Review: AEW Dynamite - Grand Slam Mexico (6-18-2025)
Live from Mexico City in Arena Mexico! Two-and-a-half hours! Excalibur with Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness because Taz doesn’t leave the US of A.
Stage and building setup is CMLL’s, if you’ve ever seen that. It’s cool!
Matches
Adam Cole, Daniel Garcia, Brody King, Atlantis, Templario, Atlantis Jr & Bandido vs Lance Archer, Josh Alexander, Hechicero, Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Volador Jr & Dax Harwood: Volador is replacing Cash Wheeler, who “couldn’t be here.” Hechicero is officially in the DCF now. A 14-man tag! Too many guys for most of the people to be on the apron for tags, and also why pretend. I’m not going to lie and act like this is my preferred style of a pro wrestling match, but I am willing to go with this being as it is and have a good time, because the action is mostly quite fun. Watching Harwood and Volador work as a makeshift tag team at moments is pretty neat. We do get the big man battle with King and Archer, but no Kane-Big Show square-up with it, Archer’s a heel so he acts like a heel and clips Brody from behind. End result after plenty of moves and spots and chaos is Atlantis out-foxing Dax with an inside cradle for the win. I know Atlantis is an old man but I’d actually be happy to see Dax vs Atlantis one-on-one. Dax gets one little cheapshot in before being chased off. I’m not rating this because I don’t know how to rate it, but I had a good time.
Kazuchika Okada vs Mark Briscoe: Once again, Mark Briscoe has to step up for someone, citing his long friendship with Kenny Omega. I liked their Continental Classic match a lot, but man, Okada is off one1 here. Don Callis reasonably admits he does not care that Omega had diverticulitis. Anyway this is Briscoe’s worst match in months. I don’t think it’s terrible because Mark always brings a lot of energy, but this is me getting as lukewarm on Okada as many have been for his AEW run. I’ve mostly liked if not loved him, and consistently so, but this one — against one of my favorite wrestlers — disappoints me. Ah well! Okada gets the W. **¾
Mistico vs MJF: It’s a special atmosphere, no question at all. MJF has the heat and Mistico is received like a genuine national hero and idol. Hurt Syndicate are there to give MJF even more heat. This doesn’t have all the Great Moves and all that, but it ticks every other box, really. Eight times out of 10, I’d say, when you give MJF some “big” task in the ring, he delivers. The promo work is tired and uncreative, for me, but then I am not the target, and as usual I try to just accept that and get on with it. What am I gonna do, make 30 posts about how he’s overrated as a mic guy? Who cares? I don’t even care. Also it’s not to say this match doesn’t have plenty of action, it’s not all just drama and atmosphere and what have you, tricks of the trade. There’s plenty of great wrestling in here, too. Mistico has MJF tapping out, but MVP distracts Bryce Remsburg, leading to an MJF low blow — which Mistico kicks out of, perhaps because there’s just a small delay for Bryce to get there to count the pin. And MJF snaps there, getting himself disqualified. ***¾
The Hurt Syndicate like hurting people, so they kick Mistico some. And MJF rips Mistico’s mask off and puts it on himself. This infuriates some luchadores, so here’ Bandido and Templario and Titan, and their distraction allows Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey to fly in and clean house real quick. Mistico does get a mask back on.
Mascara Dorada vs Lio Rush vs Hologram vs Ricochet: This match is for four million pesos ($208,605.77). The two young Mexican stars are terrific in this match, Ricochet continues his hot streak, and Lio Rush gets to actually be Lio Rush in a setting that makes that a bit less annoying to me than a one-on-one with PPV headliner Will Ospreay. Lots of cool spots, lots of high-level Exciting Action in a match specifically designed to be exactly that, with that tried and true motivator, money, as the stakes. Some nice near falls and the Hologram win confirms that AEW will continue pushing him as a special talent, even if he’s held outside of things like titles. ***½
Zeuxis vs Mercedes Mone: Zeuxis has been about 50/50 for me over the years, sometimes really good, sometimes not so much. This one gets just shy of 10 minutes and is good, but doesn’t fully kick off, because they don’t work it for it to “fully kick off” and have big back-and-forth drama or anything. I do absolutely love watching Mercedes sell her ass off in a match like this, and Zeuxis throws her heaviest artillery at the international superstar. Tony Schiavone goes Gorilla Monsoon to criticize the terrible form on Zeuxis’ covers, but as Nigel buys into that train of thought, too, she drills Mercedes with a Liger Bomb. I mean Mercedes is just getting her ass beat in this match, God bless her. Mone gets very little of the offense in this match, but she does take the CMLL world women’s title to add to her collecsh. Good for her. Getting whupped that bad in Arena Mexico is, in its own way, deserving of the win. ***¼
Post-match, we get a some silly noir video with Toni Storm, who is also here live in a Carmen Sandiego get-up to attack Mone from behind and hit a German while Mercedes is holding all 72 of her title belts.
Young Bucks, Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta & The Beast Mortos vs Swerve Strickland, Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, Powerhouse Hobbs & Will Ospreay: Mortos subs in for Claudio Castagnoli and his “travel issues.” Bucks come out last, not the world champ. Pulling strings as the EVPs, I reckon. I think this gets about the exact right amount of time, has great energy, the Bucks would not too long ago have likely been a weak link but they are back on their game, you’ve just got a ton of quality here. Moxley has seemingly enjoyed being in these things lately, too. Crowd gives Joe a real nice pop when he tags in and they love watching him beat the shit out of Wheeler Yuta in the corner, and damn if he’s not loving it, too. I think it’s remarkable that Joe never had a great run in WWE, never had a big run in Japan or elsewhere abroad, but he is deservedly seen as a proper living legend, too, mainly from his work in ROH and TNA, two companies that were never exactly massive, and this AEW run has been an incredible career capper, too2. Hobbs is also having a real hoot in this one. Crowd’s great throughout. Bucks are really just a blast to watch again. There’s a point where Joe and Mortos square up and Rick Knox looks unsure if he wants to be anywhere near what happens next. Moxley kinda has to get a cheap pin here, and that’s what happens, he rolls up Swerve with a tights-pull. LOVED this. ****½
Post-match, Swerve ends up the target of a triple-team from Moxley and the Bucks, as the others are held off at ringside. Adam Page’s music hits and we’re headed for A Moment. Page and Moxley trade shots, Hangman goes for the Buckshot but Moxley ducks and Matthew Jackson is hit instead. Moxley tries to sneak on Page but fails, and then he’s caught vulnerable to Page, Ospreay, and the Opps. Hangman leaves alone to chase an entire group of heels to the back, but the Bucks are still behind him and they have to exchange glances.
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Other Stuff
Nice pop for Adam Page kicking off the show. Page cuts his promo in Spanish, with Excalibur interpreting key bits for us, as Hanger apologizes for his Spanish “not being the best,” but by all accounts it’s good enough that CMLL officials want to book him regularly. Hangman putting over the concept of friendship and working together between Mexicans and Americans, which, given the current political climate, is him making a statement, pretty clearly. Page thanks Mexico City for having AEW in their home and that united, AEW and CMLL are the best pro wrestling in the world. Says he’s not allowed in the arena during the main event, but nothing can stop him after.
That’s the only promo bit of the night because it wouldn’t make great sense to have people cutting live promos for an audience of people who aren’t native English speakers.
A few more thoughts
A great show. Not AMAZING! by the standards of some of the best wrestling TV these days, just in terms of the pure nuts-and-bolts of the matches and the like, but an incredible atmosphere, had the feeling of an important and even historic event, was rad to see an AEW show at Arena Mexico and you could tell it meant a lot to most of the wrestlers to be there. Not Okada, but then Okada’s been there before.
If you can be “on one,” it is only reasonable that you can be “off one.”
I also don’t mean to say I think his WWE run was bad or that they didn’t “book him right” or whatever, a lot of things happened over that time period, I’m just saying no one reasonable would say he’s, like, A WWE Legend based on his time in that company. He did alright in the spot he got, and the NXT period was quite good.
Really liked how they did the Hangman stuff. Really dug how he 'saved' Swerve without physically saving him. Hitting the lairat on the Buck added the right amount of drama to whatever that story is going to go for Texas.