Rampage
Date: October 21, 2022
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We’re live this week and not taped after Dynamite for a change. We’re also back in the old stomping grounds of Jacksonville and the card happens to be stacked with three title matches in an hour. That should be enough to carry the show, though Rampage has a bad tendency to underwhelm. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Acclaimed vs. Varsity Athletes

The Acclaimed is defending and it’s titles vs. the SCISSOR ME trademark. As you might expect, the rap mocks AEW’s heavily hyped World Title match beating NXT. The Athletes tease an early scissoring and get jumped from behind, only to send the champs outside. Back in and the Acclaimed break up some more scissoring and a powerslam plants Woods. Caster gets knocked outside, where Billy Gunn chases Tony Nese around. That’s enough for a Gunn ejection, much to Sterling’s delight.

We take a break and come back with Bowens getting the tag to come in and clean house. Everything breaks down and Woods hits something like a spinning GTS to drop Caster. Woods drops Bowens and the Angle Slam/neckbreaker gets two with Caster having to make the save. Nese kicks Caster in the face and dives onto Bowens on the floor. Back in and Bowens slugs away, setting up the Arrival into the Mic Drop to retain the titles at 8:03.

Rating: C+. It wasn’t a great match but they kept things moving quickly enough that it didn’t get boring. The good thing is that the fans love the Acclaimed so much that it is going to work no matter they do so they’re playing with the house’s money. Thankfully the Sterling scissoring deal didn’t last long, as it was a pretty dead end idea in the first place.

Post match Sterling says that trademarks don’t end like that so the Acclaimed beat him up, stomp him low, hit Scissor Me Timbers and scissor with Billy Gunn. A feel good family moment!

Jade Cargill isn’t happy that Penelope Ford is injured but she is willing to let Leila Grey take her place. Then she gets the TBS Title back from Nyla Rose.

Ortiz/Eddie Kingston and the Lucha Bros are in the back in an attempt to make peace. The Bros want Eddie to keep his temper and avoid losing another job. Pac comes in and seems to mock Kingston, who has to be held back.

FTW Title: Hook vs. Ari Daivari

Hook is defending and turns down Daivari’s offer of cash for the title. That’s not cool with Hook, who suplexes Daivari at the bell and they start fast, with Daivari being sent outside for a ram into the table. Daivari’s butler Jeeves K is here and slaps Hook in the face with some money (must have asked about it). Hook fights out of the corner with rights and lefts to the ribs and an STO. A release fisherman’s suplex drops Daivari, who uses a Jeeves distraction to set up his own suplex for two. The hammerlock lariat is countered though and Redrum retains the title at 2:50. More proper Hook usage.

Matt Hardy is annoyed at the Firm, who have sent Private Party off for a match. For now though, Matt can have a match on Dark: Elevation. I still can’t get my head around Isaiah Kassidy vs. Ethan Page being for Matt’s contract. Why not, I don’t know, Page vs. Matt?

Leila Grey vs. Willow Nightingale

Kiera Hogan is here with Grey. Nightingale wrestles her down without much effort to start before running Grey over with a shoulder. Back up and Nightingale easily slams her but Hogan gets in a cheap shot superkick to take over. We take a break and come back with Nightingale spinebustering Grey for two but getting caught in a Russian legsweep. Grey hits a running knee in the corner but gets belly to back suplexed. A kick to the head rocks Grey and a doctor bomb gives Nightingale the pin at 7:50.

Rating: C. There are some wrestlers who can best be described as fun, which would be the case with Nightingale. She has such a bubbly personality and there is something about her that makes you want to see her do well. Beating Grey on TV is nice, but it would be better to see her win a bigger match down the line.

Post match Nightingale is announced as officially All Elite but here is Jade Cargill to interrupt. Nightingale leaves so Cargill has a seat in a chair and gives Nyla Rose ten seconds to come get the title. Rose and the rest of the Vicious Vixens pop up on screen in a car. Rose drives off with the title….and apparently that’s Cargill’s car. Cargill sits down, saying she isn’t leaving without her belt. Security comes in and gets dropped, which is enough for Cargill to leave. Well that was easy.

Last night, Rush threatened 10 with a beating. Orange Cassidy popped up from behind a bar to offer them beers. Oh and he’ll join their match to make it an All-Atlantic Title triple threat.

Orange Cassidy tries to steal Mark Henry’s job but Henry asks why Cassidy is getting into Rush and 10’s business. Cassidy: “Um, I don’t know.” 10 and Rush want to win the title while dealing with their personal issues too.

All-Atlantic Title: Orange Cassidy vs. 10 vs. Rush

Cassidy is defending and Rush has Jose the Assistant with him, while Cassidy has Danhausen. 10 and Rush slug it out but Cassidy gets involved with the lazy kicks. Rush sends 10 outside, leaving Cassidy to dropkick Rush. That’s fine with Rush, who sends him into the corner for the running slap into the Tranquilo pose. Rush goes outside to send 10 into the barricade but 10 is back with his own shots. Cassidy dives at both of them but gets caught and chokeslammed onto a table (which doesn’t break).

We take a break and come back with Cassidy having to block 10’s full nelson before hitting a Stundog Millionaire. The spinning DDT plants Rush and there’s the Beach Break for two on 10, as Jose breaks it up (JR: “It’s a mockery of the rules!”). Danhausen comes in and hits Jose low but Rush knocks him down as well.

A suplex sends Cassidy into the corner but 10 is back up with his spinebuster. 10 discus lariats Cassidy for two, with Rush having to dive in for the save. Rush messes with 10’s mask but walks into the Orange Punch. Another Beach Break is countered but Cassidy sits down on 10 to retain at 11:48.

Rating: B-. This is another perfect use of Cassidy, who has to work to retain his title so it doesn’t feel like a joke, even if there is virtually no value to it whatsoever. At the same time, this felt like AEW realizing that Rush vs. 10 isn’t an interesting story and needing to do something to change it. Cassidy can often make that work, so this was as good as it could have been.

Post match 10 and Rush have a staredown but -1 comes out and gets carried to the back by 10.

We get an In Memoriam graphic to Brian Muster, a video engineer who died unexpectedly this week. That’s a very classy thing to do.

Overall Rating: C+. That was about as Rampagey of a Rampage as you could get, as there was little that felt important but it was still in front of a hot crowd. The stuff they did involved either titles or stories with a bit of value, so it didn’t feel like a waste of time. At the same time though, Rampage feels completely like a secondary show, which does make it seem a lot less important. With three hours of TV a week, AEW might want to change that.

Results
Acclaimed b. Varsity Athletes – Mic Drop to Nese
Hook b. Ari Daivari – Redrum
Willow Nightingale b. Leila Grey – Doctor bomb
Orange Cassidy b. 10 and Rush – Rollup to 10

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: October 18, 2022
Location: Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re here for a big show as there are several titles on the line. The main event will see Jon Moxley defending the World Title against Hangman Page, with MJF hanging over their heads. The Trios Titles and the Interim Women’s Title are on the line too as the card is rather stacked. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the endzone, slightly to the left of the ring.

Opening sequence.

Trios Titles: Death Triangle vs. Best Friends/Orange Cassidy

Death Triangle is defending. Trent shoulders Pac down to start and they trade some jumps until Trent hits a clothesline. Everything breaks down (What took them so long?) and Fenix hits a heck of a Swanton for two on Chuck, who is back up to toss Fenix into something like a spear. The Friends’ triple splash is broken up and Death Triangle hit the stereo running flip dives to the floor.

We settle down to Pac kicking Cassidy in the back of the head and Fenix taking him into the corner as we take a break. Back (after missing a Tower of Doom in the break, because of course that was in the break) with Trent fighting back and hitting a tornado DDT out of the corner on Fenix. The champs take the Friends down though and an assisted Codebreaker into a bridging German suplex gets two.

Chuck hits a stuff piledriver on Penta and Trent follows with a more regular version, setting up the big hug. The assisted splash gets two with Pac making another save. Pac grabs the hammer but Fenix takes it away, allowing Cassidy to grab a rollup for two. The Orange Punch connects and it’s back to Trent, who counters Penta’s Canadian Destroyer attempt into Strong Zero for two. Fenix comes back in for the spinning kick to Trent’s face and the Black Fire Driver retains the titles at 11:45.

Rating: B. You know what you’re getting with a match like this (as we saw it when the champs won the titles in the first place) and they delivered just that, with all kinds of flips, dives and hard shots. That being said, who is supposed to be a serious threat to Death Triangle and will actually be in contention for the belts? There are a lot of trios in AEW, but I don’t know how many could be seen as major challengers. For now though, this was a perfect choice to start the show as they kept the energy high the whole time.

Post match, the Lucha Bros remind Pac that he doesn’t need the hammer.

Video on Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Page for the AEW World Title later tonight. Moxley is glad to be back home and Page knows he can beat Moxley to win the title again.

Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter, with Rebel, promise to win the AEW Women’s Title by the end of the year (with Baker making sure to drop the interim moniker). Hayter doesn’t do the DMD taunt though.

Interim Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida vs. Toni Storm

Storm is defending. Feeling out process to start with Shida taking her down and going to the apron, only to get hip attacked out to the floor. We take a break and come back with Shida hitting a jumping knee and raining down right hands in the corner. A missile dropkick gives Shida two and an enziguri drops Storm again.

Storm is fine enough to catch Shida on top but a headbutt gets her out of trouble. Shida’s top rope Meteora gets two but Storm grabs a German suplex. The running hip attack in the corner connects, only to have Shida come back with a kind of suplex into a powerslam for two more. Storm blocks the Katana and grabs a bridging German suplex for two of her own. A springboard tornado DDT sets up Storm Zero to retain the title at 8:44.

Rating: C+. Storm continues to do her part in these matches but it still feels like she is the fourth or so biggest star in the division while holding a temporary title. Her value feels like it has plummeted and there is little chance of it bouncing back anytime soon. This was a strong win for her, but until she is treated like a bigger deal, it isn’t going to change much.

Post match Jamie Hayter and Rebel come in to jump Storm from behind, with Britt Baker, in a Pittsburgh Steelers (huge Cincinnati Bengals rivals) jersey, joining in. Cue Saraya to jump Baker and the fight is on in the aisle. They fight into the crowd and Riho makes her return to save Storm. How many women are being treated as a bigger deal than Storm now? Five? Six?

We look at the Kingdom returning on Rampage, with Samoa Joe and Wardlow not being pleased. Joe and Wardlow are ready to fight them in any fashion, so pick a title and come get it.

FTR talks about all the titles they have won but they want the AEW Tag Team Titles. They’re coming for them, but Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee come in to interrupt. Swerve thinks that just because FTR has been #1 contenders for six months, they aren’t getting the title shot right now. Lee agrees for once so we’ll have a #1 contenders match next week. Lee: “Indubitably.” Swerve: “What? WHAT?”

Jay Lethal wants a rematch with Darby Allin because Allin beating him two weeks ago was a fluke. Allin says sure to the rematch and trash is talked until the fight is on. They fight towards a garage door, which is lowered onto Allin’s ribs. Lethal goes around to the other side of the door and puts the Figure Four on Allin’s dangling legs for a visual that was way funnier than it should have been.

William Regal is in the ring with Tony Schiavone but MJF interrupts before they can get anywhere (for the non-Moxley pop of the night so far). Regal loads up the brass knuckles but MJF says he’s here to tell a story instead of fight. MJF talks about being 19 years old and training at the Create A Pro wrestling school under Brian Myers and Pat Buck (who MJF calls good guys).

Then one day, he was told that he got WWE extra work, which was the best thing he ever could have hoped for. He went to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where he was put under the care of Regal. The extras were told to have tryout matches in front of Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko, Adam Pearce and Regal himself. MJF was up second and he knew he was fighting for his life, because wrestling is his lief. After winning the match, Regal said follow him.

They went to another room and Regal said MJF had three minutes to sell himself. MJF finished talking and Regal’s jaw was on the floor, with Regal saying he was getting him a job that day. It was then that MJF knew he had made it and he wasn’t going to be a “five foot nothing, ADD riddled little Jew boy”. Then Regal asked him how old he was and MJF said 19, which Regal said was way too young. Fans: “YOU F***** UP!”

Regal then made things better, by saying that when he put his name on people, they got jobs in WWE. The names he had put his names on were Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli. Regal told him to send him a match and promo every month. MJF did that for two months, but then in the third month, Regal sent him an email that MJF has saved to his phone to this very day. MJF: “Smirk all you want you son of a b****.”

He pulls out his phone and reads an email from Regal talking about how MJF didn’t have the abilities yet and to stop contacting him because WWE only hired the best in the world. “When you’re one of them, then maybe send me your stuff.” It had MJF ready to kill himself but he knew that would have proven every right. Now the tables have turned and Regal is a sad, withered old man who got FIRED.

Regal has snuck into MJF’s company and MJF is a 26 year old kid who is a generational talent. MJF is ready to make more money in the Bidding War Of 2024 and he reads that email when he needs a good laugh. He’s ready to win the AEW World Title because he is better than Regal and Regal knows it.

Regal grabs the mic and asks if MJF is done. MJF mentioned being nineteen, but when Regal was sixteen, he left home and was fighting grown men to make a living in this business. He likes what he sees in MJF because he knew MJF was going to be a big star. Regal wanted to light a fire under him, but he remembers crawling into bed every night with blood coming out of every part of his body. It was not going to make him quit though because Regal was going to make a living as a professional wrestler.

If an email has kept MJF angry for seven years, MJF has had it easy. Regal has told him to practice enough to make people notice him and yes he can see the talent in Regal. Before MJF was born, Regal was insulting Tony Schiavone but he never put a hand on Schiavone. Regal is an Ordinary Decent Villain, because he would only put his hands on people who stepped through these ropes to face him as fair game. For now though, MJF hasn’t proven a thing.

Just making money doesn’t prove anything because MJF hired people to do things for him. MJF wears a rung to knock people out, whereas Regal used the brass knuckles because he liked hitting people with them. If MJF wants to be the devil, make a name for yourself and do it right, but keep your hands off the wrong people. Regal turns his back to MJF and tells him to be the devil instead of taking his own way out. MJF loads up the ring and Regal opens his arm to give him a free shot, but MJF can’t do it. Regal turns back around and shakes his head, saying MJF still has a lot to prove. MJF isn’t sure what to do as Regal leaves.

I believe the term here is “whoa”, as this was one of the best exchanges I’ve seen in a very long time. What mattered here was that it felt real, as MJF made me feel everything that he went through with a gutwrenching story. Now MJF believes that he has gotten where he wants to be, but Regal cut him right back down by saying he is still just pretending to be great rather than having actually accomplished anything. MJF wants to be great and now he has to do it, which could provoke quite the change in him. This was incredible storytelling with some amazing emotions and it is absolutely worth your time to see.

Video on Dalton Castle vs. Chris Jericho for the Ring Of Honor World Title.

The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn doesn’t think much of Mark Sterling trying to take away the idea of scissoring. They’re ready for the Varsity Athletes on Friday though, titles vs. trademark. The audio of this kept cutting out in the arena so no one had any idea what they were saying.

Bryan Danielson and Wheeler Yuta sit down with Renee Paquette, with Danielson talking about how disappointed he is about losing his Ring Of Honor Title shot against Chris Jericho last week. He is also disappointed in Daniel Garcia, who has potential to be even better than Danielson. Yuta doesn’t seem impressed by what Danielson says about Garcia. Yuta asks how Danielson doesn’t see what Garcia is doing when everyone else does. The blood they have spilled means something to the rest of the Blackpool Combat Club, but maybe not to Danielson. Oh dear.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Dalton Castle vs. Chris Jericho

Castle is challenging and comes to the ring after rising off a throne and with an army of Boys. Ian Riccaboni is on commentary to make this feel more Ring Of Honorish. Jericho brings Jake Hager with him, which is noteworthy because of Hager’s snazzy purple hat. Castle teases pulling something out of his trunks but goes with a middle finger instead. Jericho knocks him outside though and Castle needs a lap around the ring, with the Boys of course.

Back in and Castle sends Jericho flying with some suplexes before throwing the Boys out onto Hager, eventually knocking him down. We take a break and come back with Jericho chopping away in the corner but Castle reverses for some strikes of his own. Castle sends him onto the turnbuckle and hits a running knee to knock Jericho outside. There’s the suicide dive and a hurricanrana takes Jericho down again.

Hold on though as the Boys give Hager quite the weak beatdown as Jericho and Castle hit stereo crossbodies. The Boys take Hager’s hat, causing Hager to yell I LOVE THAT HAT. He destroys said Boys and gets his hat back, which is enough of a distraction for Jericho to try the Walls. That’s countered into the Julie Newmar (because Castle’s choke is called the Julie Newmar), which is countered into the Walls.

The long crawl makes the rope to get Castle out of trouble, meaning Jericho needs to pose. They slug it out from their knees until Castle counters the Lionsault into a German suplex for a close two. The Codebreaker is countered into the Bang A Rang for two more and that’s about it for Castle’s chances for the upset. Back up and they slug it out again until Jericho hits the Judas Effect to retain at 12:27.

Rating: B. There was good and bad here, as Castle is so incredibly entertaining, though Jericho kicked out of his finisher and then pinned him clean to retain. Jericho going over Ring Of Honor doesn’t do much for me, but I can always go for more Castle. Throw in the Boys being rather hilarious and Hager’s very funny reaction to the hat and this was good, Jericho’s latest mega push aside.

Post match the Jericho Appreciation Society comes out to celebrate his win, with Jericho talking about how he wanted to destroy everything from Ring Of Honor. This includes commentators, so the Society goes to get Ian Riccaboni. Hold on though as Jerry Lynn (former Ring Of Honor World Champion) comes out for the save, earning himself a beatdown. Jericho Tombstones (very safely) Lynn onto the title.

Video on Luchasaurus/Christian Cage vs. Jungle Boy. Christian thinks quite a bit of Luchasaurus.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

The Baddies have yet to get the TNT Title back for Jade Cargill. Cue Jade, in a Reds jersey, to say she better get it back on Rampage or she’s holding the show hostage for an hour. You hear that Tony Khan?

AEW World Title: Hangman Page vs. Jon Moxley

Moxley is defending and gets the superstar pop you knew he would get as MJF, with poker chip, is watching from a box. Page jumps Moxley during his entrance underneath the crowd (and underneath me) with the fight starting away from the ring. A suplex on the floor drops Moxley and page heads up into the crowd and moonsaults down onto Moxley, without even taking off his vest.

We take a break and come back with the fight at ringside, the bell seemingly having rung and, say it with me, Moxley busted open. Page grabs another suplex and kicks Moxley in the head, only to get pulled into a quick Figure Four. Page goes for the eyes for the break as he is in full on heel mode here. Moxley hammers away in the corner but Page is right back with the fall away slam into the nip up but Moxley is right back with a jumping cutter.

The right hands in the corner keep Page in trouble and there’s the back rake on the middle rope. Moxley superplexes him back down before stomping away at the head. The threat of a cross armbreaker sends Page bailing to the rope….and MJF has left his box. They fight to the apron, where Moxley’s piledriver is countered into the Dead Eye as we take a break. Back with Page hitting a super fall away slam for two and a heck of a discus lariat. Page gets a running start and Moxley BLASTS him with a clothesline….and Page isn’t getting up. The doctor comes in to check on Page and the match is stopped at 12:44.

Rating: B. First and foremost: AEW has announced that Page suffered a concussion and was released from the hospital a few hours after the show. That could have been so much worse so now we can get on with the match. I’m never sure how to rate a match that ends out of nowhere with what seems to be a rather legitimate injury like that one. They were having the main event style match here though and it was starting to cook at the end before everything got cut off. The big thing that I took out of this one was that I could go for a Page heel run, as he was pretty awesome playing one here.

The referee and doctor check on Page, whose arm and legs are moving. William Regal comes to the ring and the cameras look at anything other than Page. We talk about what is coming on Rampage and next week’s Dynamite as a stretcher is brought out. The bottom rope had to be loosened to get Page out. Moxley also got on the mic and said some rather un-PG things off camera.

The camera goes back on him, with Moxley saying he hopes Page is safe and 100% so he can come back and do it again for these fans. Moxley still has some energy in him and he wants MJF out here right now. Cue MJF and he’s got his own referee with him. MJF takes his shirt off (looking by far the best he’s looked in AEW) but he’ll wait on the cash-in for Full Gear because he wants to do it the right way. Moxley promises to put various parts of himself and his gear into and onto MJF at Full Gear to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This was MUCH better on TV than it was live, which is a weird flip of the norm but I’ll definitely take a series of pretty awesome matches and a likely all time promo for two hours. MJF seems to be gearing up for the major run of his career (so far) and there were multiple good matches throughout to back it up. Very strong show here, even if didn’t come across that way in the arena.

Results
Death Triangle b. Best Friends/Orange Cassidy – Black Fire Driver to Trent
Toni Storm b. Hikaru Shida – Storm Zero
Chris Jericho b. Dalton Castle – Judas Effect
Jon Moxley b. Hangman Page via referee stoppage

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Battle Of The Belts IV
Date: October 7, 2022
Location: Entertainment And Sports Arena, Washington DC
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, William Regal, Chris Jericho

We’re back to another of these things and that does not offer the most inspiration. The series does not seem to be a priority for AEW but the action tends to be rather good. This is also a live show so maybe things can be picked up a little bit from its usual status, which would be appreciated. Let’s get to it.

All-Atlantic Title: Trent Beretta vs. Pac

Pac is defending and is still in the ring after wrestling in the 20+ minute Rampage main event. Trent has Chuck Taylor in his corner and wins an early slugout for a bit of a surprise. A running clothesline puts Pac on the floor and there’s the dive to take him out for a bonus. Back in and Trent hammers on the ropes, setting up a dropkick to take it outside again. A spear on the floor drops Pac for two back inside but he kicks Trent outside this time.

The table is set up but Trent fights back and loads Pac onto the table. That takes too long to launch though and Pac gets out, only to have Trent get back up top. The superplex brings him down though and we take a break. Back with Trent hitting a stomp out of the corner and grabbing the half and half suplex. The tornado DDT plants Pac hard for two and a piledriver is good for the same.

With Pac’s neck banged up, Trent takes him to the ramp, where Pac grabs a brainbuster through a table on the floor for the really big crash. JR isn’t sure why the doctor isn’t there and….well yeah fair question actually. Back in and the Black Arrow hits raised knees, meaning a small package can give Trent two.

A half and half superplex gives Trent two more but Pac pulls him into the Brutalizer. The rope is reached and Pac is starting to look spent. With nothing else working, Pac grabs the ring bell hammer again, with Trent picking him up. Pac channels his inner Randy Savage from Boston 1986 to Trent’s Tito Santana and knocks him silly for the pin at 15:20.

Rating: B. It wasn’t quite a classic but they did the right thing by having Pac wrestle twice, as it is hard to buy the idea of Trent being a real threat against him. They had a physical match and Trent got to show off a bit with no one else around for a change. This felt like a fight over a title and that’s the point of the show so they had the right idea.

Chris Jericho and the Jericho Appreciation Society promise to teach Bryan Danielson a lesson next week.

Claudio Castagnoli wants the winner of Danielson vs. Jericho for the Ring Of Honor World Title.

TBS Title: Willow Nightingale vs. Jade Cargill

Cargill, with the Baddies, is defending and powers Nightingale into the corner. They go head to head until Nightingale dropkicks her into the corner. Nightingale sends her outside and dives through the ropes, only to hit the Baddies. Jade is fine enough to run Nightingale over though and we take a break. Back with Jade doing pushups but Nightingale runs her over with a clothesline out of the corner. The Cannonball in the corner sets up a middle rope dropkick for two. The doctor bomb is broken up and Jaded retains the title at 7:31.

Rating: C. Believe it or not, yes another challenger was built up in one match and then beaten by Jade without much trouble. This is the third time that Jade has pinned Nightingale and it still wasn’t that interesting. Jade needs a serious challenger and as fun as Nightingale is, she isn’t a threat to the title. Find someone to go after her title already because this is beyond repetitive.

Post match Vickie Guerrero comes out for a distraction and Nyla Rose sneaks in to steal the title.

Ethan Page and Stokely Hathaway yell at Matt Hardy about contract tampering. Good grief. Yes Tony, we know that there were stories about contract tampering from WWE. YOU DON’T HAVE TO MAKE AN ANGLE OUT OF EVERYTHING!

Hook rips up the Trustbusters’ envelope.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida are ready for Britt Baker are ready for Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: Gates of Agony vs. FTR

The Gates, with Prince Nana, are challenging and in case you don’t remember them, it’s probably because they have had two matches as a team ever, with the most recent being about three months ago. The Gunn Club is in the crowd to make fun of FTR. Harwood and Kaun fight over a lockup to start before Kaun clotheslines him for daring to try a hiptoss. A swinging neckbreaker gets Harwood out of trouble so it’s off to Wheeler to fire off his own chops.

Kaun gets Wheeler into the corner as well though and it’s Toa coming in for a slam. The nerve hold goes on before Toa sits o his chest for daring to try a sunset flip. Toa’s belly to belly gets two and Wheeler is sent outside for a whip into the barricade. Back with Wheeler being driven into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs.

Wheeler flips out of a suplex though and dives between Kaun’s legs for the hot tag to Harwood. Everything breaks down and Toa catches Harwood’s middle rope crossbody. Wheeler middle rope dropkicks both of them though and everyone goes down. The double hanging DDT drops Toa and a spike piledriver gets two with Kaun making the save. The Big Rig hits Toa but Nana offers a distraction. Not that it matters as Harwood backslides Kaun to retain at 13:24.

Rating: B-. So this was the latest FTR match against a team that has nothing to do with AEW, despite them being an AEW tag team. In case you’re wondering, FTR has not had a tag match against an AEW team since April 6 (Young Bucks), with everything since then being six man tags or against teams from outside the company. This was another match where FTR is in no danger of losing against a team that means nothing around here, which is all they do anymore.

Post match the beatdown is on again and Brian Cage runs in to held the Gates. Wardlow and then Samoa Joe run in for the save and the good guys clear the ring to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Battle Of The Belts continues its undefeated streak of having decent to good wrestling and feeling like absolutely nothing that happened here mattered in the slightest. They are reaching the point of being beneath the revival of Saturday Night’s Main Event and that is not a place you want to be. The fact that there has been one title change (plus one vacant title won) out of eleven title defenses in the history of this show has something to do with it, but if these shows have to exist, please come up with a way to make them matter, because these things feel like a big waste of time.

Results
Pac b. Trent Beretta – Ring bell hammer to the head
Jade Cargill b. Willow Nightingale – Jaded
FTR b. Gates Of Agony – Backslide to Kaun

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Rampage
Date: September 30, 2022
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

Rampage is back to normal this week and that should make for a decent enough show. You never know what you’re going to get around here, though odds are you’ll get at least one important thing. Other than that though, there is a good chance you’ll be seeing some names who aren’t around on Dynamite very often. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Acclaimed vs. Butcher and the Blade vs. Private Party

Acclaimed, with Billy Gunn, is defending. Bowens and Kassidy start things off as Matt Hardy is watching in the back. They trade quick one counts as the fans sing in praise of the Acclaimed. A standoff gives us a handshake before Bowens drives Kassidy into the corner for the tag off to Castor. With Kassidy down, Castor stops for some scissoring with Gunn before Bowens comes in for a neckbreaker onto Castor’s knees.

Quen comes in and gets a middle rope legdrop between the legs. That’s enough for Butcher and the Blade, who come in and run the champs over. Bowens fights back up and is quickly headbutted right back down. We take a break and come back with Bowens powering out of Blade’s chinlock but getting powerslammed instead.

A superkick drops Blade hard but it’s Private Party tagging themselves back in to clean house. Private Party hits the Motor City Machine Guns’ Skull & Bones (with a Swanton instead of a splash) for two on Blade with Castor making the save. Everything breaks down again and Kassidy hits a dive of his own. Castor hits his own dive and sends Blade back inside, where it’s the Arrival into the Mic Drop to retain the titles at 9:58.

Rating: C+. It was a fast paced match and a good way to get the Acclaimed their first win, though I have no idea why they went with a three way match featuring all of a few moments of setup. The Acclaimed are over and if they can deliver in the ring to back it up, their title reign could go on for a rather long time.

Celebratory scissoring ensues post match.

The Firm mock FTR for holding various Tag Team Titles, which they can’t remember anyway. The Gunn Club wants the Tag Team Titles and bring up FTR for being #1 contenders for almost six months. They’ll leapfrog FTR too. I’m not sure if mocking your own rankings is the best idea.

Jade Cargill mocks AEW for giving her no competition but Vickie Guerrero, Marina Shafir and Nyla Rose come in. Cargill says Rose can have a title match but on Jade’s time. It’s as good as anything else at the moment.

Lee Moriarty vs. Fuego del Sol

W. Morrissey and Stokely Hathaway are here with Moriarty. Fuego gets taken to the mat to start and then uppercutted up against the ropes. Some stomps keep Fuego in trouble and a Border City Stretch finishes him off at 1:57.

Post match Morrissey gives Fuego a chokeslam.

Hangman Page is ready for Jon Moxley and the Dark Order will be in their corner. Andrade and Jose the Assistant come in to mock 10. Next week is the anniversary of Brodie Lee’s last match so Andrade has an idea: they have a match next week, with the mask Brodie Lee gave 10 vs. Andrade’s career. That could be interesting. The Firm comes in to mock Andrade and brings up Matt Hardy’s contract tampering with Private Party. Please tell me that this isn’t going to be their take on WWE’s alleged tampering.

Willow Nightingale vs. Jamie Hayter

Rebel and Britt Baker are here with Hayter. Nightingale takes her down and fires off some headbutts until Hayter fights up for an exchange of shoulders. Hayter gets dropped for a basement crossbody and splash for two. Some chops have Hayter in more trouble but she’s right back with a big boot to drop Nightingale hard (and Baker dances).

We take a break and come back with Hayter hitting a backbreaker for two. Nightingale pops up and hits a heck of a Pounce out to the floor to rock Hayter hard. Back in and a Death Valley Driver gives Nightingale two so it’s time to go up top. Baker offers a distraction though and it’s a shortarm clothesline to give Hayter the pin at 8:08.

Rating: C+. This was an interesting one as Nightingale is such a ball of charisma that I’m looking forward to seeing her most weeks, while Hayter is looking like a breakout star. She has very good abilities in the ring and the crowd is reacting to her, but until she breaks away from Baker, none of that is going to matter. For now though, this was a nice meshing of styles, with Nightingale’s power working well for her.

Video on Wardlow and Samoa Joe, because the best use of two of your midcard champions is to have them team together.

Here is Ryan Nemeth to mock various Philadelphia legends until Hook comes out to wreck him. As Hook is going to leave, the Trustbusters come out with an envelope with his name on it, which Hook takes.

Video on Swerve Strickland at a music festival.

Video on Hangman Page vs. Jon Moxley.

John Silver and Rush are ready for the main event.

Here’s what is coming on upcoming shows.

Trent Beretta is ready for Pac and the All Atlantic Title at Battle of the Belts.

John Silver vs. Rush

Alex Reynolds, Andrade and Jose the Assistant are here too. Silver grabs a headlock to start and a running elbow sends Rush outside. The dive is loaded up but Silver flips down into the Tranquilo pose for a nice touch. Rush comes back in and hammers on Silver, even knocking him outside for a whip into the barricade. Back in and the running corner dropkick is loaded up, only to have Rush hit the cocky kick instead.

We take a break and come back with Silver hitting some corner clotheslines, followed by the rolling German suplexes. A sitout powerbomb gives Silver two and it’s time to slap it out. That goes to the bigger/stronger Rush but Silver grabs a brainbuster for two more. Jose tries to interfere so Reynolds pulls him down. The distraction lets Rush hit a running forearm into the corner though, setting up the Bull’s Horns for the pin at 10:55.

Rating: C. Silver is someone who is probably never going to become a major star in AEW but he has found a niche for himself and it is working. He has so much charisma that it is hard to ignore him. On the other side though, I have no idea what we are supposed to get out of Rush, who is a power guy with almost nothing else to him. Why this was a main event eludes me, but Rush did look dominant at the end.

Post match the beatdown is on, with Butcher and the Blade joining in. The rest of the Dark Order and Hangman Page run in for the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. As usual, Rampage is enough of a quality show but so much of if feels unimportant. Rush vs. John Silver? Jamie Hayter getting a win over Willow Nightingale and a Lee Moriarty squash? That’s not exactly must see TV and that is where Rampage falls. It could be something valuable to AEW but instead we get whatever they throw out there that week, I don’t quite get the thinking, but that’s what Rampage is.

Results
Acclaimed b. Butcher and the Blade and Private Party – Mic Drop to Blade
Lee Moriarty b. Fuego del Sol – Border City Stretch
Jamie Hayter b. Willow Nightingale – Shortarm clothesline
Rush b. John Silver – Bull’s Horns

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Rampage
Date: September 24, 2022
Location: Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Chris Jericho

It’s the biggest Rampage of the year as we are in New York City for a stacked two house show. The card is headlined by a battle royal (shocking I know) for the #1 contendership as we have a title shot to get through before Full Gear. Other than that, there are a bunch of grudge matches so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

House Of Black vs. Sting/Darby Allin

No DQ and Sting/Allin pop up behind the House (Brody King/Buddy Matthews with Julia Hart) during their entrances to start the fight on the stage. The bell rings and they fight to the ring with the House taking over without much trouble. Sting gets surrounded but manages to fight them both off, only to be driven hard into the corner. A super Code Red gives Allin two on King but a suicide dive (and a fast one at that) is cut off by a raised knee.

Sting goes up but gets shoved through a table, with his head hitting part of another one, because that’s something you want to see happen. Hart gets back up and handcuffs Sting’s arms behind his back as we take a break. Back with Allin slipping out of Dante’s Inferno on the stage and climbing the set, which can’t end well. The Coffin Drop off the set takes out a standing Matthews but King pulls another one out of the air into the sleeper.

The two of them crash off the stage and through some tables, leaving Matthews to grab Sting’s bat and go after the still handcuffed Sting. Matthews sits Sting in a chair, where he laughs a lot until the lights go out. Normally that would be a bad thing…..but the GREAT MUTA comes out and slowly makes his way to the ring, where he dragon screw legwhips Matthews (still looks great). The mist hits Matthews, which knocks him into Hart, sending her through a ringside table (or part of it as that was a nasty landing). Sting breaks the handcuffs and Death Drops Matthews for the pin at 11:01.

Rating: C+. This was all the Muta appearance and that is not a bad thing. The rest of the match though, which was pretty much little more than a bunch of brawling and table spots, was something that you’ve seen done around here quite a few times. At least they had a reason to continue to feud, even if it was for a one off cameo. Now find something else for everyone to do.

Hook/Action Bronson vs. Jericho Appreciation Society

Bronson raps the team to the ring. Parker kicks Hook in the face to start but Hook spins out of a hiptoss and gutwrench suplexes him down. Bronson comes in for the shoulders and corner splash before handing it back to Hook. This time doesn’t work as well as the Society takes him into the corner to stomp away. Hook pretty easily suplexes his way out of trouble and hands it back to Bronson for a running powerslam for two on Parker. Everything breaks down and stereo Redrums finish the Society at 5:07.

Rating: C-. What were you expecting here? Bronson is a big guy and not a wrestler so they put him in there against a couple of goofs who are there to do nothing but lose. The match wasn’t supposed to be anything competitive and it was never going to be, but at least they kept it short so it didn’t drag on too long.

Samoa Joe/Wardlow vs. Tony Nese/Josh Woods

Mark Sterling is here with the villains. Wardlow and Woods slug it out as the other two brawl on the floor. A spinebuster plants Woods and a Cactus Clothesline sends them both outside. Joe hammers Nese down in the corner before avoiding his moonsault. The MuscleBuster finishes Nese at 2:24. Well that was nothing, but at least Nese got his weekly appearance in.

Post match the beatdown is on for Joe but Wardlow comes in for the save (which favoring his leg a bit). Sterling jumps Wardlow with a title belt, earning himself a three movement Powerbomb Symphony. If Wardlow was hurt, you wouldn’t know it based on that.

Jungle Boy is ready to move on from Christian Cage.

Jungle Boy vs. Rey Fenix

Fenix rolls at him to start and tries an early Black Fire Driver, only to get caught with a dropkick. It’s already time to strike it out until Fenix kicks him to the floor and we take a break. Back with Jungle Boy hitting a clothesline to cut off a comeback attempt. A brainbuster gives Jungle Boy two and there’s the suicide dive to drop Fenix again.

They get back in with Jungle Boy nailing a superkick into the poisonrana. That’s not enough to even put Fenix down, as he is right back up with a rolling cutter for a double knockdown. Jungle Boy gets another fast two before they fight out to the apron. Fenix knocks him to the floor but dives into a superkick to put them both down again.

We take another break and come back with Fenix getting the better of a slugout and hitting a Gory Bomb swung into a cutter for two. Jungle Boy pops back up and huts a running elbow to the back of the head for two, meaning it’s another double breather. Fenix hits Two Amigos but the third is countered into a Samoan driver to give Jungle Boy two of his own. Jungle Boy gets kicked down again, setting up a good frog splash to give Fenix two more. The springboard spinning kick to the head in the corner sets up the Black Fire Driver but Jungle Boy reverses into a small package for the pin at 17:47.

Rating: B. Take two guys who are capable of working this fast paced and exciting style and let them do their thing for the better part of twenty minutes. That’s a great way to fire up the crowd and it worked well here. Jungle Boy gets a win to boost him back up after losing to Christian Cage at the pay per view and Fenix is bulletproof so this went rather well.

Respect is shown post match but Christian Cage, with his arm in a sling, is back. It’s a ruse though as Luchasaurus pops up behind Jungle Boy and the beatdown is on. Christian blames Jungle Boy for the arm injury so he’s introducing him to the right hand of destruction. Christian wishes Jungle Boy’s mom and sister were here watching this, as Luchasaurus hits a chokeslam. That’s still a long time before Jungle Boy gets to Christian again.

We look at the Jericho Appreciation Society’s celebration for winning the Ring Of Honor World Title. The REAL celebration is on for Dynamite though, even if Daniel Garcia doesn’t seem convinced.

Eddie Kingston vs. Sammy Guevara

Tay Melo is here with Guevara, who calls Kingston fat to make them start fast. They fight around the ring with Kingston getting the better of it without much trouble. A poke to the eye rocks Sammy and they head to the apron, where Sammy backdrops him to the floor. The kick to the chest drops Kingston again and we take a break.

Back with Sammy in trouble until a Melo distraction lets him hit a running knee to the face. The double springboard cutter gets two on Kingston but the GTH is broken up with elbows to the head. The rapid fire chops in the corner rock Sammy again and there’s a suplex to make it worse. Sammy is right back with a superkick but Kingston half and half suplexes him. The spinning backfist sets up a spinning backfist which sets up a spinning backfist which sets up the Stretch Plum to give Kingston the win at 7:23.

Rating: C+. This was a match that was set up for a few weeks now and then they finally paid it off. After all of the drama. Kingston gets a win back to make up for some of his recent losses and it isn’t like Guevara losing is going to hurt him. Perfectly fine match and they gave Kingston the win that he needed.

Post match Kingston won’t let go so Jerry Lynn comes in to try reasoning with him. Security pleading with him doesn’t work either, so the referee reverses the decision to give Sammy the win. The frustrated Kingston beats up security. Fair enough, and Kingston won the match definitively in the first place so this doesn’t really hurt him.

Quick Dynamite recap.

TBS Title: Diamante vs. Jade Cargill

Diamante, with Trina, is challenging and goes right at her to start. Some chops in the corner set up some left hands and some rollups give Diamante two. Jade kicks her in the face but gets kicked down again. A baseball slide sends Cargill outside but she pulls a dive out of the air. An F5 onto the apron plants Diamante and Jaded retains the title at 2:34. Of all of Jade’s dominant wins, this was the most recent. Please find something interesting for her to do already because this is getting old.

Post match Trina turns on Diamante, ending their…..five minute on-screen relationship?

Golden Ticket Battle Royal

Evil Uno, 10, Rush, Jay Lethal, Lance Archer, Penta El Cero Miedo, Hangman Page, John Silver, Butcher, Isaiah Kassidy, Marq Quen, Danhausen, Chuck Taylor, Trent Baretta, Brian Cage, Ari Daivari, Matt Hardy, Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager, QT Marshall, Blade, Kole Carter, Dalton Castle, Dante Martin, Lee Moriarty

For the World Title shot on October 18. Page gets jumped from behind during his entrance so we take a break to restore order. Back with Penta superkicking Daivari out and Danhausen curses Carter, allowing Trent to throw him out. Marshall gets cursed and then clotheslined out before Hager is out. Cage dumps Chuck and knocks Castle off the apron, right onto the Boys. The Boys offer a distraction so Castle can dump Cage and Archer knocks out Chuck. There goes Castle, with Garcia and Moriarty following him out.

We take a break and come back with Private Party saving themselves with the Silly String. Then Butcher and Blade jump them from behind but Hardy gets to hit everyone. Blade, Private Party and Hardy are all tossed, with Uno and Butcher following them. We’re down to Silver, Rush, Page, Penta, Archer and Lethal but Rush dumps Silver. Penta kicks Archer out and we’re down to four.

Lethal gets tossed over the top but Satnam Singh catches him (Dalton and the Boys did it better). That’s enough for Lethal to toss Penta but Page tosses him out, leaving us with Rush vs. Page. They fight to the apron and the Deadeye knocks out Rush to give Page the win at 13:14.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t the most thrilling battle royal and Page was one of the only viable options for the win. That being said, Page vs. Moxley for the title in Cincinnati works well for me (the fact that I have a ticket to the show is a detail I assure you) and will be perfectly acceptable as the big TV main event before we get to the major pay per view build. Not much of a battle royal here though as AEW continues to run these far too often.

Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs are ready to fight.

Ricky Starks vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

Lights Out, meaning anything goes. Starks gets a special video entrance about how absolute he really is. Starks goes right at him to start and hammers away, sending Hobbs bailing out to the floor. A clothesline drops Hobbs again and Starks sends him into the steps. Back in and Hobbs hits White Noise onto a knee to take over, meaning it’s already time for a table. Instead of setting it up, Hobbs just throws it at him before tossing in some chairs.

We take a break and come back with Starks hitting a DDT for two but Hobbs hits him low (Jericho freaking out about how unfair that was is good for a laugh). Hobbs sets up two chairs but Starks kicks him low to break it up. Starks turns the chairs back to back but gets backdropped onto the edges, because that’s a spot we need in wrestling.

A running powerslam onto the chairs gets two on Starks and they fight up the ramp. Starks misses a charge into the set so Hobbs breaks off a piece of the set. That takes too long though and they fight back to the ring, where Starks hits him in the face with the set pipe. Roshambo onto the chairs (at least Hobbs’ feet touched them) finishes Hobbs at 11:47.

Rating: B. This was a fight and Starks won in the end to avenge the All Out loss. That’s how this should have gone and they did a very nice job of making Starks feel like a star again. Other than that, this was all about violence and they did that well enough to make it work for a main event.

Overall Rating: B. The good was good and the bad (minus the battle royal) was short, making this one of the better Rampages in a long time. This felt like a Dynamite as they had a lot going on and it felt important. I have no reason to believe that AEW will do it again for Rampage going forward, but I’ll take it for a one off. The crowd was clearly getting tired in the end, but even a tired AEW crowd is better than most fans elsewhere.

Results
Sting/Darby Allin b. House Of Black – Scorpion Death Drop to Matthews
Hook/Action Bronson b. Jericho Appreciation Society – Stereo Redrums
Samoa Joe/Wardlow b. Tony Nese/Josh Woods – MuscleBuster to Nese
Jungle Boy b. Rey Fenix – Small package
Sammy Guevara b. Eddie Kingston via reversed decision
Jade Cargill b. Diamante – Jaded
Hangman Page won the Golden Ticket Battle Royal last eliminating Rush
Ricky Starks b. Powerhouse Hobbs – Roshambo onto chairs

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: September 21, 2022
Location: Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York City, New York
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Taz

It’s probably the biggest Dynamite of the year as we are in a stadium for Grand Slam. As expected, the show is going to be a huge one with a World Title match between Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley for the vacant championship. Other than that, Swerve In Our Glory is defending the Tag Team Titles against the Acclaimed in an All Out rematch. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Castagnoli is defending and starts fast by gorilla pressing Jericho onto the top rope. A big boot knocks Jericho outside and Castagnoli follows him, only to have Jericho hide behind former Ring Of Honor owner Cary Silkin. That’s enough for Jericho to get in some cheap shots to stagger Castagnoli but he’s right back with the uppercuts back inside. They fight to the apron and fight over a suplex before forearming it out instead. Jericho gets the suplex onto the floor and they’re both down as we take a break.

Back with Jericho charging into a boot in the corner but managing to catch Castagnoli on top. A super hurricanrana pulls Castagnoli down for two and the fans bought that kickout. The Judas Effect is blocked though and a double stomp sets up the Sharpshooter to put Jericho in trouble.

A rope is grabbed so Castagnoli hits the Riccola Bomb for two. Castagnoli goes up but dives into the Codebreaker for two more. The Walls go on but Castagnoli is out fast, setting up the Swing. That and a clothesline are enough for two so Jericho grabs Floyd the baseball bat. That’s taken away but the distraction lets Jericho hit him low. The Judas Effect gives Jericho the pin and the title at 14:48.

Rating: B. I’m really not sure on this one as Jericho is the definition of someone who doesn’t need to win a World Title. Castagnoli was on a roll since winning the title and he loses to Jericho of all people? I’m not exactly interested in more of the Sports Entertainers vs. Wrestlers (read as WWE vs. AEW) feud but that seems to be where we’re going. Good match of course, but that result is a head scratcher in a lot of ways.

Post match the Jericho Appreciation Society, including Daniel Garcia, come out to celebrate.

Tag Team Titles: Swerve In Our Glory vs. Acclaimed

Acclaimed is challenging and Caster’s rap makes reference to a glory hole. The champs have rapper Fabulous in their corner while the Acclaimed have Billy Gunn. Lee runs Bowens over to start and then snaps off a running hurricanrana, which has Bowens scared and the crowd impressed. Bowens comes in and manages a hiptoss, meaning it’s scissoring time. Strickland isn’t having that and breaks it up with a dropkick, much to Gunn’s annoyance.

We take a break and come back Caster powerslamming Swerve and brainbustering Lee (which might have been planned as a suplex). The hot tag brings in Bowens to clean house, including a hurricanrana (or maybe a headSCISSORs) to Lee and a rollup for two on Strickland. Back up and Lee tosses Bowens HARD onto the ramp but misses a moonsault to Caster. Swerve goes for a boombox shot but hits Lee by mistake, allowing Bowens to hit a Blockbuster.

The Mic Drop connects for a VERY delayed two as Caster seems to hurt his knee. Strickland comes back in and drives Caster (knee seems ok) into the corner. Lee Pounces Caster and throws him into Swerve’s sitout powerbomb for a rather near fall, with the kickout bringing the crowd back to life. Strickland’s springboard flip dive is more of a springboard flipping kicks to their faces but Gunn gets in his face. The Fameasser on the floor hits Swerve and it’s the mic Drop to give Caster the pin and the titles at 13:41.

Rating: B-. It wasn’t the match they had at All Out but there was no way it was going to be able to live up to that standard. That being said, this was ALL about the huge moment as the fans were ready to see it and AEW went exactly where they should have. The Acclaimed has turned into one of the most over acts in the company and they needed the titles here.

Post match scissoring ensues as Swerve is stunned.

FTR congratulates the new champs but it’s time for their title shot. The Gunn Club comes in to mock them and I think FTR has their next non-Tag Team Title feud.

Wheeler Yuta….is interrupted by MJF, who comes to the stage with a Ric Flair strut. MJF says Wheels will never get a reaction like this. These people love him and would drink his sweat or let him sleep with their wives. The only reason he wouldn’t do it is because he has standards but Yuta calls him the King of The Low Hanging Fruit.

Yuta brings up MJF getting engaged to be married recently and suggests that MJF’s fiance is too smart for her. His fiance has figured out that MJF is a spineless piece of garbage who will walk out on her like MJF walked out on AEW. MJF: “Give it up for Wheeler. He has went from drying paint to pet rock personality.” MJF is here to wish the “Blackpool Cuckold Club” luck in the main event tonight and mocks both Danielson and Moxley. Oh and William Regal can teach him how to pop pills! That earns MJF a slap to the face but he headbutts Wheeler and SHOVES TONY SCHIAVONE! Yuta is back up but W. Morrissey comes in for the save.

Jade Cargill and the Baddies aren’t worried about Diamante and her friend. Cue Diamante, who brings in her friend….Trina, who is apparently a rapper. Not that commentary or anyone else tells us that of course.

All-Atlantic Title: Pac vs. Orange Cassidy

Cassidy is challenging and throws his sunglasses at Pac to start. Pac doesn’t care for that and the lazy kicks make him even angrier. They’re enough to make Pac stomp him down in the corner as Tony keeps talking about how MJF will be fined but it won’t matter. They head outside with Cassidy getting posted, setting up the big flip dive over the top.

We take a break and come back with Cassidy raising his boots to prevent the Black Arrow from launching. Cassidy knocks him outside for a dive, setting up the top rope DDT back inside. The Orange Punch is blocked though and Pac pulls him into the Brutalizer, which is countered into a rollup for two. The Orange Punch connects for two and Pac rolls outside for a breather. With the referee not able to see it, Pac gets in a shot with the ring bell hammer to knock Cassidy silly and retain at 12:15.

Rating: B-. This is where Cassidy has found his sweet spot. He isn’t likely to ever become a main eventer or a World Champion but giving him a title shot like this, only for him to come up short is fine. Good match here and Pac continues to be someone who feels like a major star every time he’s in the ring. The fans would have gone nuts for the title change, but it wasn’t the right call.

Interim AEW Women’s Title: Britt Baker vs. Serena Deeb vs. Athena vs. Toni Storm

Storm is defending and Rebel is here with Baker. It’s a brawl to start with everyone getting a quick near fall. Deeb even breaks up a backslide and rolls Baker and Athena up at the same time. Then it’s a leglock to Storm and an abdominal stretch (and then a suplex) to Athena at the same time.

We settle down to Storm hitting a running dropkick for two on Baker before going up top. That means a Tower Of Doom to bring everyone down and we take a break. Back with Storm and Deeb holding half crabs but slapping each other instead of cranking back harder. With those broken up, Athena dropkicks Baker to break up the Stomp and Deeb neckbreakers Baker over the ropes.

A swinging neckbreaker gives Deeb two on Storm and the Serenity Lock goes on. Athena breaks that up and throws Baker and Deeb at the same time. A powerbomb swung into a faceplant gives Athena two on Storm and Deeb makes the save. Baker tries the Lockjaw on Storm, who reverses into a crucifix to retain the title at 9:47.

Rating: C+. They went fast here and got to the point, with Storm getting the pin to retain in the end. Storm needs more wins to make her feel like a bigger star and pinning Baker is one of the best ways to do so. Storm needs a feud for the title, but getting rid of the Interim name would make things better than anything else.

Post match Baker (whose nose is busted) goes after Storm but Jamie Hayter runs in to pull her off. Then Hayter and Baker beat Storm down together and hug. Deeb beats on Athena at the same time. Lockjaw is loaded up….and Saraya (Paige) debuts. She clears the ring and invites anyone to come fight her but no one accepts. There’s your big debut, but seeing her in the ring is going to be a scary sight.

Darby Allin drags a body bag around New York before getting in a cab, saying he’s going to a funeral.

Here is what is coming on Rampage.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson

For the vacant title and William Regal is on commentary. Danielson goes for the leg to start before we get to the chops that you knew were coming. The chop off goes to Danielson, who takes Moxley into the corner for more chops and kicks. The running dropkick misses but Danielson keeps striking away anyway. Another kick knocks Moxley off the top and down to the floor for the flying knee as MJF, with the chip, is watching in the crowd. Moxley gets him onto the apron and tries a choke, only to get German suplexed hard. The running knee from the apron drops Moxley again as we take a break.

Back with Danielson striking away but Moxley pulls him into a half crab, followed by the ankle lock. With that broken up, they go up top with Moxley raking the back and backdropping him down. Moxley grabs a LeBell Lock of his own but Danielson slips out. They lock legs and wind up standing on their heads to slug it out, with Danielson getting the better of things.

Danielson grabs Cattle Mutilation to keep Moxley in trouble and the Hammer and Anvil elbows make it even worse. Moxley manages to survive and hits the King Kong lariat as MJF is chuckling over what he’s seeing. Danielson suplexes his way out of the Death Rider and hits the running knee for two, which has MJF on his feet. Moxley stomps Danielson in the ankle and hits the Death Rider for two.

Back up and Danielson starts kicking away, setting up some stomps. A triangle choke goes on before shifting to the LeBell Lock but Moxley makes it to the ropes. That’s fine with Danielson, who goes up top and hits a knee onto the arm. Moxley is right back with a Death Rider on the ramp for two, setting up a sleeper to make Danielson tap for the title at 19:32.

Rating: A-. They had a heck of a fight here and what matters most is that the title situation is set as we get ready for MJF to take the title, probably at Full Gear. You knew this was going to be an awesome match and that is what they pulled off in another great one. Moxley winning the title is a safe way to go, even if it makes it feel like we could have been here a few months ago.

Post match Regal comes in to hand Moxley the title but Danielson takes it away and points at Regal to end the show.

Overall Rating: A. What else is there to say here? The action was great, big things happened, and the main event set up things for the future. What mattered the most here was the atmosphere though, as they were in front of a ton of people in a huge venue and it was an outstanding show that delivered on every front. Absolutely worth checking this one out, as there is nothing bad in the slightest and some of the stuff was excellent.

Results
Chris Jericho b. Claudio Castagnoli – Judas Effect
Acclaimed b. Swerve In Our Glory – Mic Drop to Strickland
Pac b. Orange Cassidy – Hammer to the head
Toni Storm b. Britt Baker, Serena Deeb and Athena – Rollup to Baker
Jon Moxley b. Bryan Danielson – Choke

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Rampage
Date: September 16, 2022
Location: MVP Arena, Albany, New York
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Tony Schiavone

The road to normalcy continues this week but there might not be as much to get hyped about with this show. The problem is that with no tournament matches for this week, there is only so much that can be done to bring in the interest. Rampage has a tendency to not feel the most important but maybe they can pull it off. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Matt Hardy vs. Darby Allin

They shake hands to start and it’s Allin grabbing a headlock takeover. Hardy fights up so Allin crucifix bombs him for two. With Hardy on the floor, Allin’s dive is cut off but he drives Hardy into the steps to knock him silly again. Allin goes Jeff/PCO by trying a Swanton, which only hits apron because people like him never learn.

We take a break and come back with Hardy hitting a Side Effect out of the corner for two. The Twist of Fate is countered and a suplex is as well, with Allin grabbing a Scorpion Death Drop to put them both down. Allin loads up the Coffin Drop but gets powerbombed out for two. Hardy misses a moonsault and gets Code Reded for two, followed by the Last Supper to give Allin the pin at 10:00.

Rating: C. Well at least Hardy didn’t go over. If Hardy can go at a pace like this then he’s fine to keep around, as long as he isn’t given a story to go with it. Allin winning is of course the only way to go here, even if he doesn’t have much going on. They didn’t exactly go extreme here, which was the point, but it could have been worse.

Post match Allin leaves so the lights go out. Cue Brody King and Julia Hart to run Hardy over, with King calling out Allin and Sting. The challenge is on for a No DQ match next week, so King chokes Hardy (playing off Sting’s longtime association with Matt) until the lights go out again and King disappears. This is a feud that was wrapped up and is continuing, which is rarely a good idea.

Eddie Kingston wants Sammy Guevara next week in New York. The match is already made.

Here is Claudio Castagnoli, flanked by Wheeler Yuta, for a chat. Claudio says the title represents what he can do and the Blackpool Combat Club represents the new symbol of excellence. Last week, Yuta lost the Pure Title to Daniel Garcia but you learn the most by losing. Then last week, Castagnoli defended his title against Dax Harwood, who was one of the toughest opponents he ever faced.

Next week is a great week for the Club though as it’s two members of the team fighting for the AEW World Title. Next week, the Club will have two World Champions in its ranks….but Chris Jericho interrupts. Jericho wants to talk about the Jericho Appreciation Society’s great week, including how he should be fighting for the World Title. Castagnoli reminds Jericho for tapping so the fans get on him, with Jericho saying he wishes he was in Albany, Georgia. Jericho brags about his World Title wins and now he wants #8 to be the Ring Of Honor World Title. Castagnoli was hoping for that so it’s on.

Jade Cargill and the Baddies were cut off by Diamante, who challenges her for the title. Note that Excalibur said Diamante was “red hot”, despite that she has lost her last two matches.

Penelope Ford vs. Willow Nightingale

Kip Sabian is here with Ford, who sees to have caught JR’s eye. Ford slugs away to start but gets caught in a headlock for her efforts. Nightingale takes her down for some rollups and we pause for Excalibur to rapid fire the matches for next week. A basement crossbody lets Nightingale get a rather smiley two, only to miss a Pounce. Some middle rope knees crush Nightingale and we take a break.

Back with Nightingale getting fired up and hitting a spinebuster for two. Ford is fine enough to Matrix away from a clothesline and hit a jumping cutter for two of her own. A kick to the face rocks Nightingale and something like a Stroke sets up a Muta Lock for the tap at 8:27 (as Sabian talks to the box helmet).

Rating: C. Ford is being reheated after her long absence but dang it is depressing to see Nightingale lose so often. She has so much charisma and is rather fun to watch every time she’s out there, but I do get why AEW wants to push Ford so much more. Decent enough match too, as Ford gets her footing back.

Hangman Page and the Dark Order are ready for the Golden Ticket Battle Royal at Grand Slam for, say it with me, a future World Title shot. La Faccion Ingobernable comes in to glare and shout.

Danhausen vs. Ethan Page

Stokely Hathaway is here with Page, who isn’t having anything of this being cursed. A big boot and running shoulder sets up the Ego’s Edge for the pin at 1:27.

Ricky Starks tells Powerhouse Hobbs to think about everything that is about to happen to him because Hobbs has his undivided attention. They’ll see each other in New York.

Josh Woods and Mark Sterling are ready to send Samoa Joe on a permanent vacation. Joe doesn’t buy it.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Ring Of Honor TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. Josh Woods

Joe is defending and drives him into the corner to start for an exchange of grins. Woods cranks on the arm so Joe reverses into a cravate. With that not working, it’s time for the big forearm exchange, because that’s what so many AEW matches become. Joe sends him outside but Tony Nese snaps Joe’s arm across the top as we take a break.

Back with Joe rolling him up for two but not being able to get the Koquina Clutch. Joe puts him down and hits a backsplash for two but his arm is giving out. Nese and Sterling offer distractions so Woods can escape the rollup. A knee to the face rocks Joe and a pin into another knee to the face gets two more. Back up and the Rock Bottom out of the corner cuts Woods off, followed by the MuscleBuster to retain at 10:09.

Rating: C+. This felt like a Ring Of Honor match with Joe doing his usual stuff to win. I can go with more and more Joe so this was one of those fun matches that will work almost every time. It worked for a Rampage main event, even if the ROH TV Title feels like it has no value whatsoever.

Post match the triple teaming is on but Wardlow comes in for the save. Sterling escapes the Powerbomb Symphony and we get a Wardlow/Joe staredown to end the show. Unify some titles and I’m thrilled.

Overall Rating: C. The main thing that this show did was prove how easy it would be to have a regular Ring Of Honor show. This week featured two Ring Of Honor champions, including a title defense in the main event. There’s no reason to have Dark and Dark Elevation, so turn one of them into a Ring Of Honor show and keep all that stuff there. As for the show itself, this was little more than the final table setting show for Grand Slam, which is going to be huge. Not a must see show, but it gets us to the must see shows.

Results
Darby Allin b. Matt Hardy – Last Supper
Penelope Ford b. Willow Nightingale – Muta Lock
Ethan Page b. Danhausen – Ego’s Edge
Samoa Joe b. Josh Woods – MuscleBuster

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Rampage
Date: September 9, 2022
Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Chris Jericho

It’s the second night of the Tournament Of Champions and the best thing that can happen to this show is a hot match to make some of the last week go away. That is what they did on Dynamite but Rampage is a bit of a trickier subject. We do get Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara this week though and that should be enough. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Tournament Of Champions First Round: Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara

Tay Melo is here with Guevara. Feeling out process to start as they trade headlocks until Allin backslides him for two. A Gory Stretch into a Fujiwara armbar keeps Guevara in trouble but he blocks a charge in the corner. Guevara superplexes him into Two Amigos but Allin reverses the third into a crash over the top…where Allin suplexes him on the floor for a bonus. Melo cuts off a dive before Allin tries anyway, only to get pulled out of the air with a cutter on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Guevara hitting a knee to the face as Jericho talks about the chemistry these two have in the ring. Guevara misses a shooting star press and gets caught with a Code Red for two. Melo offers another distraction though, allowing Guevara to kick Allin in the face. The always confident Guevara stops to kiss Melo, allowing Allin to hit the big flipping suicide dive.

Back in and Allin rips off Guevara’s wedding ring, which is enough to make Melo get on the apron. Guevara knocks Allin down and takes his ring back, setting up an enziguri in the corner. A double springboard cutter gives Guevara two but he misses his own Coffin Drop. Cue Anna Jay so Melo can throw in the skateboard. Guevara powerbombs him onto the wheels, setting up GTH to finish Allin at 11:05.

Rating: B-. It was another good match between the two of them though I don’t know if it was quite the classic that commentary was hyping it up as being. Guevara going forward is a fine way to go, even if it means Allin loses another big match. That being said, Guevara is the hotter star right now, as Allin hasn’t done much without Sting in a pretty long while. Solid opener, as AEW continues putting their biggest matches at the top of their shows.

We look at MJF’s return on Dynamite and showdown with Jon Moxley.

Here is Samoa Joe for a chat. Joe hasn’t been around very often and he owes the people a lot more violence. He is open for business so here is Mark Sterling with Josh Woods and Tony Nese. Sterling thinks that Woods should get a TV Title shot and Joe says sure. Hold on though as Sterling says the paperwork isn’t done so we’ll do it next week in a real city like Albany.

Miro is mad at not being in the tournament and calls himself flawless.

Madison Rayne vs. Serena Deeb

I had forgotten Rayne worked here. Feeling out process to start with Deeb not being able to hit the Deebtox as Rayne rolls her up for a close two. Back up and Deeb shoves her down and starts hammering away. Deeb gets annoyed at being rolled up so she goes after the knee and Serenity Locks Rayne for the tap at 3:58.

Rating: C. Not much beyond a squash here and I’m still not sure how much higher Rayne is going to go in AEW. She has experience and is certainly passable in the ring, but she feels like just another person on the show for the most part. I’m still not sure why Deeb isn’t a bigger star, she she rarely breaks out of that third tier of women. The skill is there, but for some reason nothing else is clicking for her.

Jade Cargill and the Baddies aren’t surprised by beating Athena and say she might as well be 50-0.

Powerhouse Hobbs is ready to hurt even more people.

William Regal talks about hiring Dax Harwood out of obscurity, but now Regal is in Claudio Castagnoli’s corner. Castagnoli is ready to face Harwood, who will win something on his own one day, but it won’t be tonight. Harwood says this is how he feeds his family so Top Guy out.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Dax Harwood vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Harwood is challenging and William Regal is here with the champ. Feeling out process to start with Harwood’s leapfrog being pulled out of the air but he grabs some rollups for two each. Back up and Castagnoli fires off some uppercuts to take over so Harwood suplexes both of them over the top and out to the floor. We take a break and come back with Castagnoli winning a slugout and putting on an abdominal stretch.

With that broken up, Castagnoli puts him on top but gets chopped backwards, setting up a Swan Dive from Harwood. JR goes into a funny rant about how you’re an idiot if you aren’t doing this for the money as Harwood backdrops his way out of a Neutralizer. Harwood grabs a piledriver for two and goes up top, only to get superplexed back down. We take another break and come back again with Harwood getting two off a backslide so Castagnoli kicks him in the face.

The slingshot sitout powerbomb gives Harwood two more but Castagnoli puts him right back on top. A belly to back superplex is countered into a crossbody for two more, plus a big crash. Another slugout goes to Castagnoli and it’s a giant swing into the Sharpshooter. With that almost broken up, Castagnoli tries a Crossface but gets reversed into a Sharpshooter of his own. That breaks down and Castagnoli drives in some hammer and anvil elbows, setting up the Sharpshooter to make Harwood tap at 20:24.

Rating: B. This wasn’t a match that had a ton of doubt to it but the action getting to the pretty obvious ending was quite good. Castagnoli is a monster and Harwood kept at him until he fell short at the end. I could go with Harwood not getting pinned so often, but then again I could also go with FTR doing something of note but that doesn’t seem likely anytime soon either.

Respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. As usual, outside of a single match, there was nothing on here that felt like it was making any kind of a difference. Rampage feels like a show where they grabbed a handful of people who weren’t on Dynamite and let them get ring time that week. That can be nice to see and gives us stuff like the main event, but when you have this many people and so little TV time, there are going to be problems and that is what you see with AEW a lot of the time. The main event was very good, but sometimes you need more than that to make something worth the time and effort.

Results
Sammy Guevara b. Darby Allin – GTH
Serena Deeb b. Madison Rayne – Serenity Lock
Claudio Castagnoli b. Dax Harwood – Sharpshooter

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For the first time in a good while, we are getting a full scale AEW pay per view rather than AEW and some other promotion mixing together to make a big special. As tends to be the case on AEW pay per views, the card is absolutely loaded, even to the point of being WAY too big. There are fifteen matches between the Zero Hour (better than Buy In) show and the main card, all of which are absolutely necessary. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: FTW Title: Hook(c) vs. Angelo Parker

You know, because we needed to get Hook onto this thing. Or is it that we needed to get the “Sports…..Innderdainers”? Either way, this is the kind of a match that is not likely to take very long because Parker has never been treated as anything serious and Hook runs over everyone. I don’t know what else anyone is really expecting here, but at least Hook should pop the crowd.

Of course I’ll take Hook to win here, as there is no reason for it to go any other way. Hook is one of those unique stars that just works for some reason and it would be nuts to have him lose to one half of a comedy due. I’m sure Matt Menard will get his chance to be destroyed later, but for now, this will be Hook crushing Parker and going off to find some more chips.

Zero Hour: AAA World Mixed Tag Team Titles: Tay Melo/Sammy Guevara vs. Ruby Soho/Oritz

If anyone can explain why this match is on the card, you’re smarter than I am. This is the third time that these teams have fought in ten days and that isn’t exactly my idea of interesting. The first two matches weren’t good but now we’re seeing them again after a second match this week on Rampage. But at least they’re on the shwo and something is on the line, so points for that I guess?

There is almost no reason to believe that the titles are going to change here so we’ll go with Melo and Guevara retaining. If I had to guess, maybe Soho can even get pinned again to keep the titles where they already are. This feels completely out of the norm for AEW and I’d like to believe that it isn’t something they are going to do regularly. Either way, this isn’t something I’m interested in seeing but we’re getting it anyway, because something about a trilogy.

Zero hour: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Eddie Kingston

So these two fight back at a New Japan event in May and this it he rematch, which AEW is hosting so I guess they can fight each other once on equal footing? This is another match that was added on to the card and the story seems to be that Kingston is wanting to prove that he has become a better man since Ishii beat him the first time. I’m not sure how interesting that is but you know AEW will take a New Japan star when they can.

I’ll go with Kingston here, even if it is a match with virtually no build or reason to exist other than to get the two of them on the show. Much like the previous match, it is one of the first matches I would cut from the card, but it should at least be a heck of a fight with two guys hitting each other really hard. Ishii is getting up there in years but he can still do his thing well enough to get by.

Zero Hour: All Atlantic Title: Pac(c) vs. Kip Sabian

After several months of sitting in the front row with a box over his head, commentary just said “yeah that’s Kip Sabian” and now he is getting a title match against Pac. Why that is supposed to be interesting isn’t clear, as it’s still Sabian, who has never been much more than just ok during his time in AEW. It should be nice to see Pac defend the title on AEW TV for once, even under these circumstances.

Despite having no idea what they’re going for with the whole box thing, I’ll go with Pac to run through Sabian without much trouble. Pac is on a higher level and I don’t see the point in messing with the title on someone so far out of Pac’s league. Maybe commentary can explain something about Sabian’s deal, but for now, this is just a weird story that came out of nowhere and leaves me wondering why it’s happening.

Interim Women’s Title: Britt Baker vs. Toni Storm vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Jamie Hayter

Yes we’re still doing the Interim Champion deal and no I don’t quite get it either. This is the thing they’re doing rather than just vacating the title and moving on and it’s still not exactly a great way to go. This time Thunder Rosa has suffered a back injury and will not be able to defend the title, so this is what we’re getting instead. At least there are some options to win here, which always helps.

I’ll take Storm to win, even if the signs seem to be pointing to Baker. If nothing else, it would be nice for Storm to win and give us something fresh, as Baker and Shida have both been champion for so long. Hayter would be interesting as well and is a dark horse to win the thing, but I’ll go with Storm here, if nothing else to set up the Storm vs. Rosa match when she gets back.

Ricky Starks vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

For the life of me I don’t get why it took so long for these two to have something significant to do but at least they’re finally getting some kind of a match here. Both of them have the potential to be break out stars and that could very well start with this match. This is the result of a tag team split and that is as good of a reason as any for two young stars to be fighting.

I think I’ll take Hobbs here, even if Starks seems more ready to move up to the next level. The good thing here is there is no bad choice for a winner, as long as AEW picks someone and moves forward with them. Hobbs is a monster and Starks is more of a complete package, which opens up several possibilities no matter which choice they make. I’ll flip a coin and go with Hobbs though in what should be a fine match either way.

Jungle Boy vs. Christian Cage

We’ll stick with the grudge match theme here as Jungle Boy finally gets his hands on Cage after a lot of horrible things were said about him. These two have been on a collision course for several weeks now and we should be in for something good when they finally get to face off. There is a major wild card in the background though and that could be the big factor in the whole thing.

I think I’ll go with Cage here, as Luchasaurus has been so notorious in his absence for the last few weeks. If nothing else, it seems a bit too easy that Luchasaurus was Cage’s heavy and then stepped aside while Jungle Boy got to Cage. Maybe that is a red herring, but I have a feeling that Luchasaurus turns on Jungle Boy to let Cage get the win, which would set up even more between these three going forward.

Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Jericho

Hey, did you know that Jericho calls himself a Sports Entertainer and is a bad guy in a company that focuses on wrestling? I wasn’t sure if AEW had hammered the idea in enough just yet. This is a match that has been set up for a few weeks and should be a good one if they do it right. Jericho has a hit or miss track record, but Danielson seems incapable of having a bad match no matter what he does in AEW, meaning I have a lot of hope.

Danielson needs the win more than Jericho so we’ll go with what makes sense here and pick Danielson to go over. Jericho seems to be bringing back the Lionheart as he continues his own version of the 3 Faces Of Foley, but Danielson wrestling him down and then beating him, likely with Daniel Garcia not helping Jericho when he needs it, is the way to go. This needs to be Danielson’s to give him a win over a bigger name and that is what they’ll do here.

TNT Title: Jade Cargill(c) vs. Athena

Well it’s about time. This is a story that has been built up for the last few months and I cannot bring myself to care after so many months of Athena getting beaten up by Cargill and the Baddies. They have to have the match at some point though and this is as good for a place as any, even if it is something that should have happened at least a few weeks ago when the interest was still there.

Of course Cargill retains here and there is no reason for this to be anything else. Cargill is someone who is going to need a special opponent to finally take her down and as good as Athena is, I can’t picture that being the case. Athena will probably hit the O Face for a near fall, but ultimately it’s going to be Jaded to keep Cargill undefeated, as she should be at the moment.

House Of Black vs. Sting/Darby Allin/Miro

This is another match that feels like it was forgotten until the last few days and now it is taking place on the show. That isn’t the best way to go but there are a lot of names in here who should probably be on the pay per view. Miro vs. the House Of Black alone should be good and Sting/Allin already have issues with the team. Now just let them all go nuts and it should be fun.

This should be fun and I’ll go with Miro making Matthews tap to win. Sting and Allin can do their wacky things and Sting can probably have his showdown with Black, but with all of the reported personal issues for Black, I can’t imagine his team winning here. This is a way to redeem Miro a bit and that is the way they should go, as it’s almost easy to forget he is even in AEW half of the time.

Casino Ladder Match

A few weeks ago, I was wondering when AEW was going to announce another ladder match and here we are. This is the latest future World Title opportunity on the line and so far we have seven names, plus more to come. In other words, this is all about the Joker, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a big name return in that spot, as he is certainly overdue to do so.

In short, I’m going with MJF making his triumphant return, likely setting up the title match in New York City later this month. MJF has been gone for several months now and it is long past time to get him back so he can continue his reign of amazing. If nothing else, seeing him come in at the very end and win the thing without having to put in much, if any, work, would be a heck of a troll job and something I can see him doing.

Wardlow/FTR vs. Jay Lethal/Motor City Machine Guns

And here we have the weirdest match on the card, as I still don’t know why this is the best thing that they can offer. The match has felt thrown together since it was announced and for a very good reason: it is a thrown together match for the sake of getting the people involved on the show (you might be noticing a pattern emerging here). It’s nice to have them here, but Harwood’s speech explaining why the match matters didn’t quite sway me.

Give me FTR and Wardlow to win here, which is the only logical way this can go. At the end of the day, they both REALLY need something to do and this isn’t likely to lead anywhere. While I could go for FTR vs. the Guns later on, Wardlow vs. Lethal has already been done. I’m not sure why this match is taking place, but hopefully it isn’t AEW giving up on the three of them so soon, as that would be incredibly stupid.

Tag Team Titles: Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland(c) vs. Acclaimed

Now this one intrigues me and I’m not sure about where it is going to go. On one hand you have the champs, who have not exactly been given a major run yet and have only held the titles for a few weeks. On the other hand though, you have the Acclaimed, who are on fire and the fans absolutely love them, meaning there has to be some temptation to pull the trigger here. That makes this a little complicated and I’m not sure what they are going to do.

I’ll take the champions to retain though, as it just isn’t like AEW to take someone who is getting their big break and just cut them off so soon. The Acclaimed has come a long way but I don’t know how much they need the titles. Caster’s raps alone, or with Bowens’ nutty charisma, are going to keep them over for a very long time so why bother with giving them titles that they don’t really need yet? The champs keep the belts.

Trios Titles: Hangman Page/Dark Order vs. Elite

Yeah I don’t think there is any real shock that this is where we wound up after the whole tournament was announced. Even if Page wasn’t involved in the tournament in the first place, I don’t think there was any shock in the fact that he wound up in the finals anyway. These titles feel more and more like a vanity deal for the Elite anyway, and that is where things get screwy.

I’m actually taking Page and the Dark Order to win here, as it is more of a feel good story for the lovable goons to FINALLY win something than for the Elite to get another title on their resume. Throw in Omega possibly being blamed for the loss, Page redeeming himself, and whatever else the Bucks are going to talk about and the underdogs winning is the much more interesting way to go.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. CM Punk

CHICAGO! Ok there now we can move on. For some reason this feels like it is designed to be a match for the live crowd than everyone else watching. I get the idea of keeping a crowd hot, but this story has been so all over the place and I’m still not sure I get why we’re getting things going this way. At the very least, this is the kind of story that needs to end so everyone can move on to something else, and in theory that is what they’ll be doing.

I’ll take Punk to win here, again going off of the idea of MJF getting his title shot in New York later this month. MJF vs. Moxley doesn’t have the history to it and Punk winning the title back to set up the big loss to MJF is a better way to go. This really doesn’t feel like a main event though and I wouldn’t be hurt if they went with the Trios Titles headlining instead (The heck am I saying?). Oh and one more time: CHICAGO!

Overall Thoughts

Long. That’s the overall thought for this show: it sounds really long. There are so many matches crammed into this card that I’ve been dreading it more and more eveyr week. I’m still not sure why AEW insists on doing this but for some reason this is what we get with their regular pay per views anymore. I’m sure people will be burned out by the end, but why let that get in the way of what they want to do?

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Rampage
Date: September 2, 2022
Location: Now Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Chris Jericho

It’s the final show before All Out and now we get to find out who else is in the Trios Titles tournament final. Hangman Page is subbing in for the injured Evil Uno, who was taken out by a pair of crutches shots on Dynamite. With that rather intense injury out of the way, let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Trios Titles Tournament Semifinals: Best Friends vs. Dark Order/Hangman Page

Page and Orange Cassidy kick things off as Don Callis is on commentary. Hold on though as Danhausen gets in to tease a curse to Page but gets ejected. Then Cassidy gets on Page’s back like a horse, only to be flipped down to set up the hands in his pockets. Page misses a clothesline so the other four come in, meaning the Best Friends get to hug. Then the Dark Order try their own hug, only to be sent into each other.

Soul Food into the half nelson suplex drops Silver before he gets sat up top. Cassidy can’t do a Tower of Doom so Page pulls Silver down like a damsel in distress, leaving Cassidy to hit the lazy kicks. Silver takes the bullet for Page before Cassidy picks up the pace with a superkick. Trent’s tornado DDT drops Page and everyone is left down.

We take a break and come back with Page launching Reynolds over the top onto the Trent and Chuck. Page pulls Cassidy out of the air and hits a fall away slam before missing a dive by taking out Page by mistake. A double chokeslam puts Page through a table on the floor but it’s Silver getting to clean house. Some kicks rock Cassidy inside but he grabs the Stundog Millionaire.

One heck of a clothesline turns Cassidy inside out but he’s back with the Beach Break for two. The assisted splash gets two on Silver with Page having to make a save. Trent takes Page up top, where Page flips out of a belly to back superplex. The Deadeye gets two on Cassidy with Chuck making a save this time. Silver Stuns Cassidy but Silver can’t hit the German suplex. Instead Cassidy small packages Silver for two and the Awful Waffle gives Chuck the same. The Orange Punch hits Page and Chuck clotheslines him to the floor, only to have Silver grab a rollup pin on Chuck at 12:12.

Rating: C+. I really wasn’t big on the comedy in the first few minutes but then they cranked it up and had the usual insanity that comes with these matches. What matters is getting Page to All Out, because he needs to be in there with his friends/non-friends the Young Bucks. That’s the main story of the whole tournament and whether you like it or not, this had to happen to get us there.

Eddie Kingston is ready to face Tomohiro Ishii again because he has not walked that King’s Road path. Uh, yay.

Rey Fenix vs. Blake Christian

Christian blocks a kick to the face to start and snaps off a spinwheel kick. Back up and a dropkick sends Fenix into….a nip up so we can have a standoff. A rope walk wristdrag takes Christian down but he’s fine enough to hit a handspring kick to the head to send Fenix outside. The running flip dive drops Fenix again but he’s fine enough to chop away. A spinning knee to the face sets up the Black Fire Driver to finish Christian at 2:22. Short and packed with stuff.

The Jericho Appreciation Society interrupts Hook, who is ready to fight. They’ll fight on Sunday instead.

Sammy Guevara/Tay Melo vs. Ortiz/Ruby Soho

Non-title rematch from last week Ortiz and Soho lost last week. Ortiz avoids Sammy’s charge to start and hits some crossface shots in the corner. Soho kicks Melo from the apron and we take an early break. Back with Soho’s arm having been banged up during the break but Ortiz avoids a springboard.

A powerslam plants Sammy and it’s off to Soho for some STO’s to Melo. Soho hits a bunch of headbutts and a knee to the face as everything breaks down. Ortiz hits a running backsplash for two on Sammy but he catches Soho in a wheelbarrow. Melo adds the DDT for two but Ortiz flips out of a double suplex, leaving Soho to roll Melo up for the pin at 7:40.

Rating: C+. They were moving rather fast out there but I could go for not doing the same match twice to set up a rematch, likely for the titles. That is something out of WWE’s playbook and these matches aren’t good enough to overcome the bad idea. At least Soho go a win, though a rollup over Melo in a bit of a mess isn’t some kind of a game changer.

Don Callis interrupts the Dark Order/Hangman Page and talks down to Page, who is held back.

All Out rundown, now featuring a rubber match between Tay Melo/Sammy Guevara vs. Ortiz/Ruby Soho. That’s three times in ten days.

Earlier today, we had a sitdown interview between Athena and Jade Cargill, with the Baddies. Jade isn’t worried about Athena, who says that Jade needs to take her more seriously. That’s still not working for Jade, who Kiera Hogan thinks should be called #37. A lot of trash is talked and Athena leaves.

Here’s the rest of the All Out rundown, because it’s fifteen matches long.

Video on CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley. Punk really likes saying CHICAGO.

We get a face to face interview between the Acclaimed and Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland. Billy Gunn promises that the Acclaimed is winning, while the Acclaimed brag about how their accomplishments. Swerve gets serious and says they aren’t going to put up with Acclaimed being silly. The champs are the rocks of this division and rocks beat scissors.

Here are FTR and Wardlow for a chat, with Chris Jericho forgetting the Motor City Machine Guns’ name (“Detroit Machine Guns”) on the way to the ring. Dash Harwood is impressed by the fans’ cheering and talks about a time that he felt worthless and unloved. Then it was 2022 and the fans got behind him, which turned everything around. Not everyone is going to love FTR but that is ok.

There are some journalists (he means Meltzer) who are asking why the All Out six man tag is taking place. Well it means a lot to him because he’s looking in the rear view mirror of his career. There are three things you don’t mess with in life….but here are the Motor City Machine Guns, Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh.

The Guns brag about being from Detroit and Alex Shelley talks about how great FTR may be. What they don’t have though is the respect that the Guns have. Dutt promises to mess with Harwood’s friends, money and family, which has Dutt calling Harwood’s daughter a brat. Harwood has to be held back to wrap things up. Wardlow didn’t actually say anything.

So this was a segment that happened and all it did was show that A, the match isn’t interesting and they threw in the Harwood/Dutt thing to try to make it matter, and B, Wardlow has lost all momentum that he had from the spring and early summer. Harwood talked about people asking why the match was taking place and yeah, it’s a valid question.

The match feels COMPLETELY tacked on as a way to get FTR and Wardlow onto the show. FTR should be in a big title match but instead they’re getting this for whatever reason. It’s not interesting and all three of them deserve FAR better (yes the Machine Guns are great but they’re thrown in here too rather than having a dream match with FTR be built up as it could have been).

QT Marshall isn’t impressed by Ricky Starks and thinks he won’t be worth anything without Powerhouse Hobbs behind him. Starks is ready to beat him up and walks over to knock on a locked door, which seems to contain the Factory. Marshall panics and eventually comes to get them out, only to get jumped by Starks. They fight into the arena and through the crowd before getting in the ring for the bell.

Ricky Starks vs. QT Marshall

After a break less than thirty seconds in, we come back with both of them getting up for the slugout. Starks grabs a springboard tornado DDT for two but the Factory tries a distraction. Marshall is slipped a watch but misses a big shot, leaving him to settle for a rollup with feet on the ropes for two. Starks takes out the rest of the Factory but gets a rope kicked low on the way back in. Marshall’s Diamond Cutter is countered but the second attempt connects for two. Back up and Starks hits the spear, setting up Roshambo for the pin at 7:03.

Rating: C. It was intense while it lasted but there is only so much you can get out of Starks beating up the Factory in about three and a half minutes shown. The good thing is that Starks has FINALLY beaten up the Factory, though I have no idea why the team needed to be involved in this story in the first place. The match was just a way to get Starks on the show though, so it was only ever going to be so good.

Post match Powerhouse Hobbs comes out to brawl with Starks. Bryan Danielson comes out to stare at Jericho to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The fact that this was a go home show for a pay per view helped things out a bit but otherwise, this wasn’t exactly a great week. What mattered here was setting up the Trios Titles match and apparently adding a fifteenth match to the pay per view card. I’m not sure why that is the case, but none of this show is going to matter once All Out starts. Pretty skippable show this week, but not a disaster.

Results
Dark Order/Hangman Page b. Best Friends – Rollup to Chuck
Rey Fenix b. Blake Christian – Black Fire Driver
Ruby Soho/Ortiz b. Sammy Guevara/Tay Melo – Rollup to Melo
Ricky Starks b. QT Marshall – Roshambo

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