AEW WrestleDream PPV match card: Is Bryan Danielson’s dream match strong enough to main event?

AEW’s next PPV offering will be WrestleDream on October 1, 2023 from Seattle, WA. The event is a wrestling showcase to honor the spirit of Antonio Inoku.

The PPV card for WrestleDream is light so far with two weeks until show time. The current lineup includes three official matches at the moment:

• Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (c) vs. Aussie Open
• Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page

Danielson called out Sabre for a dream match that was originally planned for Forbidden Door. Injuries prevented the contest from taking place at that event, but now the path is clear. Circumstances may have turned out for the better, so that Danielson can prove he is the best technical wrestler in the world in front of his home crowd.

FTR versus Aussie Open is a lock for the card, but the AEW tag title prize is not official yet. FTR has business to handle against the Workhorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake) next week on Collision. FTR is not losing that matchup, so it’s just a matter of time for the golden rematch with Aussie Open.

Swerve Strickland is picking a fight with Hangman Page, but the mogul wants the match on his terms. That means the showdown will be in Swerve’s hometown.

The WrestleDream card is likely to fill out with more championship matches and home wrestlers, such as Darby Allin and Nick Wayne. Also on tap will be Katsuyori Shibata, who expressed his desire to wrestle on the show.

One curious aspect to consider about WrestleDream is the main event. Is the Danielson dream match on his home turf strong enough to be worthy of that spot? Surely, it will sell tickets, but how attractive will it be to sell PPV buys.

MJF is a top candidate to close the show defending the AEW World Heavyweight Championship, however, a world title defense is no lock. Challengers are lining up for the ROH tag titles with the Kingdom and the Righteous calling their claim for next. That may be the direction AEW rolls, as they did with All Out. Honestly, it’s not even certain that MJF is world champ by that time. He has a dangerous defense against Samoa Joe at Grand Slam. It would be surprising but not shocking for Joe to choke out MJF and win AEW’s top belt. In that scenario, a rematch would definitely be big time for the PPV. If MJF gets past Joe, there aren’t any top stars built in position yet to challenge him at WrestleDream. AEW has shown that they can pull dream matches out of thin air, so we may be in store for an unexpected opponent against MJF.

It will be interesting to see how the WrestleDream card shakes out.

Would you be satisfied with Bryan Danielson versus Zack Sabre Jr. as the main event of WrestleDream? If not, what match would you book to close the show?