Welcome to a very topical edition of Top Ten Things, here at Enuffa.com! Or should I say Top(ical) Ten Things? No....?
I say topical because we were just treated to one of the greatest main events-- nay, MATCHES, in AEW history and thus I figured I'd take a look back at the best headlining bouts in AEW PPV lore. This list is likely going to have to be altered frequently, as this company just keeps churning out classic PPVs and classic main event matches. Hell, it'll probably grow to a top 20 before too long.
Say what you want about All Elite Wrestling's overall product, I've heard it all before. Some of the criticisms are valid, a lot of it is not. People have gripes with the booking, the follow-through after big storyline peaks (my biggest complaint), the clarity of the storytelling - I've had my issues with all of those things from time to time - but unless you're a diehard anti-AEW weirdo you can't argue in good faith that the in-ring product doesn't deliver huge when it counts. The top talent in this company just knows how to put on a thrilling spectacle of a wrestling match and further this ever-evolving art form we all love.
Over the last seven-plus years of AEW PPVs we've seen all manner of marquee matches at the top of the card. Some technical, some brutal, some downright amusing. And that's part of what I love about AEW; there's something for everyone, and all styles of pro wrestling are represented. If you can't get behind that, I dunno what to tell you.
Anyway let's look at what are in my estimation the ten greatest AEW PPV main events of all time....
10. Stadium Stampede - Double or Nothing 2020
In the midst of the once-in-a-century pandemic known as COVID, AEW turned a deeply unfortunate situation into one of the most original and entertaining spectacles in recent memory, the Stadium Stampede match. Chris Jericho led his Inner Circle faction of Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara and Proud & Powerful against Kenny Omega, Hangman Adam Page, Matt Hardy and The Young Bucks, in a hybrid of violence and comedy that ranged all over Jacksonville's Everbank Stadium. This match had everything - crazy high spots (Kenny finished Sammy with a One-Winged Angel off an entranceway through a false stage), wild brawling (Hangman and Hager had an old-fashioned bar fight in one of the skyboxes), hilarious moments of levity (Chris Jericho challenged an Aubrey Edwards' two-count and demanded to see the instant replay), and some fun camera tricks (Matt Hardy changed wrestling personas while being held underwater). What was originally schedule to be a Blood and Guts match (AEW's version of WarGames) instead became a wholly AEW-branded concept that is still used today, both in its original form and in the Anarchy in the Arena variant. The inaugural Stadium Stampede is still one of my favorite AEW PPV main events.
9. Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson - All In 2024
The main event of AEW's second Wembley Stadium visit pitted its current champion at the time, Swerve Strickland, against the sentimental favorite, the legendary Bryan Danielson. A controversial booking decision at the time - many fans (including me) wanted to see mortal enemies Swerve and Hangman headline the biggest show of the year - this match nonetheless proved to be an epic encounter. The build was steeped in nostalgia for the soon-to-be-retiring American Dragon, but Danielson wrestled with reckless abandon, trading stiff strikes and submissions with his much younger opponent. Mrs. Bryan Danielson Brie Bella and their two kids cheered him on from ringside, and after tapping Swerve out with a Rings of Saturn variation, they joined Bryan in the ring for a celebration reminiscent of WrestleMania 30. Danielson's AEW Title run in the end felt more like a lifetime achievement award, but there's no denying the quality of this main event.
8. Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Adam Page - Full Gear 2021
One of the best storyline arcs in AEW history came to a head at the 2021 edition of Full Gear. Kenny Omega and Hangman Page, former uneasy allies and Tag Team Champions, had been set on a collision course almost two years earlier. A feud against their mutual friends Matt and Nick Jackson, a title loss to newcomers FTR, a Kenny heel turn, and a Page identity crisis fueled this fascinating rivalry, and after multiple failures, Page finally found himself in the ring opposite his mentor. The match itself was classic stuff, as Hangman finally seemed to come into his own as AEW's "main character," exchanging and withstanding signature moves with the Best Bout Machine. Page's first AEW Title win was one of the most emotional moments ever in AEW, and while it could be argued his subsequent reign lacked great story like this, Hangman inarguably proved himself worthy of the main event spot.
7. Hangman Adam Page vs. Kyle Fletcher - All Out 2025
In another case of a young up-and-comer earning a top spot, All Out 2025 featured Kyle Fletcher getting his first-ever PPV main event against Hangman himself. Now in his second AEW Title reign, Hanger granted Fletcher a title shot after Kyle and his Don Callis Family teammates attacked Hangman. This match didn't have a complex story or anything going in, but the bout itself delivered huge, showcasing both men's athleticism and attention to detail. The match was paced like a Tokyo Dome main event, going a sprawling 38 minutes and featuring some brutal spots into tables and exposed turnbuckles, before Hanger finished the TNT Champ with a Buckshot Lariat. Kyle may have lost this round, but he also proved without a doubt that he was one of the key players in AEW's future main event scene.
6. Will Ospreay vs. Swerve Strickland - Forbidden Door 2026
The finals of the 2026 Men's Owen Hart Cup took place at Forbidden Door 2026, and its two participants were no strangers to each other. A rematch from two years earlier, this bout was much more violent and turned into one of the bloodiest matches of the year. Both men gushed the crimson as they seemingly attempted to murder each other, hitting all their own signature offense as well as paying homage of sorts to mutual frenemy Hangman Page. Late in the match Ospreay's allies the Death Riders appeared at ringside, which seemed to imbue Will with superhuman pain tolerance, and he was able to fire up and hit a slew of his and Jon Moxley's finishers to put Swerve away and win his first-ever Owen Cup. This match was an absolute war of attrition.
5. Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay - Forbidden Door 2024
Swerve's defining match as AEW Champion was this incredible athletic showcase between two longtime friends. The story between them had a big brother-little brother dynamic, as Swerve did a bit of bullying Ospreay in the lead-up. But Ospreay would not be condescended to, taking everything Swerve could dish out and giving it right back. While the 2026 match was a brutal war, this match was a balletic spectacle. After loads of nearfalls and kickouts, Ospreay refused the help of erstwhile manager Don Callis but paid the price, falling to a Swerve Stomp and JML Driver. Post-match Swerve showed Ospreay the utmost respect, thus strengthening their friendship for the time being. The 2024 and 2026 Forbidden Door main events are a breathtaking A-side and B-side. Take your pick which one you prefer.
4. Hangman Adam Page vs. Will Ospreay - Double or Nothing 2025
In 2025 the Owen finals were at Double or Nothing, which proved to be the best PPV of that year in my opinion, due in no small part to this incredible bout. The story surrounding this match was just a piece of one of AEW's all-time great sagas, the redemption and title hunt of one Hangman Page. After his feud with Swerve Strickland left Page a bitter, violent, revenge-obsessed lunatic, Ospreay attempted to bring Hanger back to the good side while also acting as a mediator between Page and Swerve. This match was a true case of "either guy could win," as both were viewed as heroic figures worthy of wresting the AEW Title away from the death grip of Jon Moxley. Ospreay was Superman, the paragon of good, while Hangman was the conflicted Batman-type protagonist, desperately trying to rediscover his better nature. These threads played out beautifully in the match, and in the end it was AEW's "main character" who proved best suited to rescue the company's top championship, a sentiment Ospreay would echo after falling to Page here. Fantastic stuff.
3. Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Adam Page - All In 2025
Perhaps the greatest men's storyline in AEW history climaxed with this absolutely brutal Texas Death Match at All In 2025. Hangman Page, having rediscovered his humanity, now carried the hopes of both the AEW locker room and its fans on his shoulders as he challenged the sadistic, spiteful Jon Moxley for the company's top championship, one which Mox had kept locked in a briefcase for the last nine months. This match ran the gamut of weapons, dangerous spots, and blood, buckets and buckets of blood, but also incorporated top-notch storytelling and callbacks to other matches and feuds. The Death Riders got involved but so did Will Ospreay, the Young Bucks, Bryan Danielson, and Darby Allin. But in the final moments Hangman's mortal enemy-turned unlikely ally Swerve Strickland appeared, handing Page the chain he'd use to choke out Mox, force a frantic tapout, and thus free the AEW Title from its metal prison. The post-match was one of the most emotional wrestling moments of the last twenty years, as a teary-eyed Page held up the championship to a massive ovation. For the second time Page's AEW Title run felt a bit shortchanged (he'd lose the title to Samoa Joe only four months later), but this match and its aftermath served as possibly AEW's greatest-ever storyline payoff.
2. MJF vs. Bryan Danielson - Revolution 2023
In March of 2023 the company's youngest champion MJF was put to the ultimate test by one of the greatest big-match wrestlers of all time. This 60-minute Iron Man match broke the mold of this particular gimmick, putting to shame every previous incarnation. The first fall was 28 minutes of grand scientific wrestling, during which Danielson took the upperhand. To even the score, MJF resorted to a low blow which cost him a second fall, but allowed him to pin Danielson twice. The action spilled to the outside where Max used every piece of furniture he could find to bloody and brutalize Danielson, winning another fall off a Heatseeker. Danielson grappled his way to a score-tying Regal Stretch, and the match's best moment happened soon after, as the two exhausted opponents leaned on each other to regain their feet, MJF crying, Danielson grinning from ear to ear. Danielson eventually trapped MJF in the LeBell Lock but the clock ran out before MJF submitted. A sudden death overtime was called, and Max distracted the referee with his Dynamite diamond ring before waffling Danielson with an oxygen tank, and then tapped the American Dragon with his own hold to retain the title. This was a perfect Iron Man match and is still in my opinion MJF's best match and Danielson's best AEW bout (which places it among his best full-stop). A masterful epic.
1. Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay - All In 2026
The match I have to newly christen AEW's greatest PPV main event though is the masterpiece we all just witnessed, Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay at Wembley Stadium. From the pre-match video packages to the entrances to the post-match catharsis, this was the epitome of big-match presentation. Despite a messy, unfocused build to this showdown, once the bell rang these two delivered an all-timer, telling the age-old story of the morally gray mentor vs. the white-meat babyface protégé. By the end both men were gushing blood, each had kicked out of the other's finisher (Ospreay became the first in 14 years and only the second ever to kick out of the One-Winged Angel without an asterisk like the one next to MJF's name), and Kenny withstood a Tiger Driver '91 that rendered his left arm useless. Through sheer force of will he kicked out of two pin attempts at one, but Ospreay finally put him down with an unprotected Hidden Blade to become the new AEW Champion. Post-match Kenny needed help from Ospreay and the Young Bucks to present Will with the belt and make his way to the back, capping off one of the most remarkable main event segments ever produced. Omega vs. Ospreay is the new AEW PPV main event yardstick and likely will be for a long time to come.
And that'll wrap up this special Top Ten Things, one that will no doubt evolve frequently as AEW continues to deliver incredible PPV events capped off by epic bouts. If you haven't seen all ten of these examples, get to it and enjoy the fireworks!
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