Grand Slam (2023)

The 2023 Grand Slam was a two-part professional wrestling television special produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It was the third annual Grand Slam event and took place on September 20, 2023, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in the Queens borough of New York City, encompassing the broadcasts of Wednesday Night Dynamite and Friday Night Rampage. Dynamite aired live on TBS while Rampage aired on tape delay on September 22 on TNT and was expanded to two hours for the Grand Slam special. This would be the final Grand Slam in which the second part aired as Rampage as in 2024, the second part instead aired as Saturday Night Collision.

AEW Grand Slam
Promotion	All Elite Wrestling
Date	September 20, 2023 (aired September 20 and 22, 2023)
City	Flushing, Queens, New York
Venue	Arthur Ashe Stadium
Attendance	11,000[1]
Event chronology
← Previous 2022 Next → 2024
AEW Dynamite special episodes chronology
← Previous Fyter Fest Next → Title Tuesday
AEW Rampage special episodes chronology
← Previous Fyter Fest Next → Winter Is Coming

A total of 12 matches were held across the two episodes, with five broadcast live on Dynamite and seven taped for Rampage. In the main event of the Dynamite broadcast, MJF defeated Samoa Joe to retain the AEW World Championship. In the main event of the Rampage broadcast, The Elite (Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, and "Hangman" Adam Page) defeated Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona) to win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship.

Production

Background

Grand Slam is an annual television special produced every September by the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since 2021. The event is held at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in the New York City borough of Queens and airs as a two-part special, encompassing the broadcasts of Wednesday Night Dynamite and Friday Night Rampage.^[2][3][4] On the June 28, 2023, episode of Dynamite, it was announced that the third annual Grand Slam would be held on September 20, with Dynamite airing live that night on TBS and Rampage airing on tape delay on September 22 on TNT with Rampage expanded to two hours for the Grand Slam special.^[5][6]

Storylines

Grand Slam featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.^[7] Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision.

On the August 30 episode of Dynamite, it was revealed that there would be a tournament in which the winner would receive an AEW World Championship match against MJF at Dynamite: Grand Slam.^[8] The tournament was won by Samoa Joe.^[9]

On the September 6 episode of Dynamite, it was announced that on the next episode, a four-way match between Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D., Hikaru Shida, Nyla Rose, and Toni Storm would take place to determine Saraya's challenger for the AEW Women's World Championship at Dynamite: Grand Slam.^[10] The match was won by Storm.^[9]

Results

Night 1

Dynamite (aired live September 20)

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times[11]
1	Eddie Kingston (Strong) defeated Claudio Castagnoli (ROH) (with Wheeler Yuta) by pinfall	Winner Takes All match for the ROH World Championship and Strong Openweight Championship[12]	15:15
2	Chris Jericho defeated Sammy Guevara by pinfall	Singles match[13]	16:10
3	Rey Fenix (with Alex Abrahantes) defeated Jon Moxley (c) by pinfall	Singles match for the AEW International Championship[14]	11:35
4	Saraya (c) (with Ruby Soho) defeated Toni Storm by pinfall	Singles match for the AEW Women's World Championship[15]	8:30
5	MJF (c) defeated Samoa Joe by technical submission	Singles match for the AEW World Championship[16]	18:40
(c)  – the champion(s) heading into the match

Night 2

Rampage (taped September 20, aired September 22)

No.	Results[17]	Stipulations	Times[18]
1	Sting and Darby Allin (with Nick Wayne) defeated Christian Cage and Luchasaurus by pinfall	Tag team match[19]	7:42
2	Hook, Kris Statlander, and Orange Cassidy defeated Angelo Parker, Anna Jay, and Matt Menard (with Jake Hager) by pinfall	Six-person mixed tag team match	9:24
3	The Righteous (Dutch and Vincent) defeated Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta), The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett), and The Hardys (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) by pinfall	Four-way tag team match for a ROH World Tag Team Championship match at WrestleDream	9:28
4	Billy Gunn and The Acclaimed (Max Caster and Anthony Bowens) (c) defeated The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno, and John Silver) by pinfall	Six-man tag team match for the AEW World Trios Championship	10:38
5	Julia Hart (with Brody King) defeated Skye Blue by submission	Singles match	8:14
6	Mike Santana defeated Boulder by pinfall	Singles match	2:24
7	The Elite (Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, and "Hangman" Adam Page) defeated Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona) (c) (with Prince Nana) by pinfall	Six-man tag team match for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship[20]	11:56
(c)  – the champion(s) heading into the match

Grand Slam World Championship Eliminator Tournament

Quarterfinals Dynamite (September 6, 2023) Rampage (September 8, 2023)

Semifinals Collision (September 9, 2023)

Final Dynamite (September 13, 2023)

Darby Allin

Sub

Nick Wayne

14:55[10]

Darby Allin

14:45[21]

Roderick Strong

Pin

Trent Beretta

11:00[10]

Roderick Strong

Pin

Roderick Strong

11:00[9]

Samoa Joe

Sub

Penta El Zero Miedo

Pin

Jay Lethal

12:07[22]

Penta El Zero Miedo

15:00[21]

Samoa Joe

Sub

Samoa Joe

Pin

Jeff Hardy

8:31[22]

See also

• 2023 in professional wrestling
• List of All Elite Wrestling special events
• List of AEW Dynamite special episodes
• List of AEW Rampage special episodes

References

1. Mutter, Eric (September 21, 2022). "Backstage Update On AEW Dynamite Grand Slam Ticket Sales". WrestlingInc.com. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
2. AEW Staff (June 16, 2021). "AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam Coming To NYC September 22nd". All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
3. Casey, Connor (June 16, 2021). "AEW Announces AEW Dynamite Grand Slam for New York City". ComicBook.com. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
4. Reneeo, Juan C. (September 27, 2021). "AEW Dark Elevation Results: Paul Wight, Dark Order, Thunder Rosa". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
5. Defelice, Robert (June 28, 2023). "AEW Confirms Date And Location For AEW Grand Slam 2023". Fightful. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
6. Rueter, Sean (June 28, 2023). "AEW announces date for Grand Slam 2023". Cageside Seats. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
7. Graianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
8. Barnett, Jake (August 30, 2023). "AEW Dynamite results (8/30): Barnett's live review of Orange Cassidy vs. Penta El Zero Miedo for the AEW International Championship, Adam Cole speaks for the first time since AEW All In, the show's final push for All Out". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
9. Powell, Jason (September 13, 2023). "AEW Dynamite results (9/13): Powell's live review of Samoa Joe vs. Roderick Strong in the Grand Slam tournament final for a shot at the AEW World Title, Jon Moxley vs. Big Bill for the AEW International Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
10. Powell, Jason (September 6, 2023). "AEW Dynamite results (9/6): Powell's live review of Darby Allin vs. Nick Wayne and Roderick Strong vs. Trent Beretta in tournament matches, Jon Moxley vs. AR Fox for the AEW International Title, All Out fallout". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
11. Powell, Jason (September 20, 2023). "AEW Dynamite results (9/20): Powell's live review of MJF vs. Samoa Joe for the AEW World Title, Saraya vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women's Title, Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston in a title vs. title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
12. Lambert, Jeremy (September 9, 2023). "Eddie Kingston And Claudio Castagnoli Agree To Title vs. Title Match At AEW Dynamite Grand Slam". Fightful. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
13. Tessier, Colin (September 8, 2023). "Chris Jericho And Sammy Guevara Agree To Face Each Other On 9/20 AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam". Fightful. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
14. Russell, Skylar (September 13, 2023). "AEW International Title Bout, Sting/Darby Allin vs. Cage/Luchasarus Set For AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam". Fightful. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
15. Russell, Skylar (September 13, 2023). "Toni Storm To Challenge Saraya For AEW Women's Championship At AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam". Fightful. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
16. Russell, Skylar (September 13, 2023). "Samoa Joe To Challenge MJF For AEW World Championship At AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam". Fightful. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
17. Murphy, Don (September 22, 2023). "AEW Rampage results (9/22): Murphy's review of Sting and Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage and Luchasaurus, AEW Trios and ROH Six-Man Tag Titles matches, four-way tag for a shot at the ROH Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
18. "AEW Rampage #111 - Grand Slam 2023 - Tag 2". Cagematch. September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
19. Tessier, Colin (September 16, 2023). "Darby Allin & Sting To Face Christian Cage & Luchasaurus On Two-Hour AEW Rampage: Grand Slam On 9/22". Fightful. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
20. Defelice, Robert (September 16, 2023). "The Young Bucks & Hangman Page To Challenge For ROH 6-Man Tag Titles On AEW Rampage: Grand Slam". Fightful. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
21. Moore, John (September 9, 2023). "AEW Collision results (9/9): Powell's live review of Darby Allin vs. Roderick Strong and Samoa Joe vs. Penta El Zero Miedo in Grand Slam tournament matches, Jon Moxley vs. Action Andretti for the AEW International Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
22. Murphy, Don (September 8, 2023). "AEW Rampage results (9/8): Murphy's review of Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy and Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Jay Lethal in Grand Slam tournament matches, The Young Bucks vs. Matt Menard and Angelo Parker". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 9, 2023.

External links

• All Elite Wrestling Official website

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