When fighting the behemoth known as Brody King, Swerve Strickland needed all the help he could get to advance to the Owen Hart Cup final. The Summer Blockbuster special of Dynamite (June 10, 2026) also featured the Forbidden Door main event revealed, Jon Moxley in a fist fight for the AEW Continental Championship, an upset special in the Owen Hart Cup women’s quarterfinal, and more from The Andrew J Brady Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Swerve Strickland is a weasel
Make no mistake. Swerve lived up to his moniker of the most dangerous man in AEW, however, he needed interference from Prince Nana to put down Brody King for the three-count. Swerve battled King in the TV main event for the Owen Hart Cup tournament semifinal.
The flow was speedy agility versus aggressive power. This clip is great example. Swerve flipped over the ropes in style like a smooth operator. King caught him to bludgeon with force for a double goozle slam onto the commentary table.
Later in the match, King was busted open from colliding into the exposed turnbuckle steel. King left a trail of blood on the mat as the contest progressed. That visual added an element of danger. The action hit a fever pitch with near falls. Swerve connected on a flying House Call kick, and the crowd erupted when King kicked out.
Swerve was unable to execute the vertebreaker. King rallied with a Death Valley Driver into the corner. Prince Nana was a pest throughout, and he trifled again to distract King in this moment. King responded by choking Nana off the apron. King bowled through for the cannonball onto Swerve in the corner. Momentum was riding high for King, but Swerve kicked out from a piledriver.
King kept on the pressure aiming to finish with the Gonzo Bomb. That’s when Swerve’s hijinks went into high gear. He escaped out the back and shoved King toward referee Aubrey Edwards. She dove to the side to bail to safety. Nana conveniently struck King with a foreign object. Swerve closed with the Vertebreaker for victory. Swerve advances to the tournament final to wrestle Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door.
This was a rugged match. King had the atmosphere rocking with his burly personality in the ring. He was great at firing up through the fog of exhaustion to give fans hope that he could win. Swerve doubled down on his heel tactics. He talks a big game as the most dangerous man, then he relied on weasel methods to squeak out the win. That was doubly effective for heel heat in contrast to King’s fan support. Just look at Swerve’s smile in celebration. That sleazy grin says it all.
Forbidden Door main event
Challengers are circling MJF for the AEW World Championship, however, it turns out that the Forbidden Door won’t be a title match. Instead, Tony Khan booked a 12-man cage match for the PPV main event.
Mark Briscoe was plotting with the boss man backstage.
Briscoe called out MJF to reveal this plan that puts him in a direct path for a shot at the world title. MJF reiterated that he has the last word on challengers. It’s nice that Briscoe found friends, however, MJF would rather have money. Money talks, and that led into Lethal Twist (Jay Lethal, Blake Christian, and Lee Johnson) trying to ambush Briscoe for the payola. That plan was foiled when the Conglomeration arrived for the save.
Briscoe grabbed the mic to get back on track. He spoke to Khan, and the main event for Forbidden Door will be a 6-on-6 cage match inside a steel cage. If Briscoe’s team beats MJF’s team, then Dat Boy will receive a future title shot.
MJF approached Don Callis about recruiting Family members as partners. Despite initial protests, Callis was quickly bought off with a briefcase of cash. Kevin Knight volunteered in exchange for a future world title shot. This scene also saw Andrade losing patience with Callis over his world title shot. Callis promised to line one up.
I’m on the fence right now about this 6-on-6 cage match as the Forbidden Door main event. Sure, it will be entertaining, however, the story behind it lacks a little luster to be main event, in my view. It seems like this a workaround to get the Forbidden Door vibe without making an AEW versus NJPW match with an obvious result. We’ll see if some NJPW and CMLL stars get sprinkled into the mix. As for the storytelling, I can dig it. Briscoe is working his way into a shot that MJF can not refuse. That is a prime babyface tale. I also enjoy whenever cash is exchanged for services. It’s an easy heel move that is effective.
Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite. Catch up on all the details with excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.
Chris Jericho mocks Tommy. Tommaso Ciampa called out Jericho. The man himself answered to get down to the root of the question. Why does Ciampa hate Jericho? Jericho cracked jokes and implied that jealousy was the motivation. Fists were thrown, and security tried to break up the fight.
This was an okay segment. We didn’t really get an answer from Ciampa to that question. Jericho played to the crowd for chants, such as Tommy and Tommy’s Mommy. It was generic Jericho humor. The fighting had good heat though. Enough so to make me want to see the match.
AEW Continental Championship: Jon Moxley (c) defeated Shane Taylor to retain the title. This was brawling versus boxing. Moxley relied on eye gouging, biting, and clawing. Taylor used his fists and power game. In the end, Moxley executed slick technique for victory. He escaped a piledriver to drop low for an ankle lock. That led to a curb stomp and the bulldog choke. Taylor tapped out.
I enjoyed the matchup style of Moxley battling the super heavyweight. Moxley finally solved the puzzle in the end. The closing transition was smooth, and I appreciate Moxley showing urgency to win. Taylor was strong in defeat mixing boxing and the power game. His offense looks like it hurts, and that is a good skill to possess. Moxley sold that body punch well. The visual of a flying splash looks painful. Even this funny moment of pulling the apron over Mox’s head before landing a massive leg drop made me feel for the champ. Hopefully Taylor can get more opportunity on TV after this feud is over.
I say after this feud is over, because STP attacked Moxley after the match. Later backstage, Daniel Garcia proposed a 10-man street fight between the factions on Collision.
Darby Allin sneak attack. Kevin Knight flapped his gums about Allin failing, Mike Bailey breaking up the team, and himself going for the world title. MJF didn’t answer the call, but Allin did with a skateboard shot from behind. Allin’s music was playing, so the sneak attack wasn’t that sneaky. The Callis Family rushed to the ring, and Allin ran out the side door. This fresh feud is reignited after a short break from Allin. It should be a good one.
Mark Briscoe defeated PAC. The finish was trick for trick. PAC put his knees up to block the froggy bow. After PAC’s belly-to-belly suplex into the corner, Briscoe put his knees up to block the shooting star press. Briscoe took advantage with urgency for the Jay Driller to win. Thumbs up on the match. It was a fiery back and forth affair. Briscoe earns an impressive win to bolster his status toward a world title shot.
Andrade El Idolo defeated Orange Cassidy. The match had plenty of athletic highlights, however, the top spots were comedy bits. Andrade wasn’t playing pocket games, so he took his pants off. Cassidy did the same to reveal another pair of jeans underneath his jeans. Is Cassidy secretly a never nude?
The second part was with Andrade’s selfie bit. After El Idolo snapped a photo with the lady of the night, Lio Rush popped up. Cassidy reluctantly took a photo with him.
Back to the action. Cassidy had Andrade reeling from a flying DDT outside and another flying DDT inside. Cassidy sized up a superman punch. Andrade had the wits to counter with his back elbow strike. El Idolo hit the DM to win. Much like the Briscoe match, this was an impressive win to bolster Andrade’s status toward a world title shot. Andrade is getting the timing down nicely to make the back elbow strike come out of nowhere en route to victories. That back elbow maneuver is developing an aura to it. I also like how the comedy was present without making the contest a joke overall.
Owen Hart Cup women’s quarterfinal: Maya World defeated Skye Blue. World was a last-minute replacement for Sareee, who was not medically cleared. World pulled the upset to counter Code Blue into a bridging roll-up. This match was booked well as an upset special. Blue hit the more powerful moves for the illusion of control, and World sneaked out with the victory in exciting fashion. On the personal tip, the moment was emotional for World wrestling a few days after her brother died. World advances to face Athena in the semifinal.
Notes: Mercedes Moné watched as the women’s division failed to fill her shoes. Her return is not for redemption. It is to take what’s hers.
Will Ospreay will not be denied his All In moment. Nothing will stop him from winning the Owen Hart tournament. Ospreay admitted that he owes it to the Death Riders. Alex Windsor rushed in, presumably crying about her All In dream being broken. I’m not sure why AEW did that with Windsor. Perhaps it shows Ospreay’s potential weakness in the eyes of Moxley?
Thekla hyped package about her desire to bring death to Stardom at Forbidden Door. This helps recap with snippets about being, “fired from Japan.”
Zack Sabre Jr. requested a match against Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door, and that bout was made official.
Stud of the Show: Maya World
World took the big opportunity on short-notice and under difficult circumstances. She made the most with the win.
Match of the Night: Jon Moxley vs. Shane Taylor
The action was right up my alley. Hard-hitting with technique.
Grade: B
An entertaining night of action.
Share your thoughts about AEW Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show? Who impressed you the most?
