This episode of AEW emanated from the iconic Arena Mexico, and it will likely forever be remembered for it’s remarkable crowd, carrying each segment up several notches by their sheer enthusiasm. The production also felt unique through it’s location as the unique stage typically used for CMLL provided a new visual aesthetic to the broadcast. The show contained great wrestling also, particularly in it’s multi-man matches, be they the opening and closing tag matches or the excellent 4 way Lucha Showcase. Other matches suffered more either from a poor finish (MJF/Mistico), lack of time (Mercedes/Zeuxis) or lack of effort (Okada/Briscoe), and though no match on the show was bad some I will confess to being a touch disappointed, even with the noise of the fans piercing through any issues that may have presented. Finishes were also a major problem through the show with only 2 of the 6 matches presented having satisfying conclusions. Not a perfect show, but still one that props up strong work with an amazing audience and unique presentation.
Tonight on AEW Dynamite Grand Slam Mexico, Mercedes Mone looks to add to her deep gold collection as she battles Zeuxis for the CMLL Women’s World Championship. American Hero MJF returns for one night only to take on the Mexican icon Mistico. Elsewhere on the show, Two Multi Man tag matches will bookend the show, a four million pesos four way will grant one talent financial spoils and Mark Briscoe will attempt to take down Kazuchika Okada. Let’s get at it!
Hangman Page cut a promo entirely in Spanish to kick off the show, welcoming fans, putting over the product and telling Moxley he will be watching for him in the main event. Tony Schiavone gave a helpful translation for those like myself who don’t speak Spanish, but the promo was clearly fiery and got the crowd hyped up. This will not be rated due to me not being able to accurately analyse dialogue not spoken in a language I myself speak, but it was a lovely way to kick off proceedings.
AMAZING Dax Harwood, Volador Jr, Hechicero, Lance Archer, Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita and Josh Alexander vs Bandido, Atlantis, Atlantis Jr, Templario, Brody King, Adam Cole and Daniel Garcia
A mammoth party match to kick off proceedings with lots of curious talking points. Cash Wheeler was absent from the match, replaced with CMLL veteran Volador Jr. Brody King also comes to the ring in a daring “Abolish ICE” shirt. Bandido, fresh off a match of the year candidate against Mascara Dorada, proved his remarkable talents early on with great sequences with Takeshita and a very popular Hechicero. Atlantis and Atlantis Jr are relentlessly booed, a favourite pastime of Arena Mexico crowds, and it does damage the overall atmosphere with certain faces booed and heels cheered. The action was as terrific as the names involved would suggest, with each man getting their moment to shine. CMLL and AEW are two of the best in the game when it comes to matches of this style so this felt like a very fitting opening match, though I did spot some sloppiness in a few minute places. My biggest gripe comes from the finish, which would have played fine on an episode of Collision in the States, but ignoring the clear hostility towards Atlantis from the crowd when his son was booed the night before in his match with Josh Alexander was a naive decision that alienated the crowd, ending an otherwise strong match with heavy booing and undermining the party atmosphere they were trying to create.
Result: Atlantis Jr by Pinfall via Roll-Up
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4 Stars
GOOD Kazuchika Okada vs Mark Briscoe
At his highest level, Kazuchika Okada is a wizard of pro wrestling. Unfortunately, that is only about 30% of the time, and the rest falls into this category. This match did suffer from a lack of excitement which was evident in Okada’s body language. There was plenty of dependable work here, though at a slower pace and lacking in real investment, but for a show at the magnitude of Arena Mexico I expected something more impressive from Okada. While even in a sleepwalk he is still incredibly technically proficient, I struggled to invest in this match off the back of little to truly excite me. Average by the book fare for both guys.
Results: Kazuchika Okada by Pinfall via Rainmaker
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.25 Stars
GREAT MJF vs Mistico
Deeply underwhelming finish aside, this was a strong pantomime match between two of the best in the world at the pantomime style. MJF’s US attire and Mistico’s Sin-Cara esque entrance mask were both nice touches and fit the build well. MJF got huge heat in workover spots and while little of the action was groundbreaking it was nonetheless a very fun back and forth matchup. A nailed on 4 star rating was sadly brought down however by the finish. While I understand not wanting to beat either guy, having such a long match just for MJF to get bored essentially, whether in his character or not, is not a good enough conclusion to a match with multiple weeks of build. The atmosphere was fantastic and the charisma off the charts, but the match needed a far better finish than it received.
Results: Mistico by Disqualification via MJF Low Blow
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.75 Stars
AMAZING Hologram vs Ricochet vs Lio Rush vs Mascara Dorada
4 million pesos up for grabs here, which sounds rather more impressive than it is (approximately 211,000 US Dollars according to Tony Schiavone). This splits off quickly into Rudos (Rush and Rico) and Technicos (Dorada and Hologram) which gives the match a really strong spine. The combination of character work and divine high flying action was very welcome and well worked and I admired the intricate sequences on display. This met its expectation and provided a second big win for Hologram this week. I strongly suspect Ricochet, off the back of this, will regain his heat by overcoming Volador Jr this weekend at Fantastica Mania.
Result: Hologram by Pinfall via Proto-Bomb
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.25 Stars
GREAT Mercedes Mone vs Zeuxis
While I do think this match provided Zeuxis a good platform to demonstrate her talents to the wider world, with some very innovative sequences, this match suffered from a lack of time. The final 3rd in particular felt deeply rushed with the finish coming from nowhere and not feeling like a satisfactory end either to the match or Zeuxis’ world title run. Both women did come out of this looking stronger, and the hard hitting style was satisfying, I just felt like we had barely scratched the surface before the match was done. The post match was more interesting with Toni appearing from the streets of Mexico City to attack Mercedes, but I feel like Zeuxis got lost in the shuffle of the angle, leaving her a tad in the lurch.
Results: Mercedes Mone by Pinfall via Avalanche Reversed Powerslam
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 3.5 Stars
AMAZING Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, The Young Bucks and Beast Mortos vs The Opps, Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland
Yet another party match, this time to close the show. All the guys here worked really hard to put on a great show and the atmosphere of the crowd elevated every competitor, especially Samoa Joe. Physical standouts here were Mortos, wrestling his first match in Arena Mexico since 2011, and Ospreay whose work was innovative, exciting, and always kept within the realm of the story being told, especially in his newfound chemistry with Swerve that gave the match its most intriguing hook. This match, like others on the show, had a lame finish, but this finish did play nicely into the story with Ospreay briefly taking his eye off the ball and it costing him, reinforcing the idea that Moxley can escape by any means at All In. A great way to close the show!
Result: Jon Moxley by Pinfall via Roll-Up
David Sheldon WR Star Rating- 4.25 Stars
Overall…
This episode of AEW emanated from the iconic Arena Mexico, and it will likely forever be remembered for it’s remarkable crowd, carrying each segment up several notches by their sheer enthusiasm. The production also felt unique through it’s location as the unique stage typically used for CMLL provided a new visual aesthetic to the broadcast. The show contained great wrestling also, particularly in it’s multi-man matches, be they the opening and closing tag matches or the excellent 4 way Lucha Showcase. Other matches suffered more either from a poor finish (MJF/Mistico), lack of time (Mercedes/Zeuxis) or lack of effort (Okada/Briscoe), and though no match on the show was bad some I will confess to being a touch disappointed, even with the noise of the fans piercing through any issues that may have presented. Finishes were also a major problem through the show with only 2 of the 6 matches presented having satisfying conclusions. Not a perfect show, but still one that props up strong work with an amazing audience and unique presentation.
Matches: 0.75/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 1/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 1/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 4/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling – June 18th 2025
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the system here :
