AEW: Who Should Win the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions?

AEW Dynamite has come and gone and while we still don’t have an official word from AEW on what the punishments will be for those involved in the backstage fracas during the All Out media scrum, we did get some clarification on the status of both the AEW World Title and the brand new AEW Trios Titles.

The Trios Titles were won by Death Triangle on Wednesday night when they beat Orange Cassidy and Best Friends in a highly entertaining match.

It was also announced that a tournament will be held to determine the winner of the now vacant AEW World Title.

The tournament has six competitors that have the chance to become the new AEW World Champion and those six men are Adam Page, Bryan Danielson, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara, Chris Jericho, and Jon Moxley.

We did see the first match of the tournament play out on this week’s Dynamite when Bryan Danielson pulled out a hard-fought victory over “Hangman” Adam Page.  Danielson will move on to face Chris Jericho next week in a tournament semifinal match.

So with one semifinal final match set, let’s take a look at the remaining Grand Slam Tournament of Champions matches and what we can expect from each.

Sammy Guevara vs Darby Allin

Sammy Guevara and Darby Allin will reignite their old rivalry for the right to face Jon Moxley in the other semifinal match of the tournament on Rampage this week.

Guevara and Darby have both cooled off some in recent months.  Guevara’s on-screen pairing with Tay Melo has turned a lot of people off on Sammy, and while Darby is still wildly popular with the fans, he has not been very successful in high-profile singles matches thus far in 2022.

This is a spot that AEW should use as a way to start to rectify Darby’s lack of success in singles competition.  But it is hard to bet on Darby winning these days unless he is in a tag team match with Sting.  Winner: Sammy Guevara

Bryan Danielson vs Chris Jericho

In an All Out rematch, Bryan Danielson and Chris Jericho will lock horns once again, but this time with a shot at the AEW World Title on the line.

After Jericho’s surprising win over Danielson at All Out, it is really hard to pick against Chris Jericho.  But this one has to go Danielson’s way.

Bryan Danielson came into AEW red hot and during his program with “Hangman” Adam Page, Danielson became one of the best and biggest heels in AEW.  And now is the time for Danielson to resume that role.

Danielson doesn’t have to break away from the Blackpool Combat Club, but he should separate himself some in the near future storylines as he looks to become the new AEW World Champion.  Danielson will get his win back over Jericho next Wednesday and move on to the tournament final.  Winner: Bryan Danielson

Sammy Guevara vs Jon Moxley

In the other semifinal, Sammy Guevara will take on Jon Moxley with the winner moving on to the finals of the tournament with Bryan Danielson.

Guevara, who really should not even beat Darby, will run out of luck here.

This will be a good match and Guevara will hang tough but Jon Moxley did not put his vacation on hold to get bounced in the semifinals of this tournament by Sammy Guevara, no matter how many of the Jericho Appreciation Society try to get involved.  Winner: Jon Moxley

Bryan Danielson vs Jon Moxley in the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions Finals

It certainly looks like we are headed towards an all-Blackpool Combat Club tournament finals at Arthur Ashe stadium.

This is the most predictable finals match, but also the biggest match that AEW can put together based on the six competitors in the tournament.

And this is where Bryan Danielson needs to start his first run as AEW Champion.

It wouldn’t be out of the question for Tony Khan to put the title back on Jon Moxley.  Mox has proven time and time again to be the heartbeat of AEW and the promotion could do much worse than Jon Moxley as champion.  But with Mox’s scheduled time off coupled with him already having multiple title runs in AEW’s short history, it is time for a change.

It is hard to say how much longer Danielson will continue to wrestle.  And with all uncertainty that surrounds those involved in the backstage brawl, now is the time for a Bryan Danielson AEW title run.  Winner: Bryan Danielson wins the vacant AEW Title