Will Ospreay successfully retained his AEW World Championship in the main event of AEW All Out 2026 from the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Saturday night. Elsewhere, the Young Bucks captured the tag titles, Swerve Strickland and the New Level retained their trios belts, and the Brawling Birds held onto their tag titles.
As we put a bow on a strong night in the “Windy City” area, here’s nine big takeaways from this year’s All Out pay-per-view.
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1. A little too much
For everything the main event at AEW All In 2026 was, All Out was the opposite.
In a match that set out to prove Ospreay had taken the learnings of Jon Moxley and was ready to carry the AEW World Championship, it ultimately felt much more about a faction war than settling the score between two top guys. The outside chaos was just entirely too much — Moxley hitting the Death Rider over and again, and slamming the briefcase into Ospreay’s head was just over the top for the champ to continuously kick out of.
Ospreay eventually found his spot, hit the Storm Breaker, and pulled his elbow pad off for the Hidden Blade and the pinfall.
There’s making Ospreay look strong without needing to make him look egregiously unbeatable. I’m excited to see the champ truly step into the spotlight as AEW’s main guy, but it can’t follow the “Super Cena” trope that plagued WWE for years. It’ll be interesting to see how AEW builds around Ospreay and, presumably, a rivalry with Andrade next.
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I’m not sure if this is the direction Tony Khan’s team is shooting for, but it felt like Moxley putting the title on Ospreay’s shoulder was his exit from the spotlight for a bit.
If that’s the case, the guy deserves a break and a fresh reset. He’s been AEW’s most valuable player for running on three years now.
One final thought on this one: I absolutely can not stand the intersection of ad sponsorship and the storytelling of a match. When the violinist started playing to signal Ospreay’s entrance, I thought, “what a cool moment,” similar to Shinsuke Nakamura’s old entrance. Then the “Assassin’s Creed” promo played, and it just completely took air out of the spectacle. Please, let’s find better ways to integrate ad content into the programming so we’re left comparing tonight’s entrance to Ospreay’s outstanding walkout at All In.
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2. Looking at the greatest?
Was this the best TLC match ever? Quite possibly.
Saturday’s match had everything between three of the greatest tag-teams to ever do it. The exploding tables, the moves off the ladder, the pace of the match — it was all simply beautiful chaos. Cope and Christian gave everything; Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, and Stokely Hathaway ate some enormous shots; and the Young Bucks could not have been smoother around the ring. The end saw the Bucks hit the BTE trigger at the top of the ladder on Christian to snag the tag belts after some genuinely insane spots.
With the Young Bucks claiming the tag gold, it feels like we’re one step closer to seeing the New Level and the Bucks square off. That might not be the immediate direction, as AEW’s tag division is absolutely loaded with talent and a fair share of dream matches.
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3. Welcome to the party, pals
The next iteration of the rivalry between Swerve Strickland and “Hangman” Adam Page was already outlined at All In, when the New Level debuted alongside Strickland to claim the trios titles. As brutal as the past few years have been between Page and Strickland, pulling in the New Level and Brodido added a brand new dynamic to what the men at the center of Saturday’s matchup could put together.
All six of these competitors could be world title contenders, and their showdown at All Out felt like the very beginning of a rivalry that could take many different forms in the coming months. It was a chaotic finish that saw Austin Creed get taken out by Page, and Strickland earn the pin on Bandido following a flurry of finishing moves.
With Blood and Guts just around the corner, if it’s not United Empire and the Death Riders, these two groups feel like a perfect fit to step into the cage against each other.
The New Level and Swerve Strickland have made an immediate impact in AEW. (Photo credit: AEW)
4. Steven Borden’s scare
Steven Borden owned the first half of Saturday’s No. 1 contender match for the tag-team titles, carrying the momentum of the last month into an impressive showing against Kevin Knight. Darby Allin was bullied around the ring by Knight and Kyle Fletcher, leaving room for Borden to bring the match home. Unfortunately, a diving attack ended with Borden slamming his head against the mat and the match being immediately called off.
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Tony Schiavone shared later in the broadcast that Borden is awake and responsive at the hospital. We’re sending our best wishes to Borden for a full recovery.
5. Not Ciampa’s night
In arguably the match of the night, AEW International Champion Kazuchika Okada and Tommaso Ciampa absolutely tore the house down. The action was physical and had fans emotionally involved from the opening bell. The involvement of Ciampa’s young daughter and wife, Okada’s interactions with them, and the eventual finish played out perfectly — with Ciampa unable to overcome the champ’s prowess, and Okada connecting on multiple Rain Makers before blowing Ciampa’s daughter a kiss on the way up the ramp.
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Ciampa has quietly had an exceptional run over the past few months. After a strong AEW debut, he’s built momentum with a quality (and brutal) program with Chris Jericho, then followed it with a standout showing opposite Okada.
If anything, that should open more doors up the card for Ciampa.
6. Andrade keeps his momentum
It was a massive spot for Andrade El Idolo and PAC to be given, opening Saturday’s All Out card, but their battle for the AEW National Championship didn’t quite carry the same non-stop action AEW has traditionally kicked off big pay-per-view shows with.
PAC and Andrade exchanged momentums in the match, and each had their moments. Andrade couldn’t resist Marina Shafir teasing a kiss at ringside and almost got finished by the Brutalizer, only for Andrade to reverse it into a pin to steal the win.
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This one felt tailor-made for Andrade to continue building into the spotlight. There’s no shortage of talent across AEW’s roster, but Andrade’s recent trajectory appears to signal a world title run in his near future.
7. Persephone rolls on
Dani Luna debuted as the surprise challenger for Persephone. The match served exactly what it needed to, establishing Luna as a solid challenger while keeping the AEW TBS Title and momentum with Persephone. Britt Baker played a heavy role in keeping the belt on Persephone, with a handful of interruptions to the match that led to the finish.
Yet Luna’s debut felt like a bit of a letdown, likely better served for an episode of “Dynamite” versus on pay-per-view, where AEW has grown accustomed to debuting well-established, absolute top talent. The fact that AEW was actively promoting Persephone’s tag match alongside Baker for Wednesday night’s show seemed to imply that either one of the two women they’d wrestle would win the title or she’d walk out champion.
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It’s a small quibble, but the sequencing all around just felt off here and didn’t set anyone in Saturday’s match up for success.
8. Thekla earns her rematch
When Thekla was left off this year’s All In card entirely, most assumed it was only a matter of time before she’d be back in the title picture. Just a few weeks later, she’s back in the driver’s seat as expected, the new top contender for the women’s championship.
The story of this one carried, with Thekla deserving her rightful rematch and using many of the tactics that she showcased during her title reign to defeat Willow Nightingale. Some outside interference opened the door for Thekla to seize the win and to set up the next chapter in Mercedes Moné’s title run atop AEW’s women’s division.
There’s little doubt that Moné will walk away still champion whenever she faces off against Thekla. What the match sets up, though, is a logical path for Moné to conquer every former champion she’s competed against and truly establish her reign.
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9. Two tough Birds
In a match that felt reminiscent to Willow Nightingale’s street fight with Kris Statlander a few years ago at All Out, the Brawling Birds and Divine Dominion pulled out all the stops in a street fight of their own. It was brutality from the very opening moments, with Alex Windsor taking a handful of gnarly kendo stick shots. There were chairs, barbed wire, and the champs landed Two Birds, One Stone on Lena Kross onto thumbtacks for the pinfall.
The match felt like the conclusion of this program, with the Brawling Birds marching on to match up against the next tag-team in line for AEW’s women’s tag titles.
There’s no clarity right now which that team could be, but Britt Baker and Persephone certainly fit the bill as a rising duo ready for tag-team gold.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
