2 Former WWE Champions Shock Fans With Surprise AEW Debut

There were two surprise debuts on a recent AEW show as two former champions in WWE made the jump to Tony Khan’s company.

AEW headed to Europe ahead of Forbidden Door in London, England. That show saw Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi, Darby Allin, and Hiroshi Tanahashi pick up a huge win in a brutal lights out steel cage match. The match marked Tanahashi’s final bout in London as he gets prepared to hang up his boots for good at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom in January 2026.

Before Forbidden Door, AEW held a live Dynamite and taped Collision in Glasgow, Scotland, marking the company’s debut in the country.

Dynamite saw several huge tag team matches take place, with FTR and Brodido going to a 30-minute time-limit draw. Both teams then progressed to the AEW Tag Team Title match with The Hurt Syndicate at Forbidden Door.

Ex-WWE Stars Appear In AEW

After Dynamite, Collision began with the standout match on that show being G1 Climax winner Konosuke Takeshita getting the best of NJPW star Tomohiro Ishii.

Collision saw former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Isla Dawn make her debut in AEW, using the same name that she used in WWE. Dawn is from Glasgow and received a huge ovation from her hometown crowd, but that couldn’t help her in the ring as she was handily defeated by the powerful Megan Bayne.

Later in the show, former WWE NXT UK Tag Team Champion Mark Andrews had his first match in AEW as he clashed with Big Bill. Despite being from the UK, Andrews did not have the crowd behind him as the Glasgow crowd loudly supported Big Bill, who picked up a quick win. After the bout, Bill continued the assault as he put Andrews through two chairs with a huge chokeslam.