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The surprise of all surprises came on the fallout to Dynasty. Darby Allin won the AEW World Championship from MJF on Dynamite (Apr. 25, 2026). The Spring BreakThru special also featured Willow Nightingale killing the comeback of Kamille, Kevin Knight flying like a jet to keep TNT gold, Will Ospreay fighting through pain, and more from Winds Arena in Everett, Washington. But really, the only thing that matters right now is that Allin now sits atop the mountain as world champion.
Darby Allin is AEW world champion
AEW rolled the dice to set this moment up throughout the night. MJF and Allin opened the show, then they also closed the show. And there was a surprise appearance from Sting!
The story entering Dynamite was that MJF was sexing his wife in celebration from Dynasty that he couldn’t be bothered to learn that Allin wanted his title match in Washington near where he started his career training under Buddy Wayne. MJF arrived with hilarious heeling delusions of grandeur to claim that he kicked out of the One Winged Angel like it was nothing. Renee Paquette finally blurt out the news that the world title bout was next, and MJF was not prepared.
To the ring MJF went. He refused to partake in this charade. Allin was oddly near tears to demand the match start now.
Bryan Danielson passed word from Tony Khan that he was in agreement with MJF. He would allow the world champ time to prepare, and the match was pushed back to the main event. So far, so good in the story. AEW grabbed attention immediately, then they created a hook of emotion to stick around for the main event. Allin demonstrated great passion in his promo, however, he lost me with his antics ramming himself into the barricade. Allin has that fine line between Batman and cringelord.
AEW continued layering the story with a video package of the history between MJF, Allin, and the importance of the side headlock takeover. They even upped the ante for Sting to return in face paint. He told Allin, “It’s not showtime. It’s your time.”
Drama intensified seeing that Dynamite passed the two-hour mark before the main event officially began. We were in for a long overrun, right? Wrong. Allin squashed MJF in a comical way. MJF started it off with chicanery. He handed the Dynamite Diamond Ring to referee Aubrey Edwards. When her back was turned, MJF struck with a kick to the cojones. MJF thought it would be an easy W with the side headlock takeover, however, Allin reversed to send MJF toward the ref. Allin blasted a low blow from behind, then he seized the moment for the Scorpion Death Drop, four Coffin Drops, and a side headlock takeover to win the world title. The locker room emptied, and Allin celebrated with Sting.
Wow. Congratulations to Allin. Like him or not, the man has put in serious work to earn this moment. I love how the rivalry came full circle for Allin to win gold via side headlock takeover. Those kind of callbacks are a hallmark of AEW storytelling. The details are often easy for viewers to overlook, because not everyone will remember all these nuisances of the story over the years. That’s why I appreciate the refresher in the video package. Bringing in Sting was cherry on the sundae. How can you not be pumped hearing his pep talk to Allin. All that said, I hated that this was a squash. The whole story felt rushed, then AEW drenched on so much sentimentality that this felt too manufactured. I long thought that Allin was the chosen one to dethrone MJF, however, I didn’t think it would happen like this. AEW could have hit all the same notes and delivered a cool match instead of a squash. I thought that the way the match unfolded, albeit it entertaining, cheapened the moment of Allin reaching the mountaintop.
Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite. Catch up on all the details with excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.
Tommaso Ciampa defeated Dezmond Xavier. Aggression versus speed. Ciampa controlled the pace with Dez firing spurts of offense. Ciampa turned the tide for good with a rising knee strike to blast Dez out of the air from a springboard leap. Ciampa followed for a powerbomb backbreaker and closed with a running knee to win. This match was solid for what it was. I don’t feel any reaction to it though. Ciampa looked good with the strong finish to get the job done.
TNT Championship: Kevin Knight (c) defeated Claudio Castagnoli to retain the title. Athleticism versus power. Claudio had momentum for a giant swing. Knight blocked the transition to the sharpshooter and pivoted for a catapult into the corner. Knight used his catlike reflexes to brace the impact and shoot back for a springboard lariat. That contact stunned Claudio enough for Knight to land the UFO splash to win.
Very good win for Knight to start his title reign strong. I appreciate his ability to think on the fly to score the pin here. There were a few sequences that were too ambitious, and they couldn’t pull off the flow smoothly, such as the turnbuckle tango uppercut. It crosses that line into looking pre-planned and takes me out of the illusion. Claudio’s strength in that corner sequence was pretty cool though.
Ciampa and Knight both called out the winner of the world title bout. It seemed weird to me at the time, because MJF isn’t granting title shots to them. Now that we know Allin is the new world champ, this makes more sense. Ciampa and Knight can be worthy challengers for TV as Allin goes on the breakneck pace of a fighting champion.
Will Ospreay defeated Hechicero. After Dynasty, Ospreay received a pep talk from Kenny Omega to keep fighting to reach the world championship. Omega felt like his time may have passed. Ospreay returned the favor trying to convince Omega to win the title again. This was a nice scene to establish character motivation moving forward, and it might signify that Ospreay is moving past Jon Moxley for now. I would have liked to see some kind of similar scene for Hangman Page rather than disappearing from AEW completely.
That’s why Ospreay wanted to get back in the game so soon. Don Callis delivered the intro for Hechicero as only he can.
Ospreay was still damaged goods from the battle at Dynasty. Hechicero went to work targeting the neck, such as a flying elbow to the injury.
Hechicero put the pain on Ospreay. The medic had to check on his status during the match. Ospreay pulled out the win anyway. His left arm was compromised, but his right arm still packed a punch. Ospreay countered a triangle armbar into the Styles Clash, then he blasted the luchador with the Hidden Blade to win. Afterward, Callis called in Mark Davis to spike Ospreay on a pilediver.
That was a tremendous finish for babyface hero style. Ospreay snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. He showed great creativity to escape the precarious position and show persevere. On the other hand, I’m a little annoyed that an injured man beat the CMLL world heavyweight champion. Plus, fighting an injured opponent should be a matchup tailor-made for Hechicero’s skills. I guess it’s not that big of a deal, since champions routinely eat pins in CMLL trios matches, as is the nature of those 2-out-of-3 falls contests.
TBS Championship: Willow Nightingale (c) defeated Kamille to retain the title. Kamille targeted Willow’s injured shoulder. Willow rallied for the pounce and a cannonball into the corner. The champ was unable to execute her gutwrench powerbomb finisher due to shoulder pain. Kamille thought she had the upper hand. Willow escaped a powerslam to shove Kamille colliding into the corner. Willow was quick to react for a backslide to win. Decent contest. The action was more strategic to target the injury rather than a huff and puff hoss fight. Willow escaped with her title, and the bigger picture is about wearing down over the grind. Someone is going to benefit on that to win the title. The question is who.
Notes: FTR cut a comedy promo gloating over Adam Copeland and Christian Cage about the victory at Dynasty. FTR claimed that C&C will never get a tag title shot again. Stokely Hathaway had a funny line about there being a lot of Milli Vanillis in AEW pretending that they can beat FTR. The champs and Big Stoke topped it off with a 10-second pose for the benefit of those with flash photography.
Chris Jericho chatted with Renee Paquette about his return match. He didn’t feel rusty, and he only lost due being outnumbered. Ricochet interrupted with threats to rough up Jericho every week. Jericho challenged Ricochet to back it up one-one-one with GOA. Ric went to the ring, was promptly outclassed, then GOA pounded the legend. Jericho showed moxie to put up a fight. Ricochet landed the Ricosault for good measure. This segment sets up the feeling that Jericho needs friends. That is the hook to see who comes to the rescue next time.
Konosuke Takeshita mocked the betrayal of Kazuchika Okada at Dynasty.
Thekla and Alex Windsor got sassy for a Collision world title challenge. A description won’t do justice to the vocabulary they were spouting. Thekla had a funny moment acknowledging that she was fired from her last job in Japan.
Jon Moxley had Marina Shafir scouting Ospreay. She relayed that he looked rough. Moxley didn’t take pleasure in Ospreay’s pain. He prefers life over death. Mox faces Nick Wayne in a Continental eliminator match on Collision, and he told Wayne to leave his mom behind.
Hikaru Shida arranged another tag team match with Kris Statlander for Collision, even though, StatDaddy isn’t keen on this partnership.
Stud of the Show: Darby Allin
Making his dream come true.
Match of the Night: Will Ospreay vs. Hechicero
The fantastic finish gives it the nod.
Grade: C+
I haven’t tapped the pulse of the nation yet, but the main event squash may be considered love it or hate it. In the words of Men on Film, hated it. The rest of the show was solid entertainment.
Share your thoughts about AEW Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show? Who impressed you the most?
