We're four weeks removed from the big Wembley show, and that means it's time for its B-side, AEW All Out!
I call it the B-side just because it's following the biggest show of the year, but the last two times AEW ran Wembley its Chicago counterpart upstaged it, in my opinion anyway. All Out 2023 and 2024 were absolute banger shows, and the 2026 edition has the potential to be on that same level. We've got nine main card matches and thus far two pre-show ones, and with few exceptions I'm anticipating ****-plussers across the board.
Side note: How fucking hilarious is it that WWE tried to cockblock this show by running Worlds Collide (featuring CM Punk, mind you) across town, and this show sold out anyway, and now Worlds Collide isn't even scheduled to air on TV? Epic fail from a shit company. Hey WWE, maybe instead of continually trying and failing to hurt AEW, figure out why your audience isn't as into you as they used to be?
Alright enough of that, let's get into it....
Side note: How fucking hilarious is it that WWE tried to cockblock this show by running Worlds Collide (featuring CM Punk, mind you) across town, and this show sold out anyway, and now Worlds Collide isn't even scheduled to air on TV? Epic fail from a shit company. Hey WWE, maybe instead of continually trying and failing to hurt AEW, figure out why your audience isn't as into you as they used to be?
Alright enough of that, let's get into it....
Buy-In Tailgate Brawl: Bang Bang Gang vs. The Dogs & Death Riders
The Jay White-David Finlay feud continues in a gang warfare format, as eight guys fight all over the ringside area with no tags. This could go either way as either team could afford to lose. Might be time to put this feud to bed soon but there should be one more big singles match between the two leaders.
Pick: Wheeler Yuta's in this one so he's probably eating the pin. BBG wins.
Buy-In: Jack Perry vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Jack has been calling out former AEW Champions and is thus far 0-2 against Swerve Strickland and Jon Moxley, but his next quarry is Samoa Joe. Before that happens though he has to get past Joe's Opps pal Shibata. Should be a fun little hard-hitting match and I think the goal is for Jack to really grow into a guy who can carry a main event match (the two aforementioned bouts were both great). Perry vs. Ospreay for the title at some point would certainly be enjoyable.
Pick: Jack
TBS Championship Open Challenge
Persephone has issued an open challenge to anyone she hasn't already beaten recently, i.e. Thunder Rosa, Maya World and Hyan. So that leaves a lot of names on the table. Is Kairi AEW-bound? Seems odd to slap a title on her right away, but they did do that with Tommaso Ciampa. It also seems too soon for Persy to lose the title after four weeks, but she can always win it right back. I guess if the challenger is Kairi I'll pick her, if it's anyone else I'll go with Persy to retain.
Pick: What I said up there^^.
Trios Championship: Swerve Strickland & The New Level vs. El Bueno, El Malo y El Guapo
Love the Good, Bad & Ugly reference and I may have to pick up their new T-shirt. Kofi and Austin have been a great addition to AEW so far and have worked their asses off to match the intensity of AEW's in-ring style. The champs' trios bouts have been super, and with Hangman and Brodido I expect this to be next-level (no pun intended). Plus we get to see Hangman vs. Swerve again. I will never get tired of these two beating the shit out of each other. I could see this going either way; the champs just won these belts four weeks ago but the challengers could win them to further the feud, or to allow New Level to go after the Bucks. It's a toss-up for me.
Pick: I guess the champs retain?
#1 Contender's Match: Darby Allin & Steven Borden vs. Kyle Fletcher & Kevin Knight
Call me kooky, call me crazy, this Borden kid could have a future. He's got THE look and natural babyface charisma, he just needs more reps. He's 34 now and by 36 could be a top guy if he shows consistent progression. Let's hope he gets there. Anyway, he's green but he'll be in there with three supremely great workers, so this match should be excellent. I imagine Darby and Steve have a Tag Title reign in their not-too-distant future so they probably win here while Kyle's relationship with the Callis Family continues to deteriorate.
Pick: Darby and Sting Jr.
Women's Tag Team Championship Chicago Street Fight: Brawling Birds vs. Divine Dominion
These two teams have a much better match in them than they gave at Wembley and this one should be it. Megan and Lena have won all the small battles over the last four weeks so the champs are obviously retaining here, but this should be a fun car wreck and I hope DD both get good singles runs after this is all over.
Pick: Birds retain
National Championship: Andrade El Idolo vs. PAC
Not much to this story other than "I want your title," but goddamn this match will be fantastic. PAC is one of the best in-ring talents in the entire company, and Andrade's both an incredible worker and super over. We're just biding time till Andrade cashes in his World Title contract.
Pick: Andrade retains
International Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Not much to this story either but again, a fantastic match will ensue. The way Ciampa talked about being on a different island from Okada in 2018, I surmise these two have wanted this match for a long time. Have I mentioned that Okada's comedic chops are absolutely stupendous? As a douchebag heel character he is a delight.
Pick: Okada retains
#1 Contender's Match: Thekla vs. Willow Nightingale
I think this was probably supposed to be a three-way with Mercedes, but the champ is out with a broken nose. So instead she'll defend against the winner of this match, at WrestleDream. Thekla and Willow had a pretty good match in July but they have a better match in them I think. Willow's still wrestling on a broken hand so I think she probably loses this one and takes a little time to heal. Looking forward to the Thekla-Mercedes promo segments; Thekla's really becoming a star.
Pick: Thekla
World Tag Team Championship TLC Match: Cope & Cage vs. Young Bucks vs. FTR
Yeah I know AEW isn't allowed to use the name TLC, but that's what this is, so that's what I'm calling it. The goal here is undoubtedly to put the 2000-2001 TLC matches to shame, and given the Bucks and FTR delivered a classic ladder match two years ago I think they might just pull it off. Before last night's Dynamite I fully expected the Bucks to win this but with Cope confronting Darby and Steve now I'm not so sure. I could actually see Cope & Cage retaining here and then finally doing a decisive job to the new team at WrestleDream, hopefully with Cope taking the pinfall. It would be poetic since Cope debuted at WrestleDream 2023.
Pick: I think the champs retain here
World Championship: Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley
Well I figured leading up to Wembley they'd put Moxley in Ospreay's way as the final boss prior to winning the title. But instead he's the final boss Ospreay needs to vanquish in order to cement himself as the deserving champion and face of the company. I'm alright with that. Ospreay has also gone back to being the superpowered golden retriever character we all know and love. Their match at Dynasty was excellent and this will be even better. Anything short of ****3/4 would be shockingly low.
Pick: Ospreay retains obviously
So yeah, a lotta great stuff on tap here. I expect this show to be on par with All Out 2024, which is still one of my favorite top-to-bottom PPVs AEW has ever done. Is that a fair bar to set for this show? Maybe not, but on paper this looks to be at that level. LFG!
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