AEW Dynamite – September 23, 2026: Hard Job
Dynamite
Date: September 23, 2026
Location: Fishers Event Center, Fishers, Indiana
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone
It’s the last night before All Out and that means we have another three hour special with Dynamite and Collision (one hour version) being held back to back. Odds are we’ll get some more matches added to the pay per view card and that should make for an interesting night. Let’s get to it.
Here is Collision if you need a recap.
Commentary runs down the card.
Ricochet talks about the Demand being a family and they’re ready to get the Trios Titles back.
Swerve Strickland and the New Level are ready to take the Demand out. They want to retain tonight so they can move on to All Out and get revenge on Hangman Page/Brodido.
Trios Titles: The Demand vs. Swerve Strickland/New Level
Strickland and New Level are defending. Ricochet wants to face Strickland and snaps off a headscissors, earning himself a knockdown. Back up and Ricochet scores with a dropkick, meaning it’s off to Creed to chop at Kaun. Some right hands in the corner are shrugged off so Creed goes with a dropkick to the back. Kofi comes in with a high crossbody and New Level grabs a double bulldog but Kofi gets low bridged to the floor. That leaves Creed to get planted by Liona and we take a break.
We come back with Creed still in trouble but he manages a quick running flip dive to the floor. That just earns him a cheap shot but Strickland cuts off a running Kaun with a House Call. Strickland is dropped by Liona and it’s time to head back inside, where Ricochet gets superkicked by Creed. That’s enough for Kofi to come back in and clean house. I’m not sure what he was trying off the top but it takes Kaun down anyway.
Everything breaks down and Kaun sends Creed over the top and onto the steps. Kofi gets double faceplanted for two and Ricochet drops a 630 for two, with Strickland making the save. Liona shrugs off the rolling Downward Spiral so Kofi kicks him into Creed’s tornado DDT. Strickland hits a 450 on Liona but Ricochet makes a save with a 450 of his own. Creed gives Liona an AA and we hit the parade of knockdowns. Liona blocks the SOS (a leg sweep flipping into a rollup) so Strickland runs in with another House Call to put Liona down. A triple cover retains the titles at 17:45.
Rating: B. It was the kind of match you would have expected from these guys and New Level and Strickland get to move on to the bigger title match on Saturday. That’s the right match to go with and I’ll take that over some big three team mess. I do kind of appreciate the referee just not doing anything but stand there and count covers. If you’re not going to bother with the rules, why even pretend?
Post match here are Hangman Page and Brodido to congratulate the champions. Page is glad new Level is here but they don’t realize who they’re facing at All Out. He asks Strickland what he’s doing but Creed says Strickland is teaming with the greatest team around. Kofi: “Ever since we’ve been here, Swerve has been nothing but cool.” King: “It’s been three weeks.” Strickland points out that every team abandons Page and it’s a matter of time before it happens again. Bandido promises to take the titles home.
Will Ospreay officially offers Mike Bailey a spot in the United Empire and Bailey is in.
Thekla explains the difference between a dumb b**** and a real b****. She’s the latter and Willow Nightingale is the former. She’ll be nice tonight, but on Saturday, it’s time to get toxic.
Jon Moxley vs. Dezmond Xavier
Non-title Eliminator match. Xavier’s early headlock is shoved off and they take turns hitting each other in the corner. A hurricanrana sends Moxley outside but they switch places and Moxley is right back with a big boot. We take a break and come back with Moxley pounding Xavier in the corner but Xavier sends him outside. The suicide dive connects and a running shooting star press gets two on Moxley back inside.
Xavier’s cutter gets two more and he connects with a handspring flipping kick to the head. Xavier goes up top but misses a Phoenix splash (which would have missed by a mile even if Moxley hadn’t moved), allowing Moxley to kick him into the corner. Then Moxley sits up so Xavier can give him a running Meteora for two, only to get pulled into the rear naked choke (and the most obvious spot calling I’ve seen since John Cena’s heyday). Moxley traps the arm and Xavier is done at 9:48.
Rating: B-. Well, it was better than when Moxley did the same thing to another Rascal on Collision. This did at least feel more like a competitive match, even if there was no chance of Xavier winning. Moxley continues to run over people, though the sitting there for the running Meteora was just ridiculous.
Adam Copeland comes in to see Darby Allin and Steven Borden, who want to get to the Tag Team Titles. Copeland says coming after the titles is like climbing two Everests, which is a challenge Allin accepts. They part in peace.
Here are the Young Bucks, FTR/Stokely and Adam Copeland/Christian Cage for a chat, with ladders and chairs around the arena. Schiavone thinks a fight might break out here, which is why he earns that big paycheck. Stokely says FTR is here so they don’t get fined and the Bucks point out that FTR and the champs have beaten them.
They’re not getting any younger but they’re ready to fight to become the first ever four time champions. Cage says that’s nice but he and Copeland are going to remain one time champions (that might not mean what it was supposed to mean). Now, with that out of the way, Cage is looking forward to meeting the Bucks’ mother in Chicago for a special ritual of his. Copeland cuts that off and says neither team can do anything that hasn’t been done to them before.
The Bucks point out that it was true in 1999 but how badly was Copeland hurt with his last dive off something? That’s enough for the brawl to start and the Bucks beat up security, with Copeland and Cage getting in a Conchairto. This was about what you would expect, mainly because they don’t have anything left to say and this was always the big result because ladders.
Willow Nightingale’s hand is getting better and is ready to beat Thekla again.
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jake Doyle
Doyle misses a charge into the corner and gets pummeled, allowing Ciampa to hit a clothesline. The running knee is cut off and they go outside with Doyle taking over, only to get caught with Willow’s Bell. Now the running knee connects for two but Doyle drops him onto the barricade.
We take a break and come back with Ciampa getting two off a super Air Raid Crash. Ciampa mocks Kazuchika Okada’s middle finger, allowing Doyle to get up for a slugout. The running knee is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two on Ciampa. The Boss Man Slam is countered as well though and now the running knee gives Ciampa the pin at 9:08.
Rating: B-. This had a good story with the running knee not being able to connect until the ending. Ciampa is on the way to the title match with Okada and having him beat one of the members of the Don Callis Family is good, especially as it wasn’t another big epic match. Granted it’s Ciampa so any kind of match is going to work.
Post match Ciampa says that was for Don Callis more than Kazuchika Okada. People had asked what would happen if Okada and Ciampa met and now we get the chance to find out. Let’s just do it now instead of on Saturday. Cue Okada, who mockingly says Ciampa doesn’t get the Rainmaker tonight. Instead, he’ll get a beating at All Out. B****. Ciampa isn’t intimidated and says Okada gets the Psycho Killer in three more sleeps.
TBS Title: Persephone vs. Hyan
Persephone, with Britt Baker, is defending and takes her down by the arm to start. Hyan fights up with a test of strength but gets rolled up for a fast two. Back up and Hyan sends her outside for a suicide dive and we take a break. We come back with Persephone snapping off a powerslam, leaving her rather stunned.
Hyan gets in a clothesline and a belly to back suplex with almost no elevation and Persephone snaps off a northern lights suplex for two. The Razor’s Edge is escaped though and Hyan spears her down for two more. A sunset flip out of the corner doesn’t work either as Persephone drops down onto her and grabs the rope to retain at 8:52.
Rating: C+. This was your random title match of the week and it’s a good enough way for Persephone to get out there. She’s still kind of a strange choice for the title as she had only done so much in her time before the title win. Granted it helps that she’s rather talented and the pairing with Baker is working so far. Baker didn’t do much here as she was on commentary, but I do like having her around doing something after such a long time away.
United Empire vs. Gabe Kidd/Claudio Castagnoli
Jon Moxley is on commentary. Bailey and Kidd trade chops to start with Bailey getting the better of things but going after Castagnoli instead. That’s enough for Kidd to send Bailey outside but Ospreay is over with a Phenomenal Forearm off the barricade. Back in and the Empire takes over to send the villains to the floor again. The stereo slingshot dives connect but Castagnoli is able to suplex both of them at once back inside.
We take a break and come back with Bailey fighting out of trouble but Castagnoli pulls Ospreay off the apron. Bailey’s sitout powerbomb out of the corner drops Kidd and it’s back to Ospreay. The suplex finally takes Castagnoli down and it’s off to a cross armbreaker. Everything breaks down and Castagnoli powerbombs Bailey onto the other two for the save. Kidd rams his own head into the turnbuckle because of course he does and it’s Swiss Death for two on Ospreay. The Swing has Ospreay in trouble so he climbs up into a DDT to Castagnoli, setting up the Styles Clash for the pin at 13:38.
Rating: B. This was about what you would have expected, with Castagnoli taking the pin as he does so often. Ospreay gets the pin to keep him looking strong on the way to the title match in three days and I’ll take this over him doing another singles match. Mixing it up a bit helps and this was a good match between talented, interesting people. And Kidd.
Post match Ospreay thanks the fans and says that Moxley has been here as long as AEW has been alive. Ospreay thanks Moxley for breaking him and turning him into the man that he is today. Moxley is being dunked into a tank with a shark, which brings Moxley inside. Kidd tries to get in a cheap shot and is quickly cut off. Ospreay wants Moxley ready to fight to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. This show was in a weird place as they had to build up All Out but the show is mostly set. The two biggest matches on the show are for the World and Tag Team Titles and there isn’t much left to say about either of them. Having the show so soon after All In makes it harder to get interesting but they’re doing about as well as expected. The Ciampa vs. Okada match has me interested and hopefully that happens a lot more.
Results
New Level/Swerve Strickland b. The Demand – Triple cover to Liona
Jon Moxley b. Dezmond Xavier – Rear naked choke
Tommaso Ciampa b. Jake Doyle – Running knee
Persephone b. Hyan – Rollup while holding the rope
United Empire b. Claudio Castagnoli/Gabe Kidd – Styles Clash to Castagnoli
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