MJF and AEW are not done with each other, even though Kenny Omega beat him fair and square for the World Championship. MJF showed up on Dynamite this week, grabbed a microphone, and told the entire Grand Slam Mexico crowd that the only belt that’s real is his belt — that he’s the real champion, and that Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay aren’t even the true main event of All In. It was a lot to unpack for a guy who isn’t currently holding any title in AEW.
🎯 Key Takeaways
- MJF interrupted AEW Dynamite to insist his old World Championship reign is the only legitimate one, setting up a Casino Gauntlet Match spot at All In.
- Mike Bailey vs. Kyle Fletcher was, by a comfortable margin, the best match in wrestling this entire week.
- Christian Cage low-blowed Marina Shafir in the eight-man tag opener, and the segment worked specifically because Christian doesn’t treat it as a novelty.
- The Death Riders beat Edge and Tommaso Ciampa, continuing Jon Moxley’s faction’s dominant run on Dynamite.
MJF’s AEW Situation Just Got More Complicated
MJF’s problem is straightforward: Kenny Omega beat him clean for the AEW World Championship, and MJF has apparently decided that doesn’t count. He’s landed himself a spot in the Casino Gauntlet Match at All In — fighting for the number-two entry slot, since Kenny Omega already locked up the number-one spot on Dynamite. For a guy operating at MJF’s level, getting stuck in multi-man Casino Gauntlet nonsense at AEW’s biggest show of the year is a real step down, and if he doesn’t win it, that’s not a minor letdown — it’s a genuine misstep for how AEW is using one of its top stars.
The bigger head-scratcher: if MJF is healthy enough to be doing full angles on Dynamite, why wasn’t this MJF-Kenny Omega program running at AEW Redemption instead? That show already leaned hard on Kenny Omega to deliver, and an MJF appearance there would have given a show that struggled at the box office real star power it didn’t have. Saving this angle for a random Dynamite instead raises the obvious question of what AEW was waiting for.
Mike Bailey vs. Kyle Fletcher Was the Best Match of the Week, Full Stop
Across every promotion, every show, every match this week — nothing topped Mike Bailey vs. Kyle Fletcher on Dynamite. These two have wrestled each other several times recently, so the bar was already high, and while it’s fair to say they’ve had even better outings before, that’s a testament to how good their chemistry is rather than a knock on this match. This was a genuinely great professional wrestling match, full stop, and if AEW keeps running this pairing, it deserves a bigger platform than a random Grand Slam undercard slot.
Christian Cage Doesn’t Care Who You Are
The show opened with a stacked eight-man tag — the Young Bucks, Edge, and Christian Cage against Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, and Pac — and Christian stole it with a low blow on Marina Shafir at ringside. It’s a spot that only works because of who’s throwing it: Christian’s entire character is built on the idea that he genuinely does not care who you are or what’s fair, and a low blow to a legitimate MMA-trained competitor is exactly the kind of thing that separates him from wrestlers who still instinctively pull punches against women at ringside. It’s a small moment, but it’s a great encapsulation of why Christian Cage remains one of the best heel performers in the business.
The Death Riders Keep Rolling Through Dynamite
The Death Riders beat Edge and Tommaso Ciampa on this show, extending Jon Moxley’s faction’s run of dominance on Dynamite. AEW also ran a trios title change elsewhere on the card, continuing a night that was packed — by the show’s own admission, almost two and a half hours of wrestling, which is both a strength and a real pacing problem. A stacked card is great for a Grand Slam special; it’s also, by Dynamite’s own recent standard, a lot to sit through in one sitting.
Kris Statlander and Persephone Keep the Thunder Rosa Story Simmering
Kris Statlander teamed up in a trios match alongside a Thunder Rosa-adjacent storyline that continues to simmer between Rosa and Persephone. It wasn’t the match of the night, but on a show this loaded, it did its job of keeping a slower-burn women’s division story alive without needing the spotlight.
## Reality Check: AEW Is Overloading Its Big Shows
> The Reality: Grand Slam Mexico was a genuinely good show — Mike Bailey vs. Kyle Fletcher alone made it worth watching — but nearly two and a half hours with title changes, an MJF angle, and a stacked eight-man opener is too much to ask an audience to sit through and appreciate equally. AEW’s instinct to give a special show everything it has is admirable. It’s also exactly why shows like this start to feel exhausting instead of essential by the third hour.
Why did MJF interrupt AEW Dynamite?
MJF interrupted Dynamite to declare that his previous AEW World Championship reign is the only legitimate one, despite Kenny Omega having beaten him clean for the title, and to insist that Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay aren’t the real main event of All In.
What match is MJF in at AEW All In?
MJF is entered in the Casino Gauntlet Match at All In, fighting for the number-two entry position after Kenny Omega secured the number-one spot on Dynamite.
Who won Mike Bailey vs. Kyle Fletcher?
The match was widely regarded as the best match in wrestling that week, showcasing the strong chemistry between the two after several previous encounters.
Who beat Edge and Tommaso Ciampa on AEW Dynamite?
The Death Riders, Jon Moxley’s faction, defeated Edge and Tommaso Ciampa on this episode of Dynamite.
