Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay: The Curious Case of Who Should Win At All In: London
The AEW All In: London main event could potentially be one of the greatest wrestling matches we’ll ever see. But, in terms of the classic debate around what the outcome should be, things aren’t so straight forward.
THE ROAD TO ALL IN: LONDON
So, how did we get here? Ironically, this wasn’t the clearest path to the main event at Wembley, and I mean that in the best way possible. Throughout 2026, All Elite Wrestling has made some shocking moves, had to make some clear pivots, and brought on storylines that no one saw coming, which made the road to All In all the more palpable, because, for a time, no one truly knew what the main event would be.
The first tease came at AEW Dynasty, when both Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay lost their matches at the PPV, being left to comfort each other in the back. Ospreay told Kenny not to give up his dream of being world champion again, and noted that “The Best Bout Machine” was his hero. In that moment, fans started to think things would likely head down that pipeline; we just didn’t know how.
That was made doubly so when Darby Allin won the world title a few days later, going on a tear as champion (showing what you can do in just 39 days when you care about in-ring wrestling), and then Ospreay went and joined the Death Riders! Who saw that coming?
Through their efforts, the faction aimed to rebuild Ospreay as a weapon, and Jon Moxley kept noting that he needed to pull the trigger when the time came. He would do that in the Men’s Owen Hart tournament, securing his path to Wembley. Kenny, however, took the slower road back to the top.
He came back at Double Or Nothing to help win Stadium Stampede, then defeated Zack Sabre Jr. at Forbidden Door in a classic match to further gain momentum for himself. At AEW Beach Break, Kenny would get his revenge on MJF, win the title, and place himself back at the top of the wrestling world, even taking the fighting champion route and beating Kevin Knight at Redemption.
Yet, at the end of that show, everything changed. Moxley, frustrated with Ospreay for not pulling the trigger on the Young Bucks earlier that night, decided to show how things were done by taking out Kenny himself. Will hesitated multiple times, but in the end, he would save Kenny, but the champion wasn’t amused.
At the AEW Dynamite right after Redemption, the two confronted one another, and both made their personal stance clear on what happened that night, as well as making plain their beliefs and views of the other. Ospreay wants the ball and aims to lead All Elite Wrestling to new heights, while Kenny knows he’s still got what it takes to lead and be the champion that everyone cheers for, especially since he didn’t give up on himself, as Ospreay had claimed earlier in the year.
And thus, we end up where we are right now.
The main event at All In: London is set. It will be Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay, with both having incredible journeys to get to this point. However, if you look at all that’s come before, and all that may happen, the winner is certainly not clear-cut.
Every All In pay-per-view before this had a clear pick to win the main event. MJF was always more likely to beat Adam Cole, EVERYONE wanted Danielson to get the world title before he retired. Then, last year, EVERYONE wanted Hangman Adam Page to beat Jon Moxley to free the world title and send AEW on a brighter path.
But, what is the right path here, not only in terms of the story but the wrestlers involved? There’s a case for both, if you’ll hear me out.
The Case For Kenny Omega: The Cleaner’s Last Run
Here’s the biggest thing about Kenny being AEW World Champion once again: We all know it’s likely the last time he’ll hold this, or any, world title. Sure, he could potentially get the trios titles once again with the Bucks, or, if Kota Ibushi gets healed, we could finally see a true Golden Lovers reunion tour, and they win the tag belts. But for many, this is Kenny’s last run as a true champion, and they want him to hold onto it for as long as possible. Who can blame them, right?
His matches with ZSJ, MJF, and Kevin Knight proved that Kenny can still go at a high level without milking the diverticulitis injury as they did at Dynasty. Letting “The Best Bout Machine” just be “The Best Bout Machine” is what fans have wanted, and we have waited 1,700 Days to see Kenny back on top.
For him to have a short title reign after all that, with only one successful title defence would feel a bit sour for many. Granted, AEW has done well with that concept this year, with both Darby Allin and MJF (after beating Allin to get the title back) having short reigns that had meaningful moments and title defenses.
The catch is that this is truly Kenny’s last run, and he’s admitted it himself. Many fans and critics note that AEW may well be at its best when Kenny is on top, and there’s PLENTY of big matches that they can do with Kenny as champion should he get past Ospreay.
Just off the top of my head? Kenny vs. Okada (to truly settle the score), Kenny vs. Speedball (which was teased earlier this year), Kenny vs. Ciampa, Kenny vs. Swerve (the rubber match many want to see), Kenny vs. Fletcher, Kenny vs. Mox, Kenny vs. Switchblade, and heck, even Kenny vs. Hangman, despite the stipulation that he could never challenge again placed on the cowboy earlier this year.
The list could easily fill up a year, if not longer, and I know I’ve missed some that others would like to see, such as Kenny vs. Andrade, Kenny vs. Bandido, and so on.
Another thing that helps the case for Kenny is that we haven’t seen a world title holder KEEP the belt since the original All In. Danielson and Hangman usurped the champ to start new reigns, and you want to keep people guessing as to what will happen at your biggest PPV. Few will fault Tony Khan for keeping the belt on Kenny, especially with how popular he is and how good he still is in the ring, so it’s not a simple situation of, “Oh, it’s Will’s time”; there’s much more to factor in here.
In fact, let’s talk about Will Ospreay from the perspective of him losing.
Ospreay has stated since the Owen that he wants to go to Wembley and win the world title in front of his countrymen, something no British wrestler has ever done before. He wants to make history; he WANTS the ball, so imagine the story that will come out of him losing.
In my mind, the first person that will meet him backstage if he loses will be Mox. He’ll say “I told you so”, in his oh-so-Moxley way.
Then, once more, Ospreay will have a choice. Will he keep trying to be the hero AEW needs and keep failing on the path he’s worn down? Or will he finally accept the sacrifice of who he was to become the killer that wins the world title?
Yes. FULL. HEEL. OSPREAY! It’s been a while since that’s happened, but it would be legendary, and it would last quite a while. Post All In, Ospreay would train with the Death Riders even harder, burying the part of himself that made him beloved by the AEW fanbase and instead become the assassin that he left behind in New Japan.
That would lead to many exciting matches, including a potential Wrestle Kingdom crossover where he finally faces Callum Newman and aims to show the new leader of the United Empire he’s not on his level.
Embracing that weapon mindset, Ospreay would rip through the roster and potentially face Omega once again to get the title, and THEN win, because at that point, he’s already cemented who he is now…and once he wins the gold as a heel, something even Hangman Adam Page couldn’t stomach on his journey in 2025, all new stories can emerge.
Mox was a tyrant as champ. Ospreay will be the one you can’t put down because of how deadly he has become. He’ll tear through challenger after challenger, and just when you think he’s done, he’ll hit another gear and become even more aggressive. Thus, when he does lose, it’d be not only a huge moment, but it’d put the next champion over huge, whenever that is to happen.
Also, Ospreay is currently 3-0 at All In events, and streaks are made to be broken, so…
And yet, as fun as that sounds, there are many who might not be on board with that. So, let’s take things from another perspective.
The Case For Will Ospreay: The Aerial Assassin’s Ascension
Here’s the biggest thing about Will Ospreay becoming AEW World Champion: It’s about time! Seriously, many of us have been waiting for this for a while.
When Ospreay made it clear at Full Gear 2023 that he was coming to All Elite Wrestling after finishing things up in New Japan, we were all pumped. We had already seen the clashes he and Kenny were capable of, including one of my favorite matches ever at Forbidden Door 2023. Then, on NIGHT ONE of his official tenure as an AEW wrestler, he had a 5-star classic with Konosuke Takeshita and kept putting out banger matches one after the other.
His year was so strong that I, and many others, would’ve made the case for him to sit at number one of the PWI500, though he ranked third when the list was published. His match catalogue speaks for itself regardless of whether he wins or loses. In terms of match results, Ospreay has proven himself to be rather selfless during his AEW tenure, which is not something you hear often when talking about top talent. This came to the fore when he lost to Swerve Strickland at Forbidden Door 2024 to reportedly prove no one was above losing to the world champion.
His first title in AEW was the International Title, and he had two good reigns with it, including beating MJF at Wembley in 2024 to reclaim the belt. He even challenged for the tag titles with Kyle Fletcher, and then helped Fletcher ascend to main event status during their feud. Ospreay was just as selfless in The Owen in 2025, when both he and Hangman Page had an equally deserving reason to win the tournament and beat Moxley at All In: Texas.
It worked out well that Ospreay lost, as he needed surgery after Forbidden Door that year, but now he’s back, he’s healthy, and it could now be time to belt him up with the world title.
But why now? What would Ospreay winning the belt at Wembley truly bring AEW? First and foremost, it has the chance to bring forth the best babyface run with the title the company has seen so far. I mean that. Think about every babyface run with the world title, and what you felt after they were done.
How many were you actually satisfied with? Mox’s runs? His longest one was during the pandemic, and even then, he had to work with the cards he was dealt. Hangman? Neither of his runs was as long as you likely remember, and while there were good matches in both, including a banger with Adam Cole at Revolution that I feel is one of the most underrated AEW matches in history, and an incredibly fun match with Kyle Fletcher, many are still frothing over him losing the belt to Samoa Joe…because of Hook.
Or how about Swerve? Again, his reign had high points, but it didn’t last that long. Fast forward to 2026, the only true babyface reign was Darby’s, and it was amazing, but it only lasted 39 days. Kenny’s possibly won’t be much longer, which brings us back to Ospreay.
In the wrestling industry, the classic line that many note when it comes to champs is “The chase is better than the reign.” To an extent, I can accept that. But, Ospreay can break that trope.
Instead of being the deadly weapon that a heel run could forge, he could be the shining light of AEW, and even the wrestling industry as a whole! Imagine him going on a run that lasts a full year, if not longer, and him going through challenger after challenger, overcoming one heel foe after another, and even being pushed to the brink by his friends, only to come out on top even stronger.
Those who love his style wouldn’t tired of Ospreay on top during this reign, particularly as he’d be delivering quality matches all over the place, maybe even going to other promotions to defend the belt to show what a world champion should be.
In its seven years, AEW has been strong with its champions and their reigns. Yes, not everything works, but they succeed way more than they fail. On the other hand, its promotional rival often refuses to budge on what they feel a world champion should be and do, which is why their product can often suffer, affording AEW the opportunity to present something different and shine.
By giving the belt to Ospreay, he can shatter all expectations, prove he deserves to be at the top of the wrestling world, and make every pay-per-view must-see because it means we’ll get another Will Ospreay world title match. It doesn’t matter the opponent; he’ll go full-tilt every time and deliver a match that will leave fans happy and wanting more.
Going back to the crossovers with other promotions, imagine him having a true Forbidden Door match against someone like Callum Newman or Yota Tsuji? Or maybe at something like Grand Slam: Mexico, where he puts on a classic match against Mistico? The possibilities are endless because of just how strong Will Ospreay’s game is.
But what about Kenny? Well, he can start to ride off into the sunset with style. He’s won the midcard titles before, including being a tag champ, trios champ, and holding the International Title. Maybe he’ll go for the Continental Championship and win the C2 one year. Or, maybe he’ll try to find himself on a true journeyman’s quest that’ll end up with him pulling a Bryan Danielson and wanting to do an epic retirement run for the ages, which could include another match with Ospreay.
Plus, as noted, if Ibushi comes back, the Golden Lovers reunion tour is right there, and Kenny is ALWAYS up for being in the ring with Kota Ibushi.
Yes, it would be sad to see Kenny’s final world title run be so short, but in going down valiantly to Ospreay, and basically anointing him as the new “Best Bout Machine,” he’s giving his blessing for AEW to move beyond him, and for the next generation to take All Elite Wrestling to even greater heights.
Who Wins? What’s Best For AEW? You Make The Call.
It’s certainly rare that a main event like this has such potential for not only an all-time classic wrestling match, but a situation where there is no wrong answer as to who wins. Ironically, the last time I can think of something like this was the Men’s Owen Hart Final in 2025 with Hangman vs. Ospreay.
If you’re expecting me to tell you what the right answer is for AEW and Tony Khan to make…I’m not going to do that. Simply because I don’t know.
I’ve laid out both cases, and both have appealing merits. I’d love to see Kenny get one last long run with the world title, while also seeing a side of Will Ospreay that we haven’t viewed before. Lots of fun to be had with those storylines.
On the flip side, I’m not going to be mad if Ospreay finally becomes world champion, because he’s my favorite wrestler, and I want him to go on a tear that will define what world champions should be once he loses the belt. He is the measuring stick on numerous levels already, and giving him an epic title reign will cement that.
So as I said in the title of this section…you make the call. Which of these cases do you feel is the strongest? Or, ignore the storylines and tell me who you are more passionate about seeing win when Wembley Stadium hosts AEW All In: London, and we get potentially the match of the year, or even the decade, based on their past performances.
No matter who wins, we’re going to get something special. Why? Because two of the best wrestlers competing today are about to clash for one of the most important belts in the industry, it’s sure to be legendary.
