8 Times AEW Legitimately Changed The World

5. Dynamite Grand Slam 2021

Billed as AEW's first-ever stadium show, the first 'Grand Slam' at Arthur Ashe Stadium felt monumental. The day of the event, Forbes ran a piece on how AEW was proving itself to be viable competition to the WWE monolith. If you were tuning in for the first time, the bout that you were greeted with was enough to ensure your fandom for the foreseeable future.

Arguably the company's true cornerstone, Kenny Omega would lock horns with global superstar Bryan Danielson for Omega's AEW World Title. Both of these men can lay claim to being the best in-ring performer of their generation, and their 30-minute time-limit draw remains one of the biggest triumphs in AEW history - but the action didn't stop there.

CM Punk had his first match on weekly television since leaving WWE against Powerhouse Hobbs, Britt Baker headlined the Dynamite section of the event by retaining the AEW Women's World Title, Adam Cole and The Young Bucks reunited indie super team The Superkliq, and Darby Allin and Sting defeated FTR.

AEW had shown they could put on a stadium show without changing their ethos one bit. It only rubber-stamped that this was a company which offered a genuine alternative to the world's pro wrestling fans, and it came at a time when Vince McMahon's creative was still stinking out the WWE.