The All Out Hangover

Chicago is once again turning into a hotbed of questionable life choices and high-flying violence as AEW gears up for All Out this year. Every card leading into this show feels like a desperate attempt to reset the dial after a spring that saw more booking whiplash than a demolition derby. We are looking at a stage where the golden tickets are being shuffled.

The main event features MJF defending the heavyweight strap against a surging challenger who has been climbing the ladder since early June. If you think the Elite are going to let the face of the company walk out of the United Center without a fight, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. But let’s be honest: MJF has had the title for 284 days, and the story has run its course.

We have seen the same rinse-and-repeat interference spots for months. It is time for a drastic change in direction to keep the main event scene from becoming a stale rerun of 2023. If the challenger does not walk away with the gold, there is zero reason for fans to keep investing in the weekly episodic grind.

The Mid-Card Shuffle and Tag Team Chaos

The TNT Title Situation

The TNT Championship has spent the last year looking like a prop that gets passed around at a bachelor party. We have had more title changes than clean finishes on Dynamite lately. This weekend, the current champ is set to face a high-flyer whose transition from indie darling to main event player has been far too slow for anyone's liking.

If the promotion wants to breathe life back into the mid-card, they need to stop booking title matches that rely on sledgehammers and hidden objects. Every time someone hits a run-of-the-mill spinebuster followed by a standard pin, the crowd goes quiet. They need a technical masterpiece to reset the expectation, not another chaotic brawl involving half the locker room.

Tag Team Woes

Remember when the tag division was the deepest in the business? Now we are watching teams that barely chemistry-checked their way onto the roster fighting for the straps. Divine Dominion, the current champs who recently survived that bloody main event, seem to be holding the belts by a thread. The booking team is stalling, clearly waiting to see who emerges from the pack.

I expect the challengers, a scrappy trio of veterans who have been grinding in the shadows since March, to take the titles. It is a necessary pivot. The current champions are talented, but their reign has hit a wall where the audience can predict the finish five minutes into the match.

Predicting the Upset of the Night

If you are looking for the match to bet your imaginary wrestling bankroll on, keep your eyes fixed on the TBS Championship. The incumbent champion has been doing some of the best character work in the biz, but her physical toll is mounting. Professional wrestling is a brutal game; even the toughest workers reach a burnout point.

We are likely seeing a transition here. The challenger is fresh, hungry, and hasn't been buried on Dark for six months. A clean win here, perhaps utilizing that signature submission move they debuted back at the June tapings, would legitimize the next generation. We don't need another screwy finish that forces a rematch in three weeks.

The promotion needs to realize that fans have long memories. We remember when the booking felt tight and every title defense felt like climbing Mount Everest. Right now, it feels like we are just waiting for the next big free agent signing to show up and disrupt the rhythm. They have the roster density to make this work, but they lack the focus.

Look at the way they handled the fallout from the CM Punk history chat; they fed the fire of the internet discourse without actually delivering a concrete direction for the fall season. All Out 2026 is the moment where they stop relying on past nostalgia and start building the future. If they stick to the status quo, Chicago is going to be a very loud, very angry room by the time the main event ends.