From Down Under in Brisbane, AEW Grand Slam Australia featured a slew of high profile matches. Did the show live up to the hype? Did AEW Grand Slam shut up the naysayers on social media?
Please, those trolls wouldn’t know a good match even if George Hackenschmidt himself wrestled.
How do you ignite a primed crowd? Kick it off with Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay defeating Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher. This is how you do it. Fast paced with all the spots one would expect, and thoroughly enjoy. Some nice tandem moves by both teams, culminating with Omega and Ospreay using both their finishers to gain the pinfall victory.
Fire up a live crowd? Check. Get Ospreay and Omega over as threats to Callis? Check. Build some big matches for Revolution? Check and double check. Using the win as an opportunity, Kenny Omega will challenge Takeshita for the AEW International Championship, while Ospreay challenges Fletcher to a Steel Cage. Both of those matches will be incredible.
Second match of the night, a fun feature, Mercedes Mone retains the TBS Championship against Harley Cameron
This was just fun to watch. It was more about Harley being able to step up against a career-dominating Mone. Excellent story. Mone constantly overpowered the underdog from down under, but Harley refused to give up. Some comedy spots with the Puppet Mone getting very cross during the match. Inevitably, Mone got the win, but I don’t think this will be the end of Harley, in fact, I expect more of her in the coming weeks.
The crowd in Australia singing Metalingus to Cope 🥹#AEWGrandSlam pic.twitter.com/VTM5AkzevZ
— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) February 16, 2025
Up next sees Death Riders (Mox & Claudio) defeat Adam Copeland and Jay White in a Brisbane Brawl.
It was a really good match. Wrestling to start, inevitably breaking down into a plunder match. Chairs, tables, singapore canes. Cope brings out a chair wrapped in barbed wire. A wild and chaotic brawl ends when Wheeler Yuta and Marina Shafir interfere to the point where White is rendered ineffective, allowing Mox to choke out Cope for the KO victory. The Brisbane crowd was not happy about the finish, and I imagine the folks at home were not either.
It wasn’t so much the loss which I think upset fans, but how it happened. Sure, it continues to make the Death Riders hated as much as possible. This was a no-disqualification match, so Yuta and Shafir’s interference was expected, but no interference or assistance from FTR? Nothing from Undisputed? Jon Cruz?
This does put more momentum on Mox going towards Revolution coming up in March. I still firmly believe Copeland will not take the AEW Championship back. Mox needs another big name to defeat in order to pave the way for someone else to rise up and be the locker room leader AEW needs. This man, in case you haven’t figured it out, is Eddie Kingston.
Kazuchika Okada retains the Continental Championship against Buddy Matthews
Another disappointing loss for the Australian audience. So far, no hometown heroes emerged victorious. This was a good match despite the outcome. To think, about a decade ago Buddy was Mr. 205 Live. Now, he’s in a high-profile spot against one of the greatest Japanese wrestlers today. So many occasions were it seemed Matthews had the match won, but Okada refused to stay down. The end was nigh as we saw a familiar scene as Okada nearly crashed into the ref, but instead grabs him in faux panic. As Matthews grabs the champ from behind, Okada hits a swift kick backwards into the groin, followed by the Rainmaker Lariat, and the pinfall.
We’ve seen this more than once already, seeing it again doesn’t seem to sit well. I understand the heel needed a heel tactic to win and keep Buddy looking strong. Pushing Hounds of Hell is a great idea, but putting them in losing predicaments seems to accomplish the opposite of what is happening.
Not sure where Matthews goes from here.
AEW Grand Slam Australia Main Event: Toni Storm defeated Mariah May to become a Four-Time AEW Women’s Champion
Bravo! Bellissimo! Storm’s entrance right out of Alice in Wonderland, starting off in black and white, then gradually returning to color! Fantastic match. Storm and Mariah once again prove to be among the top female wrestlers of the era. A lot of back-and-forth, truly feeling this match could go either way. Traditional finishers were ineffective. Storm hit a brutal looking Storm Zero which and those running hip attacks looked brutal. A real highlight saw Storm lobbing May repeatedly with German suplexes. Over and over. Crowd loved it. Even a sign in the crowd asking for… Uh, something(s) to be ripped off got chants. The crowd turned on Nigel at one point. This was main event fire at its hottest.
Storm outsmarted May, instead of going for another finish, wrapped her up in a small package for the pinfall and victory!
Fantastic final bout of the night. Overall, a really good show. I won’t be one of those to say “the greatest of all time” or “the best Grand Slam in history” because each show has its own merits. This show highlighted what it needed to, and successfully lays a clear path for many heading towards the next pay-per-view, Revolution.
