AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam Review - September 25, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson def. Nigel McGuinness (Non-Title)

For starters, AEW's handling of the buildup for this bout was super disappointing. Anyone aware of their amazing matches from Ring of Honor knows how big of a deal this was (or at least should have been), and although we've heard from McGuinness in the last two weeks and there have been video packages highlighting their history, ​a Danielson rebuttal was needed to make the match mean more. However, that wasn't possible because of they wanted to save Danielson's return for this show. It's a shame the crowd was quiet for the first half, but it turned into a really nice match as it progressed and McGuinness proved he can still go. I understand Christian Cage teasing cashing in his AEW World Championship opportunity afterward was intended to reminded viewers he's still in possession of it, but Kip Sabian stealing the pen before he could sign the contract was very stupid.

FTW Champion Hook def. Roderick Strong

I haven't cared about this storyline since it started a few weeks ago, but Hook will only benefit from working with stars more seasoned and experienced than him (then again, the lengthy rivalry with Chris Jericho did him no favors in the long run). They had a well-worked match that didn't overstay its welcome. Post-match, Hook officially retired the FTW Championship and handed the belt to his father Taz, which was long overdue.

AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks def. Kyle Fletcher and AEW International Champion Will Ospreay

There was no reason to think Ospreay and Fletcher were taking the titles here, but that didn't make the nearfalls down the stretch any less suspenseful. This was an excellent match that the crowd was hot for. The screwdriver spot is still ridiculous, but it was a logical story to tell with Fletcher willing to go through with it and Ospreay costing them the win by not being for it. I'm surprised we didn't see The Don Callis Family turn on Ospreay afterward so Ricochet could make the save before they face off for the AEW International Championship on next week's five-year anniversary episode.

MVP Interrupted Prince Nana

Nana was giving an update on Swerve Strickland and saying he isn't currently cleared to compete when MVP randomly appeared. MVP became a free agent about a month ago, but it feels like so much has happened since then that I totally forgot about The Hurt Business potentially coming to the company. This was the first step and it was well done. My guess is that Strickland will deny MVP's request to join him, leading to a Bobby Lashley vs. Strickland feud that I'd definitely be down for.

AEW Women's World Champion Mariah May def. Yuka Sakazaki

This came together on such short notice that it's no shocker that the crowd couldn't have cared less. Nothing against either women as they had a fine match, but the outcome was predictable and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about the action. Based on the post-match angle, we're clearly headed for Sakazaki and Willow Nightingale vs. May and Mina Shirakawa.

​Jon Moxley def. Darby Allin in an AEW World Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

This match has happened at least two or three times over the years in AEW, but this had a different dynamic than those other encounters with Moxley working in the heel role. Allin had to fight from underneath more than usual and it made for an enjoyable outing. I didn't expect Moxley to win decisively, but that's not necessarily a bad thing that he did. Moxley will challenge Danielson for the title at WrestleDream and I'm okay with that after what went down at All Out, but Danielson needs to retain. Moxley would be the wrong choice to end Danielson's full-time career and capture the championship for a fourth time.

Overall Show

While this wasn't as special as past installments of Grand Slam, this was still an above-average edition of Dynamite by recent standards. Danielson vs. McGuinness should've been bigger, but I appreciated that we got it and what we got was very good. The tag title match stole the show with ease, MVP debuting was newsworthy, Moxley vs. Allin set up the main event for Revolution, and the FTW Championship was finally retired. The women's title match fell flat, but that was the only real "miss" for me. I also wish the hype for next week's five-year anniversary episode was better because only two matches are advertised as of now.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews