AEW Dynamite and Collision September 23, 2026 Preview: Ospreay and Moxley Take Final Tests Before All Out

AEW has three hours tonight and one final opportunity to make Saturday’s All Out feel essential. AEW Dynamite and Collision September 23, 2026 comes live from Fishers Event Center in Fishers, Indiana, with two hours of Dynamite followed by one hour of Collision for AEW’s final television stop before All Out this Saturday at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. AEW World Champion Will Ospreay and challenger Jon Moxley will both compete three days before their World Championship match, the AEW World Trios Championship will be decided before the winners immediately move on to another title defense at All Out, Persephone puts the TBS Championship on the line, and the Brawling Birds and Divine Dominion meet face-to-face before their Chicago Street Fight. AEW has already built a deep pay-per-view card. Tonight is about tightening it, raising the pressure and avoiding the temptation to turn three hours into one oversized collection of last-minute angles.

Here is everything advertised for tonight’s show.

• Swerve Strickland & The New Level (c) vs. The Demand (AEW World Trios Championship)
• Persephone (c) vs. Hyan (TBS Championship)
• AEW World Champion Will Ospreay and “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Claudio Castagnoli and Gabe Kidd
• Jon Moxley vs. Dezmond Xavier (AEW Continental Championship Eliminator)
• Renee Paquette hosts a face-to-face between AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions The Brawling Birds & Divine Dominion

Last week’s Dynamite finally gave Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley’s All Out rivalry the edge it needed.

Moxley has approached Ospreay differently from a normal World Championship challenger. He has spoken like someone who believes he understands the road Ospreay traveled to become champion because he helped push him down it. Moxley made it clear last week that he never wanted Ospreay to follow him. He wanted Ospreay to learn how to lead.

That makes Saturday about more than Moxley simply wanting another championship.

Moxley believes Ospreay eventually had to face him.

Last week’s main event pushed that idea from words into violence when Moxley, PAC and Gabe Kidd defeated Ospreay, Andrade El Ídolo and Francesco Akira.

The finish was deliberately excessive.

Moxley hit Akira with the Death Rider and then trapped him in the Bulldog Choke until the referee called for the bell. He did not stop there. Moxley went back after Akira once the match was finished, the Death Riders and The Dogs overwhelmed the opposition, and Gabe Kidd eventually placed a chair around Akira’s head and neck.

That finally brought Ospreay back into the fight.

Ospreay blasted Moxley and Kidd with Hidden Blades and stood alongside Andrade while protecting Akira. It was one of the better choices AEW made last week because Ospreay versus Moxley cannot survive on the promise of an excellent wrestling match alone. Their history already gives the match credibility. What it needed was a reason for Ospreay to hate what Moxley has become willing to do to the people around him.

Tonight continues that fight from two directions.

Ospreay teams with Mike Bailey against Claudio Castagnoli and Gabe Kidd, while Moxley faces Dezmond Xavier in a Continental Championship Eliminator.

Bailey’s involvement makes sense after Collision.

Bailey defeated Wheeler Yuta on Saturday with a cross-armed pin. Yuta attacked immediately afterward, the Death Riders and The Dogs joined him, and Bang Bang Gang rushed the ring as the situation turned into a full brawl.

Bailey has now been pulled directly into the larger war surrounding Ospreay.

Tonight gives Ospreay an opportunity to change the tone before All Out. For much of this rivalry, Moxley has controlled the psychological side. He has dictated the conversation, questioned what happens to Ospreay if he loses the championship and repeatedly forced Ospreay to react.

Ospreay needs to look like the AEW World Champion tonight, not simply the central target of another Death Riders attack.

Moxley has a different challenge against Xavier.

He defeated Zachary Wentz in another Continental Championship Eliminator on Collision, surviving Wentz’s speed before finishing him with the Death Rider. Facing Xavier tonight gives Moxley another Rascal and another athletic opponent three days before wrestling one of the fastest wrestlers in AEW.

There is nothing wrong with the concept.

The bigger question is what happens afterward.

AEW has already established that Moxley is dangerous. Another extended numbers-game beating would risk repeating last week rather than advancing the rivalry. The final chapter before All Out needs to tell us something new about Ospreay and Moxley.

The AEW World Trios Championship match arguably carries the biggest immediate consequence of anything advertised tonight.

Swerve Strickland, Kofi and Austin Creed defend against Ricochet, Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona of The Demand, with the winners moving directly into another championship defense against Hangman Adam Page, Bandido and Brody King at All Out.

That situation was built effectively last week.

Hangman and Brodido defeated Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong in the World Trios Championship Series. After a chaotic finishing stretch, Hangman hit Strong with the Buckshot Lariat and scored the deciding pin.

That secured the All Out opportunity.

The champions then discovered exactly how difficult getting there could become.

The Demand ambushed Swerve, Kofi and Creed before the champions could even settle into the ring. Kaun and Liona dismantled The New Level while Ricochet went after Swerve, eventually leaving all three champions down before The Demand posed with the World Trios Titles.

It was simple and effective.

The Demand did not need another long explanation about why they deserved the match. They attacked the champions and physically took possession of the belts without actually winning them.

Tonight determines whether that image was a warning or merely a photograph.

If Swerve, Kofi and Creed retain, they have to survive The Demand and then immediately prepare for Hangman, Bandido and Brody King three days later.

If The Demand wins, Ricochet, Kaun and Liona leave Fishers as champions and inherit the All Out defense.

Either result directly changes Saturday.

That is exactly the kind of match a go-home show needs.

The Brawling Birds and Divine Dominion also have unfinished business after last week.

Lena Kross defeated Jamie Hayter on Dynamite, but the result was hardly clean. Megan Bayne distracted the referee by grabbing one of the championship belts, allowing Kross to retrieve a hidden pipe from underneath the ring and strike Hayter with it. Kross then hit the Jackhammer for the win.

That finish mattered.

Hayter and Alex Windsor already took the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship from Divine Dominion at All In. If AEW wanted another match between the teams at All Out, Bayne and Kross needed something that changed the balance.

Kross pinning Hayter did that.

Tonight, the two teams sit down with Renee Paquette for a face-to-face before Saturday’s Chicago Street Fight.

This should not be complicated.

Hayter and Windsor have already promised what happens when the rules disappear. Divine Dominion has already demonstrated that cheating and violence are part of its strategy.

The face-to-face should make Saturday feel more dangerous without turning into another long segment that says what the previous month has already established.

Persephone also defends the TBS Championship tonight against Hyan.

Hyan is stepping forward with her partner and former TBS Champion Maya World sidelined by injury, giving Persephone another television defense early in her championship reign.

The importance here is less about forcing a massive storyline onto the match and more about giving Persephone meaningful television time as champion.

AEW has several championships competing for attention. A title only feels important if the champion is regularly put in situations where losing it matters.

Hyan gets a major opportunity tonight, while Persephone gets another chance to establish what her reign actually looks like.

Last week also considerably strengthened the rest of the All Out card.

Tommaso Ciampa made his intentions toward AEW International Champion Kazuchika Okada impossible to ignore.

Ciampa disposed of Myles Hawkins and made it clear that Okada was the opponent he wanted. When Okada later responded by insulting him, Ciampa attacked him backstage, sent him into the road cases and drove an exposed knee into him.

The angle was not complicated, and it did not need to be.

Ciampa wants the Rainmaker.

Not the reputation. Not the résumé. Not the version of Okada who believes his name is enough.

Ciampa wants to force that version of Okada back out.

That makes Saturday’s International Championship match less about whether the two can produce an excellent match — nobody needs convincing of that — and more about whether AEW can turn the confrontation into something beyond a dream match assembled close to the pay-per-view.

Collision added another championship match when Andrade El Ídolo successfully defended the AEW National Championship against Daniel Garcia.

Garcia pushed Andrade and repeatedly threatened to steal the championship before Andrade trapped him in the deciding pin.

Andrade barely had time to celebrate.

PAC, Gabe Kidd, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta and the rest of the Death Riders attack followed. PAC challenged Andrade for the National Championship, and the match was made official for All Out.

The matchup has history behind it.

Andrade and PAC split their previous two AEW singles matches, leaving Saturday as a natural rubber match years later with a championship attached.

That is one of the cleaner late additions to All Out because the history already exists. AEW does not need to pretend the rivalry began last Saturday.

Darby Allin also survived a much tougher TNT Championship defense against Myron Reed than the matchup initially suggested.

Reed pushed Allin throughout the match and came painfully close to an upset before his aggression finally cost him. Reed attempted a senton toward Allin on the floor, Allin moved, and Reed crashed through the chair he had positioned. Allin capitalized and finished him with the Coffin Drop.

The result protected Darby while allowing Reed to leave Collision with more credibility than he entered with.

More importantly for All Out, Darby immediately shifted his attention back to Steven Borden.

Darby and Borden face Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight on Saturday, with the winners becoming the No. 1 contenders for the AEW World Tag Team Championship.

AEW has handled Borden carefully.

He is inexperienced, and the company has not pretended otherwise. Instead, he has been placed beside veterans and given moments where his athleticism and progression can stand out without requiring him to carry an entire match.

That continued on Dynamite when Borden, Darby, Adam Copeland and Christian Cage defeated FTR, Fletcher and Knight. Borden scored the deciding pin on Dax Harwood after combining the Scorpion Death Drop with Darby’s Coffin Drop.

Saturday now asks for another step.

The women’s World Championship picture also moved forward without Mercedes Moné wrestling.

Mercedes is not cleared to compete at All Out but is expected back for WrestleDream. That created Willow Nightingale versus Thekla on Saturday, with the winner receiving the next AEW Women’s World Championship opportunity.

Collision gave Thekla the final televised match before that showdown.

With Willow sitting on commentary, Thekla defeated Zayda Steel after eventually cutting her down with a spear and then stomping her head into the mat before the pin.

Steel was allowed enough offense to prevent the match from feeling pointless, while Thekla got the dominant finish she needed heading into Willow.

The World Tag Team Championship picture is already chaotic enough without AEW adding another unnecessary layer tonight.

Adam Copeland and Christian Cage defend against FTR and The Young Bucks in a three-way ladder match at All Out.

Last week’s eight-man tag kept that story moving while also servicing Darby, Borden, Fletcher and Knight.

That is enough.

Copeland and Cage have the championships. FTR want them back. The Young Bucks believe they deserve another opportunity after how the championships changed hands at All In.

Put ladders around those three teams and the premise is already clear.

Jack Perry’s path toward Samoa Joe also gained structure last week.

Perry called Joe out on Dynamite as part of his mission to test himself against former AEW World Champions. Collision made it clear that simply saying Joe’s name does not automatically produce the match.

Perry has to go through Katsuyori Shibata first.

That happens during the All Out Tailgate.

It is a better choice than immediately giving Perry the Joe match. If Perry’s current story is built around proving himself against former World Champions and dangerous veterans, then making him earn his way toward Joe gives the journey an actual obstacle.

Collision also turned the Bailey-Yuta aftermath into Saturday’s Tornado Tailgate Brawl, with Jay White, Ace Austin, Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn facing David Finlay, Clark Connors, Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia.

Again, that is where the constant faction fighting becomes easier to accept: when the chaos actually creates a destination.

Chris Jericho and Nick Wayne were another important piece of last week’s Dynamite even though their story is not currently on the All Out card.

Jericho defeated Wayne after Wayne became distracted when his puka-shell necklace broke during the closing sequence. Jericho tried to offer a handshake afterward, and Wayne rejected it before attacking Jericho and repeatedly striking him with a chair.

Collision followed that with Wayne refusing to treat wrestling Jericho as some privilege.

That feud does not need to be forced onto All Out.

Allowing one AEW story to continue beyond Saturday is healthier than pretending every active rivalry needs a pay-per-view match immediately.

The broader reaction coming out of last week largely centered on the same thing: AEW was at its strongest when television actions created clear consequences.

Moxley’s treatment of Akira intensified the World Championship story.

The Demand’s attack created urgency around tonight’s Trios Title match.

Ciampa forced Okada to acknowledge him.

PAC turned Andrade’s successful title defense into another All Out championship match.

Darby’s TNT defense fed directly into his tag-team story with Steven Borden.

The weakness remains the amount of overlapping faction warfare.

Death Riders, The Dogs, United Empire and their various enemies can begin to blur together when several matches end with bodies flooding the ring.

Tonight has to be disciplined.

Three hours gives AEW plenty of time.

It does not mean AEW has to use every minute adding something else.

Current AEW All Out Card

• Will Ospreay (c) vs. AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley (AEW World Championship)
• Adam Copeland and Christian Cage (c) vs. FTR vs. The Young Bucks (AEW World Tag Team Championship Ladder Match)
• The Brawling Birds (c) vs. Divine Dominion (AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship Chicago Street Fight)
• Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa (AEW International Championship)
• Andrade El Ídolo (c) vs. PAC (AEW National Championship)
• Tonight’s winner between Swerve Strickland, Kofi and Austin Creed (c) and The Demand vs. Hangman Adam Page, Bandido and Brody King (AEW World Trios Championship)
• Willow Nightingale vs. Thekla (AEW Women’s World Championship No. 1 Contender Match & winner challenges Mercedes Moné at WrestleDream)
• TNT Champion Darby Allin and Steven Borden vs. Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight (AEW World Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender Match)
• The Bang Bang Gang vs. David Finlay, Clark Connors, Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia (All Out Tailgate Tornado Tailgate Brawl)
• Jack Perry vs. Katsuyori Shibata (All Out Tailgate)

Final Thoughts

Tonight should not be judged by how much AEW can cram into three hours.

It should be judged by whether All Out feels bigger when those three hours are over.

The World Trios Championship match has immediate consequences. Ospreay and Moxley are both competing three days before fighting for the World Championship. The Brawling Birds and Divine Dominion are one confrontation away from a Chicago Street Fight. Persephone has another opportunity to strengthen the TBS Championship. Several major All Out programs already have enough history that another giant pull-apart would add nothing.

AEW has the card.

It has the match quality.

Most importantly, it now has enough stories underneath those matches that Saturday does not have to depend entirely on the names involved.

Tonight’s job is to sharpen those stories without overworking them.

Give Ospreay and Moxley one final meaningful development. Let the Trios Championship match reshape Saturday in real time. Make the women’s tag-team fight feel dangerous. Keep the rest focused.

AEW does not need to rebuild All Out tonight.

It needs to make viewers feel like missing Saturday would mean missing what all of this was leading toward.

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