We are once again here for the fastest hour in pro wrestling, AEW Rampage! Things begin with a big 8 man tag, composed of The Hardys and The Lucha Bros against Double J, Jay Lethal, The Butcher, and The Blade. Penta and Lethal start the match off, picking up from their tourney bout. The match is fast paced, with tags in and out and tag team offense galore. The dastardly group takes control with their ringside help aiding them, and Matt gets separated from the rest of his team as he gets hit with move after move. As the crowd urges him on, Matt finally gets the tag, and Rey Fenix gets in the ring, hitting many major moves ranging from his cutter to his rope run kick. Penta helps by diving to the outside and taking out many of the combatants, but, as Fenix attempts to do the same, The Blade stops him. Alex Abrahantes climbs to the top? Yes, he does, fending off multiple combatants before diving and getting caught by Satnam Singh. Still, the distraction allowed our heroes to rally, and Fenix hit his driver and got the pin and the win at the expense of The Blade.
The Hardys didn’t end up too great, however, and The Righteous stood over them, possibly indicating a future match between the teams. Britt Baker is getting interviewed by Renee, and she’s showing a darker, angrier side of herself for the first time in awhile. She’s pissed, and rightfully so, as she’s been stopped in her tracks from getting a major opportunity as of late. Instead, she’s redirecting her efforts towards the title she hasn’t held, that of course being the TBS Women’s Championship.
QTV is back for another episode, once again hosted by Johnny TV. QT is still in Mexico, and it has Aaron worried he’s never coming back. Johnny reassures him, and also presents them with a luchador, who Johnny beats up… in solidarity, of course. Up next, we have Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels against The Kingdom. I’d love to see The Kingdom rise up the ranks in the AEW tag division, and possibly get a tag title reign, so this is a good start. Daniels and Bennett start off the match, with Daniels holding him in a headlock. The match picks up speed quickly however, and the team of Sydal and Daniels keeps control. Could The Kingdom’s worry about their friend’s health be slowing them down? Possibly, but that didn’t stop them from taking back control. They kept up that control after, keeping Daniels isolated from his tag partner while gaining multiple near falls. Matt Sydal would get in, but The Kingdom would keep up their control, until their opponents finally had a string of good luck. After a big tag move, they had a near fall on The Kingdom, but Bennett put Sydal down with a DVD, and they hit The Proton Pack on Daniels for the three. Taven tells the fans that they need to go check on Roddy, but they also made clear that they intend to take Better Than You Bay Bay’s ROH Tag Titles. Bennett, on the other hand, wants to make clear just how important Neck Health Awareness is, and he’s willing to piledrive you if you doubt it.
The Mogul Embassy is pissed after The Young Bucks took them out after Hangman got the win. Swerve says that Hangman did exactly what they expected, and went running to The Elite. They want revenge, so they want the Hungbucks (Trademark in dispute) at AEW Grand Slam. The Acclaimed are then out, with a rap disparaging Joe Burrow, and a plan to beat Peter Avalon and The Outrunners. It doesn’t take long for them to get the win, but the scissors are put away as The Dark Order wants a shot at The Trios Titles, especially when the titles are being held by bad people. A singles match is made for tomorrow night, with Bowens (after many stalled rock paper scissors attempts) facing any one of them, so the Dark Order can prove they deserve a title shot. I look forward to this, as Uno, Silver, and Reynolds have killed it in every trios match they’ve wrestled this year for AEW.
Just as I said for The Kingdom, I’d say for Aussie Open. In their short time here, they’ve proven themselves one of the best tag teams in AEW, and have history with FTR. They make quick work of their opponents tonight, as they once again make their climb up the mountain for some gold. I’d prefer if they had some promo time after this win though, hopefully they’ll have another major match soon!
Now, it’s time for our main event, as we have Jade Cargill as the challenger for the first time in her career, looking to avenge her loss against the current TBS champ, Kris Statlander. The match starts with the two powerhouses jockeying for control, and finding themselves evenly matched. They try again, and once again even out, but with Jade throwing a knee. They started to throw clotheslines at one another, with Jade gaining the advantage, but it was short-lived after Statlander hit her with a major slam. Jade, after a distracting Smart Mark, hit a slam of her own, and gained control. Jade hit a major delayed vertical suplex, but Statlander countered with big move of her own. Statlander went on a run at this point, hitting strikes and moves, including a blue thunder bomb that got a close count. After another bout of interference by the world’s best wrestling lawyer, Jade almost won with a chokeslam. Statlander recovered quickly, and launched an array of offense before hitting Friday Night Fever and getting a decisive win. The two hug after. If this is goodbye to Jade in AEW (and nothing is definitive just yet), this was the perfect send-off. Really fun Rampage tonight, and it built into what seems to be a pretty good Collision tomorrow. Grand Slam is just about here, so look forward to a double wide Rampage review next week!