AEW Dynamite live results: Winter is Coming

The fifth annual AEW Dynamite Winter is Coming airs live tonight from Kansas City, Missouri.

The issues between AEW stalwarts and Jon Moxley’s Death Riders will continue this week with a tag team contest pitting Moxley and PAC against Orange Cassidy and Jay White.

After turning against Mina Shirakawa at Full Gear, Mariah May will have to fend Shirakawa off as a title challenger on tonight’s show, with May defending the AEW Women’s World Championship against her former friend.

The Continental Classic also continues on tonight’s show with a pair of Gold League matches.

Will Ospreay will take on Claudio Castagnoli in one Gold League matchup. Claudio sits atop the Gold League with 6 points, while Ospreay has 3 points.

In the other Gold League matchup, Ricochet (3 points) will face Brody King (3 points).

Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly is also set for tonight’s episode, with the winner advancing to Worlds End on December 28 to face MJF for the Dynamite Diamond ring.

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AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming comes on the air with Excalibur welcoming us alongside Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness, as the music for the AEW World Champion hits and it’s time for our opening tag team contest. Schiavone mentioned having the hell scared out of him interviewing Jon Moxley after the events that took place on Collision and Moxley said he’s given Orange Cassidy a stay of execution.

Jon Moxley & PAC (w/Marina Shafir & Wheeler Yuta) defeated Orange Cassidy & Switchblade Jay White via disqualification

(Pretty action-packed opener here, with the story being the three contenders for the World Title being hell bent on getting their hands on Jon Moxley, regardless of the consequences. Cassidy, White & Hangman Page all have a common goal, but refuse to let the other get in the way of it. As a result, it not only cost them the match here, but also led to them getting their asses kicked in the post-match. It’d be very odd if we don’t get a 4-way at World’s End at this point.)

Cassidy & White waste no time taking the fight to PAC & Moxley on the outside, until Moxley turns the tables, sending Cassidy crashing into the steps. The match officially begins with PAC & White in the ring, as Moxley quickly intervened and had a chop exchange with White. Moxley avoided Blade Runner, as Cassidy made a blind tag, hit a baseball slide on PAC, while lighting up Moxley with corner punches. Bling tag from PAC this time, who cut off a Cassidy dive attempt with a pump kick. This allowed Moxley to hit a back suplex onto the announce desk, as this led to Cassidy being isolated. We see The Patriarchy watching on from one of the suites, as Christian Cage is holding his AEW World Title contract. White was able to make a hot tag, spiking both PAC & Moxley, screaming that he has Moxley’s number, but that delay allowed PAC to hit a boot and take control during break.

Back from break, White continued to be beaten down as Cage gave orders to Kip Sabian, Nick & Mother Wayne, all who leave the suite. White & PAC collided in a double down, resulting in duel tags from Cassidy & Moxley, who slug it out, as Moxley slid out of Beach Break, but not the PK, which Cassidy connected on. PAC jumped in, but was spiked with a spinning DDT. Cassidy popped up to the top and hit Moxley with a diving DDT for a near fall. Cassidy hit the spinning DDT on Moxley, tried another on PAC, who blocked, but ultimately hit with a Stundog Millionaire into a Sleeper Suplex from White. Moxley missed a charged and was planted with Beach Break to get a close Cassidy two.

The crowd are on their feet, as Yuta runs distraction, as Shafir tried to trip up Cassidy, who shoved her to the floor. Orange Punch to both Yuta & Moxley, as he was winding up for a home run shot on Moxley, when Hangman Adam Page sprinted in and tackled Moxley for the DQ. Cassidy went to pull Page off, but Page threw a punch and the fight was briefly on until White came in and fought with Page. Cassidy went for an Orange Punch, but Page ducked and White took the blow. Page was dropped by Cassidy, allowing White to recover enough to lay out Cassidy with a Blade Runner. Page, White & Cassidy are slowly recovering and arguing, letting Moxley, PAC, Yuta & Shafir to recover and hit the ring to attack. Death Riders all leave through the crowd, as the three top challengers for the AEW World Title were left motionless.

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-We get another wild west vignette with Bandido riding horseback, as other cowboys are telling him he’s under arrest and can do this the easy way or hard way. Bandido got off his horse, took off his cape and laid out all four cowboys, even giving one the 21-Plex in the process.

-Death Riders are backstage, as Jon Moxley said he’s a marked man and heavy is the head that wears the crown, it’s the only way to live. With a knife to your throat, he wouldn’t have it any other way. Everyone is all about their ego, wanting the next title shot, their egos run their lives and run All Elite Wrestling. None of this is about Moxley, so he said he’ll give them an early Christmas gift, World’s End, Fatal 4-Way.

-Christian Cage has a mic in the suite and said as he literally looks down on all of the crowd, they should shut their mouths. Cage said he has a problem with that being a 4-Way at World’s End and has issues with all four men in the match. Jon Moxley has what he wants, Orange Cassidy is a piss ant, White has unfinished business and Hangman Adam Page didn’t do what he was supposed to do when they made a deal. Cage will force Moxley to go back to rehab and have a drink, while he’ll rehab the AEW World Title. Cage went to leave the suite, but turned his back to door, as HOOK appeared, broke the glass window and beat the hell out of Cage, with his arm in a cast. REDRUM was applied, as Cage was almost shoved off the balcony, but fought his way free briefly. HOOK sent Cage flying through the food on a table, as Kip Sabian & Nick Wayne showed up, trying to fight him off, but HOOK stood tall and put chase to Cage.

Will Ospreay [6] defeated Claudio Castagnoli [6] in the Continental Classic Gold League

(The first of hopefully many meetings between these two certainly delivered, as Castagnoli continued looking strong, even in his first defeat in the tournament. Commentary really drove home how difficult of a schedule Ospreay has down the stretch, as he’s had more rest than anyone else in the early stages of the Continental Classic.)

Bell sounded and Ospreay sprinted into a Spanish Fly within seconds. Sasuke Special quickly followed, as Pip, Pip, Cheerio connected back inside for two. Ospreay wanted an Oscutter, but Castagnoli hit an uppercut in mid-air. Ospreay twisted out of a Giant Swing into a roll-up for two. Castagnoli floated over, but ate an Ospreay hook kick for a double down. Both slowly got to their feet and slugged it out until Castagnoli wrenched the arm and sent Ospreay outside. Castagnoli tried sending Ospreay into the steps, but Ospreay cleared them, dropkicked the steps into the legs, tried to leap off, but Castagnoli caught and slammed him again into the barricade. Giant Swing into the steps, as Castagnoli tipped the steps over, trapped Ospreay’s arm between them and stomped down. Back inside, Ospreay tried to battle back with another Pip, Pip, Cheerio, but Castagnoli hit a mid-air uppercut to keep control during the break.

Castagnoli had a Sharpshooter applied, but Ospreay sprung out into a springboard hurricanrana and handspring corkscrew kick for the reset. Running boot in the corner from Ospreay, who fought for and got a suplex and standing Sky Twister Press for two. Taking too long, Ospreay missed Hidden Blade, but avoided the Ricola Bomb into the Octopus Hold. Castagnoli got the ropes, went back to the arm and hit a double stomp to the back before a gut-wrench lift for two. Both battle in the corner, as Osperay fought off a superplex, tried a Leap of Faith, rolled through and ate a Castagnoli uppercut turning Ospreay inside out for two.

Toying with Ospreay only fired him up, as a forearm/uppercut battle ensued until Ospreay ducked one and hit an Oscutter flush, but Castagnoli wisely rolled outside. Back inside, Ospreay wanted Hidden Blade, but ran into a pop-up uppercut for two. Castagnoli hit the home run lariat, but Ospreay kicked out, the first to do so this tournament. Castagnoli wanted the Neutralizer, but Ospreay got a jackknife pin for the flash win.

Post-match, Castagnoli attacked and hit a Neutralizer before getting a chair. Darby Allin made the save with a baseball bat, as Castagnoli ran off through the crowd. We see the graphic that next week, Ospreay & Allin face-off in the Gold League.

-Renee Paquette is backstage with Ricochet who said tonight, this is why he came to AEW, for the competition. Tonight, he has Brody King for the first time ever, he’s big, bad and scary, but one thing he’s not, is Ricochet. They’re both 1-1 in the Continental Classic, then looks in his suit jacket pocket and pulls out the MVP Hurt Syndicate card, saying tonight, he has all the cards.

-MJF is seen arriving to the building, wearing his Dynamite Diamond Ring.

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-Highlights from Rampage and the confrontation between Chris Jericho & Matt Cardona was shown ahead of their ROH World Title match at Final Battle. Renee Paquette is backstage with Cardona, who said he’s Always Ready and he belongs in AEW. For the past five years, he’s reinvented himself on the independent scene. After Jericho & Bryan Keith laid him out last week, he wants Keith on Rampage to give Jericho a preview of what to expect at Final Battle.

-Renee Paquette approached Kyle O’Reilly before his match with Adam Cole when Matt Taven & Mike Bennett interrupted. Taven said they didn’t need to do this, MJF is making them look like idiots. Bennett said for him to relax, regardless of what happens out there, we’re still family at the end of the day. O’Reilly said they should’ve thought of that before one of their brothers (Roderick Strong) got hurt.

Adam Cole defeated Kyle O’Reilly to earn a match with MJF at World’s End for the Dynamite Diamond Ring

(First time meeting between these two in AEW and first singles match in three years. This was a good TV match, but as much of a Kyle O’Reilly fan that I may be, I never wanted him to lose a match more than this, as this would’ve just extended this MJF/Cole story even longer. Hopefully with Cole winning and finally getting his match, we’ll have a definitive winner and like I’ve been saying for weeks, we can just have a fresh start for MJF & Cole heading into 2025.)

Feeling out process showed how well both know each other, as after an early scrap, O’Reilly dodged a superkick to regroup. They repeat the back and forth, as Cole avoided the superkick, but O’Reilly didn’t let him regroup, as he took the fight to the floor and was in control heading into break.

Back from commercial, O’Reilly went for a corner charge, but ate a Cole superkick flush for the reset. Cole wanted Panama Sunrise, but O’Reilly hit a pump knee, wanted a brainbuster, but Cole responded with one of his own for two. Cole faked a high superkick, hit one low, but O’Reilly recovered and connected on his diving knee from the apron. Back inside, O’Reilly missed a diving knee, as Cole wanted a superkick, O’Reilly dodged, sole butt to the ribs, but Cole didn’t go down, as he hit a desperation flying knee for the double down.

Both connect on dueling big boots, as Cole hit a superkick, only for O’Reilly to hit the Nigel Lariat. Ankle Lock with the leg’s grapevine, as Cole managed the rope break. They battle up the ropes, as Cole headbutts out of a superplex, hits the Panama Sunrise, but took too long to follow-up, as O’Reilly picked the ankle into an Ankle Lock again. Cole rolled through, sent O’Reilly to the floor, as he dragged Cole outside, looked for a brainbuster, but ate a superkick. Back inside, O’Reilly collapsed, as the ref checked on him. This allowed MJF to run down, try for a cheap shot on Cole, who ducked and hit a superkick. O’Reilly nearly stole it with a school boy, but Cole kicked out and got an inside cradle for the win. MJF stormed off through the crowd, as Mike Bennett & Matt Taven came to the ring to congratulate Cole. He offered a handshake to O’Reilly, who refused and walked off.

-FTR are backstage and brought up the Fight for the Fallen show on January 1^st and how much it will help not just them, but especially the fans of North Carolina, after everything they have been through. Harwood said they want to put their names in the hat for being part of the main event of that show. They invited Death Riders to have a chat with them on Collision this week, after last week they had to prevent a murder of Orange Cassidy thanks to Jon Moxley and his crew.

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-Chris Jericho’s New York Minute is shown as he rattles off New York references, saying Matt Cardona must be upset they left him laying like a used Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure. Jericho accepts Cardona’s challenge to Bryan Keith and said he’ll be on commentary. Jericho also plugs their contract signing on ROH this week. Jericho calls Cardona delusional for thinking he’ll walk out of the Hammershtein Ballroom the ROH World Champion. Keith said Cardona made a mistake putting his crumby hands-on Jericho and he’ll make sure he pays the price.

-Tony Schiavone interviews Darby Allin earlier today saying his quest is never over, as Death Riders are chipping away at everything that AEW has built. Allin thinks of what they did to Bryan Danielson, the backbone of AEW. This is the first place many of the young guys have made a living on wrestling, so they don’t do anything about it, it’s going to keep happening. People think Allin reckless (he punches himself in the face and is bleeding from the mouth) saying the violence doesn’t bother him. When Allin thinks of the Continental Classic, it’s everything that’s right with AEW. He needs to win this tournament, it’s what AEW represents and it’s what he represents. Moxley thinks AEW needs saving, when it’s the company that gave his career a second shot and also allowed Sting to finish his career on his own terms. Nothing fools yourself better than the lies you tell yourself. I thought this was an excellent promo from Allin.

Ricochet [6] defeated Brody King [3] in the Continental Classic Gold League

(I thought these two had a great match, as the crowd were more behind King towards the end, even booing Ricochet when they knew the finish was coming. King continues to build crowd support throughout this tournament, no matter the opponent and I could see Ricochet using that Hurt Syndicate card to possibly help him at least reach the Finals at World’s End, otherwise, why would they tease that earlier in the night? It was an interesting development.)

It was the classic size vs. speed early on, as Ricochet tried his springboard attacks, but just bounced off King like nothing. King no sold chops and leveled Ricochet with some of his own, as he exposed the top of the barricade, but Ricochet flipped off it, tried a hurricanrana off the apron, only to suffer a powerbomb for his trouble. Ricochet even let out a scream in the process, as King set-up and ran through him with a cross body against the barricade into commercial.

Back from break, Ricochet tried a handspring elbow, but King caught him in mid-air and hit a wildly impressive release German for two. King again flattened Ricochet with a chop, telling him to fight back, as Ricochet did with a wall walk enzugiri, low bridge and springboard kick to the face, sending King outside. Fosbury Flop connected for Ricochet, who landed on his feet, tossed King back inside and hit a picture-perfect springboard 450, but King kicked out at one. King slowly rose to his feet and turned Ricochet inside out with a lariat for two. Ricochet wiggled out of a Gonzo Bomb, roll-up for two, as Ricochet answered with multiple pump knees. Ricochet wanted the Benadryller, but King fought out, corner splash and cannonball for two.

They fight up the ropes, as Ricochet avoided a superplex into a sunset flip powerbomb, causing King to pull off the turnbuckle pad in the process. Ricochet hit a massive Shooting Star Press, but King rose up and applied a Rear Naked Choke. Ricochet fought to the apron, hanging King up, he wanted a springboard, but King chopped him out of mid-air. King went up in the corner again, but this time, Ricochet hit a DDT on the exposed corner buckle twice, which allowed Ricochet to hit the dazed King with the Spirit Gun twice for the win.

-Backstage, Private Party welcome fans to The Vault and were immediately interrupted by Action Andretti & Lio Rush. They offered them champagne, when Andretti wanted a title shot instead. Zay said what he wants is a big, juicy, then was interrupted by Leila Grey walking in with Top Flight and everyone started bickering. Zay & Quen suggested both teams fight it out on Collision to see who gets the Tag Team Title shot. Both teams agree, as Rush offered a handshake to Darius Martin, saying no hard feelings. I can’t even begin to describe the jackets Rush & Andretti were wearing.

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-Renee Paquette is backstage with Mercedes Mone & Anna Jay ahead of their TBS Title match next week. Both agreed to no physicality, as Paquette said today marks Mone’s 200^th day of her title reign and has defended her title 10 times so far. Paquette plugged Mone’s match for Strong Style Evolved coming up against Hazuki when Mone cut her off and praised what Jay has accomplished, going to Japan to train, saying it’s cute what she’s done at 26. Mone rattles off what she had done before she even reached 26 and went to leave when Jay stopped her saying she’s going to listen what she has to say. Jay put over Mone for being one of the best in the world, but she’s made a living off being the underdog, as all she needs is 3 seconds to shock the world. Jay walks off and Mone said they’ll see about that.

-A highlight video package of the history between Mariah May & Mina Shirakawa is shown ahead of tonight’s main event.

Mariah May defeated Mina Shirakawa to retain the AEW Women’s Title

(The match itself was a very good main event, with the crowd completely supporting Shirakawa, who had her hope spots throughout. May continues to be able to hit the Storm Zero out of nowhere and it led to another successful defense. Despite sitting in the front row, all Thunder Rosa did was hold up signs that probably took her 10 seconds to make. The bigger story is the return, not of Timeless, but the OG Toni Storm, who couldn’t have looked happier to be back on AEW TV and the explosive reaction from the crowd was louder than anything else on the entire show. It’s been long overdue and I’m looking forward to seeing where the Storm & May feud goes from here.)

Both ladies waste no time slugging it out at the bell, as Shirakawa slaps the hell out of May, who hid in the ropes. Sole butt from Shirakawa, who connected on a low dropkick and zoned in on the left leg. Figure Four applied, as May rolled to the ropes, but Shirakawa kept it applied and both crashed to the floor. May recovered and sent Shirakawa into the steps and barricade, as Thunder Rosa is shown sitting in the front row with a sign saying Mariah May is not her champion. Shotgun dropkick on Shirakawa into the barricade, as May mocks her back in the ring. May went for a punt kick off the apron, but Shirakawa blocked it, slammed May’s leg into the post and applied a Figure Four wrapped around the post as things went to commercial.

When things returned, May had gained control, giving Shirakawa a kiss of death, but the delay allowed a Shirakawa springboard kick. Both ladies ramped up a forearm battle, as Shirakawa hit the rolling elbow, May answered with a headbutt, but before Shirakawa went down, she fired off a desperation back fist for the double down. The crowd loudly behind Shirakawa, who dropkicked out the leg and hit a backdrop suplex for two. Shirakawa went to the ropes, but May connected on her handspring head scissors. Shirakawa answered with a rolling neckbreaker and draping top rope DDT for two. May pulled Shirakawa into the ropes, hit two pump knees on the button before hitting May Day, but Shirakawa kicked out to pop the crowd.

May wanted another May Day, but Shirakawa turned it into a Crucifix Bomb for two. Up to the middle rope, Shirakawa hit the Sling Blade and called for the Glamourous Driver and hit it for a near fall. Shirakawa couldn’t believe it, as May hit another headbutt and a snap Storm Zero for the win.

Post-match, Toni Storm’s old music hits and out walks Storm in her original gear. May can’t believe it, as Storm is almost fighting off tears, she’s so thrilled to be back. Thunder Rosa held up a WTF? sign as Nigel McGuinness said May is being haunted by the ghost of Christmas past to end the show.

Continental Classic Gold League Standings

6 Points: Claudio Castagnoli, Will Ospreay, Ricochet

3 Points: Brody King, Darby Allin

0 Points: Komander

Continental Classic Blue League Standings

9 Points: Kyle Fletcher

4 Points: Kazuchika Okada, Daniel Garcia

3 Points: Shelton Benjamin, Mark Briscoe

0 Points: The Beast Mortos

AEW Rampage 12/13/24

• Matt Cardona vs. Bryan Keith

AEW Collision 12/14/24

• Kazuchika Okada vs. The Beast Mortos in the Continental Classic Blue League
• Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe in the Continental Classic Blue League
• Willow Nightingale vs. Jamie Hayter in the International Women’s Cup Qualifier Final

AEW Dynamite 12/18/24

• Will Ospreay vs. Darby Allin in the Continental Classic Gold League
• Mercedes Mone defends the TBS Title against Anna Jay