AEW WrestleDream Review - October 1, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zero Hour: Keith Lee, Satoshi Kojima, ROH Women's World Champion Athena and Billie Starkz def. Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, Mercedes Martinez and Diamante

This felt like an excuse to get even more people on an already-loaded card, so while it didn't serve any storyline purpose, it was a fine multi-person match for as long as it lasted. Kojima was able to honor Antonio Inoki by being involved, Athena and Starkz have a good thing going with their little alliance, and Lee finally making it onto a pay-per-view (kind of) is not a bad thing. Now let's please get more of Lee and Athena on AEW TV.

Zero Hour: Claudio Castagnoli def. Josh Barnett

Barnett is a Seattle native and had ties to Inoki if I'm not mistaken, hence why he was included on the card. If you only watch the major promotions, you may not know who he is, but he did serve as a commentator for New Japan Pro-Wrestling for a time and is behind those Bloodsport shows. This was pure pro wrestling (similar to Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. later on) as his and Castagnoli's styles complimented each other really well. Barnett's post-match promo made it sound like a rematch will happen eventually, but it may not be in AEW.

Zero Hour: Luchasaurus def. Nick Wayne

I thought Wayne might win because he's lost a lot in AEW so far and this event emanated from his home state, but Luchasaurus winning made much more sense. He just lost the AEW TNT Championship and need this win to bounce back, not to mention he's supposed to be a monster heel and losing to Wayne would do damage to his credibility. Wayne scored some offense, but Luchasaurus dominated a majority of the match otherwise as he should have.

Zero Hour: AEW World Trios Champions The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn def. TDMK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls and Bad Dude Tito)

Although The Acclaimed and Gunn's matches all seem to follow the same formula, it's a formula that works because the crowds are always into them. This was a fairly average outing and there was zero chance of the titles changing hands. Honestly, there really was no reason for this to exist, but at least it was positioned on the pre-show. I like TMDK, but it would've helped if they had at least one match on AEW TV prior to the pay-per-view as this came out of nowhere.

AEW World Champion and ROH World Tag Team Champion MJF def. The Righteous in a 2-on-1 Handicap (ROH World Tag Team Championship Was Defended)

Obviously, tag titles aren't typically defended in Handicap matches, but MJF has vowed to defend the ROH World Tag Team Championship on behalf of both himself and Adam Cole while Cole is out injured. It was fine here, despite it making The Righteous look weak, but it can't go on until Cole is cleared to compete (which may not be for many more months). That said, this was an enjoyable opener. MJF is super over in his current role and was the perfect person to start the show with.

ROH World Champion and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston def. ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata (ROH Pure Championship Was Not Defended)

I don't think anyone thought for a single second that Shibata was taking both belts here, especially since his ROH Pure Championship wasn't on the line, but it was a hell of a hard-hitting affair, nonetheless. It's a treat we get to see Shibata in action on AEW and ROH programming as often as we do and I'm happy Kingston is finally being featured in a prominent role again. I'm curious how much the ROH World Championship will be defended on AEW programming going forward.

AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander def. Julia Hart

I've been a bit harsh toward this match in recent weeks and have said it belonged on television, not pay-per-view. Well, if that was the case, WrestleDream wouldn't have had any women's matches (and I'm not counting the intergender tag match on Zero Hour) and that's inexcusable. However, they proved themselves worthy of this spot and exceeded expectations. Hart was once again impressive and Statlander continues to do terrific work. They didn't get a ton of time, but they maximized their minutes.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks def. The Lucha Brothers, The Gunns, and FTW Champion Hook & Orange Cassidy in an AEW World Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Four-Way Tag Team Match

Total madness is the best way to describe this match. It's exactly the sort of thing we see on AEW TV every week, so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but they worked a frantic pace and it was certainly never boring. It's worth noting that Rey Fenix disappeared about a minute in, so hopefully he isn't injured again (which seems to happen a lot with him). Also, Young Bucks as number one contenders again? Ugh. I figured they'd go over, but they feel overexposed at the moment.

Swerve Strickland def. ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion "Hangman" Adam Page

This had all the makings of a potential show-stealer and, sure enough, it ended up being one of my favorite matches of the night. It's been a bit since we last saw Page spotlighted on his own and he always brings it in the high-profile matches, but this was all about Strickland and having him showcase his skills to the world. He did not disappoint. This was an excellent piece of business and I'm happy Strickland picked up the clean win. Even if Page avenges the loss at some point, it was important for Strickland to win in his home state on pay-per-view. Bigger things should be on the horizon for him.

Ricky Starks def. Wheeler Yuta

This was a quality contest and had very little wrong with it (aside from the strange heel vs. heel dynamic). but on a show with so many standout matches, this could have easily been booked for Dynamite or Collision instead. Throwing them on a 14-match card does them no favors because they got lost in the shuffle and the crowd wasn't hot for anything they did. Starks bouncing back from his recent loss to Bryan Danielson was a positive, but this wasn't memorable. On the bright side, I'm looking forward to Starks vs. Jon Moxley, which was teased afterward.

Bryan Danielson def. NJPW World Television Champion Zack Sabre Jr. (Non-Title)

The term "dream match" gets thrown around a lot, but while this may not have been everyone's cup of tea, it definitely delivered. The only issue it suffered from was having a predictable outcome. Similar to Shibata, Sabre's title not being on the line gave away the finish, but it hardly mattered. This was more about being a wrestling clinic than it was who won. They worked exceptionally well together and kept the crowd invested throughout. This was worth the wait.

The Don Callis Family (Sammy Guevara, Konosuke Takeshita and IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay) def. Chris Jericho and The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi)

I was excited for this coming into the show because the sheer amount of star power it had, and while it was a spectacle of a six-man tag team match, there was almost too much going on. It was similar to the four-way tag team match, but I expect that from those matches. I would preferred to see them take a more story-centric approach as the action was hard to follow and nothing had a chance to sink in. However, I commend them for their effort. This was wild. Guevara pinning Jericho was the right call as well.

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR def. Aussie Open

​These are indeed two of the very best teams in the world right now and that was evident after this was over. This was tag team wresting at its finest. Once the Bucks earned the title shot earlier in the night, that eliminated any chance of an Aussie Open victory here, but they were made to look credible in defeat. Unfortunately, this was put in the death spot and that caused the crowd to be quieter than they would have been had this happened toward the beginning of the night, but they made the most of it.

AEW TNT Champion Christian Cage def. Darby Allin in a 2-Out-of-3 Falls Match

Along with the MJF-Cole storyline, Christian is one of the best things going in AEW today and he was definitely deserving of the main event spot on this show. The same can be said for Darby, who has been with the company since the start but never headlined a pay-per-view until now. They had a tremendous match filled with drama, suspenseful nearfalls, and crazy spots (in typical Darby fashion). Allin getting the belt back in his home state was my prediction, but Christian retaining was the way to go, especially with how it perfectly set up the post-match angle with Adam Copeland (f.k.a. Edge) debuting and making the save for Darby and Sting against Christian, Luchasaurus and the newly-turned Wayne. Copeland's debut was an amazing moment. It was simply surreal to see him come out to his iconic Alter Bridge music and there being nothing different about his presentation aside from his name (for legal reasons, of course). This should be a fun ride for him in AEW.

Overall Show

This was the inaugural installment of WrestleDream and it may go down as one of AEW's strongest shows ever. There were no bad matches on the main card, most of the results were logical, and the arrival of Adam Copeland closed out the evening on an epic note. Other than the length (which is always an issue but I've come to accept it because I don't see it changing), what was there really to complain about? I appreciated there was less hardcore crap than usual and more emphasis on the above-average wrestling. All the talk of this marking a "new era" was overblown (there were other ways they could have subtly hyped Copeland's debut), but there's no denying that this was a wonderful show. 

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