AEW Grand Slam (2021) -- Results & Afterthougths

Match Results for Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Singles Match
Kenny Omega (with Don Callis) and Bryan Danielson wrestled to a time limit draw

Bryan vs Omega was great even before they even locked up for the first time. Stellar match but I thought the execution of the time limit draw was a little weak/awkward. Live crowd didn't care for it either evidenced by the loud boos after the announcement of the draw.

It just proves to me that Omega can be massively better when he works with these more seasoned veteran opponents, first evidenced with Christian Cage and now with Bryan Danielson. We'll see the NJPW Omega come out more to surface. I dare say this was the closest we got to that.

Punk's promo was a nice cooldown after the highs of that match and gave some logical reasoning behind his smiles and lack of aggression despite getting his ass handed to him by Team Taz last week. No complaints here all for this match tonight. Great stuff to put Hobbs over.

Singles Match

MJF (with Wardlow) defeated Brian Pillman Jr. (with Julia Hart) by submission

A fine match all on it's own, but I wasn't bothered by Julia Hart being ringside like most people as she played into the finish. My biggest problem with this entire feud has been that Pillman Jr. hasn't gotten fired up nor aggressive throughout this entire feud after MJF has dragged the names of both his birth mother and deceased father through the mud but he's still out here all smiles and grins. Like seriously bro, beat this dude like he owes you money for dissin' your family like that.

Some friend Griff Garrison is. He should have been there hyping Pillman up like Chris Tucker was to Jackie Chan in the finale of Rush Hour 2 when Chan's character confronted the man who killed his father.

I was a little surprised that MJF would grab Julia's wrist - on TNT no less - for heel heat on this show. I'm sure if they pressed the incident a bit further that the network would have been more alarmed, but at this point they have allowed these deathmatches (we'll get to it later) on this show over the past few months, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised at this point.

The altercation with Julia Hart at ringside left MJF in the ring to recuperate before Pillman could finish him off with his springboard back into the ring, whereas MJF caught him with the Salt of the Earth (Fujiwara Armbar) out of the air for the win via submission. No complaints from me with MJF going over as they gave Pillman an out here if they want to revisit this feud with a tag team match (as they should) between MJF and Wardlow against the Varsity Blondes.

Singles Match

Malakai Black defeated Cody Rhodes (with Arn Anderson and Brandi Rhodes) by pinfall

I loved that Black went over Cody AGAIN, but I audibly groaned with disgust that Cody had to drag out both Arn AND Brandi back out here. I felt so bad for Arn legit falling off the ring apron before his bump spot. I shook my goddamn head at the Brandi flipping off Black spot though. Like really? Was that even needed at this point just to give her some contribution to being on this show?

I wonder how many people are going to be echoing this whole "vanity project" mindset for AEW once Rhodes to the Top debuts next week? Cody claims that he's not going heel but he won't have any choice in due time given the reactions to him at that show.

Jim Cornette had a great quote concerning this match that I have to share:

"No wonder the crowd was booing every breath that Cody Rhodes took in the match. This was it. This was the one where they (AEW) couldn't mute the sound, they couldn't talk their way out of it. Everything that Malakai Black did, the people came unglued. Everything that Cody did, it was like 20,000 fans at the same time had seen some stranger break into their house and sodomized the family Dalmatian. They hated it! The only thing they wanted to see was Cody getting the shit kicked out of him, and I don't think they wanted to see Brandi get her ass kicked, I just think they didn't wanna see her at all. So with this situation, Malakai Black was a raving babyface, and Cody Rhodes was the hottest heel on the show."

Tag Team Match

Sting and Darby Allin defeated FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) (with Tully Blanchard) by submission

Sting needs to have an "OUTWORK EVERYONE" shirt after that match of him and Darby vs FTR. Like Sting was wrestling out there like he had something to prove and clearly didn't even need Darby at all. It was to the point where I was laughing at how dominant Sting looked.

To FTR's credit, they kept up with Sting every step of the way and aided in making him look like a million bucks, as evidenced but not limited to with the great spot with Tully's heel antics backfiring and costing his boys the match. There was a great Coffin Drop on the ring apron to stop FTR from reaching the ropes for the win too. Fun tag match from bell to bell. It just adds more fuel in the fire that FTR are STILL the best tag teams out there today. It's insane to me that these guys aren't in a higher position on these cards on a regular basis.

Singles Match for the AEW Women's World Championship

Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (c) (with Jamie Hayter and Rebel) defeated Ruby Soho by submission

I'll be honest, I wasn't crazy about Britt/Soho main eventing this show as it feels like AEW keeps giving their women the main event spot so much that it doesn't really feel special. The non-sanctioned match made sense, along with the title match in Britt's hometown on Rampage.

But I get WHY they did it in terms of how they were formatting this show in tandem of recording Rampage for the live crowd immediately after. If they ended with Bryan/Omega people either would've been too burnt out to get amped for the Punk match right after.

Britt/Soho was a decent match, but I thought the finish was a little flat. That was just the impression I was left with as the show closed out. Not mad at Soho losing either when it looked like she was on a massive push on arrival. Losing here doesn't hurt her at all.

Match Results for Friday, September 24, 2021

This special edition of Rampage was two-hours in length with each hour labeled as Part 1 and Part 2 of the conclusion of Grand Slam that started on Wednesday Night Dynamite.

Singles Match

CM Punk defeated Powerhouse Hobbs (with Hook) by pinfall

This was the best match that Hobbs has had on television in my honest opinion since I haven't kept up with his numerous outings on Dark and Elevation.

I can't hold anything against Punk for wanting to work with these younger guys and elevate them in a sense. Both Darby Allin and Powerhouse Hobbs have both come out looking better by stepping in the ring with CM Punk.

I would be fooling myself if I didn't admit that this match was without faults though. The tailend of this match saw both men up on top rope, where Punk was attempting to hurracanrana Hobbs off the top rope but Hobbs hoists him back up into position. Punk fell back into a Hurracanrana anyway with both him and Hobbs landing in a clump that just looked horrible on execution. Complete botch there. It took me out of the match as I was more scared for their safety than the outcome of this match, especially with Hobbs landing right on his neck. Hobbs didn't seem to be concussed like he was with his match with Dante Martin from a few weeks ago, so that's a plus. Punk and Hobbs went immediately into the finishing sequence that saw Hobbs "accidentally" knock Hook (who looks bizarrely like Tony Khan if he was on steroids and had a Gold's Gym membership...) off the ring apron. Hobbs seemed clueless on what to do next as Punk had to tug him by the arm to turn around into the GTS that followed shortly thereafter for the finish.

Can't say I was expecting anything different in the result with Punk walking away the winner.

Six-man Tag Team Match

Superkliq (Adam Cole and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)) (with Doc Gallows and Brandon Cutler) defeated Christian Cage and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) (with Marko Stunt) by pinfall

I can't say that this was that much different from your typical Young Bucks match outside of the fact that Adam Cole got a lot of time to shine in this match. I did appreciate the small attention to detail that Cole took extra care NOT to get in the ring with Jungle Boy and when they were in the ring together, he would quickly tag out to save that confrontation for down the road. I believe that match is happening on next week's Dynamite/Rampage, but I could be mistaken.

The bulk of this match felt like it was a showcase for both Jungle Boy and Adam Cole to me.

A lot of people will disagree with me but I was VERY happy to see Luchasaurus take the losing fall for once. We are into the second year of this company and I don't see any long term benefit of Luchasaurus continuing to be protected. Jungle Boy is obviously the star to come out of this team when they eventually split up with Luchasaurus being regulated as lower midcard fodder when his novelty finishes wearing off.

Tag Team Match

Men of the Year (Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page) (with Dan Lambert) defeated The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho and Jake Hager) by pinfall

I honestly didn't give a flying fuck about this match from bell to bell.

I laughed that they closed out the first hour with Jericho and Hager applying double submissions on Sky and Page, faded to black with Excalibur signing off, only to start right back up a second later with the match still going on to kick off hour 2. Was it really necessary to fade in and out like that for the folks watching at home? I didn't see the point in splitting up the show into two separate hours anyway, but then again, I don't work in formatting shows for television either.

The biggest takeaway here was the importance of Men of the Year getting a win here after Dan Lambert's showboating to talk them up into favor. Jericho and Hager definitely didn't need a win here - nor did he against MJF either, but that sin has already been committed and there's no going back in time to change it.

The post-match attack from America's Top Team coming to the aid of Dan Lambert as he was about to get his ass kicked by Jericho and Hager was bordering on comical from how bad these legit MMA fighters have to pull their punches (since they are obviously not trained wrestlers) while attempting to sell Jericho and Hager's working punches. Gorgeous as she may be, Paige Van Zant does not need to be out here "shoot" punching Jericho. I hope that's the last time we see that mess, even though I wouldn't be opposed her having a match with someone like Thunder Rosa, Serena Deeb, or "Legit" Leyla Hirsch on that roster though. I will admit that one dude connected with a beautiful looking running knee lift though. He should show Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks how to perform that move properly.

Eight-Man Tag Team Match

Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fénix) and Santana and Ortiz (with Alex Abrahantes) defeated Hardy Family Office (Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) and The Butcher and The Blade) (with Matt Hardy and Jack Evans) by pinfall

It was pretty strange that Santana and Ortiz were nowhere in sight to help their buddies in the Inner Circle from getting their asses kicked by America's Top Team in the previous segment. I blame that more on poor formatting for this show than having shitty friends in that scenario as AEW has an uncanny trend of people getting beaten up for extended lengths of time without a friend in sight showing up to make the save, more often than not.

I have to be honest on one side note. I'm still laughing that Excalibur mentioned on commentary last week that The Butcher and The Blade were the #1 ranked tag team on Rampage when they challenged the Lucha Bros. for the tag team titles. How the fuck was that even possible when The Butcher was injured for like 3-5 months? And people wonder why I stopped following AEW's so-called "rankings" because the logic made me mad every week trying to make sense of it.

That being said, this match was a lot of fun to watch in terms of the high-flying action. You knew Santana and Ortiz were going to represent with the facepaint as they always do. I'm surprised that Ringside Collectibles hasn't gotten an exclusive bundle of Proud & Powerful with the war paint from their last few appearances in these "special" matches.

I want to mention that The Butcher is in incredible shape since returning from his injury and touring with his band. If I wasn't familiar with The Blade's pre-AEW work on the indies and in IMPACT Wrestling I would suggest that those two split up, but they definitely had a few minutes of shine in this match.

To be honest, I enjoyed this match a lot more than I thought I would have. It was just a great bit of high paced action to shut your brain off and enjoy for a few minutes.

Singles Match

Penelope Ford defeated Anna Jay by pinfall

This was a dead spot for this match this late into this card, where it was painfully obvious that the live crowd didn't give a flying fuck at this point.

All that I can say that it was a match, with not much else to say about it.

I just know that I don't give a flying fuck about anything involving the Hardy Family Office. Everyone aligned with Matt Hardy seems to be saddled with their careers in a nosedive in this company. They gave him all of the guys (and girls) that no one doesn't give a damn about with all of their new toys on the roster to play with in terms of high profile debuts over the past few months.

With the show being dedicated to the late Brodie Lee next week, I can understand that Tony Khan wants to give the Dark Order a noteworthy feud to get all of the members a spot on that card, but let's get realistic here. The Dark Order is hanging on by a thread. It's long past due to split these people up - outside of maybe Stu Grayson and Evil Uno to function as a tag team - and allow them to go off on their own. They don't have to "break up" just go off to their own devices and don't be burdened down with this awful gimmick (especially the ones in masks) for the rest of their careers. Brodie Lee wouldn't want that either. They could always reunite down the road and still do dark matches/off-camera stuff with -1.

Lights Out Match

Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston defeated Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer) by pinfall

This was a Moxley match and I automatically tuned out for a bit. I was admittedly half-paying attention as 95% of Moxley's matches go the same way - a ton of brawling at ringside, some biting in there, along with spots to pop the crowd. To the NY crowd's credit, they knew the lyrics to Suzuki's entire theme song and knew how to react during the chorus to give "Murder Grandpa" the respect he deserves.

If Lance Archer would spend as much time beating up people on the actual full-time AEW roster of name value as he did with nameless jobbers, obvious plants in the crowd(s), and workers pretending to be event/venue staff members then that guy would probably be AEW World Champion by now. I didn't give a damn about most of his offense here. It was mostly eye-roll inducing for me. I was ready to groan with disgust for the pending Crucifix Powerbomb from the corner onto the chairs when Homicide's music started playing. He looked pissed off as all hell too that they couldn't get the duct tape off of Moxley in time. I'm sure Homicide said it wasn't a disaster like that first Terrordome X-Division match in TNA/IMPACT that time that he wanted to kill Vince Russo over.

I still don't understand why Moxley will do the Paradigm Shift two different ways. Some weeks, it's a double underhook suplex; others it's a goddamn double underhook DDT. Like dude, make up your fucking mind on which one it is.