AEW Dynamite - 10/1/2025: 3 Things We Loved And 3 We Hated

It's been six years of "AEW Dynamite," and six years of us both grumbling about and applauding the program. (I actually don't know when we started doing these, so don't fact-check that.) Like every episode before it, the six-year anniversary had plenty to love and plenty to hate, especially at the extended 2.5-hour runtime.

As always, it's time for the Wrestling Inc. Staff to break down what worked and what didn't. We won't be detailing what happened, as that's what the results pages are for. Instead, we're gonna shoot from the hip, straight from the heart, and all those other earnest sayings. It's time to get in our feelings, whether it's about how funny the opening sketch was, or whether it's bemoaning the fact that the crowd seemed disinterested in "Timeless" Toni Storm's existential crisis.

So without further ado, here's the best and the worst from the six-year anniversary of "AEW Dynamite" from the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, FL.

Read more: Wrestlers Who Ended Up Surprisingly Poor

Loved: Damn The Man, Save The Elite

The film "Empire Records" turned 30 last month. As a millennial who watched an unhealthy amount of cable television growing up, I saw that movie more times than I can name. I am not immune to the kind of key-jingling to which the rest of my generation is prone, so when you remind me of a movie I like, I have a tendency to clap like a seal. When Nick Jackson held up a duffel bag full of cash and said he was going to double their money, I knew exactly where this was going; that AEW is likely going to be turned into a Music Town, unless they can somehow band together and play a really rocking song about watching "Saturday Night Live."

The meta joke that The Bucks wasted their elaborate entrance money, leading to a technically elaborate entrance in the form of a prolonged "Empire Records" riff, was also a delight. I have been a well-documented flip-flopper on the Young Bucks, often loving them one week, hating them the next, and being blocked by them since before AEW was a thing, but this current run of being broke as hell is winning me over in ways I didn't think possible. The Jackson brothers might really be as good as people say, now that they've seemingly evolved past the dragged-out jokes of "Being The Elite." They've grown into the kind of confident comedians that edgelords swore they were a decade ago. 

The fact that there was no navel-gazing or nostalgia from the two founding members of AEW ended up being a running theme throughout the show, which seemed more focused on the next ten years than the last six. I don't think the six-year anniversary of "Dynamite" was a perfect show by any means, but I did find myself fairly warm to the show overall, and I can't help but think part of that had to do with The Young Bucks starting things off on such a fun, strong note.

Hated: Hold Your Horses AEW

I think most of AEW's fanbase will agree that Samoa Joe challenging "Hangman" Adam Page for the AEW World Championship should be a great match and is a great idea for WrestleDream, considering that somehow they've never squared off in singles competition (myself included). With such a high-profile, high-expectations match set for the pay-per-view, though, there should be a great storyline heading into WrestleDream that gets fans extra hyped up for that match.

Having Joe get mad at Page for not tagging him in during their trios match seems like such a petty and stupid reason for them to run a match. Does there need to be tensions between the two men? Absolutely, as it's what makes any given storyline fun and engaging to watch play out. That being said, the tension shouldn't stem from such a stupid reason, nor was there a need for things between the two men to escalate as quickly as they did. The security guards that came out to keep them separated after their trios match just felt out of place because it was truly the first time that Joe and Page showed any sort of dissension between them. WrestleDream is close, but there's still enough time to build up a good storyline between the two men and create more tensions between them by slowing things down just a little bit in order to make things feel more sensical and not as random.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

Loved: Harley Cameron to become a co-conductor of the Mone Train?

It should come as no surprise that Harley Cameron is one of my favorite AEW figures. She has it all: an energetic personality, an oozing of charisma, great comedic timing, and a genuine passion for the business and her craft. As great as Cameron alone, however, she's even better alongside the conversation, the belt collector, "The CEO" Mercedes Mone.

I have to admit, I'm a bit biased. I first fell in love with Cameron back in February 2025, when she was plaguing Mone at every twist and turn back, but not for no reason! Mone was the perfect person to indulge in Cameron's silliness ("Why am I talking to a puppet?" is something I quote semi-regularly) while simultaneously drawing out deeper, more serious shades of Cameron's character. Cameron's promo ahead of their match for the TBS Championship at Grand Slam is one of the most genuine promos Cameron has cut to date. While Cameron's actual match against Mone was nothing to write home about in and of itself, the feud as a whole really pushed Cameron into the limelight. Cameron's taken a bit more of a back seat since, but now that she's looking to be paired with Mone once again, I'm expecting big things.

This doesn't just benefit Cameron; Mone will also benefit from this pairing, should it happen. While Mone's personas have always been iconic, from "The Boss" to "The CEO," she's struggled on the character front of wrestling. Mone is a great in-ring worker with a recognizable brand, but when you start to actually delve into her mic and character work, Mone falls flat. I think being paired with someone as silly as Cameron will force her to expand her character more, which will be great for her in the long run. We saw glimpses of this in the Grand Slam feud, where Mone was forced to entertain Cameron's silliness, but it will be really interesting to see how their dynamic changes, if it does at all, from a champion-challenger relationship to a tag team one. There's a lot of unresolved tension between these two that stems from Mone's weak perception of Cameron. It'll be interesting to see that play out.

Whether you love her or you hate her, nobody can deny it: Mone is a money-maker. She draws eyes to anything she's involved in, so putting her name in the AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship scene is absolutely going to help AEW's women's tag team division start off on a strong foundation. Considering how undervalued, poorly booked, and wishy-washy women's tag team wrestling is in the mainstream, this is a huge opportunity for AEW to stand out. I'm cautiously optimistic, considering AEW's track record when it comes to women's booking, but there is a huge opportunity there if AEW locks in and puts effort into their women's tag division. Involving Mone is a step in the right direction.

Who knows? Maybe Mone will get a shiny new title (and a new friend) out of this.

Written by Angeline Phu

Hated: Don Callis Family Takeover Becoming Too Much

The Don Callis Family keeps growing, and it's getting to the point of ridiculous now, if it wasn't already. The faction got two new members tonight, one return and one debut, which would be fine if it didn't feel like everyone returning or debuting on AEW in the last few months was aligning themselves with Don Callis. The manager himself gets good heel heat, and it's not to the point of "go-away heat" for me yet, but if this man takes up any more time on commentary, it might happen. I think the faction is also to the point where Callis doesn't always need to insert himself into a backstage segment or come out to the ring. There are plenty of guys who are actual wrestlers to back up the other guys now. We know who is the brains behind the operation.

As I sit here and think about where both Andrade and El Clon would fit into the AEW picture right now, I'm left clueless. It almost seems as though if someone feels directionless, or there's even the slightest chance that they might be, they're just put with Callis. Andrade, I suppose I can understand and give a little bit of a break too, because I really have no clue where he would fit in to AEW during his second time around, and honestly, El Clon just really got the short end of the stick with Hologram's injury, which is extremely unfortunate.

The faction is just so massive that not everyone gets television time on AEW's flagship show on Wednesdays, which I fully admit is the only AEW I watch on a weekly basis, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. When they all united on the ramp following El Clon's distraction in the TNT Championship match to help out Kyle Fletcher, poor Lance Archer and Rocky Romero were just hanging out in the back. In Romero's case, I honestly forget he's in the Callis Family at points.

I had to laugh, because during our last glimpse of the Callis Family tonight in a backstage segment, Don said something along the lines of, "just when you think we're down and out!" and, no, Don, I can't say I've even been given a single second to ever assume that about your ever-growing stable. I don't think you can be down and out if you just keep growing in numbers.

I initially wasn't too thrilled about all this Callis Family on tonight's "Dynamite" without any Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita tension, but thankfully, we at least got that in the backstage segment. We found out they'll be taking on Brodido next week, so at least that's one thing involving Callis and his army of a faction next week we can look forward to. Fletcher, Okada, and Takeshita are the best things going in the Callis Family right now, but they certainly have the numbers for someone else to step up to the plate, as well.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Loved: Andrade is All Elite (Again)

In perhaps the funniest set of circumstances, Andrade is 'All Elite' all over again after making his return to attack Kenny Omega and join the ever-growing Don Callis Family.

Yes, that same Andrade who was only wrestling for WWE at SummerSlam in August. That same Andrade who had left AEW at the close of 2023 to rejoin WWE at the beginning of 2024. That same Andrade ,who had left WWE in 2021 just to debut a few months later in AEW. Yes, that Andrade. He is the first wrestler to leave WWE, go to AEW, return to WWE, only to then return to AEW, and it came as a genuine surprise to see him unmask in the ring.

It should go without saying by this stage, but Andrade is legitimately a great worker, and the promise of a rematch with Omega for the first time in AEW is a good one. But the very fact that in this current climate, they managed to secure one of the only legitimate surprises available at this time. So much had been built towards with Omega, first the match pitting him alongside Brodido against the Young Bucks and Josh Alexander, which saw him continue his proxy feud with the Don Callis Family and continue the arc between him and the Bucks as part of The Elite.

Then, with Jack Perry and Luchasaurus being the ones to make the save, he had a chance to address his issues with Perry stemming from his time in The Elite after Omega was ejected from the group. And then he cut a promo about looking forward, while keeping what came before in mind, only to then be confronted by a man who encapsulates that idea.

Both a member of the past and one would presume a member of the foreseeable future, someone who had been widely rumored to want to leave towards the end of his first run, with the intent of returning to WWE, to then do so, and in many eyes burn the bridge with Tony Khan's company. Now he has returned, and it was a legitimate surprise. One that makes all the sense in the world in hindsight, but in the moment yielded such a "What the f***?" reaction, it has to be commended. And so it is. In any case, Andrade is a good get for any company, and I am a sucker for a redemption or unfinished business story. Her,e there is both, so it gets my love.

Written by Max Everett

Hated: Jumping The Gun On Storm Vs. Stat

Before I get into my problem with what Kris Statlander is doing at AEW WrestleDream on October 18, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Christian Cage, you will pay for your crimes.

That one little voice message from way back in 2001 gave birth to the "WHAT?!" chant, which was fun for a few weeks, but has now been adopted by the absolute worst fans imaginable because who actually yells out "WHAT?!" during a "Timeless" Toni Storm promo? The woman is one of the best promos in the entire business, and you respond to her by shouting a four-letter word that may as well be a slur when it comes to wrestling crowds? Are you actually serious? What's actually funny is one of our staff members was in attendance for tonight's show, so if you see a job listing for Wrestling Inc. in the coming days, weeks, or months, it's because I've had a stern word with that young man about his behavior...we love you, really, dude.

ANYWAY, back at All Out, Statlander pulled off what many people considered to be an upset by becoming the AEW Women's World Champion, a move that I was pleasantly surprised by but also very excited as the idea of Storm's "Timeless" character being without the title for the first time in a long time has a lot of mileage to it. After all, the character was literally born out of the fact that she went mad in 2023 after losing the title to Hikaru Shida. However, Storm issued a challenge to Statlander for a title match at WrestleDream with the notion that she might have gotten the job done in a four-way match, but one-on-one would be a different story. Statlander would accept, which at this moment in time seems a little uninspiring.

Jumping right into the first-time meeting between Storm and Statlander in a one-on-one setting is exciting, don't get me wrong. However, giving it a little more time to build, allowing Storm to really dive into the depths of her character as she grows more and more desperate to get back the one thing that keeps her sane, gets somewhat lost when you do the match right away. As for Statlander, I personally feel like a one-on-one defense with Marina Shafir would have played out more naturally, giving the Death Riders trying to recruit Statlander a much more solid conclusion rather than just having Statlander flip off Jon Moxley and run away. It would have also given Shafir a marquee match that she thoroughly deserves after being a mainstay on TV for the past 12 months.

As I've mentioned, Storm and Statlander are exciting and will certainly be a good match when it happens at WrestleDream, so this isn't really a hate, but more of a letdown. There's a lot of meat on the bone when it comes to what you can do with these two women, but AEW may have jumped the gun by booking this match so early.

Written by Sam Palmer

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