Rampage opened hot with a battle royal to determine who would be facing Better Than You Bay Bay for the ROH Tag Titles.
The Outrunners were the first team out, quickly followed by Peter Avalon & Ryan Nemeth. Aussie Open targeted and eliminated Gates of Agony early, in a surprise. Butcher, and, far earlier, Blade, were taken out, with Butcher getting targeted by the Righteous especially. The Hardys were eliminated by Righteous and Dark Order, albeit with the Righteous going out quickly after. Darius Martin and Action Andretti were taken out, along with Alex Reynolds who seemed to be hurt.
This left us with a final five consisting of John Silver, Best Friends, and Aussie Open. These final five quickly became a final four however, with Chuck Taylor getting thrown out by Aussie Open. In the past, you would’ve seen Silver and Trent team up, but a smarter Silver is here today, and he let Trent fight the 2 on 1. Trent managed to get Fletcher out, but Silver was then dumped out, about to be eliminated, when Reynolds miraculously recovered from his injury to catch Silver, and deposit him on the steps. Trent and Davis fought for a time, before Trent managed to muscle Davis out of the match. It was at that moment that Silver blindsided him and won the battle royale, earning the title shot! The match will be great, and I’m glad Dark Order are getting the spotlight on a big PPV.
Jericho, while on commentary, was attacked by Aussie Open, fellow teammates of the man who bested him at All In, Will Ospreay. Sammy Guevara came out to save him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the match gets made.
A vignette for Mike Santana then played, showing what had happened to bring him to this point, all being kicked off by his fathers passing and the injury he suffered in Blood & Guts. He is back to reclaim it all.
Next up is Nick Wayne & Vikingo vs Kip Sabian and Gringo Loco. The match had crazy spot after crazy spot, with Vikingo and Gringo being the true highlights of the match, even though all of them did great. Wayne & Vikingo got the win, but, more than anything, I would love for Gringo Loco to get a full time contract with AEW. Their emphasis on lucha tells me that he is one of the best signings they could make.
After this, we had a QTV segment, highlighting QT’s title defense at Progress, but also Johnny TV taking over the show. What could this mean for QTV?!
Bryan Keith got a great, short vignette leading into his match with Hangman Page, which itself lead into a great, short match for both of them. Page is still one of the best, and should be used far, FAR more, but I’d also truly believe AEW, or ROH, should sign Bryan Keith.
We had 2 back to back Renee segments, the first with Daniel Garcia and 2.0 back on track and dedicated to winning gold, and the second with Roderick Strong sitting down for, but then refusing, an interview with Renee.
As Mark Henry said, it was now time for the main event. We have Anna Jay & Taya Valkyrie teaming against Skye Blue & Willow Nightingale. Willow and Anna opened the match, but Taya quickly joined the fray, with both competitors getting offense in early. The heels used some dirty tactics to gain an advantage, distracting the ref so the non legal competitor could get in some shots. Willow was repeatedly prevented from making the tag, but finally got Skye Blue in, who went crazy with the attacks on Anna Jay. Anna got saved by Taya, who would then fight Willow, before her and Anna would gain an advantage. Skye managed to battle back, taking out Taya and Anna in her home town, before getting the pin.
Taya attacked Blue after the match, but Willow quickly saved her, and celebrated with Chicago’s own after their win. Rampage was a hoot, a very enjoyable watch. I hope they keep up the momentum going forward!