HAPPY 100TH EPISODE OF SPEAK NOW PRO WRESTLING~! Join on-air personality Denise Salcedo as she celebrates this major milestone while covering a major All Elite Wrestling show, AEW Dynamite Grand Slam.
Topics Rundown:
Overall thoughts
Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega finish in a time limit draw
CM Punk promo, throws shot at WWE
The importance of Dark and Dark: Elevation
MJF defeats Brian Pillman Jr.
Crowd boos Cody Rhodes
Sting and Darby Allin defeat FTR
Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho main event
Denise will return on Friday night to discuss WWE SmackDown and a two-hour episode of AEW Rampage~!
In one of the best matches in the short history of AEW Dynamite and the latest in what is likely several meetings between them in the future, Bryan Danielson and AEW World Champion Kenny Omega went to a 30-minute draw Wednesday in Queens, New York.
The non-title match opened the Grand Slam edition of Dynamite in front of 20,177 fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium — AEW’s largest crowd in history.
The only time cue came with one minute to go, escalating the pace between Danielson and Omega as they tried to win in their first meeting in more than a decade. In the final few seconds, the two traded headbutts, punches and kicks as the match ended, drawing boos from the sellout crowd.
Adam Cole and the Young Bucks then ran out as both men were separated and eventually superkicked Danielson. That brought out Christian Cage and Jurassic Express for a quick brawl to help preview their match on Rampage.
As expected, both men unloaded their respective arsenals during the course of the match, working a methodical pace in the first half and turning it up in the second. Both hit high-risk moves including Omega’s terminator dive that connected and a phoenix splash attempt that didn’t. Both men also hit big top rope moves with Danielson landing an avalanche back suplex and Omega hitting an avalanche dragon suplex.
Omega took control in the second half after connecting with a dragon suplex on the entrance ramp which was a videoboard covered by plexiglass. He then went to the top of the ramp and hit a running V-trigger that led into the one commercial break during the match.
Danielson ensnared Omega in Cattle Mutilation at one point, but the champion was able to escape. He was unable to lock in the LeBell lock during the match while Omega was unable to hit Danielson with the One Winged Angel as Danielson escaped via a reverse hurricanrana — both likely nods to a future meeting with a title involved down the line.
This was Danielson’s first match in AEW and his first of any kind since losing to Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a title vs. career match on the April 30th SmackDown. It was Omega’s first match since defending the title against Christian Cage at All Out — the event at which Danielson made his promotional debut.
The dream match will finally become a reality as AEW World Champion Kenny Omega will face Bryan Danielson on next Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Grand Slam from Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York.
However, the match will not be for Omega’s AEW title.
On Wednesday’s Dynamite, Omega, Don Callis and Danielson again found themselves in the ring face-to-face. Danielson directly challenged Omega to a match and said that someday, it will be about the title, but right now, it’s about who is better and giving the people what they want.
Callis didn’t want Omega to do the match, but Omega eventually took the mic away and accepted before the two stared each other down.
The sold-out show will see a title on the line as Women’s Champion Britt Baker will defend against no. 1 contender Ruby Soho. Soho got the opportunity by winning the women’s Casino Battle Royale at All Out and will look to take the title away from Baker in her fourth title defense.
In another match added Wednesday, FTR will take on Darby Allin and Sting. Following Allin’s win over Shawn Spears, FTR came out and got into a brawl with Allin and Sting, leaving them laying. Aided by Tully Blanchard, they wiped off Sting’s face paint as Spears did to Allin during their match.
CM Punk will also do a live interview prior to his first televised match in more than seven years. He will take on Powerhouse Hobbs on the special two-hour Rampage Grand Slam show announced Wednesday.
Those matches and promo join the previously announced Cody Rhodes vs. Malakai Black and MJF vs. Brian Pillman Jr. matches.
Here’s the full lineup:
AEW World Champion Kenny Omega vs. Bryan Danielson non-title
AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho title match
AEW will hold their first stadium show this September in Queens, NY.
In a NY Daily News exclusive, it was revealed that the Wednesday, September 22nd episode of Dynamite will emanate from Arthur Ashe Stadium — the first-ever wrestling event to take place from the tennis facility.
Home of the U.S. Open and an iconic facility in the region, AEW will sell 17,000 tickets for the show even though capacity is listed at more than 24,000.
Khan said the event will be called Dynamite: Grand Slam and will be on par with other special Dynamites like Winter is Coming and Blood & Guts. Tickets will go on sale on July 16th.
The story also confirmed that AEW will be in Newark, NJ, on September 15th and Rochester, NY, on September 29th — two dates that were moved several times due to the pandemic.
In the piece, Chris Jericho said it will be one of the biggest shows in AEW history in addition to the following:
“One of the reasons why AEW’s done so well is we’re different from WWE and that’s obvious. We do things differently than the way they do it. They’re a huge successful company, especially in the New York market. That’s a WWE stronghold.
“But there are a lot of people who are excited to see things done a little bit differently and I think that’s one of the reasons why we’re making our debut in New York City in a stadium WWE’s never been in. I’m sure we could have gone to the Garden or done the Barclays Center, but those do have a WWE brush on them. Let’s go somewhere else and make it our New York market arena. Let’s go to Arthur Ashe Stadium and that now becomes an AEW stronghold in the middle of New York, which is a McMahon country.”
