Bryan Danielson’s full-time career as a professional wrestler is over. That’s a big story coming out of the AEW WrestleDream 2024 event on Saturday, but the bigger story is Jon Moxley.
In what was very much a one match PPV event, the one match delivered the way it needed to and made the price of admission on the event worth it. Moxley is the new AEW World Champion and he won the title in a way that solidifies himself as the key top guy in the company and in a way that got the most out of a Danielson retirement.
The rest of the show had it’s moments of good and bad, but it will undoubtedly be remembered for the main event and the angle after it.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. Period.
Jay White vs. Adam Page
A really good match and the perfect opener. Not a doubt in my mind that this would deliver from an in-ring perspective, but lots of doubt around the finish. White needed the W and got it. The easy route would have been Tony Khan booking Page to win, but the smart move was taking advantage of White’s current return momentum and trying to elevate him. Moxley needs strong opponents to work with and White can be a guy that holds down that spot, provided he got the push. This was the push.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/2
Mariah May vs. Willow Nightingale - AEW Women’s World Championship
On three days build, this was pretty darn good. May of course got the win and there wasn’t a lot of drama around the finish. That said, the audience reacts to Willow constantly. She’s got them in the palm of her hand. At some point, Khan is going to need to figure out whether or not he’s going to go with her as a true face of his women’s division.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
Jack Perry vs. Katsuyori Shibata - TNT Championship
The match was what it was — mat-based action with designed near falls for pops that didn’t work. The bout will be remembered fondly, though. Both MJF and Adam Cole returned to AEW at the end of this, reuniting with the company and giving it a nice jolt of star power. Daniel Garcia ran out to save Shibata from a post-match Perry attack, but was then attacked by MJF. Big news and the newly signed Garcia now can work with MJF again and then Perry. Cole was the bigger surprise. Glad to see AEW just forget the toxic mess that was the devil storyline and start fresh-ish with Cole and MJF with Cole as the babyface. Also, glad that Cole appears to be healthy and ready for action. He’s got work to do to remove the stink of his last two years in the company, but if there’s one guy that can do it, it’s him.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO
Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet vs. Konosuke Takeshita - AEW International Championship
A state of the art triple threat with a crazy pace and wild action. The trio worked really well together and delivered on high expectations. The finish went exactly as you’d expect with Kyle Fletcher turning on Ospreay, aligning with Don Callis definitively, and helping Takeshita win the title. Yes, it was predictable, but sometimes that’s what you need in pro wrestling when a specific goal is trying to get accomplished. They got heat on Fletcher and Takeshita with this and solidified the Callis Family as something that matters again. That and tremendous wrestling gets a massive thumbs up.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
Hologram vs. “The Beast” Mortos - 2 Out Of 3 Falls
A fine little match, but not anything that screamed “I must be on this show.” Hologram is an interesting character and piece in AEW that they need to do more with.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Darby Allin vs. Brody King
Well thought out and well executed by both Allin and King. They played up the big monster vs. underdog all throughout this, which meant Darby took some nasty bumps and punishment. He got the win, though, and looked strong doing it.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
The Young Bucks vs. Private Party - AEW World Tag Team Championships
This had more drama than it had any right to have given what we saw between both teams in the build to the match. As usual with The Bucks, the action was great — having Private Party to play off of certainly helped execute on their creativity. The near falls worked because they had the crowd believing, but in the end The Bucks needed to win and did.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/4
Mark Briscoe vs. Chris Jericho - ROH World Tag Team Championship
Look, there was nothing wrong with this match. Both guys worked hard and Jericho put Briscoe over strong — something you knew was coming once Jericho spoke about Jay Briscoe the way he did. However, the match would be more significant and more memorable if it happened on an ROH show. Yes, there are diminishing returns there, but if the brand is going to exist, Tony Khan needs to give fans a reason to watch it. This exact match would have been and now Khan can’t play that card.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 1/2
Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley - AEW World Championship
The match of the night. Things started exactly how they should have with Moxley attacking before the bell and brawling with Danielson around the ring. The story called for that intensity and the spot delivered for it. The rest of the match felt like a fight. Danielson is the best in the business at pulling sympathy from the audience and he found a ton of it as Mox beat him down for the majority of the match. The hope spots carried this and hooked the fans. This is a great match because it made the viewer feel something. When Moxley was getting offense in at the end, the audience was silent with worry that Danielson would get beat. That takes work, effort, and skill from two pros. As for the post-match angle, the goal was to define Jon Moxley as a lethal, unbeatable, killer heel. I think it accomplished that goal. Darby and Orange Cassidy looking deflated and defeated as the show went off the air was a perfect compliment to sell what happened in the ring with the plastic bag … again.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
What did you think of AEW WrestleDream 2024? Let us know in the comments!
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