AEW Dynasty 2026: Draws & Duds

Another AEW PPV is upon us, and this time it's Dynasty 2026, coming to you this Sunday from the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia! The card features five championship matches, one match with championship implications, and three more in addition, with Canada's own showing and (presumably) showing out in the form of Kenny Omega, Cope and Cage, and the recently returned Chris Jericho.

But which of these matches has the WINC crew excited for Tony Khan's latest, and which have us scratching our heads? That's the question this column aims to find out. Does Will Ospreay's feud with the Death Riders move us to drop money on the show? Are we tuning in to find out whether Darby Allin can earn himself a world title match? And how do we feel about some of those aforementioned Canadians challenging for championships? Here are our biggest draws and biggest duds for AEW Dynasty 2026!

A dream match for many AEW fans (and NJPW fans considering how their initial meeting ended), Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay will finally go one-on-one this Sunday for the AEW Continental Championship. It will mark the first time since Forbidden Door in August 2025 that Ospreay will be in action on one of AEW's marquee supercards, which for some fans is a draw in itself considering how long everyone thought Ospreay would be out of action for. However, this match has grown in recent weeks into one of the most highly anticipated bouts of the year so far.

This match wasn't originally going to be considered a draw as the AEW Continental Championship wasn't initially on the line. Had this been a non-title affair, it would have been just an easy way to get Ospreay a big win on pay-per-view, wrap up his feud with the Death Riders, and keep the title on Moxley for a future challenger. That all changed when the title was put on the line because it adds an extra layer of intrigue.

The Owen Hart Foundation Tournament is likely around the corner and many people expect Ospreay to win that and move on to All In London to challenge for the AEW World Championship, but if he is the AEW Continental Champion, all of a sudden those plans could potentially change. Moxley has been doing such a good job at elevating the title that it seems weird to think they would take the title off him, but surely AEW officials wouldn't have Ospreay lose in his first pay-per-view match since neck surgery would they? Sure, it keeps Ospreay ready for a world title match at Wembley Stadium, but unless the company plans on keeping this feud going into Double or Nothing, the idea of Moxley winning becomes a wrinkle many people didn't initially expect.

As for the match itself, both men can have a show-stealing performance with their eyes closed at this point. Moxley is for many fans still the unofficial ace of the company based on how good he was in the second half of 2025, but Ospreay seemingly has a five star match with everyone he works with, especially on pay-per-view. The clash of styles will force both men to try some different things and produce something wildly different from their initial match in NJPW back in 2022, which ended in controversial fashion because sometimes referees like to be the center of attention.

Overall, this is a match with that big fight feel. Two of the biggest names in AEW wrestling in a bout that could go either way, and it will have an impact on the main event scene throughout the summer.

Written by Sam Palmer

Darby Allin is set to attempt to get himself back into the AEW World Championship picture with a match over Andrade El Idolo at Dynasty, in what feels like a very haphazardly booked match. Don Callis, who is working alongside MJF, as the champion is paying him to take out his opponents, announced the match on the April 1 edition of "Dynamite." Callis said that MJF told him if Allin wins, he gets a shot at the title.

This match is a dud for many reasons, and I can't say I'm exactly sure how Allin and Andrade's styles are going to mesh in the ring, though I'm sure both stars will make it work and I'll end up being very surprised. While Allin wanting to jump back in the title scene makes sense — who wouldn't want to compete for AEW's top title — his journey to get there hasn't exactly made sense.

Allin was locked in what felt like a never-ending feud with The Dogs' Gabe Kidd, then eventually Clark Connors and David Finlay. He did rack up victories over the stable, and the feud seemingly ended with a coffin match win over Kidd, but it doesn't feel like he's done enough lately. Allin wrapped that all up, got a win over Rush in a random no holds barred main event of "Dynamite," and came out and announced he's coming for MJF.

Andrade is coming off a victory over Bandido at Revolution, and honestly, he should be the one to get a shot at MJF, or Kenny Omega, depending on who emerges victorious from Dynasty. He's been on a hot streak since rejoining the company, and he's currently involved in a much more interesting storyline than Allin. Andrade has been blatantly unhappy with Callis being involved with MJF, basically teasing a babyface turn that honestly, would probably work really well right now with how fans are responding to El Idolo. He may be headed toward the turn if he loses to Allin at Dynasty, though it's unclear why Callis would care if his guy lost, because the family would still be getting paid by MJF no matter what.

It presumably depends on whether or not MJF retains the title at Dynasty, though Omega has mentioned he's never had a match against Allin, whether or not Allin is booked to get the win here. If this is how AEW is getting Allin to MJF at Double or Nothing, it's kind of a lazy way to get there. And, overall, this is just a dud of a match for the fact it barely has a story behind it, unless you count Andrade's, and it was just kind of thrown on the card.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Dynasty's main event will feature the company's most beloved name, "The Best Bout Machine" Kenny Omega, taking on the company's foremost villain, "The Devil" MJF, for the company's top prize. 

Omega is quite literally the reason for AEW existing, and there is a strong argument that MJF will go on to become a legend in AEW revered much in the same way "Stone Cold" Steve Austin is revered by WWE fans. But this bout represents something a little more, potentially the last time Omega could conceivably go for the world title after providing a stark reminder that even the best times must come to an end. 

Wrestling at its very core is heroes and villains, the ring being the battlefield upon which it is determined who must come out on top. In one corner will stand the man who put the Elite in All Elite Wrestling; in the other corner will stand a man known to be one step ahead of all rivals no matter how elite they may be. "Hangman" Adam Page, Bryan Danielson, Will Ospreay, Cody Rhodes, Jon Moxley, CM Punk, and Omega in 2023, all have shown to be the heroes in their story, and still it was not enough when they came face-to-face with MJF – the pillar towering leagues over his contemporaries, and more than willing to go leagues beneath them to get what he wants. 

Billy Butcher vs. Homelander, Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin, Batman vs. Joker, Invincible vs. the Viltrumites — all stories told to say it doesn't matter how noble the pursuit of the hero, there is a ground they will not fight on that makes it almost impossible for the righteous to prosper. So why tune in? Hope. The hope that the righteous will overcome, the hope that the hero is truly too good to be stopped by underhanded tactics, and the hope that at last the villain will get their comeuppance. 

And then once you zoom out of the story and the characters involved, there is the additional fact that MJF and Omega remain legitimately two of the best wrestlers, not just of their respective generations, but in the pantheon of great wrestlers in history. It's a dream match. It was when they faced off the first time. It is after so much has gone against both men in this path so far. 

Omega's defied all expectations to not only return from diverticulitis but continue to be the wrestler fans fell in love with, the man that turns a wrestling match into a work of art. MJF's resurrected the very best version of himself after some stuttering and stammering towards the end of his initial title reign. Now it's time to see who wants it more.

Written by Max Everett

It feels harsh to have FTR in the dud section of this piece for the second AEW pay-per-view in a row, especially given how their match with The Young Bucks actually went. However, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler land themselves here again, this time ahead of their match with Adam Copeland and Christian Cage for the AEW World Tag Team Championships at Dynasty on April 12.

For starters, the match with Matt and Nick Jackson was always going to be good, and the fact that a little bit of the red stuff showed up made it feel like an actual personal blood feud rather than just a normal wrestling match. That is the same problem that the Cope and Cage match feels like it's going to have. This feud is arguably as personal as the one with The Young Bucks based on the fact that FTR took out Copeland's wife Beth at All Out, and the fact that Copeland has known FTR since the 2000s. Those are two factors that need to be remembered when putting this match together, because once again, there's nothing worse in wrestling than a collar and elbow tie-up to kick off a personal grudge match.

Outside of our personal feelings on the match, the match is going to be a draw thanks to the fact that it's Cope and Cage in Canada again, but this time going for the tag team titles. That adds a bit more sauce to the bout than their All Out match which was non-title, but the match falls into the dud category because it almost seems a bit too predictable. It's been well established that the one dream match that Cope and Cage actually want is The Young Bucks, and the Jackson brothers feel the same way. For as exciting as that showdown will eventually be (especially if there are some ladders involved), knowing that is the end goal makes this upcoming match with FTR feel a bit inconsequential. Less of a dream rematch and more of something we just have to get out of the way.

Besides, the run for FTR at the top of the AEW tag team division seems to have run its course, and now that we are pivoting towards Cope and Cage vs. Matt and Nick instead of what could have been more exciting — that being JetSpeed dethroning FTR as the up-and-coming babyface duo — this match just doesn't cut it for us personally. Will it be good? Maybe, but looking at the rest of the card, there aren't many matches I can see being worse than this baring any major botches or injuries.

Written by Sam Palmer