Last night AEW went into Winnipeg needing a strong build for Dynasty, and Dynamite delivered a show that was far more notable for movement than for shock value. Chris Jericho’s return gave the night its headline, but the real substance came from the way AEW stacked layers onto the Dynasty build all at once: MJF and Kenny Omega made their world title match official, Will Ospreay survived PAC and then got mauled by the Death Riders, Darby Allin got his next obstacle in Andrade, and the company quietly framed Collision as a meaningful follow-up instead of a side dish. It was a busy, angle-heavy Dynamite, and for the most part that was a strength. The best of the show felt urgent and PPV-minded. The worst of it felt like AEW trying a little too hard to make every segment sound epic.
Here are the full results
- MJF and Kenny Omega signed the contract for their AEW World Championship match at Dynasty.
- Kenny Omega, Brody King, and AEW National Champion “Jungle” Jack Perry def. The Demand
- Will Ospreay def. PAC.
- Mina Shirakawa & Brawling Birds def. Triangle of Madness
- AEW World Championship Eliminator Match: MJF def. “Speedball” Mike Bailey.
Breakdown & Reactions
The show opened with the kind of wrestling-TV fakeout that usually works because it is simple. Tony Schiavone was in the ring to moderate the MJF-Omega contract signing, pyro kept interrupting him, and then “Judas” hit. Jericho walked out in Winnipeg to a big initial hometown reaction, milked the moment, and gave the audience just four words: “Winnipeg … AEW … I’m home.” Officially, that was it. No immediate alignment, no mission statement, no target, no promise. Just presence. AEW’s own recap framed it as a major return and the crowd sang along for multiple choruses, while other live coverage noted the reaction cooled once it became clear there was no follow-up. That split is important, because both things can be true: the entrance felt big, but the segment itself was intentionally thin.
And that is really the first major takeaway from this show: Jericho’s return was not booked to answer questions. It was booked to restart conversation. After months of contract-expiration speculation and fantasy booking about a WWE farewell run, Fightful reported before the show that Jericho had been discussed internally for an AEW return, and Cageside relayed Fightful Select reporting that he was not actually in WWE’s plans for the big early-2026 dates fans kept circling. In other words, AEW used Dynamite to plant its flag first. Jericho showing up in Winnipeg and saying “I’m home” was AEW’s way of turning rumor into on-screen canon: whatever people were guessing about WWE, Jericho is back in AEW’s orbit now, and the company wants that reality to frame the next beat.
What does Jericho’s return mean? In the short term, it means AEW has reclaimed a veteran star it can plug into multiple lanes at once: a nostalgia pop, a heat magnet, a promo centerpiece, or a disruption factor around the Omega-MJF universe. In the medium term, it means the company is testing whether Jericho still has enough goodwill left to matter as more than a talking point. That was the real subtext of the Winnipeg response. Some coverage emphasized the ovation and singalong, while PWTorch’s live report and post-show podcast both stressed that the response flattened after the reveal and that Jericho did not get the sustained reaction the moment seemed designed to draw. That makes this less about “Jericho is back” than “what version of Jericho is back, and how much patience does the audience still have for him?”
The actual engine of the show, though, was still MJF versus Kenny Omega. Their contract signing did a strong job clarifying the story at the center of Dynasty. MJF leaned hard into attacking Omega’s mortality and medical history, saying Omega is racing the clock and trying to secure his legacy before his body fails him. Omega, in turn, came off like a man trying very hard not to lose the title match before it happens. Mike Bailey interrupting the segment was smart booking because it gave the angle a live wire; instead of another contract-signing table tease, AEW turned the confrontation into a main event. That kept the segment from becoming static.
The one fair criticism is that AEW may be overplaying Omega’s real-life medical history. Wrestling Inc.’s post-show critique argued that MJF harping on Omega’s diverticulitis is starting to feel repetitive and overly literal, and that criticism is reasonable. There is a difference between using reality to sharpen a feud and using it so bluntly that it starts sounding like shock dialogue instead of character work. MJF is good enough that he usually does not need the crutch. Still, in terms of pure heel performance, the segment worked because he made the title match feel ugly and personal instead of merely prestigious.
From there, AEW smartly kept Omega physically present all night. He teamed with Brody King and Jack Perry to beat The Demand, and the match served two purposes. First, it gave Omega ring time without burning anything major ahead of Dynasty. Second, it continued the loose web of overlapping issues around Ricochet, Perry, and Omega. It was not the deepest match on the show, but it was energetic and useful. AEW has been at its best lately when one segment feeds the next instead of existing in a vacuum, and this trios match kept that philosophy intact.
The best in-ring work on the show was Ospreay versus PAC, and that was not especially close. AEW framed the match around Ospreay’s neck vulnerability from the opening seconds, when PAC jumped him on the ramp and spiked him before the bell. The match itself never lost sight of that damage. PAC kept attacking the neck, Ospreay kept fighting uphill, and the finish protected both men because Ospreay survived rather than decisively conquered. Wrestling Inc. praised the entire Ospreay-Moxley axis as one of the strongest things on the show, and that lines up with the live response online, where one X reaction highlighted how different and effective the Ospreay-PAC layout felt compared to their prior singles work, while other fan chatter centered on Ospreay being “out of this world.” That all tracks. This was AEW leaning into its identity: elite athleticism paired with escalating violence.
Then AEW nailed the post-match. The Death Riders swarmed Ospreay, Claudio threatened to crush his neck with the chair, and Moxley stopped the outright execution only to deliver something arguably colder: a warning. “Use your head or you might lose it. Permanently.” That was a strong line, but more importantly it reframed the feud. Ospreay is not just fighting Moxley; he is fighting an ecosystem that punishes recklessness. That is why this rivalry feels hotter than some of AEW’s other recent grudge matches. It has physical stakes, psychological stakes, and a style clash that actually means something.
The women’s trios match did solid work advancing two different things at once. Mina Shirakawa continued to chase Thekla after the controversial brass-knuckles finish from last week, while Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor got another useful showcase as the Brawling Birds. Hayter scoring the winning fall mattered. It keeps her hot without forcing AEW to immediately reveal whether Dynasty will be Thekla versus Mina, Thekla versus Hayter, or something more layered. This was not positioned as the centerpiece of the night, but it did what a good TV match should do: remind you the women’s title scene is moving, even if the final Dynasty destination is not official yet.
Darby Allin’s promo was short, sharp, and very Darby. He does not care about polished speechifying; he cares about sounding like a man half in love with self-destruction. The Don Callis Family arriving to reveal Andrade as Darby’s Dynasty opponent was one of the cleaner pieces of matchmaking on the show. It gives Darby a meaningful PPV fight, keeps MJF protected from overcommitting, and preserves Darby’s title aspirations for later. It also added another reminder that MJF is trying to weaponize outside forces to keep challengers away from him. That is exactly how a paranoid champion should operate.
The main event between MJF and Mike Bailey was the other real success story of the night. Bailey looked credible, the crowd bit on his near falls, and MJF did a strong job working like a champion who knows he can win but does not enjoy the process of being pushed that hard. The Canadian-vs.-American presentation added just enough extra juice in Winnipeg without taking over the match. MJF winning with the apron tombstone and Heatseeker while staring Omega down was the right finish. Bailey lost nothing, MJF kept momentum, and Omega had to watch the kind of killer he is walking into at Dynasty. Cageside called Bailey-MJF one of the standouts of the show, and that feels right.
As for the broader fan reaction during the show, the split was pretty easy to read. A chunk of live chatter mocked Jericho for taking a long entrance, saying “I’m home,” and leaving, while another chunk simply enjoyed the spectacle of seeing him back in AEW at all. At the same time, the loudest positive reactions online were tied to Ospreay-PAC, Moxley’s menace, and the MJF-Bailey main event. That mirrors the critical response from review sites and podcasts: praise for the wrestling and for the Dynasty build, criticism for Jericho’s underwhelming segment and for some of the more heavy-handed medical-dialogue in the Omega feud.
What was announced for tonight’s special Thursday Night AEW Collision episode?
The advertised lineup for Thursday’s special Collision includes:
- Jon Moxley vs. Anthony Bowens in an AEW Continental Championship Eliminator Match
- AEW TBS Championship Open Challenge: Willow Nightingale vs. TBA
- Orange Cassidy, Kevin Knight, Roderick Strong, and Mistico vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Clark Connors, and David Finlay in a Tornado Tag Team Match
- Tommaso Ciampa vs. Juice Robinson
- Divine Dominion vs. TBA
- FTR vs. TBA
- Andrade El Idolo & Mark Davis vs. The Rascalz
Tonight’s AEW Collision card
- Jon Moxley vs. Anthony Bowens (AEW Continental Championship Eliminator Match)
- Willow Nightingale (c) vs. TBA (AEW TBS Championship Open Challenge)
- Orange Cassidy, Kevin Knight, Roderick Strong & Mistico vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Clark Connors & David Finlay (Tornado Tag Team Match)
- Tommaso Ciampa vs. Juice Robinson
- Divine Dominion vs. TBA
- FTR vs. TBA
- Andrade El Idolo & Mark Davis vs. The Rascalz
Current and updated AEW Dynasty card
- MJF (c) vs. Kenny Omega (AEW World Championship)
- FTR (c) vs. Adam Copeland & Christian Cage (AEW World Tag Team Championship)
- Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay
- Darby Allin vs. Andrade El Idolo
Final thoughts
This was a strong Dynamite, even if it was not a perfect one. The praise is easy to understand: Ospreay vs. PAC ruled, MJF vs. Bailey overdelivered, Moxley felt dangerous, and the Dynasty card is getting real shape now. The criticism is just as fair: Jericho’s return created a lot more questions than substance, and AEW still has a habit of pushing certain real-life talking points harder than the material needs. But on balance, this was a productive, storyline-rich episode that made Dynasty feel closer, fuller, and more important than it did 24 hours earlier. Jericho gave the show its headline. MJF, Omega, Ospreay, and Bailey gave it its backbone. That is why this episode worked.
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