AEW WrestleDream preview & predictions: The definitely/maybe/not really end of Bryan Danielson’s career

The following is an opinion-based preview and does not reflect the views of the website.

Image: AEW

I’m in the midst of doing a rewatch of Succession, the mega-popular HBO show that has plenty of similarities to what we know and think we know about the McMahon family drama, save for the atrocious acts Vince McMahon is accused of.

There’s an episode in season three called “Too Much Birthday” and the title resonated with me in doing this preview as this Saturday’s WrestleDream pay-per-view from Tacoma, Washington, (8 PM main card start) is giving me a “Too Much AEW” vibe.

Perhaps it’s been the endless “will they/won’t they” with the TV rights renewal negotiations with WBD and the usual chatter about attendance and ratings that has me a little more worn out going into Saturday but it’s also their third PPV in the last 48 days. When you tack on five weekly hours of Dynamite, Collision and Rampage (in addition to Ring of Honor content for the sickos) during that time frame, that’s a lot of Khantent for a promotion that doesn’t feel must-see at the moment.

In that aforementioned episode, the Kendall Roy character expects all kinds of celebrities to show up for his 40th birthday as it’s a major social event. Another area of personal frustration having watched AEW since day one is wondering where all of the company’s top talents are.

I understand that Kenny Omega, Edge and Adam Cole are all hurt but unlike when CM Punk was still a TV presence in WWE while recovering from his latest injury, all three men have been in the land of wind and ghosts for months. MJF and Samoa Joe are again doing TV and movie work which makes me wonder when Tony Khan will start to be more firm when it comes to approving such things in the future. While talent in WWE bristled in the past with their inability to do outside projects without a long approval process, there is a happy medium. Call me selfish, but AEW should be their wrestlers’ primary focus which means having the greatest ability – availability – especially in times of need.

There’s also no Kazuchika Okada, no Mercedes Mone, no FTR and no Orange Cassidy on the show — the first two of which were key free agent signings this year. How about that?

With all that said, I provide the usual disclaimer that the in-ring action for AEW PPVs is always stellar and I don’t expect any different in Tacoma. However, there is great in-ring action year-round in a lot of companies. WrestleDream doesn’t feel must-see for a variety of reasons – none of which are on the actual talent.

Also, congrats to Mike DellaCamera who usually does these previews, but is getting married Friday. May your wedding not be a wrestling wedding at all (although it would make for some great stories).

Let’s get to some previews and predictions.

**********

AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson defends against Jon Moxley

For what could be the final match of Danielson’s career, it doesn’t feel like anyone is emotionally buying in. In a year in which Sting got the picture perfect sendoff, I don’t really get what’s going on here with arguably the greatest of all time. It wasn’t until after the fact that I thought how odd it was that the Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada match at the fifth anniversary Dynamite had virtually no tie-in to the “my next loss is the last match” Danielson storyline. 

Is that good or bad? It feels bad, no? My fear is he actually loses on Saturday, his career is basically done and there’s not the full celebration he deserves. He probably doesn’t want one, but too bad. You’re going to get one someday, pal, and it will be loud.

Given the show is in his home state and the scuttlebutt about his injuries, there’s an assumption this is indeed the end. I’m not so sure. I wonder if the lack of the angle mentioned before the Okada bout was more of a tell that his run isn’t close to being done and that the final run-up will make it feel justifiably bigger. Otherwise, what was this angle all for? Conversely, I can’t tell if Danielson is working or not working when he said he had issues feeling his legs in the Okada match due to his neck. I guess that’s the point, right? We just don’t know what’s real or not real and that’s ok by me.

While this menacing version of Moxley (complete with his Danielson-esque white t-shirt and olive pants ensemble) is a fun one, he has wrestled just once since June to earn this shot. There has been plenty of physicality and there’s history, but if this is indeed Danielson’s last match, not getting a real face-to-face promo laying out the stakes feels like a missed opportunity to drive home the emotional stakes.

There’s a buzz from some that Shane McMahon will be the person driving whatever it is that Moxley has been talking about. While newsworthy, that would be a weird thing to throw out there on the same night Danielson’s full-time career ends. Danielson’s wrap up should be celebrated, not an afterthought. That’s why it doesn’t end in Tacoma Saturday.

Winner and still champion: Danielson

AEW International Champion Will Ospreay defends against Ricochet and Konosuke Takeshita in a three-way

It’s hard to imagine a situation where this is anything but great. Despite the WWE-flavored finish in the first Ospreay vs. Ricochet AEW bout, the action was fun and a spectacle that Takeshita ruined with his interference. I don’t think it had the effect Khan was going for in terms of people hating Takeshita for doing it, but here we are.

Matches like this are what the M.O. of AEW initially was and is a bout that could easily be for the World title in a year or less. Takeshita has long been overdue for the big push up the ladder of roster importance and this is the time to do it. Ospreay is a made man and Ricochet is still in his promotional honeymoon period. How he interacts with Takeshita is something that fully has my interest as will the rest of the match.

I think Takeshita’s first AEW singles title run begins here, perhaps with some kind of Kyle Fletcher-assisted swerve, and lasts for a considerable amount of time.

Winner and new champion: Takeshita

AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May defends against Willow Nightingale

While the “Timeless” Toni Storm angle got a bit much at times for me, it certainly worked for the feud with May which was among the year’s best rivalries. That’s been proven by the fact that May has lost a bit of steam since she won the title at August’s All Out. She’s been active but hasn’t done anything with a lot of meat on the bone which is what unfortunately happens a lot in wrestling with new champions. The post-title run is nearly as important as the run-up to winning a title as it validates everything we thought, or didn’t think, in that run-up.

Enter Nightingale who should have been the one to beat Jade Cargill for the TBS title and end her winning streak. The popular Nightingale has been given lots of opportunities to win titles but also not hold them for long periods of time like the CMLL Women’s title (62 days), the TBS title (35 days) and the NJPW Strong Women’s title (45 days). She still has never been THE woman tabbed with the top spot and I can’t figure out why. She seems tailor-made to be one of the faces in AEW and Khan should figure that out in advance of contract time.

I’d hate to see Nightingale lose here again, but it feels too early to have May lose the title even though AEW does have a history of either very long title runs or super-short ones. Storm doesn’t appear to be returning for a bit so perhaps this is fodder for Mina Shirakawa interference to aid May that leads to Storm returning to align with Nightingale.

Nightingale will get her time, I hope. That just doesn’t start on Saturday.

Winner and still champion: May

AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks defend against Private Party

A spin through the recent history of Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy on Cagematch doesn’t elicit much of a wow factor. Their last few traditional tag team matches were a 65-second win over the Iron Savages, an early-September dark match win, and a four-minute early-August win over enhancement talents on Rampage that was preceded the week prior by a loss to MxM Collection on Rampage. Going back further, their win/loss record is even bleaker.

That’s why there is a palpable lack of buzz for this match. The Bucks have been fine in this recent title run even with the big EVP angle that started earlier this year having all of its teeth removed. Their bit now is like me in high school: they don’t do a lot of dates. Outside the bank account that could have been enhanced bigly post-Brawl Out if everyone could have been brought together to talk it out, the Bucks feel to me like the biggest losers out of the situation. CM Punk is doing just fine in WWE, Kenny Omega has made his peace with everything, and then, there’s the Bucks who were forced to show the Punk/Jack Perry All In skirmish footage to less than enthusiastic results.

The Bucks still need a sustained creative refresh that the evil EVP angle was supposed to provide. Feuds with teams that have been treated as a joke for years aren’t helping.

Winners and still champions: The Bucks

TNT Champion Jack Perry defends against Katsuyori Shibata

If there ever was a men’s title to be consolidated, it’s the TNT title. With three other men’s singles championships to compete for, the once important secondary belt just doesn’t have the juice it once had when the likes of Cody Rhodes, Brodie Lee, Darby Allin and Miro were fighting for it. Every additional title, plus the infusion of ROH, has made it relatively meaningless regardless of who holds it.

Perry is Perry and Shibata is Shibata. The whole “Scapegoat” thing has lost its luster and Shibata hasn’t appeared in an AEW singles match since August. It’s hard to really get into this, but I assume Khan thinks there is plenty of fruit left on the Perry tree past this.

Winner and still champion: Perry

Hangman Page vs. Jay White

I’m fascinated by the timing of this pairing as someone’s momentum is likely getting cut off at a juncture when they don’t need it to be. Page has been rolling in recent months with the big cage match victory over Swerve Strickland at All Out as the punctuation point. It told everyone that this version of Page was here to stay and was motivated by his recent failures. Then, White returned last week as a surprise and appears ready to derail all of that and launch his new babyface run in doing so.

White still hasn’t reached the heights that were expected when he first signed as a free agent following an illustrious NJPW run. Part of that is the roster glut and the incredible amount of talent, and part of that is he doesn’t really have a lot of mystique. The alliance with the Bang Bang Gang has brought out a more cool and fun-loving side which has added some interest for me, but the next few months are pretty important for him. If he can fully get over as a face, that’s a great benefit for AEW. 

I don’t love Page losing at this juncture, but I don’t think you beat White in his first big match back.

Winner: White

Swerve Strickland returns

I think everyone expects this to be the debut moment for Bobby Lashley and for the new Hurt Syndicate to formally introduce themselves.

Darby Allin vs. Brody King

I expected the open challenge for Allin to lead to a bigger name, but here we are. I like King a lot and feel like he’s been vastly underutilized to this point as has the whole House of Black group. Fans always seem to be into the group, yet they don’t really get anything substantial for a sustained push. They’re an afterthought as it feels more and more like Malakai Black is counting the days until he can be done with all this AEW stuff. King has the opportunity to be the big winner out of all this, but that’s up to Khan’s pencil.

I know there were stories that Allin has been anointed to be AEW World Champion, but if those are accurate, they certainly are going about getting there in a weird way. A Moxley title win and an eventual Allin run toward a title shot makes sense, but is that what AEW needs right now or whenever it happens?

Allin has been around so long that it feels like we’ve run this cycle over and over since 2019. What does a win do for Allin vs. a win for King? I think King wins and it leads to a final angle with Black to take over House of Black. A Julia Hart re-emergence here to aid King feels like a possibility as well.

Winner: King

Ring of Honor World Champion Mark Briscoe defends against Chris Jericho

In an evening featuring some random matches, this is right up there but, I need to tell you that I don’t hate it. Based on the intensity from Jericho disrespectfully evoking Jay Briscoe to Mark’s face, this seems like it’s going to be more of a wild brawl than a wrestling match. I’m not saying anything groundbreaking when I state that I like Briscoe a lot and if a match against a legend like Jericho gets him on the show to wild out, let’s do it.

Side note: I found Jericho’s recent comments about his contract coming up very interesting. I assume AEW would like to keep him around, but would WWE have any interest at this point? Does AEW still need him given the talent they have and where does he fit into the grand scheme of things as he approaches his 54th birthday?

I don’t see Jericho winning his second ROH World title as it feels right with Briscoe for the time being.

Winner and still champion: Briscoe

Hologram vs. The Beast Mortos in a ⅔ falls match

This is another “Sure, why not?” match. Khan is clearly fully invested in Hologram as he is one of his few true wrestler IP creations, but I do agree with Dave Meltzer that his presentation already needs an upgrade, especially his mask which doesn’t scream “This is going to kill it at the merch tables.” This is my darkhorse for match of the night behind the Ospreay three-way.

Winner: Hologram

Zero Hour: Ring of Honor TV Champion Atlantis Jr. defends against Brian Cage

This was so random to be announced not just for an AEW show, but for the PPV pre-show, no less. I’m sure it will be fine, but it’s not like either guy has been featured on AEW TV with any consequence. Cage is quietly all-time undefeated in ROH singles matches so this could be a chance to give him a singles title so Atlantis Jr. can focus on his CMLL work. Or, it’s setting up for more Atlantis Jr. on AEW TV. Who frickin’ knows?

Winner and new champ: Cage

Maybe Zero Hour: MxM Collection vs. The Acclaimed

Set to be announced on Friday’s Rampage, I assume this will be tabbed for the pre-show. Unlike some on this very website, I’m fine with the wackiness of MxM, but their relatively quiet introduction in Ring of Honor cut the legs out from their eventual AEW arrival. The Acclaimed, meanwhile, are creatively rudderless at the current time and feel like more of a throwback to the first few years of AEW than a must-see act now. If there was ever a time to turn them full heel for a change of pace, it’s now.

Winners: The Acclaimed

Follow along with our WrestleDream coverage all weekend long.