The 2022 Grand Slam was the second annual Grand Slam

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of e ...

produced by

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, ...

(AEW). It took place on September 21, 2022, at the

Arthur Ashe Stadium Arthur Ashe Stadium is a tennis stadium at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City. Part of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, it is the main stadium of the US Open tennis tournament and has a capacity of 23,771, ...

in the

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The two-part event was broadcast as special episodes of AEW's weekly television programs, '' Wednesday Night Dynamite'' and '' Friday Night Rampage''. ''Dynamite'' aired

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music * Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of album ...

on TBS while ''Rampage'' aired on tape delay on September 23 on

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

and was expanded to two hours for the Grand Slam special. The card comprised a total of thirteen matches, five of which aired live on ''Dynamite'' while the other eight were shown on ''Rampage'' on tape delay. In the main event of the ''Dynamite'' broadcast,

Jon Moxley Jonathan David Good (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Jon Moxley. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro- ...

defeated

Bryan Danielson Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club. He is also known for his time in WWE, where he worked fro ...

in a tournament final to win the

vacant Within the context of building construction and building codes, "occupancy" refers to the use, or intended use, of a building, or portion of a building, for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property. A closely related meaning is ...

AEW World Championship The AEW World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Unveiled on May 25, 2019, it is the promotion's top championship for male singles competitors, a ...

. Other prominent matches saw The Acclaimed (

Anthony Bowens Anthony Bowens (born December 18, 1990) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he teams with Max Caster as The Acclaimed. They are former one-time AEW World Tag Team Champions. Early life Bow ...

and Max Caster) defeat Swerve In Our Glory ( Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland) to win the

AEW World Tag Team Championship The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a standard tag team championship, being contested by teams of two wrestler ...

, and in the opening bout,

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...

defeated

Claudio Castagnoli Claudio Castagnoli ( ; born 27 December 1980) is a Swiss professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club stable. Castagnoli also performs for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor ...

to win the

ROH World Championship The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by Ring of Honor (ROH). It is considered the most prestigious title in the promotion. The current champion is Claudio Castagnoli, who is in his second ...

and his eighth overall

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. In the main event of the ''Rampage'' broadcast, Ricky Starks defeated

Powerhouse Hobbs William Hobson (born January 23, 1991), better known by the ring name Powerhouse Hobbs, is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Early life Hobson attended Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California, wher ...

in a Lights Out match. In other prominent matches,

"Hangman" Adam Page Stephen Blake Woltz (born July 27, 1991), better known by his ring name "Hangman" Adam Page, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former AEW World Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champ ...

won the Golden Ticket Battle Royale to earn a future AEW World Championship match,

Action Bronson Ariyan Arslani (born December 2, 1983), professionally known as Action Bronson, is an American rapper, songwriter, chef, wrestler, exotic olive oil taster, and television presenter. Born and raised in Queens, New York, he embarked on his musical ...

and

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

defeated Jericho Appreciation Society (

Matt Menard Angelo Parker and Matt Menard, also formerly known as 2.0 (stylized as 2point0) and 3.0, and later Ever-Rise in WWE, is a Canadian professional wrestling tag team currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where they are also a part of the Jer ...

and Angelo Parker), and in the opening bout,

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-earth ...

and

Darby Allin Samuel Ratsch (born January 7, 1993), better known by the ring name Darby Allin, is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former and longest-reigning AEW TNT Champion. He is also known for his appe ...

defeated

House of Black The House of Black is a professional wrestling stable, currently performing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The stable consists of Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart, and led by Malakai Black. Black and King also wrestle for Pro Wrestling ...

( Buddy Matthews and

Brody King Nathan Troy Blauvelt (born March 17, 1987), better known by his ring name Brody King, is an American professional wrestler and musician signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The House of Black. King was previously signed ...

) in a No Disqualification

tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

. The ''Dynamite'' broadcast was also notable for the debut of Saraya, previously known as Paige in WWE, who last wrestled in 2017. The ''Rampage'' broadcast was also notable for an appearance by Japanese wrestling veteran The Great Muta, who came to the aid of old rival Sting.

Production

Background

In September 2021,

(AEW) held a two-part

called Grand Slam, which aired as special episodes of AEW's weekly television programs, '' Wednesday Night Dynamite'' and '' Friday Night Rampage''. The event was held in the

New York City borough New York City is composed of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City the largest U.S. municipality situated in mult ...

at the

, the main stadium of tennis' US Open, and marked AEW's first event held in

, which is primarily known as home territory for WWE, as well as the company's first full event to be held in a stadium. On May 11, 2022, AEW president

Tony Khan Antony Rafiq Khan (born October 10, 1982) is an American businessman, promoter, and sports executive. He is known for his involvement in American football, professional wrestling and soccer. He is best known as the founder and co-owner of All E ...

confirmed that Grand Slam would return to the Arthur Ashe Stadium later that year and the event would continue forward as an annual event at the same venue. During the AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

on June 26, the 2022 Grand Slam's date was confirmed for September 21, with ''Dynamite'' airing

that night on TBS and ''Rampage'' airing on tape delay on September 23 on

. Like the previous year, ''Rampage'' was expanded to two hours for the Grand Slam special.

Storylines

Grand Slam featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed heroes,

villains A villain (also known as a " black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs, ''Dynamite'' and ''Rampage'', and the supplementary online streaming shows, '' Dark'' and ''

Elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

''. After

CM Punk Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by the ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler, sports commentator, actor, and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Best known f ...

won the

at All Out, Punk got suspended due to a legitimate backstage physical altercation following the event's media scrum. On the following episode of ''Dynamite'', AEW president Tony Khan announced that the AEW World Championship was vacated. A tournament then began that episode to crown a new champion, with the final taking place at ''Dynamite'': Grand Slam. At All Out, Swerve In Our Glory ( Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland) defeated The Acclaimed ( Max Caster and

) to retain the

. A championship rematch was then subsequently scheduled for ''Dynamite'': Grand Slam. On the September 14 episode of ''Dynamite'', after

Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. Brittany Baker (born April 23, 1991) is an American professional wrestler and dentist. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she performs under the ring name Britt Baker where she is a former AEW Women's World Champion. Born in Punxsu ...

and Serena Deeb defeated interim

AEW Women's World Champion The AEW Women's World Championship is a women's professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Established on June 18, 2019, the inaugural champion was Riho. The current champio ...

Toni Storm Toni Rossall (born 19 October 1995), better known by the ring name Toni Storm, is a New Zealand-Australian professional wrestler. She is currently signed to AEW, where she is a former AEW Women's World Champion. She previously worked for WWE ...

and

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...

, it was later announced that Storm was scheduled to defend the title in a

four-way match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

against Deeb, Athena, and Baker at ''Dynamite'': Grand Slam. During the All Out Zero Hour pre-show, AEW All-Atlantic Champion

Pac Pac or PAC may refer to: Military * Rapid Deployment Force (Malaysia), an armed forces unit * Patriot Advanced Capability, of the MIM-104 Patriot missile * Civil Defense Patrols (''Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil''), Guatemalan militia and paramil ...

, who had just retained the title, was interrupted by long-time rival Orange Cassidy, who seemingly challenged him to a title match, which Pac immediately declined. After weeks of confrontations between the two, the championship match was scheduled for ''Dynamite'': Grand Slam. Citing the seven world championships he had won,

confronted ROH World Champion

on the September 16 episode of ''Rampage'' and challenged him to a match for the championship, as he had never won the ROH World Championship. Castagnoli accepted and the match was scheduled for ''Dynamite'': Grand Slam. After

defeated Angelo Parker to retain the FTW Championship during the All Out Zero Hour pre-show, Parker's tag team partner,

, ambushed Hook until

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, who wrote Hook's theme song, made the save and took out Menard and Parker. On the September 14 episode of ''Dynamite'', a match pitting Bronson and Hook against Menard and Parker was announced for ''Rampage'': Grand Slam.

Eddie Kingston Edward Moore (born December 12, 1981), better known by his ring name Eddie Kingston, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Kingston started his wrestling career in 2002, and has wrestled for numerou ...

and

Sammy Guevara Samuel George Guevara (born July 28, 1993) is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Jericho Appreciation Society. He is a record tying three-time former AEW TNT Champion. He also app ...

were originally scheduled to face each other at All Out, however, Kingston was quietly suspended by AEW after getting into a legitimate backstage verbal dispute with Guevara. After Kingston's suspension was lifted, a match between Kingston and Guevara was announced for ''Rampage'': Grand Slam. At the Fight for the Fallen special episode of ''Dynamite'' on July 27, after Ricky Starks lost the FTW Championship, his tag team partner

attacked him, thus disbanding Team Taz. A match between Starks and Hobbs was scheduled for All Out, which Hobbs won. A rematch between Starks and Hobbs was announced for ''Rampage'': Grand Slam, and was later stipulated to be a Lights Out match.

Results

AEW Grand Slam Tournament of Champions

Notes

References

External links

* {{All Elite Wrestling events, Grand Slam Grand Slam 2020s American television specials 2022 American television episodes 2022 in sports in New York City 2022 in professional wrestling Events in New York City Professional wrestling in New York City September 2022 events in the United States

Production

Background

Storylines

Results

AEW Grand Slam Tournament of Champions

Notes

See also

References

External links