The AEW World Trios Championships will be on the line at AEW All Out 2026, but the question heading into the September 23 episode of "AEW Dynamite" was who would be the champions heading into Chicago? Swerve Strickland and The New Level put their titles on the line against The Demand to see who would face Hangman Page and Brodido this Saturday, and after a hard-hitting bout, it was Strickland, Kofi, and Austin Creed who retained their titles.Throughout the match, the real target of The Demand was Toa Liona. He proved too much for the champions at times, even being hit with two Flatliners only to no-sell them and get right back on the attack. Ricochet was also digging deep into his bag of tricks as he landed a 630 Senton on Kofi after he was laid out by Liona and Bishop Kaun, but the champions kept pushing through.In the end, The New Level and Strickland worked together to isolate Liona. Kaun was taken out with a House Call from Strickland, Ricochet was taken out by the SOS from Kofi, and Liona was finally put down with a DDT as all three of the champions pinned Liona to finally get the win and retain their titles.After the match, Hangman Page, Brody King, and Bandido confronted the champions. Page questioned why The New Level have partnered with Strickland due to everything he has done to people in AEW, but both Creed and Kofi claimed that Strickland had changed. Strickland claimed that Page had some nerve questioning him considering everything he had also done in AEW, and warned Bandido and King that Hangman was going to leave them both high and dry when the time was right. All six men squared off to close out the segment and get the fans excited for the big title match this Saturday.
