It's the new era of AEW! The mother of all simulcasts! AEW streaming on Max! Although I'm still watching on Triller because I'm unsure if Max will get picture-in-picture commentary or not, and I don't want to lose that. Also, I realized this week that we haven't had Max since July and all this time I thought I already had the service. So, no need to pay for something in a new way if I'm already getting it in a way I like.

But, I have heard the video quality is much better so if we get PIP commentary and better video quality on Max, it'll be a no-brainer.

Editor's Note: There is no PIP on Max at all apparently, let alone PIP commentary. Triller stays winning.

On this, the first AEW show of the new year let's see what tricks the Khan Man has up his sleeves.

A lot of talking done quickly

It felt like we got a backstage promo as a bumper after every match and I think that's just great. We heard from Mox, FTR & Adam Copeland, Jay White, The Acclaimed, and Swerve Strickland in succinct backstage promos all in the first half hour of the show. And the promos were good and insightful!

You don't need to eat up ten minutes in the ring to get your point across. You also don't need to overthink the promos that you do put on the show. It just makes sense to have the matches on your show built up as the show goes on, and that doesn't always happen on AEW shows. It used to be that Collision would open with those great cold open promos to really jazz up the night.

But, the more you get to hear everyone talk about their motivations not only long-term but for the night it's a win-win. It makes the episode of TV you're watching feel important and it helps to solidify everybody's plans for the future so you have something to look forward to in the coming weeks.

Not only that, but the ~informative video packages~ were out in full effect and doing a great job of recapping Worlds End and keeping everybody who wasn't otherwise appearing on the show tonight fresh in the viewers' minds.

It's not rocket science. Wrestling shouldn't be hard to do well. Episodes of Dynamite like this where great matches are mixed in with promos and angles without feeling like anything dragged on are not only fun to watch but they also fly by without it feeling rushed.

Julia Hart returned, but there may be some kinks to work out

Unsure if it was due to ring rust on Julia or a chemistry mismatch with Jamie Hayter, but their match tonight didn't deliver as well as I had hoped it would. Perhaps this feud will continue on and we'll get a better, more hard-hitting match on a PPV.

Since coming back from injury, Hayter hasn't felt quite as dynamic as she was before she left. Her matches all had a different air about them pre-injury. She hit harder than anyone on the roster and you knew you were in for a good time watching someone get their block knocked off whenever she was in the ring.

Hayter in her current form seems a little tentative, or is perhaps working off some ring rust of her own. I hope to see her return to her previous style and quality as the weeks go on.

While it didn't feel like Hayter and Hart gelled well, it was still a good effort from both. Julia using an arrow as her new weapon of choice is inspired and really just bonkers as far as a wrestler's signature weapon is concerned. Using it as a tool of distraction to use the old standby of a face full of mist also worked well.

Whether this is a straight up feud between the two being built or Jamie Hayter adopting darker traits thanks to the mist is yet to be seen, but I'm on board for both. With Robert Eggers Nosferatu in theaters, what better time to bring back Hayter's "Teenage Nosferatu Pussy" theme song from her STARDOM days??

Swerve Strickland created a new arch nemesis

If there's one thing Swerve Strickland is good at (note: he's great at everything), it's creating new enemies at the drop of a hat. And I'm not just talking about regular enemies who want to beat you for a title or win a spirited feud. I'm talking about arch nemeses.

Swerve made an enemy for life out of Hangman Page when he broke into his house and left a t-shirt on or near his baby. This drove Hangman out of his god damn mind, causing ole Hanger to drink Swerve's blood and burn down Swerve's childhood home.

Would Hangman have hit that breaking point had Swerve not started the ball rolling by breaking into his house? Hard to say.

On Dynamite, Swerve was attacked by Ricochet during a three-way match with Roderick Strong and Jay White. This wasn't a standard "jump a guy on the outside" attack, though. Ricochet came with a pair of golden scissors and stabbed Swerve in the head with them, before then gouging the tip of the scissors into Swerve's head.

And for what? Because Swerve embarrassed Ricochet in front of everybody at Worlds End by encouraging the crowd to throw rolls of toilet paper at him after suffering a loss to Kazuchika Okada.

In that moment, Ricochet didn't react. He stood there, visibly broken and covered in toilet paper. It was clear that Ricochet had just become a shattered man and would be out for revenge against Swerve.

It seems that Swerve has no middle ground when it comes to his enemies and feuds. It's all or nothing, and he's made another enemy for life out of Ricochet. If this feud is anything like the Hangman feud, then it's going to end up on my "Best of 2025" list for sure.

Wrapping Up

Hangman Page vs Orange Cassidy was a fun match, though I struggle to understand what they're doing or where they're going with Cassidy at this point. He didn't eat the loss at the PPV, at least, but now he's eaten a loss to Hangman on the first show of the year.

Obviously you can't win all of 'em, but why pair Hangman and OC in a match when neither guy should probably be losing right now? Is this just a sign that Hangman will be hanging around the main event scene a bit longer while OC gets bumped out of the World Title picture? I'm not intrigued in an "I'm interested in where they go" kind of way, but more in a "What are they actually doing and why" kind of way.

Adam Copeland just going by "Cope" now is the dumbest choice. It's a horrible name. If you're not going to use your real name, think of a cooler fake name ot use. Calling yourself "Cope" just sounds extremely goofy and does not work. Hopefully this is a short-lived experiment.

That said, the main event was still fun and had a lot of great chaos! I'm just not in love with "Cope" as a full name and I'm still not really there on Cope vs Mox for the World Title.

Every week, I'm going to rank each AEW match I see (TV or PPV) against each other to see what ends up being my favorite match of the year. Why do this? Why not! There are so many incredible matches in AEW every year, so many that I have a hard time picking my favorite match of the year just off the top of my head.

There are too many choices and I know I'd forget something. So, this is an attempt to think about, note, and remember every match I watch in 2025.

Now, let's check in with the best matches of 2025.