AEW WrestleDream 2026

AEW WrestleDream 2026

Orlando, FL - October 2026

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Will Ospreay was the AEW World Champion, the Women's Champion was Mercedes Mone, the TBS Champion was Persephone, the TNT Champion was Darby Allin, Jon Moxley was the Continental Champion, the National Champion was Andrade El Idolo, the International Champion was Kazuchika Okada, the World Tag Team Champions were the Young Bucks, Swerve Strickland and The New Level held the Trios Championships, and the Brawling Birds (Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor) were the Women's Tag Team Champions.

I didn't go into WrestleDream 2026 with very high expectations - the main event seemed a bit thrown-together and odd (no surprise considering that the build was interrupted by the tragedy of PAC's passing and there wasn't all that much time after All Out anyway) and leaned very heavily towards somewhat predictable outcomes and multi-man matches. But AEW has a knack for overdelivering so...

The show began in medias res with FTR taking on the Motor City Machine Guns in the first of a Best of 5 series. If I don't watch a match in full, I don't like to give reviews and, because I didn't watch the first half of the bout (it started on the Buy In), I won't do that here but what I did catch was excellent and has me very, very excited to see the rest of the series on Dynamite and Collision (which I rarely watch). The Guns got the victory after a 20+ minute match that had the Orlando crowd chanting "Fight Forever." 

Next up - Mercedes Mone defending her AEW Women's World Championship against Thekla. I'm a Thekla superfan at this point and this match played to her strengths. If anyone says AEW lacks "characters," you can point to this match as an example of just how wrong that opinion is. They didn't bust out any crazy sequences, but this was still terrific and engaging and I'm very hopeful that it will not be their last match against each other despite Mone's clean victory. They got plenty of time and built up the suspense very well. I really loved Mone's repeated use of the Lung Blower. I loved Thekla's R-rated taunting on the floor. I wish the commentary team played up the fact that Thekla's stablemates were unlikely to provide assistance as they had competed earlier in the night and lost to Divine Dominion. (3/5)

Chris Jericho vs. Nick Wayne followed. Jericho was more over in front of this Orlando crowd than I was expecting, but this match felt more like a "coming out" for Nick Wayne, who feels much more "fully formed" than he did 3-6 months ago. Jericho earned some "You Still Got It" chants as he worked hard and took some big risks off the top rope. Jericho being over as a fun-loving nostalgia act babyface was not something I was expecting as he was known for so long as someone who was constantly "reinventing" himself but it certainly works for him. Over on Cagematch, folks continue to put down Jericho's work but this was solid and the right man - Nick Wayne - won by outsmarting Jericho with a tricky inside cradle. I didn't think the "cup" spot was bad at all, though I can understand why some people disliked it. Another solid match. (3/5)

As expected, the opinion of the next match on Cagematch is the total opposite of what Jericho/Wayne earned as The Young Bucks and Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight put on a 20-minute super-duper spotfest that earned them a massive 9+ rating. Now, I'm in agreement that this match was absolutely insane with some amazing sequences and double team moves and even some stuff - like the Coast to Coast from Knight onto both Matt and Nick - that I'm not sure I've seen before...but this is also, sadly, the type of match that will probably be forgotten in a few weeks despite the ridiculous effort on display, a match that has no "staying power," that was a delight to watch in the moment but leads nowhere. This was just non-stop craziness because the athletes involved can provide it. In terms of wrestling logic, I liked the story of Fletcher and Knight trying to beat the Bucks at their own game by going move-for-move with them and never taking their feet off the gas. That being said, to enjoy this match, you have to be willing to accept a not-small amount of cooperation and choreography and there were noticeable moments when participants would blatantly position themselves for the next spot. I can put up with it to a degree, but it irritates me enough to prevent this match from being a "Match of the Night" contender. (3.5/5)

Persephone defended the TBS Championship against Dani Luna, Hyan, and Queen Aminata in the next match. Lots of great little moments in this match with some very impressive work out of Dani Luna, the least established of the four. They crammed a ton of action into a 14-minute runtime and were not holding anything back, which helped keep the crowd engaged from beginning to end. The finish was a bit ugly and seemed to have been an "on the fly" decision after the intended finish - a Persephone moonsault that broke-up a submission - didn't quite connect with Hyan or Luna enough to lead to a believable pin. (3/5)

On a show full of matches that ping-ponged between working and not working for me, Andrade El Idolo's defense of his National Championship against Tomasso Ciampa might have been the most tonally confused. Some positives: Both Ciampa and Andrade are very over and the crowd was essentially behind both guys despite Ciampa being (technically) the heel. They also have great chemistry together and I really loved Ciampa's ample use of running knees and Andrade's Meteoras. I love Ciampa's entrance theme and I dig the way his daughter has become part of his act (even if it didn't really make sense here the same way it did against Okada last month). I loved Ciampa removing his pants to reveal trunks that mocked Andrade's "How You Know?" catchphrase. I love that his character is driven to win Championships but is also somewhat of a lunatic. But the line between sanity and insanity got blurred maybe a tad too much in this match when a frustrated Ciampa started performing wrestling moves on Andrade's discarded pants, attempted to pin them, and then had the pants "kick out." It was a comedy spot thrown into an otherwise incredibly hard-hitting and violent match that even included a surprising cameraman bump. I liked that they teased Andrade losing the match because of his pants being stuck around his ankles but wished they would go all the way with it because the gimmick, while fun, is too silly for me at this point. When Andrade was a heartthrob heel in the Don Callis Family, it worked. But now that he's supposedly working towards challenging Will Ospreay for the AEW World Championship, I'd like to see him lean into a more serious character and less towards the stripping Lothario thing. Too weird at times for me to consider it must-see, but the parts that were good were really, really good. (3.5/5)

My Match of the Night followed as The New Level (Kofi and Xavier Woods) teamed with Swerve Strickland to defend the AEW World Trios Championships against "Hangman" Adam Page, Bandido, and Brody King. These two teams had a heck of a match at All Out so I was expecting good things here and was not disappointed. Hangman and Swerve's segments were heated and awesome. I really liked the bit of turmoil/conflict between Brody and Page too as it was a nice red herring. Xavier Woods continues to really shine in AEW, clearly wrestling with purpose and passion. Loved the use of Bandido and how much he was put over throughout the match. I thought this would've gone a touch longer consider it was 2-out-of-3 falls, but the finishes were realistic. This match didn't get silly at any point or dip too far into choreography and cooperation (though Bandido being able to do a double fallaway slam on Kofi and Xavier from the top rope was definitely bordering on that), which is not something that could be said of some of the other matches on the show. Worth checking out. (4/5)

Jon Moxley defended his AEW Continental Championship against Mark Davis in the next contest. It was the best of Mox, it was the worst of Mox. I liked that the match started with some straight-up grappling as Mox tried to set the pace and show off his Death Jitsu stuff. I don't necessarily think it makes for the most exciting start to the match, but I can appreciate the logic of the veteran being in control early and Davis having to wrestle "Mox's match." The match picked up considerably after Mox either bladed on the right side of his head or just straight up stabbed himself with a nail because it was a ghastly wound and he bled buckets. On other shows, this might not have worked as well - it seems like Jericho intended to get color earlier in his match against Wayne but never quite got it - but because this was the only match where we saw blood, it certainly stood out. I liked Davis dominating most of the match, but Mox lost me with the melodrama on the outside as he questioned whether he should continue. Mox has been many things and the commentary - and Renee Paquette in her pre-match comments - played up the emotional toll that PAC's passing had on him, but I thought it was a overdone and schmaltzy and I was shocked to read so many positive reviews of the match and that moment in particular. I also felt like, after Mox's big comeback moment, the match dragged on for far too long. If you're going to tell the story of Mox having to find it within himself to get back in the ring and overcome the monster, I'd have preferred he overwhelmed a now-overconfident Davis with some sudden, unexpected offense based on his cunning and experience. The match just didn't need to go 20+ minutes to tell this story, especially after the previous match went the same duration but contained 3 separate pins. (2.5/5)

Before the main event, Renee Paquette welcomed AEW's newest signing - Ilya Dragunov! I'm very excited to see what he will do it in AEW but fear that he is going to either end up in United Empire or the Don Callis Family because, well, everybody in AEW is seemingly part of some faction or another. It would actually be fresh for Dragunov to come in and not instantly align himself with 4-5 others, similar to Ciampa. 

Main event time - the second ever (the first ever occurred in a British indy that Will Ospreay is associated with a few weeks earlier) Clockwork Carnage match! The rules were sorta simple (despite lots of talking points on various podcasts and in social media about them not being simple): 8 men qualified, 2 would start the match, every 3 minutes another entrant would enter the match until all 8 had entered. If anyone was pinned during this first stage, they would be eliminated. After the 8th entrant, the match would enter a second stage where it became a 15-minute "scramble" with the title going to whoever had scored the most pinfalls or submissions. Personally, I wasn't expecting much out of this match and while I don't think it was objectively terrible, it was definitely the product of an ADHD brain (Ospreay has talked openly about his diagnosis as a kid). As expected, there were some cool moments - Takeshita and Okada continuing their rivalry, Darby Allin going on a tear, the undeniable overness of Adam Copeland and emotion he brought into the match, Ospreay and Ricochet's chemistry, and Samoa Joe being Samoa Joe. I thought the finishing stretch was absolutely fantastic and had me wondering if we might be heading into some form of overtime. Unfortunately, there was also a whole ton of guys selling on the outside of the ring while two or three wrestlers duked it out in the ring, particularly noticeable and frustrating in a match where the only way to win the title is to constantly be in the ring, attempting to get a sneaky pin here or there. While we did get those big flurries of offense and pins early on, the 15-minute time limit was too long to keep that energy for its duration but also too short to allow a longer story to be told with all 7 of the competitors ("Speedball" Mike Bailey was eliminated during the 1st stage, which seems like a bit of an insult). The post-match handshake between Copeland and Ospreay got a huge reaction but the only match I'd like to see them have would be a Title vs. Career bout (and for Copeland to lose). The stipulation has potential but could use some tweaking. (2.5/5)

WrestleDream 2026 was not an all-time great AEW PPV, but it was solid enough that I'd recommend checking out most of it. I considered the main event and Mox/Davis to be the weakest matches of the night, but a cursory look at Cagematch or the reviews on Reddit would indicate I'm in the minority. The six-man tag was very good. The MCMG/FTR opener had me regretting not watching the Tailgate show (or at least the last 15 minutes of it). The Bucks/Fletcher and Knight match was a fireworks show and I enjoyed the heck out of Thekla/Mone just because Thekla can do no wrong right now. Andrade/Ciampa was tonally uneven and Jericho/Wayne was imperfect but placed at the right point on the show where it didn't feel excessively long (though, looking at the runtimes of most of the matches on the card, its hard to argue it couldn't have been a bit tighter). More than anything, though, what worked for me most about this show as an entire "piece" was the way many of the matches fit together thematically. Jericho wrestled the better match but Wayne used heel tactics reminiscent of the ones Jericho once employed to get the W. The Young Bucks were pushed to their limit by a team that was aping the Young Bucks style. Jon Moxley, arguably AEW's most established bruisers, had to dig deep to defeat Mark Davis, a guy just 4 years younger than Mox but with far less exposure. Even Thekla/Mone had elements of Mone being the crafty veteran and Thekla being the unorthodox newcomer. Obviously, despite no real similarities in their work, the Copeland/Ospreay interactions were seemingly building to an eventual (though wholly unnecessary) "passing of the torch" between the two down the line. The twist here was that "The New Class" didn't usurp the top guys as much as they showed how dangerously close they were. Not every match was for every fan, but there was more than enough to get a thumbs up from me.

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote In Hand

TNA Turning Point 2012

TNA Turning Point 2012

Orlando, FL - November 2012

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Jeff Hardy was the TNA World Champion, Samoa Joe was the Television Champion, the World Tag Team Championships were held by Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez, the X-Division Champion was Rob Van Dam, ODB and Eric Young were the Knockouts Tag Team Champions, and Tara was the Knockouts Champion.

Turning Point 2012 began with Samoa Joe defending his TNA Television Championship against Magnus in a rematch from the previous month's show. This was an improvement from their first battle, though the "No DQ" stipulation didn't really add much of anything to it because the match was wrestled fairly straight-up and only Magnus seemed interested in using any sort of weapon. I also liked that this felt like a return to form for Joe, back to wearing the trademark red-and-black and wrestling in front of a crowd that seemed invested and excited to see him. I'm a rather big Samoa Joe fan but I'm also fairly critical of some of his TNA years when he seemed fairly unmotivated and disengaged (and who could blame him?) so this match felt like a step in the right direction. Not bad at all. (2.5/5)

This was followed by ODB and Eric Young taking on Tara and "Jesse" (aka Jessie Godderz, who came into TNA after appearing on the show Big Brother, a franchise he still frequently appears on based on a cursory look at his Wikipedia page). It was a wise move to have Eric Young in the ring here because he carries Jesse through a decent 8-and-a-half minute contest. Young and ODB's partnership isn't my cup of tea, but its over with the TNA crowd. The match doesn't overstay its welcome and they keep the energy up from beginning to end so there isn't much to criticize. Its not an all-time classic or anything, but its fine for what is due to the energy and competency of ODB and Young. (2.5/5)

Rob Van Dam defended the X-Division Championship against Joey Ryan in the next match. RVD was moving and working slower than in his glory years (obviously), but was still over with the crowd. Joey Ryan had some momentum and had a decent gimmick going as a sleazebag. They get even less time than the previous match, which was probably a good thing considering RVD was working like he was really only interested in the paycheck and Ryan is more "sizzle than steak" as an in-ring competitor, a guy that could get heat with his shtick but wasn't super special as a wrestler (at least based on what I've seen). (2/5)

Luke "Doc" Gallows took on Joseph Park (Abyss' alter ego) in the next match. This stunk, but what would one expect with these two? Gallows never been a particularly exciting worker, singles or tag, but somehow built a respectable career based on sheer size. I was genuinely amazed that I enjoyed the Joseph Park/Bully Ray match from a couple months prior (?) so I had at least a tiny bit of hope that maybe they'd do something interesting with their 10 minutes but this was just a boring brawl. Joseph Park "snapping" and essentially revealing that he's just Abyss' "other personality" is eye-rolling cringe. This is the type of drippy, soggy storyline that could work in the proper context - like maybe early 90s WWF where the show is designed to appeal to 7 year olds - but TNA was too varied a show, too "adult-oriented" at times, to allow a concept like this to be enjoyed even tongue-in-cheek. (0/5)

Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez defended the TNA World Tag Team Championships against Christopher Daniels and Kazarian in the next match. I really enjoyed the triangle tag match from the previous PPV but wasn't sure this would be as good (without AJ Styles and Kurt Angle in the mix). While this did not surpass that match, it was a good bout, the kind of match that keeps the action going, sticks to the fundamentals of what makes a tag match work, and makes both the champions and challengers look like they could come out with the victory. Solid. (3/5)

James Storm vs. AJ Styles vs. Bobby Roode was next. This one had an interesting-but-potentially-counterproductive stipulation as the winner would become the number one contender to the TNA World Championship while the loser would have to wait one full year before they could challenge for the title. While I could understand that, at the time, TNA was hoping to make bigger stars out of Roode and Storm, you don't have to look any further than this very match to see who shouldn't have taken the pin...and yet, when all is said and done, its AJ Styles who did the job. To his credit, AJ puts on a subtly genius performance throughout the match, purposefully wrestling with more trepidation and making some noticeable "slips" to sell the idea that he is not at his mental peak coming into this match. Storm and Roode draw upon their deep history, which also helps a somewhat uneven match. This match is loaded with action but, for whatever reason, it didn't wow me and the audience didn't seem enthralled by it either. Meltzer gave this 3.5 stars The Observer, which seems a little extra kind because the effort was there, the execution was there, and the story was good, but all the elements didn't make for a captivating watch. Better than average, sure, but not as good as I was hoping. (3/5)

Devon, now a part of the Aces and 8s took on Kurt Angle in the next match. This was about what I expected, though it's not like Devon was working hard. At the end of the day, he wasn't a very exciting singles worker and Angle, while fine here, is a bit overrated when it comes to delivering on "carry jobs," which was needed here. The commentators play up Devon targeting Angle's neck, far from the most creative angle to take (especially considering Devon isn't really doing all that much different than what he usually does). Angle ends up getting the clean W with the Ankle Lock as the rest of the Aces and 8s watch from the outside. (2/5)

Main event time - Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries in a Ladder Match for Hardy's TNA World Championship. They had an awesome match on the previous show and, with ladders now included, I had high hopes for this and was quite pleased with it. Unlike the first match, which felt like Aries doing his damndest to prove he deserved to be in the main event scene, it was Hardy who had a "career match" here, taking some absolutely nasty bumps on the map and into the "spine" of a ladder. I really liked Aries' cleverness in this match, first when he tried to bury Hardy under a ladder and the steps and, later, when he got a hold of the controls for the hanging belts. I also really, really liked how often Hardy and Aries' ability to capture the titles was thwarted by the ladders themselves being bent. I've probably seen well over a hundred ladder matches over the years so it's rare that one really stands out, but this was awesome (even after a bit of a shaky start when Aries barely hit Hardy with a stomp and Hardy still bumped for it right in front of the camera). (4/5)

Though not as good as Bound for Glory from the previous month, Turning Point 2012 at least features a very, very good main event. Unfortunately, nothing else on the card even comes close and the Joseph Park/Doc Gallows match is a complete drag. Aside from the aforementioned main event, the best thing on this show is AJ Styles performance in a losing effort. Earn a Kwang Score of 2.38-out-of-5, this show is a...

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

TNA Bound for Glory 2012

TNA Bound for Glory 2012

Phoenix, AZ - October 2012

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Austin Aries was the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, the X-Division Champion was Zema Ion, the World Tag Team Championships were held by Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels, Miss Tessmacher was the Knockouts Champion, Samoa Joe was the Television Champion, and Eric Young and ODB were the Knockouts Tag Team Champions.

The previous month's No Surrender 2012 show ended with Jeff Hardy, against all odds (pun not necessarily intended), defeating Bully Ray to become the number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship held by Austin Aries.

This show opens with Rob Van Dam challenging Zema Ion for the TNA X-Division Championship. This wasn't a bad match, though it was clear that RVD was "leading" and that the match wasn't as fast-paced as Ion was probably capable of. Still, compared to some of the other Zema Ion matches I've seen, having him in the ring against an opponent that the fans actually care about meant that this match actually had a fair bit of heat. They only got 8 minutes, which made the finish feel like it came out of nowhere. Average. (2.5/5)

Samoa Joe vs. Magnus was next. Magnus cut a promo before the match, which definitely had me thinking he'd win the TV Title here, but Joe got the submission victory at minute 9. The crowd was very into this, surprisingly so, considering that it was another average-to-good match and not one I'd consider deserving of a "This is Awesome" chant. Then again, we are talking about 2012, a year when the WWE was going through one of its most critically-maligned years. Good, hard-hitting match seemingly designed to re-build Joe as a killer, but, to me, in order to get Joe back on track they needed him to absolutely demolish people in surprising fashion and this was more just a solid back-and-forth that didn't play on their previous partnership at all (even on commentary). Another solid match, but nothing worth seeking out. Kinda like the last match, Joe was over enough with the live crowd to make this work, but I kinda wish he had thrown in more of his signature stuff to put this over the top. (2.5/5)

James Storm took on his former tag partner in Beer Money, Bobby Roode, in a street fight next. The special guest ring enforcer was Bellator champion, King Mo, though he barely did anything in the match. I must admit to having no idea that King Mo would end up being involved in TNA and other wrestling promotions, off and on, for the next 8+ years. Anyway...Storm bled a bucket's worth and there were some wild spots in this match, including the use of thumb tacks and an absolutely insane table spot where it looked like Roode's skull hit the floor rather than the intended table. I'm not surprised Meltzer gave this 3+ stars in The Observer as this match was intense and physical and bloody and basically everything one would want out of a grudge match between these two. Really enjoyed the escalation of violence here too. The best match of the night so far and a quiet contender for one of the top 20 matches in TNA history up to this point. (4/5)

Joey Ryan took on Al Snow in the next match. The story here was that Ryan had been part of TNA's "Gut Check" competition, had been voted out of the competition, but had 87% of the fan support and felt that he'd been unjustly eliminated. Ryan took his frustrations out on Snow and the feud developed from there. It's hard to rate a Joey Ryan match in 2026 because Ryan's reputation took such a tremendous hit during the #MeToo movement when he was outed as a sex pest. He's not Buck Zumhofe-level sicko (few are), but he apparently was "living the gimmick" of being a sleazeball and took advantage of at least a few women. Anyway...he throws a good right hand. More evidence that this Phoenix crowd was "all in" on this show? They chant "You Still Got It" for Al Snow within the first 2 minutes for no apparent reason. The ending comes when Matt Morgan shows up and attacks Snow, which was a genuine shocker to me as it feels like Morgan hadn't been featured for at least a few months (a look at Cagematch reveals he hadn't wrestled a match since June, but I'm not sure if he'd appeared on TV after that). Not bad at all, but not great and kinda cringey to watch because its a Ryan match. (2.5/5)

The TNA World Tag Team Championships were on the line in the next bout as Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) defended the titles against AJ Styles and Kurt Angle and the team of Hernandez and Chavo Guerrero. AJ and Chavo started things off before Kurt got the tag. Daniels tagged himself in but AJ then tagged himself in as well, the break in action allowing Chavo to regroup and hit him with a back suplex before bringing in Hernandez. Hernandez applied a bear hug and turned it into a release suplex. He followed it up with a body slam and then they hit a double-team move. Hernandez hit a splash for 2, but Kazarian came in before they get do anything more. Lots of quick tags in this match as Angle came in soon after and then Chavo and then Hernandez soon after that. The match picked up once Bad Influence took over, hitting some moves behind the ref's back and double-teaming AJ, and then got even crazier during its second half with AJ hitting an awesome dive to the floor, a wicked, imperfect spot involving Hernandez and Kazarian off the apron, and some of the best Kurt Angle suplexes I've seen in a long while. The finish was a bit of a surprise but believable and well-executed. I'm not sure this got to the level of "must see" but I liked this more than the past few Bad Influence/Angles & Styles match I've watched. (3.5/5)

Tara challenged Ms. Tessmacher for the TNA Knockouts Championship next. The story here was that Tara had been Tessmacher's mentor but had turned on her after losing her initial challenge at the previous month's No Surrender show. Tara is better as a dominant heel but this match didn't grab me. Why is Taryn Terrell the guest referee for all of these matches? It cheapens the title and the division to have her in there. Fine for what it was and probably better than what the WWE had going in the Diva division at the time, but my rewatch of all of these TNA shows has corrected my belief in the myth that the Knockouts division was "ahead of its time." (2/5)

After Tara unveils her "Hollywood mega-star boyfriend" to be some dude from some reality show, we get a video from the TNA Hall of Fame ceremony featuring Lex Luger, Hulk Hogan, and Dixie Carter all talking about Sting. 

This leads to the next contest - Bully Ray and Sting taking on two members of the Aces and 8s in a No Disqualification match. Watching the pre-match video, I had no idea that Shaq was involved. It was later revealed that the two masked members of the Aces were Mike Knox and Luke "Doc" Gallows. They brawl on the outside for a minute or so before the crowd starts chanting for tables. Sting hits a splash onto the guardrail to a big pop. The action finally settles and we get a standard tag match, which doesn't make a ton of sense to me as it undercuts the Aces' law-breaking gimmick and because this is No DQ (meaning there is no reason to make tags at all). Sting takes some punishment but manages to lock in the Scorpion Deathlock (only for it to be immediately broken up). Sting hits the Scorpion Death Drop soon after but can't make the cover (but can make the tag to Bully?). Bully comes in and hits a neckbreaker and then a shoulder block off the second rope. The heels double-team and Sting stays in his corner for no reason. Bully gets 2 on a splash but the cover gets broken up again. Sting finally comes in to even things out. One of the Aces brings a chair into the ring but gets booted in the face before he can use it. Bully grabs it but in comes a 3rd member of the Aces and he hits him with a low blow. Joseph Parks, who had been beaten down and handcuffed to the guard rail, uses his immense power to rip the cuffs off the rail! He comes in and takes out the 3rd member of the Aces, fighting him all the way up the ramp. Back in the ring, Ray and Sting are in trouble taking shots in the corner. Bully breaks free and they hit a Doomsday Device to a big pop. Bully hits a splash in the corner and then Sting hits one of his own on the other member of the Aces. Sting tells Bully to get the table, building up for a Dudley Death Drop as the crowd goes wild. Before they can pull it off, Sting gets pulled to the outside and yet another masked man enters the match. Bully gets put through a table and then eats a pin, ending the match on a rather flat note. The heels stomp on Sting in the corner and more members of the gang make their way into the ring. Hogan's music hits and most of the Aces scatter - which makes no sense because they have a clear numbers advantage and Hogan was close to 60 - leaving one member in the ring to get punched out. Hogan and Sting double-team him and pull off his mask revealing that it is Devon! This shocks everyone in the ring to the point that Devon is able to walk out of the ring with the rest of the Aces escorting him through the crowd. The reaction is undeniably huge, which means as much as I can shit on the execution of this match and post-match segment, this was over with the TNA fanbase. (2/5)

Main event time - Austin Aries defending the TNA World Championship against Jeff Hardy. I'm not a huge Aries fan, especially as he's outed himself as something of a jerk/creep/asshole (even before the #MeToo Allegations, though after the Christy Hemme incident, he came off as particularly pompous and arrogant in an out-of-character interview on an episode of Talk Is Jericho), and Jeff Hardy is highly consistent, so I wasn't expecting to be as impressed with this match as I was. Hardy was the clear favorite, but Aries "takes" this match with the incredible bumps he takes, his character work, and his sharp offense. Hardy is no slouch in this, but this is the "A Double" Show and he's clearly working to cement his status as a legitimate main eventer after a rather brief World Championship run. The crowd's enthusiasm for Aries also gave this a different and special atmosphere, though Hardy has his fair share of fans in attendance as well. This is a genuine contender for one of the best TNA matches I've ever seen and I'm not surprised Meltzer gave it 4 stars in The Observer. Fantastic match and a career highlight for both men. (4/5)

With a pretty decent Kwang Score of 2.88-out-of-5 (thanks in large part to an excellent main event and a very strong Roode/Storm match), Bound for Glory 2012 is one of the better TNA PPVs I can remember. Even the "lows" on this match are watchable, which is not always the case for a company that, at the time, was featuring guys like Devon, Abyss, Joey Ryan, and Doc Gallows in major roles. In fact, this show earned the highest score since the last Bound for Glory, which also got a 2.88. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

AEW All Out 2026

AEW All Out 2026

Chicago, IL - September 2026

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, Will Ospreay was the AEW World Champion, Mercedes Mone was the Women's Champion, Adam Copeland and Christian held the AEW World Tag Team Champions, the TBS Champion was Persephone, the TNT Champion was Darby Allin, the Continentnal Champion was Jon Moxley, the National Champion was Andrade El Idolo, The Brawling Birds (Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor) held the Women's Tag Team Championships, Kazuchika Okada was the International Champion, and Swerve Strickland and The New Level (Kofi and Xavier Woods) were the Trios Champions.

The show kicked off with a very good PAC vs. Andrade El Idolo match for Andrade's National Championship. They worked a bit of a start/stop pace in the opening 10 minutes of the match, letting things breathe a bit more than you might see in a typical AEW TV match where the wrestlers are working around commercial breaks and there are greater time constraints. I really liked Marina Shafir's involvement as she has become a great heat magnet. I also thought it was really wise of TK to put this match first as the build-up wasn't particularly memorable and this benefitted from a crowd that was still fresh and very excited for the show. Author's Note: I wrote my review of this match less than 6 hours before I read the tragic news of the passing of PAC. I decided against revising my (admittedly) brief review because I feel like it would be disingenuous to go back and add thoughts and reflection that I did not have "in the moment." I didn't "fix" my rating. The match was good, borderline great. Many PAC matches were. The guy was an incredible wrestler. (3.5/5)

Darby Allin and Steve Borden followed this up by taking on the Don Callis Family's Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight. I try not to skew my ratings towards booking, but its curious to me why Fletcher and Knight have been paired together as a new team when you could run this exact same story with the much more polished pairing of Aussie Open. Anyway...Fletcher continued his streak of very good performances and Darby Allin did the same, taking some absolutely awesome bumps. Darby Allin is a cheat code at this point as he is seemingly incapable of not giving 110% and making a match memorable just with his willingness to take punishment. Unfortunately, this match will be remembered for its non-finish as Steve Borden and Kevin Knight attempted a double coast-to-coast move ala Ricochet and Logan Paul from a few SummerSlams ago. While I'm sure Borden practiced the move, whether it was his nerves, slippery ropes, or just bad luck, he landed hard and seemingly suffered a concussion, ending the match by referee's decision (the W awarded to Fletcher and Knight). I wasn't sure if the injury was legit but 18 or so hours later, I haven't read differently. To be honest, I'm not unhappy with the outcome as I'm not sure Darby and Borden should be challenging for the AEW World Tag Team Championships anytime soon considering how green Borden is. While he throws a good right hand and a decent dropkick, Borden is a work-in-progress while Fletcher and Knight, if they're meant to be a credible, legitimate team, shouldn't necessarily be losing to a comparatively unseasoned pairing. For what this was before the unfortunate accident, this was no less than good simply because of Darby and Fletcher being so reliably excellent over the past few years. (2.5/5)

Persephone, with Britt Baker, came out for her TBS Championship Open Challenge and her opponent was...Dani Luna? I'm guessing that TK was counting on the crowd being "up" after what I presume would've been an Allin/Borden victory, but that was not the case and the Chicago audience - as well as the audience at home - probably expected someone with a bit more of a "name" to be Persephone's opponent. At first, from the entrance graphics, I thought it might be Mina Shirakawa (which also would've been a letdown) and I had heard rumors that it might be a returning Ruby Soho (which may not have yielded a match as good as this one, but probably would've gotten a bigger reaction in the opening minutes), so it being the relative unknown in Dani Luna wasn't exactly the shot-in-the-arm the show needed. Persephone and Luna had good chemistry and delivered a good match, but the lack of crowd interest was noticable and the match's 15-minute runtime felt a bit long. Baker got some good heat on the outside with her interference, but she's got some work to do in terms of freshening her character if this new role is going to work and really make the pairing with Persephone a potential main event act for the division. (2/5)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tommaso Ciampa for Okada's International Championship was next. The crowd was super hyped for this, which is somewhat surprising considering Okada's AEW run has been a bit uneven and Ciampa has never been a "main event" guy outside of his rightfully-adored feud with Johnny Gargano 10ish years ago (?). But, in front of this Chicago crowd, this was a "dream match" and it delivered exactly what it needed to, including a wonderful moment in which Ciampa's daughter gave Okada double birds. Hard-hitting, some excellent false finishes, lots of good counter-wrestling...it was all there. My only slight criticism may have been that the second half outshined the first, but that's not unccommon for an Okada match and I wouldn't consider the first half "bad" or boring. I also really liked the little nasty details they threw in with Okada grabbing Ciampa's beard and, later in the match, Ciampa biting down on Okada's finger. Another very good match, maybe just a bit short of "must watch." (3.5/5)

The Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne and Lena Kross) challenged The Brawlin' Birds (Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter) for the AEW Women's Tag Team Championships in the next match. At All In: London, the Birds won the titles in front of a crowd that was primed for "feel good" moments involving their hometown heroes. I criticized the title change and thought the match wasn't too great, a bit too "back-and-forth" and formless. This match also leaned heavily into the parity of the teams, but added a metric ton of ridiculous bumps and weapon shots, so much so that I wondered how the "CLT match" later in the night could possibly top the violence that was on display here. Megan Bayne once again had a stand-out performance, the kind that makes me hopeful she'll get a sustained push as a singles star in the near future (though, with Persephone and Thekla also doing such good work recently, the division seems a bit overloaded with heels). Highlights included a great table bump on the outside, a barbwire board getting smashed through, thumbtacks being used for the finish, and Megan Bayne looking like the victim in a horror movie with all the crimson she was sporting. Thoroughly entertaining. (3/5)

The next match was the Trios Championship bout - Swerve Strickland, Austin Creed, and Kofi vs. "Hangman" Adam Page, Bandido, and Brody King. Not much to say here aside from this match being darn good. As always, Swerve and Hangman had incredible chemistry. Bandido did some insane strength spots on top of his usual awesome high-flying. Brody King did Brody King things. Austin Creed looked like he was having a blast, working the frenetic and frantic pace that I'm not sure he was ever allowed to do in the WWE where the pace tends to be slower and "video game wrestling" with lots of logic-defying spots and false finishes tend to be reserved for just the main event. The crowd was electric for this. I'm not sure what else these two teams can accomplish against each other because this match set such a high bar, but I wouldn't mind them doing a whole series of matches because this was a great fireworks show and I'd love to see what they might come up with to differentiate this match from future matches (whether that's building the match structure around an injury angle or going the No DQ route or putting it in a cage or whatever). I wasn't as high on this match as the fans over at Cagematch, where this one sits with a strong 9.33 rating, but I thought this was very strong if maybe a tad bit too "ridiculous" with some of the cooperation needed for some of the spots (for a couple examples, when Brody King essentially German Suplexed his own partner, who was also suplexing Kofi and Creed, there was an audible "count" before they hit the spot and, later on, Brody kicking out of a pin when he had all three of his opponents pressing down on him). (3.5/5)

Thekla vs. Willow Nightingale was next in a match to determine the Number One Contender for Mercedes Mone's AEW Women's Championship with the match scheduled for WrestleDream in October. This was the right kind of sloppy early, the kind where not everything is hitting but that lack of flawless execution makes it feel like a genuine fight. Highlights included Thekla hitting a double stomp to the back of Willow and then mocking her entrance, Willow applying a perfect cloverleaf that looked like it was bending Thekla in half and then turning it into a powerbomb (a spot that Excalibur noted was a shout-out to Andy "The Butcher" Williams RIP, Thekla working over both of Willow's hands (including the injured one, which was taped up), and Willow's cannonball to the floor followed soon after by a beautiful crossbody by Thekla that should remind people that you don't need to flip or flop to be a great high-flyer. The Chicago crowd was fairly split but it's obvious that Thekla is a borderline babyface at this point as, no matter how vicious she is, the crowd just loves the character. There were some small moments of telegraphy, but this was beautiful otherwise and they cut an insane pace without underselling any of the big moments. Willow bridged out of Thekla's spear, which led to Thekla doing the Spider pose in another great moment. Julia Hart showed up with Skye Blue right behind her, but Hart inadvertently struck Thekla with the belt for a very close nearfall. Willow couldn't get Thekla up for the Gut Wrench Powerbomb and then ate a stomp to her injured hand and then the back of her neck to end the match. This needed 4-5 minutes to be a show stealer but it was very, very good for what it was (and one has to assume that Willow's legitimate injury likely played a role in this only going 13 minutes. Mercedes Mone showed up afte the match in Chicago Bulls inspired gear (and a ludicrous mask). Terrific match for what it was. (3/5)

The 3-Way "CLT" Match - AEW couldn't promote it as a TLC match due to WWE owning the copyright - between Adam Copeland and Christian Cage, The Young Bucks, and FTR followed. FTR came out wearing custom "ceremonial" belts for some reason, which was odd and kinda confusing. Cope and Cage got a massive response from the Chicago crowd, who, despite the show entering its 4th hour - more if you include the "Tailgate" maches - were still super excited at this point. Anyway...this was loaded with table spots, ladder spots, and chair spots that were "almost like the ones in the 90s if you squint." I'm not advocating a return to unprotected chair shots but I'm not necessarily a fan of guys having to pause and aim for someone's back when it would make so much more sense to clobber them over the head. Fortunately, we know get to see guys getting put through chairs or crotched on the back support part but it is a bit obvious. Maybe they should just replace chairs with gimmicked trash cans? Cash Wheeler may have been the match's MVP because he flew into and through a whole bunch of furniture. Stokely's bump through "two" tables (he completely cleared the first) was another highlight. Really liked seeing Christian and Dax get some color to get over the grittiness of this match. Liked Adam Copeland sending the Bucks into the ladders the way he used to go into them back in the day. Just an overall very good, very entertaining match, but one that I did feel was missing some of the "nostalgia spots" that I went into it expecting and I think would've made it feel more historic and legacy-defining. (3.5/5)

Main event time - Will Ospreay defending the AEW World Championship against Jon Moxley. This was never going to live up to the all-timer that Ospreay and Omega put on at All In, but it was more about the story and the drama than the action. Moxley dominated the first half, punishing Ospreay with piledrivers and his usual violent tactics, targeting Ospreay's neck. He was forcing Ospreay to bring out the "killer" inside and when Ospreay did finally turn things around, the match's intensity peaked. Having the Death Riders interfere and then get taken out by the United Empire didn't have the same Avengers-esque feel as when we saw a similar crescendo of gang warfare at All In: Texas 2025, but that show was built so much more around Hangman's story of redemption/revenge against a dominant heel faction while this was more about Mox, whose now a pseudo-face (?), "passing the torch." I can see why people didn't love the histrionics of Mox essentially welcoming the Hidden Blade towards the end, but I wasn't as put off by it. The ref bumps and false finishes were a little bit more eye-rolling to me. This wasn't as bad as some of the previous Mox main events in 2024/2025, but it wasn't as good as Ospreay's better matches against opponents or the match they had at Dynasty earlier in the year. (3/5)

With a very respectable Kwang Score of 3.05-out-of-5, All Out 2026 didn't reach the heights of the previous month's All In show, but it was consistently good and most of the matches delivered. The unfortunate injury suffered by Steve Borden cut short a match that might've stolen the show while Thekla/Willow was just too short, period. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

TNA No Surrender 2012

TNA No Surrender 2012

September 2012 - Orlando, FL

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this event, Austin Aries was the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Zema Ion was the X-Division Champion, Miss Tessmacher was the Knockouts Champion, Eric Young and ODB were the recognized Knockouts Tag Team Champions, the TNA Tag Team Champions were Bad Influence (Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels), and Devon was the TNA Television Champion.

No Surrender 2012 kicked off with the first of two semi-finals matches from the Bound For Glory Series. I was under the impression that the Series was based on a point system, so I'm not sure why it would also need to go into a tournament final but whatever...Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy was the opening contest with Joe coming in a bit bruised-up after an attack from his former tag team partner, Magnus. Not a terrible match, but Joe had lost much of his aura over the years and Hardy was also in a bit of a lull after failing to win the title against Bobby Roode in the months before this. Maybe if you were a regular TNA viewer there was suspense around this match or a feeling that both guys had momentum coming in? I'll admit to watching these shows in a bit of a vacuum but neither guy seemed to "pop" off the screen with much energy. (2.5/5)

The second of the two semi-finals matches followed as Bully Ray took on James Storm. Bully Ray had plenty of heat with the crowd as the audience chanted "D-Von's Better" early on and cheered for every offensive flurry that came from the Cowboy. I'm not a fan of either guy so I wasn't super into this, but I wouldn't necessarily say it was outright bad or sloppy - just boring and unremarkable. Bobby Roode ends up costing Storm the match by hitting him in the head with a beer bottle after two ref bumps. I would've preferred to see Storm win just because Storm/Hardy feels like a fresher finals, but I understand the decision to go with Bully here so that the tournament final will have a face/heel dynamic. (2/5)

Tara challenged Brooke Tessmacher in a match that went under 7 minutes but was actually pretty darn good for its runtime. Fast-paced, action-packed, and even some innovative, hard-hitting offense out of Tara. I'm not sure Tessmacher had the ability to work a longer match with more shifts in momentum and less is always more when it comes to adding "dialogue" into a match (in this case, Tessmacher screaming at Tara that she's supposed to be her friend while Tara, correctly, shouts back that this is a title match) so keeping it short was probably the right idea. (2.5/5)

The next "match" was an unofficial one and more of a "segment" as TNA World Champion, Austin Aries, called out "The Armbreaker" of the Aces and Eights stable. Watching the video package before the angle, I thought Hogan was out of the company by this point, but he was still around. Anyway...The Armbreaker is a big dude, but Aries manages to get him up for the Brainbuster. As he wasn't presented as the leader of the mysterious stable, I wouldn't say its a "burial," but it certainly isn't the best "debut." When the rest of the Aces and the TNA locker room run out to brawl, Jeff Hardy gets sent into the post shoulder-first and the announcers question whether he'll be able to recover in time for his match against Bully Ray. Not a bad segment.

Zema Ion defended the TNA X-Division Championship against Sonjay Dutt in the next match. Dutt and Ion had been feuding since Ion won the title at the previous show's Ultimate X match. I wasn't watching the weekly TV at the time so I don't know how much they played up Dutt vying for his first ever X-Division Championship but this match may have benefitted from making that story an even bigger part of the build as this match lacked "heat" despite good effort and good performances from both competitors. At various points, the announcers turn their attention to Hulk Hogan calling for the cops to "lockdown" the show in an effort to catch the Aces and Eights after the last segment rather than calling the action (at one point we cut away from the match completely to show what's going on with the Hulkster). Not a bad match, but not a match that it seemed like anyone in the audience really cared about aside from perfunctory pops for the high-flying. (2.5/5)

Rob Van Dam took on Magnus (Nick Aldis) in the next match. This was another solid match that didn't seem to have a ton of heat and seemed to be all about Magnus showing that he could hang with a former TNA (and WWE) World Champion. There weren't any glaring botches or anything, but this just wasn't interesting or creative and felt more like a "TV match" than something deserving of a PPV. (2.5/5)

The TNA Tag Team Championships were on the line next as Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian defended the straps against Kurt Angle and AJ Styles. This was the culmination of the historically reviled Claire Lynch storyline. I'll give some credit to TNA's Creative Team who most likely recognized how awful this whole story was but were smart enough to at least add Kurt Angle to the max so that the matches were guaranteed to work as long as you just completely ignored the actual reason these two sides were fighting. I think I may have enjoyed the match they had on the previous PPV better despite reading that many fans thought this was the superior match. To me, they were both good-not-great. The chemistry is clearly there and the crowd is more into this match than anything since the Aces and Eights segment. Kazarian took an unreal Angle Slam/Overhead Suplex from the top rope at one point. Styles does most of the work for his team, though, as Angle came into this match with a legitimate leg injury. (3/5)

Main event time...or is it? Bully Ray cuts a promo about the Aces & Eights before making his way to the ring for the finals of the Bound for Glory Series. Jeff Hardy's music plays but he doesn't come out as he was injured earlier in the show. Hulk Hogan shows up and tells Bully that Hardy will compete...but the match will have to wait till the next episode of Impact. I'm guessing Hogan's comment was designed to piss of the fans and make them rally behind Hardy even more but it didn't really work because it put the heat on Hogan and not on Bully, who should've been demanding a forfeit. Anyway, the third time's the charm and Hardy comes out, bandaged up. Because he and Bully had probably wrestled a hundred times before this, they have good chemistry and deliver a decent match that goes under 13 minutes but Bully certainly doesn't come out of it looking strong. I'm not sure why they didn't pull the trigger on Bully here as he was at his peak and Hardy being attacked earlier in the show gave him an easy "out" for a clean loss. (2.5/5)

Credit where its due, by this point, TNA's roster was good enough to carry a show into being watchable if unremarkable. There's nothing on this show that stands out as especially offensive or outright bad, but there's also nothing on this show that is worth seeking out or even all that good. Everything, save for the Tag Team Championship match (which still isn't great), is just okay at best. With a right-down-the-middle Kwang Score of 2.5-out-of-5 but not a single great match to outweigh the general tediousness, this falls into the category of...

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

AEW All In: London 2026

AEW All In: London

London, England - September 2026

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, the AEW World Champion was Kenny Omega, the TNT Champion was Kevin Knight, the TBS Champion was Maya World, Brodido and Hangman Page held the Trios Championship, the AEW World Tag Team Champions were Adam Copeland and Christian Cage, the Women's World Tag Team Champions were Divine Dominion (Lena Kross and Megan Bayne), the International Champion was Kyle Fletcher, the National Champion was Andrade El Idolo, the Continental Champion was Jon Moxley, and the Women's World Champion was Willow Nightingale. 

The show kicked off with the Trios Gauntlet Match for Bandido, "Hangman" Adam Page, and Brody King's Trios Championships. The match started during the pre-show "Buy In," which itself was a loaded 2-hour card. This felt a bit perfunctory as most fans (rightfully) expected the AEW debut of Kofi and Austin Creed, who were the not-so-secret 7th entrants in the match alongside Swerve Strickland. The Dogs were made to look strong. Brody King got eliminated relatively early by pretty much everyone else in the match teaming up to dump him over the top. Hangman's elimination didn't look too good and it seems to me, based on this match and some of his recent TV performances, that he's working through some ring rust. Kofi got to have a cool near-elimination spot, which was a bit "babyface-ish" for a team debuting with Swerve, who has been presented as a heel for several months now. I don't rate matches on their booking necessarily, but it was smart to have Swerve and The New Level take the W here as debuting them in a high-profile loss would've really defeated the purpose of bringing them in. Still, the chemistry Kofi and Creed had with Big E is hard to recreate and Swerve doesn't have a goofy bone in his body. As a match, this was fine but it was really all about the debut (which occurred during the first minute of the actual show and not on the Buy In). (3/5)

The Brawling Birds - Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor - challenged The Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne and Lena Kross) for the AEW Women's Tag Team Championships in the next match. On the plus side, Tony Khan gave them plenty of time to deliver a good match worthy of the months-long feud between the two teams. On the negative side, the 12-minutes of back-and-forth action, while certainly physical, lacked an engaging story and felt like a lot of "your turn/our turn" wrestling with the usual lack of consistent refereeing. I know I just wrote that I don't rate matches on the booking, but I was also not a fan of taking the titles of Bayne and Kross just for the sake of giving Hayter and Kross a "feel good" hometown win on a show that had already seen two title changes up to this point (Maya World dropped her TBS Championship to Persephone on the Buy In) and to a team that hadn't exactly been setting the world on fire with their work. (2/5)

The Finals of the Continental Challenge Cup was next - Jon Moxley vs. Nigel McGuinness with Moxley's Continental Championship on the line. As one would expect, the crowd was very pro-Nigel, but not necessarily anti-Mox. Lots of "graps" as the kids say with Mox and Nigel both pulling out lots of painful submissions and counters and Nigel selling an injured ankle throughout the contest. I'm not a huge fan of Mox's more technical-based/BJJ-style matches and that's what this was. I'm not sure if this will be Nigel's last bout - it seemed like it could've been, but its not like he left his boots in the ring - but I'm not sure this match has me all that interested in another run from him (or at least this version of him). Another solid match, but, had this match not happened in front of a crowd that was as invested as they were, I don't think it would've stood out as particularly special. (2.5/5)

Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita challenged Kyle Fletcher for his International Championship in the next match. This was a bit of a surprise and not necessarily in a good way. Okada controlled much of the early going and, because of that, the match started at a pace that seemed "lesser" than what Takeshita and Fletcher are capable of. They also only got 13 minutes, which made the ending seem fairly abrupt, like the match was missing its big final stretch. During the match, Excalibur hyped a new AEW special known as "The Last Match," which made me think it could have to do with Okada's eventual retirement (though, 38 seems a bit young these days to call it quits) but further research does not seem to point to that being the case. This was a "funner" match than fans may have expected with more storytelling and character work than elaborate, never-before-seen sequences. (3/5)

The mutlti-man Casino Gauntlet Match to determine the number one contender for the AEW World Championship was next. The match began with Andrade and MJF, who were both the heavy favorites. The rules of the match seemed a little loose this time around - though maybe I'm misremembering other editions - as wrestlers could either come out when their number came up in a random interval or simply join the match anytime they wanted (which happened early on with Nick Wayne). There were some good moments sprinkled throughout - Kommander's rope-running is always terrific but was extra good here (maybe because he was trying to erase the fact that the announcer called him "Mistico"), I loved Mark Davis going on a piledriver spree, Mike Bailey got to shine a bit, and Jack Perry got a bigger response here than I've heard him receive on most recent Dynamites. Still, a lack of genuine surprise entrants kept this from being as memorable as past editions. (3/5)

The AEW World Tag Team Championships were on the line next as Adam Copeland and Christian defended their titles against The Young Bucks. I was really, really hoping that they would've busted out the tables, ladders, and chairs for this as I've always found Copeland to be at his best when he has access to furniture to destroy or leap off of. As much of a Christian fan as I am, it's not like he's at his physical peak either. So while this wasn't as great a match as these teams would have had 10 years ago (let alone 25 years ago), but it was fun for what it was and the Bucks worked a bit against type by doing "less" and making it mean more. The Bucks didn't do anything too cutesy, which one would think would be a positive, but because they worked a bit of a slower contest without the usual number of elaborate, never-before-seen sequences that they built their name on, the match never really "wowed" me. (2.5/5)

Darby Allin challenged Kevin Knight in a Falls Count Anywhere match for the TBS Championship in the next match. Finally, some weapons! For a company that was once known for going a bit overboard with their hardcore matches and bloody violence, this show had been pretty tame up until this match, helping this match - with its use of boards, ladders, and eventually the scaffolding on the entrance stage - really stand out. It also helped that we got a surprise appearance by Allin's retired mentor Sting after Sting's son, Steve Borden Jr., and an insane chair spot when Brian Cage back-flipped Allin onto a row of chairs (which he landed on balls-first). Because the Allin/Knight feud has been so personal, Allin winning his 3rd TBS Championship didn't really add much, but then again, Allin spending the next several months defending the title with frequent TV matches should make for some very good TV. (3.5/5)

From here we got Mercedes Mone vs. Willow Nightingale for the AEW Women's World Championship. Mercedes got her nose either broken or just busted open early on and it set the tone for the rest of the match and really helped this one stand out. Really smart work from Mone as she went after Willow's legitimately (?) injured hand, which was wrapped up in medical tape. Willow's offense looked tremendous at points, full of fire. This was the best match of the night up till this point, heated and passionate and very deserving of its placement on the card. Loved this match from beginning to end and while I'm not necessarily sure I'd call it the best match Mone has had in AEW, it was probably Willow's career match up to this point and an instant Women's Match of the Year candidate. Terrific match. (4/5)

Main event time - Will Ospreay vs Kenny Omega for Omega's AEW World Championship. Like the previous match but even better, this was an absolute masterpiece and, when you include the pre-match entrances, the best-produced match in AEW's history, surpassing last year's All In: Texas main event and Sting's retirement match. Loved Omega working as a heel. Loved the fact that, while this match certainly delivered the expected "fireworks" of an Ospreay or Omega match - intricate, crazy athletics, multiple super-finishers and finisher "thefts" and dramatic kickouts (at 1!), even some furniture wreckage and blood - it was all paced so well and there was so much quality character work and execution that it did not feel like anything was rushed to get to the next spot. Some recent AEW "spotfest" matches have been rightfully criticized for featuring moments where guys - most famously the Bucks and Moxley - essentially run around the ring or no-sell a move just to position themselves for the next big move, but Ospreay and Omega did not let the strings show here and really sold the gravity and impact of all the offense they delivered. It was just an absolute masterpiece of a match. (5/5)

All In: Wembley 2026 was a different type show for AEW. I was a bit underwhelmed by the first 2/3rds of the night, expecting a bit more of the blood and violence and state-of-the-art action that AEW is so well known for. I don't think anyone has ever used the word "restraint" in describing an AEW PPV, but Tony Khan seemed to have that word in mind with the way this show was produced. The opener was built around the debut of The New Level and they let that moment anchor it (even if it did mean the preceding 20 minutes during the Buy In were sorta pointless). McGuiness and Moxley built their match about intense grappling rather than the delivering the kind of bloody brawl they may have 20 years ago. Okada, Fletcher, and Takeshita going under 15 minutes was a legit shocker, and seemed like another intentional decision not to tire out the crowd. It wasn't until the final 3 matches that we got "swing for the fences" performances and, unsurprisingly, they came from Darby Allin, Mercedes Mone, and Will Ospreay. These three, in 2026, do not know how to not try to steal the show and all three of their matches were well above-average (with the main event being especially terrific). Earning a strong score of 3.17-out-of-5 despite a somewhat shaky start, All In: London wasn't quite as strong overall as Double or Nothing a few months back, but it was another winner from AEW.

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

WWE SummerSlam 2026

WWE SummerSlam 2026

Minneapolis, MN - August 2026

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the World Heavyweight Champion was Roman Reigns, the Undisputed WWE Champion (yes, that's what they're calling the title now) was CM Punk, the Intercontinental Champion was Penta, the United States Champion was Trick Williams, the Women's World Champion was Liv Morgan, the WWE Women's Champion was Rhea Ripley (though she was out due to injury), the World Tag Team Champions were Austin Theory and Bron Breakker (aka The Vision), the WWE Tag Team Champions were Damien Priest and R-Truth, the Women's Tag Team Champions were Fatal Influence, Raquel Rodriguez was the Women's Intercontinental Champion, and Tiffany Stratton was the Women's United States Champion....and people say AEW has too many titles.

After taking a lengthy break from watching much of any WWE, I found myself nursing a sore lower back with little else to watch...

"SummerSlam Saturday" kicked off with IYO SKY challenging Liv Morgan for the Women's World Championship. IYO controlled early, but landed hard on the barricade when she attempted to use it as a launchpad. IYO once again showed why she's in the conversation for being among the top 10 workers on the planet, male or fame, in any major promotion. Not everything was super smooth, but credit to Morgan for taking a powerbomb on the floor. At one point, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez showed up and Raquel chokeslammed IYO off the top rope when the ref was distracted in a great spot. IYO took them out with a moonsault from the top but Morgan caught her with a nifty headscissors as she returned into the ring, driving her head into the mat (whether or not it was by design or not, it looked gnarly). IYO met her up top, though, and brought her down with a Spanish Fly for 2. IYO got another nearfall a few minutes later off an Ob-Liv-ian (Liv's own finish) and then went back to the top for her signature moonsault. Liv rolled away and hit a Codebreaker from the second rope for a 2 count of her own. IYO delivered a German Suplex on the apron and then an awesome Meteora into the post! Holy cow. That was great. Sky went for a moonsault but Liv got her boots up and hit her with an Ob-Liv-ian and then a 2nd one when Sky bounced up from it (after an additional Codebreaker that sent her into the ropes). That was probably the best match of Morgan's career, even if there were some noticeable moments of timing/re-positioning that felt a little bit inorganic and telegraphed the next spot. Overall, though, one they should both have been proud of. (3.5/5)

After an ad for the upcoming Street Fighter movie, I sat through a lengthy commercial break where a simple screen with the Summer Slam logo played on the screen (soundtracked by some calming music) for multiple minutes...

Mark Henry, Jimmy Hart, and an unrecognizable Dan Severn were shown in the audience before The Usos and Jacob Fatu made their way to the ring for their match against Solo Sikoa, Royce Keys, and LA Knight (who got the biggest response of anyone in the match by a noticeable degree). The bell finally rung as the show hit the 38-minute mark. Solo got a "Yeet" moment early on, which got a big reaction despite its corniness. For a 12-minute match this wasn't too bad, but it wasn't anything special either. What hurt this for me most was how obvious and blatant the WWE "method" of tag matches was on display with Sikoa basically disappearing for the entire second half and various other guys not even being on the apron for extended stretches so that, if you turned it on mid-match, you'd think it was a singles match. Its something that you can't "unsee" once you see it. Compared to the Trios match I watched yesterday from Dynamite (Brodido and Mike Bailey vs. the Don Callis Family), this was not nearly as good. (2/5)

GUNTHER vs. Nick Aldis was the next match. Aldis got to enter the ring to Oasis' "What's the Story, Morning Glory?," which made for a cool moment. Cole and Barrett talked up Aldis' background, mentioning his NWA Championship run (and that Barrett had his first match ever against him). GUNTHER controlled most of the match, chopping Aldis back down after every hope spot. Aldis has never been a particularly exciting performer, but the crowd was into this, chanting "You've Still Got It" after a superplex. Aldis got a 2-count after a powerslam, hit a nice-looking pair of elbows from the top, applied the Texas Cloverleaf but GUNTHER reached the ropes, breaking the hold. He went for another powerslam but GUNTHER escaped and ended up hitting him with a powerbomb before applying the full body sleeper. Aldis got to his feet but GUNTHER brought him back down to the mat and was forced to tap. Not a bad match at all and definitely helped by a crowd that really got behind Aldis. (3/5)

The next but saw Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, and Paige take on the trio of Fatal Influence - Jacy Jayne, Lainey Reid, and Fallon Henley. Jayne hit a cannonball on Brie on the outside that looked good but I'm not sure why the decision was made to have Brie play the face-in-peril for so long considering she was coming off an injury and was generally the weaker of the two Bellas in terms of in-ring performance. The crowd was not as into this as the previous few matches, but that could be expected. I liked the finish, which saw Paige shove Nikki out of the way to prevent her from taking Jayne's spinning forearm but ended up eating one herself moments later to end the match. The Bellas "turned" on Paige after the match, which got a huge reaction from the crowd. This was too short to be offensive, even if it wasn't a great match, and the post-match segment was really well done. (2.5/5)

Cody Rhodes challenged CM Punk for the WWE Championship in the next match. I liked the Street Fighter pre-match stuff, but thought Rhodes' giant silver skull mask was silly. Punk came out wearing gear that was an homage to the old Minnesota North Stars, which I doubt most in the audience understood as the team hasn't existed for over 30 years. Lots of chop-trading throughout the contest. This was definitely more of a "human game of chess" than an all-out bomb-throwing contest or "video game" match with Punk and Cody targeting specific body parts and working them over. Highlights included Punk's not-so-pretty-but-ultra-realistic counter to Cody's Disaster Kick, a very good Super Cody Cutter late in the match, an awesome (but missed) elbow drop from the ring through the announce table by Punk, Rhodes countering a GTS attempt into a figure four, even Punk's Terry Funk-esque moonsault (which, by not connecting, made it look even more desperate). I didn't love Rhodes' spinning Alabama Slam attempt (it just looks too goofy), Punk kicking out of a Cross Rhodes (I like my finishers protected), but these were minor elements in a match that felt "old school" in the best way because of its emphasis on selling and spreading out the bigger sequences. The surprise return of Orton in the final minute led to the finish with Punk retaining after Rhodes (who'd already taken an RKO) took a second (or third?) GTS. A solid match, though maybe a hair short of "must watch" despite being one of the better Cody matches I've seen in recent years. (3.5/5)

Night One ended with Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar in a Hell in a Cell "rubber" match. I have not seen the other Femi/Lesnar matches (and very few Oba Femi matches at all) so I went into this with some excitement (even if I didn't think the outcome was ever in question). This was a solid clash of two super-heavyweights, both men showing off their strength at various points. I wasn't expecting them to go "deep" in terms of runtime and give them credit for making their 12-minute match feel like it was a bigger, more epic battle than it would seem. There wasn't any blood and there was very minimal use of the cage, making the stipulation pretty meaningless, but Lesnar did use the steps and some chairs to punish Femi. The cameraman missed Lesnar's first "tribute" to The Undertaker, when he and Femi were sitting, facing eachother, and Lesnar laughed in his face ala the classic Taker/Lesnar meme from their 2nd Hell in a Cell match. The 2nd tribute went much better as Lesnar tried to put Femi down with a Tombstone on the exposed wooden planks of the ring. Femi kicked out and, within a minute, hit Lesnar with his powerbomb finish for the second time to get the clean W. After the match, Lesnar passed the torch by raising Femi's arm. Nothing super special, but a solid match. (3/5)

Night 2 began with Sami Zayn vs. Finn Balor....vs. GUNTHER vs. Kevin Owens (?!?!) in a Number One Contender's match. Nick Aldis' surprise appearance and announcement, especially Kevin Owens making his return after a 17-month absence, got a massive response from the live crowd. Zayn's reaction was priceless as well. Owens took out Balor and GUNTHER to start things off before going face-to-face with his one-time best friend, who he hugged and then slugged. Owens hit a huge swanton cannoball to the floor, showing no hesitation or fear, but got locked in a GUNTHER sleeper when he attempted a Stunner. GUNTHER make the centerpiece of the match it this point, him and Balor delivering some quality minutes before Owens came back in, clearly the fan favorite. Sami tried to steal the win with a sneaky pin on Balor but only got 2 and a "Sami Sucks" chant broke out. Owens attempted to crush him with a swanton, but Zayn got his knees up. He tried to follow it up with a Helluva Kick but GUNTHER caught him with a sleeper and brought him to the mat. Coup De Gras by Balor on both men! 1...2....barely a kickout by Zayn! Good sequence there. GUNTHER tried a sleeper on Balor but Balor rolled out and Owens came in to take over. He stunned GUNTHER but Sami caught him with a Blue Thunder Bomb for 2! Zayn played to the crowd and went for another Helluva Kick but Owens caught him with a Superkick and a Stunner to end it. Really good match with a somewhat flat ending due to GUNTHER and Balor disappearing a little bit after breaking up so many similar pin attempts. At under 10 minutes, this match needed a few more minutes to "cook," but the emotion that came with this being Owens' return pushed it close to "must see" territory. (3.5/5)

Trick Williams (with his hype man, rapper Lil' Yachty) defended his United States Championship against the returning Baron Corbin in the next match. This was not my thing. I've not seen many Trick Williams match but had heard good things. He was okay, but nothing remarkable. The commentators hyped up Baron Corbin as having gone on something of a "journey" in his time out of the WWE, noting that he had become a top ranked Jiu-Jitsu competitor, winning tournaments in his time away from the company. Unfortunately, watching him, I didn't see any of that technique integrated into his in-ring character. This felt like the same old Corbin minus any of the big, dumb comedic elements he used to sprinkle in to make him at least somewhat unique. I disliked Williams setting up a table in the early going too, a blatant MacGuffin set-up that killed every nearfall that subsequently happened as the audience knew the match wouldn't end till someone went through the plywood. Speaking of the audience, their reaction to Corbin's post-match pose with the title was comically quiet. Also, the table bump looked weak. They tried hard and they didn't embarrass themselves, but there was almost nothing good to say about this match. (1.5/5)

The 5-Woman Ladder Match for the Interim Women's Championship was next, with Charlotte Flair, Chelsea Green, Lash Legend, Jade Cargill, and Tiffany Stratton all competing. This was fun - most ladder matches are - but very sloppy at times with all sorts of awkward bumps and moments of obvious re-positioning and cooperation to get to the next spot. In a sense, its a good thing that the wrestlers are more careful in these high-risk environments and nobody is taking the kind of super-dangerous bumps we might see in a similar match produced by AEW or in the indie scene, but I'd be lying to say if it didn't take me out of things a bit to see "the strings." Lash Legend had some impressive strength spots, Tiffany Stratton took an insane bump off a ladder to the outside (where she was thankfully caught), and Chelsea Green was mega over with the crowd. The worst spot of the match saw Charlotte hanging from the title, dangling in mid-air, and barely caught byCargill and Legend when they yanked her down (it looked like she might've shattered both of her ankles on the fall but was thankfully fine). Just not the right spot for Charlotte when you have Stratton, a college-level gymnast, in the same match (personally I would've advised against the spot entirely unless you had someone like Liv Morgan, a one-time competitive cheerleader, doing that sort of fall). I did like the arrival of B-Fab and Michin to play spoiler as I did not expect their interference (to be fair, I don't watch enough SmackDown to be familiar with how often they run in during Jade's matches). Overall, solid but more memorable for its winner than for the match itself. (2.5/5)

A "Human Monies on a Pole" match followed with Dominik Mysterio taking on Danhausen. Danhausen is not known for his in-ring work, but he wasn't the worst wrestler I've ever seen. Some of his bumps looked awkward and he looked absolutely gassed after the third minute, but he got to catch his breath once JD McDonaugh and the "Minihausens" got involved. Speaking of the "Minihausens," Cole noted that one of them was El Torito, the former mascot for the mostly-forgotten Los Matadores team. Smart move by WWE to include him in this match as his brief spotlight minutes were fun. Joe Hendry eventually made his way to the ring, knocking out JD with a guitar and then cheering on Danhausen at ringside. Mysterio made his way towards the cash but Danhausen met him on the top rope. Mysterio had his hands on the bag but Danhausen pointed to him and a weak "explosion" from the post caused Mysterio to drop to the mat in a very goofy finish. This match has a putrid score of just 1.54 on Cagematch (unlike mine, their scale is out of 10). I don't think it was that bad; it only went 7 minutes, Masacrita Dorada did some cool stuff, and there was enough run-ins and ga-ga to save both Danhausen and Mysterio from having to work an actual match. Was it good? But it didn't overstay its welcome and it wasn't boring. (1/5)

Chad Gable challenged Penta for the Intercontinental Championship in the next match. This was probably the best-wrestled match on either night as they cut a really good pace and they had good chemistry. Gable was the hometown hero and it was nice to see him land the big W, but I do not like the corny, big wave claps that he does. Seems like a less organic, much less cool attempt to get something over like the Yes Chants or Jey Uso's "yeeting." This was an impressive match and hopefully not a sign that the WWE is going to halt Penta's push because he was still very over with this crowd despite being in a defunct "heel" role. (3.5/5)

Main event time for Night 2 - Roman Reigns defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins. The time between the first sounds of Reigns' entrance theme and the first physical contact between Seth Rollins was a solid 9 minutes, which was the general pace of the early going. This wasn't much of a surprise if you've seen any Roman Reigns matches in the past 5 years. Rollins did some jabbering in opening minutes, gloating a bit about his win/loss record over Roman (which was parroted on commentary). To his credit, Cole said Rollins had beaten Reigns in every "major" match, which is true (if you include Raw matches, Reigns is actually 3-and-5 against Seth). Still, the idea that Reigns was somehow coming into this match as the one who had to finally overcome an opponent that he'd never properly defeated after 10+ years was a bit ridiculous considering how dominant Reigns has been for the past 5 years. Anyway...Rollins controlled early, hitting a series of dives that sent Roman into the barricade and then the Spanish Announce Table. Reigns cut him off from a fourth (?) attempt with an uppercut and then a Driveby dropkick. Roman brought Rollins into the crowd for some brawling (but mostly just walking and selling). Reigns delivered a suplex onto the floor that looked great. Rollins recovered quickly and delivered a leaping knee back at ringside. Rollins went for a Spear on the outside, got caught in a front-choke, and then powerbombed through the Spanish Announce Table! Very good spot there. Once again, Rollins recovered relatively quickly and returned fire with a powerbomb of his own, sending Reigns through the English Announce Table. I get the parity they were going for, but kinda wish they had spread those spots out so it wasn't so obvious (and didn't rely on Rollins bouncing back from being put through a table in less than a minute). Back in the ring, Rollins went for a Pedigree but only got 2.9. Rollins went for a Stomp but ran into a Superman Punch for another very good nearfall (not necessarily in terms of believable finishes as much as great timing on Rollins' kickout). Roman went for a Spear, but Rollins countered it into a Curb Stomp for yet another nearfall. Again, I like the parity going on with each guy dodging/kicking out of one of the other's signature strikes, but would've liked some space between them to make it a bit less of an obvious tit-for-tat/"your turn my turn" deal. Rollins hit a Superplex but couldn't get the Falcon Arrow as Roman locked in a standing Guillotine Choke. I dug it mostly because I hate the Superplex-into-a-Falcon Arrow spot. Rollins did a good job selling the choke but would not tap, powering up to his feet and bringing him all the way up (and over) in a suplex-like position. Roman hit a spear but only got 2.5! Great false finish there. Roman talked shit as he hit Rollins with a series of punches on the mat. He went for another Spear, but Rollins countered with one of his own for 2. Rollins did more jabbering as he set up for Roman for a Buckle Bomb. He went for a Stomp but Reigns evaded it and hit a Buckle Bomb of his own and then a Stomp of his own. More jawing followed, leading to a strike exchange. Rollins accidentally took out the referee but then hit a Rebound Lariat! Roman countered with a Dirty Deeds DDT! Holy Dean Ambrose! Roman went for a Spear but took out the referee! Stomp by Rollins! I figured we'd get a visual pin there but Rollins ended up in the corner and saw that it would be futile. Rollins eyed the timekeeper's area, stepping over the referee on the outside to get there. He grabbed a steel chair, a symbolic reference to WrestleMania 31. He looked like he might clobber Reigns with it but his hesitation cost him as Roman nailed him with an uppercut and the chair left his hands. Roman now had a chance to use the weapon, lifting it up and contemplating hitting Rollins in the back with it, but decided to toss it aside. They went face-to-face in the center of the ring again and traded blows, both showing considerable fatigue. Rollins slapped Roman's face, begging him to fight his hardest, and then delivered some Kawada kicks. Roman struck back and hit a Superman Punch but Rollins stayed on his feet. Roman went for a Spear but Rollins countered it into a Pedigree! A Curb Stomp followed soon after! Rollins went for a Super Stomp from the top but Roman evaded it and hit a Spear! Then another! Still no referee! Roman regrouped in the corner and hit a third spear! This time the referee was there to make the count. This was very good, though not "one of the greatest main events in SummerSlam history" like Cole said. (4/5)

All in all, SummerSlam 2026 was not the type of show that will get me back into the swing of watching every WWE PLE like I did for so many years. While I've criticized AEW for its marathon PPV experiences (despite enjoying most of the matches), the actual amount of wrestling compared to advertisements and, because I was watching on delay (?), "bumper" screens where there was absolutely no content at all aside from a SummerSlam logo and a message saying the show would resume shortly, was embarrassingly low. Across two nights, there really should be more than a whopping 3 hours of in-ring action with only the two World Championship matches going over 15 minutes. That being said, when we did finally get some actual wrestling, it was largely good and even great. The IYO SKY/Liv Morgan match overdelivered. Kevin Owens' surprise appearance provided a huge spark to Night 2's opener. Penta/Gable was strong. I liked both World Championship matches and the Hell In A Cell match was physical enough to work even if it wouldn't rank as an all-time great cage match. With a Kwang Score of 2.79-out-of-5, though, this didn't offer enough consistent quality to make it a should-watch, especially if you've tired of the Roman Reigns' formula.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver