McGuinness challenges Danielson at Grand Slam on TSN2
Published
It's the fourth annual AEW Grand Slam live from Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens with AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson taking on old rival Nigel McGuinness, Jon Moxley meeting Darby Allin and three title matches. You can catch AEW Grand Slam LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
AEW World Champion "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness - We should preface the preview for this match with an an asterisk: it will only go down if Bryan Danielson is medically cleared to compete, which is still up in the air after the brutal assault on the AEW World Champion by his former stablemates in the Blackpool Combat Club, Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli, at All Out. After successfully defending his title against Jack Perry, Danielson thought the appearance of the BCC at ringside after the match was to prevent Christian Cage from cashing in his Casino Gauntlet title shot. While they did do that, he didn't see what was coming next. Castagnoli waylaid him with a European uppercut before Moxley choked him out with a plastic bag. By the time the beating was over, Danielson required oxygen and help from the ring. Danielson has not been heard from since the Sept. 7 match, but that hasn't stopped Nigel McGuinness from throwing down the gauntlet for a match he's wanted for years. McGuinness made his shocking return to competition after a nearly 13-year absence at All In during the Casino Gauntlet Match. The former ROH World Champion looked like he hadn't missed a beat. McGuinness's dislike for Danielson is a well known one. He can barely hide his disdain for "The American Dragon" whenever he's on commentary for one of his matches. Danielson and McGuinness's history is a long one. The two did battle on a number of occasions over the years in ROH and Germany's wXw and they even teamed many times in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Famously, Danielson unified the ROH World Championship and the ROH Pure Championships in London in 2006 by defeating McGuinness by referee's decision. All told, Danielson holds an 8-3-1 edge over McGuinness in singles matches over the years. Their last-ever bout came at Glory by Honor VIII at the Manhattan Center in Danielson's final ROH match before heading to WWE. McGuinness once again wants to prove that he is among the best in the world and the best way to do that is to go one on one with the man who might be the best. Will McGuinness reestablish himself with a massive statement or will the AEW World Champion continue his mastery of his old rival?
--
AEW World Championship No. 1 contender's match: Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley (w/ "The Problem" Marina Shafir) - When Jon Moxley made his return to AEW in late August after a two-month absence, he did so by making some cryptic remarks to Tony Schiavone before telling Darby Allin that he wanted to talk. But in the weeks since, Mox has added action to his words. Moxley shuffled the deck within the Blackpool Combat Club, ousting Bryan Danielson with a vicious assault without warning Wheeler YUTA and bringing Marina Shafir and PAC into the fold. Mox then brutally beat down Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) before putting an exclamation point on his violence last week on Dynamite when he smashed Kassidy's hand with a hammer. As increasingly unhinged Moxley seems to be, there's a method to his madness. He has decided that he must be the one to end Danielson's career by taking away his AEW World Championship and remodeling the company in his image. There is just one problem, though, and it happens to be Allin. On the July 26 edition of Rampage, Allin defeated 19 other men to win the Royal Rampage Battle Royale to earn a title shot at Grand Slam. While it was supposed to be Allin getting his shot at Danielson on Wednesday night, Moxley managed to persuade Allin to put his guaranteed shot on the line against him instead. A master of psychology, baiting Allin into the match was half the battle for Moxley, but Allin probably doesn't think he's been baited. The fearless former TNT Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champion has never turned down a fight even when it comes with great cost to his body. Even if it means losing a shot at the company's biggest prize, Allin would never back down from Moxley. Wednesday night's match will be the fourth singles match between the two, but the first in over four years. Moxley has won all three previous encounters, including an AEW World Championship match on the Aug. 5, 2020 edition of Dynamite. Will history repeat itself or will Allin make Moxley regret calling his shot?
--
AEW World Tag Team Championship match: The Young Bucks (Nicholas Jackson and Matthew Jackson) (c) (w/ Brandon Cutler) vs. AEW International Champion "The Aerial Assassin" Will Ospreay and "The Protostar" Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis) - Nicholas Jackson and Matthew Jackson will step into the ring on Wednesday night with what might be the greatest threat to the Young Bucks' third reign as AEW World Tag Team Champions in the form of former United Empire duo Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher. The longtime friends earned a shot at the titles thanks to winning the Casino Gauntlet Battle Royale on the Sept. 11 edition of Dynamite. The fact that Ospreay and Fletcher teamed together for the match at all was a bit of a surprise. Ospreay exited the Don Callis Family back in June, but when Callis allowed him to do so, he told Ospreay the day might come when he needs a favour from him. Callis called in that favour ahead of the Casino Gauntlet, asking Ospreay to team with Fletcher. The move raised some eyebrows, even within the Don Callis Family, as to why Callis wouldn't simply ask Konosuke Takeshita or Rush. Nevertheless, the gambit paid off as Ospreay and Fletcher earned the title shot. They showed just how big a threat to the Jacksons they were in trios action on Dynamite last week when they teamed with Takeshita to defeat the Bucks and Kazuchika Okada in trios action. Fletcher got the pin when he and Ospreay hit the Coriolis, the finisher of Aussie Open (Fletcher and Mark Davis) on Matthew Jackson. The victory undoubtedly buoyed the confidence of Fletcher, who has fallen short in a number of big matches over the past few months. The former ROH World TV Champion has found himself of the losing end of bouts with the likes of Okada, Ricochet and Maxwell Jacob Friedman in recent weeks. Wednesday night's match will be the Jacksons' fourth title defence since defeating FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) in a ladder match for the vacant titles at last April's Dynasty pay-per-view. Can the Jacksons keep the titles with The Elite or will there be gold heading back to the Family?
--
AEW Women's World Championship match: "The Glamour" Mariah May (c) vs. "The Magical Girl" Yuka Sakazaki - It's difficult to get a read on just how seriously Mariah May is taking Yuka Sakazaki's challenge to her AEW Women's World Championship. May is aloof at the best of times and seems to be more concerned about finally celebrating her title win over former mentor "Timeless" Toni Storm at All In than Sakazaki coming for her title, but May was at least spurred on to attack Sakazaki from behind after she defeated Serena Deeb on the Sept. 14 Collision. Then last week on Dynamite, a tag match between Sakazaki and Queen Aminata and May and Deeb ended in disqualification when May laid out Sakazaki with a belt shot. It's clear that May's laissez faire attitude might belie real concern over this challenge to her championship. While Sakazaki is a three-time Princess of Princess Champion, the highest honour in Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Wednesday night's match will be the first time she's competed for a championship in AEW. Her last title match came in Ring of Honor when Sakazaki was unable to unseat Athena as the ROH Women's World Champion at Supercard of Honor in 2023. Still only 31, Sakazaki has over a decade of experience under her belt and it would be folly for May to give her anything other than her undivided attention. Losing the AEW Women's World Championship this quickly into her reign would undoubtedly embarrass "The Glamour" to no end and embarrassment seems to be one of the great fears of May's life. Wednesday night's match will be May's second title defence, having previously defeated former AEW Women's World Champion Nyla Rose on the Sept. 4 Dynamite. Will Dynamite bring with it the biggest victory of Sakazaki's AEW career or will the AEW Women's World Championship remain around May's waist?
--
FTW Championship match: Hook (c) vs. Roderick Strong (w/ Mike Bennett and Matt Taven) - Now in his third reign as the FTW Champion, Hook puts his title on the line for the first time since winning it back from Chris Jericho at All In when he takes on the Undisputed Kingdom's Roderick Strong. A former AEW International Champion, Strong set his sights on the title made famous by Hook's father, the ECW icon Taz, after an eight-man tag match on the Aug. 28 Dynamite between Hook and the Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe and Kyle O'Reilly) and Strong and the Learning Tree (Jericho, Big Bill and Bryan Keith). With the match breaking down and six men on the outside, it came down to only Strong and Hook left in the ring. Strong went for End of Heartache, but Hook countered with Redrum, his version of his father's Tazmission. While Strong eventually passed out in the hold and Hook and the Conglomeration were declared winners, referee Aubrey Edwards missed that Strong clearly had his foot underneath the bottom rope and the hold should have been immediately broken. Incensed after the match, Strong, Mike Bennett and Matt Taven attacked Hook with Strong picking up the FTW Championship before laying Hook out with a vicious running knee. Wednesday night's match will be a battle between the suplex and the backbreaker. Hook's arsenal is much like his father's and filled with a variety of suplexes, while Strong, "The Messiah of the Backbreaker," knows as many versions of the move as perhaps anybody else in the history of the sport. How this will play out head to head could have great bearing on who comes out on top on Wednesday night. Will the Redrum claim another victim or will Strong once again carry a title?
--
PLUS:
- Prince Nana will have an update on the condition of Swerve Strickland following All Out's insane steel-cage match against "Hangman" Adam Page