Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay: Why the AEW All In 2026 Build Is Missing Its Magic
Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay: Why AEW All In 2026 Build Is Missing Its Magic. When Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay step inside the squared circle, magic is almost guaranteed. Widely recognized as two of the most gifted in-ring performers of this generation—if not all time—their legendary clash at Forbidden Door 2023 set a benchmark for match quality in All Elite Wrestling that few bouts have ever touched. However, as the promotion prepares to head back to Wembley Stadium, the AEW All In 2026 build feels surprisingly devoid of the emotional urgency and grandeur that once defined the company’s biggest annual stage.
While the match itself will likely deliver a five-star clinic, the creative pathway leading into London has suffered from fractured momentum. The rivalry that should be the crowning achievement of Will Ospreay’s career—capturing the AEW World Championship on home soil in front of over 80,000 screaming fans—is currently struggling with cooling fan interest. To understand why this marquee feud feels somewhat hollow, one only needs to look back at the storytelling masterpieces of previous Wembley main events.
The Wembley Legacy: How Past Main Events Built Generational Emotion
Every previous iteration of All In carried a distinct narrative weight that anchored the entire summer. In 2023, the inaugural Wembley main event between MJF and Adam Cole thrived on a brilliant psychological dilemma: would Cole betray his best friend for the ultimate prize, or could their brotherhood survive the pressure of the world title? Fans were deeply invested because the stakes transcended workrate; it was an emotional roller coaster that delivered on every front when Cole chose friendship.
In 2024, the spotlight shifted toward Bryan Danielson’s emotional swan song. Facing a merciless, dominant world champion in Swerve Strickland, Danielson put his full-time career on the line in an electric WrestleMania XXX-style redemption arc. With his family watching from the front row, Danielson overcoming Swerve created one of the most unforgettable, cathartic championship celebrations in wrestling history.
That standard continued in 2025 with Jon Moxley and the Death Riders locking the AEW World Championship inside a steel briefcase. “Hangman” Adam Page embarked on a breathtaking redemption odyssey after winning the Owen Hart Cup, rebuilding his shattered self-belief while fighting through waves of Death Riders. His eventual victory inside a Texas Death Match, aided by Danielson, Darby Allin, and Swerve Strickland, served as the ultimate emotional payoff. In each of these instances, the story was simple, pure, and emotionally devastating.
Burning the Angles Early: The Premature Death Riders Split
The primary narrative flaw in the AEW All In 2026 build stems from burning crucial storyline triggers months before Wembley. When Will Ospreay returned from injury, his unexpected alliance with Jon Moxley and the Death Riders provided a fascinating moral dilemma. The faction pushed Ospreay to abandon his honor and take shortcuts to protect his surgically repaired neck.
Had this corruption arc simmered through the summer, the ultimate turning point—Ospreay rejecting Moxley’s sinister influence to fight with pure honor—would have created a massive explosion of babyface momentum inside Wembley Stadium. Instead, AEW rushed the trigger at the Redemption 2026 pay-per-view, where Ospreay severed ties with the Death Riders prematurely. Consequently, the faction tension was resolved on an intermediate B-show rather than providing the dramatic backbone of the company’s biggest stadium event.
Schedule Overload and Intermediate Distractions
Beyond narrative timing, erratic scheduling severely disrupted the weekly flow of television. Rather than a clean, linear build after Forbidden Door, the landscape was clouded by the sudden addition of Redemption and Grand Slam Mexico. Furthermore, the world title picture experienced a jarring shift when Kenny Omega dethroned MJF on the Dynamite: Beach Break TV special.
While Omega winning the gold was historic, pulling the trigger on free television undermined the pay-per-view hierarchy. MJF was effectively removed from the title scene without a marquee rematch, leaving Omega to headline Redemption in his hometown against TNT Champion Kevin Knight. Although the match was athletically impressive, the result was completely predictable, removing any genuine drama from the world title scene.
To make matters worse, Grand Slam Mexico placed Ospreay into an uninspired side-quest match against Mark Davis. Instead of high-stakes, intense face-to-face confrontations between the world champion and his top contender, television time was spent navigating detour matches that contributed nothing to the London main event.
The Alternate Blueprint: How AEW Should Have Booked the Rivalry
To maximize the drama of Omega versus Ospreay, AEW should have maintained clear stakes and delayed the major narrative payoffs until London. Below is the booking path that would have preserved maximum emotional tension:
- Keep the Gold on MJF Until Redemption: MJF should have walked into Redemption as the reigning champion, where Kenny Omega could have completed his heroic return by capturing the title in front of his hometown crowd.
- Let Ospreay’s Moral Dilemma Simmer: Ospreay should have remained tentatively aligned with the Death Riders throughout July, with Moxley constantly demanding that Ospreay use underhanded tactics against Omega.
- The Final Rejection at Wembley: The ultimate babyface turn—Ospreay finally turning his back on Moxley’s orders and choosing to defeat Omega cleanly—should have been saved as the climactic beat of All In.
- Laser-Focused Weekly Television: Eliminate peripheral singles bouts at intermediate specials and dedicate every broadcast to personal, uninterrupted promo battles between Omega and Ospreay.
Can Pure In-Ring Genius Save the Main Event?
Despite the structural shortcomings of the weekly television build, there is little doubt that Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay will deliver an athletic masterpiece once the bell rings. Both performers possess an unparalleled ability to tell physical stories inside the ropes, combining blistering speed, brutal strikes, and breathtaking high-risk maneuvers.
Their chemistry is undeniable, and their previous encounters prove they can elevate any atmosphere to legendary heights. The crowd at Wembley Stadium will be fiercely behind Ospreay, and Omega’s subtle heel-leaning persona will provide the necessary friction. However, great promos and historic match quality cannot completely mask the reality that the weekly episodic build left substantial dramatic money on the table.
Final Verdict: What Tony Khan Must Learn From the 2026 Stumble
The build to London proves that workrate alone cannot replace long-term emotional investment. Kenny Omega versus Will Ospreay will undoubtedly be remembered as an in-ring classic, but the road leading to it should have been an equally compelling narrative journey. As AEW moves forward, Tony Khan must remember that the greatest main events are built on emotional simplicity, patient storytelling, and saving the biggest storyline climaxes for the grandest stage.
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