AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam Review - September 22, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW World Champion Kenny Omega vs. Bryan Danielson Ended in a Time-Limit Draw (Non-Title)

What an f'n match. It's rare you have the crowd cheering and buzzing before the bell even rings, but that's what happened here. Wow. By all accounts, this was a dream match for many and it delivered. AEW doesn't do disqualifications or count-outs often, but going with the time-limit draw was the smartest thing they could have done to avoid either guy taking a loss. The match itself was exceptional. It was perfectly paced, they kept the crowd the whole way through, there were plenty of suspenseful spots and cool counters, and it didn't feel like 30 minutes had passed in the slightest. The only thing missing was Adam Page returning afterward to kick off the build to Omega vs. Page at Full Gear, but because he didn't, it looks like he isn't ready to return yet. Instead, maybe we'll get Omega vs. Danielson II and they'll save Omega vs. Page for later down the line. I'm sure the crowd will still be hot for him by then, but you never know with AEW bringing in so many popular people lately.

CM Punk Addressed Powerhouse Hobbs

Punk was right when he said: "How do you follow that?" I thought he did as well as he could and the New York City crowd was red-hot for him. I've been digging happy and wholesome Punk, but when he needs to get serious and down to business, he can do that, too. Punk's renewed passion for pro wrestling has been phenomenal to witness and has made everything he's been involved in feel must-see. That match with Hobbs on Rampage this Friday is no exception. It's an awesome spot for Hobbs as well. Even though he won't win, he can still gain a ton in defeat.

MJF def. Brian Pillman Jr.

This match was exactly what it needed to be. They were given a decent amount of time, Pillman got to shine on offense for a bit, and there were some well-done spots with everyone playing those roles well. The crowd was behind Pillman, but MJF needed this victory far more than he did coming off his loss to Chris Jericho at All Out. It was a perfectly acceptable outing but probably the weakest thing on the show. That's not to say it was below average by any means, but it simply paled in comparison to everything else.

Malaki Black def. Cody Rhodes

I've been saying for weeks that it would have been insanely stupid for Cody to immediately avenge his loss to Black from their initial encounter in early August. The crowd let AEW know that with how much Cody was booed here. Cody can be a great babyface, but there was nothing for him to gain from beating Black, not to mention he's been directionless for the better part of the last year. I've enjoyed this feud and Cody getting his win back so soon would've been the wrong call. This was the competitive match I was hoping we'd see from them originally, but I'm sure they could do even better with more time. The finishing sequence was awkward, but at least Black won. Yes, him winning clean would've been ideal, but I'll take it. It's possible they build to a third match with Cody finally overcoming Black there, but I'd rather see Black move on to other opponents while Cody turns heel. He's said before that he has no interest in turning heel, but it would be the correct move to make at this point after the reaction he received on this show.

Sting and Darby Allin def. FTR

He's been back in the ring for over six months now and it still doesn't cease to amaze me how well Sting can move around the ring at his age. I thought that was evident during his brief WWE run, but that was six years ago. His inevitable singles match may be a disaster, mind you, but AEW has been wise to keep him limited in these tag team matches with Allin and I don't think there's any argument that Allin has benefited big time from their alliance. I thoroughly enjoyed this outing and FTR were excellent as always. I wasn't too high on Sting getting the submission win on Dax Harwood, but this has to lead somewhere. Either Sting and Allin are getting a tag title shot (which I wouldn't do right now with The Lucha Brothers as the current champions) or, more likely, they're working their way through The Pinnacle and we're getting an MJF vs. Allin feud soon.

AEW Women's World Champion Britt Baker def. Ruby Soho

One of the biggest knocks against AEW for the longest time was the lack of depth in its women's division. That's still a work in progress to this day, but props to AEW for starting to spotlight the women more often by putting them in the main event on their biggest Dynamite to date. Personally, I would have put Omega vs. Danielson in this spot, but I understand they didn't want to go off the air with a time-limit draw. They had a quality contest and it was entirely possible Soho could have won the title here, but I'm glad AEW resisted the urge and kept the belt on Baker instead. Thunder Rosa needs to be the one to ultimately dethrone her. Soho was protected in defeat with the interference from Rebel and Jamie Hayter and by no means was she "buried." The aftermath is important, of course, but I don't think this is the last we'll see of her in the title picture. I'm sure she'll be champion at some point down the road.

Overall Show

AEW needed to hit a home run with this show and I felt they did just that. The atmosphere in Arthur Ashe Stadium alone was special and the crowd was hot almost all night. Of course, they were at their hottest during Omega vs. Danielson, which is bound to go down as one of AEW's best matches of 2021 (at least until their eventual rematch). The rest of the show held up and the two hours went by even quicker than usual. It was a terrific way to keep AEW's momentum going and reward the fans. AEW's primary goal is to entertain the audience and not leave them disappointed. This show accomplished that in spades. As always, I'm interested what the company will do in the weeks and months ahead to keep things exciting as Full Gear isn't until mid-November.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews