FLUSHING, N.Y. — They might have held their breath for a moment or two, but the talent and staff of AEW filled Arthur Ashe Stadium for over four hours of pro wrestling on Wednesday night.
AEW struggled to sell tickets in the weeks leading up to the show, possibly due to prices, having run this venue at the same time of year before or other circumstances, once making Grand Slam unlikely to be a base hit. Even with a strong card, fans were not buying in.
To combat this, last week, AEW began a special “buy one, get one free” ticket offer to jumpstart sales. That helped, but so did MJF’s rigorous promotional tour across seemingly every local New York morning show — a tactic scarcely used in this pro wrestling’s company young existence.
AEW found a way to make Grand Slam 2023 work and can learn lessons from it. But quality wrestling pushed the negative attention aside, between two hours of Dynamite and an extensive Rampage taping.
Both before and after the main show, AEW recorded matches for its Friday night series that featured numerous top stars, title bouts and promos that would normally happen on Dynamite or Collision. AEW always touts Grand Slam as its longest Rampage show, extending it to two hours instead of the usual 60 minutes. So once Dynamite ended, the action was hardly finished.
The Young Bucks and Hangman Adam Page headlined a strong Rampage card as they competed for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championship, while Darby Allin and Sting faced off against Christian Cage and Luchasaurus. Additionally, AEW’s most hated man, Don Callis, explained why he and Sammy Guevara have aligned.
How did the action shape up? Let’s take a look at the results of what happens on the Sept. 22 Grand Slam episode of Rampage.
AEW Grand Slam Rampage results from Arthur Ashe Stadium:
- Santana def. Bear Boulder. Ortiz stepped out on the stage after the match, but Santana barely acknowledged him. It seems their real-life animosity will translate to a storyline.
- Orange Cassidy, Hook and Kris Statlander def. Matt Menard, Angelo Parker and Anna Jay. A fun match that included a triple suplex spot that popped the crowd.
- Darby Allin and Sting def. Luchasaurus and Christian Cage by pinfall after Nick Wayne distracted Christian. The crowd chanted “Who’s your daddy?” after the match.
- Don Callis (with Konosuke Takeshita) cut a promo about why he recruited Sammy Guevara to work with him. Guevara eventually joined him in the ring to explain his reasoning for turning on Chris Jericho and aligning with Callis. It was difficult to hear most of what Callis and Guevara said because of the crowd booing.
- As Guevara explained himself, Jericho interrupted and started brawling with Guevara and Takeshita. Kenny Omega made the save to a great reaction, but when Jericho went to shake his hand, Omega did not reciprocate.
- Hangman Page and The Young Bucks def. Toa Liona, Kaun and Brian Cage to win the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championship by pinfall, which pleasantly surprised the crowd. Swerve Strickland, who was very over with the New York fans, walked onto the stage during the match to stare down Page and distract him.
- Julia Hart def. Skye Blue by submission. Willow Nightingale made the save for Skye when Julia would not release her submission hold.
- Tony Khan came out to a mixed reaction (it was his third appearance of the night) to tease Grand Slam one day becoming an AEW pay-per-view. That likely wasn’t for television.
- The Righteous def. Best Friends, The Kingdom and The Hardys by pinfall to become the No. 1 contender for the ROH Tag Team Championship. It will be interesting to see how Adam Cole’s injury impacts the eventual match.
- The Acclaimed def. The Dark Order by pinfall to retain the AEW Trios Championship. They invited the Impractical Jokers into the ring after the match for a scissor party.
AEW Rampage live notes:
- Kudos to a crowd that had already been there for three hours for making as much noise as they did when Sammy Guevara and Don Callis cut promos.
- Julia Hart’s live entrance has some pretty neat aesthetics that stand out amongst most of the roster.
- A special edition “Better Than You Bay Bay” shirt in New York Mets colors and font was sold at the merch shops.