AEW Worlds End 2023 is coming up this Saturday! Before the event takes place, let’s run down everything you need to know about the upcoming pay-per-view.
Who is scheduled for the card? How interesting does the show seem? What’s going to happen with all the matches?
Here is a preview of AEW Worlds End 2023.
PPV EVENT INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, December 30, 2023
Start Time: 7 p.m. ET (Zero Hour pre-show), 8 p.m. ET (main show)
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on Long Island
MATCH CARD, PREDICTIONS & HEAT INDEX ANTICIPATION LEVELS
(as currently advertised; card is always subject to change)
Temperature Scale = Scorching > Hot > Lukewarm > Temperate > Chilly > Cold > Freezing
Heat Index is my assessment of how interesting the segment is, including how excited I am for the match and how intriguing the feud has been. The hotter, the better. Scorching translates to not being able to wait to see it, while Freezing means I couldn’t possibly care less and think it will be awful.
SINGLES MATCH FOR THE AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
MJF (c) vs. Samoa Joe
Heat Index = Hot
Prediction: 50/50 on this, leaning toward Samoa Joe winning.
Thoughts: Look. MJF is my favorite AEW performer, with Orange Cassidy being my #2, most likely. That’s been basically the MO from the start of this company. Samoa Joe is someone I’m a huge fan of and I wish he would have had a world title reign in WWE. But there are some flaws to this story, for sure. All these injuries neutered this storyline with Adam Cole and Roderick Strong and The Devil and whatnot. It’s been dragged out, the ROH tag titles element was kind of a bust, and I’m hesitant to trust that all the problems will have been resolved in a great way. More so, I think Tony Khan’s reached a point where he has to just cut it off, wrap it up, and move on. But I don’t know if he’s willing to do that. One of the issues here is that MJF is injured. Another is that the January 1, 2024 contract stuff is lingering. Did MJF re-sign? If so, it’s a non-factor behind the scenes, but it’s still something that has to be addressed on camera, and people will be wondering what’s up. This is in Long Island. Is that the case for MJF to get a big pop when retaining, or to have a big boo for the person who dethrones him? Isn’t The Devil the bigger feud for MJF than Samoa Joe? Is that just a transition to get MJF out of the title picture once Joe beats him? Was it supposed to be Adam Cole and we’re getting a non-title feud in the future? Worst case scenario, MJF retains, they just go “and he’s re-signed”, and he continues to wonder what’s going on with The Devil and the story just continues as is. Best case scenario, Joe wins the title here with some help from The Devil (who unmasks), MJF takes some time off to heal from his injuries and they tease that he hasn’t re-signed, and he either makes a triumphant return in a few weeks/months to get his title back and feud with The Devil. I’m really worried they’re backed into a corner where it’s almost impossible for MJF, his contract issues, his injury, the title scene, Joe AND The Devil story can all be wrapped up without loose threads or this being something that was dragged out forever, only to turn into a rush job at the 11th hour. Prove me wrong. We’ll see.
AEW CONTINENTAL CLASSIC TOURNAMENT FINAL:
Eddie Kingston (c) vs Jon Moxley
Heat Index = Hot
Prediction: Eddie Kingston wins.
Thoughts: Just as I’m hesitant to trust the MJF situation is going to turn out well, I’m also skeptical about this Continental Classic tournament and the Triple Crown idea. How’s that going to be booked going forward? Why is it the Continental Championship when there’s already the International Championship? Seems odd. But considering Kingston walked into this with the ROH world title and the NJPW Strong Openweight title, I’m rooting for him. Moxley is going to be fighting for New Japan’s Global Championship in a few days at Wrestle Kingdom 18. It’d be ludicrous for him to walk into that match holding 3 other titles and then suggesting that he’d IMMEDIATELY turn a Triple Crown into a 4-belt setup. What the future has in store for how they’ll get around 3 titles being defended and next year’s Continental Classic coming into the fray, we’ll see, but I do think Kingston defending them is the easiest setup, and having him beat Mox from the underdog spot is the better story. Mox can take the loss. Let them beat the hell out of each other in the meantime and I’ll enjoy that, too.
SINGLES MATCH FOR THE AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
“Timeless” Toni Storm (c) vs. Riho
Heat Index = Cold
Prediction: Toni Storm wins.
Thoughts: I fully understand that on paper, Riho being the first women’s world champion means she’ll perpetually have that built-in aura protection of “always a challenger who could win the belt.” However, I never even fully bought into her as champion when she was at her hottest back then, and she’s cooled down considerably over the years since then. This match is just a matter of tossing someone else toward Storm that she didn’t fight 400 times over the rest of 2023, since that was the bulk of the year. Granted, I’m happy for the lack of another rerun there, but that doesn’t mean I suddenly jump straight to Scorching as a result. I’m not even as big of a fan of Timeless Toni Storm’s gimmick as a lot of other people, and she’s the one bringing all of the personality to this feud. I wouldn’t even say Riho has a 3% chance of winning this match, and I don’t think the execution of the in-ring work is going to be anything that wows me. Hopefully, I’m wrong about that last point, but I guarantee I’m not wrong about the outcome. Storm definitely retains, and it’s just a matter of how long the match goes before she scores that pinfall. Here’s hoping I’m not watching the clock wishing it would come about asap.
SINGLES MATCH FOR THE AEW TBS CHAMPIONSHIP:
Julia Hart (c) vs. Abadon
Heat Index = Chilly
Prediction: Julia Hart wins.
Thoughts: Generally speaking, when a champion just won their title, it’s assumed they’re going to retain for a bit. That becomes especially true when their opponent is someone like Abadon, who was MIA for such a long time, and hadn’t really been pushed as a big star prior to that, even. Abadon is just a fresh face being fed to Hart. It works for aesthetic purposes, but I can’t say I’m particularly hyped to watch the segment, even though I’d rank it more interesting than Riho against Storm, oddly enough. I recognize Storm/Riho will be the better match, but I know what type of match I’m getting out of them. With Hart and Abadon, I don’t know how their styles will clash. I do assume Hart retains through some interference from Skye Blue, though.
[ZERO HOUR] FTW RULES MATCH FOR THE FTW CHAMPIONSHIP:
Hook (c) vs. Wheeler Yuta
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Prediction: Hook wins.
Thoughts: This is interesting in a lot of ways. First off, Yuta could certainly win the FTW Championship. I don’t like how often both AEW and WWE have had people hold multiple titles in the past 2 years, but that’s become a trend that might continue here. It can’t be ruled out as a possibility. Also, Hook could very well be a contender for the Pure Championship and do a stint in Ring of Honor. Maybe they trade titles? Possibility Hook retains and they use that as a means to justify him getting a shot at Yuta’s title, who then retains? Curious. FTW Rules means this has potential gimmick fun, too, and I like both guys. Overall, I’m more interested in this than a lot of other things on the card, which I didn’t anticipate would be the case. Very cool.
EIGHT-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH:
Big Bill, Ricky Starks and The Don Callis Family (Kyle Fletcher and Powerhouse Hobbs) vs. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin and Sting
Heat Index = Temperate
Prediction: Chris Jericho’s team wins.
Thoughts: Well, they couldn’t do the previously scheduled tag team title match. I guess this is a fine enough replacement. Quantity over quality can sometimes work, or at least be a good distraction. Getting these other guys on the card might even be a benefit. Ultimately, this match doesn’t truly matter, so while my hype for it is in the middle range, that’s mostly because it could go either way from being “just a decent enough match and nothing more” to “a show-stealer where some good wrestlers decided to go all out.” The thought had crossed my mind that maybe Sammy Guevara would turn on Jericho, but I think that’d be a bit too much of the illogical gotcha wrestling trope b.s. and it’d be better to just go with the straight-up babyface victory.
NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH FOR THE AEW TNT CHAMPIONSHIP:
Christian Cage (c) vs. Adam Copeland
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Prediction: Adam Copeland wins.
Thoughts: No DQ is fun. Adam Copeland and Christian Cage are two of the greats. A title on the line that could change hands? Yeah, I’m down for this. It’s not as much of a Scorching or Hot as it would have been if we hadn’t seen them compete already, to be honest, but they haven’t tapped the well yet by any means. There’s still enough juice for this to be great.
SINGLES MATCH:
Andrade El Idolo vs. Miro
Heat Index = Cold
Prediction: Andrade El Idolo wins.
Thoughts: Here’s where I have to take a step back and admit that I’m not the best person to break this particular feud down in detail, because I haven’t been paying much attention to this storyline, as I haven’t enjoyed this Miro and CJ Perry angle. I’ve mentally checked out and stopped investing my mental energies. Therefore, I don’t really, truly know what could be in store for this angle’s future. Is it just Miro needing to lose to continue to spiral out of control? Could it be that CJ Perry turns on Andrade, aligns with Miro, gives him the win and that’s it? Frankly, either way, I have a feeling it won’t be a game-changer of a feud for me as a fan. I guess Andrade wins, as Miro continuing to be cucked (for whatever reason he wants to do that particular storyline) would kind of require that, wouldn’t it?
SINGLES MATCH:
Keith Lee vs. Swerve Strickland
Heat Index = Chilly
Prediction: Swerve Strickland wins.
Thoughts: Boy, this would have been more interesting had this happened MONTHS ago when this feud was still a true thing. Coming back around to it now reeks of “we had other plans, but they’re on hold, and we don’t want Swerve to lose steam, so…let’s just go back to that Keith Lee match we’ve had on retainer.” Lee beat Shane Taylor at ROH Final Battle. Swerve had a breakout performance at Full Gear, beating Hangman Page, and did a great job in the Continental Classic following. I ask you, do you really think there’s any chance Lee wins this? Nah. Not happening. As much of a Keith Lee fan as I’ve been, he’s lost a step compared to what he was prior to his COVID absence in WWE, and I’m no longer as interested in seeing this match as I would have been, sadly.
[ZERO HOUR] 20-MAN BATTLE ROYALE:
Participants TBA
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Prediction: Jay White wins.
Thoughts: I’m a fan of battle royals, so this inherently gets a boost past Temperate by its very nature. Throwing in a title opportunity, so that this means something, helps that even more. The participants haven’t been announced, which makes it hard to predict who will win. After all, we don’t even know who will be TNT champion at the end of this event for the winner of this match to challenge. However, as I said I think Adam Copeland will end up winning the belt, I’m going to just toss out Jay White’s name as a potential new feud to transition to. I don’t have a lot of faith in that prediction, as it could quite literally be almost anyone (based on how history’s shown Tony Khan will pick undercard people for these things at times, just to give them a title match on television and then move the champion on to an actual feud a few weeks later). Is it going to be filler, like Cage or Copeland against a guy like Ortiz, or someone even lower like Kip Sabian? Or will it be a legit feud, like Claudio Castagnoli getting a shot? Curious. That’s what makes it even more interesting, and I almost went with Hot for this.
OVERALL PPV:
How excited am I for the event as a whole?
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Thoughts: There’s certainly a lot of potential on this card, even with some of the matches being filler and some major names left off the lineup. No Elite at all here, for instance. Strange, right? I’m sure a month ago, let alone 3 months ago, this was not the card Tony Khan had in mind. But inside the bubble of “this particular set of matches”, I think it’ll overall be a good show if it doesn’t overstay its welcome and if there aren’t any more matches announced that just take up time for no reason, killing the momentum. Maybe we’ll look back on this as being one of the more important events of the year with some title changes and such.
What do you think is going to happen at AEW Worlds End? Which matches are you most excited to see? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
