AEW Redemption 2026 – PREDICTIONS
This Sunday, July 26th 2026, AEW will be making a pay-per-view pit stop on its way to its big All In show at Wembley Stadium with the debut of a brand new PPV titled Redemption. The title has ended up being rather odd. The scoop scoop is Kenny Omega defeating MJF for the world title was originally set to take place at this show. With that obviously no longer happening, this card now has zero matches that have anything to do with the concept of Redemption. There goes any chance of a Merriam-Webster sponsorship.
Tony Khan and company have put together a strong ten-match card, giving a boost to a show that feels somewhat less than due to what’s on the horizon. Ten PPV matches means Talent Alone is back to predict the outcome of all ten. It’s been a minute since our last batch of predictions. We skipped the most recent major WWE PLE in protest for not getting invited to the Riyadh comedy festival. We did also attempt to cover AEW’s Forbidden Door last month, but the door ended up being too forbidden. The last time we delivered our genius pro wrestling analysis to readers was at the end of May for WWE’s Clash in Italy, where Adam and I tied the night 3-2 each. The stalemate brings the running total for the season to Mike 16-3 and Adam 12-7.
This Redemption card gives Adam a lot of opportunities to make up ground, so let’s stop yapping and get after it.
AEW Redemption Predictions
No Holds Barred Match:
“The Painmaker” Chris Jericho vs Tommaso Ciampa
ADAM: I conceptually like the idea of this match. Ciampa made a name for himself with this kind of loose gimmickry. On the other hand, Jericho is a little long in the tooth on AEW these days, and bringing back The Painmaker is the “Hey, what if we had Cap and Robert Downey Jr in the next Avengers?” of wrestling gimmicks. Maybe the smart money is on Jericho, but I’ll take Ciampa and mix in some -170 “Ciampa to clap and pat himself on the back,” for good measure.
TOMMASO CIAMPA
MIKE: The Painmaker gimmick feels like a parody. It was fine when Jericho first did it back in 2019 in NJPW when he faced “The Rainmaker” Kazuchicka Okada (get it? Clever, right?), but that should’ve been the end of it. On top of that, does anybody actually get more excited for a match when Jericho announces he’s going to be in Painmaker mode? Despite what some within AEW might think, The Painmaker persona isn’t Chris Jericho’s Cactus Jack. Cactus was Foley’s original gimmick when he made a name for himself in the business while also becoming a hardcore legend. When he signed with WWF, that kind of character didn’t work with what the company was doing; it wasn’t cartoonish enough. The first time Foley showed up on WWE TV as Cactus Jack, it had an impact because the fans knew the legend of Mick Foley’s original character. The Painmaker is just Jericho wearing a spikey jacket and ICP reject face paint.
I want Ciampa to win this match, and he should win this match, which is going to make it all the more infuriating when he loses.
CHRIS JERICHO
AEW International Championship #1 Contender 6-Way Ladder Match:
Jack Perry vs The Beast Mortos vs Komander vs “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Nick Wayne vs El Clon
MIKE: When predicting a multi-man gimmick match such as this, I usually break it down by wrestler and make the case why each competitor will or won’t win. That’s not necessary for this one. Not only does Jack Perry have more star power than anybody in this match, AEW recently took the time to spotlight him re-signing with the company. All signs point to Perry being a priority moving forward.
JACK PERRY
ADAM: Since Mike didn’t do it, I’ll rank the competitors in order of how likely they are to be on Dancing With The Stars, from Most to Least Likely: The Beast Mortos, Jack Perry, Nick Wayne, El Clon, Komander, “Speedball” Mike Bailey. Oh, by the way, Mike Bailey is from Quebec.
“SPEEDBALL” MIKE BAILEY
AEW TBS Championship:
Hikaru Shida(c) vs Maya World
ADAM: This is, unfortunately, one of those “stay afloat until All In” matches. Maya World got a slick push from the Owen, but I think this is setting up for bigger game in Wembley, bruv.
HIKARU SHIDA
MIKE: It’s clear that Tony Khan is high on Maya World, as evident by the push she’s received the past couple months. It’s not building to her winning a championship in this match, however. Keep in mind that Maya World is only 23 years old. Right now the goal is to highlight World so the audience finds her credible and invests in watching her rise up the ranks, eventually capturing gold in the future when the time is right.
HIKARU SHIDA
AEW National Championship:
Mark Davis(c) vs Andrade El Ídolo
MIKE: It’s nice to see Andrade finally have some momentum again after spending the past few years of his career flip-flopping between AEW and WWE, but not getting anywhere. He’s always been a great worker with tons of charisma, and now he even has a catchphrase! (Honestly, I can’t believe AEW doesn’t have “How you know!” t-shirts yet.) El Idolo is over with the crowd, and I’m fairly certain he will hold one of the company’s many mid-card belts in the near future. It won’t happen here, however, as I expect Don Callis family shenanigans will cost Andrade and keep him in chasing mode.
MARK DAVIS
ADAM: I think Mike is wrong here; Andrade is one of the hottest things in AEW and this belt is so meaningless that it doesn’t mean anything to hand it to someone else. That being said, I might be getting Charlie Brown’d and finally starting to believe I’ll get to kick the ball.
ANDRADE EL ÍDOLO
AEW International Championship:
Kyle Fletcher(c) vs Bandido
ADAM: Another one that seems like an All In stepping stone. I think a really interesting set up would be Okada costing The Protostar the belt, and then they have like a First to Speak the Other’s Native Language Match at All In, but AEW is a little too belt-centric for that so I think I’m going to go with another retain here.
KYLE FLETCHER
MIKE: Talking about the International Championship Match right after predicting the National Championship match would often lead to a rant over AEW having too many damn titles, but I’m just going to take valium and let it go this time. This match should be a lot of fun. Don’t get me wrong, it’s going to have a lot of crazy series of moves, underselling, and a couple false finishes that completely jump the shark, but it’ll still be a fun ride. Putting on a good fast-paced match that the live crowd can ooh and aah at was the intention when they booked this. Fletcher’s not dropping the belt and will have a bigger match at Wembley, so in the meantime, give him someone to work with who can fly around the ring.
KYLE FLETCHER
AEW Women’s World Championship:
Thekla(c) vs Willow Nightingale
MIKE: When it comes to predicting AEW Women’s World Title matches lately, my immediate answer has been, “WOOO THEKLA!! TOXIC SPIDER 4 LYFE BAYBAY!!” Unfortunately, this matchup has forced me to take a pause. On one hand, keeping the belt on Thekla would not only benefit her, but continue to add equity to the title reign for the next champ to cash in on when they beat Thekla. On the other hand, the winner of this match will defend the belt against Mercedes Moné at All In. Considering Willow Nightingale is one of the top babyface women in the company, her facing Moné would naturally fit better. On top of that, Mone and Nightingale have crossed paths in the past, which would add a layer of history to the match at Wembley. While my heart will always choose Thekla, after examining the two potential paths ahead, I will sadly go with my brain on this one.
WILLOW NIGHTINGALE
ADAM: This is the match that feels the most up in the air. There doesn’t really seem to be a super strong connection between either Thekla or Willow and Mercedes and I’m not even sure how much input Mone gets on this match. So, I’m going to use this one as a chance to make up my deficit to Mike in the standings
THEKLA
Double Chain Tag Match:
Bang Bang Gang(Jay White & Juice Robinson) vs The Dogs(David Finlay & Clark Connors)
ADAM: Believing the Artists Formerly Known As the Bullet Club are going to get a real push is like thinking you can make it to space if you fart hard enough. Fortunately for the returning Jay White, they built the whole rocket out of fart for this one.
BANG BANG GANG (Dumb Fucking Name Still)
MIKE: This match would be better on paper if Gabe Kidd was in it instead of Clark Connors, but he’s still absent from AEW due to visa issues and competing in the current G1 tournament. Speaking of NJPW, they finally dissolved The Bullet Club the night after Wrestle Kingdom (Jan. 5th), yet Tony Khan keeps trying to tap the well. I get it, a lot of these guys used to be in Bullet Club after it peaked, so we have to have them wrestle each other. To be fair, Jay White became the leader of Bullet Club right after it peaked. David Finlay and The Wardogs were a part of the group as it was plummeting down towards the valley. Time to give Bang Bang Gang the win and move on to start doing more with Jay White, who AEW has woefully underutilized since he signed with the company.
BANG BANG GANG
AEW World Tag Team Championship:
Adam Copeland & Christian Cage(c) vs Death Riders(Claudio Castagnoli & Pac)
MIKE: No offense to Castagnoli and Pac, who are both great in their own right, but this match reeks of a placeholder to get to Wembley.
ADAM COPELAND & CHRISTIAN CAGE
ADAM: I gotta be honest, what is the point of this match even being on this card? It’s Canada, it’s not against the Bucks (or even FTR… or The New Day *eyeball emoji*), and it’s not All In. The chances of Cope and Cage dropping the belts here are the same as another Clinton ever sitting in the Oval Office. That’s right, we got political, can’t deal with it? Go back to Vox, you commies.
ADAM COPELAND & CHRISTIAN CAGE
The Young Bucks(Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs Death Riders(Jon Moxley & Will Ospreay)
ADAM: I think the Bucks win this. We know the Bucks have some potential big names on the horizon; Ospreay is going to main event All In, and somehow Mox will be world champion for 8 of the next 15 months. The question is: how do we get there? Issue between Mox and Ospreay? That could set up Mox vs Ospreay at some point in the future. Outside interference? Could refocus the storylines. Mox just wins, and we’re all confused? Honestly, maybe. I’ll stick with my gut here, but this seems like the It’s A Swerve, Bro potential match.
THE YOUNG BUCKS
MIKE: A part of the story they’ve been telling, especially during Will Ospreay’s matches, is how his time with the Death Riders has brought out a more aggressive and ruthless aspect of him in the ring. That needs to be the story in this match in order to create tension between Omega and Ospreay. En route to victory, Ospreay will take part in dishing out some punishment to the Young Bucks that Kenny will deem too far. I can’t handle four weeks of Omega and Ospreay giving each other flowers and talking about how happy they are to be wrestling each other. We need conflict to make the build interesting. Without it, you might as well just skip Dynamite for the next month unless you need inspiration for fan fiction between the two wrestlers.
JON MOXLEY & WILL OSPREAY…bruv
AEW World Championship:
Kenny Omega(c) vs Kevin Knight
MIKE: This match was put last on the list of our predictions because it’s for the world title, but there’s a chance it won’t go on last at the PPV. Omega vs Ospreay III is the big money match we are building to, and there is no one under contract that AEW could’ve put in this match to make it feel any different. Tony Khan has instead opted to use this spot to continue shining up Kevin Knight. I don’t hate the idea, they can’t get people sucked into the possibility of a title change, so at least get something out of the match by giving a rub to someone they see as one of their top young heels. I’m personally still not sold on Knight and wonder if this investment would be best spent on someone else. With that said, he should be able to hang with Omega and put on a good match before losing.
The Best Bout Machine, The Cleaner, The GOD of Professional Wrestling, KEEENNYYYY OOOOMEEGAAA!!!!!
ADAM: I might be the only one who is a little nervous about having Kenny work this match. I’m kind of in Embiid mode with him at this point. He hasn’t been healthy for an extended period in years and he desperately needs to get to Wembley in one piece or this becomes a huge what if. I like Kevin Knight and I believe he can carry a lot of this match but boy, I would have considered closing the show with the Women’s Match and keeping the top belt off the card.
KENNY OMEGA
10 Matches, 5 Disagreements. Mike is Walking In with a 4 point lead, and he’ll leave Canada with a 1 point deficit. Which the Canadian Government will subsidize. Bunch of commies.
Come back next time for more predictions!
