AEW Dynamite 9/25/2024 Grand Slam 2024

AEW Dynamite 9/25/2024 Grand Slam 2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/09/aew-dynamite-9182024.html

There are not many people here for this. The stadium looked big years ago but it is set up like any other arena today. I definitely got some WCCW Parade of Champions 1987 vibes from this.

AEW World Title - Bryan Danielson (c) vs Nigel McGuinness

Bryan doesn't come out immediately and Nigel gets at him on the mic. He says he wants a 10 count and says Bryan should be stripped of the title. Bryan eventually comes out to his old Final Countdown theme.

Bryan rocks him with a euro. Bryan rolls and bridges out of a wristlock and Nigel euros him. Bryan hits a kick to the back. Nigel takes him down by the wrist twice and they do some nice chain wrestling. Bryan cartwheels out of a wristlock.

Nigel hits some awful looking slaps then they slap each other. They trade euros. Bryan kicks him in the leg and Nigel makes it look like a low blow. They each hit mounted shots. Bryan goes for the Lebell lock.
Bryan gets sent out and is sent into the rails. Bryan's head is banged off the steps. Bryan is then tripped into the steps. Bryan headbutts Nigel and sends him into the post. Bryan's arm is banged off the post. Nigel does the London dungeon. Nigel double throat thrusts him then takes a flying dropkick.

Bryan double underhook suplexes him. Bryan flying knees him. Bryan hits kicks to the chest and head for 2. Nigel does a corner handstand and boots him. Nigel is bridged on the top rope and post. Nigel then hits a kick to the back + elbow slice to take him down.

Nigel does his rebound lariat for 1. Nigel eye pokes him and ripcord lariats him for 2. Nigel hits downward elbows on Bryan. Nigel hits his tower of london bridging cutter. Nigel does the longdon dungeon then Bryan does downward elbows.

They trade strikes and Nigel codebreakers the arm. Nigel flying knees him, Bryan rebounds off the ropes and Nigel lariats him. Bryan does a lebell lock, Nigel says thank you and Nigel taps out

Thoughts: It was a good wrestling match here with them trading holds and doing some strikes. The result was never really in doubt here due to Nigel being a commentator. The build to this was absolutely awful with Bryan not even being on TV leading up to this and Tony Khan expecting the average person to know a wrestler who hasn't done much in a major fed for over a decade.

Christian Cage comes out on the ramp with his contract after. Kip Sabian takes CC's pen as he tries to sign in. CC chases him and runs into Pac and Claudio, then continues the chase.

FTW Title - Hook (c) vs Roderick Strong

Taven and Bennett are with RS. They lock up and RS wristlocks him. Hook reverses it and RS reverses it. Hook takes him down and does a head and arm choke and RS ropebreaks on. Hook forearms RS outside and sends him into the rails. Hook hits forearms and RS sends him into the rail.

RS misses a kendo stick shot then Hook hits him and his 2 buddies with it. RS takes a russian legsweep with the stick into the rails. Hook is thrown into the post head first. We go to PiP break and return. Hook germans RS and hits lariats. Hook hits shots in the corner and suplexes him. RS puts a chair between the buckles and Hook is rammed into it. RS pumping knees him and drives him into the mat chest first. Hook shoulder throws RS onto chairs. RS throw him gut first on a chair and hits a sick kick for 2. Hook does redrum and taps RS out.

Thoughts: I wasn't a huge fan of it. The hardcore stuff didn't really fit this and the match wasn't set-up well enough for the time. The ending stretch needed to be longer.

They shake hands after.

Tony Schiavone interviews Hook after. Tony says in 1998, the FTW Title was created 3 miles away from here. Hook says all good things must come to an end. He thanks everyone who has competed for the FTW Title and all the fans. Hook says the FTW Title is now officially retired. Hook then hugs Taz.

Thoughts: I'm fine with this. The title really wasn't needed due to AEW having so many titles and didn't accomplish a lot besides giving Hook something to do.

AEW Tag Titles - The Young Bucks (c) vs Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher

One of the Bucks is wearing beads in his hair like a little girl. Why is not dressing up like a girl so hard for this roster? Will is put in a side headlock and shouldered over. He kips up and is pulled down from behind. Nick is popped up into a headscissonrs on Will. Kyle takes a double back elbow and The Bucks pose.

A Buck takes a double hiptoss and a double kick. The Bucks are laid on top of each other and Will moonsaults off of Kyle's back onto them. Will and Kyle then do stereo moonsaults together off the same post.

 We go to PiP break and return. The Bucks are pushed into each other and take a flatliner + ddt combo. Will does a springboard forearm then chops up one of the buckles. Will does a handspring double pele kick. Will then does a standing corkscrew moonsault. Will takes a corkscrew kick and an assisted shiranui. Will then takes a running knee.

Will is laid on the top rope. He is swantoned on and flips into a sitout powerbomb. Will hits a double os cutter for 2. A buck hits a poisonrana on Will then Kyle hits a double running clothesline. A Buck hits Kyle with a facebuster. Will hits a 450 out of nowhere, takes a canadian destroyer, no sells it then hits a hidden blade.

A Buck and Kyle trade forearms. Kyle gets tripped then takes a PK from a Buck. Kyle takes a spike tombstone on the apron. Kyle takes a running knee. We go to PiP break and return. Will and Kyle hit styles clashes together for 2. Will hits a hidden blade then a stormbreaker for 2. 

Kyle hits half and half suplexes on the Bucks. Kyle takes a step up knee and a bulldog. Kyle takes a superkick and Will hits a flying cutter in the air. A Buck takes a Meltzer driver for 2. A Buck takes a coriolis for 2. Kyle hits a buckle brainbuster on a Buck for 2. Kyle flying leg lariats Nick off the apron then topes him.

Don Callis gives Kyle a screwdriver to use. Will takes it and gives it to the ref. Will then gets hit wit ha title belt. Kyle gets hit with a belt for 2. Kyle takes a double superkick and a BTE trigger. Kyle is then pinned.

Thoughts: I knew I wouldn't like this one before it happened and I didn't. It was nothing but a bunch of cool and dangerous moves that nobody had any interest in selling. These guys all love to do way too much and love to wrestle an indy style so this wasn't much of a surprise at all.

The Conglomeration are interviewed. OC invites Rocky Romero to join them. Rocky talks in Spanish for some reason. Mark says we can expect cool Conglomeration shirts on Collision. Mark says we are less than 5 miles away where The Briscoes had their last match as a team. Mark says The Learning Tree will get a DemBoys and a Jay Briscoe style @ss whooping. Mark says vociferous is the word for the day and talks about beating up The Learning Tree.

Tony Schiavone interviews Prince Nana on the stage. Nana throws his coffee out to fans then dances. Nana says it's good to be in New York in Swerve's House. Nana says nothing can stop Swerve mentally but he's not cleared physically. MVP of WWE fame comes out with a cane.

MVP says Swerve is the most dangerous man in AEW. He says he's the most phenomenal talent to step foot in an AEW ring. He talked about the people Swerve beat but said he saw Swerve lose and saw his house burn to the ground. MVP asks why the man who burnt down his house walking around and smiling. MVP says he sees that as a failure on his management.

He says his management is more concerned with selling coffee and shucking and jiving. He says to let Swerve know that when he's ready to take it seriously again to give him his business card. He says to let him know he'll be ready to talk business.

Thoughts: WWE unexpectedly cut Lashley and MVP a little while back and it's been rumored they may show up here. There was no real reason for the cut, though I wouldn't say either guy is irreplaceable. AEW has no lack of roster members, but I'd rather see Lashley than some of the other people they have and they have a lot of shows to fill these days so I'm okay with it. I don't think it does much to help AEW business though.

We see Jack Perry arriving in a bus.

AEW Women's Title - Mariah May (c) vs Yuka Sakazaki

Yuka springboard plancha's may as she enters. She bangs May's head off the apron then 619's her under the bottom rope outside. They slap each other inside. Yuka spinning forearms her.

They go out. May shotgun dropkicks Yuka outside. May hits a spinning side slam in the ring. May dropkicks her between the ropes. Yuka blocks a handstand hurricanrana on the ropes. Yuka hanging headscissors her over the top rope. Yuka rolls her up then backslides her for 2.

Yuka rolls her around the ring for 2. May germans her for 2. Yuka hits a superkick then does a northern lights bomb. Yuka springboards and May gets her knees up. May running knees her then hits a storm zero and wins.

Thoughts: It was on the shorter end of matches and I didn't think it was that great. They didn't click that well and I didn't buy that Yuka was going to win here.

May goes to hit her with the belt after and Willow Nightingale stop her. Mina Shirakwa then comes out. May hits willow from behind. May then hugs Mina and Mina looks confused. Yuka chases May away.

Darby's World Title Shot is on the line - Darby Allin vs Jon Moxley

Darby runs into a Mox facekick. Mox throws him into the buckles hard and rakes his face. Mox kicks the ropes into Darby's mouth. Mox slams Darby's leg into the ropes then butt drops it. Darby's mouth is busted open bad.

Darby is thrown hard through the middle and top rope and goes down to the floor. Darby shotgun dropkicks him outside and gets on his back. Darby is thrown down to the floor. Mox's arm is put in the ring post and Darby rakes the yes. Marina Shafir pulls Mox's arm out.

Darby top rope coffin drops Mox outside. Darby hits a big tope on Mox. Marina gets in the way of Darby outside. Mox slams Darby on the apron and Marina beats up Darby outside. Mox presses Darby's head into the post with his foot.

We go to PiP break and return. Mox lariats him. Darby stunners him while on Mox's shoulder then top rope dropkicks Mox while Mox is sitting in a chair outside. Darby hits a code red inside for 2. Mox hits a nice shotgun dropkick.

Darby back rolls him then springboard twisting splashes him. Darby fujiwara armbars him. Darby is sat on the top rope and Mox slaps him down. Mox pulls up the mats outside. Mox is sent into the steps. Darby misses a tope and lands on the wood underneath the mats on the floor.

Mox release suplexes him on the steps. The fans chant "you can't kill him". Mox misses a corner charge and is rolled up. Mox catches Darby's coffin drop with a sleeper. Darby spits out some nasty orange colored liquid from his mouth as he ropebreaks.

They fight on the buckles and Mox top rope ddt's him. Mox then gets the pin.

Thoughts: I wasn't a big fan of this. Darby got destroyed as usual and took a bunch of stupid bumps. The finish wasn't that great and wasn't well build to either. It went longer and slowed down near the end too. I was surprised to see Mox win this one as Darby was expected to win due to WrestleDream being in Seattle. The set-up to this one was stupid was Darby giving up a title shot for no real reason. Mox was also dumb as he started a feud with Bryan, then challenged Darby for the title shot (instead of challenging Bryan who was healthy enough to wrestle).

Bryan Danielson tries to choke out Mox with a tie after (mimicking him getting fired from WWE for choking Justin Roberts with a tie). Marina Shafir helps out Mox. Pac and Claudio then help. Private Party and Kommander then come out and help. Mox is pulled out of the way when Bryan goes for a flying knee.

Bryan gets on the mic after. He says Mox wanted war and he declares war. Bryan challenges him to a title match at WrestleDream and says he will kick his @ss.

Overall thoughts: They gave away a big show on free TV here. That has to be acknowledged if nothing else. I liked Bryan vs Nigel but didn't care for the rest of the show. The tag title match was a stupid indy match as expected. The women's match was just there. The main was long and slow and Darby took a bunch of dangerous moves as usual. The booking behind Bryan/Nigel and Mox/Darby was awful as well and definitely hurt my interest in it. It also felt weird that people like Page, Swerve and MJF were missing from the show after being so heavily featured as of late.