It’s Wednesday, you know what that means. AEW hails from the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York for Dynamite Grand Slam. The show is full of exciting matches including three big world title matches. The world title matches include the ROH title on the line as Claudio Castagnoli defends against Eddie Kingston, who is also putting his NJPW Strong Never Openweight Championship on the line. The AEW World Champion MJF defends his crown against Samoa Joe along with the AEW Women’s title on the line as Saraya faces former stablemate, Toni Storm. International title is on the line as Jon Moxley faces the man he injured in storyline a few weeks ago, Rey Fenix. Finally, master meets apprentice as Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara will square off one on one.
ROH World Title & NJPW Strong Never Openweight Title: Eddie Kingston defeats Claudio Castagnoli
The cameras went backstage as both wrestlers made their way to the ring, giving the match a big fight feel. Kingston usually rushes to the ring like a house on fire however this time, he looked more calculated. Kingston was not going to let this slip; he came out extra focused and was not going to let the emotions of the moment get to him. The action was end to end with both competitors hitting some big moves which the crowd was white hot for. The match reached a climax with Kingston hitting a couple of backfists and a northern lights bomb for a big near fall. Kingston had Castagnoli on the ropes, and he had to pull out just a little more from his bag to get the victory for the biggest win in his career. The career rivals shook hands and the ROH title was handed over to the Mad King. Goosebumps.
Roderick Strong & The Kingdom Pre-Taped Segment
Strong was shown in a hospital bed with his neck-brace and glasses on surrounded by the Kingdom who were consoling him. Adam Cole walked in to check on Strong but had to quickly leave because he had to travel to Grand Slam to watch MJF fight Samoa joe, which Strong obviously wasn’t too pleased about.
Christian Cage & Luchasaurus Backstage Interview
Christian Cage speaks about his upcoming match on Rampage as he teams alongside Luchasaurus against Darby Allin and Sting. Cage also offers up a title opportunity to Allin in a three-way match between Cage, Allin, and Luchasaurus on Collision.
Chris Jericho defeats Sammy Guevara
Jericho even at his age never phones it in, this match was no different for the veteran. Guevara was able to survive a Walls of Jericho, the lionsault, and a codebreaker. Guevara had the momentum as he hit his signature GTH but opted to go for a shooting star press which was countered into a codebreaker mid-air. This huge move gave Jericho the victory. After the match, the two embraced. Soon after, Guevara hit the low blow on Jericho, with Jericho falling to his knees and being pushed away into the mat by his protégé. This spot was reminiscent to the WrestleMania 19 Classic between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels, where Jericho did the same thing to Michaels after the match. As the fans are booing, we see Don Callis make his way to the ring seemingly aligning himself with Guevara.
MJF & Adam Cole Pre-Taped Segment
MJF and Adam Cole make their way to the arena. MJF speaks about his grudge against Samoa Joe and how he’s going to beat him later in the night. However, Cole gets a phone call from Strong and has to walk off to take the call.
Dom Callis & Sammy Guevara Backstage:
Renee Paquette tried to get a word with Callis and Guevara after the big betrayal from the match prior. Garcia walked into the shot and stared down his former stablemate, Guevara. Guevara tried to push Garcia but was stopped by Callis, as he is still attempting to court Garcia to join the Don Callis family.
International Championship: Rey Fenix defeats Jon Moxley
Rey Fenix met Jon Moxley on the ramp as the action started right away. A large chunk of the match was spent on the outside as Fenix and Moxley went blow for blow. In true Fenix fashion there was no shortage of high-risk offense that kept the crowd on their feet. Unfortunately, nobody will be talking about the match as Moxley hurt his head on a piledriver. Fenix went for the pin, Moxey didn’t kick out but Rick Knox didn’t count to three in what was a big botch. Fenix went for the piledriver once again and this time got the victory to become the new champion. It seems an audible was called in the match, but the most important thing is that we hope Moxley is ok.
Samoa Joe Backstage Segment
Samoa Joe was his usual ferocious self. The ROH TV champion sent warning signs to champion MJF prior to their main event match.
ROH Tag Team Title Number One Contender Match Announcement
Friday night on Rampage, Best Friends, The Hardyz, The Righteous and The Kingdom will face off for a shot at the ROH Tag Team titles at the Wrestle Dream pay-per-view. All four of the teams spoke briefly during this pre-taped segment to hype the match.
AEW Women’s Championship: Saraya defeats Toni Storm
Toni Storm was pulling shenanigans the whole match as she started beating Ruby Soho on the outside with a shoe and even hit Saraya with a heel for the near fall. Saraya returned the favor as she sprayed Storm with the green spray paint before hitting the nightcap, however Storm kicked out. Later, Storm surprised Saray with a kiss before a Storm Zero but only got a near fall. An exposed turnbuckle that Storm hit with a hip attack gave Saraya the chance to get the victory which she took. Storm’s delusional character was fantastic and the overall match was well laid out. This was one of Saraya’s better showings in an AEW ring.
AEW World Championship: MJF defeats Samoa Joe
Before MJF made his way to the ring. AEW did a callback to a famous Bret Hart brit. A little kid called out to Max and told him to “go get him champ!”. MJF gave the kid his Burberry scarf and whispered in his ear. The kid then asked his dad “am I adopted?”, classic MJF.
The crowd was up for this match, and they were all in on MJF. MJF worked his babyface role to perfection, selling every big move that Joe hit. A death valley driver on the ring apron looked brutal but it only gave Joe a near fall. Joe then pulled a table out and put MJF through it on the outside, however this still wasn’t enough. Joe was aiming to hurt the champion and do anything he can to get the victory. Next, the floor was exposed and a piledriver onto the outside prompted doctors to come check on the champion. Joe fought off the doctors, put MJF in the ring but could once again only get a two-count.
The valiant champion began to fight back as he hit a thunderous Liger bomb onto Joe. MJF began to get desperate, as he hit a low blow after a distraction on the referee. Max pulled out his Dynamite diamond ring but the referee caught him before he could hit Joe with the foreign object. As Paul Turner was getting rid of the ring, Joe hit Max with a low blow followed by a muscle buster but once again could only get a near fall. Later, Joe had a sleeper locked in on MJF which prompted Adam Cole to run out and cheer on his partner. This gave MJF his second wind and he was able to get out of the sleeper. Another ref bump and distraction gave Cole the opportunity to throw a chain to MJF to help him choke out Joe. MJF used the chain and put Joe to sleep for the big victory. Joe gave the devil his due after the match with a handshake as MJF and Cole celebrated the victory as the show faded to black.
