All Elite Experience By: Hakim Howell

It’s Sunday, April 6, 2025, at 2:10 PM ET when I arrive at 15th St & Montgomery Ave. I'm early enough to secure a parking spot, as the reserved parking garages and nearby lots were already sold out. The event is All Elite Wrestling's Dynasty at The Liacouras Center.

This marks the first AEW pay-per-view in the City of Brotherly Love, featuring Jon Moxley defending the AEW Heavyweight Title against Swerve Strickland. Strickland, who had the honor of being an honorary bell ringer at the Sixers game on Saturday, is aiming to become a two-time champion for All Elite.

By 4:00 PM, fans began heading to the venue, many dressed as their favorite superstars, including “Timeless” Toni Storm and Orange Cassidy. The traffic along Montgomery Ave became heavy, with horns honking as fans searched for parking. I exited my vehicle around 5:00 PM to meet up with a friend. The lines were long at both Broad St & Montgomery Ave and Broad St & Cecil B Moore Ave, as fans anxiously awaited the doors to open at the scheduled time of 6:00 PM. Before the doors opened, loud chants echoed from the fans, shouting “Who’s house?” and responding with “Swerve’s house.” This was a clear indication of who the fan favorite was for tonight’s event.

As the doors began to open, the pro-Swerve chants continued. The energy in the venue hinted at a hot crowd as I made my way to my seat. At 7:00 PM, the Zero Hour began. The show kicked off with an amazing Six-Man Tag Team Match featuring CRU (Action Andretti & Lio Rush) and Nick Wayne (accompanied by Kip Sabian and Mother Wayne), who defeated AR Fox and Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) with Leila Grey at ringside. Fox was undoubtedly a fan favorite in Philadelphia.

The next match featured Max Caster’s Open Challenge. Prior to the match, Max encouraged the fans in attendance to chant, “Let’s go Max, you’re the best wrestler alive!” However, the chant did not resonate well with the Philadelphia crowd. To boost their spirits, Max wore a Ben Simmons Sixers jersey, which was met with heavy boos. The moment had arrived to unveil Max’s mystery opponent, who turned out to be none other than Anthony Bowens, a former member of The Acclaimed. Bowens, who had been off television for quite some time, later spoke at the post-media scrum about the anxiety he felt wondering how the fans would react and whether they still cared. He expressed gratitude to the city of Philadelphia for showing up for the “5-Tool Player” and creating a memorable moment he would never forget. By the way, Bowens defeated Max in just 40 seconds.

It’s 8:00 PM, and AEW Dynasty is live on pay-per-view. The show kicks off with the Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men's Tournament Quarterfinal Match, where Will Ospreay defeats Kevin Knight. One word to describe this match: Awesome! Knight, who recently signed with AEW, is sure to become a fan favorite as he and Ospreay delivered non-stop action from the opening bell to the final three count.

Next, we had the AEW World Tag Team Title Match where The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) (c) defats The Learning Tree (Big Bill & Bryan Keith) by way of an unwarranted assist from MJF.

After the tag team title match, Mercedes Mone faced Julia Hart in a Non-Title Quarter Final Match for the Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Women's Tournament. Both competitors delivered solid performances. I expected an appearance from Athena, the Ring of Honor Women’s Champion, since she and Mercedes have had several exchanges over the past couple of weeks. However, that moment wasn't necessary. Julia had strong crowd support and kept pace with the CEO and reigning TBS Champion. Ultimately, the champion secured the pinfall to advance in the tournament.

The AEW World Trios Title Match featured the Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, PAC, and Wheeler Yuta) defending their title against Rated FTR (Cash Wheeler, Cope, and Dax Harwood). This was a solid match, but anyone following AEW television in the previous weeks would have noticed the growing tension with Dax Harwood. It seemed inevitable that either a breakup within FTR or a complete heel turn for the tag team was on the horizon.

The turning point in the match came when Yuta caused Cope to collide with Harwood in the corner, leading to Yuta delivering his Busaiku Knee finisher to Harwood, resulting in the victory for the Death Riders. After the match, Cope hugged the members of FTR, but in a shocking turn of events, Harwood immediately delivered a pile driver to Cope. Cash Wheeler appeared hesitant about the attack but soon got involved, helping Dax hit Cope with the Shatter Machine and delivering two conchairto shots. Cope required medical attention, and at first, FTR didn’t allow the medical personnel to assist him.

As FTR made their way backstage, they mocked Cope, who was being escorted out, and received massive boos from the audience for their post-match antics.

The next match was for the AEW Women's World Title, where Toni Storm (accompanied by Luther) defended her title against Megan Bayne (who had Penelope Ford in her corner). The “Timeless” champion paid homage to Rocky's iconic look, with Luther resembling Rocky’s manager, Mickey. During the match, Penelope attempted to distract Toni, but Luther took action to level the playing field by carrying Penelope backstage. Ultimately, Toni Storm emerged victorious in this showdown.

Next was another quarter-final match in the Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men's Tournament, where Kyle Fletcher defeated Mark Briscoe. At first glance, one might wonder why this match was included on the card, but both competitors delivered an impressive performance. Kyle Fletcher is evolving into a superstar, and it’s only a matter of time before we start discussing his potential placement in a title picture.

The next match was an ROH World Title vs. Mask Match, where Bandido defeated Chris Jericho to become the new champion. In my opinion, this match felt longer than necessary. There was a moment when Jericho used his bat, Floyd, to try and secure a victory. However, members of Bandido's family sitting ringside managed to get the attention of referee Aubrey, prompting her to restart the match. Bandido then seized the opportunity and went on to win, becoming the new ROH champion.

Adam Cole defeated Daniel Garcia to become the new TNT Champion. Despite being billed as a no time limit match, it concluded in just 15 minutes. It was great to see both Cole and Garcia making an impact in AEW. I’d be interested to see these two face off again.

In an AEW International Title three-way match, Kenny Omega (c) defeated Mike Bailey and Ricochet. This was a fantastic match with strong performances from all participants. Mike Bailey, who made his AEW pay-per-view debut, is another superstar who recently signed with the company. He has the potential to become a key figure on the men’s roster. After the match, the fans were surprised by the appearance of Kazuchika Okada, who confronted Omega, but the champion left the ring abruptly. There’s definitely more to come regarding this storyline.

Finally, we arrived at the main event. By this time, the clock was approaching midnight, yet the fans remained energetic and were ready to cheer for their favorite, Swerve Strickland. As the match progressed, there was a series of run-ins involving Hangman Adam Page, members of the Death Riders, and The Opps, including Samoa Joe, HOOK, and Katsuyori Shibata, which evened things up. It seemed that Swerve was on track for his second title reign when the lights went out. When they came back on, The Young Bucks were in the ring, holding Swerve for a BTE Trigger, which drew massive boos from the Philly crowd. Jon Moxley then recovered and scored the win, retaining the AEW World Title.

Around 12:30 AM, my peers and I from the media were escorted to a room for the post-show scrum. The talent we spoke with included Toni Storm, the newly crowned TNT Champion Anthony Bowens, Adam Cole, and Tony Khan himself.

I exited The Liacouras Center at around 1 AM. The scene outside was a stark contrast to earlier in the day. Instead of fans, several AEW trucks were parked in front of the venue, preparing to load equipment for the next city.

Despite the lengthy duration of the pay-per-view event, AEW put on a phenomenal show. Covering the entire event was truly an All Elite Experience.