Our own Ben Lypka was in the crowd for this week’s episode of AEW Rampage (which aired on Friday night). Here are his notes – and photos – from the stands.
The last stop on the road to this Sunday’s AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view was Friday’s episode of Rampage, which was recorded directly after Dynamite on Wednesday night and sandwiched in between close to two hours of Ring of Honor television.
The first thing to occur under the Rampage branding was a short promo from Chris Jericho – this may not air on television and could have been just for the live audience. Jericho abruptly cut his “Judas” theme song and chastised the crowd for cheering Adam Cole and Sabu on Dynamite. He vowed to defeat Cole in the unsanctioned match, before joining the rest of the commentary team at the desk.
The first match saw The Acclaimed (Max Caster, Anthony Bowens and Billy Gunn) defeat RUSH, Preston Vance and Dralistico. Decent match and The Acclaimed was very much over. RUSH looked good when he was in the ring. The Acclaimed cut a promo after the match and hinted they would be going after the Trios titles – it’s possible that match gets added to DON.
The Gunns and Ethan Page then squashed a local trio made up of Frescomatic, Watson and Jeaux Braxton. Page spoke after the match and said he hoped the Hardys were watching. This brought out Matt and Jeff who stated that Isiah Kassidy is unable to compete on Sunday and Kassidy arrived and said he found a replacement – Hook. The babyfaces then chased the heels out of the ring.
The audience gave a big pop for the Hardys, who are still incredibly popular, and Hook also received a nice reaction.
Hikaru Shida and Britt Baker beat Marina Shafir and Nyla Rose in a solid match. Shafir, in particular, has seemed to really improve and had an excellent striking back-and-forth spot with Shida. Baker and Shida worked well and both had good reactions. After the match there was footage of The Outcasts beating down Jamie Hayter backstage and both Baker and Shida ran to the back.
There is speculation online that Hayter is hurt and may not be able to go on Sunday, so this could be a way to write her out of the show.
The final Rampage match was Lee Moriarty and Big Bill against The Best Friends. The match was fine, but it was mostly used as a way to build up Orange Cassidy’s Blackjack Battle Royal on Sunday. Several wrestlers were in the crowd watching and after the match it devolved into a big brawl and Cassidy saved The Best Friends. This then brought out Swerve Strickland to the ramp, who appears to be one of the favourites to win that match.
The show ended with Cassidy and Strickland staring at each other from a distance.
Overall, this wasn’t a bad show, but it wasn’t something that would be considered “must-see” ahead of Sunday’s show. A lot of fans left after Dynamite and even more left during or after Rampage, as the ROH tapings at the end had a very scattered crowd.
QUICK RESULTS
- The Acclaimed beat RUSH, Preston Vance and Dralistico
- Ethan Page and the Gunns defeated Watson, FrescoMatic and Jeaux Braxton
- Hikaru Shida and Britt Baker beat Nyla Rose and Marina Shafir
- Big Bill and Lee Moriarty defeated The Best Friends
Most Over:
- The Acclaimed
- The Hardys
- Britt Baker
Most Heat:
- Chris Jericho
- The Gunns
- The Outcasts
Match of the night:
- The Acclaimed vs. RUSH, Preston Vance and Dralistico