wrestling / TV Reports
St-Pierre’s AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam Review 9.22.21
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Kenny Omega vs. Bryan Danielson
This is one of those things that doesn’t really need to be said, but Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega are sensational professional wrestlers. Heck, I’ll do ya one better; they’re two of the best that have ever stepped into a ring. So barring divine intervention or the roof of Arthur Ash disintegrating into dust that drowns both men, this was never going to be anything but a great match. Especially in this building, in front of this crowd, and at this point in AEW’s hot streak. This was never going to be disappointing, and that divine intervention did not happen. I loved every minute of this.
I believe that Bryan Danielson is the best in-ring wrestler ever, and to cover that ground, you have to excel at pretty much everything. But in my opinion, his finest contribution to his matches lies in his pacing. If you’re going to have a long thirty minute match, Bryan Danielson is the fella you want to do it with. It’s not just this match either. His match with Samoa Joe at ROH’s Midnight Express Reunion in 2004 is a masterclass in that, as was his match with John Cena at Summerslam 2013. He knows how to bring in his audience, which is all for the better since he’s an expert at rewarding them for staying.
While there weren’t any intricate story threads to speak of, it’s not like this was Move vs. Move. They told a tremendous story of thwarting one another’s strategies, something I think worked better than just “work the arm” would have. Bryan attempted to go after the arm, but Omega’s explosiveness and crafty wiles got him out of that trouble. Bryan wanted to grind him down, so Omega used his best quality and made the moves necessary to gain the upperhand. The Snap Dragon on the ramp, the harsh V-Triggers, and his willingness to go strike for strike with Bryan were big helpers for Kenny. He’s never going to beat Bryan in a straight mat wrestling affair, so like a good competitor should, he honed in on what he knew were his strengths and gained the most success with them. It’s that sort of storytelling that makes both men all-time greats, and I’m over the moon that there’s going to be a rematch. I especially appreciated how the commentary team brought up the Moxley vs. Omega Lights Out match when he missed the Phoenix Splash, since missing that move was what spelled doom for him in that bout. This was just psychologically sound from top to bottom, from the wrestlers to the sensational commentary.
Bell-to-bell, I wouldn’t quite call this outing a Match of the Year contender, but it’s not far off. Maybe that is disappointing to someone, but I can’t imagine someone watching this and coming away with anything but positive thoughts. It also says a ton about the audience’s trust in both the performers and AEW that they didn’t totally revolt because of the draw finish. Given all of that, I’d say this qualifies as nothing less than a total success from the raucous crowd in the early minutes to the simple-but-effective booking of the ending. Honestly, the idea that we’re going to get Bryan Danielson against other AEW guys is almost overstimulating right now. ****1/4
Bryan continues trying to put on the Lebell Lock, but The Elite runs down and throws him off. It seems like things have calmed down, but Bryan eats a three-piece superkick. Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus head down to fight them off, but the damage is done.
Some dude named CM Punk heads out to the ring. He puts over the Bryan/Omega match, but he gets down to business and talks some mess at Powerhouse Hobbs and Taz. He’s very happy with the crowd he’s in front of, but he still takes umbrage with the attack last week. Even with that, his happiness with wrestling and the fans takes it away just for a moment. He goes so far as to say that Team Taz wanted to take that joy away from him. That makes him especially mad, because it’s been a very long time since he’s felt this happy about wrestling. Team Taz should have finished the job and put him out for good. But they screwed up and now CM Punk is gonna remind them what it’s all about. Powerhouse Hobbs goes to sleep at Rampage. Barring the comeback at the United Center, I got more out of this segment than anything else Punk’s done so far on the mic. It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed anything else; I have, and I will continue to. Seeing the guy so happy is very heartwarming. But this felt like his first real “promo”, and you ain’t gonna find someone with better chops in that realm than Punk. Short and sweet, but it told us Punk’s motivation for his match beyond just being happy, and that’s when he shines the most.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Brian Pillman Jr.
While this wasn’t the breakout performance I was hoping for out of Pillman, I think this match excelled because of its easy face/heel divide. It was almost wrestling school basic, but that’s all you need with MJF. He doesn’t excel in wild finishing stretches. He excels when he has a believable, over babyface to torment and that’s really all this mini-feud was designed to be. Not everything needs to be huge and groundbreaking, and it’s a good way to keep MJF in the AEW zeitgeist after his year-long story with Jericho. **1/2
Chris Jericho and Jake Hager cut a promo on the Men of the Year to hype up Rampage, but it’s not as interesting as it could be because it’s not Dan Lambert cutting the promo. Never gonna stop putting him over and I don’t care how bad it makes my content.
Malakai Black vs. Cody Rhodes
Not much of a match if we’re being honest, but a very interesting character study of Cody Rhodes at this point nevertheless. It makes sense that the crowd would be on his case since Cody’s a pretty polarizing part of the show and Malakai Black rules, but he also very clearly played into it and made it a part of the match. The focus wasn’t on Malakai Black’s path of destruction, it was on Cody Rhodes’ behavior and Malakai Black’s advantages over him. The reactions reminded me a good bit of the Austin Aries vs. CM Punk match that kicked off the first Summer of Punk, but rather than overt love for anyone (that crowd would have died for Punk that night), it was a distaste for another that drove things. It didn’t feel like the crowd didn’t want to see Cody, so in a way, this is good heat. It’s hardly Roman Reigns in 2017, and AEW booking is far from stubborn when it comes to audience opinions. It’s just a question of where things are going, but you can say that for literally anything so I’m not pessimistic. Malakai Black has a fantastic aura here in AEW and it warms the cockles of my cold heart that we got BLACK MIST~! in the fray as well. Color me interested in where this heads from here, even if the match wasn’t super memorable or anything. **3/4
We get a video package for next week’s Miro vs. Sammy Guevara match, featuring the requisite awesome Miro promo while Guevara gets over the fact that he’s fighting to avenge his fallen friend. Good stuff.
Sting & Darby Allin vs. FTR
Sting was a tired man at the end of this match, but hot damn did he earn it, because this was my favorite match of his in God knows how long. This was a fabulous combination of FTR’s trademark style, Sting’s trademark spots, and a sense of timing that made everything feel as significant as possible. I especially enjoyed the last minute or so, because they made you feel like Sting and Darby were a legitimate team. They communicated and fed off of each other so well, especially when Darby’s Coffin Drop led to Sting getting the submission win. It’s storytelling like that that makes it credible that Sting and Darby can beat such a well-oiled machine in FTR and I commend them for doing it so well. It helps that it was a super exciting spot too, of course.
It’s a little scary that it took 20 years for a company to learn how to use Sting correctly, but AEW has knocked it out of the park at every turn. The Men of the Year match in May was awesome. The 2.0 match wasn’t much as a match, but had one of the most fun spots of the year in Sting no-selling the table, and it’s done a world of good for Darby Allin to boot. So not only is Sting’s actual wrestling still great, he’s greatly benefitting a guy that AEW clearly wants to build around. It’s a masterclass in how to use an “old” legend to help your product. I genuinely don’t think I’ve enjoyed Sting this much since the actual 20th Century. ***1/2
AEW Women’s Title: Britt Baker D.M.D. (c) vs. Ruby Soho
This one took a while to get going and it felt like they didn’t have the crowd for some of it, but they recovered and brought it up quite well. Ruby is one of the smoother wrestlers that Britt Baker has wrestled so far, and while Britt is still rough around the edges at points, she did a really good job of keeping pace. It still feels like Ruby has some of the WWE-isms she needs to shake off, but she delivered when the time came and that’s what matters.
While this wasn’t an especially important part of the match, I really liked how they worked the feeling out process. It was a lot of holds, but they made it a little nasty in how they did it. Ruby stomped Britt’s feet and pie-faced her, so Britt threw in a fish hook for good measure. It’s little things like that that make a match feel immersive, especially after their pretty explosive promo segment on Rampage. It’s a bit of character work that I appreciate, especially from someone like Ruby who does lag a little behind Britt in that category… although that’s hardly an insult given Britt is one of the best personalities in the whole company. As a match this didn’t feel amazing, but it was a worthy main event on a huge show, and it’s starting to finally feel like this AEW women’s division has an identity with Britt as its king(queen?)pin. ***1/4
