Ranking the 5 Best WWE and AEW PPVs of 2026

Pay-per-views, or premium live events, depending on the company, are monthly culminations of WWE and AEW's ongoing stories and rivalries.

Throughout the first half of 2026, one of the companies is clearly delivering at a higher level for its special events than the other, with routine Match of the Year candidates and consistency from start to finish. The other suffers from pacing issues and too many ads.

Which is which, and which five shows made the list of the best of the best from wrestling's first half of the year?

Let's take a look.

5. AEW Forbidden Door

Will Ospreay cashed his ticket to All In: Wembley in the main event of Forbidden Door, defeating Swerve Strickland in a Match of the Year candidate that tested the toughness of both men.

That match capped off a show that featured a fantastic, story-heavy cage match in which Andrade betrayed MJF and The Don Callis Family while Mark Briscoe earned an AEW World Championship match.

Maya World broke out in a loss to Mercedes Mone, Kenny Omega reminded the wrestling world why he is as acclaimed and beloved as he is, and The Young Bucks won the standard party match to kick off the night's action.

Not up to the standard of other shows on the AEW calendar, Forbidden Door was still damn good and had what might be the best match of the company's year in Ospreay-Strickland.

Full Results

• The Young Bucks defeated El Sky Team and Unbound Co.
• Kenny Omega pinned Zack Sabre Jr.
• AEW Continental champion Jon Moxley defeated Bandido
• IWGP Global Heavyweight champion Shota Umino defeated Pac
• AEW Women's World champion Thekla defeated Starlight Kid
• AEW World Tag Team champions Adam Copeland and Christian Cage defeated The Dogs
• Mercedes Mone defeated Maya World to win the Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament
• Team Briscoe defeated Team MJF in a 12-Man Tag Team Steel Cage Match
• Will Ospreay defeated Swerve Strickland to win the Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament

4. AEW Dynasty

AEW's most subdued pay-per-view of 2026 makes the list, thanks in large part to its straightforward nature.

There is no abundance of gimmick matches, unbridled violence, or needless overbooking. There is a plethora of strong in-ring action, beginning with Matt and Nick Jackson's victory over tag team partners who don't get along, Konosuke Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada, and concluding with MJF successfully defending his AEW world title against the standard-bearer, Kenny Omega.

Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay tore the house down, and Darby Allin bested Andrade in a phenomenal match that helped set the stage for their enormous bounce-back year.

A show destined to slip the minds of a fans given the bigger, more grandiose events AEW will deliver this year.

Full Results

• The Young Bucks defeated Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita
• Ricochet defeated Chris Jericho
• Darby Allin defeated Andrade El Idolo
• AEW Tag Team champions FTR defeated Adam Copeland and Christian Cage
• Kevin Knight won a 10-Man Casino Gauntlet Match to become TNT champion
• AEW Women's World champion Thekla defeated Jamie Hayter
• AEW Continental champion Jon Moxley defeated Will Ospreay
• The Conglomeration defeated The Dogs to win the AEW World Trios Championship
• AEW World champion MJF defeated Kenny Omega

3. WrestleMania 42 (Night Two)

The biggest night in professional wrestling did not disappoint.

Despite a WrestleMania Saturday broadcast that rightfully earned scorn and ridicule from fans, Sunday's broadcast delivered in spades.

Kicking off with the coronation of Oba Femi as the next dominant force in professional wrestling, it continued with a shocking retirement(ish) from Brock Lesnar, and culminated with Roman Reigns returning to the head of the table with a win over CM Punk for the world title in a legitimate Match of the Year candidate.

In between, Penta won an awe-inspiring six-man ladder match to retain his Intercontinental Championship in a match that threatened to be the best of the entire WrestleMania weekend, while Rhea Ripley pulled Jade Cargill's best match out of her en route to winning the top prize in the women's division on SmackDown.

On a night when WWE absolutely had to deliver following a sub-par start to the 2026 Showcase of the Immortals, it did so in spades, leaving some to question who booked the disastrous first night, which was plagued by short match times, an abundance of advertisements, and one of the most confusing main events in the show's rich history.

Full Results

• Oba Femi defeated Brock Lesnar
• Intercontinental champion Penta defeated Rey Mysterio, Je'Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Rusev, and JD McDonagh in a Ladder Match
• Trick Williams defeated Sami Zayn to win the United States Championship
• "The Demon" Finn Balor defeated Dominik Mysterio in a Street Fight
• Rhea Ripley defeated Jade Cargill to win the WWE Women's Championship
• Roman Reigns defeated CM Punk to win the World Heavyweight Championship

2. AEW Revolution 2026

The Texas Death Match between MJF and Hangman Page was needlessly gross and violent, but it brought an end to a heated rivalry and capped off a show that was excellent, regardless of one's opinion of the marquee match-up.

FTR and The Young Bucks continued their definitive rivalry in the night's opening match, the best of the show and another excellent addition to their series. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler emerged victoriously from the Match of the Year candidate and set the tone for the rest of the show.

Andrade El Idolo set the tone for this run in AEW with a win over Bandido in a match that threatened to unseat the opener as the best match on the card, Swerve Strickland defeated Brody King in a great one-on-one war, and Darby Allin continued his momentous 2026, teaming with Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong to best David Finlay, Clark Connors, and Gabe Kidd.

For a show defined by the main event and its use of light tubes and syringes, everything that preceded it was quite good and made up AEW's second-best show of the year.

Full Results

• AEW World Tag Team champions FTR defeated The Young Bucks
• "Timeless" Toni Storm defeated Marina Shafir
• AEW Continental champion Jon Moxley defeated Konosuke Takeshita
• Divine Dominion defeated The Babes of Wrath to win the AEW Women's Tag Team Championship
• Swerve Strickland defeated Brody King
• AEW Women's World champion Thekla defeated Kris Statlander in a Best 2-Out-of-3 Falls Match
• Mistico and JetSpeed defeated Kazuchika Okada, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis to win the AEW World Trios Championship
• Andrade El Idolo defeated Bandido
• Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy, and Roderick Strong defeated The Dogs
• AEW World champion MJF defeated Hangman Page in a Texas Death Match

1. Double or Nothing 2026

AEW returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York for one of its biggest pay-per-view events of the year and all it did was deliver one of the finest of its seven-year history.

From start to finish, the show featured extraordinary work, with a variety of match styles to keep all fans invested and satisfied.

Brutality and chaos reigned supreme in the tag team title match, contested under New York Street Fight "I Quit" rules, and the Stadium Stampede showdown pitting The Elite and The Hurt Business against The Don Callis Family, The Dogs, and The Demand.

Will Ospreay and Samoa Joe had a match for the wrestling purists, in which The Aerial Assassin outlasted his punishing opponent to advance in the Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament, while Konosuke Takeshita out-wrestled Kazuchika Okada en route to the biggest win of his young career.

It was all capped off with hometown villain MJF outlasting a battle-tested, yet exhausted, Darby Allin to regain the top prize in the company.

Still too long, but the show had quality from start to finish, with not a single bad match along the way. The brightest spot in a red-hot year for AEW.

Full Results

• MJF defeated Darby Allin to win the AEW World Championship
• The Elite and The Hurt Business defeated The Don Callis Family, The Demand, and The Dogs in Stadium Stampede
• AEW Women's World champion Thekla defeated Jamie Hayter, Hikaru Shida, and Kris Statlander
• Swerve Strickland defeated Bandido in an Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament Quarterfinal Match
• Will Ospreay defeated Samoa Joe in an Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament Quarterfinal Match
• AEW Continental champion Jon Moxley defeated Kyle O'Reilly
• Athena defeated Mina Shirakawa in an Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament Quarterfinal Match
• Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the AEW International Championship
• Adam Copeland and Christian Cage defeated FTR in a New York City Street Fight "I Quit" Match to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship