The latest WWE and AEW News and Results
Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio following the AEW Dynasty PPV from Sunday night.
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The following is opinion-based and reflects the views of the author and not our website.
No wrestling company in the world has a higher ceiling than All Elite Wrestling. On any given night with the right combination of intent and a bit of restraint, it’s the most exciting place this wonderfully silly medium has to offer.
The matches hit harder, the risks feel real, and for a few hours, everything clicks into something special. Even their average output is fathoms above what the monolith of the industry embarrassingly tosses out on Mondays and Fridays, and that’s been the case for a while.
But sometimes it’s a self-inflicted struggle to reach such great heights. For every moment of clarity, there’s another that feels strangely undercooked: stories that drift, characters that stall, ideas that arrive half-formed and linger longer than they should. The ingredients are almost always there. The discipline is not. I have exhaustively covered every major AEW show except one – something I am beyond grateful for and never take for granted – and I am still pleading with them not to add multiple matches within hours of bell time. I do have a family.
Dynasty is a reflection of all this: a card full of wrestlers operating near the peak of what they are capable of, just enough uncertainty to warrant a head tilt, and too many matches added the week of the show. Kyle Fletcher’s injury clearly threw a wrench into everything planned, so I magnanimously offer grace during this trying time.
Let’s run through the card as announced through Friday night.
Jericho is back and he is once again doing…something. Whether that something is good remains an open question. Absence, in his case, has not necessarily made the heart fonder, but it has made my digital pen more willing. Everyone needed a break from the persistence of Jericho. The man would roll into a show, and his ten minutes would feel like humidity in the middle of July: heavy, pulpy, and begging for relief.
Working down the card with someone fun and willing is the proper use of Jericho at this point. Steering clear of the people whose best moments are still ahead of them is wise. What I worry about is Jericho looking across the locker room and spotting Mike Bailey or Kevin Knight, someone with enough motion to set off a neighborhood’s worth of Ring cameras, and licking his chops. And please, for the love of god, keep him far away from Fletcher.
Ricochet will not be broken by his time across the ring from Jericho. His progress won’t stall. For now, this is fine.
Prediction: Jericho
Best wishes to Fletcher, who hopefully makes it back for All In this summer. He had long outgrown the TNT Championship, but having him reliably carry the midcard made an enormous difference in weekly television. His absence creates a void, but it’s also a significant opportunity to do something exciting.
Someone like Rush or the earlier-mentioned Bailey and Knight would be inspired choices to carry the gold. All three can be counted on to deliver weekly, and in entirely different ways. These matches are always impossible to predict with any real confidence, but Tony Khan, I beseech you: take this as a chance for genuine growth, not a moment to rest on your laurels and reach for the old reliables. The person who steps into this vacuum has a chance to matter.
Prediction: Someone inspired (please)
The “can they coexist” trope is one of my least favorites in all of pro wrestling. It’s right up there with a random tag team calling themselves “best friends.” At least this question answers itself immediately (they cannot!) and we’re spared the indignity of being asked it seriously.
The more honest conversation this match opens up is about Takeshita, who has been adrift in AEW for long enough now that it’s hard to ignore. He floats in and out of the Okada rivalry, something that should have been definitively resolved months ago, and engages and disengages without direction, without urgency, and increasingly without consequence. The moves are still big, the bombs still land. But it feels hollow.
Elite execution is being asked to compensate for a story and a character that’s lost all urgency. Consistent, clear, and most importantly, expedited direction would do wonders. Booked with the conviction AEW showed with Fletcher, Takeshita could heat back up and step directly into the space his stablemate left behind.
Prediction: Okada & Takeshita
Allin occupies a specific and invaluable position in professional wrestling: a perverse, almost irresponsible, bumper who gives everyone their very best match. Good stories and solid creative always help, but nothing helps a career more than working with Darby. He should win the big one once before his body inevitably makes the decision for him (and make no mistake, it will eventually make that decision) but not now, and not like this.
His value isn’t in wearing gold and everything that comes with it; it’s in what he extracts from whoever stands across from him. There are still so many AEW wrestlers who would be significantly buoyed by a program with him.
Right now, that person is El Idolo, whose ceiling remains stratospheric even without Darby’s help. The clarity and sharpness he’s carrying into every match right now suggest a man screaming toward an astonishingly high peak. Every match and every moment on screen has the texture of someone who finally knows exactly what he is. Don’t slow that down. Don’t complicate it. Point him upward and get out of the way before he decides he’s done enough and, again, starts to coast on his natural gifts.
The neon flashing sign points to a clear destination: Darby vs. MJF at Double or Nothing. Fine on paper, but not where I’d steer the ship. I’m spoiling myself here, but I think Kenny Omega is winning this main event. I don’t have much stomach for the inevitable procession of wheezy MJF promos about Darby’s fragility, his possible imminent death, and whatever other standard-issue material gets excavated from the vault, but somehow, I’ll endure.
Prediction: Darby
If this is the ceremonial last run at the top for two genuine legends of the business, then sure, fine, whatever. AEW has always had a complicated relationship with its legend types, and Copeland is the most complicated of all. His career is a collection of great moments more than great, sustained work. It’s highlights assembled into a reel, admittedly a long one, which gets mistaken for a collective body of work. AEW asked its audience to receive him as a top-tier attraction, but some of us did the math on our own.
It takes about two minutes of honest thought to understand why Cope’s retirement tour feels so fundamentally at odds with Sting’s. Part of it is personal preference; Sting was a resonator. I can point to discrete moments where he made me feel genuinely alive as a wrestling fan. With Copeland, I can point to cool moments: mostly highspots, but calorically empty.
The second part is less subjective: Sting belongs in a rare and specific pantheon of performers by any reasonable objective measure. Copeland does not and not by a small margin. Always better as part of something rather than singular, Cope’s legacy will surely endure, though it won’t be what he sees in his head when he closes his eyes at night.
The funniest part is that when it’s all over, FTR will likely be remembered more fondly and have done more for tag team wrestling than their opponents. But we all know where this is going. Whether Dynasty takes us there is the question.
Prediction: Copeland and Christian win the titles
Ospreay came back from a surgery serious enough to make people quietly question his future. The big return has already happened and his direction is clear. This is a simple revenge story with all its emotional infrastructure already in place; it just needs the right villain standing across the ring.
That villain needs to be Moxley, unambiguously and completely, not the tweener the audience has been cheering for the past few months, and certainly not the antihero. We need the version of Mox who tried to kill someone with a plastic bag, a real piece of garbage without qualification. The tweener run served its purpose and reminded everyone why they loved him in the first place, but this program only reaches top gear if Moxley is genuinely dangerous and Ospreay is a serious, aggressive hero with a neck to protect and a score to settle.
When the bell rings, Ospreay needs to initiate the action. He needs to wrestle with purpose and belief. If there is a superhero counter sequence at any point during this match, the groan I’ll let out will get me evicted.
The ballsy booking decision, one that would show genuine conviction, would be to structurally run back Moxley’s match with CM Punk with Ospreay coming out on top. What will likely happen instead is Moxley mercilessly working the neck until Ospreay comes roaring back like nothing happened (derogatory), before a hold-your-breath finishing stretch (mostly derogatory, slightly complimentary).
Ospreay shouldn’t win this. It’s too early, and taking a title isn’t the point. He needs to beat Moxley in something more violent, more permanent, down the line.
Prediction: Moxley retains
Hayter is still finding her way back. Her injury cost her more than time, halting her momentum at the precise moment she seemed ready to cement herself as a permanent fixture at the top of the card. She’s just now beginning to be what she once was, and her partnership with Windsor is a big part of that. It gave her a credible partner to play off, a vehicle for consistency, and, most importantly, a reason to show up every week with something specific to do.
Knowing that you’ll be on the show and performing every week goes a long way toward staying sharp and staying engaged. You can see her finding herself again inside that dynamic. Behold the power of friendship.
Thekla arrives here with all the momentum Hayter once had. She has been a transformative force the moment she arrived in AEW, and nothing about her current trajectory suggests that will change. Right now, she’s the best thing going in AEW’s women’s division. I understand if her brand of promo and mic work isn’t for everyone, but in a world where so many people do so many things the same, something different – and something remarkable – speaks to me. I remain, unequivocally, a fan of the spider.
This is a match that could significantly overdeliver if these two really lay into each other, but there will be no title change.
Prediction: Thekla
If there is any justice left in professional wrestling, let Omega have one last run before he can’t anymore. He has earned it in ways that are somehow both difficult to fully articulate and impossible to overstate; a modern legend whose fingerprints, for better and for worse, are all over the current state of pro wrestling. Every match now carries the particular weight of potentially being one of the last true Kenny Omega matches — something I write in every column and will continue until I can’t.
Here is one possibility worth sitting with: MJF drops the title to Omega here, giving Omega the last reign he deserves heading into AEW’s biggest date on the calendar. The road to Wembley becomes a drive toward Ospreay vs. Omega, a rematch the wrestling world has been circling for two years, finally given the venue and stakes it warrants. Two maximalists, in London, in front of eighty thousand people, for the AEW World Championship.
That makes a whole lot of sense and will sell a whole lot of seats. And wouldn’t it be nice to see MJF struggle with having a short title reign and the fallout that comes with it? Joys abound for us all.
Omega was a catalyst; someone instrumental in building something from nothing. He proved that another kind of wrestling company wasn’t just possible, but that it could achieve tremendous success. It should be Omega until the wheels fall off.
Prediction: Kenny Omega
Plenty of people have had strong reactions to Pat McAfee being the mystery man behind Randy Orton, and Les Thatcher & Victor Sosa will share their thoughts on this edition of Wrestling Weekly.
But it’s more than just McAfee; it’s the reporting indicating who made this happen and why. We’ll discuss why we think it’s an overreaction to a problem that was created in house.
We’ll also run down the card for Sunday’s AEW Dynasty and give our predictions for the show.
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
Three members of United Empire made their AEW in-ring debuts as part of Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
After last weekend’s Sakura Genesis, Will Ospreay asked newly-crowned IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman for some help in AEW against the Death Riders from the group he founded.
Newman came through as he, Francesco Akira and Henare joined Ospreay in an anything goes eight-man tag team match against Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, PAC and Daniel Garcia on Dynamite as a teaser for Sunday’s Ospreay vs. Moxley match at Dynasty. The eight men also had a show-opening brawl, leading to the match that wasn’t announced before the show.
The end came when Moxley went for a fourth Paradigm Shift on Ospreay, but Newman ran in and hit Moxley with a clothesline, setting him up for a Ospreay Hidden Blade through a table as both Ospreay and Newman pinned Moxley. The double pin and Newman bailing out Ospreay could be important seeds for an eventual turn on Ospreay down the road.
It’s unknown if the three men will also be in attendance at Sunday’s pay-per-view.
Mascara Dorada knows who he’d like to face in the future.
In an interview with Denise Scalcedo, the CMLL and AEW star brought up one name that he would like to face in the future: Will Ospreay.
“He’s a very well-rounded wrestler, every time he steps into the ring, it’s a five-star match, no matter who he’s facing. He’s a very imposing wrestler, very strong, very agile,” he said.
However, Dorada went on to name someone else as a potential future opponent: PAC.
“PAC is a wrestler who’s also incredibly strong. He’s a very, very daring wrestler, he has some beautiful dives,” Dorada said. “These are wrestlers whom I want to absorb a little of experience because they’re the best in the world, right? To be among the best in the world, you have to face the best in the world.”
Earlier this year, Dorada confirmed he had signed a dual contract with AEW and CMLL, making him a part of both promotions moving forward. He currently holds the Historic Welterweight title and is one third of the CMLL Trios Champions with Mistico and Neon.
Will Ospreay spoke to Tokyo Sports recently and mentioned goals he still has for wrestling in Japan.
Ospreay returned to NJPW for the first time in over two years at Sakura Genesis, teaming with his United Empire stablemates in a six-man tag earlier in the show. He was also present for Callum Newman winning the IWGP Heavyweight title in the main event.
During his interview with Tokyo Sports, Ospreay revealed that he would like to compete in another G1 tournament. He also mentioned that he won’t be back in Japan for Dominion in June at Osaka-jo Hall, as he and Alex Windsor are set to be married the night before.
Ospreay said (translated from Japanese):
“My wedding is the day after the show (my wife is wrestler Alex Windsor), so I can’t make it to Osaka Castle Hall (June 14), but this year I’m hoping to make it to New Japan’s big matches as much as possible. AEW is the best environment, but I have special feelings for Japan and I would like to spend more time with the members of the United Empire (UE).”
Regarding wanting to compete in another G1 Climax, Ospreay said:
“Honestly, it’s hard to ask Tony (Khan, AEW president) for about six weeks off, but I’ve talked about it with my wife, and I’d like to compete in the G1 Climax again someday. I’ve never won it, so I want to challenge myself. Also, the revived fourth-generation IWGP Heavyweight Championship has been held by Tanahashi (Hiroshi), Okada, AJ (Styles), and Kenny (Omega), all of whom I admired. So I have a desire to win that title as well.”
The full article with Tokyo Sports is available here.
New IWGP Heavyweight champion Callum Newman has received words of encouragement and praise from Will Ospreay.
The final moments of NJPW Sakura Genesis 2026 saw Callum Newman standing tall as the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Newman, 23, defeated Yota Tsuji to capture the title and become the youngest wrestler ever to hold the championship.
AEW wrestler Will Ospreay was present ringside during Newman’s victory. He soon opened up about Newman’s title victory on social media and reflected on their history together. Ospreay shared his relationship with Newman and how he had once expressed his belief in Newman to his parents.
“This was one of the best moments of my life to watch a kid that I started mentoring when he turned 15 and his parents brought him to me seminar. Congratulations to the youngest ever IWGP Heavyweight champion,” Ospreay wrote on social media.
Ospreay recently also asked Newman and United Empire for help to deal with Jon Moxley’s Death Riders on AEW. Ospreay is currently scheduled to face Moxley at AEW Dynasty for the Continental title.
Will Ospreay has asked his United Empire teammates for help.
Ospreay wrestled his first match in Japan in two years on Saturday at Sakura Genesis. United Empire member Callum Newman won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the main event. After the show, Newman was addressing the media backstage when Ospreay approached him and said:
“There’s something I kind of wanted to talk to you guys about. I didn’t want to do this in front of you on your big moment. I’ve got some trouble at work, and I could really do with some backup. I know you just wrestled. I could really use a hand.”
Newman told Ospreay they would talk about it.
Ospreay’s reunion with the stable he formed in 2020 did not go seamlessly at Sakura Genesis. He was shown visibly disapproving of Great O-Khan and HENARE attacking their opponents after their match. Later in the main event, Zane Jay encouraged Newman to use a chair on Yota Tsuji, but Ospreay persuaded him not to.
John LaRocca and Garrett Gonzales return with a brand-new Fight Game to discuss some of the most topical things going on in pro wrestling this week.
They gave out their thumbs up and thumbs down before jumping into two main topics:
They finished up with their Observe This segment, talking about stories from Dave Meltzer’s 1985 Observer Book. They went over the very first WrestleMania, gave thoughts from the rewatch, and also discussed Dave’s comments from 1985.
Click Here to Listen (sub needed)
The stakes have been raised for the Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay grudge match at this month’s AEW Dynasty as Moxley’s Continental title will now be on the line.
The development came about during Thursday’s Collision after Moxley successfully defeated Anthony Bowens in an eliminator match. Ospreay ran out after the match and laid out Moxley with the Hidden Blade before he was pulled out by the Death Riders.
Ospreay grabbed the title belt left behind and told Moxley he wanted their Dynasty match to have everyone banned from ringside which is a Continental title match rule. Its addition to the bout was later confirmed on the show.
Ospreay, who returned last month from serious neck surgery, was taken out in storyline by Moxley and the Death Riders at last August’s Forbidden Door. Ospreay made his surprise return at March’s Revolution to confront Moxley and defeated PAC on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
The two have only squared off once in a straight up singles match, that coming at April 2022’s NJPW Windy City Riot where Moxley picked up the victory. They shared the ring in two NJPW multi-man matches afterward but their AEW encounters have always been in tag team bouts.
*Not confirmed
Will Ospreay has commented on his return to New Japan Pro Wrestling this weekend.
Ospreay will team with his former United Empire stablemates Great-O-Khan and HENARE against Yuya Uemura, Taichi, and El Desperado at NJPW Sakura Genesis on Saturday, April 4, at Ryogoku Sumo Hall.
This will be Ospreay’s first match in Japan since The New Beginning in Osaka on February 11, 2024.
On Thursday, Ospreay posted a statement to X that read:
“10 Years Ago. I boarded a flight to Tokyo to perform for @njpw1972. 22 years old I could barely speak English and I was so scared going to a country by myself that I couldn’t speak the language. I spent 8 years in Japan & it completely shaped me as a man. Japan taught me patience & etiquette. All I wanted to do was show my love & appreciation to a country that allowed me to be a kid & I got to grow up in a locker room full of men I had the utmost respect for. I’ve not stopped thinking about you since I left 2 years ago. Can’t wait to come home and wrestle in my favourite arena in wrestling.”
Ospreay made his NJPW debut nearly 10 years ago at Invasion Attack on April 10, 2016. He unsuccessfully challenged KUSHIDA for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title on the show.
John LaRocca and Garrett Gonzales return with a brand-new Fight Game to discuss some of the most interesting topics in pro wrestling.
We gave out our thumbs up and thumbs down before jumping into our two big topics on current wrestling.
The first topic is on what AEW’s biggest money match is as we look toward All In later in the summer. If Will Ospreay is going to be finally anointed as AEW World Champion, should it be against MJF or Kenny Omega?
Then, we focus on the build to CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns for WWE WrestleMania 42 and try and figure out where they may be going next.
We finished up the show with our new Observe This segment talking about stories from Dave Meltzer’s 1985 Observer Book. This week was all about the build to the original WrestleMania.
Click Here to Listen (sub needed)
Will Ospreay is back in action — and he’s now set to return to the NJPW ring.
In his first match in Japan in more than two years, Ospreay will reunite with United Empire stablemates Great-O-Khan & HENARE for a six-man tag match at NJPW Sakura Genesis on April 4. They’ll be facing off against Yuya Uemura, Taichi & El Desperado.
Ospreay underwent neck surgery in 2025 and spent several months sidelined until returning at AEW Revolution. His comeback match took place on Dynamite last week, with Ospreay defeating Blake Christian. Ospreay is now set to take on Jon Moxley at AEW’s Dynasty pay-per-view next month.
During his injury layoff, Ospreay said that — while AEW is his home base — he was hoping to be able to wrestle for NJPW a few times per year once he was cleared to return. He made an appearance at NJPW New Year Dash 2026 and had a tense interaction with Callum Newman, who is now the leader of United Empire.
The main event of Sakura Genesis will see Newman challenge Yota Tsuji for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Newman earned the title shot through winning this year’s New Japan Cup.
With the addition of this six-man tag match, the card for Sakura Genesis is now finalized. The show is being held at Sumo Hall in Tokyo and will air live on NJPW World.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez is back with tons to talk about including the worst day of Kyle Fletcher’s life, a full recap of Dynamite last night, the debate over who should face Will Ospreay at Wembley this year, lady facing prison for allegedly embezzling funds to buy WWE tickets, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
The contract signing between AEW World Champion MJF and Kenny Omega for next month’s Dynasty pay-per-view will take place on next week’s AEW Dynamite.
Kenny Omega defeated Swerve Strickland to win a title shot against MJF Wednesday, earning the shot against MJF and retaining his EVP status in the process. As part of the story, any physicality at the signing will cancel the title match.
The Wednesday, April 1 episode of Dynamite will take place in Omega’s hometown of Winnipeg and thus he will be doing double duty. In a segment shared to social media, Omega will team with Brody King and AEW National Champion Jack Perry against The Demand.
After challenging Jon Moxley for a match at Dynasty, Will Ospreay will takes on PAC in a singles contest. This will mark PAC’s first singles match since January 2026 while Ospreay returned on last week’s Dynamite with a win over Blake Christian — his first match since last August’s Forbidden Door due to neck surgery.
