Swerve Strickland entered the 2026 Owen Hart Cup with the goal of recapturing the AEW Men’s World Title in his crosshairs. After defeating Bandido in the opening round of the tournament at Double or Nothing 2026, and after beating Brody King in the semifinal round at Dynamite: Summer Blockbuster, the “Most Dangerous Man” of All Elite Wrestling took on Will Ospreay in the finals of the Owen at Forbidden Door 2026, where he unfortunately lost to The Aerial Assassin.
Swerve has been missing from All Elite Wrestling programming since getting bested at Forbidden Door, and he has not even been announced for a match on the Tony Khan-led promotion’s upcoming PPV, Redemption 2026. This has given birth to a lot of conjecture regarding the former World Champion’s status for All In: London, the company’s much-anticipated stadium show which will be held next month.
Strickland is one of the Jacksonville-based promotion’s most prominent and beloved performers, and chances of TK leaving him off of the card for Wembley are slim, if not negligible. That said, let us consider three directions AEW could be planning for Swerve for All In: London.
#1. Swerve Strickland returns for the Men’s Casino Gauntlet Match at AEW All In
Barring the original 2023 edition, every subsequent iteration of AEW All In has featured on its card a Casino Gauntlet Match for a future World Championship opportunity. At All In: London in 2024 the bout was won by Christian Cage, who held on to his World Title contract for several months until finally cashing it (albeit unsuccessfully) during Jon Moxley’s defense against Adam Copeland at Revolution 2025.
Last year’s All In: Texas saw MJF emerge triumphant in the Men’s Casino Gauntlet Match ahead of Adam Page reclaiming the Men’s World Title from Jon Moxley at the same PPV. Despite being talked by The Hangman into cashing in his AEW World Championship contract at Forbidden Door 2025, The Wolf of Wrestling ended up not having to do so for a title match after blackmailing Page by threatening to set Mark Briscoe on fire.
Although Friedman was unable to capture The Cowboy’s strap in August, he finally used his contract at the end of the year at Worlds End 2025, inserting himself into a three-way World Title match between Hangman, Swerve Strickland and defending champion Samoa Joe, ultimately picking up the win and regaining the belt.
All In: London this year will very likely present a Men’s Casino Gauntlet bout, as the match-type has become something of a tradition for the event. Tony Khan could easily bring Swerve back into the fold as an entrant in said match, and perhaps even book him to win it.
#2. For the first-time ever in AEW- MJF vs Swerve, one-on-one
As mentioned above, at Worlds End 2025, the AEW Men’s World Championship was on the line in a four-way match between Samoa Joe, Hangman Page, Swerve Strickland and MJF. Towards the closing stretch of the bout, The Mogul had powerbombed The Samoan Submission Machine to set up for a Swerve Stomp. However, before he could put the defending champion down for good, he was knocked off of his top rope perch by Friedman, who essentially cost him the belt in the process.
Every interaction between Strickland and Big Hebrew on All Elite Wrestling programming so far has indicated that there is no love lost between the two stars. Despite their interpersonal hostility, however, Swerve and MJF have yet to square off one-on-one in the company. Incidentally, neither of them have a match scheduled for All In 2026 as of yet.
Considering their already-established history, booking a blockbuster singles match between the former Mogul Embassy leader and the self-proclaimed “generational talent” for Wembley Stadium sounds like an idea worth exploring. Setting up such a bout should not be too difficult either, as Friedman could demand to be inserted into the main event of AEW All In 2026 for the World Title, and instead get confronted by Strickland ahead of the PPV, sparking a brawl that could lead to a match being scheduled.
#3. Swerve and Hangman turn heel on new AEW World Champion Will Ospreay
Before facing off in the finals of the 2026 Owen Hart Cup at Forbidden Door, Swerve Strickland met with Will Ospreay in the ring, and claimed that the latter had changed as an individual over the past year. The “Franchise” called out The Aerial Assassin over his alliance with The Death Riders, harkening back to their battles against Jon Moxley and his crew last year.
At Forbidden Door, the “Billy Goat” finally beat Strickland in singles competition while getting cheered on by The One True King and his stable-mates at ringside. Afterwards, Ospreay and Swerve, both bloodied and battered, appeared to make peace with each other, although this does not guarantee that the latter has fully forgiven the Englishman for aligning himself with The Death Riders.
While most viewers expect Mox and his crew to show their true colors after the conclusion of Omega vs Ospreay at AEW All In, it is possible that Moxley will not turn on either Will or Kenny- especially if The Commonwealth Kingpin beats The Cleaner to become World Champion after a hard-fought battle. Instead, the original Death Rider could demonstrate his respect for Omega alongside Ospreay, and afterwards celebrate the latter’s home-town win, an outcome he has been training The Sky King for since April.
Swerve Strickland may be less than thrilled with Ospreay’s success, however- even less so considering the resentments he may understandably still be carrying against The Death Riders for all the chaos they have caused so far. The former WWE superstar may also find a kindred spirit in this regard in Hangman Page, who could also be frustrated with Ospreay for associating himself with Mox during his crowning moment.
All this could lead to Swerve and Hangman actually turning on Ospreay at All In: London after the latter becomes the AEW World Champion. The duo could attack and blindside the United Empire co-founder as well as Moxley and The Death Riders to close out the PPV on a shocking note. Furthermore, such an angle could be another way to set up a title match between Ospreay and Strickland, with Page supporting Swerve in his championship quest, since he himself is barred from doing so.
Get all the hottest wrestling news FIRST by clicking here
Edited by Joseph Schiefelbein