AEW delivered a mega episode of Dynamite with Collision for dessert on Wednesday night (Nov. 11, 2026) for the go-home to Full Gear. The highs were very high with lots of great moments to build excitement heading into the PPV. Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher engaged in a promo dance that was on another level, Mercedes Moné tapped out to Marina Shafir, the Trios title scene was a prelude to Texas Death, Ilja Dragunov will make violent music with Tommaso Ciampa, MCMG prevailed over FTR in the dramatic
Match 5, and more took place from Maverik Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
On another level
Will Ospreay defends the AEW World Championship against Kyle Fletcher at Full Gear. The Protostar looked like the top star last week leading the Callis Family to victory in Blood & Guts. This week, that momentum continued with one of the best promo sessions for a go-home episode in AEW history.
But first, there was an interesting scene amongst Ospreay’s team after losing Blood & Guts. Ospreay got on Adam Copeland’s case for surrendering. Cope told that whippersnapper to shut up and listen. Copeland retired for nine years due to neck injuries. He didn’t want the same for his teammates, who were in dire straits at the end of that war. Cope told Ospreay that if he can’t understand that reason, then maybe this isn’t the place for him. Cope walked out.
Good tension to develop characters for the inevitable clash between Ospreay and Cope. I side with Copeland on this one. Ospreay was acting like an idiot to blame Cope. If anything, Ospreay should blame himself for allowing Fletcher to put a screwdriver to his throat. Based on this scene, if was have to choose sides, I’m backing Copeland over Ospreay. Cope did nothing wrong, and he acted noble with wisdom. Which side do you stand with on that scene?
Next up was Ospreay and Fletcher face to face to officially open the show. They did a good job of rehashing history with a new slant. Fletcher made this interesting by demanding credit for breaking Ospreay’s neck.
Ospreay chipped away trying to get Fletcher to admit they are still bruvs deep down. Fletcher snapped that he is jealous of Ospreay’s crowning glory at All In. That is the fairy tale moment Fletcher wanted his whole life. The heel said despicable trash talk about how Ospreay is a manipulator, and that everyone leaves Ospreay. Ospreay’s wife will see that eventually and leave him. If Ospreay’s son doesn’t see that over the years, then Fletcher will be there to tell him. There will only be hatred from Fletcher at Full Gear.
Ospreay wrapped that chirping into a neat little package for a killer closing. He acknowledged that Fletcher has developed into one of the best. However, Ospreay is on another level. His killer instinct will be pointed at Fletcher at Full Gear, and he won’t hesitate to pull the trigger. Ospreay went into his catchphrase. Fletcher slapped him. Ospreay kept his composure to finish his catchphrase and exit with the upper hand mentally.
The whole scene was excellent. I love how Ospreay presented himself as the ace. His confidence makes me confident that we will be getting the best version of Ospreay at Full Gear. Fletcher’s emotion was great as a villain. Frustration ate him up to be consumed by jealousy. They walked that fine line between making this personal in an over the top professional wrestling manner. In a few short weeks, AEW turned this into a ho-hum PPV main event to one that I can’t wait to see.
Where do you rank this promo exchange in the best promos of AEW go-home episodes?
AEW delivered over 3.5 hours of wrestling from Dynamite and Collision. Catch up on the play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth. Let’s break down the rest of the show.
New Level versus Brodido is thrown out. Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page were banned from ringside. The aggression in this match was a prefect prelude to Texas Death. The action was an equal mix of brawling and cool moves. The fighting spilled outside often, and referee Rick Knox was lenient on count-outs. Things started spiraling even more out of control when Bandido shouted for a table from Brody King. Kofi swung a chair at Bandido to save Austin Creed. Even through Kofi missed the chair shot, this calamity was too much even for Knox. The ref waved off the match. Security tried to stop the madness, but Kofi leaped off stage crashing onto King through the table.
The aggressive attitudes and pace of fisticuffs showed that these four are ready for Texas Death at Full Gear. Good job showing the change in characters over the course of this trios angle. Brodido and New Level went from reluctant participants to crazy men frothing at the mouth for violence. AEW rarely throws out matches as the official result, and using that finish here helped sell the mood.
Later in the show, Hangman put his apprehensions aside to stand with his brothers as a team for Texas Death. Say what you want about the God line. Aside from that aspect, I like the picture they painted about walking into the mouth of Hell and coming to peace with the atrocities they’re willing to commit.
David Finlay defeated Orange Cassidy. All the Anarchy teammates were banned from ringside. Cassidy wisely hid Finlay’s shillelagh under the ring at the start to prevent cheating. That was the idea anyway. Finlay still found a way to use the shillelagh. When the going got tough, Finlay tossed a chair into the ring to distract the referee. The ref took the bait, then Finlay found his shillelagh and walloped Cassidy for the easy pin. Fun performance from Cassidy with his usual antics. The result was unsatisfying, but it makes sense for the bigger picture. The Cut attacked Cassidy after the match.
Persephone defeated Gyspy Mac. Squash win via crucifix bomb. Perse showed personality with anger about losing the TBS Championship. More from Persesphone later after the final match of the evening.
Match 5 in the Best of 5 Series: Motor City Machine Guns defeated FTR. Stakes were added to make the winners the next #1 contenders for the tag titles. The deciding match did a great job of pulling the series together. Alex Shelley entered with an injured leg, so FTR targeted that pain to isolate him. They called back to previous finished, in particular Stokely Hathaway anchoring Shelley’s foot to give FTR the upper hand. That tactic didn’t work this time, and Shelley blasted Big Stoke into oblivion. Chris Sabin also put hands on Hathaway for the Cradle Shock. There were dramatic near falls for the Shatter Machine and stuff piledrivers. In the end, Sabin scored a roll-up on Dax Harwood to win as time ran down to under one minute remaining. Afterward, FTR shook MCMG’s hands out of respect.
That was how a Match 5 should unfold. The action made it tough to tell who was going to win. Both teams hit finishers in moments that felt like it could be the winning pin. Add in the decision to have this bout on TV rather than PPV. Many assumed there would be some sort of draw, so it would lead to the final round on PPV. That helped made the result feel more surprising that it was truly the end. One aspect I didn’t like was the time limit. There are no time-limit draws in these types of matches, because there has to be a winner for the scoreboard. Commentary didn’t even know what would have happened if time ran out.
AEW National Championship: Tommaso Ciampa (c) defeated Mike Bailey to retain the title. Impressive win for the Psycho Killer to start his reign with a strong performance. Even though Bailey made this competitive, Ciampa looked like the star to control the pace. I was pulled in for a second wondering if a title change was on the way after Speedball connected on the Ultima Weapon. Ciampa ended that flurry with a brutal avalanche backbreaker. It took two running knees to keep Bailey down for the pin. When AEW says this is where the best wrestle, this match is the type of example they will point to.
Next up for Ciampa is Ilja Dragunov at Full Gear.
Jon Moxley & Marina Shafir defeated Jay White & Mercedes Moné. All the Anarchy mates were banned from ringside. Mixed tag team rules were supposed to be in effect. I don’t know if the referee just gave up and allowed intergender. Whatever the case, the action was awesome. Shafir didn’t back down from White, and Mercedes didn’t back down from Moxley. I enjoyed how this wasn’t just women bullying the men, who would refuse to fight back. This was full steam ahead without abandon. For example, there was a sequence where Switchblade hit the Blade Runner on Shafir, Moxley grabbed White for a choke, and Mercedes saved her partner with a low blow. The CEO ran her mouth, so Moxley responded with a cutter.
In the end, Mercedes tapped out to the Brutalizer from Shafir. The Cut attacked after the match. Cassidy returned with superman punches running wild. Moxley and Cassidy shook hands.
I’d say that Mercedes is the heavy favorite to retain, but I’ll be darned if AEW hasn’t built Shafir up into a legit contender for this PPV clash. Using PAC’s Brutalizer adds an emotional edge from Shafir. If AEW wanted to pull the upset at Full Gear, this would be the time to do it for maximum impact on a cathartic moment. That goes to show how AEW turned an obvious result into one that’s not so obvious anymore through story development. Well done.
Young Bucks & Jack Perry defeated Kevin Knight, Brian Cage, & El Clon. For my money, the move of the match was Knight landing a long-distance UFO splash. The Bucks were on fire with their particular style of wrestling. It was a like a spark lit their fuse. Perry carried his weight will cool moves as well. A BTE Trigger on Clon sealed the deal after Elite offense cleared out Knight and Cage.
Later, the Bucks delivered a promo about the tag title defense for Full Gear. Their words backed up the reason for their great effort in the ring. The Bucks took a step back to realize they are still the elite of the Elite. They are big match players. That trios bout combined with this promo actually fired me up for the Bucks versus Mark Davis & Jake Doyle. Also, shut up, Perry. No rematch for you with Samoa Joe.
Wardlow defeated Nick Comoroto. Meat on meat violence quickly turned into a squash. Victory via powerbomb. Seeing Wardlow with Mark Davis and Jake Doyle made me want to seem them in the trios division.
ROH World Tag Team Championship: Mistico & Mascara Dorada (c) defeated Swirl to retain the titles. Mistico scored a cradle roll-up on Lee Johnson to win. Random match delivered athleticism as expected.
TBS Championship: Queen Aminata (c) defeated Skye Blue and Hyan to retain the title. Final match of the marathon episode. Promos did a good job building interest. I mean, I didn’t care at all about this match after 3.5 hours, but I appreciate the effort to make it feel bigger than it was. Obligatory Thekla promo cool as ice. Triangle of Madness won’t complain about losing Blood & Guts, because payback will be so much worse. Julia Hart urged Blue to unleash hell.
Hyan is ready to step up, and seeds were planted for Maya World back in the TBS title picture. Squirrelly Pop!
Blue had victory within grasp on Code Blue to Hyan, then Aminata landed a flying stomp onto Hyan to break the pin. Aminata clobbered Blue with a running kick to win. Blue eating the pin is the right call, because Hyan has a date to challenge Athena for the ROH women’s world title at Final Battle. Can’t have Hyan eat the pin and expect to sell anyone on that bout.
Afterward, Britt Baker distracted Aminata, so Persephone attacked from behind. Maya made the save. AEW announced a TBS three-way on the PPV pre-show between Aminata, Perse, and Maya.
Notes: AEW honored Veteran’s Day.
Tag team champion Brawling Birds and challengers Wrathlander bickered after Blood & Guts. Wrathlander aren’t intimidated. The Birds mocked tears for the struggles of Wrathlander. The Birds told Wrathlander to be ready to fight, and may the best team win.
Andrade was proud to carry the AEW National Championship, and it hurts to lose that title. When one door closes, another door opens. Andrade is focused on making history as the first Latino AEW world champion.
Divine Dominion won’t seek revenge for losing Blood & Guts, because they are going to leave behind a path of destruction regardless. Megan Bayne and Lena Kross are badasses.
Nick Wayne beat Chris Jericho (pyro). Twice (pyro).
Stud of the Show: Will Ospreay
Ospreay delivered his promo like a boss to bring the aura of the best in the world.
Match of the Night: Jon Moxley & Marina Shafir vs. Jay White & Mercedes Moné
Mixed tag can be a mixed bag. These four brought the best qualities of that type of match for great entertainment.
Grade: B-
If AEW cobbled this down to a two-hour episode with the best bits, then it would be a strong A. There were some great go-home hype moments to get excited for Full Gear. As the broadcast stands as a whole, the show was far too long. Please stop with the excessively long episodes.
Share your thoughts about AEW Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show? Who impressed you the most?
