The 2023 Winter Is Coming was the fourth annual Winter Is Coming professional wrestling television special produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The event took place on December 13 and 16, 2023. While the prior three events only aired as a special episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite, the 2023 event expanded Winter Is Coming to a three-part special, also encompassing Friday Night Rampage and Saturday Night Collision. Dynamite aired live on December 13 on TBS and was held at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, while Rampage was taped that same night and aired on tape delay on December 15 on TNT. Collision aired live on December 16 on TNT and was held at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, the same location as the 2021 and 2022 events.
| Winter Is Coming | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster for the Dynamite broadcast | |||
| Promotion | All Elite Wrestling | ||
| Date | December 13 and 16, 2023 (aired December 13, 15, and 16, 2023) | ||
| City | Arlington, Texas (Dec. 13) Garland, Texas (Dec. 16) | ||
| Venue | College Park Center (Arlington) Curtis Culwell Center (Garland) | ||
| Attendance | Night 1: 3,659[1] Night 2: 3,659[2] Night 3: 3,108[3] | ||
| Event chronology | |||
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| AEW Dynamite special episodes chronology | |||
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| AEW Rampage special episodes chronology | |||
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| AEW Collision special episodes chronology | |||
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A total of 17 matches were contested across the three broadcasts; six aired live on Dynamite with four taped for Rampage, and then seven aired live on Collision. In the main event of the Dynamite broadcast, Jon Moxley defeated Swerve Strickland in a Gold League match of the Continental Classic tournament. The event also saw a special appearance by members of the Von Erich family (Kevin and his sons Marshall and Ross), with Marshall and Ross having their AEW debut match on the Rampage broadcast. In the main event of the Rampage broadcast, Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin) and Action Andretti defeated Komander, El Hijo del Vikingo, and Penta El Zero Miedo. In the main event of the Collision broadcast, Bryan Danielson defeated Brody King in a Blue League match of the AEW Continental Classic tournament.
Production
edit| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Excalibur (both shows) |
| Tony Schiavone (three shows) | |
| Taz (Dynamite) | |
| Toni Storm (Dynamite, Riho vs. Ruby Soho) | |
| Chris Jericho (Rampage) | |
| Kevin Kelly (Collision) | |
| Nigel McGuinness (Collision) | |
| Matt Menard (Collision, Kingston vs. Garcia) | |
| Ring announcers | Justin Roberts (both shows) |
| Dasha Gonzalez (Collision) | |
| Referees | Brandon Martinez |
| Mike Posey | |
| Paul Turner | |
| Stephon Smith | |
| Interviewers | Renee Paquette (both shows) |
| Lexy Nair (Collision) |
Background
editWinter Is Coming is an annual professional wrestling television special held in December by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since 2020. The title "Winter Is Coming" is derived from Game of Thrones, a television series from HBO, which is part of Warner Bros. Discovery, which also includes AEW broadcast partners TBS and TNT.[4]
On October 4, 2023, it was originally announced that the fourth Winter Is Coming would be held on December 13, 2023, at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.[5] From 2020 to 2022, Winter Is Coming only aired as a special episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite. For the 2023 event, it was expanded to a three-part special, also encompassing Friday Night Rampage and Saturday Night Collision. Dynamite aired live on TBS on December 13 with Rampage taped that same night and aired on tape delay on December 15 on TNT.[6] Collision aired live on December 16 on TNT and was held at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, the location of the prior two Winter Is Coming events.[7]
During the December 6 episode of Dynamite, it was announced that Kevin Von Erich and his sons Marshall and Ross, members of the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers from Texas, would be making a special appearance on the Dynamite broadcast of Winter Is Coming, marking their debut appearance in AEW. This came a week before the US theatrical release of the film, The Iron Claw, a biopic about the Von Erich family.[8]
Storylines
editWinter Is Coming featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines, written by AEW's writers.[9] Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite, Collision, and Rampage.
Results
editNight 1
edit| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[12] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Hangman" Adam Page defeated Roderick Strong (with Mike Bennett and Matt Taven) by pinfall | Singles match[10] | 14:45 |
| 2 | Andrade El Idolo defeated Brody King by pinfall | AEW Continental Classic Blue League match | 14:45 |
| 3 | Riho defeated Ruby Soho by pinfall | Singles match[11] | 9:30 |
| 4 | Rush defeated Jay Lethal by submission | AEW Continental Classic Gold League match[10] | 4:30 |
| 5 | Jay White defeated Mark Briscoe by pinfall | AEW Continental Classic Gold League match[10] | 11:00 |
| 6 | Jon Moxley defeated Swerve Strickland by pinfall | AEW Continental Classic Gold League match[10] | 16:25 |
Night 2
edit| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[13] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orange Cassidy and The Von Erichs (Marshall Von Erich and Ross Von Erich) (with Danhausen) defeated Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, and Jake Hager by pinfall | Six-man tag team match | 7:30 |
| 2 | The Don Callis Family (Kyle Fletcher and Powerhouse Hobbs) (with Don Callis) defeated Hunter Grey and Paul Titan by pinfall | Tag team match | 1:00 |
| 3 | Anna Jay defeated Red Velvet by submission | Singles match | 8:30 |
| 4 | Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin) and Action Andretti defeated Komander, El Hijo del Vikingo, and Penta El Zero Miedo (with Alex Abrahantes) by pinfall | Six-man tag team match | 13:00 |
Night 3
edit| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[14] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claudio Castagnoli defeated Andrade El Idolo by pinfall | AEW Continental Classic Blue League match | 15:34 | ||
| 2 | Abadon defeated Jazmin Allure by pinfall | Singles match | 1:05 | ||
| 3 | Orange Cassidy (c) defeated Bryan Keith by pinfall | Singles match for the AEW International Championship | 9:30 | ||
| 4 | Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale defeated Mercedes Martinez and Diamante by pinfall | Texas Street Fight | 10:30 | ||
| 5 | Brian Cage (with Prince Nana) defeated Kari Wright by pinfall | Singles match | 1:20 | ||
| 6 | Eddie Kingston defeated Daniel Garcia by pinfall | AEW Continental Classic Blue League match | 12:12 | ||
| 7 | Bryan Danielson defeated Brody King by pinfall | AEW Continental Classic Blue League match | 15:12 | ||
| |||||
References
edit- ^ AEW Dynamite #219 - Winter Is Coming 2023 - Tag 1 Cage Match
- ^ AEW Rampage #123 - Winter Is Coming 2023 - Tag 2 Cage Match
- ^ AEW Collision #27 - Winter Is Coming 2023 - Tag 3 Cage Match
- ^ AEW Dynamite Post Show w/ Tony Schiavone | 11/18/20. YouTube. All Elite Wrestling. November 18, 2020. Event occurs at 37:17-38:00. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (November 4, 2023). "AEW Dynamite Winter Is Coming Announced For December 13". Fightful. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
- ^ "AEW Rampage Preview for December 15, 2023". All Elite Wrestling. AEW Staff. 15 December 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (December 13, 2023). "Bryan Danielson vs. Brody King, Daniel Garcia vs. Eddie Kingston, More Set For 12/16 AEW Collision". Fightful. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
- ^ Rose, Bryan (December 6, 2023). "Von Erich family to make AEW debut at Dynamite Winter is Coming". Fightful. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
- ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Russell, Skylar (December 6, 2023). "Jon Moxley vs. Swerve Strickland, Adam Page vs. Roderick Strong, Von Erichs Set For 12/13 AEW Dynamite". Fightful. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ Defelice, Robert (December 9, 2023). "Riho vs. Ruby Soho, Kenny Omega And Chris Jericho Segment Added To 12/13 AEW Dynamite". Fightful. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ Powell, Jason (December 13, 2023). "AEW Dynamite results (12/13): Powell's live review of Swerve Strickland vs. Jon Moxley, Jay White vs. Mark Briscoe, Rush vs. Jay Lethal, and Brody King vs. Andrade El Idolo in Continental Classic matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
- ^ Murphy, Don (December 15, 2023). "AEW Rampage results (12/15): Murphy's review of Penta, Vikingo, and Kommander vs. Top Flight and Action Andretti, Orange Cassidy and The Von Erichs vs. Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Jake Hager". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
- ^ Powell, Jason (December 16, 2023). "AEW Collision results (12/16): Powell's live review of Bryan Danielson vs. Brody King, Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia, and Andrade El Idolo vs. Claudio Castagnoli in Continental Classic tournament matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 16, 2023.