By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
AEW presents its annual All In pay-per-view event this Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Heading into this show, I am encouraged that the All In only has eight matches for the main card, with Tony Khan saying that it will run approximately four hours. I say “only eight matches” because AEW has conditioned us to expect 12-14 matches on their pay-per-views, not including the pre-show. Four hours is still a long haul, but given that we’ve seen some shows go over five hours, I’ll take this.
As for the matches themselves, if you’re an AEW diehard, you’re likely higher on them than I am. All In is largely considered AEW’s version of WrestleMania, but for me, the storylines are always as important, if not more important than the in-ring action. That said, I’m sure that by the end of this show, by 2026 standards, several matches will be heralded as “match of the night,” if not “match of the year.” And that’s fair. But, for me, the stories driving these have been a mixed bag. More on that to come. Let’s run down the card!
Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay for the AEW World Championship. Ah – where to begin on this one? As I said in the opening, once the dust settles, I have no doubt that this will immediately be added to the “match of the year” discussion. And while their style is not the type I enjoy most, I’m sure there are parts that I’ll enjoy.
If we look at the story, it’s been a bit all over the place. Let’s put aside the game of “hot potato” they played with the AEW Title to get it onto Omega just last month. I would have rather seen MJF have a longer run, minus the Darby Allin interruption and culminating with All In. But that’s neither here nor there. The story began with locker room chats between Omega and Ospreay centered on friendship and mutual respect. We then moved to Ospreay seemingly joining Jon Moxley and the Death Riders after the group tried to break his neck. Ospreay then dumped them because he didn’t want to suffocate Omega with a plastic bag. Omega then hit a one-winged angel on Ospreay because Ospreay hesitated before throwing the bag away. At this point, Omega’s the heel, right? Wrong. Shortly thereafter, Omega is back to having mutual respect for Ospreay and saving him from an attack by the Don Callis Family. The following week, we’re back to heel mode where Omega says that Ospreay’s son will have a new hero after the match, which sends Ospreay into a rage and causes Omega to get security to have Ospreay thrown out of the building. This ends with a one-winged angel through a table, which Ospreay neither sells nor addresses the following week.
I am the first one to say that I prefer a traditional babyface vs. heel dynamic. We’re seeing far too many instances across all the major companies of a reliance on “shades of grey” when it comes to wrestlers’ characters. It’s not for me, even if the match will be touted as great. If the goal was to make Omega the heel, great. At the same time, pick a lane. This jumped back and forth so many times; I don’t know how to react to Omega. And I can’t buy into Ospreay’s revenge mission over Omega’s comment about his son. The reaction of rage was 100 times more than it should have been, and I would have rather had a story of two of AEW’s top wrestlers battling for the title to see who is better, as opposed to the overcomplicated story they told. The one thing I do know is that Ospreay winning the title is a foregone conclusion.
Don Predicts: Will Ospreay defeats Kenny Omega to win the AEW World Championship.
Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Moné for the AEW Women’s Championship. With the reports that Nightingale is legitimately injured, in addition to the storyline attack by Moné on Dynamite, it looks like Moné winning the one title that has eluded her is a very strong possibility. If Nightingale is going to miss a good amount of time, I guess there’s no other option. It’s unfortunate, however, because I think there was more to do with Nightingale as champion, and there was a story to tell with Moné losing all of her other titles that they just never got to.
Don Predicts: Mercedes Moné defeats Willow Nightingale to win the AEW Women’s Championship.
Kyle Fletcher vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kazuchika Okada in a three-way for the AEW International Title. You know how I usually feel about three-way title matches. In this case, I’m good with it. I like the story they’ve told where both Okada and Fletcher hate Takeshita but have created dissension amongst themselves. I think we see the Callis Family implosion come to a head here, with Takeshita regaining the title, while Fletcher and Okada blame each other, leading to a program between the two. I expect Okada to take the pin so that Fletcher has a legitimate gripe in demanding a rematch.
Don Predicts: Konosuke Takeshita defeats Kyle Fletcher and Kazuchika Okada to win the AEW International Title.
Adam Copeland and Christian Cage vs. “The Young Bucks” Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson for the AEW Tag Team Titles. If you grew up watching Copeland and Cage and became a fan of the Young Bucks, you’ll likely see this as a “dream match.” It’s fine, but it doesn’t reach that status for me. I’m interested to see how the two styles interact and have loved Cage’s presentation throughout the build. Some of these lines have been absolute gold. Assuming the Bucks win the title, I’m wondering if we’re going to see a wind-down to Copeland’s and Cage’s careers. There’s not much left for them to do, although they could be presented as a legacy act to build other teams, similar to how the Hardy Boys are used in TNA.
Don Predicts: “The Young Bucks” Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson defeat Adam Copeland and Christian Cage for the AEW Tag Team Titles.
Megan Bayne and Lena Kross vs. Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor for the AEW Women’s Tag Team Titles. I’ve liked that Kross and Bayne have been presented like monsters, winning short squash matches on Collision and Dynamite. Hayter and Windsor will have the home-field advantage, but I just don’t see them as a credible threat to the titles.
Don Predicts: Megan Bayne and Lena Kross defeat Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor to retain the AEW Women’s Tag Team Titles.
Kevin Knight vs. Darby Allin in a Falls Count Anywhere match for the TNT Title. Oh boy. If you like dangerous spots and explosives, this will be the match for you. I’m conflicted on my pick here. There’s a high likelihood that Allin reclaims the title. I just don’t know what that does for Knight. We know that the company is high on him, and they can make him look good in defeat. Plus, the TNT Title isn’t prominent enough that losing it will hurt all that much. That said, he is coming off a loss to Kenny Omega at the last pay-per-view, so I am cautiously optimistic for a win here. I expect appearances from Sting, as well as his son, Steve.
Don Predicts: Kevin Knight defeats Darby Allin in a Falls Count Anywhere match to retain the TNT Title.
Jon Moxley vs. Nigel McGuinness in the Continental Challenge Cup tournament final for the AEW Continental Championship. While I find the outcome predictable, I like the story they’ve told here. The aging British veteran trying for one more run at glory. And this will be a break from all the flips and dives, with more of a submission style that gives the crowd a bit of a reprieve. It’s been reported that McGuinness’ injury is a work, which is a bit much if that’s true. He doesn’t need an “out” in losing. The veteran’s last stand storyline works fine on its own.
Don Predicts: Jon Moxley defeats Nigel McGuinness to win the Continental Challenge Cup tournament and retain the AEW Continental Championship.
A Casino Gauntlet match for a future shot at the AEW World Championship (Initial Entrants: Andrade and MJF, plus Tommaso Ciampa, Chris Jericho, and Mark Davis indicated that they will be in the match). These are always tough to predict because we don’t know all the entrants. It’s been heavily centered around Andrade and MJF’s story, and we can probably expect some former WWE talents making their debut. We can expect that Andrade will play a role in MJF not winning to further their story. In terms of the winner, I think we see the former Sheamus debut and emerge as the winner.
Don Predicts: The artist formerly known as Sheamus wins the Casino Gauntlet.
(Pre-Show) “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” Hangman Page, Bandido, and Brody King vs. “The Dogs” David Finlay, Clark Connors, and Gabe Kidd vs. “The Demand” Ricochet, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona vs. “The Death Riders” Claudio Castagnoli, Pac, and Wheeler Yuta vs. “The Conglomeration” Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O’Reilly vs. “The Bang Bang Gang” Jay White, Austin Gunn, and Colten Gunn vs. a wildcard team in a seven-team Trios Roulette Royale for the AEW Trios Titles. I normally just list pre-show predictions without any comments. However, as this is the only pre-show match announced thus far and there’s heavy speculation around the wildcard team, I’ll just make two points. This is the match to get everyone on the show, which is fine. But if the wildcard team ends up being the former Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods joining with Swerve Strickland, we can see how it plays out, but I think using the pre-show for that kind of a debut is a missed opportunity and doesn’t bode well for their future. But we’ll see.
Don Predicts: The wildcard team wins the seven-team Trios Roulette Royale to win the AEW Trios Titles.
AEW pay-per-views are priced at $49.99 (or $39.99 via HBO Max). Join Jason Powell for his live review of All In London on Sunday, starting with live pre-show notes at 10CT/11ET and his full review of the main card at noonCT/1ET. Jason will team up with Jake Barnett and Will Pruett for a same-day audio review exclusively for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Enjoy All In and enjoy wrestling!
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