Stark's mention of the "demon in a bottle," is a reference to the Iron Man comic series of the same name.
What caused the change: the portal to Stark Tower closed before Iron Man could fall through it, causing him to fall through a convoluted path to Sakaar.
This episode was originally planned for season one but due to Covid it was pushed to season two
Grandmaster treats Tony with the same respect as Loki during his initial stay.
Tony creates a transformer armor in the shape of the Hulk buster. It's either his armor or a racecar.