AEW Dynamite (Feb 4, 2026) Thoughts: Surprisingly Great, With One Big Miss
I don’t say this often, but last night’s AEW Dynamite was very close to awesome! Totally went in braced for them to fumble Andrade’s push like they so often do, but nope—they actually nailed it.
He beat Kenny Omega (with some Swerve/Callis drama mixed in), advanced to face Hangman Adam Page for a #1 contender spot at Grand Slam Australia, and looked like a star the whole way.
That was refreshing and smart booking. Most of the card clicked hard.
The Don Callis Family vs. Death Riders opener had real energy, Orange Cassidy & Toni Storm brought the fun in their mixed tag, and Hangman powered through Mark Davis to stay right in the thick of the title hunt.
The women’s tag scene continues to build nicely. MegaBad (Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford, given one of the worst tag team names ever lol) earned a clean title shot by taking out the champs, Babes of Wrath (Harley Cameron & Willow Nightingale), in a decisive eliminator.
That Doomsday Device finish popped—the division feels like it has real momentum heading into Grand Slam. Love seeing that investment pay off.
The Brody King squash on MJF to close? Loved it.
They almost never go full one-sided beatdown on a top guy like that anymore, especially in an eliminator.
Brody just dominated, with a little Hangman distraction at the bell to set it up, and it made him look like an absolute monster earning his Grand Slam title shot.
More decisive, shocking finishes like that would be awesome.
Also huge shoutout to Don Callis last night. I’ve been griping about him for ages—he usually just chills on commentary for his crew’s matches and calls it a day. But he actually got involved and helped Andrade (note: another murder weapon lol TF TK)!
I legit said “thank you” out loud 😂 Finally, some proper heel manager work—it added to the matches and made everything feel more important.
The main event picture has some layers right now, which is exciting:
MJF as champ, Brody earning his shot at Grand Slam via that squash, Andrade rolling toward Hangman at Grand Slam for a Revolution path, and Hangman staying strong.
It’s a bit tangled with overlapping contenders, but if they navigate it cleanly, it could lead to a killer multi-month run with fresh matchups.
Oh, and yeah—we gotta mention the Darby Allin segment. Gabe Kidd and Clark Connors straight-up “stole” Darby (funny sentence in wrestling 😂), stuffed him in a trunk, then hijacked production to air a video of them dragging him through the desert in a body bag before ditching him.
Tony Khan seemingly has some kind of murder-fetish booking thing going on with body bags at this point—it’s ridiculous, over-the-top heel cinema, and Darby thrives in that crazy chaos. Sets up a wild feud payoff down the line.
The one real low point for me: Ricochet vs. Jack Perry for the National Title.
t wasn’t really a match—just nonstop high spots with zero selling. Everything kicked out at one, no consequences, and it hit all the “this is what frustrates me about AEW” notes.
Cool athleticism, but zero stakes made it feel empty.
And the Young Bucks running out with those “nobody cares” faces? Hilariously bad. I don’t like them anyway, so it was peak comedy gold.
Overall, a hell of a show with a lot to like:
Andrade getting protected, a rare squash that popped, Callis actually managing, women’s tags heating up, big title picture movement, and even that bonkers Darby angle for some dark humor.
Just cut back on the no-sell spotfests and tidy up the contender paths, and we’re cooking. The Brody squash was a highlight—glad they went bold there.
