AEW Rampage Grand Slam 2023 Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of AEW Rampage Grand Slam on September 22.

This week's show is part of the Grand Slam festivities at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, so Tony Khan extended this episode to two hours.

The show is packed to the brim with matches featuring several wrestlers, but we did get two singles bouts. Skye Blue took on Julia Hart, and Mike Santana was in action for the first time in AEW as a singles star.

We also saw some trios matches and a Fatal 4-Way tag bout. The winners of the tag match will receive a shot at the ROH tag titles at WrestleDream.

Let's take a look at everything that happened on Friday's show.

Darby Allin and Sting vs. Christian Cage and Luchasaurus

AEW

Rampage.

This week's supersized episode of Rampage opened with a tag team match. Sting and Darby Allin battled Luchasaurus and Christian Cage. Nick Wayne was at ringside to keep an eye on Cage.

The action got started before the bell, but once the ref officially started the match, Sting and Allin were firmly in control for the first couple of minutes.

This was a relatively chaotic match until shortly before the commercial break. Once they started making tags and obeying the rules, Cage and Luchasaurus started to dominate.

Overall, this was a fun match that did a good job of keeping this storyline going without feeling like it was meant to be a definitive ending.

Sting and Allin hit a fun combination of the Coffin Drop and Scorpion Death Drop on Luchasaurus, but it was Allin pinning Cage with a jackknife cover that scored his team the win.

Winners: Sting and Darby Allin

Grade: B

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• Everything Christian has been doing has been great, but it's hard not to feel bad for Luchasaurus a bit. His reign as TNT champion is being totally overshadowed. 
• Having the ramp go right up the ring might be a better setup than what AEW usually uses, but it also has its downside as we saw with Adam Cole. 
• Allin's face paint always wipes off quickly, but Sting's never seems to smear the same way. They must use different kinds of paint for some reason. 
• Allin's suicide dive is reckless, but it's also really fun to watch. 
• Stong no-selling his opponent's offense will always be entertaining. 

Cassidy, Statlander and Hook vs. Parker, Menard and Anna Jay

AEW

Rampage.

Mixed trios action is not something we see very often, but AEW gave us one of those matches this week when Orange Cassidy and Kris Statlander teamed up with Hook to take on three former JAS members, Anna Jay, Angelo Parker and Matt Menard.

Jake Hager was with the heel team as ringside support. Menard panicked when Hook looked in Red Rum early, so he tagged in Jay to force Hook to leave the ring so Statlander could take his place.

The TBS champion had a power advantage, but Jay put up a good fight whenever they were in the ring together. This match wasn't nearly as chaotic as the first bout we got on this show, which worked in its favor. All six competitors spent some time in the ring because they were making regular tags on both sides.

This wasn't a particularly memorable match, but it was nice to see the former JAS members continuing to get screen time without being associated with Chris Jericho. Everyone played their part well, but like a lot of AEW matches, the last couple of minutes was where the good stuff was.

OC got the pin for his team by hitting the Orange Punch on Parker while Hook held Menard back in the Red Rum.

Winners: Orange Cassidy, Hook and Kris Statlander

Grade: B-

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• Statlander got a huge pop for her entrance. 
• Ian Riccaboni brings such great energy to commentary. AEW should have him on as many shows as possible. 
• Menard and Parker are great with the comedy stuff, but it would be nice to see them get a chance to have some more serious matches. 
• The triple suplex spot with all six people was good. 

The Hardyz vs. Kingdom vs. Righteous vs. Best Friends

AEW

Rampage.

Sammy Guevara joined Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita for a promo to talk about why they are together. This led to Chris Jericho coming out to attack them. Kenny Omega joined him but after they drove off the Callis family, they had a tense staredown.

The next matchup was the Fatal-4-Way tag match to determine the No. 1 contenders for the ROH tag titles. Matt and Jeffy Hardy, Dutch and Vincent, Mike Bennet and Matt Taven, and Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta were the four duos competing to face Adam Cole and MJF for the belts.

All eight men started brawling as soon as the bell rang. After a bout that lasted two segments, Vincent picked up the win for The Righteous. Taven and Bennett were irate and took their anger out on Best Friends after the match was over.

This bout couldn't properly showcase anyone because so many teams were involved, but having The Righteous win was the right call after they just defeated The Hardyz recently.

Winners: The Righteous

Grade: C+

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• AEW keeping Guevara as a heel is smart. He is just better when he is the bad guy. 
• Having tags in a match like this is almost pointless because once everyone starts fighting, it's impossible to keep track of who is legal the entire time. 

The Dark Order vs. Acclaimed and Daddy Ass

AEW

Rampage.

John Silver, Alex Reynolds and Evil Uno got a shot at the Trios Championships this week when they took on Anthony Bowens, Max Caster and Billy Gunn.

Even though The Dark Order has been trying to be taken more seriously, this bout still included quite a few comedy spots, especially from The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass.

The champions didn't seem to be taking the match seriously at first and they ended up paying for it when Uno, Silver and Reynolds took them all out at once.

The story they were telling with The Dark Order was effective in this match. They also had a steady pace, so it was much easier to follow than a lot of AEW trios matches.

The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass ended up getting the win, but The Dark Order came away from this looking strong. It wouldn't be surprising if they were the ones who ended up taking the belts eventually.

Winners: The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass

Grade: B

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• The Dark Order was wearing white gear instead of their usual black color scheme. Uno even had a white mask. It looked well-made. 
• Reynolds is one of AEW's secret weapons. He could have a lot of great singles matches if given the opportunity. 
• Billy might want to lighten up on the spray tanning. 

Skye Blue vs. Julia Hart

AEW

Rampage.

Julia Hart and Skye Blue met for a singles match, and for both of them, this was a big opportunity. The Grand Slam shows are some of the biggest episodes of AEW TV, so to get a singles bout on the card put the spotlight on both of them.

Hart grabbed Blue and whispered something into her ear before slapping her across the face. From that moment forward, they were as aggressive as possible.

This might have been one of the most physical matches on the entire show. They were laying in their strikes and making sure everything had that right balance of rough and smooth.

Hart was able to secure the victory by making Blue tap out, but she wasn't done there. She put Blue back in the hold until Willow Nightingale made the save.

Winner: Julia Hart

Grade: B+

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• The announcers pointed out that these two women have two of the best win-loss records in all of AEW, which is possible due to the many matches they each won on AEW Dark and Dark Elevation. 
• Both women slowly removing their hats at the same time was a good moment. 
• Brody King casts the most imposing image in AEW. Seeing him come out with Hart really showed just how big he is. 
• Hart has really gotten good at making sure she is in the right spot so the camera always captures her facial expressions. So much of her performance is body language and how she emotes. 
• Hart's superplex into the tree of woe was a great spot. 

Mike Santana vs. Bronson, Mogul Embassy vs. Hung Bucks

AEW

Rampage.

After recently returning alongside Ortiz, Mike Santana has decided to walk his own path. His first singles match of his new run came against Bronson of The Iron Savages.

This wasn't a total squash, but it wasn't a long match either. This was designed to make Santana look good quickly, and it accomplished its goal. He won the match in just a couple of minutes. Ortiz came out on the stage and they had a confrontation that ended with Santana walking away.

Winner: Mike Santana

Grade: C

The ROH six-man tag titles were on the line when Brian Cage, Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun put their belts on the line against Adam Page, Nick and Matt Jackson.

The Hung Bucks have all held tag and trios gold at different times, but this combo has also held the ROH six-man titles before, so they were looking to add to their original 201-day reign.

After it looked like Hangman and the Bucks had the match well in hand, Swerve Strickland appeared on the stage. Hangman was distracted and left the ring, almost costing his team the match in the process.

This match had a lot of fun moments, but it felt a bit weird to have yet another ROH title bout on AEW television this week instead of on ROH. It was easy to forget who was legal because so many people weren't worried about tags, but that tends to come with the territory with any match involving The Young Bucks.

Hangman was able to get the win for his team to reclaim the six-man titles they held back in 2017. The show ended with them celebrating as their entrance music played.

Winners: The Hung Bucks

Grade: B+

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• There were a lot of different reports going around about whether Santana and Ortiz actually had any personal issues. AEW has mined real drama for stories before, so it could be a bit of both. 
• Hangman and The Bucks are over on a different level than Kenny and The Bucks. There is a different kind of reaction when they come out that is hard to explain. 
• Prince Nana dancing will always be funny. 
• AEW should give Kaun a singles push at some point. He has a lot of good attributes and if you have seen social media, you know he is popular with the female demographic. 
• Cage's shoulders weren't down when he was pinned. 

The Final Word

AEW

Rampage.

This week's episode of Rampage being two hours meant fans who also watched SmackDown had four hours of content to consume this week.

Rampage is usually the show most people skip if they can't watch everything, but this week's show being a special Grand Slam episode at Arthur Ashe Stadium might help get a bump in the ratings.

Most of the matches were decent, but Skye vs. Blue and the ROH six-man tag title bout were the two best matches on the card.

WrestleDream is right around the corner, so AEW still has some work to do to fill up the card in the coming weeks. That needs to take priority above everything else.

Grade: B