AEW Dynamite Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From Sept. 9

Wednesday's Dynamite was already planned to be the special Rebel Hearts episode to benefit ALS research, but it also turned into a tribute to the late Andy Williams.

Known to AEW fans as The Butcher, Williams was also a prolific guitarist and a beloved talent by all who knew him.

Wednesday's episode included a special edition of The Waiting Room with Rebel and Britt Baker in addition to all of the usual action.

Let's take a look at what happened on this week's Dynamite.

The Waiting Room

Dynamite opened with a graphic paying tribute to Andy Williams as the crowd could be heard chanting Butcher's name. Excalibur ran down the card for the night before we went to The Waiting Room.

Rebel introduced Britt Baker for the segment. They shared a cute moment before bringing out Persephone, who bragged about being a double champion in AEW and CMLL.

They also welcomed Hikaru Shida, whom Baker still held responsible for breaking her nose back in the day. This wasn't a very long segment, but it accomplished what it set out to do.

Seeing Rebel smiling and enjoying herself was the best part.

Notable Moments and Observations

• Baker doing the old Reba/Rebel joke while telling Rebel how brave she is was a very sweet moment.
• Bringing up how Shida broke Baker's nose was funny.

The New Level and Swerve Strickland vs. The Conglomeration (Trios Titles)

Last time in action: The New Level and Swerve Strickland defeated The Conglomeration and everyone else (All In)

The first match of the night saw Swerve Strickland, Kofi and Austin Creed defend the Trios Championships against Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly.

Swerve and Cassidy started, but the crowd seemed more excited to see KOR and Creed tag in. They traded some kicks to the thigh as they tried to one-up each other, but it was Creed who came out on top.

Strong using Cassidy as a weapon was one of the best parts of the match, but all six men put in some great work. The least surprising thing about this was that it was entertaining.

The trios titles felt a bit directionless in the first half of 2026, so it's great to see Swerve and The New Level starting their reign with some strong title defenses.

This was a typical AEW trios bout. It was a back-and-forth fight with everyone getting a little time to shine. Both teams looked strong, but the ending was definitely predictable. After an exciting final sequence, the champions scored the win when New Level hit Daybreak on OC for the pin.

The Demand and Lethal Twist came out looking for a fight, but Hangman and Brodido came to even the odds.

Result: Swerve and The New Level defeated The Conglomeration

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Giving The New Level a licensed song was cool, but it would be nice to hear what Mikey Rukus could come up with for their music.
• The standoff between Swerve and OC was funny.
• Strong throwing Cassidy around like a weapon was a great sequence.
• Kofi and Creed have some of the best double-team offense. Everything is so smooth after working together for so long.
• The look of disgust on Swerve's face with OC hit the slow kicks was priceless.

Maya World, Hyan and Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker, Persephone and Hikaru Shida

We went from a men's trios match to a women's trios match with Maya World, Hyan and Thunder Rosa teaming up to take on Baker, Persephone and Shida.

Despite being on the heel side, DMD was getting a lot of cheers and chants. When she saw Rosa across the ring, she immediately tagged out to Persephone.

The babyfaces had the upper hand for quite some time, but a distraction from Baker allowed Shida to take control as the show went to a break.

The pacing of this match could have been better, but most of the action we saw was solid. Persephone and Maya had some of the best moments, but everyone contributed.

Rebel came down to the ring to give Baker her signature glove to apply the Lockjaw on Hyan for the win. Hearing the crowd chanting Rebel's name made the ending feel special.

Result: Baker, Shida and Persephone defeated Hyan, Maya and Rosa

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• Some wrestlers wore a black armband with Andy Williams' initials to pay tribute to him. The announcers spoke about how much they loved him between matches. Excalibur barely kept it together because he was so emotional.
• Persephone has such a unique aura about her. It's hard to explain, but you know it when you see it.
• It was nice to hear Baker's entrance music again. Having her tag out to get away from Rosa was funny.
• Rebel's chair said "Roll Model."

Andrade El Idolo vs. The Beast Mortos (National Title)

Last time in action: United Empire defeated The Dogs and Demand (Dynamite, Sept. 2), The Beast Mortos lost to Konosuke Takeshita (Collision, August 26)

The Beast Mortos tried to get an early advantage in his National Championship match against Andrade El Idolo, but the champion saw it coming and took him down to get the match started.

While both men are bigger than your average luchador, Mortos and Andrade still managed to make this a high-flying and fast-paced encounter with a lot of fun spots.

It seemed a little weird for Mortos to be getting this title shot out of nowhere, especially since he's lost most of his recent matches in AEW, but he and El Idolo made a terrific combination.

Much like the trios title bout earlier in the show, the outcome of this was never in question. We all knew El Idolo would retain, but making a predictable match that is still enjoyable to watch is an accomplishment in its own right.

After a competitive bout, Andrade scored a clean win with his finisher to retain the title. As he was giving a post-match promo, The Dogs attacked, but Will Ospreay made the save. Jon Moxley came out to join the commentary team for the next match.

Result: El Idolo defeated Mortos

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• Andrade's hurricanrana from the apron to the floor looked great.
• Seeing a guy the size of Mortos hit a suicide dive will never get old.
• Andrade's spinning back elbow always looks so brutal.

Will Ospreay vs. David Finlay

Last time in action: United Empire defeated The Dogs and Demand (Dynamite, Sept. 2)

Since Ospreay and David Finlay were already in the ring, Tony Khan sent out a ref to get this Eliminator match going.

Moxley talked about being surprised by the announcement of his title match against Ospreay as he watched the champion take the fight to Finlay.

This was a very physical match between two men who clearly know each other's strengths and weaknesses. They know how to make each other look good, and they did exactly that.

In a somewhat surprising ending, Ospreay ended up winning with the Styles Clash instead of one of his own finishers.

Result: Ospreay defeated Finlay

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Mox was taking credit for Ospreay's strikes being stiffer than they used to be.
• There was a girl in the front row behind the announcers who was losing her mind for Moxley.
• Ospreay's springboard forearm looked awesome.

Darby Allin and Steven Borden vs. Mark Davis and Josh Alexander

Steven Borden wrestled his first AEW match since Sting's retirement when he teamed up with Darby Allin to take on Mark Davis and Josh Alexander of The Don Callis Family.

Darby and Dunkzilla started for their teams, but Davis wanted to fight the rookie, so Allin tagged him in. He managed to bring Davis down with an arm drag before he brought Allin back in.

Darby and Borden had some moments in the driver's seat, but Davis and Alexander were in control more often, especially during the first half.

They continued to dominate during the break into the next segment, but the babyfaces eventually started to make a comeback.

Borden looked surprisingly good in the ring for someone with so little experience. He didn't look like a wily veteran, but he looked better than most rookies at this stage of their careers.

Borden hit the Scorpion Death Drop on Alexander while Allin hit the Coffin Drop at the same time to pick up the win. Even with young Steven's inexperience being evident, this was an enjoyable performance.

Result: Allin and Borden defeated Davis and Alexander

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Don Callis doesn't have to be on commentary for every match with one of his clients. We promise it's ok for him to skip some.
• Darby's surprise coffin drop to Davis was a cool spot.
• Borden needs some better gear. Black jeans might work for Darby, but he needs his own look.
• Davis paid tribute to The Butcher with a powerbomb.

The Young Bucks vs. Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight

Thekla came out to cut a promo, but she was interrupted by Mercedes Mone in the crowd. Willow Nightingale came out to chase Thekla out of the ring.

This week's main event featured Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher teaming up to take on Nick and Matt Jackson in a tag team Tables match. Callis was not on commentary for this one.

The Bucks rushed the ring and started fighting with Kyle and Kevin right away. They used their fast-paced double-team offense to take control right out of the gate.

When it comes to these four guys, you always know what you are going to get. The Bucks will provide some fun tag team wrestling, The Jet will bring the high-flying action, and Fletcher will bring his trademark intensity to the ring.

Table matches can be tricky because the only way to tease a finish is with a table spot, but they did a good job spacing them out so it didn't feel like we had too many fakeouts.

Knight was the first to be put through a table, and Matt was sent through another a moment later, leaving Fletcher and Nick to fight over the finish. FTR showed up to interfere and gave Fletcher the opening he needed to put Matt through a table for the win.

Allin and Borden came out to drive FTR away and save the Bucks from being given a piledriver through a table.

Result: Fletcher and Knight defeated The Young Bucks

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• It's weird seeing Fletcher and Knight without their titles.
• Ospreay had a backstage confrontation with The Death Riders.
• The announcers pointed out that the last tables match in AEW featured The Butcher.
• Knight's springboard from the top rope, over a table and onto both Bucks was incredible.

The Final Word

Wednesday's episode was very emotional for a lot of fans and AEW talent for multiple reasons. 

Hearing Excalibur break down as he talked about the passing of Andy Williams had a lot of people tearing up with him. 

Rebel's presence on the show to help raise awareness for ALS research was great, but seeing her cry as the crowd chanted her name was another tearjerking moment. 

The action across the two-plus hours of Dynamite was the usual mix of exciting performances, but the results were very predictable for the entire show other than the main event. 

Saturday's Collision will be a tribute episode for Andy "The Butcher" Williams, so it will be interesting to see what AEW has in store for it.

Grade: B