AEW WrestleDream 2025 full match card: Every bout announced so far

All Elite Wrestling will broadcast the third-ever WrestleDream pay-per-view event on October 18th from the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Missouri. Bell time will commence at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST, airing on HBO Max through a paywall and other PPV providers.

The show serves as an annual tribute to the late Antonio Inoki, founder of New Japan Pro Wrestling, who passed away at the age of 79 from amyloidosis in October 2022.

“Hangman” Adam Page will be defending the AEW World Championship against The Opps’ Samoa Joe. In an I Quit match, Jon Moxley and Darby Allin will once again try to push each other to their limit. Kris Statlander will defend her Women’s World Championship against “Timeless” Toni Storm in the challenger’s rematch after losing the title at All Out. Also announced for the show will be the pay-per-view return of the Jurassic Express against one of the company’s most established tag teams, an odd couple’s pursuit of championship gold, and Mark Briscoe’s challenge for Kyle Fletcher’s TNT Championship.

Samoa Joe will look to reclaim the AEW World Championship from “Hangman” Adam Page in what will be Page’s fifth defense of his sophomore reign. Problems between the two began when Page attempted to hand Samoa Joe his title, and Joe took offense to how it was done. Not one to take anything lightly, Joe landed a sucker-punch on the champion, and now we have our title match.

During a face-to-face the following week, Page said he was “confused” why the challenger is upset with him. Joe referred to Page as a “pretender” and “fraud” who only won the championship thanks to the intervention of others. On the go-home Dynamite-Collision broadcast heading into the PPV, Page saved The Opps from a post-title defense beatdown by La Facción Ingobernable. After unsuccessfully attempting a Buckshot Lariat on RUSH, Page had the championship shoved onto him by Joe to conclude Dynamite.

The last time these two stood opposite each other was the Revolution 2024 three-way World Championship main event, also featuring Swerve Strickland, in which Joe would retain. Since then, however, Page has rediscovered himself. He’s outmaneuvered dastardly heels such as MJF and the Don Callis Family, but none of them embody the same force of violence as Joe.

Up next is a rematch from All Out, as Jon Moxley and Darby Allin face off in an I Quit match. This is AEW’s second-ever I Quit match, the first being Moxley’s World Championship defense at Full Gear 2020, in which he used a bulldog choke to force the words out of Eddie Kingston. In the closing moments, a newly returned PAC aided Moxley in subduing Allin to secure the win. Later on in the show, Allin escaped from his restraints and set a bodybagged Mox on fire using an aerosol spray flamethrower.

Since then, Darby hasn’t let up in his pursuit of the Death Rider. After a failed recruitment of Kris Statlander, Moxley and his camp were shooed away by a flamethrower-wielding Allin. At Homecoming, AEW Director of Security Sam Hemingway tackled Allin when he threatened to light his upcoming opponent with a Molotov cocktail. During the AEW x DC Comics panel at New York Comic Con, Moxley was a talking head for the segment, but it was on-site between the two after Allin appeared.

On this week's dual broadcast, every time Mox accuses his opponent of "fighting ghosts," every time he completes a death-defying stunt. Later on, Allin fell victim to a ringside beatdown by Mox's goons but refused to relent even after a Death Rider onto an AEW flag.

It’s worth noting two of Mox’s submission losses within the year, the first being Spring BreakThru, where Samoa Joe choked him out to a referee’s decision, resulting in The Opps winning the World Trios Championships. The second is his loss of the World Championship after Hangman Page forced him to tap out using a chain noose. Though Darby has had significantly fewer matches within the calendar year, his only loss has been the aforementioned Coffin Match. Between his AEW dates and 52W HARDWAY exhibit in NYC, Darby has been making up for lost time.

For the Women’s World Championship, “Timeless” Toni Storm will invoke her rematch clause against the reigning champion Kris Statlander. The champion scored the winning fall in a four-way for the title at All Out, pinning Storm to end her 217-day reign. The two have established a mutual respect,
as in a past promo running down potential number one contenders this year, Storm only said of Statlander: “My God, what a woman.” The two came to blows on a Collision segment after sharing their praises for one another while staring at the arena lights from the canvas together.

This week saw fists fly between the two once again following a backstage interview, but both refused to use the title belt on each other, and Storm walked off after kissing Stat on the forehead. As two of the most beloved faces on the women’s roster, Stat has slowly turned heads who were initially skeptical of her carrying the division the way Storm has for the past few years.

Don Callis' Family rep Kyle Fletcher will defend the TNT Championship against The Conglomeration’s Mark Briscoe. Briscoe is coming off a victory over MJF at All Out in a Tables ‘n’ Tacks match, while Fletcher headlined that show during his failed go at the World Championship. This match epitomizes youth versus experience, as Fletcher has been a force to be reckoned with in the company’s midcard thanks to his combination of agility and strength. However, Briscoe has been wrestling for nearly as long as Fletcher has been alive and is an accomplished singles and tag team champion in his own right.

For the World Tag Team Championships, Brodido (Bandido & Brody King) will be defending the belts against Konosuke Takeshita & Kazuchika Okada of the Don Callis Family. Bandido is currently working with a dislocated shoulder, an injury he suffered during an ROH World Championship defense at CMLL’s Viernes Espectacular against Callis' disciple Hechicero. This rematch from their Death Before Dishonor encounter was replayed on the October 9th episode of Ring of Honor with English commentary, which saw Bandido’s shoulder as a story beat for the challenger to exploit.

During his appearance on the October 7th Dynamite Homecoming: Title Tuesday broadcast, Bandido was seen with a taped-up shoulder and took the pinfall loss from Okada. As per the Double Jeopardy stipulation of that match, Takeshita and Okada were granted this title opportunity. Had Brodido won, the person who scored the winning fall would’ve been granted a shot at Okada’s Continental Championship.

Tensions have been bubbling between the challenging team for a number of weeks, since Okada joined Callis’ clan leading into All In. As explored in an article previously published on Daily DDT, Don Callis has been almost too successful in casting a wide net of talent from multiple corners of the wrestling world. Now the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Takeshita, has been on a path of bangers and high-profile victories, while Okada is clutching his own Unified Championship closely.

During Callis's 62nd birthday celebration, Takeshita's pre-recorded statement thanking his manager was cut off by Okada before the group raised their glasses. While a victory would help the portfolios of both men, keeping the tag championships is a different issue entirely.

In their first AEW supercard appearance since Road Rager in June 2022, The Jurassic Express will reunite to face The Young Bucks, with the winners getting a $500,000 cash prize bonus. After padding their coffers in a victorious $500,00 ten-man tag, a stroke of bad luck at the casino has left the ex-EVPs in dire straits once again.

Leading into his return from a life-threatening double pneumonia diagnosis, Killswitch was seen in a vignette being revived by an unknown figure. This turned out to be Jack Perry, who hadn’t been seen in the promotion since Full Gear last year. Perry’s return to American wrestling in the spring of 2024, after a suspension that exiled him to New Japan, was spotlighted by his helping the Bucks secure their third World Tag Team Championship in a ladder match. Much of Perry’s year was spent alongside the Bucks as a member of The Elite.

Following a failed go for the same titles at All Out by the Bucks, Perry appeared, and Killswitch laid the two out. The reptilian tossed a weight belt carrying his now-rejected name, with the two embracing. Fans have speculated on the nature of this new Jurassic Express, carrying shades of the duo’s careers before and after their initial breakup. The team is once again using Tarzan Boy as their walkout music, and Luchasaurus has abandoned his heel name, but Perry still carries a knife and a smug air around him.

In another All Out rematch, The Demand and Hurt Syndicate will collide once again to break their 1-1 tie. After screwing the Syndicate out of their World Tag Team Championships at Forbidden Door, the two teams met at All Out, where Ricochet scored the fall on MVP. At Homecoming: Title Tuesday, a Street Fight between the groups saw Shelton Benjamin pin Ricochet after a German Suplex through a table. Following the loss, Toa Liona demanded war in a post-match promo aired on Collision. On the go-home show heading into WrestleDream, Liona and Bishop Kaun beat Benjamin and Bobby Lashley in the Syndicate's first pinfall loss in the company.

Jamie Hayter and Thekla were both involved in the Women’s World Championship four-way at All Out: Toronto, but were unsuccessful in capturing the gold. This hasn’t eased the animosity between the two, coming to blows on the October 11th Collision episode after Hayter and Queen Aminata ambushed the Triangle of Madness. This came as a result of weeks of blindsiding attacks by the Triangle, setting up the upcoming Blood and Guts show set for November 12th, which will be the first instance of that match stipulation featuring women.