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Grand Slam Australia

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Grand Slam Australia
PromotionAll Elite Wrestling
DateFebruary 15, 2025
CityBrisbane, Queensland, Australia
VenueBrisbane Entertainment Centre
AEW special event chronology
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Grand Slam Australia is an upcoming 2025 professional wrestling television special produced by the American company All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It will be the fifth annual Grand Slam event and will take place on Saturday, February 15, 2025, at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland; it was originally scheduled to be held at Suncorp Stadium. The special will be simulcast on TNT and Max in the United States, airing in place of AEW's regular Saturday program, Collision. This marks AEW's first event in Australia and breaks Grand Slam's yearly tradition of being held as a two-part television special in September at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City.

Production

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Background

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Grand Slam is an annual professional wrestling television special produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since 2021. From its inception until 2024, the event was held in late September at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in the New York City borough of Queens. It also originally aired as a two-part special—from 2021 to 2023, it encompassed the broadcasts of Wednesday Night Dynamite and Friday Night Rampage, while in 2024, it aired as Dynamite and Saturday Night Collision.[1][2][3]

During All In on August 25, 2024, AEW announced that the fifth Grand Slam would be moved up towards the beginning of the year, taking place on Saturday, February 15, 2025. Additionally, the 2025 event was announced to be broadcast as a one-night event in Brisbane, Queensland, marking AEW's first event in Australia, with the event subsequently branded as Grand Slam Australia.[4] This announcement came shortly after AEW president Tony Khan confirmed that the company were scouting venues to potentially hold an event in Australia in 2025.[5] Suncorp Stadium was originally slated to host the event,[4] but on November 25, it was reported that AEW would be moving Grand Slam, citing low ticket sales.[6][7] The new venue was subsequently confirmed as the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.[8]

During the January 15, 2025, episode of Dynamite, it was confirmed that Grand Slam would air on February 15 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on tape delay in place of Collision, simulcast on TNT and Max in the U.S.[9] However, due to a scheduling conflict with TNT's NBA All-Star Weekend coverage, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Grand Slam would instead air after the All-Star coverage,[10] which was later confirmed by AEW.[11] According to Khan, the decision to air Grand Slam after the All-Star coverage was presented to AEW by Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT and Max.[12]

There was confusion among fans whether Grand Slam would be a pay-per-view (PPV) event: according to Khan, the show was always planned to be a television special. He also stated that producing a live PPV from Brisbane would be challenging as many U.S. viewers would be unwilling to watch it live due to the time difference:[13] the show will be filmed at 5:30 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time (2:30 a.m. ET). This series of events sparked backlash among some attending fans, who felt scammed into believing Grand Slam would be a bigger event, citing its original presentation, while traveling fans reported increased costs and lack of refund options from the show moving from Suncorp Stadium to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.[14]

Storylines

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Grand Slam Australia will feature professional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Storylines are produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite and Collision.[15]

On the July 10, 2024, episode of Dynamite, Mariah May, protégé of then-AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm, won the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament to earn a title shot against Storm. Immediately after winning the tournament, May turned on Storm and then defeated her at All In for the title. After losing the title, Storm went on hiatus for nearly four months. She returned on December 11 at Dynamite: Winter is Coming, reprising her "Rockstar" persona, and acted as if she had just made her AEW debut. At Dynamite: Maximum Carnage, Storm won a Casino Gauntlet match to earn a title shot against May. At Collision: Homecoming on January 25, 2025, during a face-to-face with May, Storm revealed that her reprisal of her "Rockstar" persona was a ruse and that she had been "Timeless" the entire time.

Matches

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No.Matches*Stipulations
1Mariah May (c) vs. "Timeless" Toni StormSingles match for the AEW Women's World Championship[16]
2Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega vs. The Don Callis Family (Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita)Tag team match[17]
3Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Buddy MatthewsSingles match for the AEW Continental Championship[18]
4Jay White and Cope vs. Death Riders (Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli) (with Marina Shafir)Brisbane Brawl[18]
5Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Harley CameronSingles match for the AEW TBS Championship
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
*Card subject to change

References

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  1. ^ AEW Staff (June 16, 2021). "AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam Coming To NYC September 22nd". All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  2. ^ Casey, Connor (June 16, 2021). "AEW Announces AEW Dynamite Grand Slam for New York City". ComicBook.com. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  3. ^ Reneeo, Juan C. (September 27, 2021). "AEW Dark Elevation Results: Paul Wight, Dark Order, Thunder Rosa". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Lambert, Jeremy (August 25, 2024). "AEW Grand Slam Australia Announced For February 15, 2025". Fightful. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  5. ^ Defelice, Robert; Lambert, Jeremy (August 22, 2024). "Tony Khan Confirms AEW Has Scouted Various Locations To Hopefully Run An Event In Australia In 2025". Fightful. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  6. ^ Ravens, Andrew (November 25, 2024). "AEW Grand Slam: Australia Expected To Move To Different Venue After Poor Ticket Sales". SE Scoops. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  7. ^ Carey, Ian (November 25, 2024). "Report: AEW Grand Slam Australia likely moving to new venue". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  8. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (November 27, 2024). "AEW Grand Slam: Australia Moves To Brisbane Entertainment Centre". Fightful. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  9. ^ Lee, Joseph (January 16, 2025). "AEW Confirms Broadcast Plans For Grand Slam Australia, First Match Set". 411 Mania. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  10. ^ PWMania.com Staff (January 17, 2025). "AEW Resolves Scheduling Conflict For Grand Slam: Australia Event With TNT". PWMania. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  11. ^ Nason, Josh (January 29, 2025). "New broadcast start time listed for AEW Grand Slam Australia". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  12. ^ Fishman, Scott (February 5, 2025). "AEW's Tony Khan on His Love of Soapy TV & Why Timothée Chalamet Would Be a Great Wrestler". TV Insider. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
  13. ^ Woodward, Hamish (November 22, 2024). "Tony Khan Highlights The Challenges Of Airing AEW Grand Slam Australia On PPV". WrestleZone. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  14. ^ Lowson, Thomas (February 5, 2025). "AEW Grand Slam: Australia Branded a 'Scam' by Frustrated Fans". SE Scoops. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
  15. ^ Graianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  16. ^ Russell, Skylar (January 15, 2025). "AEW Women's World Championship Match Set For AEW Grand Slam: Australia". Fightful. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  17. ^ Russell, Skylar (January 22, 2025). "Kenny Omega And Will Ospreay Issue Challenge For AEW Grand Slam: Australia". Fightful. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  18. ^ a b Nason, Josh (February 5, 2025). "Two new matches official for AEW Grand Slam Australia". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
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