AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam offered MJF versus Samoa Joe, Claudio Castagnoli versus Eddie Kingston, Saraya versus Toni Storm, Chris Jericho versus Sammy Guevara, and Jon Moxley versus Rey Fenix.
Highlights:
- The show kicked off with a title for title match between longtime rivals Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston. Back-and-forth match with the crowd heavily behind the local Kingston. Last-half of the match featured Kingston taking all of Claudio’s best shots before a comeback that saw Eddie win the ROH World Championship for the first time in his career, accept Claudio’s handshake, and celebrate in the ring to a boisterous crowd.
- Main event adjacent promos were used throughout the night. Pre-taped hospital segment featuring Roddy Strong and The Kingdom with Adam Cole visiting his friend. Followed up later in the night with MFJ cutting a promo against Samoa Joe outside the stadium with Cole showing up at the last-minute only to get distracted by a call from Roddy. Later in the night, Samoa Joe offered a backstage response to MJF. Final promo of the night was an inspired MJF take on the classic “Go Get ‘Em Bret” promo.
- The main event itself featured Joe targeting MJF’s neck with Max fighting the injury and pulling out all stops including the Kangaroo Kick, a Liger Bomb, the Dynamite Diamond Ring, a low blow, an Adam Cole distraction, and finally some tape to choke Joe out behind the referee’s back (which earned a bit of respect from the disgruntled Joe). Great way to end the night, although Cole looked to be limping badly after jumping from the ramp on his race to be in proper position for the finish of the match.
- Chris Jericho took on Sammy Guevara in a one-on-one match between mentor and student with commentary playing up the pair’s history together. Nice touches starting with Sammy’s tights being a tribute to Jericho’s first match with Shawn Michaels and Jericho inserting himself into Sammy’s early celebration. The match featured a number of top rope moves from Sammy and Jericho pulling out his greatest hits before reversing Sammy’s top-rope dive with a Codebreaker. Jericho picked up the win, but Sammy’s after-match low blow (another nod to Jericho’s match with Michaels) led to Don Callis coming out to congratulate Sammy and add another member to his stable also likely ending AEW’s latest attempt to turn Sammy face. Also of note, Sammy also had a short run-in with Daniel Garcia backstage.
- In a surprise upset, Jon Moxley lost the International Championship to Rey Fenix. Bit of an odd ending with the referee first not counting an obvious three-count on Moxley before Fenix hit a second finisher and grabbed the win in what may have been an audible given the medical attention Moxley received after the match from what has been speculated to be either a concussion or neck injury. After the break, the commentary team made sure to announce Moxley was able to leave the ring unassisted.
- Saraya successfully retained the AEW Women’s Championship against a game Toni Storm that came out with her Portrait of a Star entrance and all kinds of shenanigans that got the crowd solidly on her side but ultimately wasn’t enough to beat Saraya with Ruby Soho in her corner whose interference led to one of several near-falls. Very entertaining stuff that brought the crowd back to life following the uncertainty of Mox’s injury. It could easily have gone another 5 minutes.
Less Notable:
- Backstage segment with Renee Paquette interviewing Christian Cage and Luchasaurus with Cage setting up a triple-threat match for the title with Darby Allin for AEW Collision.
- Promos for the AEW Rampage tag-team match to crown a #1 contender for the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship.
Bad:
- The only negatives to the show came in the possible long-term injuries sustained by both Moxley and Cole that could cause AEW to pivot on multiple fronts. Hopefully neither man will be kept out of action for an extended period of time.
