The booking office at AEW is currently running on pure adrenaline and desperation
It is July 20, 2026, and if you have been glued to the forums today, you know the vibe is erratic. The upcoming AEW Redemption card has gone from a standard wrestling event to a booking chaos simulator in less than a week. Between the updated lineup and the sudden addition of extreme stipulations, the fans are losing their minds.
The biggest point of contention is Tommaso Ciampa deciding that a regular match with the Painmaker Chris Jericho just wasn't enough. As reported by Wrestling Inc, we are now looking at an extreme rules setup. Jericho’s history with high-stakes, high-pain matches is well-documented, but the addition of specific physical threats has the purists howling about safety while the casuals are just popping for the violence.
The internet is split right down the middle
The enthusiasts are naturally treating this like a gift from the wrestling gods. One user on the subreddit noted that seeing Ciampa in a hardcore environment is the only way to make the feud feel authentic. They argue that if you are going to call a show Redemption, you better be putting bodies on the line to prove it.
Then you have the skeptics who think this is a panic move. One popular thread hit the front page with a take that the booking team is just throwing paint at the wall to cover up a lack of narrative depth. They point out that adding a ladder or a chair to a match happens because the writers ran out of actual promos to advance the story.
The contrarians are just here for the pure sport of it all. One tweet that gained significant traction mentioned that the Young Bucks throwing out an all-star challenge is basically a giant neon sign that the card needed a ratings boost. It’s a cynical view, but when you look at the track record of last-minute stipulations, it is hard to argue with the logic.
Where does the truth live?
My take? You are kidding yourself if you think these stipulations are anything other than a band-aid. While it is great to see Will Ospreay added to the card in a new tag match, it feels like we are watching a game of Tetris where the blocks are moving too fast. Wrestling is at its best when the stakes are built over months, not glued on via social media posts forty-eight hours before the bell.
We have to address the elephant in the room: this feels like a product that is searching for noise. Some of the best, most technical bouts in the history of the company were pure ring work without any gimmickry. When you start adding chains and tables for the sake of the shock value, you are essentially telling the audience that you don't trust the athletes to hold our attention with a basic lock-up.
It is not all doom and gloom, though. The human element keeps peaking through the madness, like seeing Britt Baker supporting Rebel during her ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It serves as a reminder that these athletes are real people even when the company is booking them into a meat grinder of a pay-per-view.
Ultimately, the strongest argument lies with the people who just want a coherent show. While I enjoy a good train wreck as much as anyone, I want the finish to happen because of a story, not because a guy decided to bring a barbed-wire bat to the ring on a whim. The company is leaning on the total number of 5-star spots rather than building a logical bridge to the main event.
Expect the crowd to be loud, but keep your eyes on the match pacing. If we see a 12-minute scramble followed by three consecutive run-ins, we will know exactly how much forethought went into this. They have until next Sunday to prove that they aren't just improvising their way to a disaster.
I will give them credit for at least keeping us talking. In a world where attention spans are measured in seconds, being the loudest voice in the room is a strategy, even if it is a messy one. Whether this turns into an instant classic or a car crash you can't look away from, we will be watching at 8:00 PM Eastern on the dot.
