After an emotionally heavy few weeks, All Elite Wrestling got back on the pay-per-view saddle with the fourth annual AEW WrestleDream. Taking place at the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida, the show featured eight(ish) matches on the main card, including the debut of Clockwork Carnage.
As usual, the AEW roster brought their A-game in the ring. But there were also a couple of not-so-great things that we will discuss along with the highlights.
Hits for AEW WrestleDream 2026
The Young Bucks vs. Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight
There are plenty of matches that make a strong case for The Young Bucks as the greatest tag team of all time, and you can add this one to that considerable pile.
These two went out there with Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight, who are amazing singles stars, hoping to have an amazing bout. They ended up with a Match of the Year contender. We saw plenty of amazing moves throughout the 23 minutes of action, but it boiled down to a simple story: the Bucks worked together, and the challengers struggled to do that during the closing moments.
The Fletcher/Knight dissension will probably lead to the anticipated feud between these two, perhaps after Blood and Guts). However, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to see them team up again.
Thekla vs. Mercedes Moné
If nothing else, you have to appreciate Tony Khan for channeling his inner 1997 wrestling fan and booking interesting matchups featuring top stars, regardless of their alignment. Mercedes Moné and Theka are heels. But, in all fairness, the fans have warmed to “The Toxic Spider”, making it easy to slot her in as the nominal babyface in this one. Besides, the crowd enthusiastically supported both women from start to finish. Sometimes, stars are stars, and you don’t have to overthink things when it comes to them.
Match-wise, these two killed it. The finish was a little abrupt — Moné won clean with her underwhelming Moné Maker finisher — but that didn’t undercut the outstanding work these two put in. We probably aren’t getting a rematch between these two for a while, so AEW will have to find some babyface challengers for “The CEO”.
Jon Moxley vs. Mark Davis
Once Kyle Fletcher shot up the card a couple of years ago, it would’ve been easy for the other half of Aussie Open, Mark Davis, to get lost among the talented mass of midcarders on AEW’s roster. But, thanks to his growing catalog of great outings, he has become a reliable part of the in-ring product, and we saw that once again in this mean man extravaganza with Jon Moxley.
As for the current Continental Champion, he is making another strong case for Wrestler of the Year. Even without him holding the world title, Moxley has shown how valuable he is as the heartbeat of this promotion.
Nick Wayne pins Chris Jericho
When AEW announced the rubber match between these two, fans prepared for the worst: a Jericho win. After all, that’s what everyone has come to expect whenever a young up-and-comer feuds with the aging legend. However, that’s not what happened at WrestleDream.
Jericho did get a measure of revenge on Wayne by blocking two of the youngster’s low blow attempts with an athletic cup before hitting one of his own. But, this proved to be his undoing, as Wayne crumbled due to the pain of the shot below the belt as Jericho went for the Judas Effect and cradled the inaugural AEW World Champion to score the fall.
Of course, beating Jericho is one thing, but it also helped that Wayne looked impressive in the process. The 21-year-old bumped around well for Jericho and effectively balanced his eye-catching athleticism with good character work. Also, some credit goes to Jericho (in this specific instance) for working hard and not undercutting Wayne.
Andrade El Idolo vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Good stuff from these two. There were some shenanigans that would’ve fallen flat with a less-patient crowd, like when Ciampa tried to imitate Andrade’s crowd-pleasing spots and once more tried to score a pinfall on an inanimate object, but these fans enjoyed it. Plus, Ciampa having a second pair of trunks that say “I Just Know” to counter Andrade’s catchphrase was great. They could’ve saved this match for a Dynamite or Collision main event, but it’s fine that it got a PPV slot.
Andrade continues to win, maintaining his momentum for whenever he cashes in his guaranteed world title shot.
Hangman Adam Page and Brodido vs. Swerve Strickland and The New Level
Even though this was a trios match, it always came back to Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland, right down to Page smirking when Brodido rolled up Strickland to win the match. Strickland sold the loss well after the match, and it explains why he was so upset and asked for a Texas Death rematch for the trios titles for Full Gear.
Also, Kofi and Austin Creed continue to fit like a glove in AEW. When the time comes, they will boost an already great tag team division.
Ilja Dragunov debuts
This was quick, to the point, and effective. Dragunov got a good reaction when he came out, and it was encouraging to see him get this sort of spotlight on PPV.
FTR vs. The Motor City Machine Guns
This match started on the Tailgate Brawl and bled into the main card, a slick attempt to squeeze some extra PPV buys out of interested viewers. As a consequence, these teams got a lot of time to work with, and unsurprisingly, they made good use of it.
It will be interesting to see how FTR and the Motor City Machine Guns build on what they established in this first of potentially (likely) five matches against each other. Both teams are very good (as annoying as FTR can be), so they should be up to the task.
TBS Championship Fatal 4 Way
These ladies were put in a tough spot following the amazing tag title match, but all of them worked hard and the crowd rewarded them by staying somewhat attentive. Dani Luna has only worked a handful of matches on AEW TV, but it won’t take her long to get over with this audience. She’s too talented and charismatic to fail. Queen Aminata continues to show why she should get more TV time.
Hyan was solid, but most fans see her as a placeholder for Maya World that will return to the back burner now that the former TBS Champion is back in action. Persephone, who rightfully retained her title, is great, but like Moné, she needs some compelling opponents to keep her reign from growing stale. Also, the quicker she’s detached from Britt Baker, the better.
Misses for AEW WrestleDream 2026
Clockwork Carnage
In a vacuum, this match was a lot of fun, and we got to see some interesting snapshots of some singles matches that AEW can book in the near future.
This is a concept that the company should revisit…as a number one contender’s match. As the main event of a pay-per-view, it felt out of place. To be fair, there wasn’t much time to build a challenger for a singles title match, but that’s an indictment of AEW’s increasingly crammed PPV schedule more than a defense of Clockwork Carnage as a headlining concept. Perhaps a show like World’s End would’ve made more sense for this considering it takes place in December and is centered around the Continental Classic.
That’s all for the AEW WrestleDream 2026 Review for October 17, 2026! If you would like even more AEW Coverage from Chris Jeter, check out more of his articles right here on Let Them Wrestle.
