7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite Grand Slam 2022

1. A Mis-Step In A Difficult Quest

MJF Tony Schiavone
AEW

The idea, and it's f*cked now of course, was to bring back MJF as a heel. CM Punk ruined that by taking all of his heat and material.

Three months' worth!

MJF subsequently manipulated the audience tremendously well and drew jeers across his last two Dynamite appearances. He got his heat back, and plumbed the ugliest depths to do it while still making his promos feel artful and not too cheap.

At Grand Slam, Tony Khan made a mistake, one that can't be excused as a noble failure. Wheeler YUTA should be granted more time to talk, but not in this context. He cut a generic promo that he stumbled through, and MJF ate the poor lad alive. Khan should have seen this coming. MJF instantly felt like the cool, major league star in contrast. This did much to undo the rewarding YUTA push.

This is only a minor 'Down', since flooring Tony Schiavone, as MJF did here, is sacrilege.

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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!