Winners And Grades As Edge Debuts

Adam “Edge” Copeland debuted for AEW following the main event of WrestleDream as he used his Metalingus theme. Edge made the save for Darby Allin following a heel turn by Nick Wayne. Edge, who was called the Rated R Superstar, chased off the heels with a steel chair as Christian teased a con-chair-to on Sting.

AEW WrestleDream 2023 advertised a predominately male show featuring MJF defending the ROH Tag Team Championships against The Righteous. Chris Jericho and the Golden Elite will face the Don Callis Family TNT champion Christian Cage vs. Darby Allin. AEW also advertised one of its patented “dream matches” with no build on television as a limited army of Subrettitors salivate over Bryan Danielson and Zach Sabre Jr.

This week’s broadcast of AEW Dynamite garnered 855,000 viewers

AEW WrestleDream 2023 Results | October 1

• MJF def. The Righteous | ROH Tag Team Titles
• Eddie Kingston def. Katsuyori Shibata | NJPW Strong, ROH World Title
• Kris Statlander def. Julia Hart | TBS Title
• The Young Bucks def. The Gunns, The Lucha Bros, Hook and Orange Cassidy
• Swerve Strickland def. Hangman Adam Page
• Ricky Starks def. Wheeler Yuta
• Bryan Danielson def. Zach Sabre Jr.
• The Callis Family def. Jericho and the Golden Lovers
• FTR def. Aussie Open | AEW Tag Team Titles
• Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage | TNT Title

• AEW Dynamite Venue: Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle, Wash.)
• AEW WrestleDream 2023 Tickets Distributed: 6,359
• AEW WrestleDream 2023 Tickets Available: 500

AEW WrestleDream 2023 Winners And Grades

MJF Def. The Righteous

The Righteous’ theme music is excellent.

Babyface MJF wore Seattle Supersonics-inspired ring gear.

MJF threatened to body slam Dutch and it got over. There’s something to be said about how MJF can get fans excited about simple, safe moves that don’t involve being dropped on your head.

MJF finally won the match with a modified piledriver with his feet on the rope. Thankfully, this is AEW where the officiating is terrible.

MJF vs. The Righteous Grade: C+

Eddie Kingston Def. Katsuyori Shibata

On a bloated pay-per-view with way too many matches, this was one of many that did not have any build.

Eddie Kingston and Shibata wrestled an impressive technical wrestling match, but with Taylor Swift and the Kansas City Chiefs on the other channel, how many people really watched and/or cared?

Eddie Kingston vs. Katsuyori Shibata Grade: B-

Kris Statlander Def. Julia Hart

Though this was the rare women’s match on an AEW pay-per-view, AEW has done a good job building up Julia Hart, including a very impressive entrance.

Kris Statlander and Hart make good dance partners because the much larger Statlander was able to toss her around like a potato sack.

Hart hit an nice-looking suspended backdrop from the top ropes and fans really got behind her. Midway through the match, Hart was cheered as a babyface as fans chanted “this is awesome.”

Statlander won with back-to-back Saturday Night Fevers.

Kris Statlander vs. Julia Hart Grade: A-

The Young Bucks Def. The Gunns, Lucha Bros and Orange Cassidy And Hook

Excalibur pointed out that Orange Cassidy and Hook were the only tag team not related by blood. They were also the only team who had never won the AEW World Tag Team Titles and a the only team without a team name.

This was every action-packed AEW party match you’ve ever seen, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t entertaining.

Interestingly enough, the Young Bucks won this match with a BTE Trigger, and will now challenge FTR for yet another showdown. I’d be shocked if the Young Bucks didn’t win this time around.

Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Grade: B

Swerve Strickland Def. Hangman Adam Page

Swerve was cheered heavily as the hometown hero, but Hangman Adam Page still received a mixed reaction.

Hangman Adam Page wore similar doo-doo bron pants to Shawn Michaels when he won the World Heavyweight Championship in 2002.

Prince Nana’s dance continues to get over, but Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena didn’t seem too keen on doing it with him at WrestleDream.

Swerve pounced on Hangman Adam Page as Page received medical attention, so despite being cheered like a babyface Swerve was still a very aggressive heel.

Hangman Adam Page hit the Buckshot Lariat, but couldn’t pin swerve due to his arm injury

Swerve won the match clean with the JML Driver to a rousing reaction.

Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Adam Page Grade: A-

Ricky Starks Def. Wheeler Yuta

Jon Moxley appeared on commentary and did not have too much to say, but when he did it was amusing.

Ricky Starks, who infinitely more charismatic than “babyface” Wheeler Yuta, did his babyface rope walk to a massive reaction.

Nigel McGuinness asked who was next for Ricky Starks, and it kind of sounds like it’s going to be Jon Moxley.

Ricky Starks vs. Wheeler Yuta Grade: B-

Bryan Danielson Def. Zach Sabre Jr.

Jon Moxley was much more talkative during this match, with one of his highlights calling Bryan a “secret bully.”

The striking in this match was brutal, and they willed an apathetic crowd into it as the strikes got louder.

Jim Ross was fantastic calling this match as he narrated the realistic offense.

Nigel McGuinness, who continues to be anti-Bryan, screamed “ask him!” as Sabre trapped Danielson in a submission. When Danielson put his foot on the rope, McGuinness called him a coward.

Jon Moxley teased throwing in the towel as Sabre Jr. took control of the latter stages of this match.

Bryan Danielson won this match with a strike, and McGuinness claimed that’s not technical wrestling.

Excalibur announced Kenny Omega vs. former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in a gaming contest and Jon Moxley reacted in shock like they were going to have a wrestling match.

Bryan Danielson vs. Zach Sabre Jr. Grade: B

The Callis Family Def. Jericho And The Golden Lovers

This was a slower version of the party match featuring the Young Bucks from earlier.

Fans were really into the babyfaces, especially Jericho.

Kota Ibushi continues to be a shell of himself, but was actually serviceable in this match while relying on his charisma.

AEW continued its long-term story as Takeshita once again pinned Kenny Omega.

Callis Family Vs. Jericho and Golden Lovers Grade: B

FTR Def. Aussie Open

FTR and Aussie Open beat the hell out of each other right our of the gate. They seemed to be trying to set the chop record.

Kyle Fletcher became more explosive as the match went on.

There was not a whole lot of heat for this match, probably because a) the crowd was getting tired and b) nobody expected Aussie Open to win.

Aussie Open screwed up a Shatter Machine, and to save it, the announce team had to call it a knee strike.

FTR vs. Aussie Open Grade: B

Darby Allin Def. Christian Cage, Edge Debuts

The fact that Christian Cage was headlining this show suggests a) Darby Allin may win the TNT Title in his hometown of Seattle and b) Adam “Edge” Copeland may cost Christian the title.

Christian Cage received massive heat against hometown hero Darby Allin.

Allin won the first fall with help from Christian Cage’s turtleneck, which covered his face.

AEW cut to Nick Wayne’s mom, who poured a drink in Christian’s face, more than NBC cut to Taylor Swift.

Christian teased slamming Allin from the apron to the stairs, but the stairs were too far away, so they struggled time and again to do so. It even got to the point where Christian had to step down from the apron to slam Allin on the stairs, only to reset and try it again from the apron. Both were nasty bumps.

By the third fall, the ring had exposed the wooden panels.

As Darby Allin was being stretchered out, Christian Cage hit a frog splash on the stretcher.

Shockingly, Nick Wayne turned heel on Darby Allin with a belt shot to Darby. Ms. Wayne was furious.

Sting made the save with some sloppy offense on the heels.

With the babyfaces outnumbered, this set the stage for Adam “Edge” Copeland to make his debut following a video package where he drove a card over a street with the words “Rated R” spraypainted over it.

Darby Allin Vs. Christian Cage Grade: B+