AEW’s Toughest Era Begins Now

AEW‘s Forbidden Door was another success, with lots of wild action, and its top stars, like “Hangman” Adam Page and Toni Storm, retaining their titles, but the show was also notable for two other moments. Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay were written off after their matches because both men have real-life injuries that require them to go under the knife for surgery. With Strickland and Ospreay being the biggest stars of the men’s division behind Page, and WWE out to destroy AEW with their latest moves, Tony Khan’s promotion is about to enter a challenging period that will require them to give it their all. If AEW gets lazy, they might not recover from what happens.

Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay Were Written Off At Forbidden Door

Both Wrestlers Are Dealing With Real Life Injuries

• Kazuchika Okada swung a chair at Swerve Strickland’s knee.
• The Death Riders destroyed Will Ospreay after the Lights Out cage match.
• Only “Hangman” Adam Page is more popular than Swerve and Ospreay in the men’s division.

The summer of 2025 has belonged to “Hangman” Adam Page, as the villain became the hero once more. A compelling redemption arc saw Page be the one to finally take down AEW World Champion Jon Moxley at All In, with names like Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland coming out to help him win the gold. It was a move that made sense too. Swerve had been Hangman’s greatest rival, but the two men earned each other’s respect. As for Ospreay, many thought he should have won the Owen Hart tournament to become the number one contender instead of Page, but his character fought for AEW no matter what.

If “Hangman” Adam Page is the main character of AEW, Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland are number two and three in the men’s division. Now both men are about to be gone from AEW for several months. With Swerve battling a knee injury, he was written off after his Unified Championship with Kazuchika Okada, as the champion smashed his leg with a steel chair. That was nothing compared to the brutality seen at the end of the night. Following a wild Lights Out cage match, Will Ospreay had a heartfelt moment with his home country crowd. He has been vocal about his neck being in bad shape and needing to step away. So as he celebrated, the dastardly Death Riders took him out, leaving him unconscious in the middle of the ring to close the show. AEW has been doing well lately, but in one night, their second and third-biggest men’s stars were written off.

WWE Wants To Destroy AEW

WWE Wrestlepalooza Is Scheduled To Go Up Against AEW All Out

• NXT and Saturday Night’s Main Event went up against AEW All In.
• WWE Wrestlepalooza will be on ESPN and headlined by John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar.
• Wrestlepalooza will steal all of the headlines from AEW All Out.

If injuries are bad enough to deal with, AEW must also contend with WWE, as TKO is bloodthirsty and out to completely destroy AEW. WWE has been scheduling more and more shows to go up against AEW pay-per-views, such as putting up NXT against All In, or having Goldberg’s retirement match the same weekend. Those moves were seen mostly as petty, with NXT unable to do any damage, and Saturday Night’s Main Even airing at a different time. WWE was trying to steal the headlines, but it was harmless.

Now, however, WWE is going for the jugular. AEW’s next pay-per-view is All Out on September 20. It has been scheduled for months and is one of AEW’s biggest shows of the year. WWE decided to step things up this time by not just throwing NXT in their path or looking to steal headlines. No, now WWE wants to take AEW out, and they’re going for it all by scheduling a WWE PLE to air at the exact same time as All Out! And it’s not any PLE either, as WWE is bringing back the ECW Wrestlepalooza name, with John Cena most likely main eventing against Brock Lesnar, and this being the first ESPN show of the new partnership.

No matter how good AEW All Out is, it’s now what the mainstream outlets will be talking about. AEW hardcore fans will still tune in to All Out, but every news story is going to be about Wrestlepalooza, ESPN, and Brock Lesnar. You can argue over if it’s wrong or not, but it will certainly damage AEW’s hold on the news cycle and social media that night.

AEW Can’t Get Lazy Or They Will Suffer

All Elite Wrestling Needs To Turn It Up

• Many fans are upset about what is happening to WWE with TKO in charge.
• AEW will need to depend on the likes of “Hangman” Adam Page and MJF even more.
• Darby Allin, Wardlow, and Kyle Fletcher could be part of the new main event scene.

WWE is getting a lot of hate from wrestling fans right now. Not only have they creatively stalled, but they also look like a big bully beating on the little guy. TKO doesn’t care what you think though. They only want to destroy the competition. Even if WWE has gotten boring this year, they’re still selling out every show, ratings are still doing well, and the money keeps pouring in. AEW is wisely staying in their lane and Tony Khan isn’t going off on social media, but now his promotion is missing two of its biggest names to go with everything else.

AEW has to step it up even more than they already have. If they get lazy, they will see another ratings downturn. Losing Ospreay and Strickland is a struggle, with both men so over with fans, but it gives AEW a moment, pushed around and hurt, to fight back. The AEW women’s division continues to do well, the tag team division got a shake up with Brody King and Bandido winning the titles, and the matches themselves continue to be better than ever. But AEW’s star power just took a huge hit at the worst possible time. AEW needs to lean now more than ever into Hangman and names like MJF. It’s time to push Kyle Fletcher to the moon too. On top of that, Darby Alliin is back and needs to be put out there as much as possible, and the returning Wardlow is due a main event level run.

There is not one single answer about what AEW must do now, but whatever it is must be about building new main event stars and making them just as popular as Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay are. WWE wants to kill AEW, and with two of their biggest names sidelined, TKO is undoubtedly smelling blood and ready to hit even harder.