Last night AEW presented a number of World Championship contender matches, tag team mayhem, a literal giant of a main event, and much more. Will Hangman get his wish to face Kenny in Australia? Will Big Bad Brody King qualify to face MJF for the championship in the near future? Let’s find out. Grand Slam Australia is shaping up to be a massive championship extravaganza.
Multiple Promo Open: The show kicks off with various wrestlers hyping up and delivering threatening words towards opponents. Felt very sports-centric and certainly added the intended hype for tonight, giving this weekly Dynamite a PPV feel.
I loved this. Each promo looked great on TV.
The Don Callis Family (Takeshita, Alexander, El Clon) defeated The Death Riders (Mox, Garcia, PAC)
A wicked combination of six all-star wrestlers. El Clon seems to be getting a push, he’s been a highlight on both Dynamite and Collision. Takeshita also got a lot of ring time, doing a lot of the heavy work. On the other side, Garcia appeared to be the workhorse of the team. Ultimately he was the one who fell to Takeshita’s Raging Fire Driver.
Mox is doing the weird walk and twitchy thing again. More no-selling too. Not sure I want him going back to his antics when he was World Champion.
Takeshita vs. Mox is going to be one hell of a match when it’s time.
Clark Connors and Gabe Kidd abduct Darby Allin – They beat him up in the parking lot, stuffing him in a trunk. The drive off. It seems this happens to Darby at least once a year.
Orange Cassidy and Toni Storm defeated Jordan Oasis and Brittnie Brooks
Not entirely a squash, but a funny little bit with Storm beating up both Oasis and Brooks. After the match, Cassidy and Storm, on the mic, appear to regret their decision for a hair vs. hair match. They seem to fear the idea of losing their hair. Goofy remarks with Storm saying she doesn’t want to look like a bald doofus, while LUTHER IS STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER.
I cannot repeat her comments here, go find it on YouTube or somewhere on social media.
“Hangman” Adam Page defeated “Dunkzilla” Mark Davis in a Men’s World Championship Contender’s Match
Good grief. My buddy Mike commented that Stan Hansen would have approved of Mark Davis’ lariats. I believe it. An extremely hard-hitting affair. If this wasn’t for championship contention, then Davis could have believably defeated Hangman. He beat the former World Champ in and out of the ring. Davis even crushed Page with how own sit out piledriver. Page got the win clar after a number of counters into the Buckshot Lariat.
While it is a damn shame Jake Doyle got injured so soon, it did leave an unexpected opportunity for Dunkzilla to get a singles run.
Andrade El Idolo defeated Kenny Omega in a Men’s World Championship Contender’s Match
Absolutely fantastic match. Andrade might be in the best condition of his career. The guy never stopped moving. Both delivered an incredible amount of both offensive and defensive wrestling. Omega crushed Idolo with repeated V-Triggers and Dragon Suplexes, but The Idol fired back with his own. With the match slipping away, Don Callis rushed to give Andrade the screwdriver, but was stopped by Prince Nana and Swerve. They took the weapon, but the distraction lasted long enough for Andrade to hit the DM for the pinfall victory.
So that’s a surprise, no Page vs. Omega. Not such a surprise if you think it over. Didn’t want to risk running a babyface vs. babyface with the crowd turning on someone, also, protecting Omega from taking a title loss.
Also paves the way for more feuds, like Omega vs. Strickland. Banger folks!
MegaBad defeat Babes of Wrath in a Women’s World Tag Team Championship Eliminator Match
Another great women’s tag team match. Ford and Bayne continue to work so well together, up against Willow and Cameron all four women turned out looking like champs. It’s going to be interesting to see Babes of Wrath look and feel vulnerable. Yet, they will pull out the win just in time, in the near future.
Backstage with “Psycho Killer” Tommaso Ciampa – He celebrates with respect paid towards Mark Briscoe, but gradually transitions into his psycho gimmick, letting us know “Sylvie” has been happy with her new home.
Ricochet retains the AEW National Championship against Jungle Jack Perry
Good back-and-forth match. Ricochet and Perry work well, but their match tonight was good, but not great. I imagine it is hard to keep pace when you are put before a big main event. As Perry began to dominate, Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona came out, but were cut off by The Young Bucks. As the brawl breaks out, Ricochet uses the championship to KO Perry and hit his finishing driver for the pinfall.
Brody King defeats AEW Men’s World Heavyweight Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman in an Eliminator Match to earn a title shot at Grand Slam Australia
Squash would be an understatement. Now, it wasn’t all perfection as one would hope. It was the immediate distraction of Adam Page coming to the entrance ramp which distracted MJF, allowing King to grab him in the very apropos Hangman’s Choke, with King strangling MJF over the ring. With MJF essentially out cold, King crushed him with the Gansobomb for the win. After the match, Andrade entered the fray. MJF took the brunt of everyone’s moves until he stops Page’s Buckshot with a low kick, but MJF then eats yet another Gansobomb.
Brody King raising the AEW World Championship to close the show looked… like it works. The shame of it all is how Brody finally gets a main event singles run, and likely to end next week. Unless AEW does the craziest thing ever with King winning the championship. Highly unlikely, but these days you just can’t be 100% sure.
 and Andrade (over Kenny Omega).){kind=link}