As we prepare for DYNASTY 2025 in just four days time, All Elite Wrestling is returning to Peoria, IL and the Peoria Civic Center tonight for an all-new live edition of DYNAMITE! In a rare situation for All Elite Wrestling, we will bear witness to a mixed tag team bout pitting The Death Riders' Marina Shafir and AEW World Champion Jon Moxley against Willow Nightingale and Swerve Strickland! In addition, ahead of her Sunday night title fight with Megan Bayne, AEW Women's World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm is set for action against Penelope Ford. We will also see “The Rated R Superstar” Cope step into the ring with AEW World Trios Champion Claudio Castagnoli in a preview of their Trios Championship battle also scheduled for Philadelphia this Sunday night, plus “The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay will be in the house in Peoria!
DYNAMITE kicks off at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on TBS, as well as streaming on MAX, and fans around the world can also watch via AEW PLUS. Before the show gets underway, be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel to catch-up on highlights from previous editions of DYNAMITE and COLLISION, Hey!(EW)(https://youtu.be/qWJjqBKy7dY?si=_-4NeCtkPZIhKWtt) with Hologram, and so much more! Fans in attendance tonight in Peoria will also get to experience COLLISION before the rest of the world sees it on Saturday, and then it's off to Philadelphia for DYNASTY 2025 (https://www.allelitewrestling.com/aewonppv) on Sunday night!
MIXED TORNADO TAG GRUDGE MATCH...
The Death Riders (AEW World Champion Jon Moxley & Marina Shafir) vs.
Swerve Strickland & Willow Nightingale
Since September 4, 2024 the AEW World Champion Jon Moxley has had “The Problem” Marina Shafir by his side, but he's been singing her praises long before that. Eight months before that, during the WRESTLE KINGDOM 18 press conference, he referred to her as a friend of The BCC and someone he'd love to bring to Japan as a representative of that unit. Fast forward to September 7th, ALL OUT 2024, the death of that unit and the birth of The Death Riders. That night Marina Shafir stood right alongside Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and PAC as they viciously assaulted Bryan Danielson, and was there at every step along the way until Moxley took the AEW World Championship from “The American Dragon” at WRESTLEDREAM 2024 and ended Bryan's career.
Since that day Marina has held the key to the briefcase where the AEW World Championship title is apparently held, though no one has seen it in nearly six months to verify it's actually in the case, and , has gotten increasingly more physically involved in Death Rider affairs the longer their siege on AEW has gone on. Though she hasn't fought in an AEW match since RAMPAGE: NEW YEAR'S SMASH 2023, or an ROH one since HONOR CLUB #78 on 8/22/24, she's seen plenty of action getting into fisticuffs with the enemies of The Death Riders, be it man or woman it has made no difference. Among all the women in the AEW locker room, Willow Nightingale has been the only one to stand up to Marina Shafir and she's suffered for it plenty. At least she garnered a measure of vengeance for the punishment she's endured with that aforementioned chair to Marina's skull, and tonight she'll get the chance to exact some more when she unites with Swerve Strickland to face Moxley and Marina in Mixed Tag Team combat!
Though this is the first Mixed Tornado Tag in AEW history, there have been 16 previous mixed tag bouts with the first (though not officially part of AEW records) taking place during DARK #18 in February 2020 and pitting Kenny Omega & Riho against Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford. Since then the AEW faithful have seen teams like Kris Statlander and Orange Cassidy, Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo, Brody King & Julia Hart, and even Willow Nightingale with “The Rated R Superstar” Cope. Tonight marks the first time Swerve Strickland, Jon Moxley, or Marina Shafir have engaged in this vein of fighting in All Elite Wrestling, and it's going to be quite the interesting clash given the competitors involved. None have it in them to back down from a fight regardless of who's standing across the ring from them, Willow is just as likely to throw down with Moxley as she is Marina if the need arises, and we know Marina isn't going to hesitate if Swerve is in her sights.
Then there's a matter of what will happen when Swerve and Moxley are in the ring as opponents for the first time since the 2023 Continental Classic Gold League finals during DYNAMITE: NEW YEAR'S SMASH 2023. That night, in a Three-Way that also included “Switchblade” Jay White, Swerve watched as Moxley pinned White to advance to the finals at WORLDS END 2023. Now Swerve and Moxley haven't fought since then, but the stakes are already quite high as they prepare for their World Championship clash on Sunday night at DYNASTY 2025. This battle will set the tone for that war in Philadelphia, but just which side of the fight will have the edge when they walk into the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University?
ONE-ON-ONE...
“The Rated R Superstar” Cope vs. AEW World Trios Champion Claudio Castagnoli
It was a little over a month ago, the February 26th DYNAMITE to be precise, that Claudio Castagnoli attempted to assault “The Rated R Superstar” Cope but instead found the tides turned against him. The two brawled from the bowels of the arena out to ringside where the numbers game of The Death Riders put Castagnoli at a temporary advantage. Why temporary? Because Jay White was on the spot to even the odds, leading Wheeler Yuta to accidentally take out Marina Shafir with a Busaiku Knee, and Willow Nightingale to finish the job on her with a Con-Chair-To as Cope delivered one of his own to Claudio Castagnoli.
That act put the AEW World Trios champion out of action for several weeks but he, along with “The Bastard” PAC and Marina, returned during Cope's World Championship Street Fight with Jon Moxley to help sway the battle in favor of The Death Riders' general. Claudio didn't forget what Cope did that night in February, nor will he forgive; that is something both he and “The Rated R Superstar” have in common. Sunday night their war will come to a head with the AEW World Trios Title on the line as The Death Riders face Rated FTR at DYNASTY 2025, but tonight isn't just about the titles and an advantage prior to Sunday night. Tonight it's one-on-one, or at least as capable as The Death Riders are of fighting in such fashion. Tonight it's about Cope versus Castagnoli, for the very first time anywhere, and the brutal assaults they've dealt to one another over these last few months.
Will any one walk away from this one with their hand raised, and a slight edge ahead of Sunday night's Trios Championship fight, or will this degenerate into the chaos and destruction that follows The Death Riders everywhere they roam?
PAYBACK IS TIMELESS....
AEW Women's World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm vs. Penelope Ford
AEW Women's World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm has a date with “The Megasus” Megan Bayne this Sunday night in Philadelphia with her championship on the line. However before she can 100% focus on that inevitability, Storm will step into the ring with Penelope Ford in a singles match for the first time since September 7, 2022! Ford has been attached to Bayne's hip for several weeks now as the two found common enemies in Kris Statlander and Thunder Rosa. Now that list has grown to include “Timeless” Toni Storm as Bayne set her sights on ending the historic fourth AEW Women's World Championship reign of Storm. Just last week Ford teamed with Bayne to defeat the champion and Thunder Rosa in tag team action, with Storm's DYNASTY 2025 challenger pinning her following a devastating Fate's Descent.
Ahead of the second defense of Storm's fourth reign, “The Timeless One” will step into battle with Penelope Ford in an attempt to get back on track after her defeat on last week's DYNAMITE and Bayne's destruction of her on COLLISION that can be seen in the video above. This is one of those “everything to lose” moments for Toni Storm as she can ill afford to walk into Sunday night's pay-per-view with a loss to Penelope Ford hanging over her head. Already a confident competitor, having Megan Bayne at her side has boosted Ford to another level in recent weeks, but will it be enough to take down “Timeless” Toni Storm at this crucial juncture? For Penelope Ford this is an “everything to gain” situation; can she knock Storm down one more time before DYNASTY 2025?
“THE AERIAL ASSASSIN” RETURNS...
Coming out of his Steel Cage match with Kyle Fletcher at REVOLUTION 2025, “The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay made his intentions for ALL IN: TEXAS 2025 known, and followed that up with a solid victory over AR Fox on the March 19th DYNAMITE. With just a few days to go before DYNASTY 2025, Ospreay returns to the AEW stage tonight on DYNAMITE and just in time for...
OWEN HART BRACKETOLOGY...
TBS Champion Mercedes Moné, former AEW Women's World Champion Thunder Rosa, former TBS Champion Kris Statlander, reigning record-shattering ROH Women's World Champion Athena, former ROH Women's World TV Champion Billie Starkz, and former AEW Women's World Champion Jamie Hayter have all entered their names into the 2025 Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament!
Former AEW World Champion Adam Page, former AEW International Champion Will Ospreay, and former AEW World Trios Champion Jay White have also declared their intentions for entering the 2025 Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament!
The winner of each tournament will earn themselves a championship opportunity at ALL IN: TEXAS 2025 on July 12th at Globe Life field, and tonight on DYNAMITE we will not only learn which other competitors will comprise both fields, but also the brackets for the each tournament! It's already a loaded field, especially for the Women's Tournament, and it's only going to get more competitive as we learn the rest of the entrants and who they will face!
DYNAMITE gets underway beginning at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT streaming on MAX, as well as on TBS, and fans around the world can also catch the action on AEW PLUS! For AEW's return to Peoria, IL fans are getting a sneak preview of what's to come on Sunday night at DYNASTY 2025 as AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and Marina Shafir unite to face #1 Contender Swerve Strickland and Willow Nightingale, AEW World Trios Champion Claudio Castagnoli fights “The Rated R Superstar” Cope one-on-one, and AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm takes on Penelope Ford! “The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay returns to the AEW stage tonight as well, and so much more on tap as we head towards the City of Brotherly Love on Sunday!
Before the show gets started, check out AEW's official YouTube channel to watch highlights from prior episodes of DYNAMITE and COLLISION, Hey!(EW) with Hologram, and so much more! Fans in Peoria tonight will also have the opportunity to see COLLISION prior to the rest of the AEW faithful on Saturday, and then we head to Philadelphia for DYNASTY 2025 this Sunday night live on pay-per-view!
Then experience all the fallout from DYNASTY 2025 next Wednesday night when AEW returns to Baltimore and Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena!