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AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT
AUGUST 27, 2021
RECORDED AT MILWAUKEE, WISC. AT THE UWM PANTHER ARENA
AIRED ON TNT
REPORT BY PATRICK MOYNAHAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Excalibur, Taz, Jim Ross, and Mark Henry.
Ring announcer: Justin Roberts
– The opening of Rampage aired. Excalibur welcomed us with, “It’s Friday night, and you know what that means!” Excalibur was joined by his fellow announcers, Taz, Mark Henry, and Chris Jericho.
(1) JURASSIC EXPRESS (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus w/Marko Stunt) vs. LUCHA BROS. (Penta El Zero Miedo & Fenix w/Alex Alhambra) — AEW Tag Title Eliminator Tournament Finals
The Lucha Brothers were already in the ring as the Jurassic Express made their entrance. After ring introductions, The Young Bucks’ music hit as they made their way to the ramp to get an up-close view of the match.
Fenix and Jungle Boy started things off. Jungle Boy went to the outside but was met by Fenix on the apron. Jungle Boy nailed Fenix with a kick to the face, then took him over with an arm drag to the delight of the crowd. Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks was shown at ringside. Fenix regained the advantage momentarily until he and Jungle Boy ended in a standoff.
Penta and Luchasaurus both tagged in. The two faced off in the middle of the ring as Penta slowly removed his glove. Luchasaurus caught a slap attempt by Penta, then knocked him down as Fenix flew off the top and took him out. All four men hit the ring which ended in all four hitting the mat. [c]
Back from break, Jungle Boy went for a close pin attempt on Fenix after a rollup. Fenix then flew out onto Luchasaurus as Jungle Boy did the same onto Penta. Luchasaurus and Penta tagged in again at the same time. Luchasaurus took Penta down, then as Fenix went for the attack, Luchasaurus took him and Penta down again. Luchasaurus manhandled the Lucha Bros. and even got a close two count in the process. Penta fought back and focused on taking out the legs of Luchasaurus until Fenix tagged back in.
Fenix went to the top as Giannis cheered him on. Fenix hit a frog splash for a two count. Jungle Boy tagged in and took Fenix out with a poisonranna for a very close two count. Jungle then locked in the Snare Trap until Penta broke it up. Penta tagged back in as the Bucks looked on. Penta hit a backbreaker, then a Made in Japan for yet another close count. The crowd really came alive here as Jungle Boy fought back.
Luchasaurus and Penta were outside as Jungle climbed to the top. He was cut off by Fenix who walked the ropes to get to Jungle Boy. Fenix took Jungle Boy down with a hurricanrana to the outside. Jungle Boy flew off the top onto Luchasaurus and Penta. Back inside the ring, Penta covered Jungle Boy for another close two count. Jungle Boy was back up and nailed Penta with a thrust kick.
Luchasaurus tagged in but Fenix took him out, then focused on Jungle Boy on the apron. Fenix and Jungle were battling until Penta came over and hit a destroyer on Jungle Boy from the apron onto the floor. Fenix hit his own destroyer on Luchasaurus, who kicked out after a one count.
Fenix and Penta traded thrust kicks to the face of Luchasaurus, then went for a double pin but Luchasaurus kicked out. The Lucha Bros. hit their finish on Luchasaurus for the win.
WINNERS: Lucha Brothers in 13:00
– After the match, the Young Bucks hit the ring and took out the Lucha Bros. Jurassic Express came to their aid as the Bucks bailed. [c]
(Moynahan’s Take: Whew, what a match. This felt a bit slow in the early going, as the crowd was a little quiet after being there for the live Dynamite show on Wednesday. Nevertheless, please make sure to watch this match. The right team won in my opinion. It’s also worth adding that they did a very good job showing Giannis at ringside throughout the match, including his capturing his excited reactions.)
– An ad for All Out aired. CM Punk’s return was highlighted as clips from his return were shown. The ad focused on Punk’s upcoming match against Darby Allin. Punk was shown speaking about how Allin would be his favorite if he were a kid. The narrator called this “the most anticipated fight of the year.” The All Out Countdown show was then announced for next week.
– Miro’s music hit and as the camera panned to the entrance, Fuego Del Sol was shown being thrown to the ramp. Miro followed behind him as Del Sol rolled toward the ring. Miro threw Del Sol into the ring as Schiavone bailed to the outside. Miro held up Del Sol and told him to reveal his face as he ripped off his mask and kicked him.
Eddie Kingston’s music hit, and he made his way out. Kingston had a mic as he stood on the ramp. As the crowd chanted his name, Kington dropped the mic and charged the ring. Miro cut him off and wailed away on him until Kingston fought back by chopping him a number of times. Kingston then hit an exploder on Miro, who was wobbly but charged right back until refs came in to break things up. [c]
(Moynahan’s Take: This was such an effective segment. There was little to no speaking but it furthered the feud between Kingston and Miro while giving a logical reason for Del Sol to be involved. Can we have this match now, please?)
(2) TAY CONTI vs. THE BUNNY (w/The Blade)
The Bunny was in the ring as Conti made her entrance. Bunny attacked Conti before the bell. Conti was caught up in the corner as Bunny nailed her with a series of kicks. Bunny went for a few pin attempts to no avail. Conti was back in the corner, as Bunny landed a few chops to her chest. Conti ducked the final attempt and landed her own chops. Bunny cut off Conti by raking her eyes. Bunny continued her onslaught, even cutting off Conti’s comeback with a clothesline.
Conti finally made a comeback, taking Bunny down with a series of Judo throws, then hitting her with a knee to the face. Conti hit a side slam which revved up the crowd. Conti came back with several pump kicks to the face of Bunny. As Conti went for the Tay-KO, Penelope Ford was shown walking down to the ring. Conti was distracted by Ford, which allowed The Blade to pass brass knuckles to Bunny. Conti was knocked out cold by the knucks, which allowed the Bunny to make the easy pin.
WINNER: The Bunny in 5:00
(Moynahan’s Take: I went in thinking this was an easy win for Tay Conti, who hasn’t really been shown on TV that frequently as of late. The ending was too WWE-esque for my taste, but it seems to be tying into the All Out Women’s Battle Royal, as there were several mentions to that match after The Bunny’s win.)
– The announce team ran down the All Out card, which included the official announcement of Kingston vs. Miro for the TNT Championship. A preview for Dynamite’s match between Brian Cage vs. Powerhouse Hobbs was shown next. Additional matches for Dynamite were shown, and it was also announced that Darby Allin would face Daniel Garcia on next week’s Rampage.
– Mark Henry was shown backstage via split screen with Kenny Omega and Don Callis on one side, and Christian Cage and Frankie Kazarian on the other. This was standard fare between the two teams, primarily focusing on Cage and Omega as they hyped up tonight’s match as well as their main event at All Out. Cage continued to focus on the fact that he’s already beaten Omega, something no one else has been able to do for more than a year.
– The teams were introduced for the main event as we went to commercial break. [c]
(3) KENNY OMEGA & BRANDON CUTLER (w/Don Callis) vs. CHRISTIAN CAGE & FRANKIE KAZARIAN
Kazarian and Cutler, in full sweatsuit attire, started things off. Cutler came off as a complete goof here, taking a beating from Kazarian until he was able to roll over to Omega and make the tag. Nakazawa grabbed Kazarian’s leg from the outside which allowed Omega to go on the attack.
Kazarian reversed Omega into the corner and landed a few chops. Kazarian ducked a charge in by Omega and took him down with a Russian leg sweep. Cage tagged in and Omega begged off into his own corner. Cutler was tagged back in, but he looked too scared to be there. Kazarian was back in as Cutler went to the floor. Kazarian went to pick Cutler up but was hit from behind by Nakazawa. Back in the ring, Omega tagged back in to take advantage of the downed Kazarian.
Omega hit his somersault/moonsault combo on Kazarian. Kazarian tried to make a comeback but was hit from behind by Cutler, which allowed Omega to regain the advantage. Cutler, knowing Kazarian was down, wanted the tag and got it. Cutler strutted around the ring until Kazarian came back to life and tagged Cage.
Cage took out Cutler with a reverse DDT, but Omega cut off his follow up by tripping him from the outside. With the ref distracted by Callis, Omega went for a pump kick on Cage, but he moved, and Omega nailed Cutler. Cage went for the Kill Switch, but Omega was able to bail to the outside. Cage speared Cutler as Omega and Callis walked backwards up the ramp. Cage hit the Kill Switch on Cutler for the win.
WINNERS: Kazarian & Christian Cage in 9:00
(Moynahan’s Take: This was fine but felt a little too hokey for a match that included the two men in the main event of next week’s PPV. The crowd also sounded a little tired at this point in the night. Lastly, Cage didn’t seem to garner much of a reaction during the hot tag segment, but again, that could have been due to the crowd being there for such a long night of action.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: Well, there was no way on earth any show would be able to top last week’s Rampage, so I hope you didn’t go into tonight thinking that was ever possible. Of the first three episodes, this was easily the least exciting. As much as AEW wants Rampage to be another “A” show, I just can’t see that happening when some shows will be taped, and easily tire out the crowd after four plus hours. On a positive note, the Miro/Kingston and Jurassic Express/Lucha Bros. segments were phenomenal. Until next week, stay safe everyone!
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