AEW WrestleDream May Not Have Major NJPW Stars
Tony Khan’s vision for AEW WrestleDream might need to change.
All In at Wembley Stadium proved to be a huge success for AEW as the show smashed the record for the biggest paid attendance in wrestling history. With the show proving so popular, the company announced that it will be returning to Wembley once again in 2024 as All In returns on August 25th.
At the post-All In press conference, Tony Khan confirmed that the company is also bringing another new pay-per-view to its schedule with WrestleDream set to take place on October 1st in Seattle. The show will take place on the first anniversary of Antonio Inoki’s death and Khan noted that the show will pay tribute to the Japanese icon. Tony Khan also noted he’s been in touch with New Japan Pro Wrestling and is hopeful of some of its stars being part of the event.
NJPW stars might not make AEW WrestleDream
However, on Wrestling Observer Radio Dave Meltzer noted that many top NJPW stars might not be able to be a part of WrestleDream due to one of the Japanese promotion’s own shows taking place on the same day:
“Yeah. It’s a tribute to Antonio Inoki…..You’re going to think there’s going to be a bunch of New Japan guys, but New Japan has a show at Korakuen Hall that same day. Tanahashi, Okada, and Naito are all in the show, so none of them can be on this show.
“The only people who are not, you know, as far as the big names who I guess would be a possibility would be Hiroki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi, who, you know, they’re good, and actually they’re a really good tag team, but they don’t they wouldn’t mean anything.
“And then Will Ospreay is not on that show. Jeff Cobb is on the show. They could bring in Will Ospreay. It’s interesting that they did a pay-per-view. You know, two things are interesting. They’re doing a pay-per-view honoring the founder of New Japan Pro Wrestling, and none of the top New Japan guys are going to be able to be on the show.
“And far more important, this pay-per-view is on a Sunday. We were wondering, and I still don’t know what they’re doing on that November 18th deal [Full Gear]. What do they do about that? November 18th is a Saturday, I believe. And you know, they have Collision. So I don’t know how they’re going to handle it. This one, they’re going to do a Collision in Seattle on Saturday, and then the pay-per-view is on a Sunday.”
It remains to be seen just what New Japan Pro-Wrestling contributions will be on the show or if the card for the NJPW show will change drastically to accommodate Tony Khan’s new event.