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The day AEW held its first PPV, I wrote that for the company to succeed it would have to be more than just a pro wrestling show. They were going to need to build a brand that people lived and died with. Over years, the promotion, like all others, has had its ups and down, successess and criticisms but yesterday, All In: Wembley 2026 reminded all who watched that in its best moments, the promotion is what professional wrestling needed in 2019 and still needs today.
The show, which featured some absolutely great main events, felt different from what WWE has put in stadiums in recent years and looked and felt like a major-league production from beginning to end. Wembley Stadium itself looked enormous, particularly once darkness fell in The UK. At that point, the lighting, pyro and stage production really came to life. The presentation was one of the strongest aspects of the event. AEW made good use of the scale of the venue, from the impressive stage to the pyro-heavy entrances, and the overall production gave All In the feel of a truly significant wrestling event - and one that felt unique even in an era where we get far more stadium shows annually than ever before.
Yesterday was a great argument as to why AEW's existence is a must for professional wrestling fans. Once upon a time, while WWE was the industry leader, WCW provided a place where differences from the WWE style mattered, whether it was the grit of the presentation when Dusty Rhodes as a booker or the reality style grounding Eric Bischoff envisioned for the NWO, those differences, in their best moments, shined and made fans believe that a different version of pro wrestling beyond WWE could matter. How many fans held four fingers aloft or wore NWO t-shirts? Those actions were always about the belief and the investment in something beyond WWE. From ECW to Ring of Honor to the independents, all those promotions, talents and fans were all championing that something different could and more importantly, should matter.
When Tony Khan came along in 2019, there were doubters, there were criticisms and there were many who provided every claim, list and excuse as to why it wouldn't work, was doomed to fail and would simply end up, in the end, another addition to WWE's video library. However, here we are closer to the tenth anniversary of the company's debut than anything, and despite it all, the promotion continues to provide something different for fans, a legitimate payday for hundreds of professional wrestlers and staffers and more importantly, in it's best moments, creates memories for a generation of discerning fans that need and want something more than what WWE produces.
Last night was one of those great moments: the ascension of Will Ospreay to the position of AEW Champion. Given the location and the timing, the title change itself wasn't the biggest shock, but the London crowd nonetheless willed it into existence, wanting to live vicariously through their fellow countryman. The video package set to The Who's Baba O'Riley was perfect, chronicling Ospreay's journey from indy talent to international star to the flagbearer of AEW.
Then, Ospreay's journey backstage began and he encountered a contingent of UK stars whose careers have intersected with his own, from his United Empire allies to rival Zack Sabre Jr. to top UK star Michael Oku to Ricochet (who had a viral bout against Ospreay in New Japan), among others, before coming across his wife and getting a kiss for good luck. Then, Jon Moxley, who has been toughening Ospreay up in recent months, handed the challenger a Union Jack to make his entrance. I am not someone who tries to deal with absolutes when writing, but to me, anyone who loves professional wrestling and believes in its validity as a serious, sporting presentation had to be tearing up and cheering this on. If they weren't, I don't know what they were thinking. This was a beautifully constructed sequence that made the match feel like a culmination of Ospreay’s life in pro wrestling. For a promotion criticized for spending too much time on what's happening in the ring, this was emotional created without Ospreay having even stepped through the ropes yet. Indeed, rather than relying solely on pyro for spectacle, AEW used the entrance to tell a story - a magical one -before the bell of their main event ever rang. It was the hero's journey for Will Ospreay, the story of someone who grew up and matured en route to taking his place in the pantheon of AEW Champions.
Kenny Omega also received a fittingly huge presentation, one that played on multiple levels depending on how invested the viewer was in Omega and his history beyond just AEW. A video package featured narration in a style familiar to New Japan Pro Wrestling before Omega crossed paths with his Elite brethren. Then, Omega, a longtime anime fan, paid tribute to the massive anime series My Hero Academia, a series with a theme about passing the torch—something relevant as Omega has battled back from massive health issues to regain his positioning as a top star who could now use his talents to gift Ospreay the biggest moment of The British star's career. This was about Omega and who he was, and what he wanted to accomplish, again, before the referee could call for the bell.
One the bell rang, that main event was everything it needed to be, not just as the closing chapter of All In but as a reminder that pro wrestling will always need something more than just the industry leader to thrive and survive. Some may argue the finish was both expected and correct, but that didn’t make it any less satisfying. The live crowd became especially loud whenever Ospreay mounted one of his comebacks, giving the match an added emotional layer that only the best crowds can provide live. The match was an excellent main event and as the years pass, I expect it will be remembered as a chapter-ending marker for the last era of AEW, a year where the promotion slowly and surely worked to reorient itself while building for a future. There was a generation that grew up getting into pro wrestling wanting to wrestle at Wrestlemania. I don't think it's crazy to think there's a generation watching right now who may be inspired to wrestle, hoping to one day get to Wembley.
The AEW Women's Championship was also deserving of celebration and respect. It was a story of true physicality, contrasting with the storybook entrance and ballerina dancing that populated Willow Nightingale's and Mercedes Mone's grand entrances. Willow deserves credit for working through the hand injury she suffered less than a week before the event, while Mone deserves similar credit for continuing after what turned out to be a broken nose suffered early on in the match. All that physicality felt as if it came with consequences, as opposed to just being an eventually ignored part of a performance. They came to fight for a World Championship and it felt like a big money match.
AEW could have gone crazy and aimed for 100,000 surprises to pop the crowd but instead saved those types of moments for one debut - the former New Day, who already seemed energized in their new environment and the long-awaited, long-requested return of Dr. Britt Baker, making one wonder what Twitter will complain about now that she's back. By positioning Baker as an antagonist for Maya World and plunging Austin Creed and Kofi into the deep end among the many tag team challengers looking to take down Adam Copeland and Christian Cage, those surprises mattered and resonated. However, the promotion still had the wherewithal to let the majority of the matches and stories speak for themselves, not even slipping a surprise into the Casino Gauntlet Match, so as not to take away from MJF, Andrade, etc.
However, there was lots of excellent action underneath. Jon Moxley and Nigel McGuinness did an excellent job making the audience believe McGuinness had a chance, even though he was grappling with a foot injury. Nigel’s near falls were particularly effective, giving the match the tension it needed. The three-way match between Kazuchika Okada, Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita was one of the highlights of the night, featuring fast, physical and consistently entertaining pro wrestling. The Young Bucks vs. Cage and Copeland provided some good drama, specifically towards the closing sequences.
Kevin Knight vs. Darby Allin, featuring a truly enjoyable cameo from Sting and Steve Borden, was yet another moment where Darby Allin's insanity is once again chiseled in stone for all eternity. While I have seen many insane performers over the decades, from Mick Foley to The Sandman to Sabu, the lone sigh of relief I have watching Darby is that at least he's making great money in the midst of his insanity: his willingness to create such self-destructive moments is equally impressive and frightening. Kevin Knight continues to impress as a villain; he is so good at what he does that he has yet to come anywhere near his potential. Like Nick Wayne last week at ROH Death Before Dishonor, I can only imagine where Knight will be in a few years as he continues to improve and mature.
I could go on and on, but I think you are getting the picture. All In was a really strong stadium show, one that made the company look major league. The stadium presentation was impressive, the production was strong, the crowd was invested, and the card contained enough newsworthy moments to justify the scale of the event. There were title changes, surprises, memorable entrances, strong performances and plenty of moments that will give AEW fans something to talk about afterward.
It was also, an important reminder that everyone living through this era, as over-satiating as it may be with pro wrestling content week to week, is extremely lucky, especially when we compare it to the flat WWE Ruthless Aggression era that emerged out of the implosion of WCW and ECW. It wasn't all that many years ago that I was writing about my concern for the future of the business and where talents could go to find themselves. Now, there's an AEW, a promotion that has changed pro wrestling for the better and provided a lot for countless fans, even those who claim they don't like the product and are WWE-purists.
I suspect that if I scoured social media, the show will get the usual "Loved it/Hated it" responses from fans online. Everyone likes different things and that's what makes life unique from person to person. I know some will complain about the presentation of believability in AEW spots, but when WWE NXT Heatwave (which I watched before this show) presents anything remotely similar or over the top, it'll be crickets from the same complainers. The reality is that's all pro wrestling and everyone gets thrown into the ring ropes, only to magically bounce back in the opposite direction. It's all pro wrestling and we allow it creative license so we can enjoy it. Pro wrestling has changed a lot over the years, ebbing and flowing like the ocean and we can't compare today to 1995 Raw or Memphis Wrestling in 1984 or the pro wrestling you personally grew up on. AEW is what it is for its fans today and the hard work of everyone involved mattered enough to bring 45,000-plus to Wembley Stadium. No matter how you feel about AEW, their staying power and success have both been impressive.
If WWE is pop music aimed at the general masses, AEW continues to aim itself as the pro wrestling verson of what used to be alternative music, seeking to shake up things up by targeting the discerning comic-con style audience. That's a wonderful thing. It won't always draw 45,000 fans, but hey, neither does WWE. But, in its best moments, AEW creates magic, and here's to many, many more years of magic at the level of Ospreay vs. Omega - and beyond.
If there's one thing I've learned loving and writing about pro wrestling all these decades, experiencing the highs and lows of promotions birthed and dying - it's that pro wrestling will always need those magic moments to rejuvenate it and give fans those moments of living vicariously through that magic. We are very lucky there's an AEW trying to produce it. It won't ever be perfect and won't ever be all things for all people, but what in life is? As long as there's an AEW, there's going to be a strong challenger to WWE - in terms of production, wrestling and in providing a place for those who don't fit the WWE jigsaw puzzle a place to perform, and if you love pro wrestling, that's a very important and lucky thing to have. After all, think about how boring things might revert back to if we don't have anyone raging against the formulaic machine?
Mike Johnson can be reached at MikeJohnsonPWInsider@gmail.com.
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