AEW Dynamite announcement July 23 2025: Copying WWE without mistakes

AEW Dynamite Announcement (July 23, 2025): AEW tries to copy WWE's popular gimmick, but this time without the mistakes

Tonight, July 23rd, it's AEW Dynamite, live from the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. This is the second episode in the six-week period until the big Forbidden Door show, scheduled for August 24.

AEW tries to use the popular concept of WWE without mistakes

According to Tony Khan's announcements, tonight's program will be focused on non-title matches. First up is a match between AEW Women's Champion known as "Timeless" Toni Storm and Athena's assistant Billie Starkz. This match was created as part of Athena's strategy to weaken the champion before possibly using her contract to fight for the title. 

Athena showed AEW's version of the Money in the Bank contract on the Collision show and told Tona that she would be "circling the ring like a shark" during the Dynamite match, a reference to Shark Week.

Toni responded in her own unique way, threatening to "wipe her shoes on Athena's sphincter". She then reversed the plan and turned the match into a title eliminator, meaning Billie Starkz would get a shot at the world title if she could defeat the champion.

Athena seemed surprised and displeased at the turn of events. The question remains whether this will affect its strategy regarding "cash-in" contracts.

Honestly, I'm a little surprised that AEW is trying to copy WWE's Money in the Bank concept again, especially after the first attempt with Christian Cago earlier this year failed. But maybe Tony Khan has learned his lesson and has a better plan to pull it off now. It's worth following Dynamite to see if Athena will just "circle the ring" or if she will do something more significant during Shark Week.

Other matches of the evening

Another non-title match is between world champion Hangman Page and Wheeler Yuta. The Death Riders continue to cause problems, as Colt Cabana felt last week at Collision. We'll see if Jon Moxley has any bigger revenge planned for the Hangman after he quickly takes down one of the Death Riders' henchmen. My guess is that Darby Allin will make an appearance during Shark Week, perhaps to physically intervene rather than just threaten from a distance.

What else to follow?

In AEW, everyone is now having fun teasing the Young Bucks, who have lost their EVP powers. Matthew and Nick Jackson responded by allying with Don Callis and his crew. Will that be enough for them to stop the ridicule?

AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada has a new music intro, which isn't nearly as good as his old one. Last week, he called Swerve Strickland a "bitch," which sparked a fight between them in the ring. Will Swerve claim Okada's title at Forbidden Door, or will the fight happen before then?