Preview: AEW Dynamite (1/1/25) – Fight for the Fallen

Unexpectedly, the world of wrestling did not end at AEW Worlds End. Yet we got two huge returns: first, Kenny Omega, and then, in the main event, Adam Copeland. Four days later, AEW looks to sneak attack 2025. The first day of the new year will try to contain a huge trios match. This week’s AEW Dynamite episode marks the 6^th annual Fight for the Fallen. Live from Ashville, North Carolina, this special episode is a charity event. The money raised will support the victims of Hurricane Helene.

Four matches at the time of writing have been announced, and one segment. Jeff Jarrett will address his future. Jarrett’s AEW resurgence has seen his career and ability re-evaluated. The Last Outlaw’s run in 2024 hit its high point with a feud with an angry rather than anxious millennial cowboy. Is Jarrett about to ride off into the sunset, or is this a set-up for something else?

This and likely more directions will be set out as 2025 begins and the road towards Grand Slam Australia in February unfolds.

Now it’s time for more fuel.

Announced Card:

Matches announced:

• Rated FTR vs. Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta)
• “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Orange Cassidy
• Julia Hart vs. Jamie Hayter
• The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Acclaimed

Other segments announced:

• Jeff Jarrett announces his future

Julia Hart vs. Jamie Hayter

Mother of All Simulcasts#AEWDynamite Fight for the Fallen
Wed, 1/1/24 | Asheville, NC
LIVE at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TBS & @StreamOnMax!

Jamie Hayter vs Julia Hart

After weeks of taunting, @jmehytr seeks revenge as she takes on the returning @TheJuliaHart!
LIVE at 8/7c on TBS & MAX pic.twitter.com/BrmFdtW4Vo

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) December 22, 2024

After eight months of injury, Julia Hart’s in-ring return sees one of AEW’s youngest and most intriguing female characters target a literal heavy-hitter for her re-introduction. Hart’s cerebral and stylish vignettes have interrupted Jamie Hayter for weeks.

All prior to AEW Collision: Winter is Coming, when the lights went out and distracted Hayter in her match against Willow Nightingale. Hart then returned in person to hit Hayter with Hartless, striking the first blow.

As for why Hart is challenging Hayter, we can consider the parallels between both women. Both women ended their last runs, losing their respective championships while injured. Both then had to sit and watch from the sidelines.

Each is young and hungry, ready to reclaim what they lost—perhaps more if this is potentially more than a one-and-done situation.

Losing her chance to go to Japan for NJPW’s Dynasty International Women’s Cup Final, Hayter’s power and brutal striking are going to punish and torment The House of Black’s Keeper of Secrets. Hart’s attempt at mind games has given Hayter her only loss since her All In Return.

In classic AEW style, this AEW Dynamite match feels like a must-win for both women.

Rated FTR vs. Death Riders

Mother of All Simulcasts#AEWDynamite Fight for the Fallen
Wed, 1/1/25 | Asheville, NC
LIVE at 8pm ET/7pm CT on @TBSNetwork & @StreamOnMax

Death Riders vs Rated FTR@RatedRCope @DaxFTR & @CashWheelerFTR vowed to TAKE IT ALL from @JonMoxley @ClaudioCSRO & @WheelerYuta! pic.twitter.com/rrriKNIf7p

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) December 30, 2024

What makes this match special beyond the wider implications for the Death Riders storyline is the personal connection Rated FTR has to the event and cause.

All three live in Ashville, are close friends, and have had to support themselves, their families, and their communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Adam Copeland at the Worlds End media scrum said that for three months, his family has been brushing their teeth with bottled water.

There’s no doubt the trio will be up for making this match meaningful for themselves and their city.

That’s excluding the fact that Copeland, in his return, is gunning for Jon Moxley. After Worlds End, more resistance to Moxley’s stranglehold on AEW is stepping up. Slowly but surely, events are evolving. The possibilities for where this match leads before or at Grand Slam are exciting.

Copeland, at the media scrum, said he wants to have a match with Moxley like we have never seen before. Something old-school. Gritty and grinding and likely violent. Something that AEW does brilliantly in defiance of criticism.

However, it’s also worth remembering that there are some justified concerns that AEW can go too far. Remember how Copeland became injured in the first place?

It will be interesting to see how much of a preview we will get for this eventual one-on-one match. The various dynamics on offer with the evergreen Claudio Castagnoli, the faultless mechanics of FTR, and Wheeler Yuta’s scrappy terrier offense offer lots of possibilities.

Will chaos and bedlam reign and end this match?

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