Results:
- Jungle Jack Perry beat “The Wrestler” Katsuyori Shibata countering a sleeper with a roll-up for the win.
- Samoa Joe returns and levels Perry with a head butt.
- The Sisters of Sin (Skye Blue & Julia Hart) beat Queen Aminata & Mina Shirakawa when Skye pinned Mina after Code Blue.
- Tailgate Brawl No DQ Tornado Tag Match: The Bang Bang Gang (Jay White, Austen Gunn, Colten Gunn, Ace Austin) with “Coach” Juice Robinson beat The Deathriders (Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia) & The Dogs (David Finlay & Clark Connors) with Marina Shafir after Jay White hit The Blade Runner on Yuta
- Andrade retained the AEW National Championship against PAC by reversing The Brutalizer into a pin for the win.
- Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher beat Steven Borden and Darby Allin by ref stoppage due to a legitimate injury on Steve Borden.
- Persephone retained the TBS Title against the debuting Dani Luna with a Razor’s Edge
- Kazuchika Okada retained the International Title against Tomasso Ciampa with a Rainmaker
- The Brawling Birds retained the AEW Women’s Tag Titles against Divine Divinion, when Alex Windsor pinned Lena Kross after Two Birds, One Stone on tacks.
- Swerve Strickland and The New Level retained the AEW Trios Titles when Swerve pinned Bandido after reversing the 21 Plex with Big Pressure.
- Thekla defeated Willow Nightingale to become the #1 Contender for the AEW Women’s World Title with a Curb Stomp
- The Young Bucks defeated Cope & Cage and FTR to become the 4-Time AEW World Tag Team Championship
- Will Ospreay retained the AEW Men’s World Title over Jon Moxley with The Hidden Blade
AEW All Out 2026 stuck the landing.
Was it the greatest, 10/10 AEW PPV experiences of all time? No. Was it a weirdly okay show like Redemption? Was it an absolute dumpster fire like All Out 2022 or 2023? Nope.
AEW All Out 2026 didn’t need to be an earth-shattering event; it needed to accomplish a number of things to keep AEW’s creative vision on track, and it did just that. It solidified those that needed to be solidified. It set up future feuds in tantalizing fashion. And since this is “the home of professional wrestling,” we had a silly amount of really terrific matches. Did it have its flaws? Yes. But overall, if you didn’t catch All Out, you should go buy the replay wherever you watch PPVs these days and enjoy a strong night of wrestling.
Before we break down the show, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: counter-programming. We all know WWE ran a loaded AAA house show in Chicago with “Mr. All Out” CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, Liv Morgan, and Dominik Mysterio on the card. And thankfully, instead of selling for WWE by overreacting and taking potshots during the show, or overbooking for the sake of counter-programming, the counter-programming, AEW kept their heads down until after the show and worried about themselves. They worried about their creative, their promotion, and their future, and not what others were doing down the street. They didn’t hot-shot a Mistico match to draw people into this show; they sold it out based on three matches. And here’s the thing, WWE running this show as a televised event this week on YouTube is great, because there are some of us, like this writer, who prefer AAA as the best WWE in-ring product. So yeah, I’ll definitely watch this show next week, but I didn’t have to choose one or the other. See, options in wrestling is great. Support your local indie, btw.
Now, onto this crackling analysis of AEW All Out 2026…
As stated before, this show was not without its problems; let’s break it down:
- The Non-HBO Max Pre-Show: If you don’t watch AEW PPVs on HBO Max and go through a traditional vendor, you get 30 minutes of backstage promos, vignettes, and a pre-show hosted by Renee Paquette, RJ City, and Mick Foley (with special guests). This is perfectly okay, but when Samoa Joe returns during the pre-show and you don’t cut to it, or even reference it … yikeseeola. Understandably, AEW wants to keep things for WBD sacred, but it feels disconnected.
- The Tailgate Brawl Itself: With that being said, outside of Samoa Joe’s return and a fairly goofy Bang Bang Gang match, this was the dullest pre-show AEW has done in a while. Jack Perry and Shibata felt like a house show match, and the surprise roll-up submission finish took away from PAC/Andrade. The women’s tag felt like a reason to get hometown girl Skye Blue on the show, as it lacked any sorta juice. People really hated The Tailgate Brawl on the internet, but man, it was fun… but it also could’ve worked better.
- Andrade vs. PAC: For some reason, this match never really got out of second gear. The Andrade sports entertainment stuff overshadowed a lot of the good, solid work done here. And maybe that was the problem – it was a good, solid match that should’ve been placed as the second or third match on the card, and not the opener. The finish was a repeat of Perry/Shibata, and that definitely deflated things.
- The Steven Borden Injury: Steven Borden is so ludicrously over. It’s wild. He doesn’t even do that much in terms of moves, but the fans are all about STEVEEEEEE. And listen, the moves he does are impressive, and people are just in love with him. So, it absolutely sucks that he got injured. Kudos to AEW’s medical team for immediately stopping the match, not showing Borden after the injury (which tells you this wasn’t an angle), and then giving updates on his health. Let’s all hope Borden makes a full recovery and is okay.
- Persephone vs. Dani Luna: This was not a bad match at all. However, having to follow Steven Borden’s injury sucked, and the crowd was justifiably deflated. Luna got a decent reaction and won the crowd over by the end, but the match’s construction wasn’t great. Luna didn’t get many moments to shine or show any signature offense. They needed a stronger start for her. Persephone’s leaning into more heelish behavior was hit or miss, as they seem to be putting a little too much of Britt Baker’s mannerisms into her. Let Big Pers be Big Pers. Would love to see a do-over of this match down the road.
- The Bloodline Ending of the Main Event: It wasn’t the run-ins that hurt; it was the Moxley theatrics at the end that dinged this from being a home run of a match. The crisis of conscience is understandable from their storyline, but Mox taking a knee, blessing himself, and praying on it? What’s happening here? This was community theater stuff we didn’t need from one of the all-time killers in pro wrestling.
Now onto the positives…
- Britt Baker as a Player/Coach: Britt Baker as a wrestler/manager is the perfect fit for The Good Doctor. Britt’s greatest wrestling asset is her ability to get people to react to her, and boy did Chicago react to her. She’s an old-school heel manager, and it fits her like a glove. She can still wrestle, but she has Big Pers do all the heavy lifting in-ring for her, while she comes in and gets heat. It’s a great fit, and calling it now … Persephone is going to turn on Britt.
- Hangman vs. Swerve: How many times have we seen wrestling promotions go back to a feud, and it just feels like a desperation move based on nostalgia? Then sometimes you get two people lock up again, and the crowd is ready for it. The latter perfectly describes Chicago’s (and the world’s) reaction to Swerve and Hangman going at it during their match. The chaos and violence they brought played perfectly into the Trios Title Match. This is some Ric Flair/Terry Funk levels of hatred, and we’re all better for it.
- LCT Ruled: Words cannot describe this absolute car crash of a match. Run don’t walk, to watch it.
- The Young Bucks Back on Top: Happy C&C got their run with the belts. Now, let’s focus on making a historic era for the AEW Tag Team Division. Get the damn Motor City Machine Guns back on TV. Let’s line up these teams and have great tag team wrestling. And who better to run this entire concept through than The Bucks themselves? The Bucks don’t miss, so let’s have at it.
- Okada vs. Ciampa: Much has been written about Okada’s “mailing it in” in AEW, and how Ciampa’s best days are behind him. Watch this match, and you’ll experience what two maniacs in the ring can do when they work together. As the SNL character Stefon would say, “This match had everything”, including Ciampa’s daughter flipping off Okada. 10/10 put it in The Louvre. Outside of the shenanigans, this match was near perfect.
- The Women Delivered: Never, ever, ever, ever doubt an AEW women’s match where there are no rules, and blood can be spilt. Because here’s the thing, they always deliver. The Brawling Birds showed up, and showed out. And individually, you saw Megan Bayne and Lena Kross have world champion written all over them.
- Willow and Thekla: The People’s Princess and The Toxic Attraction have solidified themselves as not just The Big 4 of Women’s Wrestling in AEW, but as main eventers for any show. Mercedes and Thekla should headline WrestleDream, no doubt.
- United Empire USA: Speedball, Akira, The Birds, Andrade & Ospreay. Love it. Added Dragunov and let’s go. Can’t wait for this group’s implosion in Japan, too.
- Will Ospreay is Made: In the predictions column, we stated Ospreay needed a definitive win as World Champion. This was that match. Ospreay defeating Kenny and Mox makes him the A-#1 in AEW. No CM Punk, Adam Copeland, or outside name overshadows him like Hangman or Swerve’s runs. He is the man. He’s the face of AEW. He embodies what the company is. He is what your world champion should be.
