It’s Saturday night, and you know what that means …
All Elite Wrestling returns with their year-end pay-per-view, AEW Worlds End 2023, live tonight from the Nasauu Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, New York.
On tap for tonight’s show is MJF vs. Samoa Joe for the AEW title, Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston in the Continental Classic finals, Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland in a No DQ TNT title match, “Timeless” Toni Storm vs. Riho for the AEW Women’s title, Julia Hart vs. Abadon for the TBS Women’s title, Swerve Strickland vs. Keith Lee, Andrade El Idolo vs. Miro, Sting, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara & Chris Jericho vs. Big Bill, Ricky Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita, and Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Mark Briscoe & Daniel Garcia vs. Jay White, Rush, Jay Lethal & Brody King.
Things will get started at 6:30pm EST. / 3:30pm PST. with the “Zero Hour” pre-show hosted by Renee Paquette, RJ City and Stokely Hathaway. On tap for the official AEW Worlds End 2023 pre-show is a 20-Man Battle Royal for a shot at the TNT title, HOOK vs. Wheeler Yuta for the FTW title in a FTW Rules match, as well as Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale in “The Battle of Long Island.”
Featured below are complete AEW Worlds End 2023 results from Friday, December 30, 2023. The following report was written by PWMania.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired from 6:30pm EST. until 12am Midnight EST. on pay-per-view.
AEW WORLDS END RESULTS (12/30/2023)
The “Zero Hour” pre-show for AEW Worlds End 2023 gets underway live inside Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Renee Paquette and RJ City welcome us to the official pre-show for the final AEW pay-per-view of 2023.
While running down the lineup for tonight’s show, the duo break the news that due to injury, Keith Lee is out of his scheduled match against Swerve Strickland on tonight’s show. Filling in for him on short notice to take on The Mogul Embassy leader will be Dustin Rhodes.
A video package airs to catch fans up on “The Devil” storyline and everything else heading into tonight’s main event between MJF and Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship. When it wraps up, Paquette welcomes Jeff Jarrett to join them on the Zero Hour pre-show.
Jarrett helps break down the MJF-Joe bout for later tonight and then the trio continue running down the lineup. They stop to send us into the video package telling the story leading up to tonight’s Continental Classic tournament finals between Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston.
The trio check back in with some thoughts on the Kingston-Moxley showdown and then continue running down the card for this evening. They stop on the video package to tell the story leading up to tonight’s No DQ showdown between Adam Copeland and Christian Cage for the TNT Championship.
Battle Of Long Island Queens
Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale
We head to the ringside area after Stokely Hathaway comes out. He joins Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness and Taz on special guest commentary for our first match of the evening here on the AEW Worlds End 2023 “Zero Hour” pre-show. The theme for Kris Statlander hits and out comes Long Island’s own!
She settles at ringside and locks eyes with Stokely Hathaway, who thinks she’s on his side until she takes her jacket off and throws it in his face. She heads in the ring and then Willow Nightingale’s music hits and out comes another Long Island native for this “Battle of Long Island” here on the official pre-show for the final AEW PPV of 2023.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one-on-one women’s showdown. After some back-and-forth action in the ring, we see things spill out to the floor where Willow hits a flip off the apron to crash onto the former TBS Women’s Champion at ringside. Back in the ring, she goes for the cover but gets two.
Willow goes for the Doctor Bomb but Statlander avoids it and counters with a big flying elbow to shift the offensive momentum in her favor. Willow ends up fighting back with a step-up enzugiri after cartwheeling away from a Statlander move. Statlander fights back into the lead for another close pin attempt, but Willow kicks out.
After some more back-and-forth action, we see Statlander go for the 450 splash off the top, but Willow moves. Both take turns nearly dropping the other on their head, but in the end, it is Willow who manages to score the pin fall victory over Statlander. After the match, the two hug in a sign of respect as Stokely throws a fit on commentary.
Winner: Willow Nightingale
Serena Deeb Is On The Comeback Trail
After the match, Excalibur mentions a face from the past is set to return to the women’s scene in AEW. We then shoot to an elaborate video package that shows Serena Deeb in a straight-jacket and working out in the ring while talking about what it takes to become a master at something. She is ready to return.
20-Man Battle Royal For TNT Title Shot
We head back to Paquette, City and Jarrett on the entrance ramp. They react to the match that just wrapped up and then continue running down the lineup for tonight. We see a video package for Miro vs. Andrade El Idolo later tonight and then head back to the ringside area.
Excalibur welcomes us back for our second match of the evening, which is the 20-man Battle Royal for a future shot at the TNT Championship. We see Kip Sabian and others at ringside and then The Dark Order and others such as Danhausen, RPG Vice, Lance Archer, Killswitch (Luchasaurus) and Dalton Castle come out to the ring.
Already surrounding the ring and heading into the squared circle are others such as Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, The Butcher, The Blade, Christopher Daniels. The bell sounds and we’re off-and-running with our second pre-show match of the evening here on the AEW Worlds End “Zero Hour” pre-show.
A bunch of tables are pulled out and brought into play at ringside before some of the guys even enter the ring. We see Serpentico eliminated early on. Dalton Castle is also quickly thrown out. Johnny TV just avoids elimination but seconds later is thrown out anyways.
Lee Johnson and Angelo Parker are eliminated. Alex Reynolds is also thrown out. John Silver hits a bunch of power spots but is then thrown out by The Butcher. Bryan Keith throws out Kip Sabian. Keith is then thrown out by The Butcher and The Blade. Lance Archer and Killswitch come to life.
Menard gets in Archer’s face in a funny spot and then starts chopping him, but Archer quickly beats him down and eliminates him. Christopher Daniels is also tossed out. A bunch of guys team up on Archer, but he beats them all down. Archer military presses Rocky Romero and throws him out. Action Andretti chugs a bottle of water and goes to work on Archer.
Killswitch emerges and rolls into the ring and starts taking out any-and-everything that moves. A bunch of guys team up on him and beat him down in the corner of the ring. Killswitch and Archer go face-to-face and then start eliminating others. Trent and Danhausen join forces to eliminate Archer and then they do a Best Friends Hug.
Trent then turns on Danhausen and eliminates him. The fans boo like crazy. We’re down to just Trent Baretta and Killswitch. Trent goes to work on him and blasts him with some basement dropkicks. He pulls his knee pad down but when he charges at him, Killswitch catches him and chokeslams him down. They fight on the apron and Killswitch eliminates him to earn a TNT title shot.
Winner and ADVANCING to future TNT Championship shot: Killswitch
FTW Championship
HOOK (C) vs. Wheeler Yuta
After the video package airs to tell the story leading up to the AEW Women’s Championship showdown between “Timeless” Toni Storm and Riho later tonight, we shift gears and get ready for our third and final match here on the “Zero Hour” pre-show for AEW Worlds End 2023.
The pre-match video package airs to get us ready for the FTW Championship showdown under FTW Rules between HOOK and Wheeler Yuta. When it wraps up, we return back inside the arena where ROH Pure Champion and the challenger in this bout, Blackpool Combat Club member Wheeler Yuta makes his way out and heads to the ring.
Yuta settles inside and his theme music dies down as he grabs a mic. He talks about HOOK sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. He says look at this sh*thole we’re at tonight that he’s from, being a New York boy. He continues babbling to ensure fans cheer for him and then we hear the familiar sounds of Action Bronson and out comes New York’s own HOOK.
The son of Taz and the reigning and defending FTW Champion makes his way down to the ring for this championship contest here on the official pre-show for the final All Elite Wrestling pay-per-view of the year. As soon as he enters the ring, Yuta tries charging at him but HOOK sees him coming and starts going to work on him in the corner of the ring with punches.
We see some back-and-forth offense from both guys and then the fight spills out to the floor. The two battle at ringside as the inclusion of a bunch of weaponry gets added to the mix, such as steel chairs, trash cans, giant stop signs and other nearby foreign objects. Taz points out that FTW Rules are essentially No DQ and No Count Out. Yuta takes over and is dominating at ringside.
Back in the ring, we see HOOK start to take over. The two each suplex the hell out of each other over-and-over-and-over again. Finally we work our way to the finish, which sees HOOK lock in Red Rum. Yuta back-splashes onto a trash can to get HOOK off of him.
He hits a DDT on a stop sign and then each guy rolls to the floor to grab a weapon. HOOK uses a hockey stick to trip and blast Yuta, who is cut above the eye, before connecting with his Red Rum finisher for the win.
Winner and STILL FTW Champion: HOOK
Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Mark Briscoe & Daniel Garcia vs. Jay White, Rush, Jay Lethal & Brody King
After the FTW Championship bout wraps up, we head to Paquette and City on the entrance ramp. They wrap up the “Zero Hour” pre-show and send us into the main pay-per-view portion of tonight’s event. The cold open video package airs and then we shoot back live inside the arena for our first PPV match of the evening.
Out comes the team of Jay White, Rush, Jay Lethal and Brody King for our opening contest, which features all of the competitors in the inaugural AEW Continental Classic Tournament outside of the finalists in tonight’s Triple Crown Championship finals between Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston squaring off in an eight-man tag-team bout.
They settle into the ring and then the opposing team consisting of Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Mark Briscoe and Daniel Garcia make their way out. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our opening PPV contest here on the year-end AEW Worlds End 2023 pay-per-view in Long Island, New York.
Lethal and Briscoe end up spending a good bit of time duking it out in the early goings as the Long Island crowd comes to life. The commentators talk about how impressive and well-received the inaugural Continental Classic tourney was and how these guys fared in their outings in the tourney. White and Danielson tag in and the crowd comes to life again.
Matt Menard joins the gang on special guest commentary for this one, and as he did throughout the entire tourney, he sings the praises of Daniel Garcia and cheers him on every time he’s in the ring. He works over White for a while but the Bullet Club Gold member ends up taking over control of the offense and quieting the crowd down.
White chops Garcia and drops him with a few scoop slams. White chops Garcia and Rush kicks him in the face. White clubs Garcia in the back and sends him into the corner. Garcia knocks Rush to the floor, and then delivers shots to Lethal and White. Garcia and White exchange chops, and then Garcia sends White into Lethal and tags in Briscoe. Briscoe chops White and Lethal, and then delivers an enzuigiri to Lethal.
Briscoe chops White and drops him with a flying forearm. White kicks Briscoe in the face and goes up top, but Briscoe sends him to the floor with a right hand. Danielson kicks Rush in the face, and then Garcia kicks King to the floor. Castagnoli drops King with an uppercut, and then Briscoe takes Lethal down with a flip from the apron. Briscoe delivers an elbow drop to Rush from the apron, and then kicks White in the midsection and drops him with a fisherman’s bomb.
We see Briscoe go for the cover, but White kicks out. Briscoe goes for the Jay Driller, but White gets free and sends him to the floor. King runs Briscoe over and Lethal gets him back into the ring. White goes for the cover, but Briscoe kicks out. Lethal tags in and puts Briscoe up top. Lethal climbs, too, but Briscoe punches him down. Lethal comes right back up and drops Briscoe with a superplex.
White tags back in, but Briscoe kicks him away. King tags in and clubs Briscoe in the back. Briscoe comes back and knocks Rush down, and then tags in Castagnoli. Castagnoli and King exchange shots and Castagnoli uppercuts King into the corner. Castagnoli kicks King in the face and drops him with a delayed vertical suplex. Castagnoli goes for the cover, but Rush breaks it up. Danielson and Rush exchange shots in one corner, as Castagnoli and King do the same in the opposite corner.
Rush kicks Danielson in the face as King connects with a cannonball senton to Castagnoli. King goes for the cover, but Castagnoli kicks out. Castagnoli comes back and swings King, and then Danielson dropkicks King mid-swing. Castagnoli goes for the cover, but White breaks it up. Danielson sends King into the barricade, and then Garcia and Lethal tag in and exchange shots.
Lethal delivers the Lethal Combination and locks in the Figure Four. Briscoe breaks it up with the Froggy Bow, but Rush throws Briscoe into the corner. Danielson delivers a knee to Rush, White drops Danielson with a Bladerunner, Castagnoli drops White with an uppercut, and King drops Castagnoli with a discus lariat. Garcia drops King with a German suplex, and then rolls Lethal up for the pin fall. Great PPV opener with excellent crowd energy to start things off.
Winners: Claudio Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson, Mark Briscoe & Daniel Garcia
Andrade El Idolo vs. Miro
The video package airs to tell the story leading up to our next match of the evening, which features “The Redeemer” Miro going one-on-one against someone rumored to be wrapping up business with AEW tonight and heading back to WWE as soon as this coming Monday night’s WWE Day 1 edition of Monday Night RAW, Andrade El Idolo.
Each man makes their way out and heads to the ring. Surprisingly enough, CJ Perry is there with her middle finger wrapped up due to infection and surgeries. We see Miro blast Andrade from behind to get things started. The ref then calls for the bell to get this one officially off-and-running. “The Redeemer” follows up with brutal elbows and then kicks Idolo in the back. Miro sends him into the corner and charges at him, but Idolo moves and sends Miro out to the floor with authority.
We see Idolo go for a dive through the ropes, but Miro catches him with a right hand. Miro gets back into the ring, but Idolo takes him down and goes for a Figure Four. Miro kicks him away, but Idolo kicks Miro in the face. Miro comes back and throws Idolo across the ring. Miro argues with Perry for a seconds, and then locks Miro in a rear choke. Miro clubs Idolo in the back and chokes him over the middle rope. Idolo comes back with a jaw-breaker and follows with a few forearm shots.
Idolo runs the ropes, but Miro catches him and slams him down. Miro slams Idolo into the barricade and drops him onto the announcers’ table. Idolo comes back with elbow strikes and knocks Miro over the announcers’ table. Idolo throws Miro through the table covering, and then slams him into the ring steps as the action continues on the floor. Idolo gets Miro back into the ring and goes up top, but Miro cuts him off. They exchange shots and Miro drops Idolo down with a suplex.
They exchange shots again, and then Miro takes Idolo down again. Miro delivers a knee to Miro’s back and sends him to the apron. Idolo comes back with a dragon-screw leg-whip in the ropes, and then takes him down with a cross-body. Miro gets right back up, but Idolo delivers a flying elbow strike. Idolo goes to charge at Miro in the corner, but Miro goes to the floor. Idolo takes him down with a moonsault and slams him into the steps again. Idolo hugs Perry at ringside and clubs Miro in the back.
El Idolo gets Miro back into the ring and hits a moonsault from the mat after Miro dodged one from the ropes. Idolo goes for the cover, but Miro kicks out. Idolo runs the ropes, but Miro delivers a thrust kick and gets a two count, as El Idolo kicks out to keep this one alive. After some more back-and-forth action, we see things boil down to wondering which side CJ Perry is on. Ultimately, when things resume in the ring, Miro slaps on a camel clutch and cranks back on it. El Idolo escapes. El Idolo gets on a figure-four and looks for the figure-eight, but CJ turns on El Idolo, taking his hands off the mat to give Miro a chance to break out of a Figure 4. Miro follows up with a vicious kick and then picks up the victory.
Winner: Miro
AEW Women’s Championship
“Timeless” Toni Storm (C) vs. Riho
It’s time for a battle of old school, as the reigning and defending “Timeless” AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm, in her black-and-white old-school actress style puts her title on-the-line against the old-school first-ever AEW Women’s Champion in company history, Riho. The pre-match video package airs to tell the story leading up to this one and then we return in the arena as the ring announcer sets the stage for this title tilt.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see Riho deliver a few quick elbow strikes, but Storm drops her with a scoop slam. Storm goes for the cover, but Riho bridges out. Storm clubs Riho in the back, but Riho comes back with a dropkick and a knee strike in the corner. Riho drops Storm with a bulldog and goes for the cover, but Storm kicks out. Riho delivers a roundhouse kick that sends Storm to the outside. Luther stands in from of Storm and Riho dives, but Luther catches her and hands her to Storm. Storm slams Riho on the floor and gets her back into the ring.
Storm goes for the cover, but Riho kicks out. Riho catches Storm in a roll-up for a two count, but Storm slams her right back down and gets a two count of her own. Storm delivers a few quick body slams, but Riho comes back with a roll-up for another two count. Storm slams Riho down again and gets another two count of her own. Storm walks over Riho’s back and drops an elbow. Storm chokes Riho over the middle rope and drops her with another scoop slam.
“Timeless” Toni then goes for the cover, but Riho kicks out again. Storm applies a single-leg Boston Crab and then takes Riho to the apron. Storm gets on Luther’s shoulders while grabbing Riho’s hair. Luther runs with Storm on his shoulders, and then Storm throws Riho to the floor. Storm gets back into the ring and stomps on Riho as she gets back in. Storm applies a Texas Cloverleaf and Riho reaches for the ropes, but Luther pulls the rope away. Referee Rick Knox ejects Luther from ringside, and then Riho fights back with a few elbow strikes. Riho sends Storm into the ropes and delivers an impressive kick that pops the crowd.
We then see Riho take Storm down with a diving cross-body and follows with a body slam. Riho goes for the cover, but Storm kicks out. Riho takes Storm down with a diving cross-body on the outside, and then gets her back into the ring. We see a Storm Zero attempt from Storm, but Riho avoids it. Moments later, however, Storm does manage to pull off the pin fall victory to retain her AEW Women’s Championship. Mariah May joins Storm to celebrate after the win. She showers her with roses.
Winner and STILL AEW Women’s Champion: “Timeless” Toni Storm
Big Title Match Announced For Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite
Lexy Nair is backstage now with Dante Martin. She asks him how he’s feeling after being a few matches back into his return from a lengthy hiatus due to a serious injury from a freak accident. As he talks about scoring the pin on Rampage, up walks Orange Cassidy who accepts another challenge that was never issued to him. An AEW International title match is made between the two for Wednesday’s Dynamite.
Swerve Strickland vs. Dustin Rhodes
Back inside the arena, we hear the familiar sounds of the entrance theme music for Swerve Strickland. Out comes The Mogul Embassy leader and rising star heading into the New Year. He makes his way to the ring accompanied by Prince Nana, who does his goofy-ass(ed) dance. The commentators inform everyone about Keith Lee being replaced by Dustin Rhodes for this match tonight.
He settles in the ring and then the theme for “The Natural” hits and out comes the legendary Dustin Rhodes as the fill-in for the injured Keith Lee. Dustin gets the quick jump on Swerve as the fans in Long Island come to life. Swerve ends up fighting back and beating down Rhodes. With an assist from Prince Nana, we see Swerve break a cinder block over Dustin’s knee the same way he did Lee. The bell never even sounded to make the match official.
We see officials rush over to help Dustin up. He limps with their help to the back but then stops and turns and sees an arrogant-looking Swerve standing in the ring with a big smile on his face. He drags himself to the ring as Excalibur and the commentators talk about this being a bad idea. He gets in the ring, barely, and the bell sounds. Swerve immediately goes to work on the already injured leg of Dustin in the early goings.
As the action picks up, we see Dustin come to life and hit his trademark super-fast spinning body slam. He comes close to finishing off Swerve a few times, but then Strickland completely takes over and goes to work on the injured knee of Dustin. He hits a top-rope stomp on it and finishes things off for the pin fall victory. Doctors rush to check on Dustin again after the match as Swerve soaks up his victory.
Winner: Swerve Strickland
Sting, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara & Chris Jericho vs. Big Bill, Ricky Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita
The pre-match video package airs to tell the story leading up to our next match of the evening, which is another big eight-man tag-team showdown. The sounds of “Judas” by Fozzy plays when we return in the arena. The crowd sings along as “The Ocho” Chris Jericho emerges.
He settles in the ring and the music dies down, but the fans keep singing as always. Sammy Guevara’s hip-hop theme plays next and out comes “The Spanish God.” He joins Jericho in the ring and then the lights in the building go out and another pillar of AEW comes out, as Darby Allin makes his way out. Finally, Sting’s theme hits and out comes “The Icon” to a sustained roar from the crowd in Long Island.
Now the team of AEW World Tag-Team Champions Big Bill and Ricky Starks make their way out, as do Don Callis Family duo Powerhouse Hobbs and Konosuke Takeshita. The commentators talk about some of the issues these guys have had in the past. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one.
Early on we see some basic back-and-forth action and crowd pleasing spots and then the heels start to take over. Takeshita works over Allin in the ring for some time, including hitting an avalanche airplane spin blue thunder bomb off the top-rope in a crazy spot. Big Bill and Hobbs swing Allin back and forth by his hands and feet before launching him across the entire length of the ring.
Sting finally gets the hot tag and comes in like a man possessed as the crowd comes to life in Long Island. He hits a big Stinger Splash in the corner but then he gets hit from behind by Big Bill. Chris Jericho hits the ring to help out and now we see everyone start to get involved. We see Starks tagin and help take back over for the heel team. He comes closer and closer to putting away Guevara, but “The Spanish God” continues to hang on.
Starks looks for Ro-Sham-Bo, but walks into a big kick and a GTH from Guevara. Guevara heads to the top-rope and he connects with an insane Shooting Star Press. He goes for the cover and gets the pin fall victory for his team in an excellent match.
They stress Guevara getting the pin over Starks as one of the tag champs. They also stress this being Sting’s final match in New York. His theme plays to cut off Guevara’s for a special celebration and a “Thank you Sting!” chant.
Winners: Sting, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara & Chris Jericho
TBS Women’s Championship
Julia Hart (C) vs. Abadon
The pre-match video package airs to set the stage for our next match of the evening, which is another championship contest, as Julia Hart of The House of Black defends her TBS Women’s Championship in a House Rules match against Abadon.
Back in the arena, the theme for Abadon hits and as she comes out, Excalibur reveals she has picked biting to be legal as her “challenger’s choice” rule for this House Rules title tilt. She settles inside the squared circle for our next match of the evening and then her theme music dies down.
Now the lights in the building go out. The entrance theme for Julia Hart hits and out comes the reigning and defending TBS Women’s Champion from The House of Black as the commentators sing her praises. The fans sing along with “The house always wins!” line of her theme. The music cuts off and the bell sounds to get this one off-and-running.
Early on the fans chant “This is spooky!” as the two circle each other and do the horror movie head tilt. Abadon ends up getting Julia in the corner and beating her down before letting out a giant war scream. We see Hart fight back into the lead, however Abadon starts taking over again and this time she puts her special rule into affect as she begins biting the hell out of the champ.
As Abadon continues to bite Hart in the corner, out of nowhere, we see Skye Blue appear and take out Abadon. Abadon fights back and then seconds later we see Julia hit a moonsault press off the top for the pin fall victory. After the match, Skye Blue re-enters the ring to raise the hand of the TBS Women’s Champion.
Winner and STILL TBS Women’s Champion: Julia Hart
TNT Championship (No DQ Match)
Christian Cage (C) vs. Adam Copeland
Now the video package airs to tell the story leading up to our next match of the evening, which features the TNT Championship on-the-line, as reigning title-holder Christian Cage puts his title on-the-line against longtime former friend turned bitter rival Adam Copeland in a No Disqualification match.
After the package wraps up, we return inside Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum where we hear the familiar sounds of Adam Copeland’s theme music. Out comes “The Rated-R Superstar” to a mega reaction from the Long Island crowd. He makes his way out and heads to the ring as fireworks and pyro erupts.
The commentators point out that Copeland is wearing the same ring gear that he wore during his infamous hardcore match against Mick Foley in the past from WrestleMania. He settles in the ring to a sustained roar and poses to the crowd on the ropes in the corner. His music dies down and the theme for his opponent plays.
On that note, out comes the reigning and defending TNT Champion Christian Cage accompanied by Nick Wayne and Shayna Wayne. He makes his way down to the ring to a ton of boos, but he doesn’t get half way down the entrance ramp before Copeland exits the ring and sprints up after him to get things started early. The bell sounds and they brawl on the entrance ramp.
Copeland beats Cage down as they walk throughout the crowd. He gets him down and climbs up to the top of a balcony as the crowd goes wild. He leaps off and splashes onto the TNT Champion way down below. He continues beating Cage down with a cane in the crowd. Copeland even yells at Nigel McGuiness to shut up on commentary. The fans chant “You still got it!”
After some interference from his “Family,” Cage takes over. Cage goes to work on the long injured neck of Copeland, who also has a badly busted open and swollen eye. Cage uses a cane to smash down on the injured neck of Copeland and then slaps him in a Sharpshooter while he’s got a steel chair leaning down over his back for added leverage. Copeland fights back and takes over but Cage frees himself in the ropes.
“The Rated-R Superstar” grabs a ladder and wedges it into the ropes in the corner as the fans loudly chant “TLC! TLC!” He sends Cage first into the ladder wedged into the ropes. Cage catches Copeland charging at him with a low blow with a cane, which allows him to shift the offensive momentum back into his favor. The two climb up a ladder. Cage hits a sunset flip power bomb to bring Copeland down the hard way.
Christian and Nick Wayne set up a table outside of the ring at the bottom of the entrance ramp. As Cage hops on the apron, Copeland recovers and fans chant “We Want Fire!” hoping to see a spot that matches Copeland’s special ring gear tonight from “The Rated-R Superstar’s” past. Cage avoids a spear attempt from Copeland through the ropes, but Copeland still hits an impaler DDT on a chair on Cage.
Fans break out into a loud “This is Awesome!” chant as Copeland looks to blast Cage with a con-chair-to. Nick Wayne hops on the apron to provide a distraction, which allows Cage to blast Copeland with a low blow. He rolls him up and goes for the cover, but Copeland kicks out at the count of two. A table is set up long ways leaning in the corner. Cage goes to Spear Copeland through it but Copeland avoids it and Spears Cage through it instead.
When we see Copeland go for the win, Shayna Wayne gets involved. Nick Wayne also bashes Copeland with a TNT title shot. He hits a Wayne’s World off the buckles onto Copeland on the floor. He puts Copeland back into the ring. He stands up and he and Cage bump into each other back-to-back, where Cage immediately hits a Killswitch and goes for the cover, only for Copeland to once again kick out at two.
Cage and Wayne light the table on fire at ringside as fans chant “Holy sh*t! Holy sh*t!” Cage rolls back into the ring and picks up a lifeless Copeland, who fights back and decks Cage. He knocks Nick down and starts pouring more gas on the fire, which ends up going out. The fans chant “You sick f*ck!” He lights it and then Nick Wayne gets put through it in front of his mom. Christian Cage tries a cheap shot with the belt upon Copeland getting back in the ring, but Copeland hits a low blow and then hits Cage with his own Killswitch finisher for the win.
Winner and NEW TNT Champion: Adam Copeland
TNT Championship
Adam Copeland (C) vs. Christian Cage
After the match, Killswitch (Luchasaurus) appears behind Copeland and attacks him as the crowd boos. He has his TNT title contract after winning the battle royal earlier tonight. He teases cashing it in now. Cage tells him to give it to him so he can use it instead.
Killswitch looks defeated and hands the contract over to Cage, who signs it and hands it to the ref to cash it in right now. The bell rings again and Cage charges at Copeland and hits him with his own Spear finisher. He covers him and wins back the TNT title.
Winner and NEW TNT Champion: Christian Cage
AEW Continental Classic Finals (Triple Crown Title)
Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston
It’s time to find out who is going to become the first-ever AEW Triple Crown Champion, as the pre-match video package airs now to get us ready for our AEW Continental Classic Tournament finals showdown between longtime friends turned rivals, the Gold League winner and Blue League winner, Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston.
The video package wraps up, we return back inside the arena and we hear the familiar sounds of Eddie Kingston’s theme music. Out comes “The Mad King” to a huge ovation from his home state New York crowd. He makes his way down to the ring as Bryan Danielson joins the gang on special guest commentary for this co-main event here at the year-end AEW Worlds End 2023 pay-per-view.
Kingston settles into the squared circle and his theme music dies down. Now we hear the familiar sounds of “Wild Thing” as the Blackpool Combat Club’s own Jon Moxley makes his custom entrance through the crowd as “The Dapper Yapper” Justin Roberts does his old John Cena-style “JONNNNNNNN Moxley!” trademark introduction.
Now the bell sounds and it’s time to find out who is going to be the winner of the first-ever AEW Continental Classic tournament and who will be crowned the company’s first-ever AEW Triple Crown Champion. Danielson says Kingston is a better striker and Mox is a better grappler. Early on we see evidence of this playing out in the early action. Danielson says he can’t belive he lost to Kingston as Mox beats him down.
Mox knocks Kingston out to the floor after a striking exchange and he dives out onto him, knocking Kingston down so hard that the back of his head and back bashed into the guard rail — hard. The commentators point this out and stress this fact on the commentary several times after the fact.
Back in the ring, we see Kingston go for a strike that Mox blocks and it looks like Kingston hurt his forearm in the process. We see slow motion footage to back it up. The two continue to exchange offensive leads and then they trade chops and Kingston connects with one so hard that Mox takes a knee and actually asks him to hold on a minute, prompting laughter from the crowd and popping the commentators. In the end, Kingston picks up the hard fought victory to become the first ever AEW Triple Crown Champion.
Winner and NEW AEW Triple Crown Champion: Eddie Kingston
AEW World Championship
MJF (C) vs. Samoa Joe
It’s main event time!
Excalibur runs down the updated lineups for next week’s AEW Dynamite and AEW Collision shows and then we switch gears and head into the pre-match video package to tell the story leading up to our headline bout of the evening, which features the AEW World Championship on-the-line.
Once the package wraps up, the theme for Samoa Joe hits and out he comes to loud chants of “Joe! Joe! Joe!” Excalibur points out how the hometown fans of MJF are chanting Joe’s name despite his recent actions with their hometown hero heading into tonight’s highly-anticipated title tilt.
Joe settles into the ring and then his music dies down. A special pre-entrance video plays showing “Salt of the Earth” people talking about their hometown guy MJF, including a chick who talks about sleeping with him years ago in the back of a car. They all call him “our scumbag” and then the video wraps up.
We return in the building and MJF’s theme hits and fans immediately break out into loud “He’s our scumbag!” chants. The AEW World Champion emerges in a white robe with yellow and blue trim that reads, “The King of Long Island” on the back of it. He makes his way down to the ring and settles inside, soaking up the adulation from his adoring home town fans.
Before the bell can sound again for “The Dapper Yapper” Justin Roberts to begin his formal ring introductions, we hear the familiar sounds of Adam Cole’s theme music. Out comes MJF’s best friend on crutches. The commentators point out how Samoa Joe’s facial expression didn’t change one tiny bit when Cole’s theme hit to come out.
Now “The Dapper Yapper” Justin Roberts handles the final formal ring introductions with the lights down low, as it’s time for our AEW World Championship main event of the evening here inside Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, New York for the final All Elite Wrestling pay-per-view of the year, AEW Worlds End 2023.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one, which features an insanely loud and pumped up crowd full of MJF’s hometown fans. Early on we see MJF playing to the crowd a lot, but once things get going for real, we see Joe settle into a prolonged comfortable offensive lead, where he focuses the majority of his attack on the heavily wrapped injured shoulder of the champ.
Joe knocks MJF out to the floor with authority where he lands awkwardly on his hurt shoulder. Back in the ring, Joe continues to pummel MJF in the corner until he slumps down in the corner and “The King of Television” taunts him. Adam Cole looks discouraged as he watches on as his best friend continues to get destroyed by the challenger here in our main event of the evening.
Friedman starts to fight back and he does the ten-punch spot on Joe in the corner as the fans count along with each shot that lands. He starts biting Joe in the corner and the fans begin to roar in Long Island as the champ comes to life and settles into his first comfortable offensive lead of the night. MJF goes for Joe’s own finisher, as he tries hitting a Muscle Buster on him but his legs give out and his shoulder does as well.
On that note, we see Samoa Joe take back over on offense and quiet the crowd down a bit in the process. Adam Cole is shown once more looking super nervous at ringside as Joe takes back over. The fans try and rally behind their hometown hero and Adam Cole leads the charge trying to get them to make some more noise in attempt to revive MJF. Friedman looks for his Heatseeker finisher in the ropes but Joe counters it.
From there, we see Joe take back over and he locks MJF in his own “Salt of the Earth” armbar finisher on the injured arm of the champ, right in front of Cole at ringside. MJF eventually escapes but then Joe slaps his own submission finisher on, as he sinks in a choke on a standing MJF and brings him to the ground, where he squeezes the life out of him. Again MJF avoids being put away.
The ref gets bumped and MJF stops Joe on the top-rope in the corner. He hits his Muscle Buster on him and now both guys are down along with the ref, who is still out of it. We see Cole come to life at ringside, thinking MJF has a chance to put Joe away. Joe ends up coming to life and getting his choke on MJF once again. This time he gets the win. Joe is the new AEW World Champion and the fans are stunned. Joe walks off with the title.
After the match wraps up, we see Adam Cole gets in the ring and check on MJF. The Devil’s Masked Men appear and beat down MJF as one of them holds Cole back. One of them goes to hit MJF with a chair as Cole tells him to hit him instead. MJF insists they hit him, and the guy turns toward Cole. The lights go out in the arena.
When they come back on and we see the masked men behind Cole. They unmask to reveal themselves as Roderick Strong, The Kingdom, and Wardlow. Cole sits in the chair as the rest of them beat MJF down. Cole throws the Devil mask down at MJF and kneels down beside him as the show wraps up on that note. Thanks for joining us!
Winner and NEW AEW World Champion: Samoa Joe
