AEW WrestleDream is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Established in 2023, it is held annually in October as a memorial show to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) founder Antonio Inoki; AEW and NJPW have had a working partnership since early 2021. The name of the event is a reference to Inoki, who AEW President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Khan called "wrestling's greatest dreamer".
| AEW WrestleDream | |
|---|---|
 AEW WrestleDream logo | |
| Promotions | All Elite Wrestling |
| First event | 2023 |
History
editOn October 1, 2022 (September 30 in Eastern Time), Antonio Inoki, the founder of the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), died.[1] Prior to his death, the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) began a working partnership with NJPW in early 2021.[2] This resulted in the annual co-promoted event, AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, which was first held in June 2022.[3]
In April 2023, AEW filed to trademark "AEW WrestleDream".[4] During the All In media scrum on August 27, AEW president Tony Khan officially announced that AEW would hold a pay-per-view (PPV) event titled WrestleDream, which would be held in honor of Inoki, who was someone Khan looked up to in the professional wrestling industry. The event was scheduled to take place on October 1, 2023—the one-year anniversary of Inoki's passing—at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington, marking AEW's first PPV to be held in the state of Washington.[5] The name of the event refers to Inoki, who Khan called "wrestling's greatest dreamer".[6] Despite not being a co-promoted event with NJPW, the event saw the participation of NJPW wrestlers Satoshi Kojima,[7] TMDK (Bad Dude Tito, Mikey Nicholls, and Shane Haste),[8] Katsuyori Shibata,[9] Zack Sabre Jr.,[10] and Will Ospreay,[11] who would later sign with AEW, as well as Inoki's former student Josh Barnett.[12]
On April 11, 2024, a second WrestleDream was confirmed to be held on October 12, 2024, in Tacoma, Washington, thus establishing WrestleDream as an annual October event for AEW.[13]
Events
edit| # | Event[14] | Date | City | Venue | Main Event | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WrestleDream (2023) | October 1, 2023 | Seattle, Washington | Climate Pledge Arena | Christian Cage (c) vs. Darby Allin in a two out of three falls match for the AEW TNT Championship | [15] | ||||
| 2 | WrestleDream (2024) | October 12, 2024 | Tacoma, Washington | Tacoma Dome | Bryan Danielson (c) vs. Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship | [13] | ||||
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
| ||||||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Defelice, Robert (September 30, 2022). "Antonio Inoki Passes Away At Age 79". Fightful. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
- ^ Nason, Josh (February 4, 2021). "AEW, New Japan Pro Wrestling Established Working Relationship". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Barrasso, Justin (April 20, 2022). "Tony Khan Announces First-Ever AEW, NJPW Joint Pay-Per View Event". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Carey, Ian (April 24, 2023). "AEW files to trademark 'AEW WrestleDream'". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (August 27, 2023). "AEW WrestleDream Announced For October 1, AEW Full Gear To Take Place On November 18". Fightful. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
- ^ Carey, Ian (August 27, 2023). "Tony Khan announces AEW WrestleDream PPV, Full Gear date & location". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (October 1, 2023). "Keith Lee, Satoshi Kojima, Athena, And Billie Starkz Victorious In Eight-Person Tag At AEW WrestleDream". Fightful. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (October 1, 2023). "The Acclaimed And Billy Gunn Retain AEW Trios Titles At AEW WrestleDream". Fightful. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Defelice, Robert (October 1, 2023). "Eddie Kingston Retains ROH World And NJPW STRONG Titles Over Katsuyori Shibata At AEW WrestleDream". Fightful. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Defelice, Robert (October 1, 2023). "Don Callis Family Beat Golden Lovers And Chris Jericho At AEW WrestleDream; Sammy Guevara Pins Jericho". Fightful. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Defelice, Robert (October 1, 2023). "Don Callis Family Beat Golden Lovers And Chris Jericho At AEW WrestleDream; Sammy Guevara Pins Jericho". Fightful. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Tessier, Colin (October 1, 2023). "Claudio Castagnoli Beats Josh Barnett, Jon Moxley Appears At AEW WrestleDream". Fightful. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ a b Lambert, Jeremy (April 11, 2024). "AEW Announces Dates And Locations For 2024 PPV Events". Fightful. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
- ^ "All Elite Wrestling Event Results". All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
- ^ Tessier, Colin (October 2, 2023). "Nick Wayne Betrays Darby Allin, Helps Christian Cage Retain TNT Title At AEW WrestleDream". Fightful. Retrieved October 16, 2023.