{"id":136972,"date":"2025-06-25T07:38:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T11:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=136972"},"modified":"2025-06-25T07:38:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T11:38:55","slug":"aew-dynamite-preview-6-25-25-kota-ibushi-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/06\/25\/aew-dynamite-preview-6-25-25-kota-ibushi-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW Dynamite Preview (6\/25\/25) &#8211;  Kota Ibushi Returns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Following a series of high-profile AEW Dynamite shows with fancy names, history was made, and now we somewhat return to business as usual before All In. However, the unusual aspect of business as usual with AEW is that it is never just business as usual.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_136978\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-136978\" style=\"width: 1116px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-136978 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/22-2.jpg\" alt=\"A graphic for AEW Dynamite for June 25, 2025.\" width=\"1116\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/22-2.jpg 1116w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/22-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/22-2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/06\/22-2-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1116px) 100vw, 1116px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-136978\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: AEW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The legendary Kota Ibushi returned on Collision. For the first time, Ibushi competes in his first one-on-one contest as an All Elite wrestler. Yet, given that The Golden Star has been out of the ring for nearly two years, we\u2019ll get to that later!<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, The Hurt Syndicate will be live. After MJF\u2019s disrespectful actions last week in Arena Mexico, the potential of a rematch seems possible for Texas. Anyone else thinking mask vs. hair?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s likely Tony Khan will be dropping more match graphics like mic drops before show time, so take a closer look at Ibushi\u2019s return and the two #1 spot matches for the All In Texas Casino Gauntlets.<\/p>\n<p>Who is about to cross a brand new low?<\/p>\n<h2><strong>AEW Dynamite Matches Announced:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>4-Way for the #1 Spot in the AEW All In Texas Men\u2019s Casino Gauntlet: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong vs. Bandido<\/li>\n<li>4-Way for the #1 Spot in the AEW All In Texas Women\u2019s Casino Gauntlet: Willow Nightingale vs. Athena vs. Thunder Rosa vs. Kris Statlander<\/li>\n<li>Kota Ibushi vs. Trent Barretta<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>AEW Dynamite Segments Announced:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>AEW World Tag Team Champions, The Hurt Syndicate, appear live<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Gamble of the Night: The Golden Star Returns<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Before Kota Ibushi\u2019s injury, there were questions about whether The Golden Star was still the same incredible, mesmerizing athlete of his prime. Ibushi\u2019s initial AEW run consisted of only four matches before injury. Each of these was a multi-man match.<\/p>\n<p>Ibushi\u2019s Performances were entertaining. Ibushi post-Blood and Guts even threw himself into thumbtacks for fun. There was a memorable spot in the Like a Dragon Gaiden Street Fight, Ringside, on a bike with a lead pipe (sounds like a game of Clue).<\/p>\n<p>However, it felt like protection. As I discussed last week, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/06\/21\/no-floaties-more-freedom-why-the-aew-philosophy-exposes-wrestlers\/\" target=\"_self\">AEW\u2019s philosophy, even when trying to protect wrestlers\u2019 weaknesses, often exposes their vulnerabilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Which version of Kota Ibushi are we getting? The gamble is clear: will Ibushi be able to live up to expectations and his reputation?<\/p>\n<p>Ibushi\u2019s taken off ring rust with performances for GLEAT and other smaller promotions in Japan up until February of this year. Against a seasoned veteran and workhorse like Trent Barretta, Ibushi has a strong dance partner. We\u2019re seeing what the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion can do.<\/p>\n<p>And with Dynamite 300 next week and the return of The Golden Lovers for tag team action, there\u2019s going to be some post-match intrigue.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Both #1 Spots for the All In Casino Gauntlet Matches <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Fans are rightly pumped for the return of the Casino Gauntlet match. Yet before the match comes the pre-tradition: a four-way to determine who takes the number one spot. In kayfabe, the fact that you start as number one means you are guaranteed to get to the ring before the contest ends.<\/p>\n<p>The men\u2019s match offers four distinct styles of action. Red Neck Kung fu, pure wrestling, powerhouse lucha, Japanese precision. A party match that guarantees fun for the audience. A preview of all-in chaos.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the women\u2019s four-way comes packed with story potential. First, on ROH, Thunder Rosa has had her eyes on Athena\u2019s world championship. Then, there\u2019s the lingering bad blood between Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale.<\/p>\n<p>After Moxley\u2019s words of advice to Statlander on Collision, we\u2019ll soon see if this impacts the next stage of their rivalry. This isn\u2019t even considering the match quality!<\/p>\n<p><strong>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-50\">\n<p><em>Header photo \u2013 AEW \u2013 Stay tun<\/em><em>ed to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"1\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more AEW and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0 You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8 pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content is available on their\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@AEW\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube<\/a>\u00a0channel.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following a series of high-profile AEW Dynamite shows with fancy names, history was made, and now we somewhat return to business as usual before All In. However, the unusual aspect of business as usual with AEW is that it is never just business as usual. The legendary Kota Ibushi returned on Collision. For the first [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4960,"featured_media":136977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4677,6,2192],"tags":[5730,9117,170],"class_list":["post-136972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew","category-north-america","category-wrestling","tag-aew-dynamite","tag-casino-gauntlet-match","tag-kota-ibushi"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4960"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136972"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136979,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136972\/revisions\/136979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}