This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite emanates from Cincinatti, Ohio! Adam Copeland takes on Stokely Hathaway. Jon Moxley faces Kevin Knight. Mercedes Mone teams with Skye Blue and Thekla to battle Alex Windsor, Queen Aminata, and Willow Nightingale, and more!
Let’s break it all down in this week’s AEW Dynamite recap!
We Hear From Adam Page & MJF
MJF says Page is at his most vulnerable when he’s angry. MJF intends to make Page so angry that he loses the AEW world title in his first PPV defense. MJF says Page is only still standing because he hasn’t broken Page yet. Page says MJF can’t break him as much he could break out of his edge lord, b-level movie routine. Page says MJF is talking as if MJF has a shot already. He vows that MJF is not going to goad him into a title match; MJF must enact his title contract won at All In. Page says MJF can leave if he’s not going to do either of those things,
MJF says good and bad are all a matter of perspective. MJF adds that Page is the problem. He claims that the people treat Page like he’s perfect, so screw them and Page. MJF says if god is truly all knowing and all powerful, he can’t be all good because he got the shit kicked out of him previously. MJF promises to show the world that Page is a fraud. MJF calls Page a depressed, alcoholic, little boy. MJF says he’d rather be viewed as the devil than a phony like Page. MJF says unlike Page, he is real. MJF wants his AEW World Championship back, but he also has a point to prove, which is crucifying Page. Page says that no one knows his own faults more than he does. Page owns up to his fault and refuses to run from them, unlike MJF.
Page points out that MJF has yet to have an official match made against him, but he does have a contract to cash in. Page says MJF won’t cash it in though because he wants an insurance policy. Page encourages MJF to take his shot by cashing in his title match contract and prove that he isn’t a coward. A fired up MJF says he will execute his contract at Forbidden Door. Page says he’ll see him there.
Outside, Jon Moxley tells Darby Allin that whatever he thinks is happening at Forbidden Door is not. He heads to the ring for his match next.
Jon Moxley (w/ Marina Shafir & Wheeler Yuta) vs. Kevin Knight (Mike Bailey)
Knight fires off stomps on Moxley in the corner. Knight hits an arm drag, then lays in chops. Moxley responds with chops of his own. They trade strikes. Moxley dodges a dropkick, then looks for a Texas Clover Leaf. Knight kicks him away. The action spills to the outside, with Knight landing an uppercut. Moxley kicks Knight, then rains down with right hands. Moxley bounces Knight off the announce desk. Knight responds with uppercuts and elbows. Knight pushes Moxley into the ring post. He follows up with a dropkick off the apron. Knight lands another dropkick that sends Moxley to the ramp. He then wipes him out with a clothesline over the top rope. Knight rains down the right hands on the entrance ramp. Moxley sends Knight crashing into the barricade.
Back from break, Knight dropkicks Moxley, then bites his forearm. Knight drops Moxley with clotheslines. He then scoop slams him into the mat. He follows up with a splash for a near fall. Moxley slaps Knight. Knight responds by placing Moxley on the top rope. Moxley scrapes the back of Knight. Knight descends with a superplex. Knight rocks Moxley with a thrust kick and a spinebuster. Knight spikes Moxley with a DDT. He goes for a splash, but Moxley gets his knees up. Moxley cinches in a sleeper hold. Knight taps out.
Winner: Jon Moxley
Moxley keeps the hold cinched in. Bailey comes into the ring to rip Moxley off of Knight. Yuta kicks Bailey from behind, then strikes him with elbows. Shafir kicks Bailey on the outside. Darby Allin comes to the stage with a skateboard and body bag in hand. Knight dropkicks Moxley. Allin hits Yuta with the skateboard. Shafir retreats. Allin puts Yuta in the body bag. Claudio Castagnoli attacks Allin from behind, then frees Yuta. Claudio drives Allin into the mat, then puts him in the bag next. Claudio spins Allin around in the bag, then drops him onto the mat. Claudio and Yuta unzip the bag slightly to put a chair around Allin’s neck. Will Ospreay drags Claudio out of the ring and sends him flying over the barricade. Ospreay then lands a Hidden Blade on Yuta. Ospreay vows to snap Moxley’s neck. Ospreay challenges the Death Riders to a Lights Out Steel Cage match at Forbidden Door.
AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm is seen watching the next match from the stands, as is Athena.
Mercedes Mone, Skye Blue & Thekla (w/ Julia Hart) vs. Alex Windsor, Queen Aminata & Willow Nightingale
Windsor kicks Blue, then slams her to the mat. Blue connects with a back elbow. Windsor drops Blue with a shoulder tackle. Nightingale tags in and clotheslines Blue in the corner. She follows up with a lariat in the middle of the ring. Mone hits a drop toe hold on Aminata. Aminata knocks Thekla off the apron. She sends Mone flying around, then lands a series of rear legs slams. Windsor slams Mone to the mat. Windsor clocks Blue and Thekla. Mone hits a codebreaker. Blue tags in. She and her partners choke Windsor in the corner.
Back from break, Thekla superkicks Nightingale. Aminata drops Thekla with a dragonscrew. Mone rocks Aminata with a knee strike. Windsor headbutts Mone, then hits a Blue Thunder Bomb on Blue. Windsor, Aminata, and Nightingale take turns crushing their opponents in the corner. Aminata drives Thekla into the mat. Aminata headbutts Hart off the apron. Thekla boots Aminata through the ropes. Thekla pulls her back in and tags in Mone. Aminata lands a rolling elbow. Windsor sends Mone crashing into the mat with a Russian leg sweep. Windsor locks in a Sharpshooter on Mone. Mone tags in Blue. Mone hits a backstabber on Windsor. Nightingale runs over Mone. Blue spikes Nightingale with a DDT. Aminata headbutts Blue, then Thekla. Blue kicks Windsor, who reponds with a Sharpshooter. Blue taps.
Winners: Alex Windsor, Queen Aminata & Willow Nightingale
Up in the stands, Storm and Athena are brawling. In the ring, Mone is left pressing her boot into Windsor’s face. She follows up with right hands. She then drives her into the turnbuckle. Athena and Storm appear on the entrance ramp. Storm runs over Athena with a shoulder tackle. Windsor lands a lariat on Mone. Storm challenges Mone and Athena to a tag match next week.
Backstage, Will Ospreay confirms Darby Allin and Hiroshi Tanahashi as two of his tag partners at Forbidden Door.
Adam Copeland vs. Stokely
Stokely charges at Copeland with a spear, but misses. Copeland invites him to try again. Stokely charges in again. Copeland is unfazed. Copeland clocks Stokely with a right hand. Stokely rolls out of the ring. Copeland follows and slams Stokely into the barricade. Copeland grabs a mic and asks if there’s any hoes here tonight. A girl in the crowd then says Stokely has no chance with her. Copeland returns to the ring and spears Stokely.
Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood appear on the stage and beg Copeland to stop. Copeland instead spears Stokely again. Copeland asks the crowd if he should just pin Stokely. Copeland spears Harwood through the ropes. He then drops Wheeler on his back. He sends Harwood and Wheeler out of the ring. Copeland lines up for another spear. Stokely blinds Copeland with powder.
Winner (by DQ): Adam Copeland
After the match, Wheeler strikes Copeland with the microphone. Wheeler goes up top for a Shatter Machine. Christian Cage runs down to the ring with Spike, which makes FTR and Stokely retreat. Nick Wayne sneaks up behind with a chair. Cage sees it and hits the chair with Spike. Wayne rolls out of the ring. Copeland spears Kip Sabian. Copeland and Cage stare off with one another. Cage hands Spike back to Copeland. Copeland hugs Cage.
Brody King, The Conglomeration (Hologram & Tomohiro Ishii) & Hiromu Takahashi vs. The Don Callis Family (Josh Alexander & Kyle Fletcher) & The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
Fletcher and Takahashi trade strikes. Takahashi dropkicks Fletcher. Hologram wipes out Matt and Nick with a crossbody. King sends Matt and Nick to the outside. Nick superkicks King. Nick and Matt then superkick Justin Roberts. Hologram wipes out all four opponents with a dive.
Back from break, King crushes Fletcher and Alexander in the corner. King follows up with a cannonball to Fletcher. He then wipes out Matt and Nick with a senton to the outside. Matt and Nick superkick him on the apron. Alexander crossbodys King to the outside. Fletcher slaps Takahashi off the apron. King clocks Fletcher. Ishii suplexes Alexander. He runs over Matt and Nick with a double clothesline. Ishii suplexes Fletcher as well. Takahashi dropkicks Fletcher on the apron. Ishii knocks Fletcher off of it. Takahashi rolls Fletcher back into the ring, where he eats a clothesline from Ishii. Fletcher gets his knees up to block a 450 splash from Hologram. Matt and Nick superkick King, then Hologram. Takahashi superkicks them in return. Alexander drops Takahashi onto the apron. Matt and Nick superkick King again. Fletcher and Nick land a piledriver-crossbody combo on King.
Back from another break, Hologram hits a reverse hurricanrana on Nick. Takahashi tags in and wipes out Fletcher and Nick. He then dropkicks Matt and Nick. Takahashi dropkicks Alexander into Fletcher. He lands a running kick to Fletcher for a two count. Takahashi goes up top. Fletcher greets him with an enziguiri. Matt and Nick knee Takahashi in the corner. Alexander German suplexes him next. Fletcher lands a leaping piledriver on Takahashi. Takahashi and Fletcher trade strikes.
Nick boots King off the apron. Alexander rocks Takahashi with an elbow. Takahashi spikes Alexander with a Flatliner. Fletcher breaks up the pinfall attempt. King clotheslines Fletcher out of the ring, then wipes him out with a dive. Nick dives onto King . Hologram sends Matt to the outside too. Hologram leaps off the top to wipe out Matt, Nick, and Fletcher. Takahashi drives Alexander into the mat for the win.
Winners: Brody King, The Conglomeration (Hologram & Tomohiro Ishii) and Hiromu Takahashi
We Hear From Swerve Strickland
Renee Paquette asks if Strickland is medically cleared right now. Strickland says he’s not going to let some hurt stop him from challenging Kazuchika Okada at Forbidden Door. Okada’s music hits. He and Strickland stare off. Okada says Strickland might as well give up now. Strickland asks whose house is it. Okada calls Strickland a bitch. Strickland shoves him. Security gets between them.
Backstage, Jon Moxley seeks out The Young Bucks, potentially in relation to Forbidden Door.
La Faccion Ingobernable (Dralistico, Rush & The Beast Mortos) vs. The Opps (Katsuyori Shibata, Powerhouse Hobbs & Samoa Joe)
Hobbs runs over Mortos with a shoulder tackle. Hobbs catches Dralistico mid-crossbody, then slams him to the mat. Joe tags in and fires off jabs on Dralistico. He connects with a Pele Kick in the corner. Shibata knocks Rush off the apron. Rush, Dralistico, and Mortos take turns crushing Shibata in the corner.
Back from break, Dralistico stomps Shibata. Rush tags in and stomps at Shibata in the corner next. He follows up with a mocking kick. Shibata and Rush trade strikes. Shibata rains down with punches in the corner. Rush chops him in response. Shibata lands chops of his own. Hobbs clotheslines Mortos, then drops Dralistico with a shoulder. Hobbs crushes Dralistico and Mortos in separate corners, then together in the same one. Hobbs lands a spinebuster on Mortos. Dralistico and Rush dropkick Hobbs. Dralistico kicks Joe in the jaw. Joe locks in the Coquina Clutch. Hobbs holds Mortos back. Dralistico fades to the submission.
Winners: The Opps
Outside, MJF rams Adam Page into two cars. He then bounces him off the hood of a silver one. MJF promises to break Page.