This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite emanates from Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina. Adam Copeland and FTR team up to take on the Death Riders, Jamie Hayter battles Julia Hart in the latter’s return match. Swerve Strickland, Jay White, and Roderick Strong vie for the number spot in the Casino Gauntlet. Orange Cassidy faces Adam Page, and more!
We break it all down in this week’s AEW Dynamite recap!
Orange Cassidy vs. “Hangman” Adam Page
Page chops Cassidy in the corner, then whips him into the opposite one. He follows up with a clothesline and a belly-to-belly suplex. Page covers Cassidy, but he kicks out.
Page sends Cassidy to the floor with a lariat. He then rams him into the barricades near ringside. Page looks for a powerbomb, but Cassidy reverses it with a back body drop. Cassidy fires off right hands on Page. Cassidy rolls back into the ring to break the referee’s count, paving the way for Page to level him. Cassidy jumps off with a crossbody, but Page catches him and hits a fallaway slam.
Cassidy rolls up Page, but he kicks out. Cassidy hits a running kick, then rocks Page with a stunner. Cassidy leaps through the ropes, but Page catches him. The former AEW World Champion hits another fallaway slam, this time on the outside.
Back from break, Page looks for a Buckshot Lariat, but Cassidy rolls to the other side of the ring. Page follows him and delivers a high boot. Cassidy connects with a suicide dive. Cassidy bounces Page’s head off the turnbuckles. He descends with a crossbody, but Page catches him. Cassidy lands a pair of DDTs. He fires off light kicks, which is unamusing to Page. Page again goes for a Buckshot Lariat, but Cassidy stops him in his tracks with a Beach Break. Cassidy lands a trio of Orange Punches. Page finally hits the Buckshot for the win.
Winner: Adam Page
After the match, Page lays out Cassidy with a pair of Deadeyes. Christopher Daniels comes out to confront Page, only to get clocked in the face. Page follows up with a kick as well. He tells Daniels to stay out of his business.
Backstage, Jay White says he planned to be AEW World Champion heading into 2025, but Wheeler Yuta cost him the opportunity to do so. White points out that he still has a path to the title, though, as he competes in the Casino Gauntlet next week.
The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) vs. The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) (w/MVP)
Lashley clocks Caster in the corner, then suplexes him across the ring. Lashley follows up with a neckbreaker. He whips Caster into the corner and connects with a series of shoulder tackles. Caster responds with a back elbow. Lashley tags in Benjamin, who levels Caster on the outside. Bowens is tagged in. He delivers a rolling elbow strike to Lashley and a kick to Benjamin’s knee. Caster tags himself back in, much to Bowens’ dismay. Benjamin lays him out with a trio of German suplexes.
Bowens drops off the apron as Benjamin hits a fourth suplex and a step-up knee. Benjamin tags in Lashley, who rocks Caster with a spear. He finishes off Caster with a slam and The Hurt Lock for the win.
Winners: Hurt Syndicate
Backstage, Swerve Strickland looks ahead to his triple threat match against Jay White and Roderick Strong, in which the winner earns the number one spot in the Casino Gauntlet match.
Jamie Hayter vs. Julia Hart
Hayter and Hart lock up. Hart tries to bring her down with an arm lock, but Hayter kips up. Hayter fires off elbow strikes and plants Hart onto the mat. She then splashes Hart in the corner. Hart blocks the third one with a back elbow. Hart looks for a crossbody off the apron, but Hayter catches her. Hart slams Hayter into the steel steps.
Hayter rains down with fists, then delivers a back breaker. Hayter charges toward Hart in the corner, but Hart drives to the mat with her boots. Hayter evades a moonsault from Hart. Hart bounces back with her Hartless submission. Hayter gets to a vertical base and transitions into a Death Valley Driver. Hayter follows up with a sliding lariat for a near fall.
Hayter fires off more strikes in the corner. Hart sweeps Hayters legs, causing her to fall down onto the mat. Hart rolls back into the ring with an arrow. As the referee discards the arrow, Hart stuns Hayter with black mist and pins her for the win.
Winner: Julia Hart
In a new vignette, Kazuchika Okada looks back on his first full year in AEW, which ended with a Continental Classic win. He also urges Kenny Omega to stay out of his business.
We Hear From Mercedes Mone
Mone enters the ring, which is filled with a red carpet and a podium for her NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship. Mone directs our attention to a video package, which shows her journey through AEW so far. She says her first stop in 2025 is Wrestle Dynasty, where she raises up her NJPW title against Mina Shirakawa. Mone reminds Shirakawa that money changes everything.
Backstage, Adam Cole says the Undisputed Kingdom is complete. Roderick Strong then looks ahead to the triple threat involving him, Swerve Strickland, and Jay White.
Casino Gauntlet #1 Spot: Roderick Strong vs. Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana) vs. Jay White
Strickland opens fire on White. White and Strong double team Strickland, but he fends them off with chops. Strickland sends White over the top rope, then delivers a brainbuster and suplex to Strong. Strickland leaps onto White on the outside. Back in the ring, Strickland delivers a knee to White. Strong reenters the ring and goes after Strickland. White levels them both with a double DDT.
White chops both his opponents. Strickland is sent to the outside, as is Strong. White drops Strickland on the apron, then does the same to Strong. Strong responds with a backbreaker before launching White into Strickland.
Back from break, Strickland nails Strong with a backbreaker, then sends him crashing into White. Strickland follows up with a powerslam to White for a fall, which Strong breaks up. Strong kicks Strickland out of the ring and hits a Tiger Driver on White. Strickland returns to the ring with a Swerve Stomp on Strong. He looks for House Call, but Strong evades it. Strickland pushes White into Strong, then rocks the former with a stomp. Strickland drives a big boot into Strong’s face. Strickland drives a boot into White as well.
Ricochet emerges in the crowd and strikes Strickland with a golden pair of scissors. Meanwhile, Strong rolls White back into the ring. White lands a Blade Runner for the win.
Winner: Jay White
After the match, Ricochet stabs Strickland with the scissors, then headbutts him as he begins bleeding out. Ricochet grabs a chair. Prince Nana tries to swipe it out of his hands, but is sent crashing to the floor. Ricochet headbutts Strickland again and places him on the chair. He finishes him off with a Spirit Gun. The Undisputed Kingdom run down. Ricochet retreats with maniacal laughter and the scissors in hand.
Backstage, Jeff Jarrett prepares for his big announcement. Karen Jarrett asserts that they are unbreakable no matter what.
Elsewhere, AEW Women’s Champion Mariah May sarcastically says the women’s division is great. May says she did her job better than any other woman alive in 2024. May calls herself epic and says it’s time for the women to prove themselves to her.
We Hear From Jeff Jarrett
Jarrett arrives with his ring boots in hand and a red guitar sitting in the ring. He says there are so many things to be grateful for in his career. He admits he’s been thinking about the end of his career. He looks back on his family history in the business as well. For him, it started when he gave up school and started his in-ring career. Jarrett recalls launching TNA Wrestling in 2002, which he believes to be a producer of some great talents. Tonight, Jarrett asks himself if he should ride off into the sunset. The answer is “hell no.” Jarrett has, however, signed his last professional wrestling contract. And in this last run, he wants the AEW World Championship.
Meanwhile, Hook looks ahead to his upcoming match against Christian Cage, where he vows to choke him out.
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Jon Cruz & Rob Killjoy
Hobbs hits Cruz with a shoulder tackle, then drives Killjoy into the mat. He splashes both Killjoy and Cruz in the corners, then follows up with a spinebuster to Killjoy. Hobbs finishes them off with a spinebuster to Cruz that also sends him crashing onto Killjoy.
Winner: Powerhouse Hobbs
Backstage, Big Bill says Chris Jericho isn’t coming here tonight. Bill then trashes Rated FTR and the city of Asheville. He asserts that they need to be taken down a branch. Adam Copeland calls Bryan Keith a tumbleweed and says Bill’s face is stupid. Copeland challenges The Learning Tree to a tag match on AEW Collision.
Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta) vs. Rated FTR (Adam Copeland, Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood)
Harwood and Yuta lock up, with the latter slapping the former. Yuta takes him down with a shoulder tackle, but Harwood responds with a series of chops. Harwood rocks Yuta with a back body drop. Harwood tags in Copeland, as Yuta tags Claudio. Claudio and Copeland lock up. Claudio kicks him in the midsection. Copeland looks for a hip toss, but Claudio blocks it. Copeland sends him over the top rope, then hits a baseball slide. With the referee distracted, Marina Shafir sends Copeland crashing into the ring post.
Back from break, Moxley fires off elbows and stomps on Copeland. Claudio tags in and applies a headlock. Yuta tags in. Copeland drops him to the mat, then tags in Wheeler. Wheeler delivers a pair of slams to Yuta for a near fall. Wheelers tags in Harwood. They look to double team Yuta, but Claudio intercepts. Harwood delivers a brainbuster to Claudio. Yuta rolls him up, but Harwood kicks out.
Yuta goes up top, where Harwood meets him. Harwood drops him with a suplex off the top. Claudio breaks up his subsequent pinfall attempt. Claudio sends Copeland to the floor with a high boot. Moxley rakes Harwood against the top rope. Yuta hits a splash off the top for a near fall.
Back from another break, Harwood tags in Copeland, while Claudio tags Moxley. They trade strikes. Copeland looks for a spear, but Moxley rolls out of the ring. Copeland follows Moxley into the crowd, where they brawl. Copeland fires off a slap, then follows Moxley back into the ring. Yuta plants Copeland with a DDT. He charges in, but Copeland counters with a Liger Bomb. Copeland calls for the spear again, but Claudio and Moxley sweep him off his feet and into the ring post. Wheeler looks for a dive, but Claudio catches him with an uppercut. Claudio then levels Harwood on the outside.
The Death Riders position Copeland on the announce table. Back in the ring, Jay White plants Yuta with a Blade Runner. Copeland delivers a back drop to Moxley on the announce desk, then drives him through the barricade. Claudio rocks Copeland with an uppercut. FTR send Claudio to the outside, then land a Shatter Machine on Yuta. Copeland clutches the win with a spear.
Winners: Rated FTR