AEW Dynamite (Mar. 11, 2026) was the go-home to the Revolution PPV. In an effort to hype the Texas Death main event for the world title, AEW held a press conference between MJF and Hangman Page. Little did we expect that the scene would close with barbed wire. The broadcast also featured Kyle Fletcher versus Mike Bailey tearing down the house, Brody King being more dangerous than Swerve Strickland, Dem Bucks on the losing end of the main event, and more from San Jose Civic in San Jose, California.
Who brings barbed wire to a press conference?
The answer is Hangman Page. Technically, the barbed wire came out once they brawled away from the press conference down to the ring. Good thing that they did, because that press conference was ho-hum. None of that talking hooked me for the PPV. What did the trick was old-fashioned violence.
Things got spicy when MJF sarcastically offered a beer to Hangman as a way to salute the cowboy’s last chance at the world title. Hangman slapped one beer out of MJF’s hands, so the world champ threw the other beer in the challenger’s face. Fisticuffs are go!
MJF and Hangman brawled through the crowd down to the ring. Security failed at keeping the peace, but they did create a window for MJF to be sneaky with the Dynamite Diamond Ring. Swing and a miss. Deadeye piledriver by Hangman. This is where the hype for Texas Death came in to play. Hangman pulled out a barbed wire board. MJF sprinted away to safety.
After Dynamite closed, Hangman delivered a passionate promo to get pumped for Revolution.
The press conference aspect was kind of boring. I think that is due more to the time slot than the concept. The show was coming to a close, so my mind was on seeing violence. MJF and Hangman didn’t break new ground with their answers. It felt low energy when coming after the official main event match between Dem Bucks and FTR & Tommaso Ciampa. Once the ball got rolling with the beer spot, the rest was dynamite. Texas Death is going to be bonkers at Revolution, and I want to see it.
Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite. Catch up on all the details with excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.
Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero. This match was about giving a taste of Moxley versus Takeshita, and I suspect there could be more between Claudio and Hechicero in the near future, such as the CMLL world heavyweight title. The Callis Family were the more dominant duo on this evening. Takeshita and Hechicero moved a step quicker throughout the match. On the finish, Claudio relied on his old tricks that have been used in his CMLL matches. Hechicero charged to the corner. Claudio dodged, and the referee was in the way. Hechicero stopped short, but the ref cowered. Claudio took advantage for an eye poke and an uppercut to win.
The action served it’s purpose to build hype for the PPV clash. The story elements picked up after the match. Mark Davis and Lance Archer attacked Moxley. The Murderhawk Monster checked his shoulder to knock Marina Shafir onto her butt.
The Callis Family set up Moxley for Takeshita to deliver the death blow. Takeshita refused to take liberties. The idea was that the Alpha wants to prove he is better than Moxley at Revolution. The goons were angry at the lack of killer instinct from Takeshita. This scene builds honor for Takeshita and provides another reason for fans to cheer once he finally breaks off from the Callis Family, if that ever happens.
TNT Championship: Kyle Fletcher (c) defeated Mike Bailey. Speedball took Fletcher to the proverbial limit. So much so that it had me questioning if AEW would really pull a title change here. Bailey started sharp with armbars. Fletcher’s left arm was damaged for the rest of the match. Fire up the highlight reel. Bailey countered a powerslam into a poison rana on the apron. The transition was awesome and unexpected.
Down the stretch, Bailey hit an avalanche poison rana followed by a tornado kick to the head. This near fall had the crowd biting hard.
The finish was a flurry of moves with Bailey scoring close calls. Fletcher had answers, but Bailey kept coming forward with offense. Speedball was too quick. In the end, Kazuchika Okada helped his best friend by distracting the referee. Mark Davis passed the title belt to Fletcher to clobber Bailey. A brainbuster earned the pin for Fletcher to retain.
This was the style of action that AEW delivers on PPV. Fletcher and Bailey have great chemistry in the ring. They deserve the, “Fight forever,” chants. The final sequence was an explosion of excitement. Fletcher and Bailey were moving so fast that I couldn’t keep up with my notes. This performance made Bailey into a legit TNT title contender. Whenever Speedball gets another crack, the work is done to believe he can win the belt.
In the bigger picture for PPV, the cheating attack gives reason for Bailey to seek payback with Kevin Knight and Mistico when challenging the Callis Family for the world trios titles.
Brody King defeated Jabrone A, engaged in impromptu danger fight with Swerve Strickland. King had his head on a swivel looking for Swerve during the standby match. A lariat and a Gonzo Bomb were enough to finish his opponent.
King paced around the crowd, and Swerve still caught him by surprise. The hooded villain choked King with a chain.
King used his might to rip the chain apart with his bare hands. He showed Swerve a dose of danger by choking him off the apron. Prince Nana was futile in hitting King, but it caused enough of a distraction for Swerve to snap King’s arm over the ropes. That potential injury could be the deciding factor in the PPV bout.
That was an awesome segment to hype the PPV. King and Swerve packed a punch in a short amount of time. Swerve’s initial attack was surprise enough for me to do a double take. I figured something was coming, but I didn’t spot Swerve at all in the crowd. King was badass to break the chain as a sign of how dangerous he can be. Swerve’s expression was fantastic to silently say, “I think I may have made a big mistake.” Well done all around.
David Finlay & Gabe Kidd defeated Darby Allin & Orange Cassidy. This match had a lot of brawling outside. The Dogs were thrown a bone when Clark Connors cracked Cassidy in the head with a tire iron. Finlay and Kidd double-teamed Allin for a Dominator and a piledriver to win. Kidd gets the bragging rights over Allin on the pin.
Fun chaos for this match. Allin and Cassidy brought energy in their typical babyface manner. The Dogs worked well as a unit. There was one cool counter when Allin leaped for a Code Red to Finlay, but Kidd blocked it with a lariat. The Dogs’ win is the right call. Finlay needs that success to establish the Dogs as a threat under his leadership. It gives the ongoing feud more legs. Connors cheated, and that brings the question of who can watch the backs of Allin and Cassidy. That question was answered after the match.
The Dogs called for Roderick Strong to destroy Cassidy. Strong had a different idea. After teasing treachery, he saw the light to conglomerate and save Cassidy instead. Upon clearing the ring, Strong gave Cassidy a high-five.
TBS Championship: Willow Nightingale (c) defeated Persephone. Powerhouse versus powerhouse. Persephone lifted Willow to finish for the Razor’s Edge, however, the champ escaped and scored a backslide to win.
On the positive, this was a nice match. Persephone benefits from the exposure of a promo and taking the champ to deep waters. Willow showed resilience by finding a way to win. On the negative note, this feels like shortsighted booking for Persephone. She is coming off dethroning Mercedes Moné for the CMLL women’s title, and she goes out to lose this match in AEW a few days later. Any momentum to build for AEW was flushed down the toilet without any effort to cultivate it. The booking was completely unnecessary too. AEW could have picked a number of credible opponents for Persephone to beat to build hype for a crack at Willow or even Thekla for the world title. I understand that the modus operandi for AEW is to have rising stars lose often in strong matches, but Persephone is a different case after the win over Mercedes. It is a wasted opportunity to do something meaningful. Maybe this is part of bigger plan for Persephone. We shall see.
Here is a taste of Persephone’s personality in a pre-match promo.
As for Willow, she was feeling feisty as double champion to have two title matches at Revolution. She will defend the TBS title against Lena Kross on the pre-show, and the Babes of Wrath will defend the tag titles against Megan Bayne and Kross. I don’t understand the booking logic of double duty here, but we’ll see soon enough how it pays off.
FTR & Tommaso Ciampa defeated Young Bucks & Mark Briscoe. Rowdy main event. Big moves were popping. Dem Bucks landed a trio of dives with Briscoe’s foggy bow as the icing, but the pin was broken up. FTR executed a Shatter Machine to Briscoe, however, the Bucks broke the pin from Ciampa. The herd thinned when FTR nailed a spike piledriver to Matt Jackson through the commentary table.
The coast was clear for Ciampa to finish Briscoe with a super Psycho Driller onto chairs.
For an all-star trios match with no real stakes for the winners, this match delivered as expected. All six men went full steam ahead. FTR got the upper hand on the Bucks, so we’ll see if the Jacksons can rebound to win the tag titles. Ciampa unleashed his inner Psycho Killer with violence on Briscoe. No doubt that their feud will continue with even more intensity.
Notes: This tense encounter between MJF and Kyle Fletcher could be something or it could be nothing.
Stud of the Show: Brody King
Breaking a steel chain with bare hands is worthy of this honor.
Match of the Night: Kyle Fletcher vs. Mike Bailey
High-octane action that pulled me into the moment on near falls.
Exciting wrestling all night long. AEW has a tricky time handling go-home episodes. This one worked well to leave me satisfied tonight while looking forward to Revolution.
Share your thoughts about AEW Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show? Who impressed you the most?