as well. That goes to show how this is babyface versus babyface dueling to be the best. Or at least that’s the case for now. We’ll see if one of them takes a shortcut at the PPV.

Hangman & Joe

Before Samoa Joe challenges Hangman Page for the AEW World Championship, he had business at hand to defend the trios titles against LFI. There were exciting combos in dance partners, such as Will Hobbs roughhousing with Beast Mortos. I’d love to see Rush fight any of The Opps in singles action, especially Joe. In the end, The Opps were not lacking. Shibata and Hobbs took care of Rush and Mortos. That allowed Joe to catch Dralistico on the Coquina Clutch to choke out. The Opps retained the gold.

Hangman was on commentary. After the match, Sammy Guevara gave LFI numbers to attack The Opps. Sammy’s disrespect goaded Hangman into the ring to clean house. The cowboy also did it to make sure Joe is at full strength for the PPV. Joe picked up the world title and shoved it at Hangman’s chest.

There’s not much to this story, but it should be a heck of a fight.

Let’s jam through the rest of AEW Dynamite from Cable Dahmer Arena in Kansas City, MO. Catch up on all the details with excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.

GOA defeated Hurt Syndicate. Another entertaining clash between these groups. Men hurting men is always a good time. Toa Liona and Bobby Lashley brought brute force. Shelton and Kaun added style, such as this avalanche suplex.

In the end, Ricochet snatched MVP’s cane to toss in the ring as a distraction. The referee took the bait, and Ric blasted the Spirit Gun on Shelton Benjamin. Bishop Kaun made the cover for the win.

Commentary mentioned how this was the first time the Hurt Syndicate tag team was pinned in AEW. That should feel like a bigger deal, but the circumstances behind it made me shrug with indifference. Ricochet cheated in a way that handed the pin on a platter to Kaun. Credit to Ric for being crafty as he outsmarted MVP in an amusing manner.

Claudio Castagnoli defeated Roderick Strong. Pop-up uppercut out of nowhere for the win. Solid action in a technical slugfest. They did a good job fighting with a high level of intensity to fit the story. I’ll gladly take another serving.

Kenny Omega, Jack Perry, & Luchasaurus defeated Mark Davis, Josh Alexander, & Hechicero. First, a few words from Jungle Man. Perry explained that he still loves the Young Bucks and will always be grateful, however, they didn’t have his back when he needed them most. That’s why he looked to the past to find somebody who would. Enter Luchasaurus. I hope Perry keeps whittling that block of wood little by little over the weeks to make art.

The story of the match was the relationship between Omega and Perry. Kenny didn’t trust Jack. He was reluctantly accepting the tag from Perry. Jungle Man earned some trust by sacrificing himself to save Omega. Davis cleaned Perry’s clock on a clothesline.

Omega softened up after that. He helped clear the way for Jurassic Express to execute a Doomsday Device on Hechicero for the win. Afterward, the Young Bucks attacked Jurassic Express, and Omega made the save to return the favor to Perry.

Flashy action to satisfy the palate. I think the story between Omega and Perry is more about rehabilitating Perry’s image. In that sense, job well done to paint Perry as a reformed babyface. The people love Omega, so saving him will earn a rub of approval from the crowd.

Jamie Hayter defeated Skye Blue. Julia Hart was on the outside causing a ruckus. That didn’t stop Hayter from winning. Hayter hits hard, and she crushed the Hayterade lariat to win.

After the match, Thekla issued a warning from the big screen. She’s not impressed by Hayter. Thekla will bring toxic chaos.

Strong win by Hayter to have confidence and momentum heading into the PPV. She even bust out a strut kissing her biceps.

Wheeler Yuta & Daniel Garcia defeated Orange Cassidy & Kyle O’Reilly. My enjoyment came from Cassidy’s antics. I’m not talking about his routine in general. More specifically, I laughed at Cassidy dishing out soft chops on Garcia, then he hammered hard chops on Yuta. Everybody hates Yuta, so that was amusing. It also fits into the past storyline between the two as mentor and student. On top of that, I chuckled at Cassidy doing Garcia’s dance.

The Death Riders interfered to hand the win over to Garcia. There was an interesting wrinkle from the standard methods. Moxley had made his way down to the ring. O’Reilly trapped Garcia in a guillotine choke. Cassidy exploded for a superman punch and a suicide dive to wipe out Yuta. That’s when Mox nodded to Marina Shafir to distract the referee. Garcia tapped, so O’Reilly released the hold. The ref didn’t see it, and the match continued. The way that unfolded was the interesting part. It showed Moxley as an actual strategic leader. Then it was business as usual for the Death Riders with Claudio and PAC pummeling the opponents on the outside, and Garcia picked up the cheap pin. That led to a brawl between the Death Riders and the Conglomeration.

Megan Bayne defeated Harley Cameron. The Top Gods talked smack, so Harley, Willow Nightingale, and JetSpeed hatched a trap. They aired a promo on the big screen as misdirection for a surprise from the backside. The babyfaces stood tall as Willow hit a spinebuster on Dax Harwood and Kevin Knight followed for a UFO splash. I’d like to pretend that Harley was the mastermind.

There was still a match to be had. Bayne was furious and took her anger out on Harley. Harley showed toughness to counter for an avalanche sunset flip bomb.

Harley demonstrated intestinal fortitude to kick out from Bayne’s finisher. The Megasus fears no wrath, so she closed with the running powerbomb instead.

Bayne was a badass as usual. For Harley, this was another step in legitimizing her in the ring. Kicking out of Fate’s Descent was a shocker. Harley is improving piece by piece over time.

Mark Briscoe & Brodido defeated Kyle Fletcher, Lance Archer, & Rocky Romero. Dance fever with Bandido and Briscoe doing the Macarena. Brody King refused. Archer did the dance later. It is going to be glorious once King finally dances.

If you bet that Romero was eating the pin, go hit the pay window. Bandido kneed Romero as King crushed him on a piledriver. Bandido covered Azucar for the win. The match split off afterward for PPV hype. Fletcher brawled with Briscoe on stage. El Clon created a distraction for Okada to attack Brodido from behind.

Notes: The Callis Family celebrated Don’s birthday. Konosuke Takeshita sent in a video message, but Kazuchika Okada turned it off. Okada claimed he pressed the wrong button by accident. And if you don’t follow NJPW, yes, Takeshita won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Mercedes Moné tied Ultimo Dragon’s record with ten title. On Friday, she will become the longest reigning TBS champion at 509 days. Mercedes is also coming to WrestleDream.

Eddie Kingston and Hook are moving into the tag team division. To anybody that wants some, come get some at the pre-show.

Max Caster and Anthony Bowens have won two in a row, but they refuse to team up again. This isn’t a reunion.

Stud of the Show: Harley Cameron

Harley put up a lot of fight against a dominating opponent.

Match of the Night: GOA vs. Hurt Syndicate

Lots of worthy choices for this honor. I’m giving the nod to the physicality of GOA and the Hurt Syndicate.

Grade: B-

Fine show with good wrestling. AEW put effort into heating up the feuds for PPV.

Share your thoughts about Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show? Who impressed you the most?