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Write Forever: It's all about the hair on AEW Dynamite for May 7

Write Forever: It's all about the hair on AEW Dynamite for May 7

With just a few weeks away from Double or Nothing and the finals of the Owen Hart tournament and one week away from Samoa Joe challenging Jon Moxley for the World Title in a steel cage, we've got some ground to cover before we know who is going to the main event of All In.

Tonight, there are no titles on the line but two Eliminators with Toni Storm in a four-way match against Thunder Rosa, Anna Jay, and Penelope Ford and Kazuchika Okada against Kevin Knight. I could see Thunder Rosa sneaking out a pin on Penelope or something to get a match against Toni since, as we've been reminded many times, Rosa was never beat for the World Title.

Kevin Knight doesn't have much of a shot against Okada with Okada having Kenny Omega in his sights, but the match should be excellent if Okada gets out of first gear. Or if Okada dyes his hair red and brings balloons to the ring – either way.

What to do with Toni Storm?

In what I must stress is not a complaint, I ask: what are we doing with Toni Storm? Storm obviously has the winner of the Owen Hart Cup at All In, but as of yet has nothing lined up for Double or Nothing. She's been powering through Eliminator matches and coming out on top each time, meaning she has no clear opponent lined up for the PPV in a few weeks.

I think it's too close to Double or Nothing to expect a new face to show up to challenge Toni or anything like that. So, is she going to burn herself out on Eliminator matches and slip up in the next week or two to be presented with a challenger at DoN?

Or, is she just going to keep on keeping on without a blemish to her record? And, what does it look like from May-July once Storm has a clear idea of who her challenger will be in Texas?

I'll be curious to see where we end up with Toni for Double or Nothing and I'm intrigued by the recent uptick in Eliminator matches. We've now seen Lady Frost, Thunder Rosa, Anna Jay, and Penelope Ford essentially put out of contention for Storm's title – so who's next? Kris Statlander? Willow Nightingale? A returning Mina Shirakawa?

For now, I'm enjoying the ride especially when Toni is given a chance to shout "I'M HERE AND I'M QUEER" into a microphone on live television.

The power of the hometown pop

Tonight, in Detroit, Rhino made his AEW debut challenging Nick Wayne for the ROH TV Title in a losing effort. But that pop! The crowd was fired up for Rhino from entrance to exit and highlighted something that AEW does very well and bucks the trends of the 20-some-odd years of mainstream American pro-wrestling that predated All Elite Wrestling.

For ages, it was commonplace in WWE that if there was a show in your hometown you were getting, at the least, beaten and, at the most, embarrassed. It felt like the exceptions here were few and far between.

AEW does things differently in these situations, though. They often, and happily, don't humiliate people in their hometowns. In fact, they often even let people go over in their hometowns!

The reason this feels important is because it highlights a thing about wrestling that a lot of people don't understand: it's not complicated. Wrestling is easy, unless you needlessly complicate it feed whatever weird humiliation fetish you have.

There's nothing easier than putting people out there in front of their hometown people and letting them win a big match or, in the case of Rhino, have a flashy debut alongside an old friend. There were already rumblings that Rhino would be involved in the coming 2300 Arena residency and it was smart to get him on TV ahead of that in front of a crowd that would make sure he looked like a big deal.

A fresh feel up and down the card

With just a few debuts and returns, much of the show feels fresher than it has in quite some time. Once Ricochet's heel turn hit, he felt like a much-needed little dipshit to oppose Swerve Strickland. With the Young Bucks back and teaming with Ricochet, things continue to feel a bit shaken up with a "what's old is new again" type of flavor. Plus, Ricochet gets to do a lot of hairplay with the Bucks's lustrous locks.

Elsewhere on the card, "Speedball" Mike Bailey debuted and was immediately over with the TV audience. I'd been critical of his work on the indies where I thought everything just felt a little too choreographed or something. There was just something about his offense that didn't click for me. In AEW, though, Bailey is an instant delight and feels unlike anyone else on the roster.

Similarly, Kevin Knight may have lucked into the best first few months of anyone in AEW in a long time. He had a solid debut against Jay White but then ended up taking Jay's spot in the Owen Hart Cup when Jay went down with an injury. This gave Knight an immediate PPV match with Will Ospreay to catch the crowd's attention yet again. What would the plan have been had Jay White not been injured? As that lollipop commercial likes to tell us, the world may never know.

With Jamie Hayter back to her old ways of absolutely beating the shit out of people and being incredibly cocky along the way, the women's division feels like it's ready to kick off in a big way outside of the Toni Storm Extended Universe. Hayter and Mercedes Moné are set for Double or Nothing and with the quality of Mercedes' matches and her ability to bump like a maniac, I think we're gonna see some real sicko shit in Arizona.

Even simple moves like an FTR heel turn and the return of Stokely Hathaway to manage them gives new life to Dax and Cash while opening up the door for new feuds and matches in the tag division, not to mention a new layer being peeled back on Daniel Garcia who is demonstrating conflicting emotions due to his relationship with FTR.

I don't really know how it feels to the general AEW viewing audience, but this feels like the "hottest" and "freshest" AEW has felt in quite some time. The television hit a real lull earlier in the year but the past few months have been filled with shows whose baseline is "pretty good", and there have been few episodes of AEW television that have just been "pretty good."

Athena's Dropkick Power Rankings

This week, Samoa Joe and Claudio Castagnoli took turns whipping each other into the video barricade. The video barricade did not break into static. We can now update our Athena's Dropkick Power Rankings thusly:

  1. Athena's Dropkick (victim: Mercedes Moné)
  2. (Tied For Last) Brody King splashing people into the barricade; Hangman Adam Page throwing Kyle Fletcher into the barricade; Samoa Joe and Claudio Castagnoli whipping each other into the barricade

Wrapping Up

Will Ospreay is now in full 90s Home Improvement haircut mode and it's unsettling. It's... not a good look. Some of us just shouldn't straighten our hair. I did it for years! I flat-ironed ths shit out of my hair all through college! It wasn't until years later that I learned how to work with my thick and wavy hair rather than working against it. Ospreay, get it together.

Hair aside (and Hangman has the better hair, not just because it's more like my own hair), Ospreay and Hanger had a good opening segment. Hangman is showing growth moving on from his blinding hatred of Swerve Strickland and Ospreay is ready to stake his claim as the number one guy in AEW. Those two are going to do ridiculous, stupid, amazing things at Double or Nothing.

The main event of Samoa Joe vs Claudio Castagnoli was fine but not a standout match for either guy. It had to go on last, I guess, to serve the purpose of a Death Riders swarm and a Powerhouse Hobbs save but it probably could have just as easily gone anywhere else on the show if there was any other match on the show that felt like a main event.

Collision is tomorrow night and it's looking good so far! Willow Nightingale vs Kris Statlander, Daniel Garcia vs one of the FTR Uncles, Mike Bailey vs Dralistico, and Anthony Bowens vs Lee Johnson. Not a bad start! And, of course, next week's Dynamite has the Joe/Mox steel cage match for the World Title – and with Joe and Hobbs taking Claudio out of the picture tonight, who's left to help Mox? Marina, Yuta... and Hook?


Best AEW Matches of 2025

Don't see a match on the list? It's not because I didn't see the match, but because I didn't do a write-up for that show for whatever reason (timing, schedules, etc.). This list is as comprehensive as it can be.

I've also decided to omit squashes from the list since they're just going to crowd space at the bottom.

  1. Toni Storm vs Mariah May: Women's World Title (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
  2. Swerve Strickland vs Ricochet (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
  3. "Hangman" Adam Page vs Orange Cassidy (Dynamite: January 1, 2025)
  4. Swerve Strickland vs Ricochet (Dynamite: February 5, 2025)
  5. Daniel Garcia vs Mark Briscoe: TNT Title (Collision: January 4, 2025)
  6. Konosuke Takeshita vs Orange Cassidy: International Title (Dynamite: February 26, 2025)
  7. Mercedes Moné vs Momo Watanabe: TBS Title (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
  8. Will Ospreay vs Kyle Fletcher (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
  9. Toni Storm vs Megan Bayne: World Title (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
  10. Mark Briscoe vs Kyle Fletcher (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
  11. Will Ospreay vs Konosuke Takeshita (Dynamite: April 16, 2025)
  12. Kenny Omega vs Ricochet vs Mike Bailey: International Title (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
  13. MJF vs "Hangman" Adam Page (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
  14. Mercedes Moné vs Athena (Dynamite: April 16, 2025)
  15. Death Riders vs Rated FTR: Trios Titles (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
  16. Will Ospreay vs Kevin Knight (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
  17. "Hangman" Adam Page vs Kyle Fletcher (Dynamite: April 30, 2025)
  18. Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight vs The Young Bucks (Dynamite: April 23, 2025)
  19. Konosuke Takeshita vs Kenny Omega: International Title (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
  20. "Hangman" Adam Page vs Josh Alexander (Dynamite: April 16, 2025)
  21. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, & Wheeler Yuta vs Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, & Powerhouse Hobbs: Trios Titles (Dynamite: April 16, 2025)
  22. Will Ospreay & Brody King vs Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander (Dynamite: April 23, 2025)
  23. FTR vs Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong (Collision: March 1, 2025)
  24. Rated FTR vs Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, & Wheeler Yuta (Dynamite: January 1, 2025)
  25. Roderick Strong vs Jay White vs Swerve Strickland (Dynamite: January 1, 2025)
  26. Toni Storm vs Kris Statlander vs Willow Nightingale (Dynamite: January 8, 2025)
  27. "Hangman" Adam Page vs Christopher Daniels: Texas Death Match (Collision: January 18, 2025)
  28. Willow Nightingale vs Kris Statlander (Collision: May 8, 2025)
  29. Daniel Garcia vs Dax Harwood (Collision: May 8, 2025)
  30. Toni Storm vs Queen Aminata (Dynamite: February 5, 2025)
  31. Jon Moxley vs Swerve Strickland: World Title (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
  32. Kazuchika Okada vs Brody King: Continental Championship (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
  33. Mark Briscoe vs Ricochet (Dynamite: April 23, 2025)
  34. Orange Cassidy, Powerhouse Hobbs, Mark Briscoe, & Will Ospreay vs Bryan Keith, Mark Davis, Lance Archer, & Brian Cage (Dynamite: March 5, 2025)
  35. Private Party vs The Hurt Syndicate: Tag Team Titles (Dynamite: January 22, 2025)
  36. PAC vs Komander (Collision: January 11, 2025)
  37. Will Ospreay vs Buddy Matthews (Dynamite: January 8, 2025)
  38. Komander vs Nick Wayne: ROH TV Title (Collision: April 17, 2025)
  39. Toni Storm vs Deonna Purrazzo (Collision: January 4, 2025)
  40. Women's Casino Gauntlet (Dynamite: January 15, 2025)
  41. Hounds of Hell vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher (Dynamite: February 5, 2025)
  42. Bryan Keith vs Will Ospreay (Dynamite: February 26, 2025)
  43. Young Bucks & Ricochet vs Swerve Strickland, Mark Briscoe, & Mike Bailey (Dynamite: May 7, 2025)
  44. CRU & Nick Wayne vs Top Flight & AR Fox (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
  45. Jon Moxley vs Powerhouse Hobbs: World Title (Dynamite: January 15, 2025)
  46. Swerve Strickland vs AR Fox (Dynamite: January 22, 2025)
  47. Daniel Garcia vs Adam Cole: TNT Title (Collision: March 1, 2025)
  48. Jamie Hayter vs Kris Statlander (Dynamite: April 23, 2025)
  49. Nick Wayne vs Jay Lethal: ROH TV Title (Dynamite: April 30, 2025)
  50. Will Ospreay, Kevin Knight, Mike Bailey, & Mark Briscoe vs CRU, The Beast Mortos, & Ricochet (Dynamite: April 9, 2025)
  51. FTR vs Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta: Mid-South Street Fight (Collision: February 1, 2025)
  52. Jamie Hayter vs Julia Hart (Dynamite: January 22, 2025)
  53. Toni Storm vs Queen Aminata (Collision: April 26, 2025)
  54. Cope vs PAC (Dynamite: January 22, 2025)
  55. Jamie Hayter vs Julia Hart (Dynamite: January 1, 2025)
  56. Will Ospreay vs Mark Davis (Dynamite: February 5, 2025)
  57. Kenny Omega, Mark Briscoe, Mike Bailey, & Kevin Knight vs Kazuchika Okada, Ricochet, & THe Young Bucks (Dynamite: April 30, 2025)
  58. Toni Storm vs Miyu Yamashita (Dynamite: April 30, 2025)
  59. Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander vs Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii (Collision: April 17, 2025)
  60. The Hurt Syndicate vs The Gates of Agony: Tag Team Titles (Dynamite: April 16, 2025)
  61. The Beast Mortos vs Mike Bailey (Dynamite: March 12, 2025)
  62. Toni Storm & Thunder Rosa vs Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford (Dynamite: March 26, 2025)
  63. Kazuchika Okada & Ricochet vs Brody King & Swerve Strickland (Dynamite: March 5, 2025)
  64. Brody King vs Kyle Fletcher (Dynamite: March 26, 2025)
  65. Lance Archer vs Kevin Knight (Collision: April 17, 2025)
  66. Rated FTR vs The Learning Tree (Collision: January 4, 2025)
  67. Private Party vs Lio Rush & Action Andretti: Tag Team Titles (Collision: January 4, 2025)
  68. Mercedes Moné & Harley Cameron vs Julia Hart & Kris Statlander (Collision: April 17, 2025)
  69. Daniel Garcia & FTR vs Undisputed Kingdom (Dynamite: February 26, 2025)
  70. Daniel Garcia vs Katsuyori Shibata: TNT Title (Collision: January 11, 2025)
  71. Daniel Garcia vs Kyle O'Reilly vs Lee Moriarty: TNT Title (Collision: February 1, 2025)
  72. Bandido & Powerhouse Hobbs vs Big Bill & Bryan Keith (Collision: March 1, 2025)
  73. Men's Casino Gauntlet Match (Dynamite: January 8, 2025)
  74. Cope vs Big Bill (Collision: January 11, 2025)
  75. Mariah May vs Harley Cameron (Collision: January 11, 2025)
  76. Will Ospreay & Kevin Knight vs Blake Christian & Lee Johnson (Dynamite: April 2, 2025)
  77. Toni Storm vs Penelope Ford vs Thunder Rosa vs Anna Jay (Dynamite: May 7, 2025)
  78. Samoa Joe & Hook vs Kip Sabian & Nick Wayne (Collision: February 1, 2025)
  79. Swerve Strickland vs Clark Connors (Collision: March 1, 2025)
  80. Samoa Joe vs Claudio Castagnoli (Dynamite: May 7, 2025)
  81. Kenny Omega vs Brian Cage (Dynamite: January 15, 2025)
  82. Hook vs Christian Cage (Dynamite: January 15, 2025)
  83. Julia Hart vs Queen Aminata (Collision: March 1, 2025)
  84. Daniel Garcia vs Lee Moriarty: TNT Title (Collision: March 8, 2025)
  85. Swerve Strickland & Willow Nightingale vs Jon Moxley & Marina Shafir (Dynamite: April 2, 2025)
  86. Brody King vs Lance Archer (Dynamite: April 2, 2025)
  87. Will Hobbs vs Mark Davis (Dynamite: March 26, 2025)
  88. The Outrunners vs Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta (Collision: January 11, 2025)
  89. Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, & Roderick Strong vs Lee Moriarty & The Infantry (Collision: January 18, 2025)
  90. Julia Hart vs Harley Cameron (Collision: January 18, 2025)
  91. Rated FTR, The Outrunners, & Powerhouse Hobbs vs Death Riders & The Learning Tree (Collision: January 18, 2025)
  92. Cope vs Wheeler Yuta (Dynamite: March 5, 2025)
  93. Mark Davis vs Mark Briscoe (Collision: March 15, 2025)
  94. Ricochet vs Angelico (Collision: May 8, 2025)
  95. Chris Jericho vs Bandido: Mask vs ROH World Title (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
  96. Hologram vs Dralistico (Collision: March 8, 2025)
  97. Mark Briscoe vs Konosuke Takeshita (Dynamite: March 26, 2025)
  98. Cash Wheeler vs PAC (Collision: April 5, 2025)
  99. Kris Statlander vs Thunder Rosa (Dynamite: April 9, 2025)
  100. Kenny Omega vs Blake Christian (Dynamite: March 26, 2025)
  101. The Hurt Syndicate vs The Outrunners: Tag Team Titles (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
  102. Max Caster vs RUSH (Collision: February 1, 2025)
  103. Bobby Lashley vs Mark Briscoe (Dynamite: January 8, 2025)
  104. Private Party & Mark Briscoe vs Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Lashley, & MVP (Dynamite: January 15, 2025)
  105. Serena Deeb vs Momo Watanabe (Collision: March 8, 2025)
  106. Kazuchika Okada vs Kevin Knight (Dynamite: May 7, 2025)
  107. Orange Cassidy vs Hechicero (Dynamite: March 12, 2025)
  108. Mercedes Moné vs Julia Hart (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
  109. Mike Bailey vs Dralistico (Collision: May 8, 2025)
  110. Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii vs Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita (Collision: April 5, 2025)
  111. Adam Cole vs Claudio Castagnoli: TNT Title (Collision: April 17, 2025)
  112. Thunder Rosa & Kris Statlander vs Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford (Dynamite: March 5, 2025)
  113. Kazuchika Okada vs Tomohiro Ishii: Continental Championship (Collision: January 18, 2025)
  114. FTR vs Undisputed Kingdom (Collision: March 15, 2025)
  115. The Outrunners vs Premier Athletes (Collision: March 8, 2025)
  116. Adam Copeland vs Claudio Castagnoli (Dynamite: April 2, 2025)
  117. Bandido vs Dralistico: ROH World Title (Collision: April 26, 2025)
  118. Ricochet vs Katsuyori Shibata (Collision: March 15, 2025)
  119. Top Flight vs CRU (Collision: April 5, 2025)
  120. Toni Storm vs Penelope Ford (Dynamite: April 2, 2025)
  121. Swerve Strickland vs Blake Christian (Collision: April 26, 2025)
  122. The Outrunners, Bandido, & AR Fox vs Roppongi Vice, Kyle Fletcher, & Lance Archer (Collision: May 8, 2025)
  123. Top Flight vs CRU: Tornado Tag Match (Collision: April 26, 2025)
  124. Mike Bailey vs Dralistico (Collision: April 5, 2025)
  125. Samoa Joe & Hook vs Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta (Dynamite: April 9, 2025)
  126. Jon Moxley vs Adam Copeland: World Title (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
  127. Mercedes Moné & Harley Cameron vs Athena & Julia Hart (Collision: April 5, 2025)
  128. Jon Moxley vs Katsuyori Shibata (Dynamite: April 9, 2025)
  129. Top Flight vs CRU: Tornado Tag Match (Collision: April 26, 2025)
  130. The Hurt Syndicate vs The Learning Tree: Tag Team Titles (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
  131. Anthony Bowens vs Lee Johnson (Collision: May 8, 2025)
  132. Chris Jericho vs Dax Harwood (Collision: January 11, 2025)
  133. Nick Wayne vs Rhino: ROH TV Title (Dynamite: May 7, 2025)
  134. Thunder Rosa vs Megan Bayne (Collision: March 15, 2025)
  135. Wheeler Yuta vs Willie Mack (Collision: March 1, 2025)
  136. Top Flight & Hologram vs The Infantry & Lee Moriarty (Collision: March 15, 2025)
  137. Willow Nightingale vs Penelope Ford (Dynamite: March 12, 2025)
  138. The Acclaimed vs The Hurt Syndicate (Dynamite: January 1, 2025)
  139. Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong vs The Infantry (Collision: March 8, 2025)
  140. Komander vs Dante Martin vs Brian Cage vs The Beast Mortos (Collision: January 4, 2025)
  141. Daniel Garcia vs Adam Cole: TNT Title (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
  142. Murder Machines vs The Outrunners (Dynamite: February 26, 2025)
  143. The Outrunners vs Chris Jericho & Bryan Keith (Collision: February 1, 2025)
  144. Hologram & Powerhouse Hobbs vs Brian Cage & Dralistico (Dynamite: March 12, 2025)
  145. Taya Valkyrie vs Harley Cameron (Collision: February 1, 2025)
  146. Deonna Purrazzo vs Harley Cameron (Dynamite: February 26, 2025)
  147. Max Caster vs Konosuke Takeshita (Dynamite: March 12, 2025)
  148. Murder Machines vs Top Flight (Collision: January 18, 2025)
  149. Jeff Jarrett vs Aaron Solo (Collision: January 4, 2025)

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