AEW Dynamite Tribute to PAC carries a responsibility tonight that reaches beyond the next championship match. Four days after Benjamin Satterley wrestled at All Out, and three days after his death at 40, his friends gather in Pittsburgh to remember the person behind one of wrestling’s most demanding characters. Will Ospreay defeats Ricochet with the Black Arrow, Marina Shafir wins with the Brutalizer, and Bryan Danielson returns to the ring alongside the Death Riders. The road to WrestleDream continues, but tonight gives the people travelling it room to hurt, laugh and wrestle for someone they loved. Some of the action is uneven. The care behind the show is unmistakable, especially when AEW lets a shared memory or a quiet embrace speak for itself.
Here are the full results
- Jon Moxley (c) defeated Orange Cassidy (AEW Continental Championship)
- The Elite defeated The Don Callis Family
- AEW World Champion Will Ospreay defeated Ricochet with PAC’s Black Arrow.
- Marina Shafir, Hyan and Thunder Rosa defeated AEW Women’s World Champion Mercedes Moné, TBS and CMLL Women’s World Champion Persephone and Britt Baker. Shafir submitted Baker with the Brutalizer.
- Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, Gabe Kidd and Wheeler Yuta defeated Josh Alexander, Jake Doyle, Lance Archer, Mark Davis and Wardlow
Breakdowns & Reactions
AEW Dynamite Tribute to PAC: Excalibur and Tony Schiavone Open the Memorial
Excalibur remembers PAC’s warmth and the interests that brought him out of his shell. Tony Schiavone speaks beside his portrait and flowers, stressing the kindness Ben showed behind the curtain. Those details establish the purpose of tonight: remembering someone whose value to this locker room extended far beyond his matches.
Grade: A+
- What worked: Personal details make the remembrance specific to Ben.
- What didn’t work: No meaningful presentation issue.
Jon Moxley’s All Out Promo Takes on a Painful Meaning
AEW replays Moxley’s post-All Out reflection on losing to Ospreay, enduring loss and making use of the time people have. PAC is the last Death Rider to leave the camera shot. The footage was recorded before his death, which makes the words difficult to hear now. Leaving that context intact is essential; this is an existing moment with a devastating new meaning.
Grade: A+
- What worked: Moxley’s acceptance of defeat and appreciation of life carry extraordinary weight.
- What didn’t work: Nothing needs dressing up or additional explanation.
The Ten-Bell Salute
The roster and officials assemble as Schiavone asks for silence. The salute gives everyone space to acknowledge what has happened. PAC’s empty chair during the Death Riders’ entrance then makes his absence part of the broadcast without requiring another speech.
Grade: A+
- What worked: Restraint, respectful silence and the empty-chair image.
- What didn’t work: No meaningful criticism.
Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy — Continental Championship
Cassidy’s history with PAC makes him an appropriate opponent for Moxley. Their early arm work and pinning exchanges gradually give way to familiar mischief: Cassidy repeatedly rolls out of the ring, Moxley imitates his light kicks, and the teased hands-in-pockets spot ends with middle fingers.
Cassidy builds near-falls through the Orange Punch and Stundog Millionaire. Both men attempt the Brutalizer before Moxley escapes, lands a stomp and finishes with the Death Rider. The match earns its change in mood. Humour gives the crowd permission to enjoy wrestling again, while the submission exchanges keep PAC’s influence visible.
Grade: A−
- What worked: Callbacks rooted in Cassidy’s rivalry with PAC and a decisive finish.
- What didn’t work: The opening stretch offers less momentum than the stronger second half.
Bryan Danielson Embraces Jon Moxley
Danielson arrives after the match and shares a long embrace with Moxley. Their history makes the moment especially striking: Moxley defeated him at WrestleDream 2024 to end his full-time run. Tonight, AEW allows the reunion to stand on its own. Turning it immediately into an explanation of faction politics would have diminished it.
Grade: A+
- What worked: The time given to the embrace and the audience’s response.
- What didn’t work: No meaningful presentation issue.
“Hangman” Adam Page Remembers His Friend
Page’s remembrance centres on PAC’s generosity and his relief that he recently told Ben how much he loved and respected him. That is the detail that stays with you. An early AEW rival becomes a friend speaking about a conversation he is grateful they had.
Grade: A
- What worked: A specific memory with a clear emotional meaning.
- What didn’t work: Nothing in the presentation gets in its way.
The Elite vs. The Don Callis Family
Omega, Page and the Young Bucks reunite against Fletcher, Knight, Romero and Beretta. PAC’s history with these men gives the reunion a reason beyond nostalgia, from his singles rivalries with Omega and Page to Death Triangle’s battles with The Elite.
The Bucks’ combinations, Page’s running shooting star press and Omega’s snap dragon suplexes build toward the coordinated dives. Beretta then takes the Buckshot Lariat/V-Trigger combination, BTE Trigger and One Winged Angel before Omega pins him.
The finishing pileup is excessive, but the choice of fall guy protects Fletcher and Knight, who already have a future tag title opportunity. The four-way embrace gives the reunion its proper ending.
Grade: B+
- What worked: Familiar teamwork with a reason to matter tonight; Fletcher and Knight avoid the pin.
- What didn’t work: The closing sequence keeps adding moves after the outcome feels settled.
Cash Wheeler’s Remembrance
Wheeler talks about missing Ben’s smile and the person he was. The brevity works. AEW gives a friend room to say something simple without demanding a polished speech.
Grade: A
- What worked: A small, personal detail communicates the loss.
- What didn’t work: No meaningful presentation issue.
Jay White’s Remembrance
White describes studying PAC and struggling to reproduce what came so naturally to him. His observation that it feels as though everyone is waiting for Ben to arrive captures the disbelief around tonight. The tribute connects professional admiration with the everyday absence his friends are confronting.
Grade: A
- What worked: The distinction between admiring PAC’s work and missing his presence.
- What didn’t work: Nothing needs adding.
Renee Paquette Reads the Satterley Family’s Statement
The statement from Natalie Satterley and Ben’s parents brings his family’s perspective into the centre of tonight. They describe the life he enjoyed, thank those supporting them and explain what AEW’s care has meant during these first awful days.
Paquette handles the reading with care. Giving the family this space matters more than another career montage could at this point in the show.
Grade: A+
- What worked: The family speaks in its own voice through a considerate reading.
- What didn’t work: No meaningful criticism of the presentation.
Swerve Strickland and The New Level Honour PAC
Swerve Strickland, Austin Creed and Kofi lay down the AEW World Trios Championship belts and cover them with a PAC memorial towel, with Prince Nana beside them. It is a fitting acknowledgement of a wrestler whose work helped establish what those titles could mean. The champions’ place in the division gives the gesture additional significance.
Grade: A
- What worked: The belts communicate the connection to PAC’s career immediately.
- What didn’t work: No extra promo is needed.
Ricochet Remembers Life With PAC in Japan
Ricochet recalls sharing a tiny room with Ben during their Dragon Gate years and describes losing someone he considered a brother. This is the strongest possible introduction to the match that follows. Their shared history becomes concrete through ordinary memories of living together.
Grade: A
- What worked: A personal story gives the match its emotional foundation.
- What didn’t work: No meaningful presentation issue.
Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet — Non-Title Tribute Match
Ospreay and Ricochet kneel together and embrace before wrestling. Their opening counters develop into the aerial exchanges expected from them, with hurricanranas, dives, German suplexes and poisonranas carrying PAC’s influence throughout.
Ricochet’s second-rope Phoenix Splash and later shooting star press produce major near-falls. Ospreay answers with the Styles Clash and Hidden Blade, then pauses before going upstairs for the Black Arrow and the pin.
That decision makes the finish. The match reaches its destination through the move most closely associated with the man they are honouring. Ospreay breaking down afterwards, followed by the embraces involving Ricochet and their ringside companions, lets the achievement and its cost register together.
There are still exchanges where the recovery between major moves is too quick. That criticism survives the occasion. So does the recognition that they give tonight its best match and defining wrestling image.
Grade: A
- What worked: PAC’s influence runs through the match and pays off in the finish.
- What didn’t work: Some rapid counters leave too little room for the preceding move to matter.
Will Ospreay Explains What PAC Gave Him
Ospreay’s recorded remembrance describes a young wrestler finding possibility in PAC’s career, then eventually sharing a ring with him in 2019. Airing this after the match gives the Black Arrow additional context. The influence travels from watching someone’s work to carrying it forward.
Grade: A
- What worked: The placement deepens the meaning of the match viewers have just seen.
- What didn’t work: No meaningful presentation issue.
Marina Shafir, Hyan and Thunder Rosa vs. Mercedes Moné, Persephone and Britt Baker
Shafir’s Newcastle United shirt honours PAC before the action begins. Hyan and Persephone open, Rosa spends time under pressure, and Shafir gets the forceful comeback: strikes, suplexes and a Mother’s Milk attempt that Persephone breaks up.
The match becomes crowded as everyone cycles through offence. Its clearest passage comes at the finish. Baker applies Lockjaw, Shafir powers up and throws her down, then secures the Brutalizer for the submission. Her embrace with Moxley completes the moment.
The middle is less cohesive than the closing stretch, but the result is well chosen. Shafir gets the tribute victory while neither reigning singles champion takes the fall. Moné’s involvement also puts the Women’s World Champion back in action ahead of WrestleDream.
Grade: B
- What worked: The Lockjaw escape into the Brutalizer gives Shafir a strong, personal finish.
- What didn’t work: Uneven transitions and crowded rotations weaken the match between its key moments.
Swerve Strickland’s Recorded Remembrance
Strickland remembers PAC’s precision and the value of his advice. This adds something different to the earlier championship tribute: the quiet colleague whose words mattered because he chose them carefully.
Grade: A
- What worked: It explains how PAC helped people beyond what audiences saw in the ring.
- What didn’t work: No meaningful presentation issue.
Darby Allin Remembers PAC’s Playful Side
Allin recalls their golf-course antics and PAC’s willingness to embrace the absurdity. It is a welcome change of texture. A remembrance show should leave room for the stories that make someone’s friends smile, too.
Grade: A
- What worked: Humour broadens the portrait of Ben and gives the audience a breath.
- What didn’t work: No meaningful presentation issue.
Bryan Danielson and the Death Riders vs. The Don Callis Family
Wardlow returns on the Callis side, joining Josh Alexander, Jake Doyle, Lance Archer and Mark Davis. Moxley takes a seat on commentary, leaving Danielson to join Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, Gabe Kidd and Wheeler Yuta for his first televised match since WrestleDream 2024.
The match moves from a group brawl into Yuta’s isolation and Danielson’s hot tag. Alexander’s ankle lock leads into Danielson’s LeBell Lock counter. Later, Danielson and Yuta land simultaneous Busaiku Knees, while Shafir traps Archer in an armbar over the ropes.
The final attack gives the Death Riders a shared contribution: Kidd’s lariat, Garcia’s submission setup and Castagnoli’s stomp lead to Garcia pinning Doyle. Danielson supplies the major return, but Garcia gets the recorded victory.
The action occasionally becomes difficult to follow with so many moving parts. Even so, closing the wrestling with PAC’s teammates together is the right decision. Danielson’s participation tonight does not establish a permanent return or settle anybody’s future alignment.
Grade: A−
- What worked: Danielson’s return, the collective finish and Garcia getting the pin.
- What didn’t work: The crowded action limits clarity; Wardlow’s return receives little individual space.
The Closing Tribute and PAC’s Empty Chair
A final video celebrates PAC before the broadcast returns to his empty chair. AEW Dynamite Tribute to PAC closes on the absence everyone has spent tonight trying to process. That image deserves the final word.
Grade: A+
- What worked: The ending brings the show back to Ben after the excitement of the main event.
- What didn’t work: No meaningful presentation issue.
Crowd and Fan Reactions
Early fan discussion keeps returning to Moxley’s All Out promo, PAC’s empty chair and the difficulty of watching familiar performers try to compose themselves. In Pittsburgh, the reaction to Danielson gives tonight one of its biggest releases of emotion. Those responses fit the show’s strongest quality: it lets the audience move between mourning someone and enjoying the wrestling he helped shape.
AEW Dynamite Tribute to PAC and the Road to WrestleDream
WrestleDream takes place October 17 in Orlando. Mercedes Moné defending the AEW Women’s World Championship against Thekla is confirmed after Thekla defeated Willow Nightingale at All Out. Moné wrestling tonight is relevant, although the trios match adds little direct conflict between champion and challenger.
Ospreay first has Kazuchika Okada at Grand Slam France on October 6. That is an AEW World Championship defence on the road to WrestleDream, and its result will shape the picture going into Orlando.
The Young Bucks enter this stretch as tag champions, with Fletcher and Knight having earned a future title shot. Beretta taking tonight’s pin keeps those challengers clear of a direct loss to the champions. A WrestleDream date for that defence should not be assumed.
Tonight provides limited conventional pay-per-view advancement. That is appropriate for the occasion. The next broadcasts still need to establish the remaining matches and give viewers clear reasons to care about them. The tribute reunions should be allowed to mean what they mean tonight before AEW asks them to carry another story.
Best Match and Segment of the Night
Best Match: Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet. The Black Arrow gives a strong match a finish inseparable from tonight’s purpose.
Best Segment: Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley’s embrace. AEW trusts the moment enough to let it breathe.
Final Thoughts
AEW Dynamite Tribute to PAC succeeds because the people involved make Ben’s influence tangible. It is in a remembered conversation, a championship laid in the ring, a familiar submission and a move Ospreay climbs the ropes to attempt for his friend.
The women’s trios match has rough stretches, the multi-man bouts can become crowded, and the WrestleDream build still needs work. Those are fair observations. They do little to weaken the central achievement of tonight: a locker room honours someone it loved through the craft he took so seriously.
Overall grade: A.
- What worked: Specific memories, purposeful tribute finishes and an ending that stays with PAC.
- What didn’t work: Some match transitions and crowded sequences fall short of the strongest material.
Rest in peace, Benjamin Satterley. Condolences to Natalie, his family, his friends and everyone feeling his loss.
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