AEW Redemption results, grades, takeaways: Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, Willow Nightingale set the stage for All In

AEW Redemption 2026 took place on Sunday evening from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, with the promotion crowning new champions and setting the stage for next month’s big All In show. The rivalry between Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay picked up steam, Willow Nightingale secured her spot against Mercedes Moné by becoming AEW’s new Women’s World Champion, Andrade El Idolo and Maya World claimed gold, and Cage and Cope booked a dream match against the Young Bucks for London’s Wembley Stadium. 

As we approach next month’s show across the pond, here are full results, grades and 10 big takeaways from AEW Redemption. 

AEW Redemption full card results and grades: 

• Men's World Championship: Kenny Omega vs. Kevin Knight 👑 4.25/5 👑

• Women's World Championship: Thekla vs. Willow Nightingale 👑 4.25/5 👑

• National Championship: Andrade El Idolo def. Mark Davis (c) 👑 4/5 👑

• No Holds Barred: Chris Jericho vs. Tommaso Ciampa 👑 4.25/5 👑

• Men’s Tag Team Championship: Cope and Cage def. Claudio Castagnoli and PAC 👑 3.5/5 👑

• TBS Championship: Maya World def. Hikaru Shida (c) 👑 3.25/5 👑

• Double Chain Match: Jay White and Juice Robinson vs. Clark Connors and David Finlay - 👑 2.5/5 👑

• International Championship: Kyle Fletcher (c) def. Bandido - 👑 4.5/5 👑

• The Young Bucks def. Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay - 👑 4.25/5 👑

• No. 1 Contender for the International Title Ladder Match: “Speedball” Mike Bailey def. The Beast Mortos, Nick Wayne, Jack Perry, Komander, and El Clon - 👑 4/5 👑

AEW Redemption 2026 overall event grade: 👑 3.75/5 👑

10 big takeaways

1. When there’s a Willow, there’s a way

I questioned last month how AEW would piece together a story that made sense between Thekla and Owen Hart Cup winner Mercedes Moné for All In. Turns out, that wasn’t in the cards. Thekla and Willow Nightingale exchanged momentum throughout Sunday’s title match, before Skye Blue appeared to turn the tide with some outside interference. Nightingale eventually overcame the interference, hit the Pounce on Thekla, and celebrated as the first woman in AEW to become a Grand Slam Champion. 

Thekla hasn't had much to work with in the way of compelling storylines during her run atop the AEW women’s division, but she really didn’t even need one. She hit the ground running as the face of the division and is an unfortunate casualty ahead of AEW’s biggest show of the year. With the Nightingale vs. Moné world title match all but booked, Thekla and Maya World could tear the house down as a nice consolation in London. 

As for Nightingale, what an enormous moment for her. The story writes itself: Moné’s career almost ended after breaking her ankle against Nightingale in the inaugural NJPW STRONG Women's Championship match. A year later, she beat Nightingale for the TBS Championship. And now, they’ll face off for the promotion’s ultimate prize on its grandest stage. 

Lee South

2. Missing the killer instinct

The big story heading into Redemption focused largely on Will Ospreay’s refusal to go for the kill when it’s there, Jon Moxley trying to coax him further into the dark side, and the Young Bucks taking Kenny Omega’s back. 

The storyline played out perfectly on Sunday, as Moxley was set to end the Bucks in their tag match, only for Ospreay to stop Moxley and cost them both a win, with the Bucks then superkicking Moxley into oblivion. Moxley's frustration boiled over backstage and later after the main event, when he attempted to attack Omega.

For the Bucks, it was one more win needed before riding into All In for a dream tag-team title showdown against Cope and Cage. 

3. Should’ve taken your shot 

In a match that provided a nice warmup for what we should see much more of next year, Kevin Knight showed yet again why he’s ripe for a breakout heading into 2027.

Knight was never taking the world title from Kenny Omega this close to All In, but Sunday’s main event served as another showcase for a star who is almost assuredly a future world champ.

In the end, Omega got the job done, playing his role as the established vet who continued to push the young contender to give him a real challenge. After the match, the action really picked up, as the Death Riders attacked Omega and threatened to stomp his neck. Will Ospreay hit the ring to make the save, ripped up a plastic bag Jon Moxley wanted to use on Omega, and physically attacked his faction members. 

After thanking Ospreay for saving his back, Omega laid out Ospreay as the show went off the air. The entire dynamic is exceptional storytelling, with Ospreay consistently refusing to be as ruthless as he needs to be to become champion. And I can’t wait to see how this one ends, with Moxley almost certainly set to be involved in the closing moments of All In next month. 

4. Andrade soars

Is there a star who’s had a better past few months than Andrade El Idolo? Since his return to AEW, Andrade’s been positioned in spots to show his immense in-ring ability and charisma, resulting in a quick stop in the Don Callis Family before what looks to be a lengthy singles run.

Mark Davis was a perfect transition Continental Champion, representing a big man who can go and someone who could handle the pace Andrade established from the opening bell. Andrade received a star’s entrance and Davis helped him look like the star AEW is clearly envisioning with Sunday’s action inside and outside the ring. Andrade wasn’t in much danger throughout the title match, and ultimately he claimed his first taste of AEW gold after hitting the spinning back elbow, followed by the DM for the win. 

Andrade vs. MJF has felt written in the stars for All In, and I’d be stunned if that’s not the direction. If the former world champ isn’t available, Andrade continuing to blitz through the Don Callis Family against someone like Kazuchika Okada could be quite the Plan B.  

5. Time to fly

As normalized as a six-man ladder match is these days, it feels like it’s been awhile since we’ve seen one in AEW. Sunday’s match served as an exceptional opener, with bell-to-bell action that provided spots for each competitor to shine. Komander continues to be exceptionally athletic, Jack Perry maybe had the spot of the night with his Canadian Destroyer from the top of the ladder, and “Speedball” Mike Bailey unquestionably stole the match with spots of his own, like a moonsault at the top of the stage. 

There wasn’t really a question from the outset that Bailey would walk away from this one with the No. 1 contendership in his hometown. It’s a perfect next step after watching his former tag-team partner Kevin Knight skyrocket right into the main-event scene. Bailey doesn’t look to be far behind him, and I genuinely love the idea of keeping these two separate while Bailey contends for Kyle Fletcher’s International belt. 

6. Bandido can’t get over the hump

Just outside of the main-event scene, Kyle Fletcher and Bandido each showed once again that they have the technical ability to be in the main-event picture. Expectations for this one were through the roof, and both men lived up to exactly what fans hoped for with a match between two of the promotion’s brightest future stars. 

Bandido for the second pay-per-view in a row appeared right on the cusp of a career-altering win, only to come up just short. It was Fletcher, instead, who dropped Bandido on his head and continued his reign with the International Championship. 

For Fletcher, a match against Mike Bailey is the only thing holding him back from a massive showdown at All In. The champ has plenty of routes to get there, assuming he’s still champion; a match against Konosuke Takeshita makes a ton of sense, or a full Don Callis Family breakdown and a title defense against Kazuchika Okada could be in play. 

Bandido seems to be stuck in neutral in a similar fashion to what we’ve seen with Athena as the Ring of Honor world champion who’s unable to progress from there. At some point, AEW has to decide whether Bandido is a future main-event player or simply an elite gatekeeper. Redemption didn't answer that question.

7. Team Canada

Cope and Cage have been kicking the can down the road for the last few months, biding their time ahead of All In in London. Their latest victims were Claudio Castagnoli and PAC, who opened Sunday’s match by jumping Cope and Cage to get an early advantage. But the veterans were able to weather an early storm, ride the Canadian momentum, and earn the win to hold onto their tag titles. 

Post-match, the Young Bucks made their way to the ring and a graphic popped up on the screen to announce their long-awaited showdown — Cope and Cage vs. Young Bucks — will happen next month in London. It’s been rumored for months that these four legends would find their way into the squared circle at the massive event, and I’m thrilled they have.

8. No Holds Barred

This match had no excuse being as good as it was. Tommaso Ciampa and Chris Jericho pulled everything out in a match that was as brutal as it was hilarious. 

Ciampa went from disrespecting the hometown fans with a Boston Bruins jersey to taking some absolute diabolical spots involving thumbtacks, tables and barbed wire. Jericho took some insane spots of his own, with thumbtacks sticking in his forehead throughout the match, glass poking in his back from a mirror spot, and both men sporting gashes.

The match was fantastic and exceeded expectations. Ciampa is an absolute mad man for not going the route of wearing “street fight attire” with jeans and a shirt, instead getting cut up with barbed wire around his traditional ring tights. This one felt like a special showing, with the Painmaker making a one-night return. I’d expect Ciampa to find his way into contention for one of the midcard belts as he continues to find his footing in AEW. 

9. It’s Maya(‘s) World

After Maya World’s electric run to the Owen Hart Cup Finals, she was set up well to take the next steps in her growth. What I imagined was going to be a run to a premier match at All In, or a drawn-out path to AEW gold, was instead expedited Sunday night in Montreal to a surprising TBS Championship victory. 

The match dragged at times as Hikaru Shida brought the fight to World, almost overly confident in her ability to put the contender away. In the end, World took advantage of Shida arguing with the referee to hit a fallaway slam for the pinfall. 

It didn't appear AEW had a clear direction for World following last month's loss, making Sunday's title victory an even more pleasant surprise. It’s nice to see AEW pull the trigger on World, learning from the mistakes of stalling out previous rising stars along their ascent and providing a path to even greater stardom from here. 

10. A shillelagh for you

The faction wars continued Sunday with a match that never really felt like it got going. What was designed to be a brutal, knockdown tilt between The Dogs and Bullet Club Gold started with chaos but just didn’t seem to progress much from there. 

Jay White got dropped directly on his head, Juice Robinson and White took turns whipping David Finley with a chain, and the Death Riders made their presence felt to cost Bullet Club Gold the match. Marina Shafir handed Finley the shillelagh to clobber Robinson after Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta took White out on the outside. 

This one felt like an eventual setup for a Death Riders/Dogs showdown against the full Bullet Club Gold, since this feud has no clear end in sight. I’d much prefer White and Finley get the elevated one-on-one showdown AEW is clearly building toward.

One last note: I’d love to know why the organization went with a Chain Match when a Dog Collar Match with a team featuring “Dogs” was right there for the taking?