AEW Makes History in Paris: Grand Slam France Card Takes Shape
AEW is headed somewhere it has never been before.
On Tuesday, October 6, All Elite Wrestling will make its official debut in France with AEW Grand Slam: France, emanating from Adidas Arena in Paris.
And if you're going to introduce yourself to a new country, you might as well bring some championship gold with you.
The historic event will feature tapings of both Dynamite and Collision, and following Saturday night's Collision, the card suddenly got a whole lot bigger.
At the top sits AEW World Champion Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada.
Honestly, you could probably stop there and sell me on the show.
Ospreay successfully defended the AEW World Championship against Jon Moxley at All Out before calling his shot and asking for Okada in Paris. Okada accepted, giving AEW's first French audience one hell of a World Championship match.
These are two wrestlers who know each other incredibly well, with a history stretching far beyond AEW. But this time the circumstances are different. Ospreay is the World Champion, Okada is walking into his challenge as AEW International Champion, and WrestleDream is waiting on the other side.
Because whoever leaves Paris holding the AEW World Championship isn't getting much time to celebrate.
AEW announced Saturday that the championship will be defended in the newly created Clockwork Carnage Match at WrestleDream on October 17, meaning Ospreay or Okada will walk directly from one major challenge into another.
But Grand Slam France isn't a one-match card.
Mercedes Moné will defend the AEW Women's World Championship against Queen Aminata, who defeated Julia Hart on Collision before making it clear she didn't want to wait for an opportunity.
I like that.
Don't ask somebody to remember your name later when you can make them remember it now.
Aminata called her shot, and now she gets Moné in Paris. With Thekla already waiting for the Women's World Champion at WrestleDream, suddenly there's a very interesting wrinkle hanging over that match.
Darby Allin will also defend the TNT Championship against Kyle Fletcher.
Allin issued the challenge himself, pointing to the history surrounding the championship and essentially daring Fletcher to come take it from him.
Good luck with that.
Then there's Bandido defending the ROH World Championship against Kofi.
Kofi made his AEW singles debut Saturday against ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty and walked away with the victory. Instead of easing his way into the singles picture, he immediately looked toward another champion.
Alongside Austin Creed, Kofi made it clear that The New Level isn't satisfied with what it already has.
They want more gold.
Bandido just happens to be holding some.
Samoa Joe vs. Jack Perry now has even larger implications as well.
Their increasingly personal issue will come to a head in Paris in a Clockwork Carnage Qualifying Match, with the winner advancing to the AEW World Championship match at WrestleDream.
Perry has spent weeks poking the bear.
Unfortunately for him, the bear is Samoa Joe.
Joe finally answered Perry on Collision and made it very clear that Jack might want to be careful what he wishes for. Now Perry gets exactly what he asked for — plus a potential path toward the World Championship.
And Chris Jericho and Nick Wayne are also scheduled to meet again in Paris after Wayne challenged Jericho to another match following their increasingly heated issues in recent weeks.
Their first encounter didn't settle much.
Paris might.
AEW Grand Slam: France Card
AEW World Championship
Will Ospreay (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada
AEW Women's World Championship
Mercedes Moné (c) vs. Queen Aminata
TNT Championship
Darby Allin (c) vs. Kyle Fletcher
ROH World Championship
Bandido (c) vs. Kofi
Clockwork Carnage Qualifying Match
Samoa Joe vs. Jack Perry
Singles Match
Chris Jericho vs. Nick Wayne
There's something I genuinely love about wrestling entering a new market.
Fans who have watched these wrestlers through a screen suddenly get them in their building. Entrances sound different. Reactions feel different. Wrestlers feed off a crowd they've never performed in front of before.
And sometimes those crowds remind us just how universal professional wrestling really is.
AEW has already planted its flag across plenty of international territory, but Paris is new.
Tuesday night, France finally gets to be All Elite.
And AEW isn't arriving quietly...