What’s On This Weekend In Australian Wrestling: AEW GRAND SLAM Edition – 13/02/25
G’day and welcome to one half of this week’s What’s On feature, this half being the GRAND SLAM edition!! An incredibly important weekend for Australian wrestling and especially for Queensland wrestling. Obviously, Grand Slam is the marquee event going into the weekend but the Queensland scene, with some help from other stars across the country, look to prove that they can put on a show just as good as the big leagues.
Perhaps the biggest show in the history of Queensland wrestling comes to you this Friday on the 14th, stars from around the country are coming to do battle with the best that Queensland has to offer for the Australian Wrestling Super Show at Eatons Hill, featuring an absolutely mammoth card. The main event has already been set, as Ricky Utomi & Yeet Stevens will lead respective teams in a huge “Champions vs. All Stars” 5 on 5 tag team match. Pro Wrestling Champion Ricky Utomi has recruited a top shelf lineup of Levi Nixon (RoW World Champion), Jake Taylor (WRESTLEROCK Champion), Thirteen (UPW Champion) & Zak Sabbath (RCW Emerald Crown Champion), meanwhile Yeet has truly brought the star power, bringing in Matt Hayter (representing RCW), Emman Azman (representing RoW), Jesse Love (representing UPW) & Edward Dusk (representing “The Eternal Ones”).
The undercard is also unbelievably stacked offering up the likes of two star studded triple threat matches, as Mitch Ryder, Zeke Andino & Robbie Eagles face off in a triple threat showcase, while RoW Women’s Champion Aysha defends her championship against Lena Kross & Lil’ Marz. There will also be a whole host of championships defended, as Strong94 (Renegade & JJ Avery) defend their PWL Tag Team Championships against Team QWA (Trent O’Day & Sam Cannon), The Ambush (Murdoch & Jarvis) & The Dropouts (The Tuckman & Scott Green) in a Fatal Four Way Ladder Match, while EC Diamond defends both the IPW Unified & QLD Open Weight Championships in a Scramble match against Bojack, Anth Cava, JJ Furno, Moko Kai & Craven. The Backslide Girlz are also getting in on the title fight action, as they put their Oceania Pro Wrestling Women’s Tag Team Championships on the line against Eugenie & Billie Mac.
Also scheduled for the event is a “State of Origin Scramble”, featuring Lochy Hendricks (VIC), Dean Brady (SA), The Don (WA), Jack Bonza (NSW) & Bobby Bishop (QLD) all competing for state supremacy, as well as Caveman Ugg & Rip Reilly in a battle of the big men.
Super Show has the word “historic” written all over it, so grab your tickets now.
TICKETS: https://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/a4f990cd-fe03-41f5-9bc9-250d3a2d82e9
Rock ‘N’ Roll Wrestling looks to present a landmark, 18+ event of their own on the 14th, as they bring their first ever Queensland event to The Caxton, running opposite the Super Show. The Caxton also promises a hefty card, featuring former WWE Superstar & Brisbane Bronco Daniel Vidot goes one on one with his former Broncos captain, Alex Glenn. This event will also be host to the first ever Caxton Cup Battle Royal, featuring NSW’s best and brightest in Fly Guy, Jay Sorbet & Big Fudge, as well QLD mainstays, Chad Atlas, Sledgehammer, Toa & Pogo The Clown.
R’N’R has also scheduled a Caxton Street Fight between bitter rivals Lachy The Tradie (QLD’s own by the way) and R’N’R Elite Champion Morgan Rose. The show will also see Queensland fans getting very well acquainted with R’N’R‘s stars, as number one contender Lee Morrow takes on EC Brownie, The Bachelor goes against Andrew Vega ahead of his USA tour and NSW veterans Hunter Hayes & Robbie Zuco go face to face.
If you’re in the mood for some fresher faces and a more adult oriented event, then Rock ‘N’ Roll Wrestling @ The Caxton is the show for you.
TICKETS: https://www.outix.co/tickets/event/459716-rock-n-roll-wrestling-the-caxton
If you’re in the mood to party after AEW Grand Slam, then head on over to The Brightside, as AM//PM’s Emo Night will be the host of live music & DJ’s inside, as well as Pro Wrestling Australia bringing EmoMania: Brisvegas to The Car Park (the venue’s outdoor area, not a literal car park).
If you don’t want your night to end with Grand Slam, PWA & The Brightside have got you covered.
New Japan Tamashii will round out this historic weekend for Queensland wrestling, with their first ever event in the state this Sunday, the 16th, at Superordinary in Hamilton. Looking to deliver a New Japan worthy card, Bullet Club’s Rouge Army branch will be pitted against one of Queensland’s premiere factions, as Jack J Bonza & Bad Luck Fale take on Moko Kai & Toa. Kyla Knight will make her return to the promotion, this time on her home turf, as she faces off with Erika Reid in a landmark matchup, as it is the first ever match between two Indigenous Australians in Tamashii history.
The Rouge Army will also be represented by Caveman Ugg and Andrew Villalobos do battle, marking their second appearances of the weekend. There will also be a handful of other stars from this weekend that will also pop into New Japan Tamashii, as EC Brownie teams with Bruiser to face the team of JXT & Mustapha Jordan, while Craven takes on Jake Taylor in single action. Also scheduled for the event is a tag team match, as B-Lars & Johnny Gunn team up against Vincent Di Maria & Australian Wolf. Rounding out the card is a six-man tag team match, as David Sheather, JL Gold & Jaxon Cross face Logan Pearce & The Ungrateful 1’s (Tyler Illes & Trent Hooper)
If you want to get a full weekend of wrestling in, then New Japan Tamashii is the place to be this Sunday.
Now that he we’ve talked about all of the surrounding events, let’s get into the big one, AEW Grand Slam!
Quite possibly the most personal match on this card, Mariah May & Toni Storm’s rivalry dates all the way back the 8th of November 2023 edition of AEW Dynamite, where Mariah May would make her debut for the company, proclaiming herself as “Timeless” Toni Storm’s biggest fan. Over the next few months, Storm would recruit Mariah as her understudy and protégé, with May going so far as to adopt Toni’s previous “Rockstar” gimmick. In June of last year, May would officially enter the women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament, the winner of which would earn a shot at the AEW Women’s World Championship, currently held by idol Toni Storm, at AEW All In.
She would eventually go on to win the entire tournament, toppling Willow Nightingale on the 10th of July Dynamite episode. It was this very same episode that May would reveal that her idolisation of Storm, and thus their entire relationship, was a ruse! Immediately after her victory, May would viciously attack Storm with her own shoe and throw their butler Lutha off the stage, leaving her crying, bloodied and betrayed. Now embroiled in a blood feud, May and Storm would clash at All In for the Women’s World Championship in an emotional contest that May would come out the other side of as both the victor and the new Women’s World Champion. This loss would result in Storm’s sudden disappearance from AEW television.
In Storm’s abscence, May, now calling herself “The Glamour”, would run roughshod on the women’s division, toppling the likes of Nyla Rose, Anna Jay and another ex-close friend of May’s, STARDOM‘s Mina Shirakawa. It was after that very match with Shirakawa at AEW Dynamite: Winter Is Coming on the 11th of December that Toni Storm would make a shock return to AEW, however something was quite off. Storm was back to her previous “Rockstar” persona and seemingly had zero knowledge of her entire AEW run, believing she had just debuted for the company.
After a month of “making a name for herself” in AEW, Storm would win a Casino Gauntlet match at AEW Dynamite: Maximum Carnage, earning a shot at Mariah May’s Women’s World Championship. On the Homecoming edition of AEW Collision on the 25th of January, Storm & May would finally meet face to face for the first time since All In. After another vicious attack from “The Glamour”, Storm would reveal that she had set up a ruse of her own, revealing that she has, in fact, been “Timeless” the entire time! From there, it has been nothing but mind games from “Timeless” Toni, having recently “played the role of” Mariah May during a match and even bringing back Lutha to assist with a sneak attack, all to ensure that Storm was thoroughly inside the head of the Women’s World Champion.
Will the mind games of Toni Storm prove for a successful homecoming to Queensland this Saturday, or will this bitter rivalry end with “The Glamour” showing that time’s up for the “Timeless” one?
Another match with plenty of personal history between its competitors, this genesis of this matchup dates back to the 10th of May 2023 edition of Dynamite, which would see Kenny’s manager Don Callis shockingly betray him during a Steel Cage match against Jon Moxley. Callis would go on to form the Don Callis Family, recruiting Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita & Will Ospreay, among others, to the group. This would lead to a feud that would span most of the summer/fall (winter/spring over here), with Omega reuniting & merging his old groups The Golden Lovers w/Kota Ibushi and The Elite w/The Young Bucks & “Hangman” Adam Page, as well as forming an alliance with Chris Jericho, to take on the newly formed Family, a feud that would see all number of Omega led combinations wrestle numerous members of The Family at such events as Forbidden Door, where he would face Ospreay in a rematch from their Wrestle Kingdom epic in NJPW earlier in the year, as well as All In & All Out, which would see Omega take two pinfall losses to Takeshita within a fortnight.
Shortly after the conclusion of the feud, as well securing a shot at the AEW Tag Team Championships alongside Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega would undergo treatment for diverticulitis, which would take him over a year to come back from. In the meantime, having officially signed with AEW in November, faction member Will Ospreay would be pitted against fellow faction member Takeshita in Ospreay’s first match as an official member of the AEW roster at Revolution.
In a very short time, “The Aerial Assassin” would capture the AEW International Championship from Roderick Strong on the 24th of April edition of Dynamite and take a crack at becoming double champion, taking on AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland in a losing effort at Forbidden Door. In July, Ospreay would end up splitting off from the group, although he would remain aligned with Kyle Fletcher, due to their previous connection in NJPW‘s United Empire. This decision would eventually come back to haunt him around October, as Ospreay would eventually run into Takeshita again, who would take the AEW International Championship from Ospreay in a triple threat match against Ospreay & Ricochet at Wrestledream on the 12th. After that match, Fletcher would also appear to attack Ospreay, severing ties with his former stablemate. Ospreay & Fletcher would meet over the next couple months in two very intense matchups at Full Gear and in the semifinals of AEW’s Continental Classic tournament at World’s End, with the Full Gear contest being won by Fletcher and Ospreay walking out of World’s End the victor.
World’s End would also see the official return of Kenny Omega to AEW and it wouldn’t take long for Omega to end up back on the radar of the Family. On the 8th of January, during an episode of Dynamite, Kenny Omega’s first Dynamite appearance in well over a year, Omega was attacked by The Don Callis Family, although their beatdown would be cut short by Will Ospreay saving Omega, of all people. Two weeks later, on the 22nd of January edition of Dynamite, Omega & Ospreay officially joined forces to challenge Fletcher & Takeshita to a tag match at Grand Slam.
With years and years of history culminating in this massive clash, will the uneasy alliance of two of AEW‘s best prove stronger than the bond of a Family?
At AEW All Out in September of 2024, Jon Moxley, with Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta & PAC in tow, made a surprise return to AEW, aiding AEW World Champion & fellow Blackpool Combat Club co-founder Bryan Danielson in fending off Christian Cage and his Patriarchy. What many believed was going to be a reunion for the group descended into shock and chaos, as Claudio Castagnoli delivered a European Uppercut to “The American Dragon”, while Moxley procured a plastic bag and began suffocating Danielson as PAC held Yuta back and Marina Shafir appeared to make sure security and medical staff couldn’t get in the way of the heinous attack.
On the following Dynamite, Moxley declared war on AEW, a war that would start with taking the AEW World Championship from Bryan Danielson. On the very same episode of Dynamite, Moxley would challenge current number one contender for the championship Darby Allin to a matchup for Allin’s title shot at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam, which Mox would go on to win. Shortly after seizing victory and the title shot, Moxley would be attacked by Bryan Danielson in a similar fashion to the attack he dealt the world champion. Danielson would then officially lay down the challenge: Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson at Wrestledream for the AEW World Championship.
At Wrestldream, Moxley pummeled Danielson, effectively retiring him and capturing the AEW World Championship. AEW now belonged to the Death Riders. Since winning the championship, Moxley and his newly dubbed Death Riders have given themselves free reign to do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whoever they want. They have been met by their fair share of resistance from the AEW roster, from the likes of Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy, Hangman Adam Page and Jay White, all who have fallen to the Death Riders. At AEW World’s End, however, a shining beacon of hope shone on the company, as “The Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland made his triumphant return to AEW, alongside FTR, to even the odds against Moxley’s regime. From there, it has been a back and forth struggle between the Rated FTR supergroup and the Death Riders, a struggle that Jay White has involved himself in once again, aligning with Cope to further put pressure on the Death Riders. The alliance would be cemented on the 5th of February Dynamite when, following an arena wide brawl, Jay White would challenge Mox & Castagnoli to a Brisbane Brawl match against himself & Adam Copeland.
Can Cope & Jay White manage to deal a significant blow to the Death Riders or will Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli prove that the Death Riders are truly unstoppable?
In the wake of their leader being gone, the former House of Black has found itself a new direction, a new attitude and even a new name: The Hounds of Hell. This clean slate for the group has caught the attention of AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada, who interrupted an interview for the Hounds on the 25th of January Collision episode to tell Buddy Matthews that he barks “like a b*tch”. This caused Matthews to make an immediate challenge for Okada’s Continental Championship, that was immediately rejected by the champion. On the following Collision, Matthews would seemingly have his challenge once again rejected by “The Rainmaker”, until Buddy called him a b*tch. Claiming that he was “no b*tch”, the match would be officially set for AEW Grand Slam. On the latest Collision, Matthews & Okada would meet again, with Matthews getting inside the head of Okada, claiming that his more comedic tendencies since joining AEW have simply been a facade, hiding away the REAL Rainmaker.
At AEW Grand Slam, will Matthews prove that his bite is just as powerful as his bark, or will the true Rainmaker come out to play in Brisbane?
On the 22nd of Jan edition of Dynamite, in pursuit of a challenger for her TBS Championship at Grand Slam, Mercedes Monè would encounter the highly unorthodox Harley Cameron, who plead her case for a title shot through song. Despite the performance, Mercedes noted that Cameron has never won a match on AEW television, promptly rejecting the challenge with a “hard naur”. The next week on Collision, Cameron would actually pick up her first ever victory in AEW. Shortly afterwards, Cameron would use yet another, out of the box technique to get the attention of the TBS Champion: ventriloquism. Standing outside of Monè’s personal locker room, Cameron would unveil a stuffed doll, designed to look like Mercedes, which she would pair with her expert ventriloquist abilities to claim that Mercedes had changed her mind and granted her a title shot, while also becoming close personal friends. The real Mercedes would end up ruining the fun, claiming that Cameron is simply using these antics to hide the fact that she’s a loser and that “losers don’t get title shots”.
Undeterred, Cameron’s antics would continue on the following Dynamite as she would once again use the puppet Mercedes to a “Harley Halftime in Houston Concert” for that Saturday’s Collision, also claiming that her and Mercedes had “made up” after last Saturday’s confrontation. The real Mercedes would step in for the second time to call her a loser again, while also throwing puppet Mercedes onto the floor.
Last Saturday on Collision, with puppet Mercedes by her side (or in her backpack), Harley’s halftime concert would unfortunately be cut short by the arrival of Mercedes. Monè would yet again attempt to call Cameron a loser, but Harley would interject with the word “legend”. Completely and utterly fed up with Cameron, Mercedes would proceed to harshly run down Harley Cameron, a move that would end up backfiring immensely as Cameron would strike Mercedes with a microphone! This would be the champion’s breaking point, as Mercedes would finally accept Harley’s challenge for Grand Slam.
AEW Grand Slam is a genuine, can’t miss event. If you do not have tickets, get on top of that immediately. If you can’t grab tickets for any number of reasons, the show will also air 24 hours later on ESPN, via the Kayo Sports app.
TICKETS: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=SUNAEW25
Kayo/ESPN: https://kayosports.com.au/
Cheers for reading this one! If you’re curious about what’s going down across the rest of the country, click below:
What’s On: Regular Edition – https://www.pwdownunder.com/2025/02/13/whats-on-this-weekend-in-australian-wrestling-13-02-25/
My name is Lachlan Andrews, I’m based in Brisbane, QLD and I’ve been a fan of professional wrestling fan for as long as I can remember and even spent a very short time as a professional wrestlerYou can find me right here as the sole contributor to the “What’s On This Weekend” feature, detailing all of the upcoming events taking place across the country each and every weekend, with articles dropping every Thursday.
