WRESTLEDREAM 2024 is upon us tonight as All Elite Wrestling comes to Tacoma, WA for the very first time with a huge pay-per-view event for fans around the world! We've got seven championship matches on tap, including AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson defending against Jon Moxley, the return of former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland, a 2-Of-3 Falls Match, Grudge Matches, and so much more in store for the AEW faithful!
The event begins with the ZERO HOUR free on the official AEW YouTube channel beginning at 6:30p ET/3:30p PT, then kicking off on pay-per-view at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Will this be the end of “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson? Can Private Party finally win the big one? What will Swerve Strickland have to say about all that's transpired since ALL OUT 2024? There are so many questions to be answered with these monumental bouts, and so many more likely to spiral out of the outcomes; whatever the results may be, it feels as if the future of All Elite Wrestling will be shaped by what takes place inside the Tacoma Dome!
AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson(c) vs. Jon Moxley
All Elite Wrestling's YouTube channel has a wonderful Timeline dedicated to the history of these two men, suffice to say it is one laden with violence and, for AEW, began with the two at each other's throats during REVOLUTION 2022. That fight, and the involvement of His Lordship, birthed Blackpool Combat Club with the expressed intention of preparing the next generation of professional wrestlers for the fight. Men like Lee Moriarty and Daniel Garcia were tested, Wheeler Yuta was brought into the fold, and together those three individuals began training. Claudio Castagnoli joined the unit at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2022, stepping into fight Zack Sabre Jr. on behalf of an injured Bryan Danielson, and just three days later stepped inside the Blood & Guts Cage in Bryan's stead. It made for quite the interesting contingent, especially considering Bryan's pre-AEW history with Moxley and Claudio generally saw them on opposite sides of a fight rather than working together. It was the shared connection to that aforementioned Lordship that really kept them together, but in his absence they still persevered together, honing one another into fighting machines.
Their foursome became one of the most feared forces in All Elite Wrestling, and quite successful in competition regardless of their combination. As a team Bryan and Mox were undefeated, with Claudio he was 6-1, and in trios competition they were just as powerful. Bryan, Mox, and Claudio ran 2-0 as a unit while the original three BCC members' record stood at 4-0, the original trio fought Anarchy In The Arena together at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2022 prior to Claudio's arrival at once more the following year as the complete foursome. They persevered through Bryan's injuries that robbed him of months of competition and of the ability to fight alongside his brothers on multiple occasions. They stood by Wheeler Yuta as he struggled with concussion issues earlier this year, issues that necessitated five months of rest before his return in June. They fought together, they let each other blaze their own paths, paths that brought Wheeler Yuta multiple ROH Pure Titles, Jon Moxley the AEW World Title and the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, and Claudio Castagnoli the ROH World Title on two occasions. In fact, prior to ALL IN: LONDON 2024, “The American Dragon” was the only one of these men who'd failed to claim a title since entering the AEW rings.
Yet somewhere along the line, it all got broken, and it's hard to pinpoint exactly when that shift took place. It was certainly before Claudio, Yuta, and “The Bastard” PAC won the AEW World Trios Titles, perhaps the road to where we are now started after Moxley lost the IWGP World Heavyweight Title to Tetsuya Naito at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024, the same night Bryan Danielson began his path to the AEW World Championship with a Quarterfinal victory over Shingo Takagi in the 2024 Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament.
After that night Moxley disappeared from the wrestling landscape while Danielson went on to defeat PAC and Hangman Page to win The Owen and thus earn the ALL IN: LONDON 2024 World Title match with Swerve Strickland. Even before we got to that point, when Danielson chose to join Team AEW for Anarchy in the Arena at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2024, Claudio questioned whether it was the best choice for Bryan's physical well-being. After Bryan won The Owen, those sorts of concerns became amplified, especially as Danielson began to talk more openly about the end of his career drawing closer. After all, he told the world 2024 would be his last year of full-time competition, which many took as Bryan losing his heart for the fight and just going through the motions until that nebulous end came. Eddie Kingston questioned him, Jeff Jarrett questioned him, and Swerve pushed him to the point where Bryan made a definitive statement that if he lost at Wembley Stadium, his career would be over.
Danielson rose to the occasion, dethroning Swerve Strickland as AEW World Champion at ALL IN: LONDON 2024, and finally claiming the championship he'd come to AEW for three years prior. In hindsight, it's clear that the wheels were already in motion to bring Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley to where they are today in Tacoma, WA. The inclusion of PAC as the third man for the AEW World Trios Championship London Ladder match, Moxley making his return to AEW just a few days later on DYNAMITE to not only call Darby Allin out but also to express a message to the world via Tony Schiavone: “This is not your company any more...”. There was unquestionably something different in Moxley on that night, from the way he spoke, to his body language, to the fact he used his NJPW entrance theme and “Death Rider” video package as opposed to “Wild Thing”, it was all indicative of a shift within the 3-Time AEW World Champion.
As Danielson headed towards an ALL OUT 2024 championship defense against TNT Champion Jack Perry, Moxley continued to push for Darby to answer his call, but he'd also been joined by “The Problem” Marina Shafir without a single word from either of them regarding this new alliance. It's no secret that Moxley had always been high on her talents, her abilities in the ring, even saying he wanted to bring her to New Japan as a representative of the BCC. Now their dynamic was out front on DYNAMITE, but it wasn't until the aftermath of Danielson's victory over Jack Perry at ALL OUT 2024 that everything slid into place. As Christian Cage and his Patriarchy loomed over Bryan, potentially looking to use Cage's guaranteed World Title opportunity as Danielson recovered from the match with “The Scapegoat”, Moxley, Claudio, Yuta, and PAC blocked The Patriarchy's path to the World Champion.
It seemed a show of BCC unity now that Moxley was back in the picture, especially when Moxley hugged Bryan followed by Yuta and Claudio raising Bryan's hands in victory. Little did Bryan, or anyone else save PAC, Claudio, and Moxley, expect that moment to mark the death of the Blackpool Combat Club. The uppercut Claudio delivered to Danielson was more shocking than painful, just take in the look on Bryan's face, but the pain came in short order when Moxley wrapped that bag around the AEW World Champion's head. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments in AEW's history, made even more so by Moxley's flat affect as he carried out the assault, and by Yuta's teary-eyed, horrified, reaction to what was unfolding.
“Today I choose war...”
Moxley's words as he rationalized his actions, as he referenced the expectations their shared mentor had for each man, along with the statement that Bryan Danielson did not have the stomach for what Moxley feels needs to be done moving forward. Jon hoped Bryan could be standing next to them as he embarked on this crusade, he hoped Danielson would never win the AEW World Title thus avoiding becoming a target of this violence Moxley feels he must unleash on All Elite Wrestling, and that brought it all back to why Mox wanted Darby Allin. He didn't want Darby so much as he wanted the title opportunity Darby had earned in the 2024 Royal Rampage, and at GRAND SLAM 2024 Moxley ripped it away from the 2-Time TNT Champion. With that win over Darby, Moxley held the WRESTLEDREAM 2024 World Title match in the palm of his hand, but it was Danielson who uttered the words “I declare war!” in the aftermath of Moxley's victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
In the 17 days since GRAND SLAM 2024, we've seen Wheeler Yuta choose his position alongside Bryan Danielson, creating a rather fractured situation surrounding the AEW World Trios Championship, and we've witnessed the union of Danielson and Yuta defeat PAC and Claudio in tag team competition. We watched on TITLE TUESDAY as Bryan and Mox fought throughout the arena after that tag victory, and how it was “The American Dragon” left standing as Moxley's unit fled, though Wheeler Yuta suffered at his championship partners hands while Bryan and Moxley battled backstage.
Now Danielson returns to Washington state, to the Tacoma Dome some 80 miles from his hometown of Aberdeen, and he returns for what will undoubtedly be the biggest fight of his wrestling career. For those who’ve followed Bryan's career over the last 25 years, that is saying quite a bit, especially considering the times he's come back from career-ending injuries, the men he's battled over those two and a half decades, and the championships he's earned since October 4, 1999 when American Dragon first laced up his boots. What makes this the biggest fight of his career is the fact that it's against Jon Moxley, not only because Moxley is one man Bryan has never beaten in AEW but also because of just how intimately they know each other after nearly three years operating as Blackpool Combat Club. What makes this the biggest of fight of Bryan Danielson's career is that it's not only for the AEW World Championship, but it's also for the future of his professional wrestling life. Bryan made the promise to his wife and children, quite publicly, that when his title reign was ended, he would be coming home but that whoever came for the title would basically have to put him in the ground to take it. This is also about the future of All Elite Wrestling, and which man will lead it there.
Moxley sees something coming on the horizon, something he believes Danielson is the wrong man to stand against, and that's what he claims to be fighting for. Moxley swears it is not for himself, but rather for the good of All Elite Wrestling that he stand as the World Champion moving forward. Jon only wants to give the defending champion a “good death” on the way out before shifting focus to whatever threat he believes is looming over AEW.
In five years, All Elite Wrestling has experienced some truly jaw-dropping professional wrestling and some of the greatest examples of athletic competition. It's also experienced violence unparalleled and witnessed horrific scenes of brutality, but one is hard-pressed to think of a situation as visceral as this Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson dynamic. Both men consider this war, but take to heart the words of José Narosky as we watch them fire their shots: “ In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.”
AEW WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
“The Glamour” Mariah May vs. Willow Nightingale
Here is another battle whose roots can be traced back the 2024 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, in this case the women's field, where Mariah May defeated Willow Nightingale to earn the trophy, the ALL IN: LONDON 2024 championship match, and the ceremonial title belt that “The Glamour” then used to thrash “Timeless” Toni Storm after the victory. From there Mariah May went on to defeat Toni and claim the AEW Women's World Championship for herself while Willow went on to win the vacant CMLL World Women's Championship and hold it for 62 days before losing to Zeuxis at CMLL's 91st Anniversary event. In-between that victory and defeat she went to war with her former best friend Kris Statlander, losing a Chicago Street Fight at ALL OUT 2024, but found a way to fight through these heartbreaks. Perhaps it was the thought of pursuing the AEW Women's World Title that spurred her on through losing her friend and losing her titles, because coming out of ALL OUT 2024, Willow rebounded with victories over Taya Valkyrie and Trish Adora, as well as her #1 Contender Four-Way win just this past Wednesday over three former AEW Women's World Champions.
Tonight Willow looks for redemption, redemption for those aforementioned losses, redemption for The Owen, as well as her third championship reign of 2024 to go along with the TBS and CMLL titles she previously held. For Mariah, who only definitively learned who her challenger would be on Tuesday night, it is an opportunity to further demonstrate her dominance over the Women's division. She's already turned away the challenges of Nyla Rose and Yuka Sakazaki, and aims to continue “The Era of Glamour” at Willow's expense!
AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
The Young Bucks (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson)(c) vs.
Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen)
The history between The Young Bucks and Private Party was thoroughly detailed in a Timeline on the official YouTube channel, a history that precedes the launch of DYNAMITE when The EVPs offered Private Party AEW contracts at FYTER FEST 2019 immediately following their Three-Way Tag with SCU and Best Friends. They faced each other for the first time on an August 2019 House of Glory event, a bout won by The Young Bucks, but when they met for the first time in All Elite Wrestling in the opening round of the 2019 AEW World Tag Title Tournament, Private Party scored one of the biggest upsets in AEW history to date when they eliminated the brothers Jackson from the field.
It seemed like that set the stage for Private Party to soar to the top of the tag division, but numerous circumstances have halted their momentum. Be it injury or aligning with forces that stifled their growth, Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen have grown increasingly frustrated with where they stand in AEW, leading to their declaration that 2024 meant “new year, new champs”. It's taken some time for them to get where they wanted to be, but tonight Private Party is on the precipice of finally achieving that dream. It took a vicious assault by Jon Moxley and that crew to push Private Party into that next level, but afterwards they smashed their way through Iron Savages in just one minute then followed it up just a few days later by defeating The Elite in a trios match. Zay and Quen rode that momentum into a victory over House of Black and Top Flight in a #1 Contender Match just seven days ago, and now need to parlay that into championship success tonight at WRESTLEDREAM 2024.
Matthew and Nicholas, for all that's been detrimental about their abuses of power, have been strong champions for 174 days, at least when they've felt like defending it. They've turned away the challenges of Wheeler Yuta & Claudio Castagnoli, The Acclaimed, FTR, as well as Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher, as well as participated in Anarchy in the Arena and Blood & Guts. They may not fight often, but when they do it is in high pressure situations, and more often than not they find a way to be victorious.
Will that be the situation again tonight in their fifth title defense, or will Private Party recapture the magic they made at Agannis Arena on October 9, 2019 and finally become AEW World Tag Team Champions?
AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
“The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay(c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ricochet
The influence of The Don Callis Family has hovered over Will Ospreay for the majority of his tenure in All Elite Wrestling. From his match with Kenny Omega at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 onward, Don Callis has lingered and even after Ospreay stepped away from The DCF, Callis has found ways to entangle himself in the career of “The Aerial Assassin”. Much of that has been done through the friendship between Kyle Fletcher and Ospreay, Don even used that as a means to get Ospreay to unite with Kyle for the Tag Team Casino Gauntlet that earned them that GRAND SLAM 2024 World Tag Title shot, but that was really just about trying to get control over Ospreay by having the titles in his so-called family. Thankfully, at least for Ospreay's career, he and Fletcher failed to defeat The Young Bucks at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Though it would've been great for him to reign as a champion alongside his best friend, the fact it would've married him further to Don Callis really made it more detrimental than it would've been worth.
So since that didn't happen, it looks like Don Callis went a different route by unleashing “The Alpha” Konosuke Takeshita on the International Champion but did so at the expense of Ricochet's championship opportunity at DYNAMITE: 5TH ANNIVERSARY. Takeshita's interference cost Ricochet his title match, robbed fans of a definitive winner in the first Ospreay/Ricochet contest in AEW, but got Takeshita where Don wanted him to be, in a championship fight tonight at WRESTLEDREAM 2024!
Since coming to AEW, Takeshita has battled in Eliminator Matches and #1 Contender bouts, challenged for the ROH World Title, the Continental Title, and participated in the TNT Championship Ladder Match at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024, but he's never vied for the International Title prior to tonight, and he's yet to hold a championship since becoming a regular member of the locker room in 2022. Tonight he aims to change that, just as Ricochet aims to claim his first title less than two months after his debut at ALL IN: LONDON 2024!
Ospreay has his hands full in this third championship defense, facing two world-class challengers simultaneously, but these are the fights that come when you're one of the greatest competitors in the world today and perpetually carry a target on your back. The main question looming over this title fight has to be just how Don Callis will find a way to poison the situation...
ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
Mark Briscoe(c) vs. “The Learning Tree” Chris Jericho
From 9/21/22 to 12/10/22 “The Ocho” Chris Jericho reigned as ROH World Champion, defeating Claudio Castagnoli at GRAND SLAM 2022 but falling to that same man at FINAL BATTLE 2022. During those 80 days, despite being quite dismissive of the twenty year legacy of ROH, Jericho actually proved quite a strong champion with his title victories over Tomohiro Ishii, Colt Cabana, Dalton Castle, Bryan Danielson, and Bandido. He even bested Bryan, Claudio, and Sammy Guevara in a Four Corner Survival at FULL GERAR 2022, yet even with that track record as champion, it still felt like a relief when Jericho was dethroned by Claudio, as if all became right with the world once again.
Now the ROH faithful find themselves on the precipice of history repeating itself because tonight at WRESTLEDREAM 2024, Chris Jericho challenges Mark Briscoe for the ROH World Championship! After pinning Mark in the Tornado Trios match at COLLISION: GRAND SLAM 2024, “Chicken” was willing to give Jericho a title fight just as he did The Beast Mortos after Mortos pinned Mark on the 8/3 COLLISION. Unfortunately that wasn't enough for Jericho, he had to push the envelope, drag the name of Mark's late brother Jay into the situation, and turn what could've been a competitive championship fight into a very personal issue. That's pretty much par for the course of Jericho, but even this felt incredibly low by his standards of behavior:
Will Mark prevent Jericho from becoming “The Nueve” tonight in Tacoma, or is Ring of Honor heading for another tenure of Chris Jericho atop the mountain?
TNT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
“The Scapegoat” Jack Perry vs. “The Wrestler” Katsuyori Shibata
This one is very simple; Jack Perry wants to continue the TNT Championship tradition of Open Challenges that was established with the title's birth at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2020 and “The Wrestler” Katsuyori Shibata stepped up to the plate! Since returning to active competition in November 2022, Shibata has only claimed one title, the ROH Pure Championship, which he successfully defended seven times over 239 days. Tonight he aims to add a second title to that resume, his first AEW championship, and do so at the expense of “The Scapegoat”! There's also the matter of the disrespect Jack heaped on Minoru Suzuki after his countout victory at COLLISION: GRAND SLAM 2024, and Shibata coming to his aid.
Can “The Scapegoat” survive a night against “The Wrestler” or will this sixth TNT Title defense be the end of the line for this Elite members' championship reign?
ONE-ON-ONE...
Darby Allin vs. House of Black's Brody King
The AEW history of Darby Allin and Brody King has been chronicled here in a Timeline presentation, but theirs is a story dating back nearly five years and in none of those engagements has Darby Allin ever pinned King for a victory. He's locked Brody in a coffin in the only one-on-one victory Darby ever scored in their rivalry, went to a 10-minute draw in their first encounter back on 1/14/18, but their other four one-on-one fights have all ended with Brody victorious. So it feels appropriate that Brody King was the man who answered the Open Challenge Darby laid out for WRESTLEDREAM 2024 after losing his title opportunity to Jon Moxley at DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2024, and also apropos that their face-to-face encounter on DYNAMITE: TITLE TUESDAY 2024 ended with blood and violence. That blood and violence will continue tonight live on pay-per-view as Darby aims to claim his first pinfall victory on House of Black's behemoth!
GRUDGE MATCH...
“Hangman” Adam Page vs. Bang Bang Gang's “Switchblade” Jay White
Much like Darby and Brody, the history of Adam Page and Jay White predates the birth of All Elite Wrestling with their first clash taking place at ROH's UNDISPUTED LEGACY event on 2/3/17, but for the landscape of All Elite Wrestling, their story began at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2022 and the IWGP World Heavyweight Title fight between then-champion Jay, Page, Kazuchika Okada, and Adam Cole. It's the ALL IN: LONDON 2023 clash pitting Jay, Juice Robinson, and Konosuke Takeshita against Page, Kenny Omega, and Kota Ibushi, and it's the DYNAMITE: TITLE TUESDAY 2023 bout where White beat Hangman. Most importantly though, it's about the 2024 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Semifinals where the former AEW World Champion defeated “King Switch” and put him out of action for the last three months. That's why this fight tonight, that's why Jay White returned and made Hangman his first target. It was a logical choice to come for revenge, but whether or not it was the smartest decision remains to be seen as Jay is not dealing with the same Hangman he fought in years prior, he's not even dealing with the same man he fought in July. The Adam Page coming to WRESTLEDREAM 2024 is utterly unhinged and capable of a violence that Jay White has never experienced from him in all their previous encounters.
Will Switchblade's return to AEW began with a bang, or end with a buckshot?
2-OF-3 FALLS MATCH...
Hologram vs. LFI's The Beast Mortos
After throwing his lot in with La Faccion Ingobernable, The Beast Mortos brought to a halt the questions of who he would align himself with in All Elite Wrestling. He'd ran alongside Undisputed Kingdom, he'd fought with The Don Callis Family, but when he raised his fist to meet that of RUSH an Dralistico this past Tuesday night, there was no doubt where his allegiances lay. There was also no doubt of their violent intentions as Hologram and Komander were both assaulted by the trio, leading to this rematch of their July 27th COLLISION bout.
While that was a singles victory for Hologram in a traditional one-on-one affair, tonight he and The Beast Mortos meet once more in a 2-Of-3 Falls battle! Coming from the lucha libre tradition, both of these competitors are quite familiar with this match structure, and as such are going to bring the fight to each other right from the outset!
Will The Beast's new allies be the deciding factor in this contest, or can Hologram maintain his undefeated streak for a 15th consecutive match?
SWERVE'S RETURN!
We have not seen Swerve Strickland on AEW programming since his brutal Lights Out Steel Cage loss to Hangman Page at ALL OUT 2024, but that doesn't mean the former AEW World Champion has been out of the picture. In fact the topic of his future has been right out there front and center with the arrival of MVP at DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2024 and his questioning of just where Prince Nana's management has gotten Swerve. Well we won't have to wait much longer to hear where the man himself stands on all of this because tonight during WRESTLEDREAM 2024, Swerve Strickland returns to the AEW stage in the very city where he was born! What will he have to say about the events of the last couple weeks, and the arrival of MVP and Shelton Benjamin in All Elite Wrestling?
ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
Atlantis Jr.(c) vs. “The Machine” Brian Cage
MxM COLLECTION (Mason Madden & Mansoor) vs. The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens)
Anna Jay vs. The Outcasts' Harley Cameron
WRESTLEDREAM 2024 kicks off at 6:30p ET/3:30 PT with the ZERO HOUR available absolutely free on AEW's official YouTube channel, then the pay-per-view proper gets underway at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Will we have a new AEW World Champion at the end of the night, or will the reign of “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson live on as we move towards FULL GEAR 2024 on November 23 in Newark, NJ?