AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From March 26

As All Elite Wrestling continued its road to Dynasty on April 6, it rolled through St. Paul, Minnesota Wednesday night for the latest episode of Dynamite.

Swerve Strickland will challenge Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship at the upcoming pay-per-view and called out the Death Riders leader this week.

What did the No. 1 contender have to say to his Dynasty opponent and what else went down on another explosive edition of AEW's flagship show?

Find out with this recap from the broadcast, featuring live grades and analysis from each of the night's matches and segments at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul.

Match Card

Announced in advance of Wednesday's show:

* AEW International Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Blake Christian

* "Timeless" Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa vs. Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford

* Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Mark Davis

* Mark Briscoe vs. Konosuke Takeshita

* Brody King vs. Kyle Fletcher

* MJF's answer for The Hurt Syndicate

* Swerve Strickland promo

Kenny Omega vs. Blake Christian

All Elite Wrestling

International champion Kenny Omega kicked off this week's show with a match against Blake Christian, who was accompanied to the squared circle by Lee Johnson.

This was little more than a squash, with Omega running through Vanilla Baby, fending off interference from Johnson and pinning his opponent following the One-Winged Angel.

That's not a bad thing and there have been plenty of times in Dynamite's history when a one-sided battle would have been in order more than the long, competitive ones we got.

After the match, Omega began a promo that was interrupted by his Dynasty opponents: "Speedball" Mike Bailey and (via satellite) Ricochet. After hearing both out, Omega vowed to win on April 6 and closed out the segment with a staredown with Bailey.

This was an interesting opening segment in that it did nothing to further the three-way program for the title and the match amounted to nothing, despite its potential on paper.

The Triple Threat at Dynasty is going to be great, but the build has been lackluster and this opening segment followed suit, despite a red-hot crowd.

Result

Omega defeated Christian

Grade

C+, with Omega elevating the entire ordeal with a few naturally funny quips

Top Moments and Takeaways

—Kicking the show off with Omega brought an energy that few can replicate right from the start.

—In no way was Christian actually pinned by Omega for a three-count. The latter is better than that.

—Ricochet getting over as a heel by being an obnoxious try-hard might be the best story of the year in AEW.

MJF's Answer for The Hurt Syndicate

Backstage, a frustrated Chris Jericho ordered "Bad Apple" Bryan Keith and Big Bill to impress him or else. From there, he challenged Bandido to a Mask vs. Title match, with his Ring of Honor heavyweight belt on the line.

Back in the arena, MJF hit the ring to answer MVP's invitation to join The Hurt Syndicate.

After much thought, he told MVP he wants to be in the business of hurting people, which drew out AEW world tag team champions Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin.

The All Mighty went face-to-face with The Salt of the Earth and demanded the business card. He then tore it up.

MJF left the ring in time for Keith and Bill to interrupt and issue a challenge for the tag titles. After some back-and-forth verbal, MVP told the prospective contenders to win a match before they ask for a title shot.

So, MVP is not on the same page as his charges, MJF is not Hurt Syndicate approved, and we have a prospective tag title match to build to? Not a bad way to maximize minutes and accomplish three things at once in a single segment.

Grade

B

Top Moments and Takeaways

—MJF referring to MVP by the character's name, Montel, was a nice touch from the smarmy heel.

—Benjamin being as over as he is at this stage in his career is long overdue. He is one of the great unsung heroes of wrestling over the last quarter century.

Brody King vs. Kyle Fletcher

For the first time since his epic encounter against Will Ospreay at Revolution, Kyle Fletcher returned to the squared circle for a match with Brody King.

The physicality was evident from the start and featured some stiff strikes between the two. At one point, Fletcher delivered a Tombstone piledriver to King but could not keep him down for three.

King fought back and set up for a corner cannonball, but Fletcher's former Aussie Open partner, Mark Davis, pulled him out of the way in time for the babyface to crash into the corner.

Moments later, Fletcher scored the victory with a brainbuster, allowing him to rebuild some momentum after the loss to Ospreay at the last pay-per-view.

After the match, Davis and Fletcher beat down King until Powerhouse Hobbs made the save and cleared the heels out of the ring ahead of the commercial break.

This was the best match of the night by far, with some hard-hitting action that built until one man could not take any more, especially with the added interference of Davis at ringside.

Whether King should be viewed as a more valuable asset than the guy who loses more than he wins is another question, but dropping a competitive match like this, to a guy viewed as the future of the company, can be recovered from.

Result

Fletcher defeated King

Grade

B+

Top Moments and Takeaways

—A sign in the crowd suggested casting Fletcher as Spike in a live-action production of Toy Story. It was the most spot-on sign ever.

—Earlier in the day, King won the internet.

—Fletcher delivered a tope suicida that smashed King into the guardrail around ringside.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Mark Davis; Tony Schiavone Talks with Rated FTR

All Elite Wrestling

For the second time Wednesday evening, a match that had promised much on paper was short-changed in the time department and underwhelmed as a result.

Moments after saving King from a two-on-one beatdown by the former Aussie Open, Hobbs squared off with Davis in singles competition and proceeded to steamroll him en route to a relatively one-sided victory.

It was questionable booking in that Davis had a breakout singles performance a week ago as part of the No. 1 contender's match for a shot at the International Championship. Here, he was served up to Hobbs on a platter, with any semblance of momentum he had gone in the count of three.

Hobbs getting the win felt inevitable, but it did not have to come in such a one-handed contest.

In a pre-taped video, Tony Schiavone sat down with Cope, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood.

Harwood blamed his walkout on his friends last week on setting aside FTR's goals to help Cope achieve his, only for The Rated R Superstar to fail.

A back and forth ensued before all three men agreed to a match against The Death Riders at Dynasty for the AEW World Trios Championship.

Result

Hobbs defeated Davis

Grade

C-

Top Moments and Takeaways

—Backstage Nick Wayne took a shot at Christian for his failed plan to win the AEW World Championship and walked off with Mother Wayne, leaving Kip Sabian to absorb his words.

—Renee Young attempted to get a word with "Hangman" Adam Page after he declared for the men's Owen Hart tournament. But Swerve Strickland interrupted and made threats, ready to rekindle their rivalry if Page comes at him and the AEW world title once he beats Jon Moxley at Dynasty.

Swerve Strickland Calls Out Jon Moxley

All Elite Wrestling

Swerve Strickland called out Jon Moxley ahead of their AEW World Championship match at Dynasty and wasted little time proving the heel's parlor tricks and cheap tactics will not work on him.

The No. 1 contender is smarter than Mox's usual opponents and had answers to Claudio Castagnoli's appearance at ringside and Marina Shafir's attempt to execute a sneak attack.

Moxley rambled about social media and talent agencies, while Strickland vowed to take the title in Philadelphia on April 6.

The Death Riders have dominated for six months, to dismay of many, and having Strickland be the star smart enough to counter their shenanigans is a great touch.

Hopefully, that does not mean Moxley breaks out a new wrinkle to successfully retain the title at Dynasty because this reign has needed to end for months now.

Grade

B+

Top Moments and Takeaways

—There is no heel on TV less interesting at this point than Moxley. There has been zero evolution or growth of his character in what feels like a year.

—Strickland claimed to be everything Moxley used to describe himself as. In terms of being the heart, soul and spirit of AEW, he had a point.

—"You've bled pints, I've bled buckets. You've been in Texas Deathmatches, I've won them."

—"You can continue to play Jon Moxley on TV," Strickland said, the exclamation point on the promo.

—Backstage, Samoa Joe choked out Max Caster, leaving him lying and shouting out hometown heroes Top Flight.

—Willow Nightingale countered Shafir's attack and found herself involved in a brawl with her rival after the segment.

Top Flight In Action; Mark Briscoe vs. Konosuke Takeshita

All Elite Wrestling

Darius and Dante Martin made quick work of Alex Findley and Devo Knight, building momentum ahead of Top Flight's match this Saturday night on Collision against Big Bill and Bryan Keith, where a shot at the tag titles may await the victor.

Up next, former Ring of Honor world champion Mark Briscoe squared off with former AEW international champion Konosuke Takeshita.

A hard-fought battle saw Takeshita on the defensive late, only to come back and deliver Raging Fire for the pinfall victory.

This was a good, competitive match that refocused Takeshita and let him pick up a quality victory, over a trusted and respected opponent, as he looks to bounce back from his Revolution loss to Kenny Omega.

Briscoe again proved he might be the most undervalued guy on the roster as he continues to have fun, quality matches against opponents of all levels and styles.

Results

Top Flight defeated Findley and Knight; Takeshita defeated Briscoe

Grades

C-; B+

Top Moments and Takeaways

—Top Flight are seriously underutilized and should be more consistently involved in meaningful matches. PSA over.

—Don Callis referred to Takeshita as the best "rope-to-rope" wrestler in the world. He might not be wrong about that.

'Timeless' Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa vs. Penelope Ford and Megan Bayne

All Elite Wrestling

Megan Bayne will challenge AEW women's world champion "Timeless" Toni Storm at Dynasty, but she sent a message to her rival by way of an impressive victory in tag team action Wednesday.

Bayne and Penelope Ford defeated Storm and Thunder Rosa in the main event, with the No. 1 contender taking center stage as she overwhelmed the competition.

Late, she shrugged off everything Storm threw at her and proceeded to level her and score the victory as if she had been minimally affected by the top woman in the division.

The women's division in the main event is always a welcome occurrence, but the crowd struggled to get into this beyond Storm's appearance and signature stuff.

Bayne remains a largely unknown entity to the AEW fans, and nothing the company has done with her presentation has changed that.

She looks the part of a dominant challenger who could easily and believably knock off Storm at Dynasty, but there needs to be more substance here, which could easily be accomplished in an interview or pre-taped vignette.

Result

Bayne and Ford defeated Storm and Rosa

Grade

B-

Top Moments and Takeaways

—The crowd was struggling to get into the heels, which can be partially chalked up to not having a real idea of who Bayne is beyond a physically superior wrestler to most opponents.

—The No. 1 contender recovered from a running hip attack by Storm as if it did no damage, kicked out moments later and sent a dominant message to the champion with her pinfall victory.

Overall Grade

There were things to like about this show (King vs. Fletcher, Takeshita vs. Briscoe) but it mostly came across as relatively flat, despite an energetic crowd in St. Paul.

The Kenny Omega match to kick things off was too short and his segment did not do a ton to advance the Dynasty clash with Bailey and Ricochet.

The main event felt like an establishment victory for Bayne rather than a red-hot conclusion to the broadcast that had fans buying into her as a legitimate threat to Storm, and an abundance of one-sided squashes elsewhere did not help matters.

The Swerve promo brought life to the show, the teased tension between Harwood and Cope is at least interesting, and the aces of The Don Callis Family shined in two great matches, though, elevating the grade.

Grade: C+