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AEW Dynamite Results (10/21/26): Ilja Dragunov Wins Debut Match

Results, highlights, and booking grades on this week's episode of AEW Dynamite featuring the in-ring debut of Ilja Dragunov.
Zack Heydorn|
Ilja Dragunov
Ilja Dragunov | Ricky Havlik - All Elite Wrestling

The WrestleDream event follow-up led the night on this week's episode of AEW Dynamite.

At WrestleDream, The Young Bucks defeated Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight of The Don Callis Family to retain their AEW World Tag Team Championships. This week, they had the task of taking on Mark Davis and Jake Doyle in an eliminator match.

The Young Bucks
The Young Bucks | All Elite Wrestling - Lee South

Davis and Doyle dominated the entirety of the match. They brutalized both Matt and Nick Jackson throughout and ended the match with three straight piledrivers. Because of the victory, they will now get a shot at the men's world tag titles.

Booking Grade: 10/10

  • That's how you make a new tag team. The Young Bucks could've easily had a back-and-forth "Young Bucks" style match, but instead they used this bout to tell a story. Because of how they lost, the title match down the road means a lot more. Great stuff.

Steve Borden returns with Darby Allin to assist Adam Copeland and Will Ospreay

Adam Copeland and Will Ospreay teamed up on this week's show to take on the Don Callis Family team of Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher. The match had plenty of action, but the ending was marred by interference.

Kazuchika Okada walked down to the ring and got involved. Because of the distraction he caused, Fletcher was able to connect with his Brainbuster on Copeland and then cover to get the win. Okada hit Copeland with his International Championship belt when he went for the Spear.

After the match, things quickly devolved into pandemonium. The entire Don Callis Family continued to attack Copeland and Ospreay. Fletcher held up the AEW World Championship belt and then the group beat them down even more. Darby Allin and a returning Steven Borden ran down and made the save. They helped, but The Young Bucks also ran out and defended Ospreay and Copeland.

Allin and company cleared the ring and then Borden got on the microphone. He said that he was back and that he was back for Blood and Guts. The crowd roared.

Booking Grade: 8/10

  • A fun segment and a very good tag match with just kind of a nonsensical ending thanks to Okada. For as fun as it was, it seems a little too late. Blood and Guts is only two weeks away. Obviously, all involved here will be involved in that match and while they all have long histories with Don Callis, getting to the actual match felt a bit rushed.

Swerve Strickland destroyed Tome Filip in about 25 seconds. Strickland got to the ring and decimated Filip instantly. He jumped on him right away and put him down.

Later in the show, Strickland interrupted a Brodido and Adam Page promo. He said he and New Level wanted a rematch for the AEW World Trios Championships. Adam Page agreed and Strickland said he wanted it at Full Gear. Page agreed to that also. Strickland said he wanted it to be a Texas Death Match and Page told him no. Strickland said it wasn't negotiable.

Booking Grade: 10/10

  • I don't know what Strickland is going to do in order to get Adam Page to say yes to Texas Death, but it's going to be quite the story. Excellent.

Marina Shafir jumps to the front of the line for a world title match

The oddball team of Jay White and Orange Cassidy defeated Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta in a tag team match. A straightforward match that White won with a Blade Runner.

After the match was over, Mercedes Mone was interviewed in the ring by Renee Paquette. Mone talked about her broken nose and said that it was still broken. She said it didn't bother her when she successfully defended her world title at WrestleDream. Mone knocked Willow Nightingale and then tossed Paquette out of the ring.

Mone continued to praise herself and gloat. She then asked who was next to face her for the title. Marina Shafir answered the call. Shafir walked to the ring with Jon Moxley and then got in the ring and faced off with Mone. Shafir told her not to be a p---- and this angered Mone. They talked back and forth and then Mone left the ring. The audience booed because they wanted to see the two women fight.

Booking Grade: 10/10

  • A great call. Shafir has momentum right now because of her recent work amidst the Pac death. The audience is connected with her and will be behind a run at the title. Mone can bring out the best match of Shafir's career and it'll be very different from other title matches that she's had.

In the second eliminator match of the night, Jon Moxley defeated Roderick Strong. Had Strong won, he would have earned a shot at the AEW Continental Championship.

After the match, The Dogs attacked Strong and Moxley found it in himself to make the save. Moxley was about to throw down with The Dogs, but then turned his back on them. They attacked.

The Dogs dominated Moxley until Gabe Kidd ran down to stop it. He tried to reason with The Dogs and then was also attacked. Eventually, The Conglomeration walked down to check on Strong. As they did, Jay White appeared and dropped Orange Cassidy with Blade Runner -- the guy he just tagged with. White and his Bang Bang Gang realigned with The Dogs and left The Conglomeration and The Death Riders lying. Claudio Castagnoli nearly fended them off, but was struck down with the shillelagh.

Booking Grade: 7/10

  • Interesting angle. An interesting angle loaded with confusion. White aligning with The Dogs is out of the blue. Too out of the blue. With that wildness aside, White leading this bigger group of heels and running against The Death Riders is compelling.

Divine Dominion and Triangle of Madness brawled backstage with both Kris Statlander and Harley Cameron, as well as The Brawling Birds. The attack was brutal and Divine Dominion and Triangle of Madness walked away nearly unscathed in the end.

After the attack, Nick Wayne made his way to the ring and gloated about beating Chris Jericho twice. He then demanded that Jericho walk to the ring and apologize to him.

Wayne continued to gloat and Jericho told him to shut up. He then prodded Jericho to apologize and every time he tried to, Wayne interrupted. Jericho cut a promo and said he was wrong and apologized. He then told Wayne to listen to people around him and if he does, he will be a multiple-time world champion like he was. Jericho got in Wayne's face and told him not to f--- up.

Persephone had a new number one contender for her TBS Championship. Persephone and Britt Baker joined the commentary team and watched Queen Aminata defeat May World to earn a shot at her title.

After the match, it appeared as if Persephone would hit the ring and stare down with Aminata. Instead, World and Hyan backed her and Persephone ran off. The TBS Championship match will take place on next week's Fright Night edition of AEW Dynamite.

When the match ended The Don Callis Family were all shown together backstage. Callis spoke and said they would bring the guts and he wanted team Ospreay to bring the blood to Blood and Guts. Callis said he would stain Jacksonville with blood and then the match was made official. The Don Callis Family vs. Will Ospreay, Adam Copeland, The Young Bucks, Darby Allin, and Steven Borden in a Blood and Guts match in two weeks.

Ilja Dragunov wins his AEW debut

Ilja Dragunov defeated Mike Bailey to win his in-ring debut match for AEW. The crowd was into Dragunov the entire way and he won the match with his D-Bomb.

After the match, Dragunov celebrated with the audience as the show went off the air.

AEW Dynamite Results

  • Jake Doyle and Mark Davis defeated The Young Bucks in a tag team championship eliminator match
  • Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight defeated Will Ospreay and Adam Copeland
  • Swerve Strickland defeated Tome Filip
  • Jay White and Orange Cassidy defeated Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta
  • Jon Moxley defeated Roderick Strong
  • Queen Aminata defeated Maya World to become number one contender to the TBS Championship
  • Ilja Dragunov defeated Mike Bailey
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Zack Heydorn
ZACK HEYDORN

Zack Heydorn has been covering the pro wrestling industry for a decade and writes news, features, and interviews for The Takedown On SI. He also hosts and cohosts a variety of WWE and AEW shows on YouTube. Heydorn is a former Assistant Editor of PWTorch and Managing Editor of SEScoops. Zack is also the author of the Hybrid Shoot book Stunning: The Wrestling Artistry of Steve Austin, which is available on Amazon. You can follow Zack on X and Bluesky.

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