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Write Forever: Toni Got Mina on AEW Dynamite for May 21

Write Forever: Toni Got Mina on AEW Dynamite for May 21

Sometimes life gets in the way of writing your bullshit about professional wrestling, and life got in the way the past couple of weeks. But we're here now with an AEW PPV and a full-week's staycation to look forward to, with one last Dynamite left to go!

The announced matches are few and far between for tonight's show with a lot of the card made up of talking segments to build toward Double or Nothing. And you better believe we're getting another MJF/Hurt People segment so we can drag that shit out even more! Thank god!

Over the past few episodes I've not written about, we've seen the drama build between Will Ospreay and Hangman Page and Mercedes Moné and Jamie Hayter ahead of their Owen Hart Cup finals and tonight will (probably) be the final stop for those four before Sunday's PPV.

It's Wednesday and that's almost as good a night for fighting as Saturday – let's go, girls!

A long, long opening segment

Will Ospreay was back at it again with his god damned straight hair and I've had enough of it! For months I'd been sure that Ospreay was being built up as the guy to win The Owen and unseat Jon Moxley as World Champion. Not only has the story with Hangman Page started to plant seeds of doubt in my head, but Ospreay's desire for straight, 90's teen boy hair has almost entirely soured me on the idea.

Hangman Page, standing there with natural curls cropped shaggily falling onto the shoulders of a western button-up decorated with flowers, has earned his spot as the winner of The Owen and the next AEW World Champion.

In all honesty, I think I'm fine with whoever wins the tournament and will be happy with either guy taking the belt off of Moxley (finally). Ospreay seems like a more realistic choice with Forbidden Door in London coming up, but the story arc of Hangman may eclipse Ospreay's potential victory.

This segment felt like it went on just a bit too long. I'm never a fan of a show opening with a long talking segment; too much 2000s WWE programming will do that to a person. They probably both could have gotten their points across more quickly, and the crowd didn't really seem like they were hanging on every word the way they may have hoped – Ospreay especially.

The crowd respectfully popped for certain lines, but they were also somewhat respectfully quiet for much of the segment which didn't give this the gravitas it perhaps deserved. There was a certain electricity that was missing. It's possible the crowd simply didn't know who to cheer for and didn't necessarily want to boo either man. I don't see this being a problem once they actually get into the ring on Sunday, though.

A succinct final build to the women's Owen Hart Cup

I don't think there's much up in the air about how the women's Owen Hart Cup finals go on Sunday. If they're not building to Mercedes Moné vs Toni Storm at the biggest show of the year, then I'd be incredibly surprised. I wouldn't hate it! I'd just be very surprised.

Tonight, Jamie Hayter and Mercedes got their own talking segment to build to their match at Double or Nothing. Styled a little differently, sitting in chairs under spotlights in the center of the ring and moderated by Renee Paquette, Hayter and Moné traded barbs back and forth briefly.

Hayter cuts a measured, determined promo. She's maybe one of the most confident women on the mic in all of AEW. She said in her promo that she may be rough around the edges, but that's not truly how she comes off when she's cutting an impassioned promo. It's easy to believe what she says even if it doesn't come with a ton of flair or bombasity.

Mercedes deviated from her usual mode and cut a more focused, serious promo against Jamie rather than hitting the usual CEO high notes of yelling the name of the city she's in or leading the crowd in CEO chants. Earlier, Jamie pondered what would come next for her if she lost at Double or Nothing; Mercedes hit back saying that she was going to end Hayter's story on Sunday.

To retort, Hayter mentioned Mercedes' recent loss of the NJPW Strong Women's Championship suggesting that the CEO is fallible after all. Mercedes launched into an attach but ended up eating the Hayterade lariat to wrap the segment.

They did this in much less time but with just as much, if not more, impact than the men's opening segment. You don't need 20 minutes of talking if you're able to hit your points hard and quickly without a ton of added fluff. This may be the match I'm looking forward to most on Sunday, and if Hayter loses I'm hoping there are definitive and clear plans for her going forward because it'd be a shame for her to get lost in the shuffle without a match solidified for All In.

Wrapping Up

Shows since someone didn't say "bitch" during an MJF or Hurt People segment: 0

The whole MJF/Hurt People segment just sucked absolute ass. Nothing new, of course! I generally like MVP but he tends to run his mouth way too much in the ring going for not only the cheapest heat possible but also derailing the momentum of segments by interrupting people near-constantly. It's so annoying.

When we got the thumbs up last week, I thought that was finally the end of this whole will they/won't they deal and we'd finally get to move onto a more robust story. Nope! Gotta sign a contract and gotta do it in the ring and gotta make pained faces while doing it! Plus we need to get in a rambling, clunky Dustin Rhodes promo – proof that MJF & The Hurt People can drag down anybody and any segment that gets attached to them. Great work, guys!

Anthony Bowens should stop doing the scissor thing now that The Acclaimed are long dead. Instead, he should put all five fingers into the air and instead of scissoring Billy Gunn they should do the "this is the church, this is the steeple" thing with their hands.

I don't know what changed about Mina Shirakawa, but I've enjoyed her two matches since returning to AEW much more than I enjoyed any of the matches in her previous run. I can't say for sure what it is – it felt like perhaps she was holding back a bit before? This version of Mina is hitting harder and wrestling tighter.

Mina and Julia Hart in the main event was the absolute correct choice to close this show out. They kept the crowd in the palm of their hands the entire match and the post-match did a lot to add more intrigue to the match on Sunday, which required a bit of a quick build with the number one contender only coming into the picture last Saturday.

Plus, everyone was reminded of the relationship between Julia Hart and Skye Blue which is also a plus! Skye's adjacency to the House of Black/Hounds of Hell is a fun bit of character work and something we don't always get to see in wrestling, where for ages it was always "you're either in the group or against the group." Sometimes, though, you just get to be friends with someone who has other friends and that's nice, too.

A wrestling-lite episode of Dynamite but not a bad or boring show by any means! As usual, lots of moving parts and build toward Double or Nothing including a show-ending brawl to preview Anarchy in the Arena. Collision comes tomorrow with a ton of matches announced, so expect more fun wrestling and maybe less story build for DoN.


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

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