The Owen Hart Foundation Tournament is almost upon us once again, with this year’s tournament kicking off at AEW Double or Nothing 2026. The winners will receive AEW Men’s and Women’s World Championship matches at AEW All In London 2026 on August 30, hence why the tournament is kicking off a little later than last year. However, that doesn’t mean the tournament will be any less exciting, and both the men’s and women’s brackets have some interesting narratives.

Starting with the men’s bracket, which in truth is the far more predictable of the two, the story is obviously Will Ospreay going for that Wembley main event everyone has been predicting he will get since he joined the company. He faces Samoa Joe, who has been trying to recruit him to The Opps over the Death Riders, and the winner of that will face Mark Davis or Jack Perry. On the other side, Claudio Castagnoli will have a meaty clash with Brody King, while Swerve Strickland returns to take on Bandido.

Let’s be honest, if it’s anything other than Ospreay vs. Swerve in the final at Forbidden Door, I will be shocked. A face/heel dynamic between two men who have respect for each other but have gone down different paths in the past year. They also need their trilogy match after their first two bouts (the first one being at Forbidden Door two years ago no less), and while the bracket is predictable, it’s also easier to get right. Get Ospreay in that Wembley closer.

As for the women’s bracket, where do I even start? SAREEE IN AEW? ABSOLUTELY! The women’s bracket on paper looks so evenly matched and has so much potential. Athena and Sareee, on the same side of the bracket, could be godly if they make that happen. Persephone and Hazuki are a match I didn’t know I wanted until right now, and there’s the potential of having Alex Windsor go on the Wembley run, too. She has to take on Willow Nightingale in the first round, a terrible draw for both women, it must be said, as they could both have great runs in the competition.

No disrespect to Windsor, but as nice as an Ospreay/Windsor couple’s victory at Wembley would be a cute moment, I just think there is so much more you can do with that bracket. Give it to Athena, why not? It’s not like she can stay in ROH forever. It’s the least she deserves, but either way, it’s going to be a great tournament. Whether or not AEW sticks the landings remains to be seen, but every match in this year’s brackets has the potential to be a show stealer.

Written by Sam Palmer