Both the Grand Slam edition of AEW Dynamite, which will be broadcast from New York City next Wednesday and the Grand Slam Rampage will feature top matches. The Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens will serve as the setting for both of the episodes which are each two hours long.
Chris Jericho is going to challenge ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli at the Grand Slam Dynamite, it was announced at Wednesday night’s AEW Rampage tapings, which will air on Friday night.
Castagnoli was in the middle of a promo when Jericho walked in and said that ROH is the only promotion where he has never held the title of World Champion. After that, he stated that he wants to win his “ocho” World Title because he believes that seven is insufficient. Castagnoli rose to the occasion and accepted the challenge.
This will be the first Jericho vs. Castagnoli TV singles match since 2016, and their fifth TV singles match ever. Jericho defeated the former Antonio Cesaro on the April 1, 2013 WWE RAW episode, then Castagnoli got the win back on the May 17, 2013 SmackDown. Castagnoli defeated Jericho on the June 6, 2016 RAW, then Jericho picked up a win over Castagnoli on the July 19, 2016 WWE Draft edition of SmackDown. They have also competed against one another in a number of live events that were not broadcast on television and in a number of multi-man matches.
During Wednesday night’s Rampage tapings, it was announced that next week’s show will also feature a no disqualification match between The House of Black’s Brody King and Buddy Matthews and Sting and Darby Allin. This match will be broadcast on the Grand Slam edition of Rampage, which will be taped next week after Dynamite on a Wednesday night.
ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe and AEW TNT Champion Wardlow will also team up on next week’s Rampage, to face “everyone Mark Sterling has” to put up against them. It is likely that Josh Woods and Tony Nese will be competing in this match, but it has been suggested that there may be additional members of Team Sterling competing in this Handicap Match, including possibly Sterling himself.
At Wednesday night’s Rampage tapings, Joe fought off Nese to retain his title over Woods. Following this victory, Joe was double-teamed until Wardlow came to his rescue. They went to attack Sterling, but Nese and Woods drew him away to safety. The confrontation between Joe and Wardlow was followed by a respectful handshake. After that, Joe gave a post-show promo in which he revealed that he and Wardlow are going to work together to go after “everyone Mark Sterling has.” Joe stated that their battle cry has been heard, and that he and Wardlow will bring war to every arena they visit because “we now run things.” The crowd in Albany, New York began chanting “WardJoe” in response to this promo.
Additionally, it was revealed that the AEW TBS Champion, Jade Cargill, will compete against Diamante in New York City next week. Although it was unclear whether or not the title would be at stake or whether or not this would be featured on Rampage or Dynamite, our correspondent believed that it would most likely be featured on Rampage. Cargill cut a promo in which she complained about not having any competition, which led to the match being made. Diamante intervened and issued a challenge for the following week in New York City. She also stated that she will not be coming to the city alone.
