AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam Review - September 21, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Chris Jericho def. Claudio Castagnoli to Win the ROH World Championship

As I've said before, when Jericho's in the ring with the right opponent and he keeps the stupid shenanigans to a minimum, he's at his best. This was another excellent performance from him and a very enjoyable opener. I'm honestly indifferent to Jericho becoming champ. I haven't been enamored with Jericho's character work all year, but hopefully he can speed up the process as far as Ring of Honor getting a television deal and an interesting story can be told between him and Daniel Garcia.

The Acclaimed def. Swerve In Our Glory to Win the AEW World Tag Team Championship

These two teams stole the show at All Out and had another terrific match here with plenty of suspenseful nearfalls. I would say their original encounter was slightly stronger, but the crowd was captivated throughout and they exploded for the finish. I'm not sure if Max Caster falling off the top rope toward the end was intentional or not, but it did deflate the crowd briefly. Also, I wouldn't have had Billy Gunn help Acclaimed win considering they're babyfaces and should be able to win on their own. That side, this was a well-deserved moment for them and I'm looking forward to Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee finally going their separate ways soon.

MJF Interviewed Tony Schiavone's Interview with Wheeler Yuta

Yuta has improved every aspect of his game over the last year, but he was destroyed by the ultra-hot MJF on the mic here and had his biggest weakness exposed. MJF was extremely entertaining as always and their brief brawl seemingly sets up a bout between the two soon. MJF attacking Schiavone was a nice touch because he isn't attacked often (if ever) and it put some heat on the otherwise-beloved MJF.

AEW All-Atlantic Champion and AEW Trios World Champion Pac def. Orange Cassidy

Cassidy has come a long way since these two initially faced off at Revolution 2020 (which just so happened to be Cassidy's first singles match in the company). They had a quality contest and the crowd was engaged in the action. Pac cheating to win was intriguing because he's largely been portrayed as a babyface lately. Maybe this means the feud will continue, and while I don't have much of a desire to see that, at least the All-Atlantic title is finally getting some exposure on Dynamite and not just on Dark.

AEW Interim Women's World Champion Toni Storm def. Britt Baker, Athena and Serena Deeb in a Four-Way Match; Saraya Debuted

Although I felt it was lazy that AEW went with another four-way with the women so soon after the last one at All Out, this was a great effort from everyone involved. They delivered a fun match in the time allotted to them and the result was the right one. Saraya (f.k.a. WWE's Paige) arriving afterward was a really cool surprise and you have to assume she's been cleared to compete after being retired for almost five years. She can be an awesome addition to this women's division, but I sincerely hope she'll be used correctly.

Jon Moxley def. Bryan Danielson to Win the Vacant AEW World Championship

I wish these two had been afforded more time so they didn't have to rush in the final few minutes, but it was the top-notch main event you'd expect from them. I liked their Revolution match from March more, but this was still superb stuff. Danielson winning his first world title in AEW would have been wonderful (along with avenging his loss to Moxley in the process), but I understand wanting to put the belt back on Moxley before MJF inevitably wins it off of him (preferably on the sooner side).

Overall Show

Even with a stacked card on paper, Grand Slam this year didn't have the same buzz surrounding it coming in compared to last year, but it ended up being one of the best all-around editions of Dynamite all year. It was a newsworthy night with three titles changing hands, the wrestling being above-average on the whole, and the debut of Saraya. It was basically a mini pay-per-view and an awesome one at that. Fingers crossed AEW can maintain this positive momentum heading into this last stretch of 2022.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews