The AEW World Championship will be held on October 17th at AEW WrestleDream 2026 in the first ever Clockwork Carnage match and a 3-hour special. “AEW Dynamite” and “AEW Collision” on October 14the rest of the field was determined by the qualifying round.
In the first qualifying match, Adam Copeland made his first in-ring appearance since AEW All Out 2026, defeating Josh Alexander. The Walking Weapon spent most of the match targeting the Rated-R Superstar’s leg, the same leg that Copeland broke back in 2024. However, the one variable Alexander didn’t take into account was one he had brought into play himself: the revealed turn. In the closing moments, Alexander headed into a turnbuckle to stun him, allowing Copeland enough momentum to hit a spear to secure his spot in the match.
Immediately after, Konosuke Takeshita also returned to action in AEW, defeating Brian Cage. The Machine dug deep into his bag of tricks, even hitting the Avalanche Hurricane and Tope Con Hilo to throw Alpha off his game. Takeshita tried to stick to his game plan, but Cage kept firing back to keep even, forcing Takeshita to change strategy. This would ultimately work for Takeshita as he was able to hit the Power Drive Knee and then lock in the Dragon Sleeper to get the submission win.
Rounding out the non-title qualifier was Ricochet defeating Ace Austin of The Bang Bang Gang. Austin stepped in to replace the injured “Switchblade” Jay White and held his own in the fight, using his speed and leg power to hit Ricochet at every opportunity. Ricochet also used his speed to keep the momentum going and almost went to the well in time to miss the Shooting Star Press, but he caught Austin with a headbutt and got the Spirit Gun and Vertigo for the win.
Copeland, Takeshita, and Ricochet join current AEW World Champion Will Osprey, Samoa Joe, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, and Kazuchika Okada in a Clockwork Carnage match, with the final spot going to either Darby Allin or Hechikero.