AEW Dynamite – “Beach Break”
May 14, 2025
By: John Siino
NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Commentary: Excalibur, Ian Riccaboni & Taz
RESULTS:
- Adam Page & Will Ospreay over Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita via pinfall (18:34) (RECOMMENDED)
- Ricochet over Zach Gowen via pinfall (7:22)
- AEW World Tag Team Title Eliminator: Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin over Darius Martin & Dante Martin via referee stoppage (4:26)
- AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator: Mina Shirakawa over Toni Storm, AZM, Skye Blue via pinfall (12:11)
- AEW World Title Steel Cage: Jon Moxley (c) over Samoa Joe via pinfall (14:54)
Will Ospreay & Adam Page vs. The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander)
Don Callis joined the commentary table for this match. Will Ospreay and Adam Page started by trying to figure out who would start, but it ended up being Ospreay against Konosuke Takeshita. They start by running the ropes and trying to take each other down, as Ospreay has Takeshita downed and cowardly before tagging out to Josh Alexander. Ian Riccaboni points out how Ospreay avoids the tag out from Page, as he fights off Alexander & Takeshita in their corner. The heels take over and double-team Ospreay as Bryce Remsburg has to hold Page back. Page finally gets tagged in and takes out Alexander off the apron before diving onto him and staying on top of Takeshita, teasing the Buckshot Lariat. Alexander holds Page back from hitting it, as he pushes him off and hits Takeshita with a Death Valley Driver for a two. After a bit of hesitation, Page tags out to Ospreay as they double-team on Takeshita. All four start battling on the outside, as Alexander holds Ospreay & Page for Takeshita to dive onto them as we head to break.
When we return, Ospreay is in and takes out both Alexander & Takeshita before hitting a standing Sky Twister on Alexander for a two. Page & Ospreay start working together and hit dives on the outside, before Ospreay hits a springboard forearm on Alexander for two. Ospreay & Takeshita go at it, with Takeshita dropping Ospreay extremely hard onto his head at one point that seems to get him a bit loopy. Alexander & Takeshita follow with German Suplexes on Ospreay, followed by a ripcord elbow from Takeshita for a two-count. Ospreay escapes with a poison rana and hits a pair of Os Cutters, getting a two on Alexander. As Ospreay sets up for the Hidden Blade, Page tags himself in, tells Ospreay to take out Takeshita, and then almost hits Ospreay with the Buckshot Lariat. Ospreay then almost hits Page with the Hidden Blade, before he and Page double-team on Alexander, hitting a Hidden Blade/Buckshot Lariat combo as Page gets the pin and the win.
Winners: Adam Page & Will Ospreay by pinfall at 18:34
Page & Ospreay go face-to-face after the match, before getting attacked from behind by Takeshita & Alexander. As Ospreay fights them off, he accidentally hits Page, as Remsburg has to keep them apart.
Top Flight Fight
We see a video for tonight’s main event between Jon Moxley & Samoa Joe, before going to Alicia Atout, who’s in the back with Top Flight. Dante Martin starts screaming at MJF for attacking them last week, as Darius Martin says they want the titles from The Hurt Syndicate. Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara walk in and say they like their fire and that they both will be watching.
Ricochet vs. Zach Gowen
Ricochet comes out with Zach Gowen’s prosthetic leg, as Gowen comes out on crutches before greeting his family, who were ringside. (Sii-note: This is Gowen’s first significant national televised match since TNA iMPACT from May 27th, 2005). Gowen stays low on the ground which pisses Ricochet off as he escapes to the outside where Gowen dives onto him. Ricochet gains the upper hand as they keep brawling on the outside heading into commercial.
Upon return, they are both in the ring as Gowen sends Ricochet to the outside. Gowen heads to the top rope and tries a DDT, but Ricochet stops him and drives him into the corner. Ricochet follows with a springboard 450, but Gowen kicks out at two. Ricochet heads to the top rope and hits a Shooting Star Press, but Gowen kicks out again. Ricochet hits the Vertigo, as Gowen kicks out yet again. Ricochet starts getting frustrated and pulls his golden scissors from the turnbuckle, but Rick Knox takes them away from him. During this, Gowen takes out Ricochet with his prosthetic leg, but Ricochet kicks out. Gowen follows with a top rope moonsault, but Ricochet dodges it and hits the Spirit Gun to pick up the pin and the win.
Winner: Ricochet by pinfall at 7:22
Ricochet keeps attacking Gowen, hitting another Spirit Gun before Mark Briscoe runs out to chase Ricochet away.
MJF Is Hurting For An Answer
Renee Paquette is in the back with MJF and asks him how he’ll feel if he gets a yes tonight from The Hurt Syndicate. MJF talks about his world title reign, where everyone had to admit he was the greatest wrestler on Earth, and he wants that back. MJF says the landscape has changed as the roster is stacked from top to bottom. He says he doesn’t like to wrestle unless he wins, and if he joins The Hurt Syndicate, they will be unstoppable, and his becoming a two-time champion will become an inevitability. Renee asks what would happen if they say, as The Hurt Syndicate walks in, and tell MJF to join them in the ring after their match, which is up next.
AEW World Tag Team Championship Eliminator Match: The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) (w/ MVP) vs. Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) (w/ Leila Grey)
As soon as this match starts, Top Flight uses their speed to go after The Hurt Syndicate, taking out Bobby Lashley on the outside. They go after Shelton Benjamin next, as Dante Martin hits a top rope splash but only gets a two. Lashley catches a diving Dante and sends him into the steel post as Benjamin sends Dante Martin to Lashley, who drives him into the barricades on the outside. Benjamin stays on top of Darius with release German Suplexes. The Hurt Syndicate stays on top here as Lashley puts the Hurt Lock on Dante as the referee calls the match off.
Winner: The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) by referee stoppage at 4:26
The Hurt Syndicate’s Next Challengers
Lashley keeps the move on after as Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara make their way out and tell Lashley to stop as he looks like an asshole and to pick on someone their own size. MVP says he has a lot of respect for Rhodes and tells him to cut to the chase. Rhodes points to his titles and says it’s obvious what they want. CRU comes out and says we have an ‘old man and little buddy’ trying to be heroes and tells them to get to stepping. Lio Rush says they don’t disrespect as they have old business in the ring, saying they beat Top Flight and ask The Hurt Syndicate a tag team title shot, based on Rush’s history with Lashley. Rhodes says they aren’t cutting in line, and they will learn some respect for their elders as they get in CRU’s face. MVP says he has other business to attend to, and tells them to fight it out on Collision as the winner gets a tag team title opportunity at Double or Nothing. MVP says a producer told him they have 30 seconds until commercial break, as he cues it up, telling everyone that MJF will get what he deserves when we come back.
Three Thumbs Up
After the break, MJF’s music hits, but he doesn’t come out as Benjamin heads to the back to find him. We see Tony Khan, who points out that MJF is hiding behind him, as Benjamin grabs MJF and brings him to the ring. MVP calls this MJF’s moment of reckoning and hopes he’s ready. MVP and Benjamin put their thumbs up, as Lashley goes and puts his arm around MJF, milks the thumb before putting it up, as Benjamin was teasing, attacking him from behind. MJF gets excited and hugs Lashley. MVP says that next week, we will see the official contract signing for MJF to join The Hurt Syndicate.
AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator Four Way Match: Toni Storm (w/ Luther) vs. AZM vs. Mina Shirakawa vs. Skye Blue
As AZM makes her way out, they show highlights of her taking the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship from Mercedes Mone at NJPW Resurgence. Mina Shirakawa comes out with new music which resembles WAP by Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion (Sii-note: Not as catchy as her old song, which I already miss). Skye Blue comes out to a big reaction, returning here to her hometown, having her first match since July 2024 from a broken fibula injury. Mina & AZM go at it in the ring, as Blue & Toni Storm take it to the outside. Storm & Mina go face-to-face but get attacked from behind by Blue & AZM before they can do anything, as we see another toxic spider crawl down the screen. Storm & Mina start going at it before AZM joins in as they start double-teaming Mina. Mina fights them off and puts a figure-four on Storm, but she’s able to grab the bottom rope to break out of it. They all start fighting on the apron and on the outside, as Blue jumps off the top rope to dive onto all three opponents, as we head to commercial.
We return, as Blue & Mina are trading forearms. Storm joins in and notices all three opponents are in the corners and delivers hip attacks to all of them, before they all start taking turns on Storm, sending her to the outside. Storm re-enters and goes after everyone, hitting a Sky High on Skye Blue. Mina starts attacking Blue, but gets stopped with a kick and a Code Blue attempt, but AZM gets involved to stop it. Storm takes out AZM with a Storm Zero, but Mina breaks up the pin attempt. Storm & Mina go back and forth, before Mina traps on a small package to get the pin and the win. (Sii-note: We hear Mina’s old music as it looks like it wasn’t just me that didn’t appreciate the change.)
Winner: Mina Shirakawa by pinfall at 12:11
We get the graphic that the match is made official for Double or Nothing, with Toni Storm defending the AEW Women’s World Championship against Mina Shirakawa. As AZM was getting carried out, Mercedes Mone runs out and takes her out before putting on The Statement Maker, yelling that AZM stole her title. Jamie Hayter then runs out and attacks Mercedes, but before she can hit the Hayterade, security runs out to separate them.
Taz Speaks On Sabu
Commentary starts talking about Sabu while showing highlights of his career, before Excalibur hands it off to Taz. Taz is a bit choked up as he talks about Sabu, saying that everything they wrestled, he brought the best out of Taz. Taz says Sabu was loved by peers and says he will miss him, as they all throw up their fingers in the air. Beautiful moment.
Renee is in the back with MJF & MVP as MJF says he has to have his lawyer look over the contract, as he brings in Mark Sterling. MVP isn’t too happy about this as MJF says it’s just business, before being understanding and walking off with MJF.
Nigel Tries To Apologize
Tony Schiavone is in the ring with Nigel McGuinness, who starts apologizing for getting in the ring on AEW Collision, and says he needs to apologize to Daniel Garcia, as Garcia makes his way out. Nigel tells Garcia he cost him his match due to his ego, and apologizes from the bottom of his heart, and realizes his place is on commentary and not in the ring. Garcia tells Nigel to keep his apology to himself, as he did what he was supposed to do and stood up for himself to FTR, who disrespected him. They said FTR tried to end his and Cope’s careers, and if given the opportunity, will try and end Nigel’s career as well. Garcia says he will fight FTR with or without Nigel, and says it would be an honor for him to stand by his side and fight FTR with him. Stokely makes his way out and asks Nigel what his problem is, as Nigel says that when someone puts their hands on him, he puts his hands on them back. Stokely says when you do something bad, there are repercussions and consequences, and he and FTR decided that Nigel’s punishment should be getting into the ring with FTR in an official match. Nigel says that FTR would kill them, and Garcia says he is right and they *might* kill them, but they have overcome the odds for their entire careers and suggests they take on FTR. Stokely asks Nigel if he really thinks he can beat FTR, as he barely beat Hepatitis, and on cue, FTR attacks Garcia & Nigel from behind, but before they can hit the spike piledriver, Matt Menard runs out with a crowbar to chase them away.
AEW World Championship Steel Cage Match: Jon Moxley (c) (w/ Marina Shafir) vs. Samoa Joe
Jon Moxley tries to corner Samoa Joe to start the match, but he fights him off with chops and headbutts before he starts sending Moxley into the steel cage. They start trading chops before Joe hits a boot wash to Moxley in the corner. They start trading forearms, before Moxley knocks Joe down with a big boot as we go to commercial.
When we return, we see that Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Powerhouse Hobbs & Willow Nightingale have all come down ringside, as Moxley is gushing blood down his face. Joe stays on top with a senton, but the bloody Moxley kicks out at two. Joe follows with a power bomb, before putting on the STF that he transitions into a Crossface. Moxley grabs the bottom rope to break up the submission. (Sii-note: I was always under the impression that rope breaks didn’t count in cage matches and the crowd thinks the same, as they start chanting ‘Ref, you suck’). They counter a bit back-and-forth, before Moxley puts on the Bulldog Choke, but as Paul Turner raises Joe’s arms, he gets it up on the third attempt and hulks up. Moxley hits the Paradigm Shift, but Joe kicks out right before the three. Joe reverses Moxley and puts on the Coquina Clutch, but the Death Riders start climbing the cage, as Willow & Hobbs stop them, with Hobbs sending Yuta right onto the timekeeper’s table. We see a man in a hoodie who hands Moxley his briefcase, which he uses to take out Joe and pick up the pin for the win.
Winner: Jon Moxley by pinfall at 14:54, to retain
It’s revealed that the man is Gabe Kidd from NJPW, as Hobbs goes after him, just for Claudio to attack him from behind with a chair. Kidd hits Hobbs with a low blow and joins the Death Riders in attacking Hobbs & Willow. As Kidd helps Moxley up, The Young Bucks make their way out. As they go to extend their hands to Moxley, Kenny Omega makes his way out and takes out Yuta & Claudio before he tries to go into the ring, just to be taken out by Kazuchika Okada. Okada sends Omega into the ring, as they lower the cage back down, as the Death Riders, Kidd & The Young Bucks start attacking Omega & Joe. Mike Bailey shows up and kicks Okada all the way to the back during this. Swerve Strickland makes his way out and climbs the cage to break all this up with a Super Swerve Stomp. They lift the cage back up with a comedically huge remote control as the heels all escape. Swerve gets on the mic and throws out the challenge to an Anarchy in the Arena match between himself, Joe, Omega, Hobbs & Willow vs. the Death Riders, Kidd & The Young Bucks.
Collision ‘Beach Break’ Line-Up
- A tribute to Steve ‘Mongo’ McMichael
- Kyle Fletcher vs. AR Fox
- Anna Jay vs. Megan Bayne
- Blake Christian vs. Mike Bailey
- AEW World Tag Team Title #1 Contender’s Match: The Sons of Texas (Sammy Guevara & Dustin Rhodes) vs. CRU (Action Andretti & Lio Rush)
- Bryan Keith & Big Bill vs. Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona)
