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Jon Moxley Triumphs At AEW WrestleDream While Bryan Danielson Is Hospitalized

By Lyle Kilbane • Published 13th October 2024
Jon Moxley armbars Bryan Danielson

The main event of AEW WrestleDream saw former allies Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley compete in a ferocious battle for the AEW World Title.

Bryan Danielson captured the AEW World Championship for the first time in his career at All In when he defeated Swerve Strickland for the gold. Just two weeks later, he faced his first title defence at All Out where he retained the gold against Jack Perry but that was just the beginning of his problems.

After that bout, Danielson was shockingly attacked by the Blackpool Combat Club as Jon Moxley tried to suffocate him with a plastic bag. But Moxley’s madness was not without a method.

For weeks, Moxley had been looking to talk to Darby Allin – a man with a guaranteed shot at the AEW World Title – and eventually talking Allin into a match with that world title match on the line.

Jon Moxley won that title shot for himself and with Bryan Danielson vowing to end his full-time wrestling career when he lost his gold, Moxley had the chance to bring the American Dragon’s final countdown to a halt at WrestleDream.

In the final moments of the match, Moxley hit Bryan with the Death Rider, but Bryan kicked out at just one. Moxley told Bryan to not to make him do it. Moxley hit a Gotch-style piledriver that’s sometimes called a cradle piledriver. Moxley applied a sleeper hold and took Bryan down to the mat with Moxley’s legs wrapped around the waist. Bryan sold it like he was passed out, so referee Bryce Remsburg called for the bell. That meant that Jon Moxley was the AEW World Champion again for the fourth time in his career.

The AEW World Title win by Jon Moxley also means that Bryan Danielson’s career as a full-time wrestler is over.

Bryan Danielson Attacked By Jon Moxley And Friends After AEW World Title Match

After the match was over, Jon Moxley took the AEW World Title. Claudio Castagnoli, Pac and Marina Shafir joined Moxley in the ring, so Moxley handed the AEW World Title to Claudio, who put the title in a bag. Moxley had a plastic bag in his hand, but that’s when Wheeler Yuta and Darby Allin (with a chair) showed up for the save, so Moxley’s group briefly retreated. When Allin turned around, Yuta hit a running knee on Allin so Yuta was with Moxley’s group after all. Pac put his boot against Allin’s throat and Shafir used duct tape to tape Allin’s wrists to the ropes.

Moxley handed the plastic bag to Yuta and then Danielson backed into Yuta, which led to Yuta putting the plastic bag around Bryan’s head. The crowd gasped. Yuta told Bryan to stop moving. There were some security guys trying to get in there and some other wrestlers, but Moxley’s group was fighting them off. Guys like Jeff Jarrett and Private Party tried to help, but they were beaten up.

Claudio Castagnoli put a steel chair around Danielson’s neck and Moxley did a hand gesture, so then Claudio stomped on the chair that was on Bryan’s neck. The AEW locker room finally emptied out. JR: “Where the hell have you guys been?” The babyface wrestlers went into the ring, so Moxley and friends ran away to the back part of the arena. Darby Allin was freed from the tape that was used to tape him to the turnbuckle.

At that point, Bryan Danielson was placed on a board while the EMTs checked on him. The fans chanted “Thank You Bryan” while Excalibur was choked up trying to speak. Tony Schiavone called this the worse scene he has ever seen in his life. JR called it a scary situation that affected so many people. They showed Bryan in the ring getting looked at while Allin was at ringside with Orange Cassidy looking stunned by it all. That was the end of the show.

During the AEW WrestleDream post-show press conference, Tony Schiavone said that Bryan Danielson was taken to the hospital with Tony Khan going with him as well.

On social media, AEW posted this about the post match attack.