WRESTLING REVIEW: AEW Grand Slam II

AEW had to make up for the atrocity that was All Out IV. Broadcasted from the borough that gave the airwaves the real C-N-N, Grand Slam II had plenty to prove and by the final bell, AEW knocked it out the park.

Hayter was not missed from All Out IV, but Shida definitely was. Still, this is pro-wrestling, it’s always good to mix things up, and this time around the crowd had Deeb, DMD, and Athena vying to strip Toni Storm of the AEW Women’s title. Deeb sticks in my mind as the workhorse of the evening, even though DMD had the best spots of the match with her mandible claw submission maneuver coming to mind.

My biggest complaint would be that Athena could have had more time in the ring, she spent too much time outside gaining stamina when she could have just did that in the ring. She needs to be in the crowd’s face. As for Storm getting the win, without Shida to overshadow her, her retention is warranted. Her powerbombs and dropkicks are devastating, the spot with the Boston Crab competition with Deeb had Storm coming out looking stronger than all her competitors in the ring. Storm may be far from my favorite, but with all she’s done since I saw her first win the NXT UK inaugural title, after this match, Storm is the right woman to carry the big gold … for now.

Not in question of course was the rightful and inevitable win of Jade Cargill for the crowning match of the women’s division for Grand Slam II, so much so that in my previous review for her match against Athena at All Out IV, I made a typo on her record and already gave her the win. Some things like Bad Boy and the Energizer Bunny just can’t be stopped. Add Cargill’s undefeated TBS championship reign to that list of cherished Americana. Flanked to the ring by her Baddies and a few from the Mecca of Hip-Hop, Jade triumphed in a match up that was thankfully more than the squashes AEW audiences are used to when Cargill laces up her boots.

Diamanté proved to be a worthy opponent : she was able to force Diamanté into a corner, reverse a powerbomb and dodge a big boot – but once that second boot of Cargill’s connected, it was downhill for Diamante then. All it takes is for Cargill to just take one opening and then she’s off. A few blows, and then Cargill had Diamanté hoisted up in that crucifix (for what felt like looking from the top of a ride at Magic Mountain), faceplant for Diamanté and then 38-0. I love how Diamanté got in a two-count and countered and dodged Cargill’s moves but this woman is like Cena with the classics and Goldberg with the statistics.

The more AEW books matches like this with their number one attraction for the women’s division – with women who actually show that they have studied Cargill’s previous matches when they step in the ring with the undefeated champion, the better their programming will be.
The undefeated schtick has yet to get old, but I’m itching for a feud. Cargill and Hogan have the mic skills and if Grey will continue to stand in for Velvet, she’ll learn. AEW might want to call up Queen Aminata, pair with Athena create a tag division, or add another girl to that and create a rival stable for the Baddies. The choices are endless before this either gets stale or Cargill vacates the title.

However it goes down, Cargill got Trina to turn and raise her hand in the Mecca of Hip-Hop a borough or two away from Sedgwick Ave. With Fourth Rope athletes signed to the roster and Action Bronson tossing bodies in the ring like I saw him toss “fans” off stage back in 2013, Hip-Hop and Pro-Wrestling still are heavily and healthily intertwined in 2K22. Arthur Ashe stadium may be known for it’s tennis matches, but the street-wise side is always better than the snooty side of the biggest city in the States, and AEW appears to have gotten that memo the second time that Grand Slam took it’s annual New York trip.

Score : 4/5

The 2022 Grand Slam was the second annual Grand Slam professional wrestling television special produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It took place on September 21, 2022, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in the Queens borough of New York City.