Thoughts on All In 2026

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All Elite Wrestling held the 4th annual All In event at Wembley Stadium in London, England. It was 

highlighted by one of the greatest matches in AEW history, its stellar main event, and a chaotic card with mostly good, fast-paced contests that kept the show moving at a brisk pace. 

It's become clear that All In isn't meant to feature a card full of one-on-one dream matches, which I'll get into later in this post; instead, Tony Khan has opted to fit as many members of his stacked roster onto the card as possible. All In's main card featured a Trios Roulette Royale, a Three-Way Match, and a Casino Gauntlet, while the pre-show was loaded with 3.5 multi-man tag matches (the Gauntlet started towards the end of the Buy In). 

We also saw the debuts of the former New Day - now collectively known as The New Level - and they're allied with former AEW World Heavyweight Champion Swerve Strickland. Their presence in AEW certainly feels significant, though Khan must be careful with how they're booked and presented.

Speaking of the Buy In, I managed to watch it in between cleaning my apartment while trying to entertain a nearly 2-year-old toddler. Let's start with the opening contest:

Eight-Man Tag Team Match - Lio Rush & The Rascalz vs. The Opps

A paint-by-the-numbers multi-man tag. The Opps have fallen far down the pecking order, with their leader, Samoa Joe, still away from the promotion due to other professional commitments. Anthony Bowens has been sinking since the breakup of The Acclaimed; HOOK is in year 7 of being a prelim wrestler who hasn't improved his craft; and Action Andretti has been jumping from faction to faction, hoping something will click. As for their opponents? I cannot get into "The Blackheart" persona portrayed by Lio Rush, but The Rascalz are always a treat to watch. Hell, the Opps should legitimately be considered; their television time could (and probably already has) go to a group like themselves. 

Harley Cameron & Kris Statlander vs. The Sisters of Sin

It's unfortunate to see images of a bloodied Skye Blue following a match with Pro-Wrestling Eve, and then watching her involved in a slow, blah match taking place at Wembley effing Stadium. It's usually the other way around. Listen, Cameron might be an entertaining persona and is certainly easy on the eyes; that said, it's tough to call yourselves "Where the Best Wrestle" when you're featuring Cameron, Hart, and Blue all in one match. Again, not much else to say about this one. 

Boom & Doom & The Hurt Syndicate vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

I think I've had my fill of Boom & Doom. They've had entertaining prelim matches in the past, but I'm not sure why they're still being featured regularly. It almost felt like a gag watching The Hurt Syndicate involved in this, no? We're at the point where their roster spots should go to younger, preferably non-WWE-ified bodies. We didn't even get the Rizzler in person! 

AEW TBS Championship - Persephone vs. Maya World (c)

Maya World has endearing qualities but is still a little rough around the edges, especially compared to someone like Persephone. This match was overshadowed by the legitimately unexpected return of Dr. Britt Baker, who helped Persephone capture the TBS Championship. I don't know what the future holds for Baker. She felt like a relic from a bygone era in AEW's history, though that could make for an interesting story. It seems like she is aligned (for now) with Persephone, which feels like an odd but potentially strong pairing when considering Baker's strength on promos. It's also entirely possible she's only temporarily back, maybe as a means to build towards a big match on the upcoming Rebel show. We shall see.

The Trios match started on the Buy-In, though I'll count it as part of the main card. I thought the pre-show largely stunk, pointless, and strengthened the argument that not everyone "deserves" to be on the card. If the function of the pre-show is to entice a skeptical viewer, then I think AEW fell a little short - or knew their biggest hook was the debut of The New Level.

The pre-shows are such a double-edged sword. On the one hand, "it's just a pre-show" and, therefore, tends to be treated insignificantly; on the other hand, it's an additional one to two hours for Khan to showcase his roster in the final moments before he's asking you to fork over $40-$50 USD. There was hardly anything on this pre-show that would incentivize many people to purchase the show. Baker's return felt legitimately surprising and buzzworthy, but everything else was a whole lot of blah. 

Trios Royale Roulette for the AEW World Trios Championship

This is the Trios version of a mini Royal Rumble match. I want to give special kudos to the roulette wheel graphic that appeared immediately before the next group of entrants. It was a nice little touch. It's tough to "rate" a giant battle royal to begin with, let alone one where everyone is waiting for the debut of one particular person (or persons in this case). This was about the debuts of the Austin Creed & KOFI, now collectively known as The New Level. They debuted to ASAP Ferg's New Level, too, which has been officially licensed as their theme. I thought AEW did a good job building anticipation, and their overall presentation looked, felt, and sounded different than it did in WWE. They would go on to capture the Trios titles, marking the first time anyone has ever won AEW gold in their debut match. I'll be writing more on The New Level in the coming days, but Khan has an opportunity to showcase them differently - the question is whether or not they want to be showcased too differently. We've already seen one callback to their time in WWE, when KOFI did his typical Royal Rumble "the floor is lava" spot. 

Rewatchability: N/A. I love Battle Royals, but this wasn't among their best and was essentially built around the debut of the New Level. 

AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship Match - The Brawling Birds vs. Divine Dominion (C)

A solid contest, though I expected a bit more physicality. It felt like a standard tag, and I didn't feel any particular anticipation or excitement for the hometown team challenging for World Championship gold. Still, it was a fine match, and I'm quite curious to see what's next for Divine Dominion. Is this an opportunity to re-introduce Bayne into singles competition and, if so, what happens with Lena Kross? I'm assuming we'll see a re-match in the near future, though. 

Rewatchability: 3.5/10. There isn't a whole lot to cut your teeth on. 

AEW Continental Championship - Continental Challenge Cup Finals - Nigel McGuinness vs. Jon Moxley (c)

I really enjoyed this match, man. It's a treat seeing Nigel McGuinness competing every so often, especially when he's competing in front of his home country. I thought it was a solid end to what was otherwise a disappointing tournament, and a solid showing from McGuinness. I was a fan of the finish, too, with Moxley forcing McGuinness to tap out. Really good stuff here. 

Rewatchability: 6.5/10.

Three-Way Match for the AEW International Championship - Kazuchika Okada vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kyle Fletcher (C)

I am not a fan of three-way matches, and this one reminded me why. It's not a poor contest by any means, but it was not as satisfying as a singles match between Fletcher and Okada, or Takeshita would have been. It started with Fletcher blindsiding and temporarily incapacitating stablemate Okada, which drew comparisons to when Shawn Michaels delivered the Sweet Chin Music to tag partner Big Nose in their Triple Match vs. John Cena. It's essentially an AEW guy paying homage to a WWE match from many, many years ago, though I can't get worked up over it. Solid match with a good closing sequence, which saw Okada choose to score the pin on Fletcher over an incapacitated Takeshita. Okada and Don Callis forced Fletcher to raise Okada's hand, a pre-match stipulation amongst the DCF members. The Okada vs. Fletcher match is going to kick some serious ass, man, and I'm very much looking forward to it. I expected a bit more, but three-way matches suck for a reason.

Rewatchability: 6/10

Men's Casino Gauntlet

Again, another Royal Rumble-esque match on this card. I believe the great Trevor Dame stated this on Twitter, and I wish to echo similar sentiments: I'm good on these matches with staggered entrances. We've gotten to the point where wrestling fans really want to see staggered entrances, surprise entrances, entrances with pyro, entrances, entrances, ENTRANCES. Who the fuck cares about entrances? What is the fascination with fucking entrances? I don't get it. It was a fine match, though; it was quickly paced. I think one of the biggest issues with this match was that it was built around two individuals. The Casino Gauntlet works best when the outcome genuinely feels unpredictable, because you aren't aware of who's involved. It was pretty evident that Andrade or MJF were going to win, and I was happy to see it go to Andrade. The man has had a really solid return run in AEW, hasn't he?

Rewatchability: 3/10

AEW World Tag Team Championship Match - The Young Bucks vs. Cope & Christian (C)

The Bucks had a nice little video package before their entrances. It certainly feels like we're on the verge of being in a pro wrestling world without The Young Bucks being an integral part of it, and that makes me nauseous even to consider. Their opponents, on the other hand, are almost certainly on the way out, at least when it comes to Adam Copeland. I thought the match was fine and pretty much met by lowered expectations. I'll be honest: I never considered this a "dream match" on any level. I've never once thought about the Bucks vs. 2026 Edge & Christian, and I think we forget that Edge & Christian had a relatively short time teaming together. They debuted in 1998 and split around 2001, right when WWE started pushing Edge as a singles competitor. Copeland especially looks slow. It's time to ride off into the sunset. The most intriguing part of the match was its aftermath as a slew of tag teams - including the returning FTR and the New Level - came out to the ring to announce their presence in the division. It's a stacked tag division, and it's one worthy of having its version of the Continental Classic, so let's see if that's where we're headed. 

Rewatchability: 4/10

Falls Count Anywhere Match for TNT Championship - Darby Allin vs. Kevin Knight (C)

I'm always in favor of Darby matches, and I felt this one mostly delivered. We saw Steven Borden and the return of his father, STING, set to "Seek and Destroy" by Metallica, and it was cool to see Brian Cage & Jake Doyle doing something. A good, car crash-style match with a fitting ending as Darby nailed the Coffin Drop on a stretchered Knight, a callback to how their feud began. Darby has had extremely fun TNT title reigns in the past, though I wonder if he'll be a transitional champion with Ilja Dragunov likely coming in. 

Rewatchability: 6/10

AEW Women's World Championship Match - Mercedes Moné vs. Willow Nightingale

This was one of the best matches in the history of AEW. What an incredible contest between two of the very best women wrestlers in the world. It was hard-hitting, dramatic, and certainly helped with Mercedes being a little bloodied. The closing stretch where Mercedes countered Willow's Babe with a Powerbomb into the Statement Maker was fucking sick. Stop reading this and watch this contest if you haven't already; if you have, rewatch it. 

Rewatchability: 9/10

AEW Men's World Championship Match - Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega (C)

We knew this match was going to be special, and they sure as shit delivered. Everything about this match - from Ospreay's music video that his mother narrated, all of the people from his past and present there to support him, to Omega's New Japan-style video package and coming out to Battle Cry. It was a special, special presentation for a special, special match. The fucking power bomb off the announcer's desk and to that unforgiving table? Ospreay kicking out of the One Winged Angel to thunderous applause from his home country? Omega kicking out of the OWA at one! Man, just...man. Please watch it immediately. 

 

Rewatchability: 9.5/10

This feels like a tricky show to rate. On the one hand, I found most of the matches to be good, if a bit underwhelming. I found most of the matches to be good, if a bit underwhelming, particularly the men's and women's World Tag Team Championship matches and the three-way. We endured two multi-man matches with staggered entrances, something I'm totally over. 

But what other wrestling promotion offers back-to-back contests like Mercedes/Willow and Ospreay/Omega? It doesn't exist. 

And it should serve as an important lesson to Khan: "cinematic storytelling" will only get you so far. The real draw to Mercedes vs. Willow, and Ospreay vs. Omega, was that all four are world-class performers fighting for the most prized possessions in the industry. Mercedes has been obsessed with capturing the AEW Women's World Championship, and it's created a string of phenomenal matches. 

Ospreay vs. Omega should have revolved around their athletic and technical prowess. It should've been about which of the two wanted it more, instead of Ospreay's side-quest with Jon Moxley and the Death Riders (though I thought it was a nice touch for Moxley to show support by handing Ospreay his flag before his entrance). The story was unnecessary, or perhaps told incorrectly. I could always see what story they wanted to tell, but its execution often came across as confusing and downright silly. 

The build ultimately does not take away from what became one of the greatest matches in company history; however, it does make you realize the entire story could've been so much more.  

I hope Khan reconsiders the concept of All In. I understand it's Wembley Stadium, and everyone wants to be on the card, but all of these multi-man/woman matches have run their course. All In should be the premier AEW event, the one where heated feuds are settled in mostly one-on-one bouts. 

All in all, I genuinely enjoyed the show. I thought the production was fantastic, and we got a good mix of action, surprises, debuts, and title changes—another worthy PPV to AEW's extremely great catalog of Pay-Per-Views.