AEW WrestleDream preview & predictions: The autumn of our discontent
Image: AEW
Editor’s Note: The following is an opinion-based preview and reflects that of the author and not the website.
We are, cats and kittens, in the annual fall malaise in AEW. The hangover from All Out lingers and won’t fully dull until the Continental Classic kicks off in December. This is the time of year when AEW unfortunately loses its way and becomes creatively dry.
This isn’t disastrous or an all caps CREATIVE EMERGENCY; it’s just dull. There is nothing that spurns me to movement or demands my full unblinking attention on my television or second screen.
Saturday’s card (7 PM pre-show on Max/TNT; 8 PM Eastern main card on PPV) is defined by what’s missing rather than what’s here.
Eddie Kingston, fresh off a welcome return, is buried on the pre-show. Orange Cassidy, another beloved wrestler back after a long layoff, is stuck in multi-person background noise. There are countless members of the Don Callis Family hanging out in catering that would love to be on a PPV. You’re telling me Kingston vs. Josh Alexander or Cassidy vs. Hechicero wouldn’t pique your interest? You wouldn’t raise an eyebrow and tune in?
There’s little doubt the in-ring performances will be excellent but, man, is this show creatively disappointing. Let’s run through Saturday’s AEW WrestleDream PPV card and see if we can find a little light amid the lull.
Thekla vs. Jamie Hayter
Hayter’s return has lacked substance. She’s been around, but not about anything. She was there in the All Out four-way title match; present, talented, but on the periphery. When healthy, the former AEW Women’s World Champion is one of the best workers in the company. Her offense has thump, her timing is tight, and her strikes remind us that her time in Japan was very well spent. But, AEW hasn’t given her anything to sink her teeth into — at least nothing that feels alive.
Blood & Guts is coming, and she and Thekla will be front and center. The outcome is not inconsequential, but it doesn’t change the future. Both would be helped by a short sprint, but Thekla takes this one as we steam towards the AEW spectacular.
Prediction: Thekla
The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin & MVP) vs. The Demand (Ricochet, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) in a trios tornado match
The Hurt Syndicate is a throwback act that actually works. MVP’s voice, Benjamin’s reliability, and Lashley’s sheer presence make them feel big-time in an era when few factions do. They aren’t ironic and they don’t wink at the audience. Rather, they are exactly what they claim to be: people who hurt people.
The Demand — Ricochet, Kaun and Liona — are the inverse, still trying to prove they belong in those bright lights. We know Ricochet does, but Kaun and Liona remain unproven on the biggest stages. They have some tools, but do they have everything required to become weekly staples? Matches like this are where The Demand can be elevated or have their ceilings exposed.
The result will let us know where AEW stands on The Demand. A win cements them as a group to watch, a loss promises a future in the lower mid-card.
Prediction: The Demand
AEW World Tag Team Champion Brodido (Brody King & Bandido) defend against Konosuke Takeshita & Kazuchika Okada
There are two things I’m certain of: Okada is not getting pinned in this match and neither is the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. The story isn’t about King and Bandido as talented as they are; it’s the storm brewing between Okada and Takeshita. They are the main characters of this story, but it needs time to reach a boil and this match turns up the heat.
The question isn’t if Okada and Takeshita combust; it’s where. Worlds End is the logical AEW choice, but it must happen at Wrestle Kingdom. If this is going to continue to be a true partnership, AEW should do right by NJPW and give them a boost. What better way to restore global faith in both promotions than to let these two redefine what a modern main event looks like at the Tokyo Dome.
Since neither of them can take the pin, they’ll be the ones doing the pinning. More gold heads to the Don Callis Family.
Prediction: Takeshita and Omega win the titles
Jurassic Express vs. The Young Bucks for $500,000
There is no love in my heart for Jurassic Express. There is no hate, either. There is just nothing. They are perpetually fine — a perfectly acceptable tag team defined by their song and their limited upside(s). They fill a void in the sadly shrinking middle class of pro wrestling, but that is, generously, their cap as a team. Individually, the ceilings are much lower, so this is their proper alignment. At least Jack Perry is a big knife guy or something.
The Bucks, meanwhile, are incapable of being boring, no matter how divisive they remain. This will be crisp, professional, and athletic, but it’s two teams existing on entirely different planes. The Bucks should win because that’s what stars do, but if Jurassic Express doesn’t win here, what is the entire point of them?
Prediction: The Young Bucks
Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley in an I Quit match
Somehow, their coffin match was subdued. Excellent, yes, but restrained. A silent agreement between two maniacs to save the real horrors for later. Later has arrived.
This will be vile, creative, and possibly deeply uncomfortable. The ‘I Quit’ stipulation is less a stipulation and more a dare. Will either of these two admit defeat or will they simply expire? AEW has always let its artists paint with blood, and these two will go through every color on the palette.
Moxley’s tapped before, but not to Allin who will never, ever give up. His body will fail him before he gives up. That’s the difference here. Darby wins, Moxley bleeds buckets, and they add an outrageous chapter to AEW’s bloody history.
Winner: Darby Allin
TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher defends against Mark Briscoe
If not now, when for wrestling’s favorite chicken farmer? He beat MJF in a brutal (and very good!) match at All Out, which could have been a lightning bolt, a genuine surprise that promised even more. Instead, the following Wednesday, he was back to doing the same old thing on Dynamite. Another promo, another shrug, another bit of momentum not capitalized on.
The charm of Briscoe isn’t just that he’s likable; he’s real. He carries an authenticity that AEW sometimes struggles to maintain amid its constant irony and in-jokes. But smiles and goodwill don’t pay off forever. He needs wins that matter, and the TNT Championship usually does.
Fletcher, though, is the real deal. He’s no longer just a promise, he’s arrived. His matches are clean, his confidence frightening. The truth is that he’s already outgrown the TNT Championship after two-and-a-half months. There’s nothing he’s not ready for, and the title is just an anchor at this point.
Still, something about Briscoe winning here feels right. It feels strangely necessary.
Prediction: Mark Briscoe wins the title
AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander defends against Toni Storm
Statlander winning the title was a delightful surprise, something all too missing in modern wrestling. Finally, a payoff for years of near-misses and false starts. Winning the title is nice, but she desperately needs to make a statement here. She has been clearly outclassed on the microphone going head-to-head with Storm, so she must prove it in the ring.
A great performance here against a performer at the top of an industry can cement her as main event level talent. Be bold, Kris Statlander. Be audacious. Channel the energy and passion from that street fight against Willow Nightingale and be that person all the time.
The more interesting question is how does Storm move forward without the championship? For years, she’s anchored the division. Even when she lost the title to the since deceased Mariah May character, it was clear that her compass still pointed her towards the title. Now it’s not so clear. Make no mistake, she should lose this match and lose it clean, but how well the “Timeless” character works without a title adding gravitas to it is a pretty significant question.
Prediction: Kris Statlander retains
AEW World Champion Hangman Page defends against Samoa Joe
Joe is proof that gravitas still matters. The man walks into a segment and the air changes. With Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland all still recovering, AEW needed someone who felt real to stand across from Page. Joe provides that in spades. He doesn’t need flips or metaphors. Catchphrases and deep lore are not required. Scowls and strikes will do just fine.
Joe’s return to the main event scene is about reminding everyone he never went away — he just wasn’t around. Expect violence without spectacle, storytelling without pretense, and a finish that solidifies Page’s reign without hurting Joe’s aura. Sometimes, a match is just two men fighting because they’re the best at it. This is that match.
Prediction: Hangman retains
