AEW/Lee South
Do you remember the third night of September?
Well, if you don’t, the Wrestling Inc. Staff have notes and opinions on Wednesday’s episode of “AEW Dynamite.” We will not be breaking down “what happened,” as that is already taken care of on the results page. Instead, this will focus on the good and the bad of the latest chapter in AEW’s 2300 Arena residency. There were plenty of highs, like the all-star main event, or Adam Priest getting some spotlight despite his freelance status, and plenty of lows, like whatever the hell was going on with FTR and C & C, or Mark Briscoe’s unsettling resilience.
Without further ado, let’s break down the best and the worst of the first “AEW Dynamite” of September.
Loved: Adam Priest getting some spotlight
AEW/HBOMax
For all of its faults, which there are a few, one of the ones plaguing AEW that ranks a little more in terms of worry factor comes in the form of how they handle their future.
For the sake of argument, let’s say that MJF and Darby Allin have been successes. They are certainly the foremost of the so-called ‘Four Pillars.’ But there were two more, and neither of them are presently on TV after a lengthy spell of doing everything imaginable to get someone to care about them.
They’re fine, but hardly a glowing endorsement for the future of the company. On the women’s side, everyone is both equally undervalued and well-presented because their sheer talent shines through in everything (I know, how ‘woke’ is that). But specifically in the case of the men, you have the Wheeler Yutas and the Daniel Garcias, undeniable talents who needed molding but have undergone a severe amount of battering, like to the extent where one couldn’t believe they’re not a loser. (And then there are the Action Andrettis, and I will not digress further).
So, taking that track record, what it is. There is an anxious anticipation over the newest star to enter that spotlight: Adam Priest. Of all those named before, earnestly and genuinely, the ceiling is a rung or two higher. He can work, and has the look of a Jamie Noble-Bryan Danielson love child – that is complimentary in the highest regard. FTR, again for all of their faults, have got it in their locker to make someone look really good – even themselves, wrestling gods willing – and they feel like a good match for his style; safe, solid workers who can anchor around his high spots.
At the very least, it all bodes really well that he is being put in this position – taking over a segment that was being used to build to a pay-per-view grudge match with Christian Cage and Adam Copeland. That in itself is a great omen for the near future, that he is in that conversation and trying to make a dialogue for himself. And whether he turns out to be an MJF-level or Daniel Garcia-level competitor is yet to be seen, but there at least seems to be the desire to test those waters – and I am here for it.
Written by Max Everett
Hated: Mark Briscoe Moves On
AEW/Ricky Havlik
Bringing up someone’s dead brother in a wrestling angle is tricky because, should the grieving brother not avenge his brother’s memory, it can be kinda weird when they move on to their next feud, tail between their legs, looking just a little “less than” after being unable to get revenge or even reach the level of violence he promised.
Mark Briscoe showed up on “Dynamite” on Wednesday, ready to call out Kyle Fletcher, and I was really just stuck here thinking about all the horrible things MJF said about Briscoe’s dead brother, and how Briscoe has seemingly put it all behind him. It’s the kind of thing an emotionally stable, balanced person would do, and none of those words describe Mark Briscoe. This is a man who promised to commit damnable acts in the name of avenging his brother’s name, and barely rose above the level of a hockey fight in his climactic battle with MJF.
Emotional violence works the same way as physical violence, if you’re going to promise a storyline revolving around opening familial wounds, then I’m going to expect more than just a simple blowoff match and everyone moves on. MJF said things that used to have men aiming pistols at each other in a field, and instead of embracing this, both men have seemingly moved on and put the incident behind them. It’s just disheartening and underwhelming when wrestling is emotionally balanced, especially from someone who has a proven track record of emotional and physical violence like Briscoe.
Written by Ross Berman
Loved: Nine Belts Moné Has Some New Challengers
AEW/Ricky Havlik
The opening contest for the September 3 episode of “AEW Dynamite” saw “The CEO” Mercedes Moné put her AEW TBS Championship on the line against Alex Windsor, with the English native looking to get her first taste of gold in her new home after getting a visual tap on the champion while the company was in Scotland.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t actually that high on Alex Windsor prior to her signing with AEW. The UK indie scene has a whole host of fantastic female wrestlers right now, and while her run in companies like RevPro had its moments, Windsor never really stood out to me personally as someone who could really elevate herself in a company like AEW, especially with the level of talent the company already has. Her match with Athena at Global Wars Australia for ROH was a fine showing, but nothing to really get me excited about her potentially making AEW her permanent home. That has drastically changed over the past few weeks.
Her work during AEW’s Chicago residency was nothing short of excellent, with the second match against Athena being the moment for me where the penny dropped and I fully understood what the appeal of her; she is incredibly good at this whole wrestling thing. Being in a division with some of the best in the world has improved her game massively in such a short space of time, and this match with Mercedes might be one of the best showings I’ve seen from Windsor so far.
As for Mercedes, she really made the little moments in this match count. The fact that she constantly had to go back to doing something as simple as pulling Windsor’s hair to get out of trouble was a fine detail that showed her intelligence in the ring, and kept Windsor looking strong, as it showed that she might genuinely have Moné’s number with enough momentum on her side. The match didn’t outstay its welcome, and even the ten-minute time call halfway through the match acted as a good fake-out as people automatically assumed that they would reach the time limit, making the eventual finish feel even more surprising. Perhaps this should have been the Forbidden Door match rather than the four-way that happened instead.
Then we get to the post-match stuff. It’s been so long since we’ve seen Riho that when her music hit, you can genuinely see people have a split second reaction of “wait, who is th–OH MY GOD IT’S RIHO!” Moné vs. Riho is a match that was teased all the way back at Moné’s debut for the company in March 2024, and we probably would have had it sooner had it not been for Riho breaking her arm on an episode of “AEW Collision” last summer. A great TV showing for Windsor, another excellent performance from “The CEO,” and a fresh new challenger to get people excited for All Out. A job well done on all fronts right here.
Written by Sam Palmer
Hated: Lazy Booking For A High Profile Match
AEW/Ricky Havlik
Whether you want to admit it or not, one of the things that AEW has done consistently is long-term storytelling, as is evident with stables such as The Death Riders and in recent storylines such as the one between “Hangman” Adam Page and Swerve Strickland. The storyline between Adam Copeland, Christian Cage, and FTR is another prime example of such, but their segment as part of the build for their All Out match tonight was not a prime example of the company being capable of doing it well.
Given the high-profile nature of the storyline, being the first match that was announced for All Out, and Copeland and Cage’s homecoming, AEW should be putting in a lot of effort to build up their tag team match against FTR. Instead, they opted to do nothing more than a brawl between all four men on the show in a segment that was originally advertised to be a promo from Cage and Copeland. There were so many avenues that AEW could’ve instead chosen to take to make it engaging and interesting to watch, but they instead chose to take the one that required the least amount of planning from a creative standpoint. It felt like it was really lazy booking, and there wasn’t any effort or care put into a storyline that deserves just that.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Loved: An All-Star Display In The Main Event
AEW/Ricky Havlik
Another day, another AEW all-star tag team match that delivers on multiple fronts. The concept of the multi-man tag team match has gotten a bad reputation in 2025 for the simple fact that some people think they are just thrown together for the sake of it, with some pockets of the internet wrestling community routinely throwing the old “where’s the story?” argument around social media whenever Tony Khan posts another all-star match graphic on his X account. If you are one of those people, firstly, don’t watch any NJPW “Road To” show because it’s literally just tag team matches, and secondly, do go and watch this match because it will almost certainly have you thinking differently.
To start off with, the match is a sprint from start to finish, not letting you catch your breath for a second as the action just keeps coming. All eight men are on top form in this one, and they all manage to have a decent share of the spotlight given how long the match ended up running for. Starting with The Young Bucks, we might genuinely be witnessing one of the most consistent and most entertaining stretches of Matt and Nick Jackson’s career right now, and it’s been in these all-star matches where they’ve had the chance to shine brightest. Josh Alexander has slowly been heating up over the past few weeks, probably because All Out is in Canada, but it’s at least good to see him mixing it up with the big stars of the company on a regular basis. As for Kyle Fletcher, we all know how high his ceiling is at the moment, and his heel work was able to give the heels heat at vital times, while also giving the babyfaces sympathy in the process.
For the good guys, JetSpeed has become two of the most reliable hands in all of AEW. It’s just a shame that their feud with The Hurt Syndicate stunted their momentum, as both individuals have always looked solid when paired up against The Young Bucks or The Don Callis Family. Kenny Omega might be in extreme pain all of the time, but his slower style meshed perfectly with Fletcher and Alexander, and his history with Matt and Nick meant their moments together had the 2300 Arena bouncing. Then there’s Hangman Page, someone who has used these all-star environments to cement himself as the ace of the company. Every time he lands a big move, the crowd is immediately alive and knows something big is around the corner.
When it comes to the aftermath, it’s another way to write Omega off of TV, most likely (I hope not because AEW is much better with Omega in it), and that has been done multiple times already this year. However, Omega vs. Fletcher being a potential direction for All Out is very interesting now that “The Protostar” seems to have reached his final form.
It’s another party in the AEW main event scene, and everyone is invited.
Written by Sam Palmer
Hated: Death Riders need to leave Stat ALONE
AEW/Ricky Havlik
I truly cannot think of one thing I would rather see less in and around the AEW women’s division than this continued “will she/won’t she join the Death Riders” thing with Kris Statlander. I was only slightly interested about two weeks ago when Jon Moxley got the $100,000 four-way match winnings for her from the Young Bucks. But AEW didn’t exactly rush to capitalize on anything after that, and I’m just not really interested once again. If they don’t care enough to tell the story, why should I care enough to be invested in it? It all honestly feels like it’s just to put some extra heel heat on Wheeler Yuta, and by the sound of the crowd tonight (the sing-song “Ohhh, f*** Wheeler Yuta!” was great), he doesn’t need it.
Especially when Stat has found a fantastic comedy-ish tag team with Harley Cameron, and if Tony Khan is serious about bringing in women’s tag team championships, these two pairing up certainly make sense. Their backstage angles together have been simple, but cute, and I’m interested to see where “Wrathlander,” or whatever they’re going to be called, is going next.
There was also no Willow Nightingale tonight after she ran in last week after Cameron and Statlander’s match to help them avoid any further conflict with Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford. I’m still interested in her relationship, or lack thereof right now, with former friend Statlander. I think this boils down to Stat just having much more interesting storylines than aligning herself with the Death Riders right now. I’m assuming the “friend” Stat and Yuta were referring to tonight was Moxley, so maybe this will be followed up on during “AEW Collision” on Saturday. I just hope that Cameron can be the angel on Statlander’s shoulder and lead her back into the light. While the Death Riders don’t need anyone new added to that faction, the AEW women’s division does need tag teams to finally get those belts on the show.
Written by Daisy Ruth.
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