AEW All Out returns to the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL on Saturday, but the promotion had a stop in Fishers, IN, for one last co-production of Dynamite and Collision. Over three hours of AEW action has been documented on the AEW Dynamite & Collision 9/23/2026 Results Page, so head there if you need to catch up.With a super-sized show comes plenty of emotions from the Wrestling Inc. Staff. There was a lot to love tonight, especially in the ring, and there was plenty to hate, especially in the way certain things on the three-hour show were handled. It was a lot to take in: title matches, open challenges, and all kinds of shenanigans. Mike Bailey is in the United Empire. There's so much to talk about, and we'll do that here. If you have more thoughts, the comments section will be open, as always.I'm clearly starting to ramble, so let's just let the Wrestling Inc. Staff speak for themselves, starting with a staff divided on the state of the trios title division.
While I realize AEW was operating with only about four weeks between big pay-per-views, I really wish there would have been at least another week of "Dynamite" where the match for the AEW World Trios Championships was official. While I really enjoyed New Level and Swerve Strickland's match against The Demand tonight, it was pretty predictable that they were going to retain the gold and go on to face "Hangman" Adam Page, Brody King, and Bandido at All Out.Page and Brodido just won the number one contendership to challenge the champions at All Out last week, and as much as I liked the match tonight, I don't think Strickland and New Level needed to defend their titles. The bout last week probably should have been The Demand, rather than the Conglomeration, vs. Page and Brodido to set things up. While it may sound nitpicky, I think that AEW could have further developed Strickland's story with Kofi and Creed a bit more with an extra week between finding out their challenges at the pay-per-view and knowing they'd officially even be defending the gold themselves.In their short backstage promo before the match, Kofi and Creed were questioning Strickland on his lore, basically, and his history with The Demand, which was fun, but even more importantly for the All Out match, they had questions about Page and Brodido. While it may still happen in the coming weeks, I think it would have been interesting to see New Level question Strickland further in a longer backstage segment this week, in addition to an in-ring segment with their challengers just like the promo we saw after tonight's match. Or, that in-ring promo could have taken place last week after Brodido and Page's victory, leaving room for more storytelling this week.I'm usually not one of those "AEW doesn't tell stories" people, but I just feel like I need more with Strickland and New Level, after the initial thrill of Kofi and Creed signing with the company. I feel like the explanations about their team with Strickland right now are very basic, like "he just wanted to team with the best team in wrestling." That's all well and good, but we know Strickland's character, especially when it comes to Page, is much deeper than that.Their match at All Out is going to be a banger, but I could have used some more thoroughly developed story behind it, especially since it feels like it's right there if AEW just tried a little harder. They're putting effort into these trios titles, but it still doesn't feel like they're going all the way right now.Written by Daisy Ruth
I respectfully disagree with my colleague.The AEW trios division has always been difficult to get right. At its best, it channels the spirit of the 2010s PWG party matches that the foundation of the AEW style is built on, but at its worst, it takes some of the best wrestlers in the company away from the singles and tag team divisions for the sake of just getting more bodies on the show. However, the division is firing on all cylinders right now and the opening contest from the September 23 episode of "AEW Dynamite" is a prime example of that.Swerve Strickland and The New Level defended their AEW World Trios Championships against The Demand in a match that I originally thought would be good. Six very talented guys getting the crowd going is always nice, but I didn't expect the level of match that we actually got because this match kept building and building to the point where if this was the title match at AEW All Out 2026, it wouldn't have looked out of place.Austin Creed and Kofi have slotted into AEW seamlessly since their debut in London and they look like they are having a ball out there. With that said, it does help that they have consistently been put in the ring with excellent wrestlers who can get the best out of them. Ricochet, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona had chemistry with The New Level that made it seem like these guys had been wrestling for years. Along with Swerve, the champions knew exactly how to make Kaun and Liona (especially Liona) look like unstoppable behemoths, while also being more than happy to let Ricochet fly all over the place like he used to do years earlier. It's actually a shame that The Demand had to lose because this was a match that reminded me of how good they are.What keeps the division strong is that it now adds an extra wrinkle to the lore of Swerve and Hangman Page, while not feeling like it's taking anything away from the main event scene. Back in the same arena where they had their Lights Out Steel Cage match, we get the next chapter with a new twist as Brodido and The New Level are by their sides. There's actually a history beyond just matches involved in a trios title match guys. Can you believe it?The title match to kick off the show was a blast. The title match at All Out is going to be great as well, and we're at a point now where when I see a trios match graphic pop up on social media, I'm genuinely excited. A great job all around.Written by Sam Palmer
One of the running threads through this special edition of "Dynamite" and "Collision" for me was that it did very little to do any kind of last minute storytelling for matches on the All Out card. Jon Moxley defeating Dezmond Xavier in an Eliminator Match for the Continental Championship was definitely one of the things on this show that didn't fail to follow that thread.Moxley is getting ready to challenge Will Ospreay for the AEW World Championship at All Out. I can't help but feel that the AEW World Championship should have his full attention at the moment rather than his Continental Championship, and I just thought this eliminator could've at least waited until after All Out if it was even going to happen at all. Beyond that, it had a very predictable outcome in Moxley emerging as the winner and was also pretty short in the time it was allotted on this show.It just didn't really accomplish much, nor did it really help to hype up the AEW World Championship with Moxley and Ospreay.Written by Olivia Quinlan
If there was one All Out match that got some good, final build-up behind it tonight, it was the ladder match for the AEW World Tag Team Championships. It's probably the match that needed it the least, but it was nice to see, and one of the best segments of the night, as it really felt like a go-home angle.All three teams- the champions, Adam Copeland and Christian Cage, Matt and Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks, and FTR's Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler are all solid talkers, but this segment was done in a smart way. Rather than having too many voices going at once, Stokely Hathaway opened the segment on behalf of FTR, basically with a "we're only here so we don't get fined," and he said that FTR had nothing to say. Harwood and Wheeler kept their mouths shut and let the Bucks and Cope and Cage go at it until the very last moment, when one of them tried to get a word out before the brawl started.It felt smart, as the Bucks and the champions are the babyface teams, so letting them trade barbs felt more poignant, though Matt telling FTR they're the Dudley Boyz of the ladder match at All Out was funny. The Bucks acknowledged it may be their last opportunity to get the titles back, as they're not so young anymore, which wasn't too believable, but it was a nice thought, and Cage, of course, mentioned the Bucks' mother.Copeland took the more serious angle, which made sense, saying that the Bucks and FTR completely disregard them, the legends, while they're fighting over who is going to become the first four-time AEW tag champions. Matt basically started off the brawl by telling Copeland that the last time anyone saw him jump off something high, he crippled himself, mentioning Cope's broken leg in his cage match against Malakai Black in 2024, which I thought was perhaps the most solid line of the show.FTR couldn't get a word out before the brawl began, which saw Wheeler go through a table on the outside, and security catch a beatdown by all the teams after they pulled Matt away from a ladder spot, so the officials took the move from Nick. Another ate a con-chair-to in the ring from the champions. It was chaotic, and overall, the promo segment and brawl didn't take up too much time and didn't overstay its welcome, even on a longer show. It was heated and well done, and I'm looking forward to the match on Saturday.Written by Daisy Ruth
Remember when Chris Jericho returned to AEW, and people weren't entirely annoyed by it? Well, that goodwill is slowly dwindling as 2026 reaches its third act, and after this segment with Nick Wayne, it's going to run out real fast.In a segment that felt like something from the middle of the show fell out of the rotation and got glued on to the third hour, Jericho called Wayne out for a friendly chat where the two men basically just rambled about necklaces, not having respect for veterans, and Tinder until Wayne eventually challenged Jericho to a match at AEW Grand Slam France on October 6. All of this stemmed from Jericho beating Wayne last week and Wayne attacking Jericho after the match, but the whole thing just stank up the joint.First of all, this was a joint "AEW Dynamite" and "AEW Collision" production that was designed to build up AEW All Out 2026. I understand that you have to have some stuff on the show to build for events after All Out, and Grand Slam France is a big enough deal for it to get some build now, but think of it like this. This was a three-hour show, or what was supposed to be a three-hour show, except PAC vs. Ace Austin, the main event of "Collision," didn't start until after 11 PM ET. Tony Khan loves himself an overrun, but just imagine for a second that we had no segment between Jericho and Wayne; the show would have likely finished on time or, at the very least, run five or so minutes over. What a life we could have had.Second of all, the joke about the "Jericho Vortex" from a few years ago still rings true because you just know Nick Wayne isn't going to benefit from any of this, and to make matters worse, he's lost a really cool necklace! Time literally stood still while this segment went on, and not in a good way. It felt like both guys were just saying nothing, except when Nick got so overstimulated trying to list his accomplishments that he dropped an F-bomb, which was hilarious. This feud is going to finish, and Nick isn't going to be any higher on the card after working with Jericho, regardless of whether he wins the rematch.Lastly, apologies to the French fans; you have to watch a Chris Jericho match in 2026. Sure, the French audience will probably sing "Judas" better than every town in the United States, but at the end of the day, they will then have to watch him wrestle. Let's just hope the rest of the card is a little better.Written by Sam Palmer
The "AEW Dynamite" portion of this week's show concluded with a tag team match pitting Will Ospreay and Mike Bailey against Claudio Castagnoli and Gabe Kidd, a prelude to this weekend's World title clash with Jon Moxley at All Out.Moxley sat on commentary for the bout as Kidd continued his personal animosity with Ospreay in the ring, providing insight and informing the basis of the match from his point of view. He was uneasy when his teammates struggled, provided some typically hilarious soundbites, and celebrated like a football fan when his teammates made a breakthrough. He just enhanced the feeling of the match, but more importantly, it ensured he was present for the post-match angle.Ospreay and Bailey picked up the win before the former took to the mic, first addressing the crowd and thanking them for making AEW possible. He then turned to Moxley and thanked him for being with the company from its first event, training him to be worthy of the World title, and breaking him in the first place so he could undergo that journey.Moxley seemed taken aback by the positive sentiment, quickly resuming his stoic demeanor as Ospreay reminded him that things were different; now Moxley was the challenger, and Ospreay was champion.Moxley then took to the microphone himself. And then, just as Ospreay had alluded to, Moxley started with the mind games. Or at least an attempt.He played to his position, asking Ospreay if he really felt like the champion stood opposite him. Kidd returned, once again continuing their subplot, and almost careered into Moxley as Ospreay ducked and dropped him with a Hidden Blade.That allowed him to come face-to-face with Moxley and answer: "You're damn f***ing right I feel like the champion."Ospreay has always been an exemplary wrestler and an intense promo, for better or for worse. But especially since All In, he has truly stepped up as the protagonist, immediately setting himself up for a clash with both his mentor and arguably the company's top star. This angle felt like another step-up, a show of strength against someone he has never been able to beat.He came off as a bada** plain and simple, and that's something one needs before standing opposite Moxley. It's also a great trait to have as the World Champion, especially with a landscape like AEW's, chock-full of elite antagonistic talent to stand opposite him. And then there's the fact that it just made for exciting TV, building to an exciting main event this weekend. Which, while seeds sown for the future will always be appreciated, is the fundamental goal.Written by Max Everett
