1/8/25 AEW Dynamite Recap
Location: Clarksville, Tennessee
Venue: F&M Bank Arena
Commentary Team: Excalibur, Ian Riccaboni, and Matt Menard
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Match 1 – Singles Match
Buddy Matthews vs. Will Ospreay
They lock up, and then exchange wrist-locks. Ospreay sends Matthews off the ropes, but Matthews drops him with a shoulder tackle. Ospreay comes back for a shoulder tackle of his own, but Matthews takes him down again. Matthews picks Ospreay up, but Ospreay gets free and goes for the Os-cutter. Matthews catches him, but Ospreay gets a back-slide for a two count. They lock up again and Matthews backs Ospreay into the corner. Ospreay comes back with a few chops, and then Matthews delivers one of his own. Ospreay sends Matthews to the apron and charges, but Matthews dodges and delivers a low dropkick. Matthews runs the ropes, but Ospreay gets back into the ring and sends him to the floor with a hurricanrana. Ospreay dives onto Matthews and gets him back into the ring, but Matthews counters with a snapmare. Matthews kicks Ospreay in the back and delivers a running knee. Matthews goes for the cover, but Ospreay kicks out at two. Matthews applies a headlock, but Ospreay gets free and they both go for a cross-body and collide in the ring. Matthews sends Ospreay off the ropes, but Ospreay comes back with a kick to the head.
Ospreay delivers a springboard elbow strike and goes for the cover, but Matthews kicks out at two. Matthews kicks Ospreay in the face and goes up top, but Ospreay cuts him off and goes for a kick. Matthews dodges and delivers a knee strike in the corner. Matthews follows with a back-breaker and sends Ospreay to the floor. Matthews sends Ospreay into the commentary table with a dive and gets him back into the ring. Matthews delivers a meteora from the tope and goes for the cover, but Ospreay kicks out at two. Matthews goes for a pump-handle slam on the apron, but Ospreay gets free and they exchange shots and kicks. Ospreay goes for the Os-cutter on the apron, but Matthews catches him and throws him into the commentary table. Matthews puts Ospreay in the chair by the barricade, and then delivers a running kick. Matthews goes for another, but Ospreay counters with a superkick and delivers the Os-cutter from the barricade. Matthews gets back into the ring at the nine count, but Ospreay delivers a springboard dropkicks. Ospreay delivers another Os-cutter and goes for the cover, but Matthews kicks out at two.
Ospreay goes for the Hidden Blade, but Matthews ducks and delivers a knee strike. Ospreay comes back with an elbow strike and goes for the cover, but Matthews kicks out at two. Ospreay sets up for the Storm Breaker, and then kicks Matthews in the head a few times. Ospreay delivers a few shots, but Matthews comes back with some of his own. Matthews runs the ropes, but Ospreay counters with an enzuigiri. Ospreay goes for another Os-cutter, but Matthews catches him and delivers a shot to his head. Matthews delivers a running stomp and goes for the cover, but Ospreay kicks out at two. Ospreay comes back with a Styles Clash and goes for the cover, but Matthews kicks out at two this time. Ospreay delivers the Hidden Blade and gets the pin fall.
Winner: Will Ospreay
-After the match, Ospreay tells the crowd to give it up for Matthews. Ospreay says Matthews and Brody King don’t need to be following a leader, because they can do it by themselves. Ospreay says he can see gold in their future and then says if Matthews ever needs a guy in his corner, he is his guy. They shake hands, and Ospreay leaves the ring.
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Footage of various AEW stars wrestling at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 and NJPW Wrestle Dynasty this past weekend airs.
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The AEW World Tag Team Champions, Private Party, make their way to the stage for a victory celebration. Zay says they made history by winning the first-ever tag title match shown on MAX and TNT. Zay says they need to celebrate, but they are interrupted by The Hurt Syndicate. MVP says they like to party and have a good time, and then says they should raise a toast to Private Party. MVP leads the toast for Private Party, and then Lashley finishes the toast by saying they are coming for the titles.
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Match 2 – Singles Match
Bobby Lashley (w/MVP and Shelton Benjamin) vs. Mark Briscoe
Briscoe delivers a few quick chops and shots, but Lashley drops him with a pair of flatliners. Lashley slams Briscoe a few times and goes for the cover, but Briscoe kicks out at two. Briscoe comes back with a shot and goes up top, but Lashley catches him and suplexes him to the outside. Lashley runs over Briscoe with a shoulder tackle, and then delivers another suplex as the show heads to a commercial.
Back from the break, Briscoe comes off the ropes with a shot and follows with a series of chops. Lashley comes back and sends Briscoe to the apron. Lashley delivers a cross-chop and sends Briscoe to the floor with another shot. Lashley looks under the ring, but Briscoe hits him with a chair. Briscoe sets the chair up in the ring, and then uses it to dive onto Lashley. Briscoe gouges Lashley’s face, and then bites him before slamming him into the ring post. Briscoe flips onto Lashley from the top rope and gets him back into the ring. Briscoe delivers a low clotheslines and follows with the Froggy Bow. Briscoe goes for the cover, but Lashley kicks out at one. Lashley comes back with a back elbow, and then kicks Briscoe in the face. Lashley dodges a corner clothesline and delivers a Spear. Lashley slams Briscoe down, and then applies the Hurt Lock for the win.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
-After the match, Lashley keeps the hold applied, and then Shelton Benjamin delivers shots to Briscoe. Private Party hit the ring with chairs, but MVP gets Benjamin and MVP to back down and leave the ring.
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Match 3 – #1 Contender’s (AEW World Championship) Casino Gauntlet Match
Adam Cole vs. Adam Page vs. Daniel Garcia vs. Jay White vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Lance Archer vs. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ricochet vs. Roderick Strong vs. Wheeler Yuta
Page and Whire exchange shots and Page takes him to the corner. Page delivers a few stomps, but White comes back with chops. White applies a side-headlock, but Page takes him down and gets a one count. White coems back with an inside cradle for a two count, but Page comes right back and goes for the Buckshot Lariat. White counters and goes for the Bladerunners, but Page rolls through and goes for Deadeye. White counters out again, and then White slams Page down as Wheeler Yuta enters the match. White immediately drops Yuta with a Bladerunner and goes for the cover, but Page breaks it up. Page stomps on White, but White comes back with a few shots. White comes off the ropes, but Page catches him and delivers a fall-away slam. Page delivers corner clotheslines, but White comes back with a chop. Page gets White on the apron and guillotines him over the top rope. Page goes for a leaping lariat, but White ducks and Page connects with Yuta. Page sends White to the floor, as well, as Ricochet enters the match. Yuta goes after Page, but Page sends him right back to the floor. Ricochet delivers a springbaord elbow to Page, and then takes White out with a dive. Ricochet drops Page with a cross-body, and connects with a springboard moonsault press for a two count as the show heads to a commercial.
Back from the break, all four guys are in the ring, but Page and White send Yuta and Ricochet to the floor as Adam Cole enters the match. Cole delivers a superkick to White, and then an enzuigiri to Page. Cole superkicks Yuta, and then delivers one to Ricochet as well. Cole delivers the Panamra Sunrise to Ricochet and goes for the cover, but Ricochet kicks out at two as Daniel Garcia enters the match. Cole and Garcia exchange shots, and then Garcia delivers a neck-breaker. Garcia delivers right hands in the corner, but White interrupts. Garcia gets him in the corner as well, and then gets Page in the corner and delivers right hands to all three of them. Yuta gets into the ring and slaps Garcia in the face. They exchange slaps and chops, and then Yuta pokes Garcia in the eye. Ricochet delivers a shot to Garcia, and then he and Yuta toss Garcia to the floor as Powerhouse Hobbs enters the match. Hobbs immediately sends Ricochet to the floor, and then suplexes Yuta in the ring. Hobbs suplexes Cole, and then White as well. Page delivers shots to Hobbs and goes for a corner clothesline, but Hobbs catches him and suplexes him as the show heads to a commercial.
Back from the break, Hobbs drops Ricochet with a clothesline. White comes back into the ring with clothesline, but Hobbs isn’t fazed and slams White down. Hobbs charges, but White dropkicks him into the corner as Roderick Strong enters the match. Strong delivers back-breakers to White and Page, but Ricochet delivers a few quick kicks to take him down. Cole, Strong, and Garcia come back to triple-team Ricochet, but then Hobbs drops Garcia and Cole with a double clothesline. Strong drops Hobbs with a running knee strike, and then Page drops Strong with a discus lariat. Ricochet takes Page down, and then White takes Ricochet down. White goes for the Bladerunner, but Yuta delivers a low-blow to White as Lance Archer enters the match. Archer chokeslams Yuta on the apron, and then chokeslams White in the ring. Archer kicks Cole in the face and chokeslams Strong on top of him. Archer chokeslams Garcia into the turnbuckles, and then tosses Ricochet across the ring. Hobbs throws Ricochet back toward Archer, and then Archer throws him back toward Hobbs. Hobbs drops Archer with a powerslam, but Archer comes back with a side slam.
Archer and Hobbs exchange shots as Kyle O’Reilly enters the match. O’Reilly and Strong double-team Ricochet, and then they triple-team Page along with Cole. Hobbs tries to fight back, but they triple-team him. Garcia jumps on Hobbs’s back, but Hobbs slams him down. Cole, Strong, and O’Reilly triple-team Hobbs again as Jeff Jarrett enters the match. Yuta ttacks Jarrett during his entrance and delivers shots all the way up the entance way and into the backstage area. Archer and Hobbs come back into the ring and Archer delivers a splash in the corner. Archer goes for the Blackoiut, but Hobbs powers out and clotheslines Archer to the floor. O’Reilly cho-blocks Hobbs’s knee, but Hobbs comes back and delivers a spine-buster to O’Reilly for the pin fall.
Winner: Powerhouse Hobbs
-After the match, Renee Paquette interviews Hobbs. Hobbs says Jon Moxley was the one who brought him to AEW, but he plans on shocking the world next week. Hobbs says he will make Moxley his bitch. Hobbs walks up the entrance way, but Jarrett comes back out and shakes his hand before heading to the ring.
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The video package for the ongoing feud between Christian Cage and Hook airs. They will go one-on-one on next week’s Dynamite.
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Jarrett is in the ring, and Riccaboni interviews him. Jarrett says he has to ask himself if he still has what it takes to climb the mountain. Before he can answer, MJF interrupts. MJF tells Riccaboni to get out of the ring, and then says Jarrett hasn’t had the privilege of meeting him yet. MJF says he wants his title back, but the title scene seems a little busy right now. MJF says no one is worthy of holding his title, except for maybe one man, and that man is Jeff Jarrett. MJF says his dad told him he was a big fan of Jarrett when he was a kid, and then says the clock is ticking for Jarrett. MJF says Jarrett hasn’t been completely honest lately, because the contract that Jarrett signed was only for one more year. MJF says Jarrett may have wanted more, but one more year is all that professional wrestling seems to want Jarrett around.
MJF says Jarrett has one more year to prove that he still has it, and then says he can help Jarrett become the World Champion one more time. MJF says Jarrett probably couldn’t win anything on his own, and then says in return for helping Jarrett he wants to be first in line for a title shot. MJF extends his hand for a handshake, but Jarrett takes the microphone instead. Jarrett says MJF was the longest-reigning AEW World Champion of all time, and that is impressive, but that doesn’t mean MJF will get to the top again. Jarrett says MJF could be a one-hit wonder and then says he knows the road he has to go down. Jarrett says he has been at rock bottom, and he knows how to scratch and crawl back to the top. Jarrett says MJF could have entered the Casino Gauntlet, but chose to scheme and connive instead. Jarrett says he is going to make the most of 2025, and he doesn’t need MJF. Jarrett calls MJF an entitled prick and leaves the ring.
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Footage of the Death Riders attacking Darby Allin on Rampage: New Year’s Smash airs, followed by Excalibur saying that no one has heard from Allin since the attack.
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Cope makes his way to the ring. Cope says the Death Riders have taken out Bryan Danielson and Darby Allin, and they tried to go after FTR. Cope says he is good friends with them, so that was a massive mistake. Cope says Jon Moxley has said guys like Adam Page, Jay White, and Orange Cassidy can’t handle the grind in AEW, but Cope says he has been through it all and has won matches with broken bones. Cope asks Moxley what he can do to him that hasn’t been done before. Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta come out, but FTR attacj them from behind and all six men brawl. Cope drops Moxley with a kick to the face in the ring and goes for a Spear, but Marina Shafir grabs his ankle. Cope drags Shafir to the apron, but PAC returns and hits Cope with the briefcase. The Death Riders take advantage, and Moxley chokes Cope out with the Bulldog Choke in the ring. Moxley gets a plastic bag, but Powerhouse Hobbs comes to the ring to make the save. FTR get into the ring, as well, and the Death Riders leave the ring.
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Mariah May cuts a promo. May says the first women’s Casino Gauntlet is next week, and she says the women are going to dance like the good marionettes they are. Harley Cameron runs in and talks May into a match this Saturday on Collision. May says she will rip Cameron’s head off, and then Cameron says May will feel the wrath before she runs away.
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Match 4 – Three-Way Match
Kris Statlander vs. Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale
Storm shakes hands with both women, and then shoves Nightingale into Statlander. They all get roll-ups for two counts, and then Nightingale sends Statlander to the outside. Nightingale drops Storm with a shoulder tackle, and then delivers a back elbow. Nightingale delivers a spine-buster, but Statlander comes back in. Nightingale dodges her, and they exchange roll-ups for two counts. Nightingale applies a side-headlock, but Statlander sends her off the ropes. Nightingale drops Statlander with a shoudler tackle, but Statlander comes back with her own side-headlock. Nightingale sends her off the ropes, and Statlander delivers her own shoulder tackle this time. Storm comes back with shots to Nightingale and Statlander, but Nightingale catapults Storm into Statlander as the show heads to a commercial.
Back from the break, Storm slams Statlander and Nightingale’s heads together and goes for a cross-body, but they catch her and deliver a double fall-away slam. Storm comes back and shoves Statlander into Nightingale. Storm and Statlander exchange shots, and then Nightingale comes back and they all drop each other with shots. Statlander sends Storm down with a back-body drop, and then delivers an uppercut in the corner. Statlander backs away and charges, but Nightingale drops her with the Pounce. Nightingale throws Storm into Statlander in the corner, and then Nightingale delivers a double cannonball. Nightingale slams Storm with a Death Valley Driver and goes for the cover, but Storm kicks out at two. Nightingale goes for the Doctor Bomb, but Storm counters with a jaw-breaker. Storm drops Statlander with a German suplex, but Nightingales takes her down. Statlander comes back with a shot to Nightingale, but Nightingale comes back with a double German suplex. Storm gets Nightingale in a roll-up for a two count, and then Statlander sends Nightingale to the outside. Statlander delivers Wednesday Night Fever to Storm and gets the pin fall.
Winner: Kris Statlander
-Statlander earns the number one entry into the Women’s Casino Gauntlet on next week’s show.
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Backstage, Renee interviews Toni Storm. Storm says she gave it her best, but she wasn’t ready. Storm says the Women’s Casino Gauntlet will be amazing next week, but she’s not ready. Storm apologizes and walks away.
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Kenny Omega makes his return to Dynamite. Omega says it was a little over a year ago that he was diagnosed with diverticulitis that took two feet of his intestine from him. Omega says if he didn’t check into the hospital when he did, his doctor said he would have died, and then says he had a successful surgery. Omega says he asked his doctor how long his recovery would be and when he could get back into the ring, and then says his doctor told him he would be lucky to get back into the ring. Omega says he pushed too hard and ended up back in the hospital four separate times and had to ask himself if it was even worth it. Omega says there was a time when he thought that giving up was the safest option, but then thought about what purpose he even had without the fans with him. Omega says he found his purpose again, and he isn’t living if he’s not in the ring showing that he is the best and the god of professional wrestling. Omega says even if he can’t do the things he used to do, this new version of himself can still prove he is the best. Omega is interrupted by Don Callis, who makes his way to the entranceay.
Before Callis can talk, Omega charges at him and beats him down. Brian Cage and Lance Archer run out to beat Omega down, and then get him back into the ring. Omega fights back, but Kyle Fletcher hits the ring and delivers a right hand to Omega. Cage delivers a right hand to Omega’s midsection, but Will Ospreay runs out and makes the save. Ospreay hits Archer with a chair, and then Cage and Fletcher escape the ring. Ospreay tosses the chair down as he and Omega stare each other down. Ospreay and Omega have words and continue to stare each other down as the show comes to a close.
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Announced for this Saturday’s Collision
-Big Bill vs. Cope
-Chris Jericho vs. Dax Harwood
-Harley Cameron vs. Mariah May
Announced for next Wednesday’s Dynamite: Maximum Carnage
-AEW World Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
-Women’s Casino Gauntlet Match
-Brian Cage vs. Kenny Omega
-Christian Cage vs. Hook
