2023 was certainly an eventful year for All Elite Wrestling. But one thing I don’t think many fans can dispute, is they had a pretty consistent run of great PPV events. Some which had a plethora of dream matches, others that had the main event scrapped and changed mere DAYS before, and of course that incredible night at Wembley Stadium. But in my personal opinion, the one that topped the lot was the show designed to pay tribute the the great Antonio Inoki. It was an idea from Tony Khan, as part of AEW’s expanded PPV schedule, to pay tribute to the Japanese wrestling great with a show in his honour. And my oh my what a show it was! A show that had FOURTEEN matches mind you… so for my own sanity I will be skipping the Zero Hour, and it’ll be more of a look back than a full on review (it’s the festive time of year, cut me some slack guys!).
The show itself took place at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. This meant it was somewhat of a homecoming for a fair few AEW stars, which certainly added some extra spice to a few of the matches, which we will get to as we go on…
For the record… the Zero Hour included 4 matches: a bizarre 8 person mixed tag match saw the team of Athena, Billie Starkz, Keith Lee and Satoshi Kojima defeat Lee Moriarty & Shayne Taylor (of Shayne Taylor Promotions), Diamante and Mercedes Martinez, an absolute BANGER saw Claudio Castagnoli defeated the great Josh Barnett (a match remembered for the wonderful ‘rasslin, the hilarious commentary from Jon Moxley, and the post-match promo with Barnett putting over Claudio hugely), Luchasaurus squashing Nick Wayne, and The Acclaimed and ‘Daddy Ass’ Billy Gunn retaining the trios titles against TMDK (Bad Dude Tito, Mikey Nicholls, and Shane Haste).
That all left us still with TEN matches to get through, but to AEW’s credit it was a heck of a stacked card! At least 3 of those 10 I would have on my list of AEW match of the year contenders, and one of the things people worried about with AEW having more than their usual 4 PPVs each year, is that would they still sustain the importance of the matches on these shows, given usually with only 4 big shows a year, you’ve time to make every match important and have a good story behind it, and from that POV I’d say this show proved that AEW will be fine on the whole in that regard. There was also A LOT of rumours going into this show about a certain someone… you may think you know him… but more on that later… for now, lets get into talking about AEW WrestleDream from October 1st of this year!
Our first match of the show saw a quite unique handicap match, with one man defending TAG TEAM gold…
Of course our beloved champion had seen his ‘brochacho’ Adam Cole go down with injury, and so he was forced to defend their ROH Tag Team titles in his honor… And although this was the WORLD CHAMPION, it was wondered how he would go about successfully defending those tag titles against such a formidable team, and (for me anyway) how AEW would do such a booking without burying Dutch and Vincent… well…
MJF (C) defeated The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent) to retain the ROH Tag Team Championship
MJF cut a promo on his two opponent as he made his way to the ring, proclaiming (much to the crowd’s delight) that he would bodyslam Dutch, and as such… when he later did so the crowd went wild for it, as they did for their hero MJF all match. I felt a little sorry for Dutch and Vincent here, as this was all about their opponent, but given they were facing the WORLD CHAMPION, perhaps that could be excused… MJF hit the Kangaroo kick, and then a heatseeker on Dutch, before getting the pinfall (with his feet on the rope). I should also mention that Maxwell felt the need to SHOVE VINCENT’S HEAD UP DUTCH’S ASS before the finishing sequence, which was maybe the story of the match sadly for The Righteous.
***3/4
Next up was a match I’m sure our ROH World Champion wishes he could have every single day. When I think of opponents that would mesh well with the style of Eddie Kingston, not sure there is many better than THE wrestler!
Eddie Kingston (C) defeated Katsuyori Shibata to retain the ROH World Championship and the New Japan Strong Openweight Championship
We got a cool video before the match (as we got for all the matches on the show, which I would always recommend as you never know how many ‘new’ fans you have watching your show) Shibata got a big pop coming out, and then we had pretty much the exact match you’d expect these two great wrestlers to have… Ultra physical and technical with all sorts of fierce striking exchanges, and standing ovations aplenty. The finish came after one of those striking exchanges, Shibata kicked out at one from a Kingston backfist, and so Eddie followed up with a Northern Lights Bomb then another backfist and a powerbomb where he stacked Shibata for the pin. Afterwards, Kingston gave Shibata the ring to take in the great ovation from the crowd. A wonderful display of wrestling violence here.
****1/4
Next we had our sole women’s match of the show… and if there is a negative of the show it’s just that… 14 matches, one women’s match… long has AEW’s women’s division been… questionable… but it’s such a shame that on their best PPV of the year… we had just the ONE women’s match…
But hey… at least it was good…
Kris Statlander (C) defeated Julia Hart (with Brody King) to retain the TBS Championship
The video before this match did a great job telling how Julia Hart had transformed into her current form. And the match itself… I really really enjoyed! This was a big night for Julia, up against one of the more solid female competitors on the roster, and at a point where Julia Hart as a character in her own right, had become one of the more over women in AEW. The crowd were mega hot when Julia hit a moonsault for a nearfall, and then got her big submission move, only for Statlander’s power to show as she got out of it, and then as she rose to her feet she hit Hart with a Tombstone and her ‘Sunday Night Fever’ finisher for the win.
***3/4
Following that was a WILD match… with 4 tag teams in one match, it promised to be carnage…
Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeated Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) (with Alex Abrahantes), The Gunns (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) and Orange Cassidy & Hook in a 4 way tag team match to ear a future AEW Tag Team Championship match
The pre-match video here mainly focused on the new team of Hook and Orange Cassidy. And as much as this match was great fun, I just couldn’t get into it personally… I was a little taken out by the clear injury suffered by Rey Fenix, who at this point was also the International Champion (a title he only got due to an injury to Jon Moxley), and so Penta had to do a large portion of the match as the sole Lucha Bro… Naturally with 4 tag teams, the match was wild and had quite a pace, I would like to shout of The Gunns though, who had me in hysterics when they came up with the… interesting… idea that they could pin one another to win after making a tag… that was too much even for Rick Knox… Anyway… Hook looked to have the match won for his team, as he had Red Rum locked in on Austin Gunn, only for Nick Jackson to make the blind tag before the tap out! Nick hit a 450 Splash to both Hook and Austin, and then Penta hit a double Fear Factor (with Nick Jackson’s help), and then he was right in place for a BTE Trigger from The Young Bucks, which got them the win! This would put them in line for a Tag Title match down the line… which we know now they would never actually get…
***3/4
Now this next match… the pre-cursor to one of the best AEW matches of the year… and this first one wasn’t too bad either!
Given this next match saw the heel in his hometown, it promised to be quite the unique atmosphere… and so it showed… it was HIS house for sure!
Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana) defeated “Hangman” Adam Page
The pre-match video told the story of this feud so so well. And at this point it hadn’t even got into top gear yet… the line from Swerve “what’s a Buckshot to a Killshot?” was GOLDEN! Naturally Swerve was a giant babyface in this match, which was obviously opposing to the whole feud so far, but with this being Swerve’s ACTUAL house (his hometown) it made for a fascinating dynamic and role for The Hangman. This match was simply excellent… a tonne of great nearfalls, and they played off an injury to Swerve’s hand as the match went on. Towards the end Strickland had to endure Page biting at said hand, but cameback to stomp on Page’s arm as he tried for a Buckshot Lariat. Medical staff attended to Hangman, but Swerve saw this as a chance to hit a big stomp off the top! Swerve then got a nearfall from a 450 onto the hurt arm of Page, he followed with a cross arm breaker on the arm but after Page got the ropes, and then out of a JML Driver attempt, he hit a big lariat to take Swerve down. Swerve hit a snap suplex, and tried for another of his stomps… only for Page to hit a Buckshot… but with the injured arm… meaning he couldn’t get the pin right away… Prince Nana tried to intervene and put Swerve’s foot on the ropes, but as the ref was seeing to him, Swerve smashed Hangman with Nana’s crown and got a close nearfall as a result. Swerve finally got the win with two of his stomp/kicks he does followed by a JML Driver for the 1,2,3! And the crowd did indeed go wild for their… villain I guess…
****3/4
Two of the future top stars of the company squared off next…
Ricky Starks defeated Wheeler Yuta
The pre-match video was mainly about the feud between Bryan Danielson and Starks, and Wheeler seemed to just be collateral. We did though have both Jim Ross and JON MOXLEY join commentary, and Mox made this match for me (he was equally entertaining during the match to follow as well). This match was in a tough spot stuck between Hangman vs Swerve, and just before Danielson and Zack… but is was fine enough. Towards the end, Big Bill (who had made his way to ringside during the match) had Ricky thrown onto him by Yuta, and Bill tried to chokeslam Wheeler, but he reversed out of it and sent Bill into the ringpost. Yuta got a nearfall on Starks after, and after Yuta tried to again go at Starks, only for Ricky to hit a big Spear and then the Roshambo for the win. The match was OK, but Moxley and his many swears made this fun for me.
***1/4
It was now time for what many saw as THE main event of this show, a dream match we have waited to see for many years…
Lets FINALLY find out who the best technical wrestler in the world is… maybe…
Bryan Danielson defeated Zack Sabre Jr
Danielson (wearing Seahawks colours) got a standing ovation (including from Jon Moxley, who stayed on commentary) as he made his way to the ring. There was lots of grappling in the match of course, and it was unlike 99% of modern day pro-wrestling matches, as two absolute masters of their craft put on a performance of the highest of standards. I would say if you were scoring this on points, that Zack was ahead early on, as Danielson would look to get into it only for Sabre Jr to get out of it, some of the joint manipulation from Zack was ungodly, like nothing I had ever seen! It seemed to me that Danielson’s striking capabilities would be what could get him the edge here, as he hit a series of his signature stomps towards the end, and the finish came after Danielson hit a Regal Plex and a running knee for a 2 count. Danielson was not to be perturbed, and lowered his knee pad and hit another big running knee, and that got him the win. In conclusion, this was an absolute classic! My words here haven’t done close to doing it justice, and although Bryan won… did we get the answer to the question of ‘who is the best technical wrestler in the world?’… I’m not sure… and as great as this match was, I feel like both men had more to give… and so don’t be surprised if we see a rematch at some point in 2024.
*****
We had a hilarious moment as MMA fighter and former UFC Champion Demetrius Johnson was shown in the crowd. Excalibur informed us that he was facing Kenny Omega next week, to which Jon Moxley exclaimed “WHAT!?”, before Excalibur quickly made clear they would be facing one another at VIDEO GAMES as opposed to actually FIGHTING… I much like Mox wouldn’t mind seeing that too!
Our next match saw… well people have been divided on this feud, but I guess this match meant we had quite the star studded trios match to watch unfold…
The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Will Ospreay & Sammy Guevara) (with Don Callis) defeated Chris Jericho and The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi)
The video before was good, but MY GOD I hate everything about this whole thing. I would not have one man in this match in this storyline if I had my way, they’re all far too good to be worried about Don bloody Callis and his dramas. The crowd loved Omega and Ibushi though, so that helped, and helped me sustain some semblance of interest in the match itself too. The actual wrestling of the match was great don’t get me wrong, just the story for me sucked ass… The finish though was absolutely LAME, Will Ospreay got in the way and took a Judas Effect from Jericho for his troubles, and as the ref was tending to him, Jericho got a visual pin on Sammy Guevara. Jericho went for the Walls not long after, but Don Callis hit him with the bat, and Sammy pinned Jericho as Ospreay held back BOTH Ibushi and Omega (???). Dumb finish to an alright match.
****
On a show of dream matches, we had another treat next up. A Year after their classic in London, these two great tag teams went at it in an AEW ring…
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (C) defeated Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) to retain the AEW Tag Team Championship
A great video told the story of how this was 1 full year after their first meeting. This was a very good match, physical and good all-round ‘rasslin, albeit the crowd seemed a little jaded from the previous matches I think. Sadly, we had another injury in this match, as Mark Davis suffered what turned out to be a broken wrist, and this led to both Davis and Fletcher hitting a Shatter Machine themselves, and then their finish for a close nearfall. Davis was clearly hurt at that point, so it was pretty impressive he was carrying on with the match at all… Cash was saved by Dax as he was about to be hit by a Piledriver on the apron by Aussie Open… Davis took the hit instead and out he went, and after FTR hit Fletcher with a Super Shatter Machine for the win.
****
And after one heck of a show, it was finally time for the main event…
Going on last meant there was a few things going on here… One of them was that it was to give the hometown babyface challenging for a title a big main event spot in his hometown… And he certainly got that hometown pop!
Christian Cage (C) defeated Darby Allin in a 2 out of 3 falls match to retain the TNT Championship
A brilliant video package came before both men came to the ring, and both men left their seconds (Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne) behind, so this would be 1 on 1. During Darby’s entrance (to which the crowd went wild for) he smashed his skateboard against the ring steps (which he then gave to a young fan at ringside), as he did so the skateboard bounced up and hit Darby in the face, which cause a trickle of blood to come down his cheek. During the pre-match intros it led to quite the visual… The wrestling itself was quite good early on, and very early on we had our first fall, as Darby (for the third time at this point) pinned Christian with a jack-knife roll up! 1-0 to Allin, and Christian Cage is left stunned! It was at this stage that we see Nick Wayne’s mum in the crowd in the front row… and after initially showing affection to Christian, she then threw water in his face, and then Darby in typical fashion absolutely cannonballed into him! And not long after, Christian went about moving the steel ring steps… and so followed an absolutely HORRID bumb…
After a few attempts and reversals, and near-misses, Christian absolutely LAUNCHED Darby back first into the ring steps!!! It looked a horrific bump to take, and it stunned the hometown crowd into near silence. The bump was such that Darby was counted out, and so Cage tied the match at a fall each. That was when the doctors and officials came out to tend to Allin, and place him on a stretcher. As this was happening, Cage went about tearing up the ring to expose the wood floor… With Allin on the stretcher, Christian hit a frog splash off the top rope to Darby, before getting him back into the ring and hitting a Killswitch on the newly exposed wood ring floor… but Darby somehow kicked out at 2! The crowd were really behind Allin at this stage, and he was able to sidestep a Christian Spear, only for Cage to get Darby into a Scorpion Death lock, but Allin was able to get to the ropes! Darby fought back and hit a Scorpion Death Drop and then a Coffin Drop… but Cage kicked out at 2! Darby went up top again, but Christian got up and hit a sunset flip powerbomb onto the wood… After he went for a Spear again, but he instead hit the referee! He soon after hit Darby with a low blow, and went to grab his TNT title belt… only for Nick Wayne to get the belt from Cage… Cage begged for mercy, and Darby told him to do it… and then he did… NICK WAYNE HIT DARBY WITH THE BELT!!! To the shock of everyone, including Wayne’s mum, Nick cost his ‘friend’ the TNT Title, and Cage got the ref to come to and pinned Darby for the win.
****1/2
Quite the turn of events… and quite the time and place to do it…
With Wayne now aligned with his new father figure, they proceeded to attach Darby, until STING came out for the save, and he looked to be doing just that, until Luchasaurus came out, and the numbers soon proved to be too much… They eventually set up Sting to received a Con-Chair-To… And so with all hope lost, our heroic Darby and his mentor Sting left to surely catch a beating… we waited and we waited… and then, IT HAPPENED!!!
This was just everything! So perfectly well done, what an amazing way to cap off an amazing PPV!
I think the kids call it… “CINEMA”!
And that was just about it with Wrestle Dream. In a year of great AEW PPVs, this for me was the best one. And we still have one more to go… As I said, it’s been quite the year for All Elite Wrestling, 2024 promises to be another… eventful… one, and whatever you think about them, wrestling is better when there’s competition, and for me… AEW succeeding will only help push WWE to be even better, so long may BOTH companies continue to grow and prosper!
Josh.