wrestling / Columns
411’s AEW All Out 2026 Preview
Image Credit: AEW
Well, hello, fellow SICKOS, and welcome back to my expected and (somewhat) anticipated preview for All-Out coming to us this SATURDAY! Yes, you heard that right, we are back to the Saturday Night PPV events with the NFL Season in full swing! Emanating from a SOLD OUT NOW Arena in the Hoffman Estates district of Chicago, Illinois, All-Out is the September seminal event that will lead the company into the start of the final quarter of the year.
Seven of the company’s titles will be on the line from the World Heavyweight Title to both sets of tag team titles in various degrees of stipulations, as well the International, National, TBS, and Trio’s titles being defended. But that’s not all, because we will have matches on the Brawl Out for All-Out, headlined by an eight-man tornado rules match between two teams who have serious distain for one another.
For more on this and everything else, let’s roll the Headlines for All-Out!
All of this and, of course, so much more in store for us! So, walk with me and talk with me as we explore the entire card for All-Out!
Since returning from a lengthy absence, Jack Perry has rediscovered his Jungle Life and has reconnected with his dinosaur, Luchasaurus, to get back on the face side. Things were looking good for the reunited Jurassic Express, that was until the Dinosaur injured his shoulder. This left Perry to explore Jungle Life on his own, and in doing so, he wanted to assess himself against the best-of-the-best in AEW.
After a series of close losses to said upper echelon within the confines of AEW, Perry decided that the next big challenge for him would be to callout Samoa Joe for a match. Obviously over his head and with foolish pride, Perry was rebuked by HOOK and the rest of the Opps but instead was given a chance to prove himself against The Wrestler Katsuyori Shibata.
The obvious result here is for Perry to win the match, whether by hook or crook since his goal is to face Joe when he’s back from doing his work with Twisted Metal. A win over Shibata would be a great start, but I’m envisioning a scenario where Perry might have to go through HOOK, Anthony Bowens, and Action Andretti as well to get to Joe. That would be the easy part, but beating Joe won’t be so easy.
WINNER: “Jungle” Jack Perry
Factions going at it with one another in AEW is nothing new or groundbreaking, but the constantly evolving facets of this one manage to keep things interesting, at least. The return of Switchblade Jay White has given the BBG their big star back, while the Dogs and the Death Riders have this on-and-off-again dance with each other. And, depending on what day of the week it is, they could be best friends or at each other’s throats.
When it’s come to head-to-head results between said groups, the BBG usually comes up at the short end of things, whether they flat-out lose or if they get attacked post-victory. Obviously with the likes of PAC and Jon Moxley being tied up on the main card with title matches, it is up to the Rider’s C-Team and the Dogs to get the job done this time.
And this is where the BBG must come through. Often, The Gunns, Juice, and Ace have lost to the big names in the Riders. But with them facing both Daniel Garcia (sorry, that’s National Title match losing Daniel Garcia) and Wheeler Yuta along with Clark Connors and David Finlay, they must win this match. And the chaotic style of the match should favor Coach Robinson and his team especially when, again, they won’t have to worry about dealing with PAC and Moxley.
WINNERS: The Bang Bang Gang
With Darby Allin being the mentor and teacher for Sting’s son Steven Borden, it feels like the Circle of Life (or in this case, Triangle of Life) is complete. Borden has had some dark matches and bouts in Ring of Honor, but now he is in front of a national viewing audience on Wednesday Night. And, not for nothing, but he has shown a good amount of potential and has mastered the art of the dropkick that would sit alongside the ones thrown by Okada and Maven.
On the other side of the ring, we have what would appear to be an odd wrestling couple in Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight of the Don Callis Family. Both men were coming off losing their respective singles titles and initially resisted Callis putting them together as a tag team. But, as the wise sage would say, they have done is win, win, win since they became a team. And, again, while the stylistic differences are plenty, the pedigree of both Knight and Fletcher on their own is one of proven winners.
This match going onto the main card for All-Out would be an easy sale as it were, but the winners of this match will be the next in line to face the World Tag Team Champions. And if that wasn’t enough, this will be the biggest moment yet in the young career of Borden, being featured in his first PPV match in front of an even BIGGER crowd than he sees on Wednesday.
I feel like, given the interactions between Darby, Steven, and the current Tag Team Champions Christian Cage and Adam Copeland, that a win for the teacher and the student is coming. Of course, as discussed later in this preview, Cage and Copeland COULD lose their match and this could be thrown into flux. But, despite the result of the title match itself, I feel like Allin and Borden take this match here. Unfortunately for them, they will lose the title match itself, but one step at a time!
WINNERS: Darby Allin and Steven Borden
Sometimes, you must make the most out of a bad situation, hence the reason that we are getting this match, and NONE of us will EVER complain about it! When it was announced that new AEW Women’s World Champion Mercedes Mone wouldn’t be cleared to wrestle in Chicago, the company instead pivoted to a match that will determine Mone’s next contender for the title. It just so happens that this match features two former Champions that, in some way, are interlocked with Mone.
Let’s flip the calendar back two months to the newest AEW PPV show, Redemption, where Thekla walked in as the Women’s World Champion. Nightingale, coming back from an injury that forced her to not only drop her TBS Title but took her out of the Women’s Owen Hart Tourney, returned in early July, and won a Casino Gauntlet match for a World Title shot. To complete the circle and make everything worthwhile, Willow went on to Montreal at Redemption and defeated Thekla for the title.
Fast forward a month later to All-In London, and Mone, after being felled by Nightingale in the past, finally overcame Willow to claim the one title she didn’t have during her 13-title run over a year ago. Now, after dealing with another injury, Willow is back on the hunt to get her title back. But before she can do that, she will have to defeat the same woman she did at Redemption to win the title in the first place.
After losing her title at Redemption to Nightingale, Thekla went missing from AEW for a couple of weeks, but she was visiting STARDOM with the Sisters of Sin to win gold over in Japan. Now that everyone’s favorite Toxic (and drunk) Spider is back, she too will look to win her World Title back. And while I WOULD like Thekla and her chances to win here, facing Mone wouldn’t work as well as it would for Mercedes and Willow to write the latest chapter in their on-going rivalry. After all, the series IS tied at two aside, and that MUST be fixed.
WINNER: Willow Nightingale
Open challenges are quite a finicky event. Sometimes, the person (or people) who answer the open challenge are to the delight of the fans and genuinely feels like a surprise. On the other hand, sometimes the person (or people) who answer the open challenge feel like an underwhelming reveal. It remains open-ended as to how this open challenge will go.
Persephone, already the holder of the CMLL Women’s World Title, defeated Maya World to win the TBS Title with the help of Dr. Britt Baker, DMD, back after a LONG hiatus from the company. In theory, this dynamic shouldn’t sound like it would work, but perception is reality, and the reality is that they work very well together. It has also helped to bring the Good Doctor back as a heel to help further Persephone and her heel mannerisms.
Persephone is one of those talents that is already good at such a young age and hasn’t even tapped into her prime and true potential yet, which is quite scary. I’m not sure if there is more to this pairing than what we see on-screen, but I could see Baker helping out “Persy” behind the scenes as well and giving her advice, although I’m not sure what there is that she could share with “Persy” that she hasn’t already done yet.
As for who answers the open challenge, a lot of fans (including yours truly) have been throwing up the pirate flag and turning the wheel for the one formerly known as Kairi Sane. And while I continue to hold out hope that this happens, it’s been reported that the artist formerly known as Jakara Jackson in NXT and Mara Sade in TNA has signed with AEW earlier this month. Given that news, I fully expect to see her step up and challenge Persephone, but I don’t see “Persy” losing the title so soon.
WINNER: Persephone (And still!)
Sometimes, the best ideas and the best matches are simply put together on a whim, and with the wrestlers involved, you KNOW it is going to be an awesome match. And to that end, when you have Andrade El Idolo defending his National Title against the Bastard PAC, you should expect great things. And, if I am being so bold, this match has the potential to be Match of the Night.
On the September 16th edition of Dynamite, The Death Riders defeated the United Empire, but I wondered to myself if there was a pristine history of matches between Andrade and PAC. To my surprise, not only have these men NOT faced each other outside of AEW before, but their last interaction was FIVE years ago on the November 24th edition of Dynamite in 2021. To add more insult to injury, the very first encounter between them WAS a singles match, where Andrade defeated PAC on the fifth ever episode of Rampage.
Andrade represents the fourth Champion in the National Title linage, and he’s been on the run of a lifetime since he reappeared in AEW. PAC is no stranger to gold, however, as he was the first ever All-Atlantic Champion (renamed to the International Title) and he’s had three Trio’s Titles reigns, two of them with Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta in the Death Riders.
I’m not determined that we have a serious threat of a title change here, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have an awesome match between two awesome wrestlers. PAC will also represent a threat to Andrade who can beat him through the air or on the ground with the Brutalizer. But Andrade’s title reign must continue, because HOW YOU KNOW?
WINNER: Andrade El Idolo (And still!)
If you thought the National Title match felt like it popped up overnight, then this match felt like it popped up from OUTTANOWHERE! Still, I suppose that shouldn’t be very surprising, since Tommaso Ciampa has made declarations that he is going to win another title in AEW. And, hey, what do you know, Kazuchika Okada’s dance card just happens to be empty!
Despite the impulse to make this match happen, who says no to a battle between Okada and Ciampa? Better yet, who is going to say no to a match between the “Psycho Killer” and the “Rainmaker,” which we should get after Ciampa laid out Okada on the previous week’s episode of Dynamite after Okada made his usual BITCH joke about Ciampa.
Many things can be considered consistent in life, and the quality of both men’s matches file into that category. It also creates an interesting paradigm between who is supposed to be the face and who is the heel. Does this match work if both men are just tweeners going out to have a kick arse match? It just might, because turning Ciampa face for this match doesn’t make much sense, and Okada, while divisive, wins the fans over with his favorite word.
I originally wrote in the WINNER below the entry because I was sure that Okada was going to win. But the more I thought about it, what IF Ciampa makes good on his word and wins the International Title? It wouldn’t be so strange and out of place if Tommaso WERE to win, but he seems to have lost his way a little bit over the past month or so. Meanwhile, Okada is always there as a focal point of the DCF and a valiant title holder. The way this one plays out will be REMARKABLY interesting.
WINNER: Kazuchika Okada (And still!)
One of the wrestling world’s worst kept secrets was the debut of the former Kofi Kingston and Xaiver Woods at All-In London, now going by Kofi and “Awesome” Austin Creed, to team with Swerve Strickland. That the team managed to win the Trio’s Titles in their debut with Strickland not only made AEW history but proved that the New Level members are still like a fridge if titles are magnets.
However, one of the teams that they defeated in the Casino Royale match that started initially on Buy-In for All-In was the team who came in as the Champions in Hangman Adam Page, Brody King, and Bandido. The former Champions have yet to receive their contractual rematch, which they will attempt to make good this Saturday in Chicago. And, considering just how good all three men are on their own but even better as a trio, it wouldn’t be too wise to bet against them re-gaining the titles.
The dynamic between the happy-go-lucky Kofi and Austin pairing with the still a killer Strickland is quite interesting to me. And yet, while Strickland isn’t dancing around and having fun like he used to (although Prince Nana is), he proves to be a more down-to-Earth anchor for the team. This has been proven in week-to-week defenses of said titles against the Rascalz and the Conglomeration earlier this month.
The biggest question that I have going into this match concerns whether they would pull the plug on the title reign for the New Level and Swerve and return the titles to the most recent former champions. With a total of EIGHT title changes (out of seventeen title reigns) happening on this calendar year alone, it does make you wonder if they would do another quick title change. But then again, a big deal was made of Austin and Kofi coming to AEW that they stalled the Casino Royale until the main show to debut them, so I can’t see the title reign ending just yet.
WINNERS: Swerve and the New Level (And still!)
Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor dethroning Lena Kross and Megan Bayne to become the third all-time Women’s Tag Team Champions was more than just a feel-good moment in their home country. No, this was also a homage to the old expression, “Bully the Bullies and they will back down.” And to that end, not only will Divine Dominion get their contractual rematch this Saturday, but the ladies will be, in the words of the Doobie Brothers, “Taking it to the Streets!”
One needs not to overthink just how dominant Divine Dominion were as the second ever Women’s Tag Team Champions. Not only did their reign last for a total of 168 days (starting at Revolution back in March), but they simply imposed their will on all their challengers. Hell, they even instituted the “Five-Minute Challenge” to find a team even worthy enough to share the ring with them. Granted, Anna Jay and Tay Melo managed to last the five minutes, but they were never a serious threat to defeat Kross and Bayne.
This is where the Brawling Birds enter the scene. While Hayter and Windsor may have come together over their love of drinking at the pub and beating the PISS out of everyone, in stature, they were no less intimidating than the Champions were. And there must be something said (as there is for the men) when four women who not only are tall and athletic can throw down, but they also realistically LOOK like they are trying to kill each other.
While the Street Fight stipulation doesn’t appear, at least to me, to be needed, it could be a fun way to see how far Divine Dominion go, and how bonkers the Brawling Birds get. Also, with this match being the rematch granted to Megan and Lena, losing in what should be a wild and chaotic street fight protects them if they do not win their titles back. The only question is where do they go after months of pure division domination?
WINNERS: The Brawling Birds (And still!)
Like the man that I share a birthday with once said, “I Cannot tell a lie,” and when it comes to this match, I cannot tell a lie that I have been racking my brain (or what is left of it) over who WILL win and who SHOULD win. And if I’m being honest, this type of match shows just how awesome the Men’s Tag Team division can be when the effort is put into it. But then again, seeing the teams involved in this match, it feels like a no effort situation anyway.
Last month at All-In London, I chose Christian Cage and Adam Copeland to retain the titles against Nick and Matt Jackson, mainly because I didn’t want to see a fourth Bucks title reign in AEW. But now with the return of FTR (who Cage and Copeland beat for the titles at Double or Nothing back in May), you have not ONE but TWO teams that COULD win this match and would become four-time Champions.
While the tag team title scene has been focused on the Bucks and the current Champions, FTR made their return to AEW at All-In London to confront the Champions and the challengers after some time away from the ring. And if I’m being honest, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler deserved it, just like 7-Star FTR deserve to be right in the mix again for the titles, given the long history that they possess with not just the Bucks, but Adam and Christian as well.
Suffice to say that the Ladder Match stipulation plays more in the favor of certain teams in this match than it does others. While Cage and Copeland helped to pioneer the famous TLC matches (with willing partners in the Hardy Boys and the Dudley Boys), they might be playing second fiddle in this match to Nick and Matt when it comes to ladder climbing. And while Harwood and Wheeler might not be as fancy and athletic as the Bucks are, it takes a serious tag team wrestler to climb the ladder and get the titles, and who is more serious than FTR?
As I mentioned in the first paragraph, I legitimately have no clue who will win this match. Adam and Christian SHOULD retain the titles and continue what is their final farewell as a tag team, but would the allure of either the Bucks or FTR breaking their three titles apiece tie be too strong to ignore? And if so, which of the teams is the one to climb the ladder and break the tie? As a compromise, no matter WHO wins, WE will all win in a match like this!
WINNERS: The Young Bucks (AND FOR THE FOURTH TIME, NEW!)
At some point, you knew that we were going to get this match. After days, weeks, and months of being enemies to one another, Jon Moxley took Will Ospreay in as a Death Rider and helped him get his neck strength back to where it used to be before surgery. From there, Ospreay spent days, weeks, and months in a love/hate relationship with not just Jon, but the rest of the Death Riders, with some buying into Will’s commitment, while others were skeptical.
After many stop/starts and will he/won’t he moments along the way, Ospreay finally had forsaken the Death Riders and branched away from them and relied more on the United Empire in AEW than ever before. Despite all of this, however, Moxley never stopped believing in Will and his commitment to not only becoming Champion, but his improved neck health. Hell, Moxley believed in him SO much that he would stop the likes of the Dogs from trying to mess up Will’s neck again.
And then came All-In London where, after a friendship with Kenny Omega turned into a bitter rivalry with Omega digging up some of his douchebag heel antics, Ospreay won the World Title from Omega. In doing so, not only did Will win his first ever AEW World Title, but he also became the first Englishman in ANY company to win ANY World Title in his home country. They don’t call him the Billy Goat BRUV for nothing!
The weird connection between Moxley and Ospreay would resume, but not for long. On the Dynamite that took place 72 hours after All-In, we learned that Moxley, a former four-time World Champion himself and current Continental Champion, would face Ospreay for the World Title. So suddenly, this strange alliance turned into an enemy situation, where Will has no problem attacking Jon, but Moxley still has trepidation over beating up Ospreay.
In theory, Moxley COULD win the World Title for a fifth time, something that would become unprecedented in AEW history. However, Moxley is still the Continental Champion, a title that he has held since last December when he won it at World’s End. And the fact remains that, although Ospreay has not yet defended his World Title since he took it from Kenny at All-In, beating who many people consider the MVP/Ace of AEW would be a landmark first title defense for Will. The only question that remains is will Moxley’s hesitation to finish off Ospreay come back to bite him?
WINNER: Will Ospreay, BRUV! (And still!)
And that’ll do it for my preview of All-Out! I will wrap this up by saying what I always do, and that is if you clicked on my article, read it, and posted a comment, I thank you for the support! It means a lot to me as do the responses, whether good, bad, or indifferent!
As mentioned in the introduction, All-Out will be back to a Saturday Night showing in its usual 8:00PM start time for the main show, with the Brawl Out taking place at 7:00PM!
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