AEW Collision: WrestleDream 2024

October 12, 2024 4:06 PM - Season 2 (Specials)

Collision is on hold tonight so that AEW can bring you a FIFTEEN-match PPV, including seven title bouts, the possible debut of new factions, an hotly-anticipated three-way, and the heartbreaking chance of a quarter-century career coming to an end.

The announced card for AEW WrestleDream:

ZERO HOUR - free YouTube preview show

Ring of Honor World Television Championship Match: Atlantis Jr. (c) vs. Brian Cage

MxM Collection (Mansoor and Mason Madden) (with a mystery third partner) vs. The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) (with Billy Gunn)

Anna Jay vs. Harley Cameron (with Saraya)

MAIN CARD

Ring of Honor World Championship Match: Mark Briscoe (c) vs. Chris Jericho

Darby Allin vs. Brody King

AEW TNT Championship Match: Jack Perry (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata

AEW International Championship Match: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Ricochet vs. Konosuke Takeshita -- three-way match

AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson) (c) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen)

AEW Women's World Championship Match: Mariah May (c) vs. Willow Nightingale

"Hangman" Adam Page vs. "Switchblade" Jay White

Hologram vs. The Beast Mortos - 2-out-of-three falls match

AEW World Championship Match: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Jon Moxley -- Danielson has previously said that if he loses the title, he'll retire from full-time wrestling

posted by The Pluto Gangsta (3 comments total)

Oh, and I forgot to add that Swerve Strickland, a hometown boy (since WrestleDream is in Tacoma, WA), will be returning to "address the fans" and probably move to the next step of the story of the debut of MVP and the "Hurt Syndicate" featuring Bobby Lashley (I dearly hope).
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 4:09 PM on October 12, 2024

Well, without a rewatch I can say that even though there wasn’t a bad match in the show, and even though we are apparently getting our MJF vs. Adam Cole run back even though that storyline cooled off back in 2023, I think I can safely say that the only thing anyone will be talking about tomorrow is the finish of the main event.

Safe to say that the commentary team didn’t know the finish, as Excalibur had difficulty speaking through his tears. Even the crowd was caught, unaware, as it looked like the referee Bryce called Danielson out from the chokehold before a lot of time had passed, and Danielson hadn’t even passed out fully! I suppose this gives him an excuse to come back for a rematch at some point, saying that he hadn’t been pinned or submitted.

It’s a big swing for the company to do a finish that left the crowd so openly shocked and saddened. If I had to make a quick comparison, I’d say that Tony Khan is attempting to do an “Empire Strikes Back“ ending, where even after a brave fight, the heroes are clearly on the back foot.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 9:32 PM on October 12, 2024 [1 favorite]

The show ended with the four top babyfaces -- Daniel Garcia, Orange Cassidy, Hook, Darby Allin -- all framed together, united by shock. Re: the "Empire Strikes Back" ending (or for the younger set, the "Avengers: Infinity War" ending), that idea seems supported by the news that Jimmy Jacobs, who'd been a head writer and segment producer for the past 16 months, has this week resigned at AEW. So it seems the company will treat this as a storyline reboot of sorts.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter play-by-play recap

WON post-show review
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 12:11 PM on October 13, 2024