AEW Grand Slam comes all the way from Paris, France!
AEW is welcomed by a fired-up, wild crowd tonight. Kicking off the show are two of the best in the world in a match I never had on any bingo card: Kofi vs. Bandido for the Ring of Honor World Championship. In any other scenario, this would have been an easy prediction, but within the first minutes, predictability went right out the window. Could you imagine Kofi as ROH World Champ? With both Trios partners standing at ringside, specifically Hangman glaring at Swerve, anything could have happened. Kofi and Bandido put on an amazingly paced match. A perfect blend of fast-paced, high-risk action and methodical maneuvers. The end came when a brawl at ringside allowed for Bandido to DEAD LIFT Kofi off the mat for the 21-Plex and the win.
Bandido’s fallaway slam off the top in INHUMAN.
Flowing right into the next match, Samoa Joe defeated “Jungle” Jack Perry. Damn, this was brutal. Joe comes off as merciless as ever. No matter which country they compete in, anyone can chant for JOE. Perry put up quite the fight, using numerous superkicks to keep Joe away from his massively strong offense. But Perry went to the well one too many times—Joe NOPED Perry’s moonsault, which was the beginning of the end. Perry took an Urinagi to the floor, followed by a massive Muscle Buster for the win.
Mark Davis and Jake Doyle defeated Jon Moxley and Gabe Kidd
Simply put, a big ol’ meaty match. Brawling, suplexing, powerbombing, and lots of lariats. Fighting in and out of the ring, this is the sort of match that makes sense with these four wrestlers. Davis scoring the win with his Vicious Piledriver was a shocker, but 100% was the right move. Davis and Doyle should absolutely be considered major threats.
It is safe to say the Death Riders will likely be super babyfaces for quite a while. Having PAC’s chair and towel with them is bittersweet.
Darby Allin retains the TNT Championship against Kyle Fletcher
Good grief, this was a war. Fletcher immediately resorts to his vicious and cutthroat side. Not letting Darby breathe for a moment, he even flips him onto a ringside table. Darby, rallying back, also went right for his own recipe of violence, attempting a coffin drop from the top, but Kyle dodged, and Darby crashed onto the ring apron. Later on, Fletcher ripped off the padding of the top turnbuckle, which was later used violently, as Fletcher struck with a top rope brainbuster onto the exposed steel. Darby is busted wide open on the head. Fletcher continually tries to keep Darby down, but we all know Darby doesn’t stay down unless he is rendered unconscious. Fletcher, unable to do so, falls prey to not one but two Coffin Drops Darby retains after a violent and bloody affair.
Mercedes Mone retains the AEW Women’ s Championship against Queen Aminata
Aminata cuts a pre-match promo in French. Beautiful. She is WAY over in Paris. The crowd had no question behind her the entire stretch. Unfortunately, as a title bout, there was little doubt Mercedes would retain, but if it were non-title, it’s 100% believable the Queen could have defeated the CEO. Aminata absolutely wrecked Mone throughout the match, hitting some seriously hard-hitting drivers and a running face-cleaning knee that jumped the entire crowd. Aminata also struck hard with the CEO prone on a chair and the Queen dropkicking her into next week. But Aminata seemed to wear herself down with these high-impact moves, so when Mercedes saw an opening, she struck with her finisher to retain.
Thekla immediately rushed the ring, but Mercedes got away.
Will Ospreay retains the AEW World Championship against Kazuchika Okada
The crowd was RED HOT from bell to bell. Okada and Ospreay tore the house down—Non-stop wrestling. Every few minutes, the action kicked up higher, and so did the live crowd. They spent more time countering with reversals than I have ever seen. Their movements seemed uncanny and impossible, yet witnessing it. Okada struck with multiple Rainmaker Lariats. Ospreay not down. He hits one of his one, which Okada kicks out at ONE! Ospreay charges up for an Oz-Cutter, but Okada dropkicks in mid-air. Again, Ospreay refuses to stay down, scoring with a Hidden Blade, Stormbreaker, Hidden Blade for the win.
AEW did not miss a beat in hyping us up for AEW WrestleDream. Feuds continue to heat up, and having an amazingly fired-up crowd like this adds another level of excitement.
