On Saturday, October 18th, AEW returned to the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, MO, for its big event, “WrestleDream.” The main event of the show saw ‘Hangman’ Adam Page put his AEW World Championship on the line against Samoa Joe. Page has never beaten Joe in the past, which makes this match that much more important.
We also saw Darby Allin meet Jon Moxley in an “I Quit” match, Kris Statlander defend her AEW Women’s World Championship against ‘Timeless’ Toni Storm, Brody King and Bandido put their AEW World Tag Team Championships on the line against the Don Callis Family’s Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita, Mercedes Mone host an Open Challenger for her AEW TBS Championship, and so much more. So, what were the top three moments of the night?
3. Mercedes Mone becomes Interim ROH Women’s World Television Champion
In one of the big marquee matches of the night, we saw Mercedes Mone hold an open challenge for her AEW TBS Championship. However, Mone has been on a roll as of late, collecting belts. She made it known that her open challenge was only for those with a championship around their waist and that they would have to put their championship on the line, as well.
Mina Shirakawa answered the challenge, putting her newly won interim Ring of Honor Women’s World Television Championship on the line in the process. This was a fun match, with a rather tiresome trope. Mone keeps on winning, and tonight was no different. Mone put Shirakawa away with a backslide pinfall, using the rope for leverage. However, the bigger story came after the match.
AEW Women’s World Champion, Kris Statlander made her way down to the ring and had a stare-down with Mone. Mone tried to strike Statlander, but Statlander caught her and left her lying in the ring before hoisting up her title high. It looks like we’re on track for Statlander and Mercedes in a one-on-one match. Hopefully, this is one belt that Mone won’t be able to win quite yet.
2. ‘Hangman’ Adam Page retains, but Samoa Joe Turns Heel
In one of the biggest matches of the night, we saw ‘Hangman’ Adam Page put his AEW World Championship on the line against a former champion, Samoa Joe. This is a rivalry that started a while ago, but really came to a head when Page teamed up with Joe and Powerhouse Hobbs to defeat the Death Riders. Following the win, Page and Joe had words, and Joe accused Page of stealing his tag and trying to “show him up.”
Joe went on to tell Page that Page had never defeated him in the past. This got under Page’s skin and got him to put the AEW World Championship on the line in a match with Joe at “WrestleDream.” Page knew he had never defeated Joe and was out to prove something now. The two put on a fantastic match at “WrestleDream” that more than lived up to the hype fans had for it.
Page hit three buckshot lariats in a row on Joe to pin him and retain his AEW World Championship. Following the match, we got a heel turn by Joe and The Opps. This was an incredibly hard-hitting bout between the two men. It’s no secret that Joe is winding down on his career, but one thing we know for sure is that Joe can still hang with the best of them. As for Page, he continues his electric run as champion, continuing to show why he has improved a lot since his first run. I’m intrigued by a Joe/The Opps heel run.
1. Sting Returns To Help Darby Allin, Jon Moxley Says “I Quit”
The main event of the show saw Jon Moxley and Darby Allin meet one-on-one in an “I Quit” match. This was a rivalry which has started long ago. However, this chapter of it came about after Moxley defeated Allin in a coffin match back in September at “All Out.” However, later in that show, Allin emerged from the coffin, zipped up Moxley in a body bag, and lit it on fire. On the following “Dynamite” episode on September 24th, Allin, armed with a flamethrower, confronted Moxley and challenged him to this “I Quit” match.
This has been a blood feud since the very beginning. Despite not being for the top prize in AEW, this is the biggest rivalry in AEW, and it’s not close. These two men wanted to beat the hell out of each other, and did everything in their power to make sure the other wouldn’t come back to AEW. For Moxley, he was fighting for his new fearsome group, and for Allin, he was fighting for the promotion of All Elite Wrestling.
This match was about as brutal and violent as it comes. Moxley attempted to drown Allin by sticking his head in the water, and Allin was thrown by Claudio nearly 10 feet on top of the announce table. However, the biggest moment of the match came when Sting made his return to save Allin and took out the Death Riders. In the end, Darby forced Moxley to quit with the Scorpion Death Lock. A very anti-climactic ending, but a very fun match.
