When is AEW WrestleDream 2023? Start time, match card, and more
AEW will be offering another massive pay-per-view on Sunday in the form of WrestleDream in Seattle, Washington.
The event was announced at the All In 2023 post-show media scrum on August 27, 2023, and has quietly become one of the most exciting major events of the entire year. The show will be dedicated to NJPW's founder, the late Antonio Inoki. He passed away on October 1, 2022, and was considered by AEW President Tony Khan as 'wrestling's greatest dreamer.'
At the time of writing, WrestleDream has nine matches confirmed, including five championship bouts, a technical dream match, and a blockbuster first-time-ever encounter. That said, here's everything you need to know about AEW WrestleDream.
The event is set to have a Zero-Hour pre-show kicking off at 7 pm EST and 4 pm PT, with the main portion of the card beginning an hour later at 8 pm EST and 5 pm PT. For international fans, this correlates to a 1 am start in the United Kingdom, a 5:30 am start in India, and anywhere between 8 am and 10 am for fans in Australia.
Once you've got your start time, what matches should you look forward to? In terms of title matches, belts from AEW, ROH, and NJPW will all be on the line throughout the night. Eddie Kingston will defend the Ring of Honor World and NJPW STRONG Openweight Championships against Katsuyori Shibata, while Kris Statlander will defend the AEW TBS Championship against Julia Hart.
Better Than You, Bay Bay will defend the ROH World Tag Team Championship against The Righteous. Christian Cage will lock horns with Darby Allin in a two-out-of-three falls match for the TNT Championship, and FTR will finally get a chance to defend their AEW World Tag Team Title against Aussie Open.
It should be noted that the winners of that match will face The Young Bucks, The Lucha Brothers, The Gunns, or Orange Cassidy and Hook at a later date. The four teams will face each other in a four-way match on the same night.
The Don Callis Family will debut on the show as Konosuke Takeshita, Sammy Guevara, and Will Ospreay will take on the team of Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, and Kota Ibushi. 'Hangman' Page will face Swerve Strickland in the latter's home state of Washington. Bryan Danielson will go one-on-one with NJPW World Television Champion Zack Sabre Jr.
The road to AEW WrestleDream continues tonight on Dynamite
There are still three AEW shows and one ROH program to take place before WrestleDream on October 1, meaning more matches could be added and rivalries could begin.
In a preview of the four-way tag team match, Orange Cassidy, Penta El Zero Miedo, Matt Jackson, and Austin Gunn face off in a four-way bout of their own, while Julia Hart will hope to continue her excellent run of form against Willow Nightingale.
Christian Cage and Darby Allin will have a sit-down interview with Jim Ross, Swerve Strickland, and 'Hangman' Adam Page will have an official contract signing ahead of their match. Better Than You, Bay Bay will address the crowd following the rumors of Adam Cole pulling out of their scheduled contest due to injury.
Are you excited for AEW WrestleDream? Let us know in the comments section below.