The funny thing about being on top of the world is how many people want to knock you off that perch. MJF has certainly learned that lesson since becoming AEW World Champion, with both friends and foes trying to take that title away from him. Tonight at AEW Dynamite Grand Slam at Arthur Ashe Stadium, he’s definitely up against one of the latter.
Samoa Joe had to earn his title shot via a tournament, but really wasn’t pushed all that hard along the way except a bit in the final by Roderick Strong. He and MJF have history that dates back to even before the current champ was a notable wrestler, so it’ll be personal as well as business in NYC.
The same could be said for the other three championship matches on the Grand Slam Dynamite card, all of which have been set up nicely by AEW despite this show now finding itself smashed between the All In/All Out spectacles and the brand spanking new WrestleDream early next month. Of the others, the one with the biggest chance to steal the show is the title vs. title encounter between Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli, the payoff to a sense of mutual dislike that is both rare and long overdue to spill into one-on-one violence.
There’s also the sense that some surprises could show up at Arthur Ashe Stadium. It’s probably too early for a certain Canadian who can see clearly to make an appearance, but there are other names with WWE histories that would make this show feel even bigger.
We’ve got two members of our Wrestling Junkie team in the house, but we’ll also be manning the keyboard as usual on Wednesday nights. Let’s see what this night has in store.
AEW Dynamite Grand Slam results from NYC:
(scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)
- Eddie Kingston def. Claudio Castagnoli by pinfall in a Title vs. Title match to retain the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship and become the new ROH World Champion
- We flash back to last week, where The Kingdom is reading inspirational messages to Roderick Strong in the hospital, and Adam Cole is there for him too … but only for a few minutes, as he has to go support MJF and a disgusted Roddy tells him to “just go”
- Christian Cage says he’s done with Darby Allin but knows Darby isn’t letting things go, so he invites Allin for a three-way dance on Collision with him and Luchasaurus, with the International Championship on the line but Sting banned from ringside
- Chris Jericho def. Sammy Guevara by pinfall, but Guevara kicks Jericho in the groin after the bell and leaves with Don Callis
- MJF delivers a warning to Samoa Joe and has Cole beside him, but Adam gets a call from a panicked Roddy and has to talk him down, to the champ’s annoyance
- Rey Fenix def. Jon Moxley by pinfall to become the new AEW International Champion
- Samoa Joe has his final say before his meeting with MJF
- Saraya def. Toni Storm by pinfall to retain the AEW Women’s World Championship
- MJF def. Samoa Joe by submission to retain the AEW World Championship, with Cole arriving to lend his support when Max needs it most