5 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite Grand Slam 2023 (Results & Review)
1. Something Worse Than A Farce
What happened here, and more specifically, how was it allowed to happen? When did Jon Moxley suffer a concussion?
After taking a (spectacular) Fénix dive early, he looked wobbly. Excalibur even remarked as such on commentary. Did the story of the match camouflage the problem? Mox at times countered Fénix's propulsive high-flying nonchalantly. Was this meant to be an attempt at deadpan wit, or was he just not quite right?
Elements of the match were very good regardless, somehow. Fénix is just so damn quick that his convoluted move set-ups actually look as though they'd catch his opponents off-guard. But none of that matters.
What matters is that, if it wasn't clear how and when Mox suffered a head injury in the moment, it was obvious to Frank Gotch that the lights were out after that first piledriver. In a cryptic clue, he was motionless, lay down flat on the mat, and didn't get up for the planned near-fall.
Referee Rick Knox didn't count the three, so, in a monumentally reckless moment that undermined the vibe of the rest of the show - and endangered Moxley's wellbeing - Fenix hit him with another pildedriver. An audible had been called, coronating a new champion. Watching Fénix celebrate was bizarre. He couldn't not celebrate, but the histrionic acting was a brutal contrast to the visual of Mox, not moving, in the middle of the ring, when it was hard not to think of the worst. Mercifully, Mox left the ring under his own power, and Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that the concussion he suffered was only mild.
A serious inquiry must take place, and at an absolute minimum, fines, dressing-downs and training courses must be paid, doled out and completed.
An accidental new International champion, a near vibe-ruiner of a reckless incident, and a total disaster.