AEW REDEMPTION

 

Montreal

THE CONGLOMERATION (ORANGE CASSIDY, RODERICK STRONG & KYLE O'REILLY) vs. THE LETHAL TWIST (BLAKE CHRISTIAN, JAY LETHAL & LEE JOHNSON) (11:54): This was a B-show if there ever was one. Originally, Kenny Omega was supposed to beat MJF in the main event on this show and win the title, hence the "redemption" title and also why it was in Montreal (Omega is from Canada). Omega lost to MJF at Dynasty in the main event and this would be his redemption. Well...they didn't do that. They decided to have Omega win the title on the Beach Break episode of Dynamite a few weeks ago (which was outside in Florida). Some reports online mentioned that MJF asked for the match to be earlier so he could heal from his injuries in time for All In at the end of August. Either way, they really sacrificed this PPV for that decision. They'll definitely have a low buy rate for this show, and the show didn't get good reviews. The first three matches of the PPV were great and then the rest was average stuff. The show was also really long for a B-show, almost going 5 hours (Tony Khan apparently heard the criticism for these PPV's going late and instead of just shortening them he made this a 7 PM earlier start). They did only have on pre-show match, this Trios championship match. It was entertaining. I was thinking while watching this that they should really be doing something more with Orange Cassidy besides having him in these random trios matches. I guess they figured this out as well, since The Conglomeration lost the Trios championship to Ricochet and his boys on Dynamite after this show. **1/2

MIKE BAILEY vs. EL CLON vs. JACK PERRY vs. KOMANDER vs. NICK WAYNE vs. THE BEAST MORTOS "LADDER MATCH" (20:02): This match was fantastic. The Beast Mortos hasn't been on Dynamite or Collision for months because he can't get a Visa to enter the U.S. but I guess he doesn't have a problem getting into Canada. I'm so glad that Nick Wayne is back from injury because he's looked great so far and really adds a youthful energy to AEW. Mike Bailey and Jack Perry both did moonsaults off of a ladder by the stage. Kommander did his rope walk dive through someone on a table at ringside. Bailey, who's from Canada, won the contract to get an International title shot. The crowd was hot for this and roared when Bailey won. ***1/2

THE YOUNG BUCKS vs. WILL OSPREAY & JON MOXLEY (19:36): Good match. Instead of just doing a total spot fest, they came up with a creative storyline. Early on, Ospreay and Nick Jackson bumped heads. I totally fell for it at first and thought it was by accident. The story was that this head bump caused Nick to be concussed and out of it and thus laying at ringside out of the match. By the end, Moxley was giving Nick brutal DDT's and head shots and Ospreay wasn't into this because Ospreay is supposed to be a good guy. When Moxley grabbed a chair to use on Nick, Ospreay had enough and knocked Moxley down. Besides the storyline, they all did their high flying, fast paced moves and big moves that got the crowd pumped up. Early on, with Nick out of it, the match was slow and more a beat down...so the whole thing wasn't excellent. By the end, though, this turned into a great, dramatic match. ***1/2

KYLE FLETCHER vs. BANDIDO (26:14): Another really good match. Fletcher was the best wrestler of 2025 in my opinion. He was out of action for awhile with an injury this year and hasn't had as many big, great matches. The year is halfway over and he still might be the best wrestler of 2026 so far. I'm not sure who else there is? The crowd got really into this by the end with both men delivering big, devastating moves. The gimmick in this was that Bandido kept kicking out of everything and the crowd was shocked. Eventually, Fletcher gave Bandido a top rope, falling DDT on the ring post to win and keep the International title. ***1/2

THE DOGS (CLARK CONNORS & DAVID FINLAY) vs. BANG BANG GANG (JAY WHITE & JUICE ROBINSON) "DOUBLE CHAIN MATCH" (17:35): This was when the wheels fell off the PPV. Nobody cared about this match and it wasn't any good. FTR and The Briscoe's had a good double chain match a few years ago. Obviously, it can be done. These two teams aren't FTR and The Briscoe's, though. The dead, silent crowd didn't help but who can blame them? It was boring. They whipped each other with the chains, clotheslined each other with the chains, and got tangled up in the chains and the ropes. Eh. Connors and Finlay have so far been duds in AEW. *

MAYA WORLD vs. HIKARU SHIDA (16:37): Maya World, who got a push because her brother died, won the TBS title here. The crowd wasn't really into this match. The big problem with this PPV was that a lot of these matches were just matches we'd see on Dynamite. And if this was on Dynamite I would've fast-forwarded it. This never turned into anything noteworthy, though it was fine. *1/2 

ADAM COPELAND & CHRISTIAN CAGE vs. CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI & PAC (18:36): Edge & Christian retained the tag team titles. At least the crowd was into this because Cage & Cope are from Canada. The match was fine, though having a tag title match with a team that isn't even a tag team (Claudio & PAC) on a PPV is kind of lame. It was fairly entertaining. Cage & Cope are wrestling The Young Bucks at Wembley next month for the titles. Have they never really wrestled before? That's kind of crazy. **1/2

THE PAIN MAKER (JERICHO) vs. TOMMASO CIAMPA (21:52): At least when AEW does a hardcore match it's actually a hardcore match, unlike the WWE. The WWE is having a Hell in a Cell match at Summerslam next week with Brock vs. Oba Femi. I doubt that will be hell. This was hell. They used two windows, a barbed wire bat, a barbed wire table, and hockey pucks with thumbtacks attached to them, among other things. The ending had Jericho, who was doing his Pain Maker gimmick (he did it once before in NJPW), use an electric drill to drill Ciampa's skull. The ref stopped the match before Ciampa could, like, die...or, you know, actually drill his head. Ciampa was a bloody mess. The crowd popped for the gruesome spots. I thought the best spot was when Ciampa put on a Boston hockey jersey and then started beating up the Montreal Canadiens mascot doll then tried to pin it (the ref started counting for some reason). That was amusing. I give Jericho credit: he's still going all out at his age. I mean...he doesn't have to be going through barbed wire tables or being slammed off the top rope through a windowpane. **1/2

ANDRADE EL IDOLO vs. MARK DAVIS (16:13): Andrade won the National title. Andrade was never this over during his first run in AEW. He looks like he's having a blast now that the fans are cheering him and chanting his new catchphrase ("How you know?"). Good for him. This match didn't exactly belong on a PPV, though. This is something suitable for Dynamite or Collision. The match was fine but nothing special. **

WILLOW NIGHTINGALE vs. THEKLA (15:58): I'm glad Thekla lost the women's championship here because she's never been in a great match as champ. She's good as a heel and on the mic but not particularly entertaining in the ring. This match never really heated up into much of anything. It was fine, forgettable save for the title change. Willow will now face Mercedes at Wembley. Mercedes has never been the AEW women's champion yet? I'm surprised at that. And where's Toni Storm? Injured I guess? She's been gone for months without a peep. *1/2

KENNY OMEGA vs. KEVIN KNIGHT (24:59): The big problem with this match was that the main event of Wembley was already announced (Ospreay vs. Omega) so nobody thought Kevin was winning the title. I figured that it didn't matter that much because Kevin Knight is exciting and does a lot of big dives and high spots and this should be good. It turned out to be just an okay match. Knight did do a cool bell-to-bell drop kick. Omega gave Knight a snap suplex on the announce table. There was no drama in this, though. Omega seemed fired up and looked better, faster, and crisper than usual...but this just never turned into the high stakes, dramatic, exciting main event you want to see. I figured that they'd do a bunch of interference from the Don Callis family but they didn't even do that. Knight did do a belt shot when the ref wasn't looking. After the match, The Death Riders beat up Kenny and Ospreay made the save. Moxley wanted Ospreay to choke out Omega with a plastic bag but Ospreay wouldn't do it and clocked Moxley. After all this, Omega gave Ospreay a One-Winged Angel. I guess they did this because at Wembley they want Ospreay to be the total babyface and Omega to be kind-of sort-of the heel. On to Grand Slam Mexico (Fletcher/Bailey) and then Wembley. Yeah, there's Summerslam before that but I'm not too excited about that one. **1/2