[7.0] "(6.5/10) If you wanna know the truth, I honestly don't remember watching this edition of Grand Slam whatsoever. But apparently I did, and based on the final score, , t seems like I had witnessed a program by AEW that was a far cry from their impeccable standards. Thankfully the next Grand Slam would lead them back to form."

[9.0] "Danielson McGuinness after 15 years McGeely Darby is one of the best Elite matches And all the matches were held and the promo before the McGuinness match, Danielson's entrance Overall, everything about this show was very good"

[8.0] "Pretty awesome dynamite. 2024 aew was so overlooked because of how amazing a year wwe had. Every wrestling promotion had such a good year in 2024 it's kinda crazy how revived wrestling feels for more then 2-3 wrestling promotions"

[8.0] "Strong episode of Dynamite showing the finality of a long time rivalry between two technical legends, the retirement of the FTW Championship, an amazing tag team match, the debut of MVP, A Women's World Championship match, and Darby vs Moxley beating the hell out of each other. This was honestly a really fun show that I recommend."

[8.0] "This was an overall great show with multiple great matches (opener, tag match, and main event), and some interesting angles for the future, but some middling matches as well (FTW title, women's title). For someone who was retired for several years, Nigel looked great, and Danielson was great as usual. I thought they had a compelling technique based match, and the animosity was conveyed well. Next up, Hook and Strong was a solid enough match with typically strong technique by both wrestlers, but never had the intensity to really stand out. The post moment with Taz was great though. The tag match was the best match of the night, as all four wrestlers were able to execute some incredible sequences, and there were multiple near falls where I believed the title change would happen. I felt like this was a match that the Young Bucks really needed to have to remind people there is more to them then there EVP shtick. The ending of Ospreay preventing Fletcher from using the screwdriver was interesting, and will likely lead to future descension. The MVP and Prince Nana interaction is quite interesting, and I am intrigued to where it goes. I though the women's title match was pretty middling, most likely due to the lack of time given as well as lack of drama, even if the moves were solidly executed. Moxley vs Darby was another great match they had where Moxley completely brutalized Darby through the match, and Darby's selling and bumping were awesome, as well as his comebacks. Ultimately though, Moxley won, and there will be a lot more to unpack with the Danielson vs Moxley situation."

[7.0] "Opened up with the match with the most excitement and it was exactly what I expected Nigel and Danielson put on a match with great technical wrestling, storytelling and psychology. MOTN for me. Strong vs Hook was a fine match, but it was overshadowed by him retiring the FTW championship. Young Bucks vs Don Callis Family continued the story of Ospreay breaking away from Don Callis. MVP and Prince Nana have a great interaction. May vs Sakazaki needed more time. The main event was a brutal match that did exactly what it was supposed to do."

[8.0] "A strong episode, but can't justifiably rank it among the best with a couple of relatively dud matches and nothing at an all time great level. MVP's debut was cool and well executed, but not meaty enough to move my ranking."

[9.0] "Very strong episode again this week. Danielson and McGuiness lived up to the hype I had before hand. Excellent opening match and a really strong return to singles matches for McGuiness - Danielson excellent as usual. Hopefully we continue to see Nigel wrestle on the shows moving forward. Hook and Strong has a short but enjoyable match - think its the right time to move on from the FTW championship but a very nice moment between Hook and Taz in retiring the belt. The Bucks continue to prove all the haters wrong - fantastic tag team match - who would have thought putting 4 excellent wrestlers in a match with 20 minutes would lead to an excellent match. MVP was awesome here and again very intrigued with what Swerves role will be here. Mariah and Yuka was a fine match with the post match between Willow / Mariah & Toni looking like a strong direction moving forward. Moxley and Darby was everything you expected, Mox beating the absolute crap out of Darby with Darby taking some insane bumps. Mox to retire Bryan at Wrestle Dream and then have a long chase before crowning Darby? (9/10)"

[7.0] "Opener and main event were good, although both could have been somewhat better. FTW & women's matches were decent, but at least the first ended up in the retirement of an unneeded title and the second seems to be progressing towards a larger story. The best match of the night was easily the tag match, which stole the show for me. Very exciting with lots of good action from starts to finish. Overall, although not as good as other special episodes, it was a great show that kept my interest till the end."

[5.0] "Was the crowd quiet or was that another AEW production issue? Either way, not good. The camera was angled towards the audience most of the time and they were lit way too brightly so I could see them generally not reacting for too much of the show. I don't blame them, there was no reason to care about anything here since they barely bother to build anything up and what they do bother to do is either nonsense or counter-intuitive. They wasted McGuinness vs Danielson on a horrible build with no stakes. Nigel is worthless now. They wasted Yuka again, as they do every random title challenger, by barely having her win at all on TV and then beating her before ever elevating her. No one cared, but Yuka had the best performance of anyone on this show as regards actually wrestling and she carried Mariah. The Young Bucks did their usual string of convoluted spots that they blatantly move into position for, with one of them having giant novelty headlice all over his head for some reason. They were horrible, the match was a load of random stuff and they followed it up by showing both Bucks calling themselves the best while the entire building looked on in silence. The highlight of this entire show was Hook retiring the FTW title. Thank god. Poor Roddy had to do another job, though. They added Rocky Romero to the random lower card faction that has random trios matches on Collision. No thanks. The main event did netiher man any favours. As expected, we're fast tracking this 80s, neo-nazi movie inspired BCC spin-off group into the world title picture, the way that Tony fast tracks everything; no real build, no motive, no nuance. Danielson has to deal with this mess of a narrative where he fights his friend who bullies him on commentary, his other friend who tried to kill him and Christian, while job guys run in to save him and subsequently get beaten up by Marina Shafir - who has been a jobber on TV for like 4 years and is now suddenly a badass? Darby got geeked out and Moxley, once my favourite wrestler, is doing the silliest stuff of his career and it's paced badly and completely uninteresting. Dude if I want to watch an edgy, neo-nazi movie I'll watch the movie, I don't need to see a bad imitation of it and I certainly don't want to see Darby getting murdered again with no silver lining. So is Danielson's reign a transitional run to boost this stupid faction? Is that why they're paying for the Final Countdown without even publicising Danielson's imminent retirement or marketing it at all? They also showed the stupidnJack Perry edgelord mobile and I'm deeply concerned that every pushed guy in AEW has reverted to the mental age of a 14 year old boy."

[9.0] "I admittedly didn't watch ROH in the early 2000s to appreciate the rivalry between Danielson and McGuinness, and therefore I was not invested in the opening contest. Hook and Roddy Strong were a fine match, but it was after the match that pulled me in. Beginning with the Undisputed Kingdom shaking hands with Hook, and then Hook heading over to his father to retire the FTW title, and hand it over to Taz. Very emotional and very well written, to have done it in New York City. The third match was an absolute banger. The Young Bucks and United Empire were phenomenal, as this was one of the best televised matches of the year in any promotion. Will Ospreay is the real best wrestler in the world, and Kyle Fletcher is rocketing to stardom. Not the outcome I hoped for, but the storytelling is tremendous, and has me completely hooked. MVP arrives to confront Prince Nana, and leaves us with an Easter egg, "call me when you want to do 'business.'" The most entertaining female wrestler in the world Mariah May successfully defends her AEW title against Yuka, and we even get a Mina appearance! Jon Moxley absolutely punished Darby. I'm not a Darby guy, but that kid takes a beating in the ring. Some of those bumps had me cringing. Mox wins, and sets up a title match at Wrestle Dream."

[9.0] "This was a great episode of AEW Dynamite. Bryan Danielson & Nigel tore it down with a fantastic opener of a match. Hook defeats Roderick Strong then afterwards retired the FTW Championship which was much needed because that belt is just for Hook and with anyone else it just don't feel right whatsoever. The Bucks went back to how they use to wrestle and put on a great match with Kyle Fletcher & Will Ospreay. They retained the belts. Mariah May put quick work of Yuka which allowed Mina to return. Jon Moxley will face Bryan Danielson at WrestleDream for the AEW Championship. Overall great episode."

[10.0] "Amazing card top to bottom. Except the womens match. Besides that, this is literally a PPV on free TV. Excellent work and clearly the best Grand Slam theyve done."

[7.0] "Personally, I do not think this was quite a Grand Slam, but it was a solid at-bat for AEW. The opening match was a great one -- I am a comparatively new wrestling fan, so I am not quite as well-versed in the history of Danielson and McGuinness, but it was a great match nonetheless. The match between Hook and Roderick Strong will not be remembered for in-ring action but for the retirement of the FTW belt which was a very sweet moment between Hook and his father. The tag match between The Young Bucks and the team of Fletcher & Ospreay was easily the match of the night, with fantastic tag team action and Ospreay doing what he does best and lighting up the entire ring with his skill. The title match between Mariah May and Yuka Sakazaki, on the other hand, was probably the low point of the night. This match lacked heat, it was a bit sloppy in the ring, and it felt like a filler match, which is never something you want the only women match on the card to feel like. The main event was slightly disappointing, as it felt wooden throughout for me, though both Darby Allin and Jon Moxley were great performers. Overall, a very decent show with plenty to love, but it lacked a bit of the sparkle that I expected from a TV special."

[8.0] "Grand Slam Dynamite was very good this year, but I feel it just fell a little short of being excellent. Part of that was down to an oddly quiet crowd, which I try to not let impact upon my own enjoyment, but it was very noticeable at times. Danielson vs McGuinness is something I wanted to see again ever since Nigel joined the company and I am glad we got it. The main event and tag matches were both great too. The other matches and segments left lot to be desired however, although I did find MVP's debut and interaction with Prince Nana intriguing."

[8.0] "The main event and the opener were both fantastic, and the tag title match was very good as well. The other title matches left a lot to be desired though, and I'm especially disappointed with how little time the women got. [MOTN: Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness]"

[8.0] "Despite a strangely quiet crowd and a disappointing Women's title match, this was a great Grand Slam. There were two great matches on this show, those being the opener of Nigel vs Bryan and the main event of Darby vs Moxley. The tag title and FTW title matches were both fairly decent but the Women's title match was unfortunately very forgettable, due to a short runtime and Mariah and Yuka not having the best chemistry. There were a lot of great angles and storyline developments on this show too, the most notable of which I feel was the debut of MVP. He interrupts Prince Nana who comes out to give an update on Swerve. MVP basically says that Nana is a bad manager and hands him a business card to pass on to Swerve, so that they can "talk business". A great tease for the eventual Hurt Business or Hurt Syndicate debut and honestly a hell of a promo from MVP. Really looking forward to see how this story progresses. Other big moments include the retirement of the FTW title (fucking finally) and Danielson's amazing post match attack and promo on Mox after the main event. This was a great show overall, and definitely a step up from last year's edition of Grand Slam. MOTN - Darby Allin v Jon Moxley"

[7.0] "An okay Grand Slam edition of Dynamite, a couple of PPV worthy matches, MVP debuting in AEW was shocking but interesting given how he debuted, Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuiness: It was a dream rematch that came true, both gave all they had and had a physical match as expected, there were some brutal sounding chops, Nigel looked great considering he has not competed in 13 years, Bryan looked great considering he was not clearly 100%, what a match to get Dynamite:Grand Slam off to a start [****1/2]. Hook vs Roderick Strong: I did not have much interest in the match as it did not pace well and the action was kind of boring to be honest [*1/4]. Matthew Jackson & Nicholas Jackson vs Kyle Fletcher & Will Ospreay: MOTN easily, they had a match similiar to that of a PWG match, all four had a great match in front of a hot crowd in NY, easily to date the best title defense of YB as tag team champions, Ospreay and Fletcher could have won the titles if not for Don Callis getting involved which added to the drama and intensity of the match [****3/4]. Mariah May vs Yuka Sakazaki: An okay title defense, the match could have been longer as it felt it lacked something that it needed to make it better [**]. Jon Moxley vs Darby Allin: A slow and plodding match that did have its few good moments, Marina Shafir getting involved to attack Allin on more than one occasion should not have happened, the result was kind of obvious [**3/4]"

"AEW Dynamite Grand Slam 2024. Grand Slam is becoming one of my favorite traditions. For me it marks the beginning of the Fall season, my favorite season of the year and this year it came exactly one month after my incredibile journey to Wembley Stadium where I saw The Dragon win the world title. The best night of my life. Anyway, I really loved the match between Nigel and Danielson, it was the match that i waited the most about this event. Of course it is probably non comparable to the ones they had back in the day and the intention is different in this case, buti t was a great showcase for Nigel. I loved the Thank You in the end. I love AEW because it respect the cities in which they do the shows and I loved the fact that Hook waited New York to retire the FTW championship. Fantastic match between Ospreay, Fletcher and the Bucks, maybe the best match of the night and a great evolution for the Ospreay-Callis saga and the screwdriver having a role once again in the end of the match. May vs Sakazaki nothing special, a match that was there only to insert Maraya for future showdown with Nina. Main Event was insane. I dont know how Darby can take that kind of punishment, the suplex on the steps is something out of this world. I did not enjoy the finish because it was the same counter they did in their first encounter in Jacksonville during the pandemic. Overall a pretty good match. Awesome show, I think the 2021 is still to this day thee best Grand Slam ever with the Omega vs Danielson dream match. And the last year show was pretty impressive and it gave me more the PPV's vibes but also this one was a pretty good too. Cant wait for WrestleDream and the Danielson vs Mox match, the definitive end of the Blackpool Combat Club, in my opinion the most important homegrown Stable in AEW history (not counting the Bullet Club incarnations and The Elite that existed even before AEW was born)."

[6.0] "Perfectly fine show bookended by the two matches of the night. Seeing Danielson wrestle Nigel McGuinness again is a real treat. Darby Allin and Jon Moxley put on a fun main event that exemplifies my favorite aspects of those two performers. Midcard matches vary in quality from solid (Hook/Roddy) to poor (tag titles)."

[9.0] "Probably the strongest Grand Slam thus far. Leaps and bounds better than 2022 and 2023 and even better than the 2021 edition as this one's more consistant in its quality. Bryan and Nigel kicked off the show by pulling the clock back in time and putting an excellent opening match. The ending in particular with Nigel saying "thank you" as he taps to the lebell lock was amazing. Hook vs. Strong was forgettable. Hook retired the FTW title in the post-match. Good decision. YB vs. Ospreay & Fletcher wasn't just the match of the night but also one of the best tag team matches of the year. The Bucks keep proving the doubters wrong. What a match! MVP made his debut to confront Prince Nana about his management of Swerve Strickland. Great debut for MVP, really good promo. Loved the emphasis on the word "buisness". Yuka vs. Mariah was quite a big let down. Not a bad match but they didn't really had time to do anything. Moxley vs. Allin was a great main event. AEW with Mox on top just feels right although I'm a bit sad Darby lost his title shot. Closing angle with Bryan getting somewhat of a revenge on Moxley was great. Overall: the opener and the main event were both great. The tag match was phenomenal. MVP's debut angle was great too. The show was really well paced and the crowd was hot. Only complaint, not just in this episode but generally as of late, was the lack of time given to the ladies. Mariah's title reign hasn't picked up yet and Mercedes has been gone from TV for weeks now. Maybe with Willow and Mina in the world title picture things can get back on track."

[7.0] "Solid show. Not spectacular or anything but also wasnt bad. Enjoyed the opener and the main event the most with the rest of the show being hit or miss for me. Didnt enjoy the ftw match or the womens match and postmatch angle. The tag title match while it did wake up the crowd Ill just say that it really isnt for me. I did enjoy the mvp nana segment that was great stuff. Solid show"

"The best show of the year so far. The tag team match was the best of the day, Bryan - Nigel stood out in my mind as they kept wrestling at the forefront throughout the match, but I think the ending was a bit weak and a better ending could have been written. It is also necessary to mention the Moxley-Allin match, I personally had fun. It's debatable whether it could have been better."

[10.0] "Three unbelieveable matches for differing reasons. The opener is a total dream match, and I cannot thank TK enough for letting McGuinness have his moment. Dude deserved so much better than how his career ended. Tag match was fast, frantic fun and probably MOTN. The main event was a methodical match that has you gripped throughout."

[6.0] "The show started off well with the match of the night for me in Bryan/Nigel in a nice revisiting of their rivalry mainly forged in Ring of Honor, often in the NY area including their last match together 15 years previously. The show fell off for me after with a just OK FTW title match (thankfully the end of that championship.) The tag title match was solid but one where they tried to do too much to the point that it took me out of the match. The womens title match was only just OK while the main event was pretty good (with an obvious result to a match that felt like it had a silly stipulation in how they got there.) I like MVP as a manager but Im not enthralled with the idea of a new Hurt Business in AEW currently. A solid show but one I do feel disappointed considering the stage they were on."

[7.0] "AEW Grand Slam is always cool to watch, it's basically a mini ppv, with a stacked card and great matchups, but I've thought this edition was kinda underwhelming... of course it's wild to watch Bryan vs Nigel wrestle again, this and the main event were the high points, but the other stuff really didn't caught my attention, the PWG spotfest made the crowd go nuts and I thought it had some cool moments, but the other two ones were just bad. At least it could've had some angle or segment to heavily develop a story, but this was more match-based, nothing happened apart from the MVP debut and the great post-match angle at the main event. Definitely a good and solid show, but considering the hype, I can say that I was kinda disappointed."

[7.0] "Grand Slam is a match heavy episode of TV but I thought the promos/angles with MVP, May and Danielson/Mox were all at least intriguing. The tag title was an excellent TV match. It has been five years, can we please stop trying to make Kip Sabian a thing."

[9.0] "A great TV show from AEW. This felt like a PPV and it was almost perfect. Nigel/Danielson delivered - I particularly liked the tease with his new theme music before "The Final Countdown" hit. Incredibly, given it has been 14 years since Nigel's last singles match, they had a great match with a number of callbacks to their legendary ROH rivalry. Ultimately Danielson was able to beat Nigel without digging too deep which I think was the right call. There may well be a rematch down the line. Roddy Strong helped Hook to a solid match before a quite touching moment where he retired the FTW title and handed it to his Dad. Outstanding eye-catching tag match, although a little too excessive for my tastes. MVP's surprise debut and promo was great, I loved it. May's title defence was just okay - but I'm looking forward to the Shirakawa match. And the main event was great. Darby almost died. Mox was brutal. Mox/Danielson should be something else. Darby is clearly being primed to get his big title win next year imo."

[6.0] "A decent vibe throughout, but never felt like the megashow it could've been on paper. Nigel/Bryan was good for nostalgia, and Darby/Mox did the job, but both could've been better. The tag title match was good but not the heights of what they could do. I'm liking MVP's inclusion opposite Swerve. I will not be happy if Willow comes out better off after losing to Stat."

"I really enjoyed this episode, some great high spots like the Tag Match Daniels on and McGuinness was enjoyable too, obviously not the same calibre as their old ROH battles but a good showing all the same"

[9.0] "We got two fantastic matches in Bryan vs. Nigel and the Tag match, I think it was really great to set up for the WrestleDream main event like this, definitely is a necessary match to happen since it feels like where Bryan's been headed this whole time. Liked the focus on in ring action a lot, but did feel like the women's division and Yuka Sakazaki in particular deserved more than 6 minutes, though EXTREMELY pumped that we'll hopefully get a Willow run with the belt, that's super fantastic to see. Even good stuff with Christian Cage, though curious to see where the Kip Sabian thing is going since it feels like they started and stopped that so many times that it already lost whatever momentum it could have had. But good show!"

"[9.0] Superb show. Nigel vs. Danielson is one hell of a way to kick off the show, and they handled the suspense regarding Danielsons ability to show up very well. Im sad that Oasis didnt make an appearance, and Im also disappointed that Nigel didnt get any post-match time, including a handshake that was very well deserved. Nevertheless, it will certainly be a memorable match. The FTW title is now retired, and Roddy made a strong final opponent, though getting choked out in 9 minutes isnt exactly a feat. Roddys AEW run has been a rollercoaster. Hes a very credible wrestler, and its hard for me to digest seeing him fed to Hook. But since its the last FTW match on TV for the foreseeable future, why not? The post-match handshake and promo were on point, which is why I expected the same treatment for Nigel. The AEW World Tag Team Title match blew away my expectations. Now, that was the type of match that could be a prime candidate for one of the greats in the title's legacy. Fletcher and Ospreay came very close, and for the first time, I thought we might see an upset (though it wouldnt really have been much of an upset). Im curious to see where this DCF thing will go, but given how over Fletcher is, I can only hope they do right by him. Sakazaki vs. May was short, but they both got the best out of it. Dynamite usually has more promos, but this episode was very tightly paced. Its a shame that perhaps the Womens World Title match got the most time cut, but it is what it is, and with what they had to work with, it was certainly a serviceable match. The main event was killer, and I thought Darby would retain his contendership. I have no doubt this storyline will grow into something much bigger, and Darby will play a part in it. I hope he gets his flowers soon because making his contendership feel worthless doesnt seem like a trick AEW would pull."