Welcome back for an all new Blogs Count Anywhere, the complementary pro-wrestling blog to the ODPH podcast. This week is a big week for All Elite Wrestlng as they invade New York City for a HUGE card hailing from Arthur Ashe Stadium: AEW Grand Slam (Wednesday Night Sept. 22nd 8pm EST on TNT). Let’s take a deeper look at some of the headline matches for the card!
Credit: All Elite Wrestling
MALAKAI BLACK VS. CODY RHODES
I’m guessing this will be the kickoff match of the card. Black, who made a big debut a few weeks back, has been on a tear attacking ”The Nightmare Family”, starting off with Cody. Fans hadn’t seen Cody on AEW television since their match on August 4th. On that night, Black left Cody in the ring knocked out. It wasn’t until this past week’s AEW Dynamite that we saw Cody return & attack Black.
I’m hoping we get a swerve here and Black escapes with the W, but let’s face it: The RhodesLander is returning. Cody isn’t going to lose on his big return. That is the safest bet you can make when it comes to AEW. Form here, Cody is going to be heading towards the Elite in some capacity. Maybe an ally? or Maybe an ally to Bryan Danielson? The major question becomes: IF Black loses, where does he go from here? There is no clear cut answer to that. One direction that makes sense to me is Darby Allin. They both play the “mysterious” angle well & can make for some intriquing storylines.
Credit: All Elite Wrestling
RUBY SOHO VS. BRITT BAKER (C) for the AEW Women’s Championship
Soho has made a quick impact since debuting at AEW All Out Labor Day Weekend. After winning the Casino Battle Royale, Soho has cashed in her title opportunity early with a match with Baker Wednesday. On the flipside, Baker has been on a roll lately since dethroning Shida for the title at Double Or Nothing. Baker is VERY over with the AEW faithful but has a huge test in front of her now with Soho.
This one should be & will be #AndStill. Don’t get me wrong, Soho is more than deserving of the title but Baker is still very over & I don’t see her dropping the belt here. However, Soho is going to be in the title picture for the foreseeable future. Look no further than her promo with Baker on last week’s Rampage. In case there was any confusion, Soho IS a bonified star. Look how she won that promo battle. AEW would be foolish to do anything less than keep Soho vs. Baker going for a bit (and at the very least, add Thunder Rosa who’s LONG overdue for another round with Baker).
Credit: All Elite Wrestling
MJF VS. Brian Pillman Jr.
And here we are, post Jericho feud. MJF, the future of the company* (if he stays when his contract ends) is now having a small feud with Pillman. Why is MJF in a mid-card feud at this stage is beyond me. The only reason I’m guessing is to build up Pillman or buy time till the eventual break-up from Wardlow’s services. Either way, “The Salt Of The Earth” takes this one. Why, cause he’s MJF & he NEEDS to start getting pushed higher on the cards ASAP.
Credit: All Elite Wrestling
BRYAN DANIELSON vs. KENNY OMEGA (c) - non AEW title
A main event no matter whether TV or PPV. THIS is your headliner. Danielson makes his AEW in-ring debut against Omega to build some story-line up. Omega retained his AEW title at ALL Out and Danielson introduced himself as number 1 contender (apparently, cause rankings are still a thing, right?). We’ve had some promos & interactions but Wednesday is go time for these 2 in AEW.
Omega either wins with help or Danielson wins clean to set the stage for AEW Full Gear. This will be a great match no matter what if they get time to work. Otherwise, expecting a LOT of Elite members involved and run-ins galore. That isn’t the worst though. Who better than Omega to welcome in Danielson? It’s a big profile match. I’m just not a big fan of him becoming no. 1 contender right out the gate. There’s still Hangman Adam Page & MJF on that roster who, imo, deserve a title run sooner than later.
That’s just some of the matches on Dynamite this week. There’s also a star-studded AEW Rampage on Friday (Sept. 24th 10pm EST on TNT) where CM Punk, Adam Cole & John Moxley are some of the names in action as well. 4 hours of PPV quality cards on cable TV this week from AEW. It’s a great week to be a pro wrestling fan so enjoy it!
Let me know what you think of AEW’s big week on Twitter. As always, thanks for reading!