AEW Dynasty 2026: Biggest Winners And Losers

The 2026 edition of AEW Dynasty took place on April 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia. As at all times, it was an immense show, filled with motion, but lean on stipulations, returns, or the rest that may distract from the happenings within the ring. We have already talked about what we loved and what we hated, and we have gone over the outcomes of the show, so now, all that is left is to debate who got here out looking like a winner, and who got here out looking like an enormous fat loser.

As at all times, it will not be literal. Some winners are losers, like MJF, who has no where to go but down, and a few losers are really winners, like Konosuke Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada. Sometimes it’s the way in which it appears though, with losers being losers and winners being winners.

Enough of my pontificating, let’s get into the nitty and the gritty.

In response to reports, Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita weren’t alleged to be in the identical match on Sunday, but thank god for injury since it led to more narrative momentum than either guy has had in months.

Tensions boiled over of their tag match against The Young Bucks, and Takeshita cost himself a match against the International Champion by allowing the Bucks to get the win. Now, as an alternative of a straightforward title match to follow up, we have now to see where this story goes. It would be a protracted and crooked road to those two coming to blows. Who’s to say that Takeshita even goes for the International Title? He could cost Okada the title out of animosity. Irrespective of what happens, it should be 1,000,000 times more interesting than the 2 of them sniping at one another like they have been for nearly half a 12 months.

There isn’t a higher encapsulation of this silly medium we call wrestling, than the indisputable fact that Takeshita probably made himself and Okada seem like larger winners in defeat, than they ever could’ve by overcoming their issues and dealing together. This business is built on drama and conflict, in spite of everything.

MJF has had an amazing reign as world champion, and I’m on record as saying that he had a beautiful match with Kenny Omega on Sunday.

But…

With Darby Allin knocking on the door, and Will Ospreay waiting within the wings, it seems like there are quite a lot of contenders to take his title, and I’m unsure if there’s anyone larger for him to beat than Kenny Omega. I now find myself sitting on my hands, waiting for it to be time for MJF to drop the title, be it Wednesday or later this 12 months at All In.

Either way, the height has been hit and it’s all downhill for MJF from here on out. He has to do his best to ride this title reign to a satisfying conclusion. Beat too lots of the Ospreays or the Allins of the world, and it could turn this reign right into a disaster. I’m unsure I’m convinced of Darby’s possibilities, but Ospreay is as a result of be world champion any day now. If the corporate waits too long, it could possibly be ruinous, and if it’s too soon, MJF’s reign seems like a non-entity. It’s a tough situation MJF finds himself in, and he’ll must white-knuckle it through the rough patches.

Kevin Knight is the brand new AEW TNT Champion, and damned if it doesn’t feel just like the first big moment for the corporate’s next young star. Knight has been all-promise and all-potential during his time in NJPW and now AEW, and along with his first singles title in hand, he appears to be finally delivering on that promise and potential.

Knight has been a standout a part of the tag and trios division, and where some wrestlers get stuck within the mire of tandem competition, Knight rose above the noise and is ready on becoming the star everyone thinks he could possibly be. His feud with Swerve Strickland showed promise, and now he has one in every of AEW’s workhorse titles to prove that he belongs within the conversation with the MJFs and the Hangman Pages.

The strippers, and the wings, at Magic City are set for a celebration for Knight and it’s well-earned.

The Dogs belong in AEW, definitely, however it seems like the group is stuck in second gear. They have not quite had the success that one would suspect a former Bullet Club faction would have in a promotion run by former Bullet Club members. The team won the AEW World Tag Team Titles, simply to lose the titles days later to the  Conglomeration, and now Gabe Kidd is on the shelf indefinitely with a shoulder injury. It’s made them feel like they’ll must regroup sometime down the road, possibly in time for Forbidden Door.

Very like MJF, this is much from their fault, they usually’re doing their best with the cards they have been dealt, but if you’re playing poker, and your cards are bad, you either need to bluff real hard or else there’s only a technique it’s gonna prove: loser.