AEW WrestleDream results: Christian retains as Edge arrives

AEW closed out their Oct. 1 WrestleDream PPV in Seattle with the TNT championship. The main event pitted Christian Cage, who entered with the belt on the latest great run of his legendary career, defending against fan favorite & hometown guy Darby Allin in a two-out-of-three falls match.

Their feud’s been a personal one, with Cage not only targeting Allin & his dead uncle, but also Darby’s young protege Nick Wayne & his late father (and Nick’s very much alive mother). On the pre-show, Christian’s “only friend” Luchasaurus dismantled Wayne in front of his mom.

Rumors of another Cage associate showing up loomed over the match, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

Allin picked up the first fall, using Cage’s tactical turtleneck against him, pulling it over his face while Christian was choking him, and stacking him up for three.

It looked like Darby might sweep 2-0 with an assist from the widow Wayne. But after she lured Cage to her at ringside and threw water in his face, Christian recovered to send Allin into the announce desk.

He then repeatedly sent Darby crashing into the ring steps, taking the second fall by countout.

The champ wanted to roll Allin in immediately for the third fall. When officials kept him from doing so, he stripped the padding off half the ring instead. Then he hit Darby with a Frog Splash while he was laid out on a stretcher...

...rolled him in, and hit the Killswitch on the exposed wood. But somehow, Allin kicked out at two!

It was then Darby’s turn to be shocked. He gouged Christian’s eyes and hit a Coffin Drop, but could only get two. That was set-up for the first of several big moments, as Nick Wayne returned while referee Bryce Remsburg was down. It seemed he was going to take Cage out with the belt at Allin’s behest. But instead, he turned and used it to attack Darby.

Nick’s mom was shocked, but could do nothing but watch as Christian pinned Allin and celebrated with her son. The champ then held Darby up for his new protege to inflict more damage. While Seattle booed this new alliance, Allin’s mentor Sting arrived.

The 63 year old Icon put both heels down, but Luchasaurus arrived to give the heels the numbers advantage again. And as they were setting Sting up for a Con-Chair-To, the lights went out and an old “Feature Presentation” movie card transitioned us to a video of someone driving a muscle car to the arena. “Metalingus” hit the speakers (with the intro reworked to “You Think You Know Him”), and Edge Adam Copeland arrived in AEW.

Cage asked him what he wanted, and Copeland took the chair. But rather than smash Sting with it, he swung on Wayne, threw it at Luchasaurus, then speared the big dinosaur-man onto it.

As the announcers introduced him as “The Rated R Superstar Adam Copeland”, Christian backed up the ramp with his belt. Copeland shook hands with Allin & Sting, and it seems a new era of AEW has begun.

Get complete WrestleDream results and coverage of the entire show here.