AEW has a great track record for PPV. Even though the Redemption card felt like a speed bump to All In, there was general optimism that the action would deliver. Most of the matches were decent enough. Overall, the PPV left a bad taste. The blame for that falls on the storytelling. AEW crafted a horrendous angle for the drama between Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, and the Death Riders. The logic was bad. The acting was bad. The pacing was bad. The swerve was bad. To first-time readers, regular readers can testify that I’m not an AEW hater. I hated this angle.
AEW told the storyline through a few spots during the show. We have to start with the second match of the PPV. I’m going to leave the reaction as what I wrote shortly after watching live, because I think it paints a picture of my mindset in the moment.
Young Bucks defeated Jon Moxley & Will Ospreay. The question was if Ospreay was brainwashed into turning evil. AEW answered that question by using Nick Jackson as concussion bait. Nick was knocked silly early. Ospreay showed restraint, such as alerting the referee to check on him. Moxley was full steam ahead. He grabbed Nick off the apron and hit a piledriver on the floor. Nick’s cobwebs would come and go throughout the match. At one point, Ospreay bludgeoned Nick with strikes, but he couldn’t pull the trigger for the kill shot.
Moxley tagged himself in for a curb stomp and three Paradigm Shifts, then he grabbed a chair. Ospreay stopped Moxley from going overboard. That’s when the Bucks made their final rally to superkick the chair into Ospreay’s face. A BTE Trigger and a barrage of superkicks flattened Moxley. Nick laid on top for the pin.
The action rocked hard, but… And it’s a big but. The story for this match was terrible. I was hoping to see one of the greatest tag teams of all-time against a super dream team to find out who is best. I expected some bit of story to relate to Ospreay’s world title bout for All In. However, this turned soft early into the action. Nick was loopy too early that it become an obvious work to ruin the illusion for me. Enough of this baloney Ospreay narrative. He’s clearly not evil. Nothing in his matches under Moxley’s tutelage have shown him to be. He wasn’t evil here when he had an easy excuse for justification. The beloved Bryan Danielson would have supported pulling the trigger. Ospreay should learn a valuable lesson. The Young Bucks didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on him. If anything, they might have opened Pandora’s Box to unleash the Aerial Assassin. Also, enough with concussion angles. Nick was so compromised that referee Rick Knox should be fired for not stopping the match (speaking in regard to Knox as a character and not in real life).
Part two. Later in the show, Renee Paquette interviewed Ospreay about not pulling the trigger on Nick. He explained to Moxley that he isn’t trying to kill anyone. Moxley replied with a reality check. This is pro wrestling. That’s what Nick signed up for. I liked Moxley’s train of thought as he continued. He didn’t care about the loss here. It happens, Get up and win the next one. Moxley drove home the idea that the match at Wembley isn’t just an ordinary match for Ospreay. There is only one chance, and Ospreay can’t be Mr. Nice Guy at the top. I think Moxley has the right perspective that this is the sport of gladiators. Keep in mind, I’m saying that under the assumption that Moxley is the tweener sensei. Mox exited with an ominous warning. If Ospreay won’t pull the trigger on Omega, then Moxley will.
Food for thought. If everyone is giving Ospreay a hard time about associating with the Death Riders, why does Renee get a pass so often? She married the head lunatic.
Part three. Kenny Omega was fresh off defending the AEW World Championship over Kevin Knight. His title bout against Will Ospreay is now official for All In. Moxley’s threat came to fruition. The Death Riders attacked. The Young Bucks ran out, but they were overwhelmed by the numbers. Claudio Castagnoli placed a chair around Omega’s neck. That’s when Ospreay sprinted down to stop the madness.
The funniest moment of the night came when Yuta consoled Ospreay with a hug, then he winked with a thumbs up for Claudio to attack. What a great weasel Yuta is. Ospreay blocked Claudio to save Omega.
Ospreay snatched the chair to swing like a wild man. Moxley soothed the savage beast. He removed the chair from the equation. Instead, Moxley pulled out a plastic bag for Ospreay to murder Omega, and Ospreay actually considered it. This was such a flip flop of emotion. The angel overruled the devil on Ospreay’s shoulders, and he ripped up the bag. Ospreay punched Moxley and cleaned house on the Death Riders.
The second funniest part is that Omega was sitting there in a stupor the whole time unaware of what happened. He saw the bag, and Ospreay had to convince him that he didn’t go full Death Rider Murder Ball Z. After some tension over holding the world title, Omega offered a handshake to Ospreay. The two babyfaces united. At the very end, Omega grabbed Ospreay for the One Winged Angel. Even the Young Bucks were confused what this meant.
This scene took about 15 minutes to unfold. It was slow, cheesy, and silly. Not to mention that it came at the end of a five-hour PPV, which is a different issue all its own. I think the intention was artistic drama? This ranks up there with the worst of the Death Riders at their worst. It’s like AEW realized yesterday that they have babyface versus babyface for the match at Wembley, so they went into overdrive to create a reason for the UK fans to boo Omega. It was a ham-fisted attempt at character realignment. It also flushed so many intriguing aspects down the drain. The worst part is how everyone pulls the trigger on Ospreay, and he looks like a fool now. Frankly, I’m less excited about the All In main event. I could propose several more reasons why this closing scene was dumb, but I don’t have all night. I’ll leave it to you in the comments. Or, if you thought it was a masterpiece, share your positivity.
Let’s break down the rest of Redemption (July 26, 2026) from top to bottom emanating in Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec Canada.
AEW World Championship: Kenny Omega (c) defeated Kevin Knight to retain the title. The main event went about 25 minutes. Knight was never going to win here, so the question was how he would handle himself in the spotlight. I thought Knight did fine for his role. He had some smooth moves, such as that step-off flying punch from the commentary desk and the coast to coast dropkick.
The formula for the match didn’t wow me in terms of trying to elevate Knight. It never felt like he was close to pulling the upset. AEW’s style is dramatic kick outs, and this match didn’t have that much. Because that happens so often and it didn’t happen for Knight, he looked weaker on a lower level than the superstar. Commentary put it over like Omega is peaking to his best form. Knight’s best shot to win came with the Crash Landing finisher onto the title belt. Credit to Knight for his wits to dupe the referee with the other title belt as a decoy. It wasn’t enough to keep Omega down. He put his knees up to block the UFO splash. Omega blasted Knight with a V-Trigger and the One Winged Angel to win. This was a solid match but not a PPV main event thriller.
AEW Women’s World Championship: Willow Nightingale defeated Thekla (c) to win the title. Good back and forth affair. Thekla’s swagger makes her spider offense look so cool. Willow’s brain and her brawn were the key. After missing a moonsault, Willow blocked a spear to counter for the gutwrench powerbomb. Skye Blue ran in to place Thekla’s foot on the ropes to break the pin. Willow powerbombed Blue on the floor. That impact looked like it knocked the wind out of Blue.
Back in the ring, Thekla speared the challenger. The match was falling into the spider’s web. Thekla sized up a curb stomp. Willow dodged and snatched the champ for a backslide to win.
Even though Willow was the favorite to win to get the babyface versus heel alignment against Mercedes Moné at All In, the match unfolded in an interesting way to see how Thekla could retain. Thekla thrives on chaos at the end to pull out success. That helped Willow’s sneaky pin feel dramatic in the moment. This was the one match on the card that says redemption. Willow was redeemed after injury to become world champion.
AEW National Championship: Andrade El Idolo defeated Mark Davis (c) to win the title. Andrade was on fire until Davis hossed it up. The Aussie slowed the pace by working the left knee. Andrade kicked out of a piledriver, and the rally was on. El Idolo pulled off his pants. It’s funny how that can be the equivalent of pulling down the straps to fire up. Andrade was in the groove for a back elbow and the DM to win. The result was the right call to keep Andrade’s momentum moving upward. El Idolo treated the new title like a big deal by celebrating with fans for selfies.
No Holds Barred: “Painmaker” Chris Jericho defeated “Psycho Killer” Tommaso Ciampa. This match was nutty. The instruments of pain were plentiful. The list includes a barbed wire bat, hockey stick, pucks with tacks, and of course the power drill. It was funny to see Jericho spit green mist to stymie Ciampa’s drill.
Down the stretch, Ciampa executed an avalanche Psycho Driller onto a mirror shattering the glass. The avalanche Psycho Driller needs to be protected more. It looks brutal from Ciampa, and yet too many wrestlers kick out on the pin.
In the end, Jericho used the drill to torture Ciampa in the head. The Psycho Killer quit verbally rather than have his brains spilled.
A lot of the insanity felt like doing stuff for the sake of it rather than naturally in the flow. I enjoyed a few things in particular, such as the callback to throwing sand in the face at Beach Break. The tacked knee pad was interesting in how Ciampa’s idea was used against him in the Judas Effect. When that wasn’t enough to win, Jericho realized he must up the ante of pain with the drill. Even though Ciampa lost, he went out tough. Nobody should lose respect for his character due to such an absurd finish.
AEW World Tag Team Championship: Adam Copeland & Christian Cage (c) defeated Claudio Castagnoli & PAC to retain the titles. Nobody expected C&C to lose here. AEW worked a smart trick to start the match. The Death Riders ambushed Copeland in the ring during his entrance. Christian hadn’t even arrived on stage yet. They went to work on Christian too. This created a hole that C&C had to climb out of the entire time. For example, when it was time for a hot tag, the partner was too beat up to be on the apron. This helped better foster the idea that C&C could lose. The Death Riders worked such a great plan, then they spoiled it with a dummy move. They were setting up a combo finisher on Christian. Cope slowly climbed back over the barricade, so Claudio ditched the immediate plan to attack Cope again. I thought that was silly not to follow through on Christian in that moment, and maybe they get the pin. The Death Riders sort of proved me wrong later when they hit the combo Neutralizer on Cope, and Christian made the save out of nowhere on the pin. In the end, C&C rallied with spears. Christian tackled Claudio, then he popped up PAC into a spear from Cope to win. This match was plotted well to add a lot of heat despite an obvious outcome.
Afterward, the Young Bucks approached C&C. AEW announced that matchup for the tag titles at All In. Christian refused to shake their hands. I don’t blame him.
TBS Championship: Maya World defeated Hikaru Shida (c) to win the title. Shida worked the left knee. World moved gingerly for the rest of the match. I assume the knee damage was all story and not real pain. That I’m unsure shows how well World sold the injury. World had some flashes, but this was Shida’s game. In the end, arrogance was Shida’s downfall. She trapped World in the TBS lock. World was going to tap out. Shida blocked her hand and released the hold. Shida wanted to inflict more pain to demonstrate her dominance. She blasted three running knees in a row for the fun of it. The referee wanted to check on World, but Shida shoved him away. She was content to close with the Falcon Arrow. World miraculously reached the ropes to break the pin. Shida argued with the referee. When Shida charged at her opponent, World caught her for a bridging fallaway slam for victory.
Wow. I did not see that result coming. I thought the story was establishing Shida’s dominance as champion. The underdog pulled it out. Now the real work begins for World to develop verbally and in the ring to establish her reign.
Double Chain Match: The Dogs defeated Bang Bang Gang. The concept was two chain matches combined into one. David Finlay was chained to Jay White, and Clark Connors was chained to Juice Robinson. I didn’t have much reaction to this one, but I did wince in pain when the Bang Bang Gang whipped Finlay with the chains. Right after that moment, Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia saved the Dogs. The rest of the Collision cowboys were on the scene to thwart that Death Riders duo. Marina Shafir slithered in to hand Finlay the shillelagh, which he used to bop Juice on the noggin for the win. The logical next step in this feud is a double shillelagh match.
AEW International Championship: Kyle Fletcher (c) defeated Bandido to retain the title. Banger as expected with a variety of brainbusters, powerbombs, and suplexes. The coolest move came from Bandido. Fletcher tried to muscle out of a full nelson, and that force sent Bandido over the top into the ropes to rebound back for a 21 Dragon Plex.
Bandido had a genuine nail-biter near fall. He had major momentum on his side into a moonsault fallaway slam. After Fletcher barely touched the ropes to break the pin, Bandido followed for the X-Knee and the 21 Plex. Even though most everyone expected Fletcher to win, Bandido had all their excitement on his shoulders for the cover until Fletcher kicked out. I bit hard on that kick out. Fletcher surged in the end with a blitz of offense to win with a buckle brainbuster.
Fletcher and Bandido delivered the goods to titillate the crowd. Fletcher continues to show he is world champion material. It’s a matter of when, not if. I’m curious if Bandido’s ceiling can be AEW world champion. He clearly has the crowd support, and his wrestling style makes fans believe in the roller coaster ride. Bandido already holds the ROH World Championship, but he doesn’t have to carry that brand with promos like what would be required for AEW television.
Ladder Match: “Speedball” Mike Bailey defeated Jack Perry, Nick Wayne, Komander, El Clon, and Beast Mortos. PPV opener. The winner earns a future shot at the AEW International Championship. There were plenty of highlight reel spots. I’d pick Mortos and Clon as the standouts. Beast was a brute wrecking fools, and Clon’s movement is mesmerizing. The many dives were beautiful. The riskiest spot was probably Perry with a Canadian Destroyer to Wayne off a ladder crashing into another ladder.
The dust cleared, and Bailey landed the Ultimo Weapon on Mortos on a ladder. The coast was clear. Bailey climbed to victory.
Speedball called his shot for Grand Slam in Arena Mexico on September 5.
AEW World Trios Championship: Conglomeration (c) defeated Lethal Twist to retain the titles. This was the only match on the pre-show. Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly turned the tide to obliterating Jay Lethal with a high low combo. Strong added a backbreaker, then he tossed Orange Cassidy’s body on top for the pin. Strong abusing Cassidy’s body for teamwork offense never gets old.
Notes: No free agents debuted at Redemption. That didn’t affect my enjoyment level. It’s just worth mentioning, because rumors were running hot.
Divine Dominion wondered where the competition was. Mick Foley suggested the Brawling Birds. Foley then bow-wowed like a dog.
The Demand demanded a trios title shot from the Conglomeration for Dynamite.
The pre-show celebration for the Rougeau family was interrupted by Rocky Romero to claim that the Callis Family is the only wrestling family that matters. The Rougeaus and Daddy Magic shut his mouth with fists.
Stud of the Show: Willow Nightingale
Match of the Night: Kyle Fletcher vs. Bandido
Aside from the great action, this match hooked me the most on a near fall.
The wrestlers worked hard, but the show didn’t get over the hump of Redemption as a speed bump to All In. The terrible ending pulled down the show as a whole. Please, stop with the five-hour PPV. It’s unnecessary. Even though I don’t like four hours, I can accept it as more bang for the buck. At five hours, no.
Share your thoughts about AEW Redemption.
