Young Bucks Return to Cost Swerve Strickland AEW World Title at Dynasty – AEW Dynasty 2025 ended in controversy as Jon Moxley retained the AEW World Championship against Swerve Strickland, thanks to a shocking return from The Young Bucks. The match, held in Philadelphia at the Liacouras Center, closed the pay-per-view with a chaotic series of events that saw a once-promising redemption arc for Strickland abruptly derailed.
Strickland, who won the AEW World title for the first time at last year’s Dynasty event, entered Sunday night’s show with hopes of regaining the gold. Throughout the match, both he and Moxley unleashed punishing offense in a brutal, blood-soaked encounter. Moxley struck first, busting open Strickland early. Outside interference came into play, as Marina Shafir approached Strickland with the title briefcase in hand, only to be stopped by Prince Nana. In the scuffle, Nana took a shot with the briefcase, but Shafir was thrown into Moxley, who accidentally hit her with a cutter.
Later, Moxley attempted to suplex Strickland off a ladder through the Spanish announce table, but Strickland reversed the setup and landed a Swerve Stomp off the ladder to the outside. Back inside the ring, Moxley hurled a chair at referee Paul Turner, knocking him out. This led to Hangman Page entering the fray, followed by Claudio Castagnoli, PAC, and Wheeler Yuta attacking Page, only for Page to fight them off before hitting Moxley with a Deadeye. Eventually, Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, and Hook (collectively known as The Opps) ran off the Death Riders, restoring order for a moment.
Strickland seemed poised for victory when he launched a chair at Moxley’s head and followed up with another Swerve Stomp. However, with the referee still down, there was no one to count the fall. Suddenly, the arena lights went dark. When they returned, Matt and Nick Jackson—the Young Bucks—were standing in the ring. After a six-month absence, the Bucks delivered a BTE Trigger to Strickland and dragged Moxley over him for the pin as the referee regained consciousness.
The Bucks have been absent from AEW programming since the October “Fright Night” edition of Dynamite, when they lost the AEW Tag Team titles to Private Party and declared they were “working from home” due to fear of the Death Riders. Their issues with Strickland date back to his initial AEW title reign, which they actively opposed. Their return throws yet another wrinkle into AEW’s main event scene, aligning them—at least temporarily—with Moxley.
With this win, Jon Moxley successfully defended his title for the sixth time. His current reign began at WrestleDream last October, where he defeated Bryan Danielson and later turned on him alongside the now-defunct Blackpool Combat Club. Since then, Moxley has kept the title inside a locked briefcase carried by Marina Shafir, symbolizing both his reign and paranoia.
Strickland’s quest to reclaim the AEW World Championship was compelling, but Sunday’s betrayal has reset the course of his story. With new enemies in the Young Bucks and no resolution with Moxley, the fallout from Dynasty is likely to dominate AEW programming in the weeks to come.
SEO Description: The Young Bucks made a shocking return at AEW Dynasty 2025, costing Swerve Strickland the AEW World Championship in a chaotic main event against Jon Moxley.
Young Bucks Return to Cost Swerve Strickland AEW World Title at Dynasty
