AEW WrestleDream 2023 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It took place on October 1, 2023 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.
Production[]
Background[]
In 2021, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) established a working relationship with Japanese promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). On October 1, 2022, the founder of NJPW, Antonio Inoki, passed away. On August 27, 2023, during the All In media scrum, AEW President Tony Khan announced that AEW WrestleDream would take place to honor Inoki. It was further revealed that the event would take place on October 1 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.
Storylines[]
On the June 17 episode of Collision, Luchasaurus won the TNT Championship from Wardlow. Luchasaurus' ally Christian Cage would then claim to be the real champion. On the September 23 episode of Collision, Cage won on the title in a Three Way Match that also involved Luchasaurus and Darby Allin after Allin hit a Coffin Drop on Luchasaurus, only for Cage to throw Allin out and steal the pin. It was later announced that Cage would defend the TNT Championship against Allin in a Two out of Three Falls Match at WrestleDream.
On the September 23 episode of Collision, Julia Hart, who had been racking up victories, defeated Kiera Hogan. After, Hart's House of Black stablemate Brody King, announced that Hart wanted to face TBS Champion Kris Statlander at WrestleDream. It was later made official that Hart would face Statlander at the event.
At the All In pre-show on August 27, Adam Cole and MJF won the ROH World Tag Team Championship from Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis). On the September 20 episode of Dynamite, Cole broke his ankle jumping off the entrance ramp. Two days later, on the September 22 episode of Rampage, The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) won a Four Way Tag Team Match to earn themselves a title opportunity against Cole and MJF at WrestleDream. On the September 27 episode of Dynamite, Cole announced that he and MJF would have to relinquish the championship. However, MJF insisted that he would single-handedly defend the title against The Righteous at WrestleDream.
Bryan Danielson and Zack Sabre Jr. were originally scheduled to face off at the inaugural Forbidden Door event on June 26, 2022, however, due to injury, Danielson was unable to compete. On the September 9 episode of Collision, Danielson revealed that with the end of his career possibly in sight, he wanted to face Sabre Jr. at WrestleDream. A match between the two was later made official.
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Pre-Show: Athena, Billie Starkz, Keith Lee & Satoshi Kojima defeated Diamante, Lee Moriarty, Mercedes Martinez & Shane Taylor in an Eight Person Tag Team Match (5:42)
- Pre-Show: Claudio Castagnoli defeated Josh Barnett (8:23)
- Pre-Show: Luchasaurus defeated Nick Wayne (4:55)
- Pre-Show: Billy Gunn & The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) (c) defeated TMDK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Bad Dude Tito) in a Six Man Tag Team Match to retain the AEW World Trios Championship (9:22)
- MJF (c) defeated The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) in a Two on One Handicap Match to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship (9:35)
- Eddie Kingston (c) defeated Katsuyori Shibata to retain the ROH World Championship & NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship (10:58)
- Kris Statlander (c) defeated Julia Hart (w/Brody King) to retain the AEW TBS Championship (8:56)
- The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeated Orange Cassidy & Hook, The Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero Miedo) (w/Alex Abrahantes) and The Gunns (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) in a Four Way Tag Team Match to become the #1 Contenders for the AEW World Tag Team Championship (12:13)
- Swerve Strickland (w/Prince Nana) defeated Hangman Page (20:12)
- Ricky Starks defeated Wheeler Yuta (9:53)
- Bryan Danielson defeated Zack Sabre Jr. (23:12)
- Konosuke Takeshita, Sammy Guevara & Will Ospreay (w/Don Callis) defeated Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi in a Six Man Tag Team Match (22:10)
- FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) defeated Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship (20:26)
- Christian Cage (c) defeated Darby Allin [2:1] in a Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match to retain the AEW TNT Championship (25:17)
Other on-screen talent[]
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