In a bit of news that has me shaking my head, AEW has officially announced that Grand Slam Australia is being downgraded from a 4 hour Pay Per View to a 2 hour television special.
You kinda could see the writing on the wall when it was announced it would be airing on TNT, but it’s really shitty that some people paid exorbitant prices for the show thinking it would be of importance. Yeah, Toni Storm is fighting Mariah May in a rematch. Yes, Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay are teaming up together in a tag team match. Okada will probably be on the card, as well as Mercedes Moné and Harley Cameron who I’m actually a really big fan of. It’s not that there aren’t interesting matches, but it’s like they’re saving the big guns for Revolution in March. Then again, I don’t think AEW has any real storylines going on besides the Death Riders stuff which is a total snoozefest, Omega and Ospreay against The Don Callis Family, MJF and Jeff Jarrett, Toni Storm and Mariah May, Okada and Buddy Matthews, Mercedes and Harley, Max Caster being made to look like a geek, whatever is going on with Hangman, which I actually think is quite interesting, and Swerve and Ricochet.
AEW has never been known for its amazing storytelling, but it really feels like we’re in a massive lull right now especially for their standards. The only programs going on that really interest me are the two women’s feuds and the Hangman stuff. Outside of that, it’s very bleak. I get that ticket sales for Grand Slam Australia did not go as planned so they had to downgrade from a stadium to a regular arena. But it feels like as soon as that happened, AEW gave up on the show to where it’s now in this weird holding pattern until they get past it.