AEW Dynamite Results, Winners, Live Grades and Highlights Before Forbidden Door 2025

All Elite Wrestling traveled to Scotland for the first time on Wednesday, delivering Dynamite from the OVO Hydro in Glasgow.

With Forbidden Door on Sunday, the August 20 show promised huge matches and appearances, hyping up the London event.

Hiroshi Tanahashi return to AEW to team up with Kevin Knight and "Speedball" Mike Bailey to battle The Death Riders' Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta.

Will Ospreay also met Moxley face-to-face in the ring ahead of their Lights Out Steel Cage match at the weekend.

"Timeless" Toni Storm and Alex Windsor hoped to get some revenge and momentum heading into Forbidden Door matches.

FTR and Brodido collided in the World Tag Team Title Eliminator Tournament final. Would Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood earn another tag title opportunity, or would Bandido and Brody King continue to overachieve as a fresh duo?

"Hangman" Adam Page collided with MJF once again, while Adam Copeland and Christian Cage spoke with Tony Schiavone on their first tag match together in over a decade.

Who else would appear along the way on this wild night of action? What would the top competitors do to gain the edge before Forbidden Door? Find out with this recap of events in Glasgow.

Will Ospreay Admits He Is Not Cleared/Death Rider vs. Ace JetSpeed

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Will Ospreay announced he was not cleared for action at Forbidden Door, so he made his Steel Cage match a Lights Out contest. He said he is risking everything for revenge against The Death Riders.

Jon Moxley arrived with Marina Shafir, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta followed by Kevin Knight, "Speedball" Mike Bailey and Hiroshi Tanahashi to even the odds.

The teams brawled until the referee called for their announced match to start. Even interference from The Bullet Club War Dogs was not enough to stop Tanahashi from picking up the win with a High Fly Flow.

The brawl continued to intensify as Paragon ran off The Young Bucks, before Darby Allin popped out of a body bag carried by Ospreay and The Opps to even the odds.

In the end, The Daredevil jumped onto everyone with a Coffin Drop, and the babyfaces stood tall.

It is hard to fully figure out how much of Ospreay's injury is legitimate and how much is storyline, but The Aerial Assassin prepared fans for him needing surgery after Sunday.

Hopefully, it will not be a serious procedure, especially given how difficult it can be to fully recover after a neck operation.

No matter what, Ospreay delivered his promo with genuine passion that further shows why he is one of AEW's best talkers on top of his in-ring excellence.

It was obvious Tanahashi was limited throughout this match, but he did not avoid working hard throughout.

JetSpeed played the hits well with Tanahashi and delivered crowd-pleasing action all the way to a welcome win for The Ace.

The chaos emphasized what is to come at Forbidden Door while getting The War Dogs more directly involved in this angle beyond Gabe Kidd.

It was an exciting, wild opening quarter of Dynamite that set a strong tone.

Result

Tanahashi, Bailey and Knight def. Yuta, Castagnoli and Mox by pinfall.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Bryan Danielson opened the show to join commentary for the night.
• The OVO Hydro looked and sounded packed for Ospreay's entrance, with the fans singing his song as he headed to the ring.
• Ospreay popped the crowd and started another song at the mention of Greggs sausage rolls.
• The referee threw out Shafir after she attacked Knight on the apron. Ospreay then carried her off.

Luchasaurus Returns to Take Nick Wayne's Spot at Forbidden Door

Tony Schiavone talked to both Adam Copeland and Christian Cage, who cleared up their differences and promised to help each other with their problems.

Kip Sabian and Mother Wayne interrupted to turn the attention to Nick Wayne, who appeared on the titantron to announce Christian broke his foot.

The Prodigy revealed the returning Killswitch would take his place at Forbidden Door. The big man laid out Cope and Christian with chokeslams.

This was a fun hype segment on multiple levels, even if it came with unfortunate news.

Christian and Cope began to tease what they can be as a team once again, not ignoring their own character growth over the years.

This is a team brought together again by necessity. While The Rated-R Superstar wanted to work together again, his new teammate sees an ally to deal with his Patriarchy problem.

The return of Killswitch/Luchasaurus is a nice surprise as it sounded like his health issues had been a serious concern. He brings a legitimate threat to The Patriarchy in threatening Cope and Christian.

Wayne's injury is disappointing for his immediate future, but hopefully he is not out too long. He did say he would be gone for "weeks" rather than months, which is a good sign.

The Prodigy vs. The Patriarch remains a big match for the right time, simply delayed to a later date.

Grade

B

Notable Moments and Observations

• Christian did not wait for his own introduction, interrupting the crowd singing Cope's theme.
• The Patriarch tried to tell the crowd to shut their mouths, but The Rated-R Superstar shut him down.
• Christian promised to be the best tag team partner Cope has ever had.

World Tag Title Tournament Final: FTR vs. Brodido

Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler had multiple tricks up their sleeves to slow down Brody King and Bandido, but Brodido refused to go down.

As time wore on, Bandido and King managed to overwhelm FTR, but 30 minutes expired before the ROH world champion could hit the 21 Plex on Dax to win.

Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin arrived to stare down their challengers for Forbidden Door.

This was a wild match that set a high bar for the Forbidden Door Triple Threat tag contest. These teams need to be given time to live up to the expectation set here.

While this was by far the best match of the night, it's a shame it ended without a definitive victor with big stakes.

Booking The Hurt Syndicate to defend the gold in another Triple Threat is an odd choice, especially at the end of a contender tournament that stretched over a month.

While both teams are exciting challengers for Lashley and Benjamin, the only reason to book this match in this way is to protect the champions in a loss.

Since The All Mighty and Gold Standard have rarely defended their gold, it still feels like the wrong time for The Hurt Syndicate to lose.

In the end, AEW may simply want to move the tag division story to FTR vs. Cope and Christian Cage, but that isn't a tale that needs the gold.

It would be more interesting for Brodido to take down The Hurt Syndicate, and they would have benefited much more from taking down Lashley and Benjamin in a normal tag match.

Result

FTR vs. Brodido goes to a 30-minute time-limit draw.

Grade

A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• The Hurt Syndicate watched this match closely backstage.
• FTR mocked King after hitting him with a piledriver and were not ready for him to pop back up and catch them with a clothesline.
• Stokely blasted King with a pipe loaded in his sling. Dax then told the fans to respect Big Stoke.
• King's wound bled badly, even requiring the referee to help him clean it up several minutes after the initial cut.
• Bryan Danielson called Bandido his "wrestler of the year."
• Dax and Cash protected each other from the 21 Plex and then hit Bandido with the Shatter Machine, but King broke up the pin.

MJF Forces 'Hangman' Adam Page to Change the Stipulation for World Title Match

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"Hangman" Adam Page called out MJF, but instead Tony Schiavone announced, according to MJF, something bad would happen if The Cowboy left the ring early.

The Salt of the Earth appeared on the titantron with Ricochet and GOA, threatening to set Mark Briscoe on fire if The Cowboy did not agree to his three stipulations:

• The title can change hands by disqualification.
• The title can change hands by count-out.
• MJF did not need to execute his contract to get his match at Forbidden Door.

To save Briscoe, Hangman agreed to all of MJF's stipulations. By the time The Cowboy got to the back, MJF had left.

It was not surprising to find out MJF had a plan to counter his bad night last week, but it was unexpected that he would find a way to completely change his match with Hangman.

The Salt of the Earth suddenly holds all the cards. He can play Page, pushing him toward a disqualification or a count-out, and he still has a contract for another title match at any time.

This sets up a difficult challenge for Hangman, who will need to control emotions and watch out for any tricks that could allow MJF to use his contract for an extra advantage.

Hopefully, this will serve to heighten the drama rather than overcomplicating a great match with too much on the line.

In some ways, it already feels like this is too complicated, changing the match stipulation and focus over one week with just four days before the PPV.

Grade

C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Briscoe arrived in the arena with the promise to "kill" MJF.
• MJF found Ricochet and GOA backstage and asked them to help him take out Briscoe.
• Kazuchika Okada and Don Callis delivered a final warning to Swerve Strickland before Forbidden Door in a pre-taped video.

'Timeless' Toni Storm and Alex Windsor vs. Athena and Mercedes Moné

Mercedes Moné and Athena could barely get along in this match while "Timeless" Toni Storm and Alex Windsor looked like a veteran tag team together.

However, Athena took command late and found her opening. Windsor missed The Forever Champion's tag and made The CEO tap out, only to take a surprise O Face for the loss.

This was great classic tag team action with multiple dramatic hot tags that especially highlighted the explosiveness of Windsor.

While Storm and Windsor have found their chemistry as a team, the dynamic between Athena and Moné was the highlight of this match.

Their chemistry as a duo is electric and well worth exploring further after Forbidden Door.

Athena has the clearest path to dethroning Storm of any woman so far in her world title reign.

She has outwrestled The Timeless One multiple times and may have injured the champion's neck before Forbidden Door.

At this point, a Storm retention would feel like an upset. As good as The Timeless One is, Athena's time is now.

Result

Athena and Moné def. Windsor and Storm by pinfall.

Grade

A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Mina Shirakawa came out with Storm and gave her a kiss before heading backstage.
• Persephone watched at ringside. After the match, Moné mocked her and got shoved down by the CMLL representative.
• Storm terrified Moné by giving her a sniff and telling her to "get in my belly."
• Athena demanded The CEO open the ropes for her, diving through her legs to take out Storm.
• Athena and Moné hit a facebreaker into a backstabber on Storm, rolling right into the Statement Maker.
• The Forever Champion caught Storm on the stairs with a piledriver.

Overall Show

This was the best-paced show AEW has delivered in months. Wednesday's Dynamite was non-stop, relying upon consistently strong in-ring action.

Even the few promo interruptions did not overstay their welcome and added new stakes to the established Forbidden Door card.

FTR vs. Brodido was one of the best TV matches of the year, even with an inconclusive finish.

Athena and Mercedes Moné showed out against "Timeless" Toni Storm and Alex Windsor, offering a preview of what they will deliver at Forbidden Door.

The Death Riders' action against the wrestlers opposing them was non-stop excitement in the opener, even before and after the bell.

Beyond a somewhat underwhelming final statement for "Hangman" Adam Page vs. MJF, relying on a stipulation change over elevating the story already established, everything worked.

As a go-home show for Forbidden Door, this was consistently effective and still left multiple fun moments for Collision on Saturday.

Overall Grade: A-