New ROH Champion Crowned At AEW Grand Slam

Tonight at Arthur Ashe Stadium, a heated matchup between NJPW Strong Champion Eddie Kingston and ROH Heavyweight Champion Claudio Castagnoli looked to settle their rivalry in a title vs title matchup.

ROH & NJPW STRONG Openweight Championships
Claudio Castagnoli (C) vs. Eddie Kingston (C)

We shoot to the ring where Claudio Castagnoli's theme hits. The ROH World Champion makes his way to the ring as the ROH commentator checks in on special guest commentary for this champion versus champion showdown.

He settles in the ring and then the theme for Eddie Kingston hits and the crowd goes absolutely bonkers as "The Mad King" emerges. The NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion heads to the ring looking all business.

The "Eddie! Eddie!" chants are loud as hell as the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. The two slowly close in on each other and then Castagnoli charges at him with a boot to the grill. Kingston fights back with thunderous chops.

After some more back-and-forth action, we see the fight spill out to the floor. Castagnoli clobbers Kingston and then hits a big back suplex that saw "The Mad King" land hard on the ramp. Back in the ring, Castagnoli lands a big double stomp on the arm, where he is focusing his attack now.

On that note we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as our opening champion versus champion showdown continues. When we return from the break, we see Castagnoli still taking it to Kingston. Kingston starts to hulk up and take over.

Kingston hits a big side suplex that slows Castagnoli's offensive momentum down. The two start trading stiff shots back-and-forth. They start jawing at each other as things get intense. Castagnoli starts hitting Kingston with everything in his arsenal but can't put him away.

Now we see "The Mad King" take over and suffer the same fate, as no matter what he tries Castagnoli keeps kicking out. Eventually Kingston hits a spinning back fist and a power bomb for the pin fall victory. With the win, Kingston is now the ROH World Champion and the NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion.

After the match, the two shake hands and Castagnoli hands him the ROH title and heads to the back with Wheeler Yuta. Kingston hangs in the ring and soaks up the moment as the crowd shows him a ton of love.

Winner and NEW ROH World Champion & NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion: Eddie Kingston

EDDIE DID IT!

EDDIE DID IT!

EDDIE DID IT!

EDDIE KINGSTON IS YOUR NEW #ROH WORLD CHAMPION!

Watch #AEWDynamite #AEWGrandSlam LIVE ON TBS!@ClaudioCSRO | #EddieKingston pic.twitter.com/C94j2FM1sT

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) September 21, 2023