Hall’s AEW Dynamite Review – 10.14.26

Dynamite
Date: October 14, 2026
Location: Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Excalibur, Walker Stewart, Tony Schiavone

It’s the first half of the double show bit again, as we have an hour of Collision tonight after Dynamite. That’s due to this being the last night before this weekend’s WrestleDream, meaning we need some rapid fire qualifying matches for Clockwork Carnage. That should be enough to carry things so let’s get to it.

Death Riders vs. Wardlow/Don Callis Family

Davis backs Garcia into the corner but Garcia goes after the leg. That earns him a shot from an interfering Doyle, who gets to face Kidd. Wardlow comes in as well and runs Kidd over so it’s already back to Garcia, who is knocked into the corner. Moxley is in to get shouldered down as well, with Wardlow doing it a second time.

Some stomping in the corner has Moxley in more trouble so it’s back to Garcia. This time he escapes a Powerbomb Symphony attempt and grabs the Dragontamer, which is broken up rather quickly. We take a break and come back with Garcia powering up for his dance and knocking Doyle down. Moxley and Davis come in to slug it out with Moxley hammering him in the corner.

Davis’ piledriver is countered into a quickly broken bulldog choke so Moxley hits a running dropkick to the floor. The suicide dive takes Davis out again and it’s time for the rapid fire clotheslines to Davis inside. Marina Shafir gets in one of her own and the Dragontamer into the Stomp gives Moxley two. Wardlow is back in and gets guillotine choked, which is broken up as well. Davis is left alone to blast Moxley with the clothesline and the piledriver finishes Moxley off at 16:08.

Rating: B. The ending was the latest attempt to make Davis feel like a threat to Moxley’s title and yeah it’s just not going to work. The match was good, albeit a bit long, with Wardlow being back and not really getting to stand out. It’s not the best idea to put him in there with two powerhouse partners as it takes away what made him feel special. Fix that up, and get him away from the Family whatsoever, and it should be a lot better.

Clockwork Carnage Qualifying Match: Adam Copeland vs. Josh Alexander

Alexander grabs a headlock to start as commentary again explains Clockwork Carnage (which does make sense, though it sounds messy). They’re quickly on the floor where Alexander takes over on the leg as we take a break. We come back with Alexander staying on the leg but running into a jumping boot to the face. They trade big forearms from their knees and then more from their feet, with Copeland getting fired up to take over.

Copeland knocks him out to the floor, followed by the Impaler back inside. Alexander counters the spear into some rolling German suplexes for two and the ankle lock goes on. That’s broken up and Copeland hits an exposed buckle, allowing Alexander to get in his own spear for two. Copeland is back up to knock him to the apron for a slingshot cutter but Alexander gets in a crotching on top. Copeland escapes a superplex though and drops him onto the turnbuckle, followed by the spear for the win at 11:17.

Rating: B-. It’s nice to see Copeland getting in the ring on his own, which doesn’t really happen that often. He’s gotten the tag run out with Cage out of the way and if you want him to, let him do one more singles run. He certainly has the standing and resume to make it a realistic chance and this is at least a step in that direction.

Post match Copeland says that Christian Cage broke three ribs and suffered a collapsed lung five minutes into the ladder match at All Out. Cage kept going in that match for the fans, who applaud him. Due to that, Copeland had to think about some things because he knows he’s aging out. The truth is that 2027 will be his last year in wrestling (the fans disapprove), which is why he has to go for the AEW World Title.

This brings out Don Callis and Brian Cage, with Callis saying he’s known Copeland his entire career. Callis says he needs to be the one who makes this kind of a decision about Copeland’s retirement. Cue the Family to lay Copeland out. Cue Konosuke Takeshita and the Conglomeration for the save. That’s a big story and Copeland’s last year in wrestling could be quite the big deal depending on which way it goes.

Clockwork Carnage Qualifying Match: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Brian Cage

They immediately go to the exchange of forearms and Takeshita hurricanranas him out to the floor. Cage is able to change places with him for the running flip dive and then drops Takeshita onto the barricade. Back in and Cage choke tosses him into the corner, followed by a sitout Alabama slam for two.

We take a break and come back with Cage powering out of a full nelson. A powerbomb and spinning kick to the face drops Takeshita onto the ropes for the 619. Takeshita gets in a Blue Thunder Bomb for two of his own, followed by a sitout powerbomb for two more. Cage catches him up top for a super hurricanrana and then the apron superplex, with Takeshita rolling through into Raging Fire. That sends Cage rolling to the ropes so they trade some hard clotheslines. Cage loads up the F5 but Takeshita slips out for a jumping knee to the face. A dragon sleeper makes Cage tap at 12:21.

Rating: B. This was better than I was expecting, with Takeshita getting to show that he can work with a power wrestler, which doesn’t seem to happen very often. At the same time, Cage looked better than I was expecting and this was one of his better matches in AEW. Good stuff here, even with the result not being in doubt, which happens in a lot of these matches.

The new United Empire (Will Ospreay/Mike Bailey/Brawling Birds/Andrade El Idolo) are ready for tonight and Saturday. Of note: we’re over an hour into the show and this is the first segment to not involve the Don Callis Family. Maybe space them out a bit?

Here are FTR and Stokely for a chat on the stage. Dax Harwood says being a champion is what matters to him (rather than his annoying wife or bratty daughter) and he wants a reason why they aren’t the #1 contenders. This brings out the Motor City Machine Guns, who respect FTR but want to be the best. Harwood mentioned beating the Young Bucks three times, but could FTR beat the Guns three times? We get an official challenge for a best of five series, with Shelley wanting to do the first match tonight. Stokely says they’ll do it at WrestleDream instead. At least it gives the Guns something to do for a change.

After Grand Slam, Hangman Page ranted about Swerve Strickland but Brodido calmed him down, telling him to focus on the Trios Titles.

Clockwork Carnage Qualifying Match: Myron Reed vs. Kazuchika Okada

Non-title. Okada backs him against the ropes for the slap on the chest so Reed comes back with some forearms. Reed sends him outside but Okada slides back in for a flapjack. Okada has to bail out of the top rope elbow, instead knocking Reed down again as we take a break. We come back with the top rope elbow hitting Reed and there’s the middle finger. A superkick into the hanging Downward Spiral gives Reed two, setting up the big dive over the top to take him out again.

Back in and Okada counters a Stunner into a Tombstone and they head outside. This time Okada gets backdropped on the floor, setting up another hanging Downward Spiral, this time off the barricade. Reed gets in a 450 off the steps but a regular version hits raised knees back inside. A quick poisonrana off the top plants Okada, who is up 12 seconds later for the Rainmaker and the win at 11:03.

Rating: B-. This was about what you would have expected, with Okada not seeming to take it seriously and popping up after one of Reed’s big moves at the end. There was absolutely no way that Reed was winning here so the match was more a waiting game until the Rainmaker. They could have done this in about five minutes and saved us a good deal of time.

Video on MJF, who was named #1 on the PWI 500.

New Level is told that Swerve Strickland had some family business to deal with but he’s sent a friend: comedian Mojo Brookzz. Cue Brookzz, who is very enthusiastic about being here.

Here are New Level, with Brookzz and Prince Nana, for a chat. Brookzz hypes up the match again the Good, The Bad and the Ugly, with Brookzz saying Bandido wears a mask for being ugly. Kofi admits that Bandido beat him last week but it’s going to be different at WrestleDream because it’s three on three. There are levels to this so THANK GOD for the NEW LEVEL! This was pretty nothing and Brookzz was more of a distraction than anything else.

Triangle Of Madness vs. Lena Kross/Megan Bayne/Mercedes Mone

Mone shoves Thekla in the face to start but Thekla starts writing around a bit to avoid a charge. That earns Thekla a string of shoulders in the corner and Bayne blocks a middle rope Codebreaker. Hart comes in and gets choked on the rope but a quick dropkick in the corner has Bayne in trouble. It’s already back to Mone and the villains take over as we go to a break.

We come back with Blue snapping off a headscissors but Bayne counters a headscissors into a buckle bomb. Mone’s running Meteora gets two, with Thekla making the save. That lets Blue get in a basement dropkick and Thekla gets to come in and clean house. A high crossbody gets two on Kross and Thekla slaps on the Muta Lock. Bayne breaks it up and gets caught in a guillotine choke but Mone gives Blue a Backstabber. Thekla runs Kross over for two so Hart gives Kross the mist. A double gordbuster and the Stomp gives Thekla the pin on Kross at 11:10.

Rating: B-. I’ll take this over a similar deal to the opener, as Thekla pinning Mone would have felt really basic. Instead Thekla gets a win over a monster, which is quite different than what she’ll have to do on Saturday. It felt like a fresher way to get to the title match, even if Thekla getting the belt back feels like a long shot.

Samoa Joe/Tommaso Ciampa vs. United Empire

Andrade and Ciampa start things off, with the latter quickly bailing into the corner to bring in Joe. That means Andrade gets his eyes raked over the top rope but Andrade fights back for a high crossbody. Ospreay comes in with a running boot to Ciampa and a step up moonsault for two. Andrade sends Ciampa outside for a slingshot dive and of course we pause for the weekly photo.

We take a break and come back with Ciampa avoiding a crossbody, allowing the tag back to Joe. The corner enziguri gives Joe two but Andrade’s running forearm puts Ciampa down. That’s enough for the tag back to Ospreay and the comeback is on. Stormbreaker is blocked and Joe trips Ospreay up before walking away from an Oscutter attempt. Joe drops a backsplash to quite the reaction for quite the near fall and it’s back to Andrade. The Koquina Clutch is broken up so Ciampa grabs Willow’s bell onto the belt to knock Andrade silly. Now the Clutch can finish for Joe at 14:11.

Rating: B. There is something about Joe and Ciampa that make them fun to watch. They feel like people out there trying to win a fight and that’s not something you often see. Joe isn’t likely to win the title on Saturday but he feels like a threat and that’s noteworthy in any match. On the other hand, assuming Ciampa gets a title shot against Andrade, not only does he feel like a threat, but he feels like he should take the title. You don’t want Ciampa to be “that guy who won one thing months ago and keeps losing, so give him this instead.

Post match Joe hands Ospreay the title as Andrade vs. Ciampa for the National Title is set for WrestleDream to end the show.

 

Results
Don Callis Family/Wardlow b. Death Riders – Piledriver to Moxley
Adam Copeland b. Josh Alexander – Spear
Konosuke Takeshita b. Brian Cage – Dragon sleeper
Kazuchika Okada b. Myron Reed – Rainmaker
Triangle Of Madness b. Lena Kross/Megan Bayne/Mercedes Mone – Stomp to Kross
Samoa Joe/Tommaso Ciampa b. Will Ospreay/Andrade El Idolo – Koquina Clutch to Andrade

 

 

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8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

This show was a rushed effort to set up the Clockwork Carnage match and that was something that was going to have to happen. Between the Pac show and grand Slam, there wasn’t much time to get ready for WrestleDream. It’s not great, but it’s not on AEW whatsoever this time. This show had some good action, though it was mainly focused on one big match at WrestleDream. It worked well enough and it had to be done, so nice job.