AEW made its Tacoma, Wash., debut in the Tacoma Dome Saturday night for the second annual “WrestleDream” pay-per-view event.
The main event saw Bryan Danielson defend his AEW world championship against Jon Moxley. Was this the final countdown for the world champion?
Let’s dive in.
Ratings Guide
★ | Bad |
★★ | Middle of the Pack |
★★★ | Good. Worth Watching. |
★★★1/2 | Very Good |
★★★★g | Great. Worth Rewatching. |
★★★★1/2 | Match of the Year Contender |
★★★★3/4 | Nearly Perfect |
★★★★★ | Perfect. Arguably the Greatest Match of All Time. |
HIT: Jay White defeats “Hangman” Adam Page
This was a superb opening contest. “Switchblade” Jay White worked over “Hangman” Adam Page’s leg throughout the match, punctuated by a brutal atomic drop to Page’s knee on the edge of the entranceway. The cumulative damage done to Page’s leg neutralized his Buckshot Lariat, providing the “Switchblade” an opportunity to land his “Blade Runner” for the three-count.
Rating: ****
HIT: Mariah May [c] defeats Willow Nightingale
This was a rematch of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament finale.
Mariah May and Willow Nightingale worked their way towards a raucous finish. The last two minutes of this match were impeccable, culminating in May delivering a devastating top-rope hurricanrana that immobilized Nightingale. May quickly recovered and finished Nightingale with the StormZero.
I really enjoyed this bout. Nightingale delivered yet again on a pay-per-view, providing May with her best title defense yet.
Rating: ***¾
MISS: Jack Perry [c] defeats Katsuyori Shibata
The “Scapegoat” Jack Perry’s reign as TNT champion has become a blight on AEW programming. Perry is far from charismatic, nor is he one of AEW’s best in-ring performers. Katsuyori Shibata would have been the perfect wrestler to restore the TNT championship to prominence, through the “TNT Open Challenge.” Instead, the title will continue to be an afterthought in the midcard.
Rating: **
HIT: Post-TNT championship hullabaloo
After the match, Daniel Garcia ran down the aisle to prevent Perry from assaulting Shibata — forcing Perry to retreat. Afterwards, Maxwell Jacob Friedman’s music began to play. MJF stood face-to-face with Garcia, but Perry blindsided Garcia with a belt shot. Perry walked past MJF and exited the ring, giving MJF an opportunity to settle his score with Garcia. MJF announced that while he was absent, he tracked down his Dynamite Diamond Ring at a pawn shop in Buffalo. Before MJF could use the ring on Garcia, Adam Cole’s music began to play. Cole ran down to the ring, forcing MJF to retreat.
At first, I was a little perplexed by the decision to turn Adam Cole face. Cole’s betrayal of MJF was a story with six months of equity. Still, the crowd was thrilled to see Cole’s return. And, then again, Roman Reigns just returned to the WWE and is inexplicably a babyface. So, why can’t Cole?
HIT: Konosuke Takeshita defeats Will Ospreay [c] and Ricochet
What a phenomenal wrestling match. We knew this was going to be a highly athletic contest based on the personnel involved. Will Ospreay and Ricochet are two of the greatest aerial artists in wrestling today. Konosuke Takeshita is a wrestling savant. Together, these three men stole the show.
While I wasn’t thrilled to see Kyle Fletcher betray his friend and former United Empire stablemate, it protected Ospreay’s air of inviolability. Still, Konosuke Takeshita is the new AEW International Champion and Ricochet wasn’t pinned; so I suppose that’s a win-win situation.
I implore you to watch this match. It’s certainly a “match of the year” contender, in my estimation.
Rating: ****½
HIT: Swerve Strickland returns
After Takeshita, Ospreay, and Ricochet tore the house down, this segment was a timely reprieve. Prince Nana introduced Tacoma, Washington’s own Swerve Strickland — who’s been absent since losing to “Hangman” Adam Page at “All Out.”
Strickland receives a hero’s welcome from his hometown crowd, before ultimately being interrupted by MVP and Shelton Benjamin. MVP and Strickland discuss their first meeting in 2017, in Defy Wrestling. Strickland admits that MVP was one of the first veterans who recognized his potential and began to numerate his own failures under Nana’s stewardship. However, Strickland hasn’t forgotten that he won the AEW world championship, thanks to Nana. Strickland doesn’t betray his family and Nana is his family. So, he tells MVP to take his business card and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.
Shelton Benjamin meets face-to-face with Strickland, telling him that they weren’t asking. Strickland is either with them or against them. Benjamin began to take his jacket off, but the referees and backstage security began to swarm the ring, separating the two men.
Some fans and pundits might criticize this as a segment that would have been better for “Dynamite.”
Personally, I enjoyed this a lot. Oftentimes, AEW pay-per-views are a series of 8-10 consecutive matches, with little reprieve. This gave the audience a chance to catch their breath after that phenomenal International Championship match. Not to mention, Strickland deserved the opportunity to make an appearance in his hometown.
HIT: Hologram defeats Beast Mortos
This was a two-out-of-three-falls match, between La Faccion Ingobernables’ own Beast Mortos and Hologram. When this match was announced, my immediate reaction was that it belonged on the “Zero Hour” pre-show. If any match could have followed the triple-threat match for the International Championship, it was this bout.
Hologram scored the first fall with a Crucifix Bomb. The Beast Mortos landed a combination of devastating moves, culminating in a Discuss Lariat to land the second fall. The third fall lasted nearly eight minutes, with each man digging deep in their repertoires. Mortos used the same sequence of moves that scored him the second fall, but to no avail. Hologram responded with a hurricanrana off the top rope, followed by another Crucifix Bomb for a two-count. With no other recourse, Hologram used his patented Portal Bomb to finally score the third fall — winning the contest.
This was a phenomenal showcase for both performers. Hologram currently has the longest active winning streak in AEW, extending it to 14 wins. The future is bright for this young man, who will surely continue to impress fans in his feud against LFI.
Rating: ***½
HIT: Darby Allin defeats Brody King
Darby Allin’s propensity for being beaten within an inch of his life, only to miraculously shift the momentum in his favor nine-tenths of the way into the match is a masochistic exercise. I thought Brody King beat the piss and vinegar out of Allin, but I was wrong.
However, the sequence where King fell onto the ring steps right before Allin delivered the Coffin Drop looked phenomenal. Allin delivered another Coffin Drop for the three-count. Given the events that transpired after the main event, it seems like Allin is poised for another shot at the AEW World Championship sooner rather than later. If that’s the direction he’s heading towards, then this was a step in the right direction for our favorite masochist.
Rating: ***
HIT: The Young Bucks [c] defeat Private Party
This was a star-making performance for Private Party.
Before the match, Amazing Red appeared in a training montage video package for Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen, which was a lot of fun.
This match was very reminiscent of The Acclaimed’s match against Swerve in Our Glory at “All Out (2022).” Over the course of this contest, the Young Bucks helped build the fans’ anticipation to a fever pitch. When Matthew and Nicholas Jackson finally did finish Kassidy off with the TK Driver, it felt like Private Party had been robbed of their birthright. One day, these two will be AEW world tag team champions. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen at “WrestleDream.”
Rating: ***¼
HIT: Mark Briscoe [c] defeats Chris Jericho
When I was younger, I loved to hate Chris Jericho. Now, it’s sad that I hate Chris Jericho. I loathe “The Learning Tree,” both as a faction and his current persona. For the first time in a long time though, I loved hating Chris Jericho in this match.
Mark Briscoe is purely one of my favorite acts in professional wrestling. He’s great between the ropes and his range is phenomenal. He can be a Saturday morning cartoon character or one of the baddest men alive. When Jericho invoked the name of Mark Briscoe’s late-brother, we knew that his next defense of the Ring of Honor world championship would be a statement victory. And, it was exactly that.
Tony Schiavone posited that this was arguably the most important singles match of Mark Briscoe’s career and I’m inclined to agree with Schiavone. Chris Jericho looked three to four years younger in this match, much of which can be attributed to attrition. Briscoe is able to slow down the pace of a match and maximize every move, maneuver, and counter. Ultimately, Briscoe retained his title — finishing Jericho off with the Jay Driller.
While I’m not particularly fond of Ring of Honor titles being defended on AEW shows, I loved this match. More importantly, I love Mark Briscoe. This was my favorite Chris Jericho match in a long time and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Rating: ***⅓
MISS: Jon Moxley defeats Bryan Danielson [c]
This was perplexing. I still don’t know how to properly articulate how it made me feel, but here goes nothing:
First and foremost, the match was okay. I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of Jon Moxley’s work, whereas I love Bryan Danielson. “The American Dragon” promised his family that when he lost his AEW world championship, his full-time wrestling career would end. Could Moxley really retire Danielson in his home state of Washington? The short answer is “yes.”
To Danielson’s credit, this was the best Moxley match that I’ve seen in quite a while. Moxley was accompanied to the ring by Marina Shafir, who seized every opportunity to attack Danielson while the referee was preoccupied. Every time Danielson would begin to mount a comeback, Moxley became an increasingly more imposing force. With his fatigue and health mounting, “The American Dragon”’s fire began to diminish until it was completely snuffed out. Moxley landed a Gotch Style Piledriver, followed by a Bulldog Chokehold. Danielson tried to escape, desperately reaching for the ropes, but it was too-little-too-late. Danielson began to fade, forcing referee Bryce Remsburg to call the match.
Jon Moxley is now a four-time AEW world champion, and the “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson’s full-time wrestling career is over.
After the match, all hell broke loose. Claudio Castagnoli joined Moxley and Shafir, carrying a black duffle bag. Castagnoli put the world championship belt in the black bag. Shafir handed Moxley a plastic bag, so he could kill Danielson. Darby Allin and Wheeler Yuta ran down the aisle to prevent them from harming Danielson, but Yuta betrayed Allin — revealing that his allegiance still lies with the Blackpool Combat Club. They tie Allin to the ropes with duct tape, while Wheeler Yuta attempts to murder Danielson with a plastic bag.
Jeff Jarrett and Private Party try intervening, but to no avail. Finally, more faces pour out of the locker room — including Orange Cassidy, Hook, Daniel Garcia, and Adam Cole among others. Danielson was carted off on a stretcher, to a chorus of “thank you, Bryan” chants — while the closing shot focused on Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy, Daniel Garcia, and Hook.
This felt like the end of an era. Jon Moxley has slain “The American Dragon” and become the final boss of AEW. If Tony Khan can navigate this correctly, this could become a huge piece of business for AEW.
Still, I can’t help but feel like the ending of this match fell flat. The Bulldog Chokehold felt like such an abrupt ending to this climactic battle. Although, I suppose that was the intended purpose. It’s evident that Danielson wanted to leave the fans with a sense of dread and hopelessness. I love happy endings, but not every Pay-Per-View needs a satisfying conclusion. This is the kind of “heat” that generates compelling wrestling. To that end, “WrestleDream” succeeded.
Rating: ***¼