All In is days away, and AEW served the go-home episode of Dynamite (Aug. 26, 2026) from OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. The Continental Cup delivered intense action as Jon Moxley battled teammate Claudio Castagnoli and Nigel McGuinness grit through an injury in a chess match against Kyle O’Reilly.
The dream is alive in the AEW Continental Cup
Dynamite hosted the AEW Continental Challenge Cup semifinal matchups. The odds seemed. likely for Jon Moxley and Nigel McGuinness to advance. However, Claudio
Castagnoli and Kyle O’Reilly were legitimate threats as wrestlers and with story angles as well to punch their ticket.
Moxley versus Claudio went first. Claudio used his strength advantage to swing Moxley into the barricade. Moxley’s left arm took a pounding, and he felt the pain throughout the contest.
Later, Claudio adjusted on the fly to swing Moxley by the neck. Commentary painted a smart picture how the Death Riders are so familiar through training that caused them to get creative on offense.
Claudio’s best shot at winning came after he uppercut Moxley out of the ring. Mox barely beat the ten-count only to slide in for an immediate curb stomp from Claudo. Castagnoli sized an uppercut, and this may have been his big mistake. Moxley collapsed before Claudio could connect. Instead of pulling the trigger to maul Moxley with violence, Claudio paused momentarily. That moment was all Moxley needed. He countered Claudio into a Paradigm Shift. AEW did a great job of making Claudio look tough by kicking out at 1. Mox went to the curb stomp and Death Rider. Kick out at 2 by Claudio. Moxley didn’t skip a beat transitioning for the bulldog choke. Claudio passed out, and Moxley was awarded the win.
McGuinness entered with an injured leg, and O’Reilly went to work on that target. Nigel was stout on defense, but his injury led to choppy movement. O’Reilly slapped on the ankle lock for a dramatic rope break. Nigel found his groove with the comeback lariat. He clobbered O’Reilly then went for the finish on the London Dungeon armlock. O’Reilly tapped out.
Moxley versus Claudio was very good in the teammate versus teammate style. The action was consistent with Death Rider methods of aggression for victory. When Claudio paused at the end, I don’t think it was out of concern. It was a brief moment to decide his next move. I like how Moxley had to pour on the punishment in the end, and Claudio still wouldn’t stay down. He had to be choked out.
McGuinness versus O’Reilly continued in the injured underdog style. O’Reilly pushed the pace. Nigel showed his veteran savvy with technical wrestling and cheeky tricks trying to throw O’Reilly off his game. Even though Nigel is injured, he is still dangerous. He just needs a small window to capitalize for the win. All three victories in the tournament were ‘out of nowhere’ in a sense.
The dream is still alive for McGuinness to win the AEW Continental Cup at Wembley Stadium. In story, Moxley suffered damage to his left arm. It’s interesting that McGuinness won via armlock. We’ll see if those two dots get connected for a dramatic moment and maybe even a victory for the British wrestler.
Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite. Catch up on all the details with excellent play-by-play from Claire Elizabeth.
Will Ospreay’s promise. Bruv opened the show with a fan-friendly promo about working his up through the UK indie scene. He had huge respect for Kenny Omega, but that vanished when Omega mentioned Ospreay’s son. Ospreay promised the people that Omega will get the Billy GOAT, it will be the match of his life, and fans will leave Wembley Stadium with memories of a lifetime. Ospreay will show his son that heroes are ordinary people that can do extraordinary things.
Solid material for a babyface promo. It is the calm before the storm when the nerves are bubbling in anticipation for what is to come. Ospreay set the scene to deliver a happy ending to become world champion. There will be criticism that Omega was nowhere to be found on this episode. It is odd for the world champion to be absent prior to AEW’s biggest show of the year. Perhaps he’ll have a video response on Collision. Still though, I understand any frustration about that. Maybe it’s for the better to let the mood simmer on its own instead of delivering a clunky promo exchange. All that needed to be said has already been said for this feud. AEW closed the broadcast with a hype package for the world title bout.
Swerve Strickland defeated Jack Perry. Good main event. This was a much different vibe than that bloody beating from Moxley. Swerve wrestled a rugged fight with physicality, such as catching Perry to swing into the ring post. Like the Moxley bout, Perry rallied for a flurry of dives.
The difference was that Perry looked like he belonged with the former world champion. He had a moment with serious upset potential. Perry flowed with the impact of the flying stomp to catch Swerve into the Snare Trap submission. After the tease of pain, Swerve grit down with composure to escape. On the finish, Swerve blocked a cazadora maneuver to pull Perry up by the hair for the Big Pressure driver to win.
In my view of the storyline, Perry had a much better outing here. He gained Swerve’s respect by being crafty. Swerve showed levels to be world champion by escaping that Snare Trap. A lesser competitor would have tapped out. Swerve also demonstrated creativity in how he handled Perry on the finisher. For the idea of kill or be killed, I don’t think the action reached that level of character exploration. It was a hard-fought match and another learning experience for Jungle Boy. I can definitely see seeds planted if Perry wins a rematch.
Adam Copeland & Young Bucks defeated Brian Cage, Jake Doyle, & Rocky Romero. Commentary stated that this was supposed to be an 8-man tag, but Christian Cage refused to team with the Bucks after their errant superkicks. The question was if Cope could gel with the Bucks to get the win. The answer was yes. There were no issues. The closest it came to that was Cope reaching out for the hot tag from Nick Jackson instead of tagging in his brother. It appeared that the Bucks briefly made faces like Cope stole the tag. I side with Cope. Nick was in dire need of a tag, and he crawled closer to Cope. It’s not like Cope reached over egregiously to steal the tag from Matt Jackson.
That was quickly water under the bridge. Copeland and the Bucks worked together to overcome strongman offense from the Callis Family. Rocky paid the price for strutting after a double rana to the Bucks. They delivered a superkick party to the back of his head. The Bucks took out Cage and Doyle with dives outside, then Cope closed with a spear on Rocky. Good teamwork and smart strategy from the Jacksons to set Cope up with a clear coast for victory.
The real drama came afterward when Christian entered to insult the Bucks. He gave them credit for being influential, but there is a difference in being legends. Matches and PPVs have been named after Cope and Christian. This won’t be a dream match for Christian. Just another day at the office. Matt retorted to wonder if C&C ever had a company named after them, then he threatened to kick Christian in the face if the trash talk continues. Tension heated. Cope tried to chill the vibe. Christian went low for a kick to Matt’s groin. Nick reacted with a superkick. Cope speared Nick, even though, it was against his desire.
This scene continued the character dynamic. Three out of four are trying to be good-natured while also acknowledging the magnitude of this dream match. One of the four is stirring the pot as a surly fellow. There’s no obvious angle in play for the All In match, so I guess it will great tag team wrestling to find out who is best. I have no issues with that, considering it is a dream match.
How you know? MJF insulted the Scottish fans as alcoholic pieces of trash, then the camera comically panned over to a dude with a long beard. MJF hired goons to put hands on Andrade. He thought that meant Andrade wouldn’t be here. When MJF insulted a woman for a selfie, there was one question. Andrade popped up from behind. “How you know?” Fists flew. MJF retreated. I popped at Andrade’s pop up. That was a funny and creative way to keep this feud hot.
Divine Dominion & Persephone defeated Brawling Birds & Maya World. Persephone showed personality shouting at the referee to count faster. She always has little bits that crack me up every time out. The match did well delivering as a tease for the women’s tag title bout. Divine Dominion and the Birds brawled enough to give us a taste while still leaving plenty on the bone. On the finish, those four brawl brawled to the back. Persephone took advantage of the chaos to clock Maya with a title belt. Frog splash for the win. That dirty tactic should be enough for a rematch for the TBS title. Maya will probably want payback.
Notes: For those placing bets, Dynamite did not run long past the 2-hour time slot. There was no overrun. Wow!
Willow Nightingale’s music was interrupted by LOUD NOISES backstage. Mercedes Moné smashed Willow’s hand. That smile will be gone for good when the CEO wins the world title at All In.
Don Callis hyped Mark Davis for the Casino Gauntlet.
Chris Jericho wants to be world champion again, so he will be in the Casino Gauntlet match too. Jericho wants action on Collision to get momentum. AEW booked Jericho, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, & Komander versus Davis, Tommaso Ciampa, & Nick Wayne. Hmm, that feels pretty lazy in matchmaking. We just saw the 2-on-2 version of this last week on Collision.
Don Callis expects his alpha athletes to run the play that’s called. Kyle Fletcher has doubts that Kazuchika Okada would run the play. Okada downplayed that concern in a way not to trust him.
Stud of the Show: Nigel McGuinness
McGuinness is overcoming the odds of injury, and he is doing it in style.
Match of the Night: Jon Moxley vs. Claudio Castagnoli
The Death Riders clash was hearty and satisfying.
Grade: B-
Entertaining wrestling as usual. Aside from the Continental Cup matches, I don’t think there was much spark to increase excitement for All In.
Share your thoughts about AEW Dynamite. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show? Who impressed you the most?
