Jon Moxley ended Bryan Danielson’s short reign as All Elite Wrestling World Champion, and more importantly, ended Danielson’s full-time career. Moxley nailed Danielson’s legendary run Saturday in front of the former champion’s home state crowd at Wrestle Dream.
Danielson and Moxley headlined a meeting of former Wrestle Dream stablemates in Tacoma, Washington. Danielson previously stated that losing the AEW World Championship would end his career as a full-time professional wrestler. That day came less than two months after Danielson won the AEW World Title from Swerve Strickland at All In London.
AEW World Championship — Jon Moxley def. Bryan Danielson choked out Danielson and won by submission to win the title. The main event of Wrestle Dream started with a bang. Danielson and Moxley were fighting long before the bell rang. Moxley strangled Danielson with a wire as Europe’s “Final Countdown” blared through the arena. When the match officially began, Danielson immediately defeated Moxley with an ugly knee, earning a close two count. Marina Shafir, who accompanied Moxley to the ring, was a recurring thorn in Danielson’s side. Shafir repeatedly distracted Danielson and attacked him behind the referee’s back. Moxley controlled much of the midfield, but eventually “The American Dragon” roared to life. Danielson appeared to win the match with another ugly knee and a rubel lock, but Moxley held on. The pivotal moment saw Moxley catch Danielson’s diving suicide attempt and land Paradigm Shift on exposed concrete. Danielson held on and hit another BUSAIKU KNE, but it wasn’t enough to put the challenger away. A Gotch-style piledriver and reverse chinlock ended Danielson’s title reign and full-time career.
Blackpool Combat Club removed the plastic bag after the match, but Darby Allin and Wheeler Yuta rescued Danielson. However, Yuta’s attack was a ruse. BCC taped Allin’s wrist to the corner rope as Yuta strangled Danielson with a bag. Various AEW wrestlers, including Jeff Jarrett and Private Party, came out to no avail as Claudio Castagnoli stomped on a steel chair wrapped around Danielson’s head. BCC ran away with the AEW World Title as more AEW stars poured into the ring.
What else happened at AEW Wrestle Dream?
ROH World Championship — Mark Brisco (c) def. Chris Jericho defended the title with a pinfall over J. Driller.
AEW World Tag Team Championship — The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson & Nicholas Jackson) (c) def. Private Party (Isaiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) retained the titles by pinfall via Cassidy’s Double Pump Handle TK Driver .
Darby Allin def. Brody King by pinfall after hitting a coffin drop. Allyn and King then shook hands.
Hologram Definition Beast Motos won two of the three falls matches 2-1 with a pinfall and a Revolution Powerbomb.
AEW International Championship — Konosuke Takeshita def. Will Ospreay (c) performed a side press on Ospreay after interference from Kyle Fletcher, and Ricochet won the title via pinfall. After the match, Fletcher attacked Ospreay with the Tiger Driver ’91. AEW TNT Championship — Jack Perry (c) def. Katsuyori Shibata counters a sleeper hold and gets a pinfall to defend the title. After the match, Daniel Garcia saved Shibata from a beatdown. MJF tried to attack Garcia, but Adam Cole intervened. AEW Women’s World Championship — Mariah May (c) def. Willow Nightingale retained the title via pinfall after hitting Storm Zero.
“Hangman” Adam Page by pinfall after hitting Jay White def. Blade Runner. Def of Autogunners and Conglomerate. Beaver Boys and Premier Athlete brands via Pinfall. *
The Accomplished (Max Castor, Anthony Bowens) (with Billy Gunn) def. MxM Collection (Mansoor and Mason Madden) (with Rico Constantino) via pinfall after hitting a mic drop on Mansoor. * Anna Jay Def. Harley Cameron wins by pinfall after hitting the Golly Facebuster. *
ROH World Television Championship — Brian Cage def. Atlantis Jr. wins the title by pinfall with a drill claw*.
*Zero Hour Pre-Show Match
