AEW’s 2023 will come to an official end with Saturday’s Worlds End pay-per-view from the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.
And what a year it was.
In January, MJF was the AEW world champion, the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega had wrapped up an intense best-of-seven series to become the AEW trios champions, CM Punk’s status was still unknown, and Vince McMahon’s unpopular return to WWE had AEW head Tony Khan joking how everyone in AEW was suddenly being very nice to him as a result.
Then, there was how the year ended. MJF is still champion but is now a babyface, Omega is on the sidelines indefinitely with diverticulitis, the Bucks are nowhere to be seen, Punk was fired by AEW in September then returned to WWE in November, McMahon no longer has creative control of WWE and Khan is claiming his company is “under constant attack” and a target of negativity by the internet.
Khan has plenty to be happy about when he looks back at the last 12 months. He secured a new two-hour weekly show on TNT with Collision, sold more than 81,000 tickets and earned over $10 million in revenue for his first stadium show (at London’s Wembley Stadium) and experienced his highest revenue year yet in AEW’s young history thanks to both an increased number of PPVs, more live shows and higher ticket prices. Additionally, the in-ring quality remained at an elite level, pun fully intended.
To the layman, that would seem like an outstanding year. To the invested fan, those are peaks in a year full of valleys.
The Punk ordeal that started with his return from suspension/injury in June through his exit at the beginning of September was an anchor weighed down by another anchor that was all of the unanswered questions from his All Out backstage brawl with Omega and the Bucks in September 2022. We still don’t fully know what happened and that has become an open wound that may never heal due to how it was, or wasn’t, addressed.
Injuries again affected top performers and altered plans, namely the company’s most intriguing and popular angle with MJF and Adam Cole. The bromance was strong enough that the two headlined All In at Wembley, but Cole’s freak ankle injury suffered while running down to the ring to assist MJF in September put him on the shelf indefinitely. MJF’s turn toward becoming a babyface became more pronounced, causing the intangibles that made him a top player fade from where he began 2023 to how he’s ending it.
On top of that, AEW’s broadcast partner Warner Bros. Discovery is talking to WWE about securing the broadcast rights to Raw despite the fact AEW’s deal is also up next year and has been with WBD since the start.
That brings us to the company’s inaugural December PPV on Saturday, which will also be its last until Revolution in March. MJF will be in his backyard and defending his title, the well-received Continental Classic tournament will come to a conclusion and Adam Copeland will have a rematch Christian Cage in a no-DQ match that should be memorable.
Saturday should be a year-end celebration of accomplishments for AEW, but there is so much uncertainty with the company as it ends the year that it’s hard to look past the problems. But at the risk of more of that Khan-mentioned negativity, let’s put some positive spins on everything we know about this Worlds End card as of Thursday morning.
AEW world champion MJF defends against Samoa Joe
This would feel a bit more special if it was their first clash, but that happened in September at the Grand Slam event at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens. Coincidentally, that is where Cole suffered his aforementioned freak injury.
Joe forcefully earned this by teaming with MJF in a successful Ring of Honor tag team title defense, believing he could win the world title with another opportunity. The longest-reigning AEW world champion in company history, MJF has been fending off a variety of attackers including the secretive “Devil” character who has harassed both he and Joe for weeks.
This got a little extra fuel Wednesday on Dynamite as Joe double-crossed MJF by faking an injury, thus leaving him alone to defend, and then lose, the ROH tag titles against two mystery henchmen of the Devil. It was later revealed Joe had made a deal with the Devil and he punctuated the turn by laying out MJF with a chair and attacking his already injured shoulder.
This match is assumed to be a stepping stone toward revealing the identities of the masked Devil and his cronies, and it feels like the right time unless Khan wants to try to pop a rating on TV. Regardless, with the aforementioned TV rights negotiations on our doorstep, there’s no time to wait to see if the stew is perfect. It’s time to eat. I still think it’s going to be Cole with a mix of Kyle O’Reilly, Jack Perry and Wardlow, but we’ll see.
One thing to watch for: While MJF has claimed that his AEW contract, or Khantract as I prefer when talking AEW deals, expires at the end of the year, I find that as likely as walking outside and finding that a money tree has sprouted on my lawn. I find it more likely MJF’s deal is announced in his home region and perhaps Saturday itself while he’s in the ring.
Prediction: MJF retains
TNT champion Christian Cage defends against Adam Copeland under no-DQ rules
Copeland, the former Edge in WWE, is approaching the three-month mark as a member of the AEW roster member and, for the most part, he’s fit right in. He hasn’t outshone any of the established younger talent and has focused on a feud with his best friend—one both likely never thought would actually happen. Both are relishing in the opportunity, especially Cage who has been one of the year’s best characters.
Thanks to the heel turn of Shayna Wayne (mother to Cage disciple Nick Wayne), Cage defeated Edge in their initial AEW clash in Montreal earlier this month. The Waynes flanked Cage in a recent promo but Luchasaurus/Killswitch was nowhere to be found. I assume he returns here in some form, perhaps to aid Copeland in a turn.
This feels like the second act in a three act play with the finale being a steel cage match to rule out the possibility of interference. The belt is rather meaningless in this feud as it’s all based on decades of backstory which is why this is working so well. If you don’t have nostalgia as a young company, buy it.
Copeland doesn’t need the belt, but I can’t see him going 0–2 in this series. Copeland should get the win and a big moment, and we’ll get the trilogy at some point early next year.
One thing to watch for: There’s a battle royal on the pre-show where the winner gets a TNT title shot anytime, anywhere. That seems to be a clear path for Christian and crew to lay out Copeland at some point which would allow the winner to cash in, leading to the trilogy match.
Prediction: Copeland wins
Continental Classic tournament finals: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston
This tournament final is for the “modern” triple crown of the ROH world title, the NJPW Strong openweight title and the new AEW continental title. Kingston put up his ROH and NJPW belts in this tournament and his win over Bryan Danielson on Wednesday earned him the slot while Moxley punched his ticket with his win over Swerve Strickland and Jay White on Wednesday.
These friends and sometimes enemies have a long history that predates AEW and they actually feuded over Moxley’s then-AEW world title in the fall of 2020 before making amends. That they find themselves going heads up for this new triple crown isn’t a surprise and that Kingston will win shouldn’t be a surprise either. Moxley is teflon and a loss here won’t affect his standing whatsoever.
Kingston’s win over Danielson was a form of redemption as will be his first career win over Moxley. The idea of a triple crown aligns with what inspired Kingston to begin with and the ability to consistently work in both AEW and NJPW seems like a dream come true for him. With the match taking place in New York, this will be Kingston’s second-biggest win in front of his home crowd in the last four months.
Also, all praise to AEW for this round robin tournament which has been the best tournament of any kind in its young history.
Prediction: Kingston wins
AEW women’s champion Toni Storm defends against Riho
Riho’s career has been an unusual one. The inaugural AEW women’s champion in 2019, she averages just under 15 AEW matches a year with long stretches of inactivity due to injury, returning to Japan and regular time off. She returned earlier this month after six months away, won two matches, and is getting a title shot. Alright, then.
There is a bit of a backstory here with Riho picking up a March win over Storm and then suffering a post-match beatdown from Storm, Saraya and Ruby Soho. Riho’s return has come with wins over Soho and Saraya on her path to Storm, but I’m guessing you forgot about the original impetus because I did.
That’s why I was originally surprised they didn’t give this shot to Saraya (who Riho beat to earn the shot) given she and Storm’s actual history as a team and relatively recent dissolvement as a unit. Even after being reminded how we got here, I still would have liked Saraya in this spot.
Storm will retain, Riho will disappear in a few months, and we’ll run this cycle all over again at some point in 2024. This division needs some real challengers and quick.
Prediction: Storm wins
Swerve Strickland vs. Keith Lee
In a flurry of new matches made Wednesday, the former AEW tag team champions-turned-rivals will finally have a one-on-one match a year after they broke up and nearly six months after they were forgettably paired up in a blind draw tag team tournament in July.
Why did this take so long? Great question that no one has answered. Why now? That’s another great question. In the last few weeks, Lee began indirectly calling out Strickland. After failing to earn a spot in the Continental Classic finals, Strickland then responded and called out Lee for a match Saturday instead.
Due to the unusual amount of time we took to get here, this isn’t as heated as it could be but still should be pretty great. Strickland has risen to being a top-tier guy while Lee’s run has been uneven at times due to a lack of direction and a loaded roster. I’m not sure if this is going to lead to a longer feud or just be the one-off we always wondered about, but it will be entertaining.
Prediction: Strickland wins
Andrade El Idolo vs. Miro
Andrade had a fantastic run through the Continental Classic tournament and came out stronger on the other side—perhaps just in time to leave this summer as some believe. He will take on Miro, who has not taken kindly to Andrade’s relationship with new manager CJ Perry, who is also Miro’s wife. The Perry run thus far has been lackluster and this Saturday needs to jumpstart it. It’s unclear if Perry will be there, however, due to a week-long hospital stay for an infection that could have been much more serious.
In the eventual book about AEW’s early years, the Miro section will be an interesting one. Since returning in September after a one-year absence, he has wrestled just six times (6–0) but I have no idea where he fits and whether he’s even happy with his current situation. I can make cases for both guys to win and lose so this is a coin flip.
I can see Perry aligning with her husband to give this act the aforementioned jumpstart, screwing over Andrade in what should be a good match. A prediction: Both are wrestling in WWE by the end of 2024.
Prediction: Miro wins
TBS champion Julia Hart defends against Abadon
This came together after Hart began appearing following Abadon victories as she pursued a challenger rather than vice versa. Why? Who knows? Your excitement level for this depends on how much you care about horrorcore characters (Abadon) and slightly witchy women (Hart). Hart’s TBS title reign is still in its infancy and this winning streak for the infrequently used Abadon only began at the beginning of the month. This should be relatively quick.
Prediction: Hart retains
Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin and Sting vs. AEW tag team champions Ricky Starks and Big Bill, Powerhouse Hobbs and Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis)
This is about as thrown together as you’ll get in AEW these days. On Wednesday, Guevara, making his first appearance after turning on Jericho in September, decided he didn’t like Callis including his newborn child in a painted portrait with his family of heels. Hobbs, Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita then jumped Guevara until Jericho came out for the save. Starks and Bill then came out and joined in the attack on Jericho and Guevara until the returning Allin and Sting made the save for them. A hug later, Jericho and Guevara were friends.
Guevara has turned between babyface and heel so many times in AEW that I have lost track and his change of heart Wednesday is a weak angle designed to cover for Kenny Omega being out with diverticulitis. Despite my eye-rolling, this will be fine and is both a vehicle for another Sting match ahead of his March retirement and for the future Jericho/Guevara vs. Bill/Starks tag title bout.
One thing to watch: Ric Flair was not announced as being in the corner of the Sting side. I’m guessing he is a surprise addition and will have a conflict with the hated Callis at some point.
Prediction: Jericho, Guevara, Allin and Sting win
FTW champion Hook defends against Wheeler Yuta
Yuta is also the Ring of Honor Pure champion and I assume this will lead to a challenge for that title down the line. This will be for Hook’s ceremonial title and falls under FTW rules which means anything goes. While a Yuta win would open up a winner take all match for both belts, I can’t see AEW having Hook lose in front of his hometown crowd.
