Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley will likely headline AEW's massive Wednesday Night Dynamite Grand Slam show on September 21, and it's fair to wonder how the company can make the outcome surprising. CM Punk was forced to relinquish the World Championship after injuring himself at All Out, and as soon as the bracket to determine a new champ was shown, Bryan against Jon seemed like the most likely outcome.
All Elite could have thrown a massive swerve and given Sammy Guevara a push into the title picture, but fans don't seem to have much appetite for that. Chris Jericho was also in the tournament, but AEW's O.G. champion still carries a bit of been there, done that aura following his run as le champion. That left Moxley and Danielson as the likely final, which came to fruition on the September 14 episode of Dynamite when Moxley beat Guevara and Danielson defeated Jericho. The show went off the air with the two Blackpool Combat Club members starring each other down, generating excitement for the Grand Slam final next week.
The thing is, it's not overly tricky to predict the winner of this match. It's widely known that Moxley was supposed to go on vacation for upwards of six weeks following his loss to Punk at All Out. Punk's injury necessitated his return, and like always, Moxley stepped up to the plate when AEW needed him. Still, this is the guy who lost in the main event of All Out and someone who Tony Khan has seemed all too happy to take the World Championship off of when his roster is at full health. Add on the fact that Danielson hasn't had a title run of significance since joining AEW, and the table seems set for him to go over Jon Moxley at Grand Slam. Does that predictability matter at this stage, though?
Bryan Danielson Can Steady AEW's Ship As Champion
AEW tried something different during the build to Moxley vs. Punk at All Out. Instead of unifying the titles at the pay-per-view as initially planned, the call was made to have Jon squash Punk in the middle of the card in a short match. This set up questions about what the main event was even going to be 11 days out from the PPV, and while the chaos sat well with some fans, others who had already bought tickets and made plans to travel to Chicago weren't so thrilled. Perhaps the move at Grand Slam, then, is to not attempt to galaxy brain the finish of Moxley vs. Danielson.
The story of two members of the Blackpool Combat Club going toe-to-toe for the company's top prize writes itself. With William Regal on commentary, he can help sell the steel-sharpens-steel angle that this fight will likely take on. Let these two former WWE champions put their bodies on the line in a classic, slow burn of a match. Grand Slam isn't a case where AEW needs to try and reinvent the wheel. The tale of two veterans who respect each other beating the hell out of each other for a title is as old as the industry itself, and that's the direction Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson should go. That sets the winner up to feud with MJF, allowing AEW to finally settle back into a normal rhythm after Punk's post-All Out media scrum atom bomb with Full Gear on the horizon.