All In Weekend

The State of “All In” Weekend in the UK

By Peter Edge

“All In” at Wembley is upon us. For the third time in four years, the August Bank Holiday weekend will see wrestling fans from all over the UK and a number of fans from outside the country converge in the capital of England to attend what is now the premiere event in All Elite Wrestling’s PPV calendar.

What started as a four PPV a year structure became five in 2022, then became six with the earth shattering announcement that AEW would be doing Wembley Stadium. It wasn’t a case of “Where were you?” when Adam Cole and Tony Khan made that announcement but “What did you think?”

My reaction was, “Oh no, Adam messed the announcement up.” Surely, he meant Wembley Arena, right? But no, Wembley Stadium was where the first ever AEW show on British shores would take place. It was the biggest risk that AEW had made in years and it succeeded. No matter what you thought of the show (and especially its ending), the fact that Wembley Stadium had 72,000 through the turnstiles on August 27th 2023 (Americans learning, or refusing to learn, about the concept of turnstiles was a funny discourse) was a fantastic achievement, especially with the events going on that weekend.

A train strike on the Saturday meant travel to London on that day was chaotic and the ramifications carried onto the next day; on the Sunday, many fans were left outside London on a day where they spent three figures with tickets and travel and probably accommodation, and add to that a couple of strains of Covid – while not of immediate concern, still had recipients of it stricken in bed when in contact with it – were swirling around the UK, it would lead to 10,000 that had bought tickets not making it to Wembley.

In my life, my employer had an alert when someone in the workforce went down with the strain, leading to a wonderful case of anxiety that I might not make it to London.

But I made it and that day was unforgettable. That feeling of seeing a wrestling ring inside the world famous Wembley Stadium is hard to describe. I still remember looking around and seeing a fan 20 feet away with his hands on top of his head just soaking it in. I gave a quick chuckle out loud and gave an audible expletive.

It felt so surreal, a wrestling company that wasn’t WWE was doing Wembley Stadium and it was going to work out. It worked out so well that AEW announced that they were going to do it again.

Once again on Bank Holiday Weekend, AEW was going to do a show at the 90,000 seat Wembley. Could they do what they did that night again?

No. They were never going to.

A lot of casuals turned up that day in 2023 for a big event. A lot of people with hardly any knowledge of AEW turned up; and worse still, a lot of CM Punk fans turned up. An example of the kind of fan that helped fill up Wembley that afternoon saw me waiting for a train from Willesden Junction and asked me what the main event for the show was and then proceeded to inquire if Jeff Hardy was going to be there. I guess he didn’t know that Jeff is barred from the UK.

I’m guessing the person who asked me those questions didn’t attend the second “All In” at Wembley. He wasn’t the only one that didn’t attend both.

© AEW

The official number as given by Brent Council, the local authority where Wembley is situated (another fun discourse) for “All In” 2024 was 46,476 – a drop of 36% from the number the previous year with 53,385 announced for “All In” 2023. 40,000+ people was a very good achievement. The previous challenger to World Wrestling Entertainment’s crown, WCW, never once got above 42,000 on a show that they solely promoted (just in case pedantic people want to claim the North Korea show and the Tokyo Dome shows that they had their name associated with in 1991, 1992 and 1994), and there’s a very good chance that AEW will do it three times in consecutive Wembley shows.

So why do the vibes feel so ‘meh’ when it comes to this “All In”? And no, I’m not just talking about the booking heading into the show.

As good as the achievement of three 42,000+ tickets sold is, even with the expectation that the Brent Council number when Brandon Thurston gets the email from them will be less than the announcement of tickets sold on “All In” night, a half empty Wembley Stadium looks off, even if an end will be blocked off by the stage set up. The red seats stand out. Heck, they stood out in 2023 when 72,000 were in the stadium.

2025 saw Coldplay having Wembley booked for the August holiday weekend, meaning that a new direction was needed for AEW and we got “Forbidden Door 2025” at the O2 Arena and that I can blame Coldplay for having to deal with the AXS app.

The O2 Arena show getting to 18,992 was a great achievement for the company, especially after a first week of sales that were under expectations. But with a great atmosphere on the night and a very good card of action, it was a success story for the company.

So, in the time-honoured tradition of TK learning the wrong lessons from promotional successes, we are back at Wembley Stadium.

AEW will get to 45,000, in my opinion, but with the two previous Wembley Stadium shows seeing a drop of around 12% from the announced number of tickets sold on the night to the number that Brent Council gives Brandon Thurston a couple of weeks after the show replying to an email request, I expect Brandon and Jon Pollock to discuss a number of around 39,000 on an episode of Wrestlenomics sometime in September.

That’s a lot of red seats.

The August bank holiday weekend has become the UK scene’s chance to put on a “WrestleMania” weekend-style experience for UK fans. The biggest promotions in the country announce shows for the weekend, with some of the underground companies based in London starting the weekend out. Pro Wrestling Ceasefire normally start out with a show on a Thursday night show and Riot Cabaret usually have Friday to themselves, as EVE and Rev Pro take over Saturday. Progress normally round off the weekend by having a show on Monday afternoon, hopefully before out of towners leave the capital.

Look, it’s Progress – what can I say?

But as we will talk about later in our “All In” weekend previews, the changing landscape of wrestling in this country means that EVE will now be on Friday Night, thanks to their home in Walthamstow being an hours journey from Wembley Arena on tube, where Revolution Pro will be hosting their “Anniversary” show.

Mystery Wrestling and Attack Wrestling have joined the party with shows on Saturday and Monday, respectively. In all, the independent side of the ‘AEW in London’ weekend is thriving, with EVE selling out their seating allocation in record time and Rev Pro having a shot at breaking their attendance record. Plus Ceasefire is sold out, as is Riot Cabaret.

AEW’s contributions to the weekend away from the 5pm-10pm slot on Sunday night (British Summer Time) have left a lot to be desired, though.

Fan fests that the company has put on have been damp squibs. The 2023 version was a shambles. Anecdotal evidence from people I know said that queue management was really bad and meet and greets ended up being shared with other paying customers.

There will be a fan experience during the weekend with the opportunity to meet people from the company. But the experiences from previous years have turned people off from making the trip to The Great Hall at Wembley Complex.

Last year’s “All In” saw the accompanying Starrcast turn out to be a fantastic success. Conrad Thompson might low-key be one of the people most responsible for the worst discourse we have in wrestling in 2026, but he knows how to put together a convention.

The chances of Starrcast coming to the UK is as likely as Hull City staying up in the EPL this season, however, because logistically it’s difficult to pull off such an event; but AEW could have still looked at the basis for something like Starrcast and pulled it off to give their consumers something to take with them after the weekend.

AEW could have also had a Ring of Honor show this weekend coming. While it is difficult to fit in an event on a weekend that has little room for manoeuvre, a Saturday afternoon show could have been pulled off with some long term planning.

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking – Tony Khan and logical long-term planning go together like watermelon and gravy.

So, what about the future of AEW and what has become their biggest show on their PPV calendar? And what about the future of AEW and the bank holiday weekend here in the UK?

Coldplay’s series of events in ’25 meant that “All In” went to Texas that year and another year in the US wouldn’t go amiss for the “All In” brand. A baseball dome would work brilliantly for the company again, but the lack of options is quite startlingly bleak.

Of the indoor stadiums in North America that are in the 45,000-55,000 capacity range, Chase Field in Phoenix is a no-go as the Arizona Diamondbacks stadium will host the “Royal Rumble” in February 2027. No one wants to go to Milwaukee in July so the Brewers home, American Family Field, is unlikely. Miami hasn’t been a city that you would call an All Elite city by any stretch. Toronto would be an interesting pick if AEW wanted to have “All In” be an international destination show but there are also flaws to that argument, i.e., Adam Copeland getting a push; so all that is left is the two Texas baseball stadiums, Houston’s Daikin Park or a return to Arlington and Globe Life Field. We all know that Tony is someone that has wanted to have traditions in his company and alternating “All In” between London and Texas would be a sensible one.

AEW and PPVs on holiday weekends is one of the foundations that Tony Khan wanted to build the company on from its founding.

“Double or Nothing” in Vegas on Memorial Day weekend and All Out in Chicago on Labour Day weekend are no more, so London and the bank holiday weekend isn’t something that the company can be wed to forever.

Americans have been reading this and probably thinking, “What is a bank holiday?” Some young Brits are probably thinking that too, probably.

It’s basically a national holiday, with the term ‘bank holiday’ coming from banking institutions being closed on these national holidays, a tradition that still continues today. Away from the usual Easter and Christmas-period related holidays, we here in England get four bank holidays that fall on Mondays, and the August one is the only one in the second half of the year (Tony Khan wants me to spend it on a National Express coach).

Tony Khan must pay for his crimes.

AEW being on this weekend can see clashes for fans who have a family life, this one especially, with the day after bank holiday Monday this year seeing the schools back from their summer break. August bank holiday weekend also sees the Notting Hill Carnival take place (or ‘Carnival’ if you’re local), which has made travel back from Wembley on Sunday night very packed and travel on Monday morning very annoying.

Add the dwindling numbers by each Wembley Arena show and the increasing number of red seats at Wembley and another venue for a stadium in London to host “All In” becomes an increasingly smart idea. But where?

First off, AEW are probably not going outside the M25 for a big event. As much as Manchester in the summer seems fun and (as a Brummie) Villa Park would be hilariously brilliant, AEW in the capital on bank holiday weekend will always be the play for Tony Khan and AEW because it’s the best place to incite fans who are going to fly in.

But the lack of viable options despite London being home to four stadiums (excluding Wembley) with 50,000+ capacities is glaring.

There is someone reading this who is shouting, “What about Craven Cottage?” I’m guessing. But logistically it would be “pretty much impossible”. That was Tony Khan’s exact description of the task of loading in the ring and stage for an event at the Cottage, where the football team he owns, Fulham FC play, in an interview with talkWRESTLING a few years ago. Plus the 27,000 seats at the Cottage would be a big downgrade from Wembley as a 90,000 seater.

The two absolute non-starters are the London stadium, which played host to the athletics at the 2012 Olympics – even if you take away the absolute chore it is to watch West Ham United, the stadium they now call home isn’t football fan friendly at all, so watching wrestling would be awful there; and then Twickenham, which is nicknamed “HQ” by rugby union followers, and rugby is pretty much the only sport that the owners have allowed in the hallowed stands, with Rugby Leagues Challenge Cup final hosted there, plus a couple of NFL games – and while the likes of Bon Jovi and Beyonce have done concerts there, the prospect of professional wrestling being at HQ seems minimal.

The two more interesting prospects are the Emirates, home of Premier League champions Arsenal…..(Sorry, I had to take a cold shower after typing that) and the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, the home of the greatest team the world has ever seen, Tottenham Hotspur…

…Why is everyone laughing?

Both stadiums are 60,000 capacity and very apparently good experiences for the fans in the stadium. I’ve never been to the Emirates, because I’m scared I might get leprosy if I go to Islington, but the reviews are good from what the internet tells me.

Tottenham have the edge, and not because it’s a higher class of area than Islington, but because they have become a stop for the bigger sporting events, with big boxing matches and the NFL hosting two matches a year at the Tottenham stadium.

But there are other options. The O2 Arena hosting an AEW PPV would be fun to do once again, even if the ticket buying experience was no fun at all and leaving the O2 complex last August was possibly a worse experience than leaving Wembley after “All In”.

Maybe AEW could offset the loss of revenue by making more stops to the UK for “Dynamite” and “Collision”, seeing that the Co-Op Manchester was a success despite the timing of the show being ridiculously close to Christmas.

There is a lot of potential to unearth in the market for AEW even if WWE are trying to dominate the market with the increase of visits to the country in the last two years.

The numbers AEW get for airings of “Dynamite” and “Collision” are impressive, and for the third consecutive stadium they will have 40,000+ tickets sold. All Elite Wrestling just need to find ways to utilise that fanbase to its maximisation, and it might need a deviation from tradition to do so.

© AEW

Preview for “All In 2026”

Date: Show begins August 30, 2026, 6:00PM. BST (1:00PM ET/10:00PM PT)
Location: Wembley Stadium, London, England
Watch On: HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Youtube TV, myAEW

Preview By: Hillary

AEW’s biggest show of the year is coming to us next sunday like a train crash. It’s going very quickly towards us, almost too quickly if we are being honest, judging by the amount of plot to go on…and I, at least, cannot look away. As of press time, there are still a lot of question marks. Plot is thin on the ground in this showing, but the wrestling itself looks, per usual, to be ready to drastically overperform and there are several matches to be on the watch for. The card is missing a lot of the usual suspects announced at this point, and while I am so excited AEW is actively platforming more than one women’s match in a night, I would like to see more come in on that front as well. Zero Hour is, at press time, still unannounced, likely making this the third consecutive pay per view without a solid series of wrestling warm ups. I do not like this trend. It worked at “Double or Nothing” due to that Zero Hour being plot heavy, but it didn’t work at “Redemption”, and I am sad if this is how it will be moving forward. I have seen the Costco guys advertising their appearances, so I am sure that will be happening, though against whom or for what, who can know?

Aside from the Casino Gauntlet, all matches are title matches, and unlike last year, there will not be a women’s gauntlet. There seems to be enough room for an at least 21-person match, but not for Kris Statlander, Mina Shirakawa, Thekla, Shida, or Maya World (not even starting on my sorrow for lack of Riho or Athena). I am pouring out my glass, as I would have loved to see them. Aside from a disconcerting lack of women, there’s also a lack of grudge matches. To give credit where it’s due, several of the midcard belts are wrapped in personal stories…but they are stories that are disjointed or glacially slow to come to their resolution. So, with all of that out of the way, let’s get down to each match and what to know or look out for!

The current card is:

Men’s Casino Gauntlet Match (for a future AEW World Championship Match)

1st Entry: Andrade El Idolo; 2nd Entry: Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF)

This will be the third annual version of this match. Every so often, another man will come out to fight with our two known entrants. This match will be filled with most of the wrestlers without friends (see below for why!). Two weeks ago, I might have suggested that this match would include your Orange Cassidy sighting, David Finlay, or Jay White. All of those men have at least two friends and have made noises about a different match for the night, so I suspect we will see Jack Perry, Nick Wayne, Tomasso Ciampa, Speedball, and Komander, and possibly a debut.
In terms of who I think wins? I hope it’s our very own “Real Latino Man”, but as he’s currently a babyface, I am honestly not sure he makes sense in a program with either Will or Kenny. I may have a tantrum myself if it’s MJF, because he needs a little time not being champion. I am excited to watch MJF and Andrade continue their feuding, and I hope that he can get MJF’s emotional support belt away from him and destroy it so they can have an actual blow-off match. If this happens, I will pop and this will automatically become my favorite thing of the night. In a lot of ways, this match not being a foregone conclusion makes it more exciting, so stay tuned!

© AEW

Continental Challenge Cup Final

Jon Moxley (c) or Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kyle O’Reilly or Nigel McGuinness
My money for this match is Nigel McGuinness vs Jon Moxley, with Mox winning it. The wrestling will be superb with Mox at the helm but this is the match I am least looking forward to and I have the least emotional investment in. I am sure that the match will be ably wrestled, but the story of this match is Mox gets to retain his belt. Nigel appears at this moment to be getting this spot as a bit of fan service for the home crowd at Wembley, which I strongly consider a misread of what the fans would prefer…especially if Mox retains against him. Maybe my lack of commentary on this match is commentary in and of itself.

AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship Match
Divine Dominion (Lena Kross and Megan Bayne) (c) vs. The Brawling Birds (Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter)

Let’s switch things up and discuss one of our two women’s matches of the day. The ladies have attempted to keep a throughline to this match as the two undefeated women’s tag teams, though some of the plot has been a bit hamhanded. It’s made our Birds a bit one-note by making them caricatures of Brits in general, but I think the match will be really fun. I suspect this night both Will and his wife come away with belts in an attempt at a feel-good overall story for fans and reviewers alike.

AEW Men’s World Tag Team Championship Match
Christian Cage & Adam Copeland (c) vs The Young Bucks

Win or lose this match will be wonderful, as Matt and Nick Jackson will make sure that it is. I suspect they and Christian will carry the day for something fun. I desperately want a Young Bucks win, but if they don’t, I am going to choose to trust the process. Looking back at the past year, the Bucks have singlehandedly gotten multiple feuds back on track with a deft touch. I expect no less for their own plot moving forward. Last year, the Bucks match with Swerve and Will Ospreay stole the show. I don’t have such lofty hopes this year, but I do expect this will be so much fun.

AEW TNT Championship Match (Falls Count Anywhere)
Kevin Knight (c) vs. Darby Allin

This feud was briefly stopped due to the Omega match last pay-per-view cycle but until that point was going quite well. This is one of the few matches on this card with plot or potential emotional attachment. Kevin Knight attacked Darby at the end of “Double or Nothing” after the latter’s loss to MJF. Until Kenny’s return, this match seemed like it would culminate at “Redemption”, however, with the earlier title change, the interactions between the two were put on ice. In Baltimore last Wednesday, Knight messed with Darby’s pyro as a distraction to hit him with the TNT belt. This is a match that will overperform and may well be a “dark horse” match of the night contender. There are clear heel/face alignments, a story and personal interactions to hinge an emotional throughline on, and two truly amazing workers.

© AEW

AEW International Championship Match
Kyle Fletcher (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kazuchika Okada

This is the match I am most looking forward to on the card. Has this incestuous threesome gone on in AEW for seemingly forever? Yes. Do all three of them have amazing chemistry? Yes. Are all three men able to tell a story in the match itself that pushes that story forward and maybe moves Fletcher closer to the babyface run I dream about? I hope so! These three men are some of my favorite people on the roster, and for moves and in-match storytelling alone I am ready for this bout. Further, where other matches are on-and-off plot (see directly above) or have no plot at all (looks around at every other match that’s not a men’s or women’s world championship belt), it’s nice that there are emotional underpinnings and some stakes in terms of a story here. This is the other match I think is in a quiet competition for best match of the night.

AEW World Trios Championship Match
El Bueno, El Malo, y El Guapo* (Hangman Adam Page, Brody King, and Bandido) (c) vs. the rest of the roster

Ugh. I guess we need to talk about Hangman’s open challenge. So far the Dogs, the Bang Bang Gang, and Swerve have all answered the call. I will never say no to Swerve and Page inhabiting a story together. I do have to caution that if we count the other men in AEW with friends, we likely also have the Conglomeration, Lethal Twist, and the Demand in the match. That’s 21 people. That’s so many men. That’s too many men, even. I don’t even know how this one will work. It’s just so much. The ring can only hold so many people! It’s going to be a combination spot fest and chaotic Dante’s inferno of men all competing to be the best threesome in the division. I am excited for the debut of Swerve’s friends. I am excited for Brodido and their angry horse man. I am excited for Swerve. I am sure the rest (who are all capable, my love of Orange Cassidy is well known) will perform ably.

*(Editor’s Note: This is my favorite of the fanon trios team name possibilities and they should name themselves this. Put the cowboy in a trios tag team and name it for good. Surely this means he gets to stay in it for a really long while.)

© AEW

AEW Women’s World Championship Match
Willow Nightingale (c) vs. Mercedes Moné

This match is going to be fun. Where there has otherwise been little to no plot on the ground, Willow and Mercedes have made the most of their feud. Willow fought Mercedes in an NJPW Strong match prior to Moné’s entry into AEW where Mercedes was injured. Though each of their stars have waxed and waned in the championship department, Willow has since remained a roadblock to Mercedes’s ambitions. The women had a one-on-one last Wednesday where they were able to lay down clear motivations and match expectations that led to a brawl. It was excellent. Both of these women are excellent. I know I talked up the three way match and Kevin Knight vs Darby Allin, but these women will bring everything to this match and will leave it there for our entertainment.

AEW World Heavy Weight Championship Match
Kenny Omega (c) vs Will Ospreay

Like with the women, this match has a theoretical plot. Unlike the women, this match has a disjoined plot that has made no sense at any point for months. We have had the Death Rider cult and Will’s hope for friends, we have had Will saying he could do it all himself, we have then had Will call in friends from NJPW. Nothing Will is doing has made this coronation that surely is coming for him feel earned. I would love to cheer for Will. I have noticed Kenny go deeper into his cartoon villain voice and characterizations…but I remain unmoved. I am not going to try to make sense of the last six months of plot…because at the end of the day there is no real story for this. This is arena Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay. When they enter the ring, this match will be next level. Where all of the other matches benefit from emotional resonance, depth of character, or a storyline that people are invested in – trying to understand the things we have been seeing between these two will lessen the anticipation, I believe. All you need to know is that Omega and Ospreay are main eventing an arena show. They will both show up. I will, too.

© Pro Wrestling EVE

EVE: Riot Grrrls of Wrestling – “EVE x The World 2”

Date: Friday, August 28th, 7:30PM BST
Watch On: YouTube (Subscription) / MyAEW (PPV)

Preview by: Peter Edge

In the previous three AEW in London weekends, EVE: Riot Grrrls of Wrestling have put on shows on the same day as Rev Pro’s “Anniversary” show, scheduling the show earlier in the day than Rev Pro, to give fans ample time to attend both.

This year sees a departure from this, as EVE will go on their traditional Friday evening timeslot, instead of Saturday. The reason being that EVE now has a settled home of The Big Penny Social, after moving around venues post the closing of their original home. Each of their first three weekend shows timed around AEW shows had been in three separate buildings (Tufnell Park Dome, Conway Hall and Big Penny).

The Big Penny being in Walthamstow and the time consuming one hour Tube journey that would result for fans – and wrestlers – wanting to attend both the EVE and Rev Pro shows presented issues last year. There was some controversy that resulted in British wrestling circles after EVE and Rev Pro ran head-to-head shows on opposite ends of London last year, which resulted in Safire Reed and Nina Samuels having to make the long journey from Crystal Palace to The Big Penny. Hence, EVE moved their “All In” weekend show this year to Friday, the day of the week that EVE runs their monthly shows at the Big Penny.

In sync with the theme of the weekend, “EVE x The World 2” will be more or less a ‘mystery vortex’ show. What we know that is on the card is the EVE International Title match between Miyu Yamashita and Kay Lee Ray. When we last left EVE here in the pages of this newsletter, KLR and Rhio were going to have a No.1 contenders match. That contest at the July show called “Beers, Brawls and Burlesque” was fun and was won by Kay Lee.

The match at “EVE x The World 2” fits into the unique selling point of the championship in the last year since Kris Statlander’s reign with the title. Statlander would face some of the big names in EVE with a great match against Nina Samuels and a match against TAFKA Dakota Kai (working as Charlie) at “Wrestle Queendom” before losing the title to Yamashita (which you can see on myAEW).

EVE haven’t been shy in using the term “superfight” when booking inter-promotional or first-time matches on social media, with a match on “Mean Grrrls” in September between Kay Lee Ray vs. Safire Reed being described as such, with it stated that if KLR wins the EVE International Title from Yamashita, then the match against Safire Reed will be KLR’s first defence of that belt.

It’s a pick ‘em match in my opinion. Yamashita has been a featured wrestler on EVE for years and her EVE Title reign two years ago was lengthy, which also saw Miyu defending the belt on TJPW shows. Her title loss to Safire Reed made a star who has gone on to have landmark achievements since. But Kay Lee Ray was one of the ResGal queens from that time pre-COVID – a time that played a lot into the build for their biggest show ever, “Wrestle Queendom 8”, and with KLR having been working the US during the first half of this decade, KLR being the EVE International Champion would be a great fit.

The other advertised talents from the ‘World’ in “EVE x World” include Marina Shafir, who was meant to wrestle Aliss Ink (in a very interesting styles clash of a match), but Aliss has picked up an injury and is out for the rest of the year, with the question now being…who will face Marina?

Skye Blue was announced after her very silly (laudatory) match against Emersyn Jayne at “Beers, Brawls and Burlesque”. That match, which saw the pair do the crimson mask and hit each other with everything that wasn’t nailed down, also featured many insane bumps. Skye got over big with the crowd that night with her performance, and her third appearance in an indy show in four ‘AEW in the UK’ weekends is eagerly awaited – but who will she face?

The other face on the poster for this show is Aubrey Edwards, and while Ref Aubrey might seem an interesting choice, the pop she got when she was a surprise guest at last year’s “EVE x World” was possibly the biggest of the night. But if she is refereeing a match (I don’t think she is wrestling Rhio – that would be just cruel), which match would it be?

On the ‘EVE’ side, Session Moth Martina will defend her EVE Title in her ongoing open challenge series. The Open Challenge started at the July show with a clever twist on the format when not one but two came out to challenge Sesh, producing a rare three-way in EVE, with Lucy Sky and Aliss Ink facing Martina. It was a way to say to fans that from then on it was going to be 1 vs. 1 matches only.

The “Friday Night Riot” show in early August saw Nightshade, back from a stint in Japan with Marvelous, take up that challenge against her friend. Martina would win a decent match with a Jägerbomb, and the after-match angle would see Martina and Nightshade hugging it out, but an attempt to get former Team SASSY member Skye Smitson to rejoin them would fail. Martina and Smitson will face off in a match at “Mean Grrrls” in September, however, so it has been announced that once again the EVE Championship Open Challenge will take place on August 28th.

Also, Amira Blair made her comeback to the company after 5 months away following her 15.75-star classic against Harley Cameron. It coincided with an Abi Cartwright appearance in which she handed out CVs in her attempt to have someone hire her as their assistant. Amira gave a chance for Abi to impress her by stating that she would hire her if Abi could find her an opponent for the big show and would replace her talent manager Cassius with Abi if she is happy with the choice made by Cartwright.

And that’s it. This is well and truly a ‘mystery vortex’ show. But why in this case?

First, EVE has had a history of plans changing, and with a hefty amount of shows in the week before “All In” weekend, any problems that can happen, might happen, especially given EVE’s luck in such situations. But it’s not like they need to sell tickets in the days before the show, as “EVE x World” 2 sold out its seating plan allocation 21 hours after tickets went on sale as well as all the tickets that they could sell in seating and standing 42 days before the show will take place.

It’s the sign of a hot promotion. The waiting list as of early last week was 391. “EVE x The World 2” is a hot ticket and that is without the full details of the event being known until people come out through the curtain, and with a broad range from AEW to pick from, plus the contacts book of promoter Dann Read and head producer Will Ospreay, I’m confident that the 600 people in the main event hall of The Big Penny won’t be as disappointed as Knives Chau after the fighting is over.

© RevPro

Revolution Pro Wrestling: “14 Year Anniversary Show”

Date: Saturday, August 29th, 4:30PM BST
Watch On: RevPro On Demand (Subscription) / MyAEW (PPV)

Preview by: Peter Edge

Revolution Pro started out as the main independent show that ran on AEW weekend in the UK. When their “11th Anniversary” show’s card came to fruition, it ended up being more eagerly awaited by me than the Wembley show the day after. Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi renewed hostilities, Katsuyori Shibata was back in a British ring, Tomohiro Ishii was doing Tomohiro Ishii things. It was going to make the jaunt up to the Copper Box in Olympic Park (the hub for the London 2012 Olympics) worth it, and it delivered. The 4,072 attendance was an unprecedented success. It still stands as their biggest number through the turnstiles.

The 3,300 announced for their “Anniversary” show the following year saw a 19% drop from the year before, but still a crowd that could only be seen as a success considering that “All In” at Wembley’s drop year-on-year was 36%.

The following year, now built around “Forbidden Door”, Rev Pro had to find a new venue to hold their “Anniversary” show due to a month-long exhibition residency to celebrate 25 years of British music band, The Gorillaz. To the delight of absolutely no one, Rev Pro picked the Crystal Palace Sports Arena, which is hard to get to and has bleachers that belong to a previous generation. The building in South London has been met with derision by fans when publicised as a host to various events, and the fact that Rev Pro decided that “13th Anniversary” was to be a two night event didn’t help matters.

The Friday night show would see a “Global Wars” theme and would be a celebration of the “Forbidden Door” relationship that had built up between the many companies outside the WWE bubble. The Saturday show was easily the worst of the three ‘AEW in London’ weekend shows we have seen so far from the company (I’ve never getting those 20 minutes back that The Machine vs CRU lasted), and it’s not the biggest statement to make that for the first time in ‘AEW in London’ history, a company that wasn’t Rev Pro won the weekend (it was EVE).

So how have Rev Pro responded? They have taken a big swing. A month after the door had been shut on the “Forbidden Door” show at the O2 Arena, Revolution Pro announced that, the day before “All In”, their “14th Anniversary” show would take place at Wembley Arena, just 563 metres from the stadium where AEW will be hosting their show.

Rev Pro’s 2026 has been dominated by the words “Road to Wembley”, a theme that is synonymous with the FA Cup tournament, the most famous club tournament in English football for over a century, but the RevPro product has been dominated by the philosophy of quantity over quality, with weekly shows during the year taking place all over the country.

The main event of the “Anniversary” show, Michael Oku (c) vs Connor Mills, for the Undisputed British Title has had the “six years in the making” build-up on Rev Pro’s socials, referring to Mills’ debut match in the company (which was against Oku) and the relationship between the pair in Rev Pro canon.

At the “10th Anniversary” show in 2022, the tag team of Oku and Mills exploded with a Mills heel turn on Oku, and their resulting feud would last the rest of the year. The next few years saw the pair go on different paths, with Oku being booked as the ace of Rev Pro and defending the Undisputed British Title at the two Copper Box “Anniversary” shows and Mills being in the Cruiserweight Scramble match in 2023’s Copper Box show as well as opening the 2024 show in a critically un-acclaimed* match against a returning-from-knee-injury Ethan Allan.

*(Editor’s Note: Just to verify that this wasn’t an error on Peter’s part, I checked the Cagematch rating. It sits at 4.64 out of 10. Crikey.)

The build for this year’s “Anniversary” main event started not long after the Crystal Palace show, with the first “Live in London” show at Porchester Hall ending with Mills attacking Oku. Since then, the pair have had two matches, with the story of the feud being that Oku is up 5-0 in matches against Connor and Mills is obsessed with trying to beat his former Destination Everywhere partner.

The feud has had storytelling parallels with the Steve Austin vs Bret Hart feud in 1996-1997 which saw the famous double turn angle at “WrestleMania 13”. Mills would be the Austin of this deal with his popularity gaining and Oku taking on the role of Hart, as the babyface going crazier and crazier as things stopped going his way and Mills continually interfering in his matches. The parallels with Austin/Hart continued as they would face each other in an Unsanctioned Match, where there was a double turn and Mills and Oku swapped heel/face roles.

Michael Oku has been really enjoyable in his new role in the last few months as an insufferable prick being in everyone’s business, and Mills since his “Revolution Rumble” victory has played his role as a man determined to be champion and break the curse he has hanging over him in matches against Oku, while not being as psychotic in the process like he was at the start of the year because babyfaces can’t be psychotic, of course.

What is more likely to happen on August 29th at Wembley Arena? Whether Mills wins or the match goes 30+ minutes as a “Michael Oku epic” style match can be something for the reader to determine for themselves, but it would be a surprise if the biggest show in Rev Pro history (as it is being advertised) ends in anything but a happy ending, and with the man who has been low-key one of the top 5 wrestlers in Europe in the last 18 months taking the mantle as the main title-holder of Rev Pro. It would also be a surprise if the main event of the “14th Anniversary” show isn’t long and laid out as an epic.

While Michael Oku vs Connor Mills might have been built for the last 10 months, the first actual match to be advertised for Wembley Arena was the Young Guns team of Luke Jacobs and Ethan Allan against FTR. It came after Luke cashed in his “wish” as part of the winning trio in the Trios GP alongside Ethan and Leon Slater and he reaped the benefits accompanied with that win, requesting that Young Guns face FTR in a dream match. But any chance for Young Guns to showcase their abilities in a big occasion were dashed when Ethan Allan tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus at the “Live in London” show in early July, with a very lengthy layoff planned for Ethan. God bless Ethan, he can’t catch a break, with all the major knee injuries he has suffered in his career.

So what is Plan B? For Luke, a challenge set out at the “Live in Southampton” show has been accepted by PAC in a match announcement that got a lot of positive reactions online.

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FTR will fulfill their booking even though they haven’t featured on AEW’s television since “Double or Nothing”, with Dax especially talking publicly about the need to deal with nagging issues with his body after years of in-ring action and it feels like this isn’t a one-time deal with the Plan B associated with Dax and Cash. The Young Guns/FTR match was planned to be a Rev Pro Undisputed Tag Team Titles Match should Young Guns have held the belts until August 29th. Jacobs and Allen would be champs for over a year after their crowning in April 2025 but then would drop the belts to Leon and Liam Slater at “Revolution Rumble”. Ethan’s “wish” would be for the title rematch at “Summer Sizzler” in Bradford to be a 2/3 Falls match but it never happened, thanks to Ethan’s misfortune.

Instead the Slaters dropped the belts to Cowboy Way (One Called Manders and Thomas Shire) in an impromptu match and Cowboy Way have since challenged FTR to slot into the space that Jacobs and Allen were originally in, with the tag belts on the line in a move from booker Andy Quildan which felt like the most obvious play to play.

© RevPro

It feels like an FTR win is coming, with the destination eventually being the Young Guns match that was promoted so heavily as a dream match happening when Ethan Allen is back.

A backbone of the “Anniversary” show in the last few years has been the cameo appearances made by partner promotions, this year with the inclusion of FTR, PAC and two wrestlers that came from Rev Pro and have become success stories in NJPW. Zack Sabre Jr. will make his now annual appearance at “Anniversary” and will beat a young Rev Pro talent but make him look good in the process with this year’s winner of that grand prize being Jay Joshua.

It sounds like I’m making a dig here but I’m actually not. Having to negotiate inter-promotional politics will always be something that has to be navigated in these kinds of occasions when someone from one of the big international groups like New Japan and All Elite Wrestling pop in for a night in Rev Pro. But even as someone who likes Zack, to quote a famous footballer turned manager who sadly passed away in the last two months, “I’d love it, just love it” if Jay beat Zack at “Anniversary”.

With a British Title under his belt in the time between the 13th and 14th “Anniversary” shows, Joshua’s stock has risen on the UK scene and is a talent that should be in the big leagues in 5 years time and he will be half of what should surely be a pulsating match.

© RevPro

Wembley Arena will see the final destination of what has been a year of Rev Pro programming that has tried its best to use what is, in my opinion, a golden generation of women’s wrestlers here in the UK.

From a division that didn’t have a women’s match on their anniversary card in 2019 to the first Copper Box show that saw the Women’s Title match be known as the “Hardcore Country” match with fans continually shouting Hardcore Country during the triple threat match that involved Mickie James, Alex Windsor and Hyan, Rev Pro’s reputation regarding women’s wrestling hasn’t been the best.

As someone that was in attendance for the three-way match, Mickie James on this night showed instincts so bad that she could easily have been hired as an adviser to Keir Starmer, instincts she has carried on to display in the last few years (yes, I’m looking at you, the Maki Itoh vs Mickie match at WrestleCon), but from that pathetic segment that night (the match was also really bad, which no one remembers) Rev Pro has made moments of sunshine in their women’s division.

Mercedes Moné’s time as British Undisputed Champion has helped with Kanji, Safire Reed, Emersyn Jayne and Rhio looking great in matches against the CEO, and Alexxis Falcon being the one to beat Moné helped give her the rocket push that led to her being one half of the women’s title match at “Anniversary” this year.

But there have also been problems in the last year. The failure to have a women’s match on International Women’s Day and the excuse building from Andy Quildan and Rev Pro-friendly podcasts didn’t help, to the point that one half of the main Rev Pro friendly podcast (who is also Rev Pro’s social media guy) did a show-long “I messed up for tweeting something silly and here’s why” podcast, and Andy went on the Waffly Bollox podcast to have, in his words, “a conversation,” and then ended up taking 95% of the podcast.

Sorry, where was I?

Also what hasn’t helped is the fact that the turnover of talent has been excessive, to the point that only two of the female wrestlers from the 10-woman tag Street Fight that stole the show at “12th Anniversary” two years ago have wrestled on a Rev Pro show in the last four months.

Some of that has been out of the control of Rev Pro (Nina Samuels is expecting and Lizzy Evo just had a child, Safire Reed and Debbie Keitel are contracted to joshi companies and Alex Windsor is All Elite), but contrast that to the 14 full-time male wrestlers that appeared on “12th Anniversary” and 10 of them have been on Rev Pro cards in the last month; it says a lot of things. (One of them being that the male side of British wrestling may not be as generational as the women.)

One of that duo from the street fight two years ago that still features on Rev Pro regularly is Kanji. She’s been primed for the spot contending for the RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Title match at “14th Anniversary” for years. The most popular of the women to appear regularly at Rev Pro, she looked like the anointed one to face and beat Mercedes Moné for the British Title at an “Anniversary” Show from the day Moné beat Mina Shirakawa at “Wrestle Dynasty” on Jan 5, 2025, at the Tokyo Dome. She was indeed the first one to face Moné for the belt at “High Stakes 2025” at the Doncaster Dome; and in storyline, Kanji became Mercedes’s best mate, which in wrestling means one thing only.

But the friendship never got a chance to explode because Mercedes lost the Undisputed British Women’s Title to Alex Windsor on an episode of “Collision” taped on a Wednesday night at 11pm (causing a chaotic rewrite on my part for the newsletter at 1am that night in an Ibis in Salford with a Maccies hamburger been gorged upon – the high class life, eh?), and then Moné had her Rev Pro farewell in Wolverhampton when she lost a couple of the European belts in her collection to Falcon a couple of months later.

Alexxis Falcon (c) vs Kanji has been built up since the start of 2026, with Falcon getting under Kanji’s skin, and since then Falcon won the women’s belt after beating Windsor at Coventry’s HMV Empire venue with The Best Thing To Come Out of Hull since Dean Windass (surely she should change the subject of this to Oli McBurnie now?) and defending the belt consistently since March.

Kanji would win the Women’s GP in a two-shows-on-one-day event at Wolverhampton that included recent WWE releases Shanyna Baszler and Zoey Serrano in their first match as freelance workers in their new lives to get the shot at “Anniversary”, in what can be only described as an unfortunate promotional and creative failure.

So few seating tickets were sold that around 176 seats were put out in the Hangar where the show was taking place, in a building that previously had double that number seats sold, and while the action was really good at times (Baszler vs Kanji rocked until the end of the match happened) and the atmosphere overachieved considering the lack of attendees, the booking was lacking.

So, to explain.

Myla Grace won a four-way on the afternoon card to become an alternate if an injury in the 8-women tournament happened. Shayna Baszler and Zoey Serrano attacked Kanji after Baszler got DQ’d in the semi-final vs Kanji (because being DQ’d in front of the ref when she wasn’t in any danger of losing works for her, brother) and hit Kanji’s storyline-injured arm with a chair. We were told throughout the rest of the second show that day that Kanji was being checked by medical staff and that we’d be given updates on if she could be cleared.

We’re told right before the final that Kanji hadn’t been cleared and it would be Myla vs Zeuxis in the final. Myla got zero reaction. The whole place was silent when she came out and then as the bell was about to ring out came Kanji; and after a bit of theatrics, Kanji was back in. Kanji won, using the injured arm in a dragon sleeper to get the win.

Then the next day, Myla turned on Kanji in a tag match against Baszler and Serrano, with the duo beating the challenger (Kanji) for the Rev Pro Women’s Title in the “biggest show in Rev Pro history” clean.

The intelligence-insulting storyline of a wrestler not being cleared when everyone in the building knew she was going to be in the match can be analysed for a thousand words, but only three words can answer the question, “Was the Women’s GP a promotional success?”

No, it wasn’t.

It wasn’t, to the point that Michael Oku actually called out the fans on the Coventry show the next day for the lack of tickets sold for the Women’s Grand Prix.

As much as things have improved in Rev Pro’s booking of the women’s division, the fans might not give them the chance to get into a higher gear on the issue if the Women’s GP is anything to go on.

Oh yeah, and I expect Kanji to win the title.

Kanji vs Falcon isn’t the only women’s match on the show, with a 6-woman Scramble multi-woman match taking place between Rhio, Myla Grace, Cory Zero, Lucy Sky, Emersyn Jayne and Kay Lee Ray.

Leyton Buzzard vs Nino Bryant is the Cruiserweight Title match for this show.

Bryant won the British J-Cup for the second consecutive year, the first time that Rev Pro have booked someone to win their annual cruiserweight tournament twice. The show saw Bryant outlast Leon Cage, Robbie X and Will Kaven in the final after beating Samuel Saint-Daniels in his qualifying match. However, the final did not reach its potential despite the quality in the match and Will Kaven also showing up.

Buzzard’s reign has been in the template of the heel cruiserweight champion that we have seen in Rev Pro. Just a complete lack of high flying action with lots of ground work in the heel control segments. Basically it’s been like watching Will Kaven’s championship run again but with half decent matches this time round, and because Andy Q likes booking this trope a lot in the cruiserweights, it makes Leyton the most likely out of the four champions in Rev Pro entering Wembley Arena to retain his belt.

Other matches on the card include Leon Slater vs Liam Slater in a grudge match – after the friendship blew up in the aftermath of the pair dropping the tag belts to Cowboy Way and Leon losing a British Title match against Oku – and Callum Newman/CPF vs Ricky Knight Jr./Trew and Lacey/Will Kaven (which will open the show) poses a lot of questions.

Will Callum be babyface Callum as he is teaming with his Close Personal Friends (that’s what CPF means, folks) or will he prove that friendship in wrestling doesn’t work out and turn on the faction he co-founded, as he’s a dastardly heel in New Japan? Will Ricky Knight Jr. do the Temu Demon gimmick that got him so widely mocked at the “Anniversary” show two years ago? Is this match a set-up for RKJ and Newman down the line? And is paying over 50 quid for a ticket that has Will Kaven on the card a violation of my human rights?

There will also be a Revolution Gauntlet Match on the show which is basically their version of a Casino Gauntlet Match, something that Rev Pro will have put on more times in 2026 than AEW have when the match takes place on the Saturday. Names have been announced. Leon Cage and Cameron Khai, fresh off matches with Bandido that were really good, plus David Francisco and TK Cooper, with some expectations from fans that AEW stars will be present as well.

Rev Pro is on track to break 4,000 for the show and look set to break their attendance record from the “11th Anniversary” show three years ago but won’t overtake the 4,750 number that Progress’ “Hello Wembley” in 2018 did. But these are two different eras we’re talking about. The Progress of old (2018) is filled with a cast list of names that are famous in 2026, as well as some names that are infamous and currently on the “do not touch with a bargepole” list now.

The eight year period that separates that night and the night to come in the same building is a very long time. Almost as long as that Thunderbastard match at “Hello Wembley”. The hype that Rev Pro have built up for this event on their own social media channel and streaming service has been big. “It’s the biggest show in their history” they are saying and they have a point.

The flaws in the product might be masked with a night of action that will be good. Expect epics and good matches and some finality in storylines that have been going on all year, and on a night that the company expects the world of wrestling to be watching them, it is going to be an interesting one for sure.

© Mystery Wrestling

“Mystery Wrestling 28: London”

Date: Saturday August 29th, 1pm BST
Watch on: YouTube or Twitch (Live) / Patreon (VOD)

Preview by: Ariel

In the days leading up to “All In” on August 30th, Mystery Wrestling will be having not one but two shows sure to be filled with all the chaos Mystery fans have come to expect. First up will be a non-numbered bonus show in Glasgow on the 27th, then the promotion will make its London debut with “Mystery Wrestling 28” at the Big Penny Social on the 29th.

For anyone unaware, Mystery Wrestling has two philosophies: comedy wrestling is wrestling, and everything that happens on the show is a mystery. As a result of that second philosophy, they typically only announce who will be joining Evil Uno on commentary and one wrestler booked on the card, with everything and everyone else being a surprise. While there is usually a regular cast of wrestlers that appear on more shows than not, the promotion is based in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, and the last time they made the trip over to the UK only a few regulars were able to join them. As a consistent viewer who both embraces the feeling of never knowing what’s going on during a Mystery Wrestling show and is not very familiar with the UK indie wrestling scene, I had a lot of fun seeing new wrestlers with big personalities when they were in Cardiff earlier this year and I’m excited to see who shows up this time around. So far, fan favorite Cecil Nyx has been announced to be featuring at the Glasgow show along with the current Mystery Wrestling world champion Johnny Mystery (also known as wrestler John Morrison). Johnny will also appear at the London show, and Ron Funches will be on commentary.

These shows will be Johnny’s first outing as the holder of all the marbles (the championship comes with a bag of marbles and every challenger must add their own marble to the collection before their match) after defeating London Lightning at “Mystery Wrestling 27”. I’m excited to see what kind of champion Johnny will be; he’s the third champion so far and London Lightning was a babyface champion who overthrew the inaugural heel champion Stu Grayson, who had taken a stance against comedy wrestling. If he makes the trip over, it will be exciting to see who he sets his eyes on next, after feuding with The Invisible Man and Definitely Alive Jason Exile, a man who definitely didn’t die after a Pick Your Poison match where he drank poison, and at “Mystery Wrestling 27” was rebuilt as a cyborg who lost their match after Stu Grayson ripped out his spine.

© Mystery Wrestling

Whether Stu Grayson appears to take over the promotion or not, these shows are sure to be a blast. The combination of wrestling skill and comedy that Mystery Wrestling is able to present is always impressive, and I love to find out what wild match stipulations they’ve come up with. Some personal favorite matches from previous shows are The Floor is Lava Match, where the wrestlers who touched the floor sold their gruesome demise to the lava; Falls Count Somewhere, where the referee was the only one who knew the specific spot the wrestlers could successfully pin their opponent; and the Literal Death Match, where the only way to win was to kill your opponent and a time traveling London Lightning from the future (played by RJ City) showed up to sacrifice himself. There’s really no point in trying to predict what you’ll see at a Mystery Wrestling show, so the best way to view one is with an open mind and a love of the absurd.

If you’re in the area, there are still tickets available for the Glasgow show on the 27th as of time of writing, and in case they’ve sold out by the time this is published, don’t fear: both shows will be streamed live and for free on Mystery Wrestling’s Youtube and Twitch pages. The Glasgow show will begin at 7pm BST and the London show will begin at 1pm BST. If you’re like me and won’t be able to catch one or both of the streams live (curse you, timezones!), you can sub to the Mystery Wrestling patreon page and watch the VOD, which is typically posted the day after the show.

Pro Wrestling Ceasefire: “Almost In 2026”

Date: Thursday, August 27th, 7:30PM BST
Watch On: YouTube (Video on Demand, not live)

By Chris Gannon

The first show of “All In” weekend features Pro Wrestling Ceasefire’s return to Chandler’s Hall in Lambeth. PWC’s first show was “Almost In 2024”, available to watch on their YouTube channel, and featured a fantastic match between Kanji and Jordon Breaks. The events are usually four match affairs, in an intimate atmosphere, with an aim of raising money to aid civilians in Palestine and Lebanon. So far the card has not been announced, but at “Ichiban: Crusade”, promoter Gio Giorgio promised Kanji a match with a dream opponent. There will also be a raffle, in keeping with British wrestling tradition.

Tickets (sold out but taking donations)

© Chris Whitehead / Chris Gannon

Riot Cabaret: “All Singing, All Dancing”

Date: Friday August 28th, 6.15PM BST
Watch On: https://www.riotcabaret.com/ (Video on Demand, not live)

By Chris Gannon

Riot Cabaret’s fourth annual August bank holiday show will be taking place at their regular venue The Clapham Grand, with those shows generally featuring the best party atmosphere of the weekend. Riot’s calling card is a mixture of fast paced action and silly bollocks, with last year’s “There’s Somebody Knocking At The Door” including the marriage of Klassy Karen (aka Session Moth Martina) and Tate Mayfairs followed by Tate Mayfairs being shot and killed. Mayfairs has since recovered.

Tickets (sold out but waitlist available)

© Chris Whitehead

Progress: “Wrestling Over Everything”

Date: Monday, August 31st, 3PM BST
Watch On: Hooked On Wrestling TV

By Chris Gannon

Progress will finish off the weekend with a bank holiday Monday show at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, which will be the final show before their national Odyssey tour. Kouga has been announced for Noah’s N1 tournament which means this may be his final UK show before returning to Japan.

Tickets

© Chris Whitehead

Mick Foley: “40 Years of Foley”

Date: Monday, August 31st, 2PM BST

Mick Foley will be doing his one man show featuring stories from his career and a 45 minute audience Q&A.

Tickets