What’s in a dream? We’re about to find out, pro wrestling style, thanks to AEW WrestleDream in Seattle.
Tony Khan conceived this new addition to the AEW pay-per-view lineup as a way to honor the great Antonio Inoki, the founder of New Japan Pro-Wrestling who passed away a year ago. While this isn’t a straight up dual-branded PPV with NJPW a la Forbidden Door, there will definitely be some New Japan talent who are prominently featured in the show.
There are also several levels of intrigue around the event. Khan hasn’t been shy about calling WrestleDream the end of one era of AEW and the beginning of a new one, but he has declined to elaborate on what that might mean.
Could there be some debuts? Perhaps. Many fans are anxious to see if WWE Hall of Famer Edge, likely using his real name of Adam Copeland, might show up since his WWE contract has expired. The fact that the main event will feature Darby Allin and Copeland’s longtime friend Christian Cage has only ratcheted up the hype.
Even if no one new shows up, the card should deliver on pure in-ring action as AEW usually does. Let’s see what the night has in store.
AEW WrestleDream Zero Hour pre show results:
- Satoshi Kojima, Keith Lee, Athena and Billie Starkz def. Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty), Diamante and Mercedes Martinez by pinfall
- Claudio Castagnoli def. Josh Barnett by pinfall; afterward, Barnett gives Claudio a big show of respect afterward and says Inoki-san would be a fan of his, then says he will come after Castagnoli again down the road, to which he says “any time, any place” and pays respect in return
- Luchasaurus def. Nick Wayne by pinfall
- The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and Billy Gunn def. TMDK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Bad Dude Tito) by pinfall to retain the AEW World Trios Championship
AEW WrestleDream results:
(click on ay match with a link for
- MJF addresses the crowd, talking about how pissed he is that someone stole his mask and that Adam Cole isn’t here tonight; he also tells The Righteous exactly what he’s about to do to them
- MJF def. The Righteous by pinfall to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship
- Eddie Kingston def. Katsuyori Shibata by pinfall to retain the ROH World Heavyweight Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship
- Kris Statlander def. Julia Hart by pinfall to retain the AEW TBS Championship
- Young Bucks def. The Gunns, Lucha Bros. and Orange Cassidy and Hook to win a future AEW World Tag Team Championship shot
- Swerve Strickland def. Hangman Adam Page by pinfall
- Ricky Starks def. Wheeler Yuta by pinfall
- Bryan Danielson def. Zack Sabre Jr. by pinfall
- The Don Callis Family (Konouke Takeshita, Sammy Guevara and Will Ospreay) def. Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi by pinfall
- FTR def. Aussie Open by pinfall to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship
- Christian Cage def. Darby Allin 2-1 in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match to retain the AEW TNT Championship after Nick Wayne turns on Allin during the match
- Cage and Wayne stomp away on Allin after the bell, but Sting comes down the ramp to make the save, except Luchasaurus arrives to aid the heels, and it looks bad for our heroes …
- … until a short film plays that says “Rated R” on a road, bringing Adam Copeland, formerly known as Edge, to the ring; he takes a chair from Wayne and teases a Con-chair-to before using the chair to save the day; Sting and Copeland shake hands as the show goes off the air