MJF is back on top of AEW as the world champion. There is no rest as contenders are calling their shots. A chicken farmer, a bull, and an idol have their eyes on MJF. The three-hour combo of Dynamite and Collision (May 27, 2026) also featured Kris Statlander in Lights Out against Hikaru Shida, Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher explaining their ‘heel turns’ from Double or Nothing, quarterfinal matchups in the Owen Hart tournament, and more from The Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA.
Challengers line up for MJF
MJF is fresh off defeating Darby Allin for the AEW world title, and it didn’t take long for a line of challengers to form. The new and now three-time world champion celebrated with the Triple B. MJF wore a beautiful gold suit for the occasion. He spent promo time fluffing his own greatness.
Business picked up when Mark Briscoe arrived on the scene. Dat Boy is a man of the people, whereas MJF is an arrogant prick. Briscoe mentioned a past win over MJF to justify his case for a title shot. MJF poo-pooed that idea as bad for business. He claimed that Briscoe is not fit to sniff the world title. Request denied.
Business picked up again when Rush came out on stage. El Toro Blanco was fresh off winning the Superstation Showcase earlier. Rush cracked a good joke about Briscoe being a chicken farmer and MJF being chicken shit. Rush mentioned that he almost beat MJF in the past, and he thinks he can get the job done for the world title. MJF actually granted Rush the title match for next week. He complimented Rush as a star that is more marketable than Briscoe.
This is an interesting way to set the stage for MJF’s third reign at the top. It plays into the idea of Allin not being a prototypical star as world champion. I was not expecting MJF to be active so soon. Rush is no pushover. At the least, MJF will have to earn that win. The justification make sense from MJF’s perspective. He gets to claim some challengers are worthy, while others don’t meet the standard. The idea of marketability can play out to build Briscoe up for maximum effect. MJF doesn’t want to face him, so naturally the people will be excited for what MJF won’t give them.
Backstage, Andrade stepped up as another potential contender. He mentioned that his focus is back on winning the world title. MJF thinks he is better than El Idolo. How you know? Out of that batch of challengers, Andrade seems most likely to get the PPV shot at Forbidden Door. We shall see.
Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite. Catch up on all the details with excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.
Kevin Knight heel turn. The Jet answered the question of why did he turn on Darby Allin. His rationale was that Allin let everyone down by losing the the world title to MJF. Allin once gave advice to Knight not to waste time, and he took that to heart. Knight believes that he should be a main event player, so he put matters into his own hands. Knight is here to take over AEW.
“Speedball” Mike Bailey wore a Jedi leisure suit to confront his partner. Bailey praised Knight’s ambition, then he criticized Knight’s impatience. This situation can be fixed if Knight apologizes and owns up to his mistakes. Knight bumped Bailey then clobbered him.
I was critical about AEW jamming in the heel turn to close Double or Nothing, however, it looks to be the right call. The Philly crowd berated Knight with profane chants. That heel heat was before he trashed the 76ers. I like the sly mention of the process too. The boos grew even louder after that. The crowd reaction is a signal that the heel turn was effective. Knight doubled down on his attitude. He should be fine moving forward in this new direction. I wonder how long this heel turn was in the works. Bailey brought up a good point about Knight’s impatience causing him to make mistakes. In my view, that idea has played out in the ring when Knight loses matches. That line could be a case of long-term storytelling or observation in hindsight.
Later, MJF thanked Knight to the cheap shot on Allin. Knight clarified that he is still coming for the world title. Knight also bumped into Kyle Fletcher, and Don Callis planted the seed for recruitment.
Bailey responded with a challenge for next week. AEW granted the match for the TNT title.
Chris Jericho defeated Ricochet. Everyone banned from ringside. The action was spicy with Jericho applying a Liontamer on the commentary desk. Ric’s finishing game was not on point this evening. Jericho ducked the Spirit Gun to counter for the Liontamer. Ricochet pulled a fast one for a low blow behind the referee’s back, then he landed the Ricosault. Jericho kicked out on the pin. Ricochet’s next attempt to finish was a miss on a 630 senton. Jericho dodged the maneuver and rallied for a Codebreaker. He clobbered the Judas Effect and closed with the Lionsault.
Afterward, Tommaso Ciampa blindsided Jericho. He flattened the legend with a running knee and did a classic Jericho muscle flex pose.
Satisfying blow-off to the ending of this feud. It was only fitting that Jericho finally pins Ricochet off the Lionsault. That’s what the story was leading to, and the finish delivered in that aspect. Whoever is picking Jericho’s feuds for his comeback tour is making smart decisions. Ricochet and Ciampa are the type of wrestlers that will make Jericho look good in the ring. Plus, they are interesting matchups in general.
Rush defeated Orange Cassidy, Lio Rush, and Brian Cage. This was billed as a Superstation Showcase with a big purse to the winner. The match broke down when Jake Doyle made a surprise return to attack Cassidy. Roderick Strong went at Doyle. Lance Archer carried Cassidy to the back. I lost track of Cage. I guess he joined the Callis Family fracas.
The finish came down to Rush versus Rush. Lio hit some nice moves, then Rush turned up the aggression. Mess with the bull, get the horns. Bull’s Horns dropkick to win.
Entertaining action for a random match. As the fisticuffs unfolded, I thought it was breaking off as a teaser for two future singles bouts. Rush and Cage throwing power blows was right up my alley. Cassidy had amusing interactions with Lio’s odd character. Those are now both matches I want to see. After the Callis Family intervened, it looks like Cassidy and the Conglomeration will be busy toiling away against Don’s stooges. That works well enough to set up some trios title defenses. Rush’s win catapults his momentum into the world title shot against MJF.
Owen Hart quarterfinal: Brody King defeated Claudio Castagnoli. Slugfest from bell to bell. In the end, Claudio was on weary legs, but he managed to catch King on a pop-up uppercut. King took the blow then fired back for a crushing lariat to win. This match satisfied the desire for meat on meat violence. They beat the stuffing out of each other. The finish felt like a war of attrition.
King advances to meet Swerve Strickland in the semifinals. War makes money, and Swerve plans to make a lot of money with King.
Owen Hart quarterfinal: Mark Davis defeated Jack Perry. Jungle Man prepared with a Rocky montage running the streets of Philadelphia and drinking eggs. Love it! Montage!
All that montaging may have tuckered Perry out. Davis controlled much of the pace by tenderizing his opponent. Heck, the Aussie even brainbustered Perry out of his shoes.
Perry rallied for a cool avalanche DDT.
The big man would not be denied his victory. He reached the ropes to break the Snare Trap submission, and he also blocked Perry’s running knee finisher. In the end, Davis snatched Perry for an avalanche piledriver.
This result was for the greater good. Fans of Perry may have been frustrated by the result. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a nice story for Perry to win the rubber match. When looking at the bigger picture, Davis was the right call. He looked impressive with so much time dominating Perry. The final maneuver was awesome, especially as a way to hammer the point that Davis is a dangerous man. The reason for that is because Davis is building up for Will Ospreay to have his revenge in the semifinals. With that context in mind, Davis’ win over Perry was good storytelling for the Ospreay rematch.
Ospreay is pumped for the semifinals. He was only 50% when Davis beat him down last time. Now, the assassin is at 100%.
Speaking of Ospreay, the show opened with a promo exchange with Kenny Omega in the training room after the PPV. Omega didn’t doubt the Death Riders at their word. They do what they say. Omega wondered why Ospreay didn’t reach out for his help. Together, they can do amazing things. Ospreay pointed out how Omega wasn’t there week in and week out. Omega claimed that he can’t bounce back the same as when he was younger. Jon Moxley entered the scene to point out how they all have skeletons, which is a reference to Omega’s previous heel antics. Ospreay is focused on his goal to win the world title, and he encouraged Omega not give up on that goal. This was an interesting dialogue for character development. I’m not sure where it’s heading or what was the immediate takeaway for storylines. I guess it’s planting seeds for Ospreay to defend the world title against Omega down the line.
Jon Moxley, PAC, & Will Ospreay defeated Rascalz. The Death Riders handled business. The Rascalz made them work for the win. The Death Riders slapped on triple submissions in the end. Ospreay’s armbar on Myron Reed was the official winner. Even though Reed is credited with the loss, he still looked strong by kicking out of Moxley’s piledriver and rallying for a cutter. As a fan of Reed, that pleased me. On the character tip, ice is thawing between PAC and Ospreay. PAC left him hanging on a fist-bump before the match. After the win, PAC dapped up Ospreay.
Kyle Fletcher’s motivation. The Protostar explained his logic for dumping Konosuke Takeshita as a friend. Fletcher’s loyalty lies with the Callis Family, and he viewed Takeshita as trying to drive a wedge between them. Fletcher’s attack was an attempt to cut the dead weight. Takeshita arrived with support from the Conglomeration. He called out Fletcher for a match. Fletcher’s delivery on the mic hit the right notes. That promo works with the heel tint. Fletcher versus Takeshita doesn’t need a complicated build to get excited about the match.
Five Second Pose. Adam Copeland and Christian Cage basked in the glory of their tag title win. Christian put over FTR as top guys, just not the tippy top guys. Copeland wanted to celebrate with a throwback five second pose. He handed out disposable cameras for flash photography.
Before C&C could strike a pose, the Dogs struck them. David Finlay hit Christian’s fractured forearm with his shillelagh, and Clark Connors stomped the ring steps atop Christian’s limb. The Dogs set up Copeland to be speared by Connors. The Dogs hit their pose called next tag team champions.
Boo!!! I was pumped for the five second pose, and the Dogs robbed that joy from me. Pure scoundrels is what they are. Copeland and Christian must get revenge for the people. C&C were amusing with their banter. Christian was being difficult about doing the pose, and that likely sets up a big pop down the line when he does pose. For a quick way to set up a title defense, this scene was effective in hooking me into the story.
TayJay defeated Ava Everett & Allie Katch. Squash via Gory Bomb knee combo. Ana pinned Ava. TayJay are getting in line for the tag titles. Divine Dominion said it will be a matter of how long they let TayJay stay alive. The tag champs beat up TayJay backstage.
Andrade defeated Ace Austin. Selfie break for the ladies.
Back to the action. Andrade saw The Fold coming, so he was quicker to the draw with a back elbow strike to set up the DM for victory. Ace looked good, and that made Andrade look even better. Momentum builds for that world title shot.
Lights Out: Kris Statlander defeated Hikaru Shida. This was also a Philly Street Fight. Honestly, this match could have just been a street fight without the Lights Out stipulation. It was on the slow side to start. There were amusing moments, such as Shida force-feeding an apple to Statlander and riding a bicycle over Stat’s hand. There were some hard lumps, such as suplexes on chairs and the barricade. This match didn’t capture my full attention until action heat up down the stretch. Statlander threatened to smash light tubes on her rival. Shida pleaded for mercy. When Stat relented, Shida gouged the eyes. She hit Statlander with the tubes.
Shida followed for a Falcon Arrow, however, StatDaddy kicked out on the cover. Statlander powered up by snapping a kendo stick in half, stabbing Shida in the head, and taking her for a ride on a Wednesday Night Fever piledriver through a table.
Harley Cameron ran in to savor Statlander’s moment. She handed Stat a kendo stick for good measure to hit Shida. Statlander closed with another piledriver.
Aside from the question of whether this lives up to the Lights Out moniker, the match definitely served its purpose in the story. Statlander stands tall, which might be important now that the TBS Championship is vacant. Shida can turn her focus to smashing Harley.
Notes: The Brawling Birds are brimming with confidence. Alex Windsor is eager to win the Owen Hart tournament, so she can share the Wembley dream with Will Ospreay.
Hollywood is calling Samoa Joe, so Hook is in charge again. The takeaway is Hook bumping into Anthony Bowens. It looked like Bowens was stepping forward to step forward, while Hook was stepping forward to be in Joe’s spot. When they bumped, Hook gave a glance for Bowens to know his role. We’ll see if this develops into discord.
Stud of the Show: Kris Statlander
Despite being bloodied from light tubes, Statlander kept on her game to dish out a beating.
Match of the Night: Brody King vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Hoss!
Grade: B+
This episode set the table for various directions. Feuds closed, and new chapters were opened. It felt like the show had more talking than usual, but the promos were effective in setting up stories.
Share your thoughts about AEW Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show? Who impressed you the most?
