Say what you want about AEW’s booking style — and many people do — but even with AEW Dynamite Grand Slam arriving in the middle of a more crowded event schedule than usual, the company has managed to put together a card that features a number of championship matches that all have a story behind them.
In what’s likely to be the main event, MJF will defend his AEW World Championship against Samoa Joe. Their history goes back years to a meme you’ve probably seen at some point, plus Joe won his way through a tournament for the chance to see what the Devil is made of.
When Saraya puts her AEW Women’s World Championship on the line against Toni Storm, it will be the latest chapter in a saga with The Outcasts that’s been going on for some time. That’s even more true for the title vs. title showdown between Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli.
Heck, even the AEW International Championship match between Jon Moxley and Rey Fenix has a bit of a back story behind it. And that certainly is the case for the one non-title bout on the card, where Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara will put their friendship aside for one night to find out definitively if the pupil has outgrown the master.
The point is that there are no random matches here, and that’s a good thing. Grand Slam may have be now a bit lost in the shuffle between PPVs, and the wonder may have worn off a little from holding a show at Arthur Ashe Stadium, but it deserves a card with some thought behind it, and that’s absolutely the case tonight.
We can’t wait to see how it plays out beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Be sure to tune in live on TBS or join us back here at Wrestling Junkie for live updates throughout the show.