6/17 AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT: Moynahan’s report on Moxley vs. Dante Martin, Darby vs. Bobby Fish, Jade Cargill, Gunn Club & Caster

AEW RAMPAGE “ROAD RAGER” TV REPORT
JUNE 17, 2022
RECORDED AT THE CHAIFETZ ARENA, ST. LOUIS, MO
AIRED ON TNT
REPORT BY PATRICK MOYNAHAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Excalibur, Taz, Chris Jericho, and William Regal

Ring announcer: Dasha Gonzalez

– The opening of Rampage aired. Excalibur welcomed us with, “It’s Friday night, and you know what that means!” Excalibur was joined by Taz, Chris Jericho, and William Regal.

(1) JON MOXLEY vs. DANTE MARTIN

Moxley made his way to the ring first, followed by Dante. Dante extended his hand to Moxley, but Moxley swatted it away. Dante showed some fire early on as the two locked up. Moxley took Dante down to the mat with a headlock takeover. Dante fought his way back to his feet but Moxley kept the headlock synched in. Moxley fired away with a series of combination shots, then took him down with a shotgun dropkick. Moxley offered his chest to Dante who wailed away with a few stiff chops. Moxley fired back with one of his own, which took Dante to the mat. Moxley sent Dante hard into the corner. [c]

Moxley locked in a Texas Cloverleaf, then quickly turned it into a modified STF, which Regal noted was something he invented. Moxley hit the Regal knee and covered for two. Moxley went for a neckbreaker but Dante pushed Moxley into the corner, then hit a flip-forward hurricanrana on Moxley.

Moxley hit a butterfly suplex off the top rope for a two count. Moxley nailed Dante with hammer and anvil elbow shots, but Dante fired right back and drove Moxley to the outside. Dante took to the sky and jumped off the top rope onto Moxley. Back inside the ring, Dante came off the top with a massive cross body for a close count. Dante went for his moonsault off the ropes but Moxley moved, then locked in a sleeper. Dante used the ropes to get the break but was perched on the top rope for Moxley to go on the attack. Moxley tried another move off the top but Dante reversed into a slice bread for another close count.

Both men stood in the middle of the ring and traded kicks. Dante flipped right into a cutter by Moxley but was able to quickly follow up with a sunset flip for two. Moxley fired back with a huge lariat for a two count. Moxley hit the hammer and anvil elbows again, then locked in a hammerlock submission for the tapout win.

WINNER: Jon Moxley in 13:00

– William Regal left the commentary table after the match.

(Moynahan’s Take: Very good opener, with Moxley looking strong against a solid performance by Dante. The ending was never in doubt, but Dante looked good in this one. An interesting note during this match was Excalibur mentioning Zack Sabre Jr. calling out Bryan Danielson at NJPW’s Dominion show last week.)

– Tony Schiavone was backstage with Keith Lee and Swerve. Lee asked Swerve why he shouldn’t take him out after last week’s betrayal in the battle royal. Swerve began to explain himself until Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs interrupted and told them they need to realize Swerve and Lee have yet to beat Starks and Hobbs. [c]

– House of Black and Death Triangle each spoke backstage in a video package. Each group spoke about the upcoming All Atlantic Championship Qualifying match between Penta and Malakai Black on this week’s Dynamite.

(2) MAX CASTER & THE GUNN CLUB (Austin & Colten) vs. RUFFIN IT (Leon Ruff & Bear Bronson & Bear Boulder)

Things broke down between all six men before the bell rang. Austin and Ruff were left in the ring until Colten and Caster joined Austin for a three way scissor party. Austin took it to Ruff, then tagged in Colten. Gunn Club hit their finish, then Caster came off the top with the Mic Drop for the win.

WINNERS: Max Caster & The Gunn Club in 2:00

(Moynahan’s Take: Quite the easy win for The Gunn Club and Caster. Bear Country was a complete nonfactor in this one.)

– Lexy Nair was backstage with HOOK. Nair said HOOK would face a top prospect from the NJPW Dojo next week, but didn’t mention who. Danhausen appeared and made it sound like he would be helping HOOK with his match next week. HOOK interrupted and told Danhausen “I’ve got this.”

(3) JADE CARGILL (w/Stokely Hathaway & Kiera Hogan) vs. WILLOW NIGHTINGALE – TBS Championship

Cargill came into this match with a 32-0 record. Hathaway joined commentary for this match. Jericho dubbed Cargill this week’s Sports Entertainer of the Week. The bell rang and Cargill quickly threw Nightingale across the ring. Cargill whipped Nightingale across the ring but Nightingale stopped her momentum with a cartwheel. Cargill picked Nightingale up on her shoulders but Nightingale fought out of it. Nightingale missed a pounce attempt and was met with a boot to the face to drive her to the outside. [c]

Nightingale had the upper hand as Cargill was down in the corner. Nightingale hit a cannonball senton, then covered for a close count. Cargill kicked Nightingale in the stomach, then hit a Pedigree. Cargill followed up with Jaded for the win.

WINNER: Jade Cargill in 6:30

(Moynahan’s Take: This was a fun little match for the time they were given. Nightingale got a nice reaction from the crowd throughout the match, and Tony Kahn will hopefully take note.)

– After the match, Athena and Kris statlander hit the ring to help Nightingale ward off an attack by Cargill and the Baddies.

– Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh were backstage discussing their recent attack on Samoa Joe as well as Singh’s recent AEW in-ring debut.

– Excalibur ran down the Forbidden Door card. A new match announced is a Winner Takes All three-way tag team match between FTR, Cobb & Great O-Kahn, and Roppongi Vice where both the ROH and IWGP Tag Team Titles will be on the line. Excalibur also announced that on this week’s Dynamite, Chris Jericho and Lance Archer will face Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahasi.

– Mark Henry was backstage on split screen with Darby Allin and ReDragon. Allin said he would take Fish out as retribution for them taking out Sting a few weeks back. Fish and O’Reilly didn’t seem to appreciate Darby’s words, and told him they weren’t buying it. Darby said by the end of the night, Fish’s leg would be broken. Henry announced that it was “time for the main event.”

(4) DARBY ALLIN vs. BOBBY FISH (w/Kyle O’Reilly)

Fish attacked Darby from behind before the bell and continued to lay in shots, then focused on his leg. Darby went to the outside as Fish followed and rammed him into the apron. Fish charged toward Darby and seemed to clip Darby in mid air but also ran into the barrier at the same time. Darby flew over the top rope onto Fish who was still outside.

Both men made their way into the ring as Fish hit a backbreaker, but missed a follow up moonsault from the top. With Fish outside again, Darby hit his torpedo tope through the ropes. Darby was on the apron as Fish kicked out his leg causing Darby to take a nasty tumble. Fish hit a dragon screw on the outside, which threw Darby into the bottom of the barrier. Fish hit a second as we went to break. [c]

Darby reversed a suplex attempt and hit a Scorpion Death Drop. Darby was clearly favoring his injured leg but was able to hit the Code Red for a two count. Fish was outside again, and Darby quickly went to the top and nailed him with a Coffin Drop. Darby got Fish back inside but Fish hit a spear through the ropes and both wrestlers tumbled back to the outside. Fish threw Darby into the steel steps as Jericho noted how touch these two were going at it. Fish placed Darby across the apron and continued to attack his injured leg.

The two battled on the apron as Darby was able to get to his feet. Fish locked in an ankle lock, then hit a German suplex on the hard apron. Back inside, Fish perched Darby on the top rope. He went for a superplex but actually hit an avalanche falcon arrow. Darby somehow turned things around into the Last Supper pin and got the three count.

WINNER: Darby Allin in 13:30

– After the match, Fish attacked Darby, then called O’Reilly out from the back. O’Reilly appeared with a metal chair but the lights quickly went out and Sting appeared at the bottom of the ramp. O’Reilly went to hit Sting with the chair but was met with a metal bat. Sting handed Darby the chair, and Darby wrapped Fish’s leg in it, then hit a Coffin Drop off the middle rope.

(Moynahan’s Take: Great hard-hitting main event match with a fluke pin by Darby and a great return by Sting. I imagine Fish will be out of action for the next couple of weeks to properly sell the leg injury, but I can also see a proper tag team match between these two teams sooner or later.)

FINAL THOUGHTS: An enjoyable 60 minutes of wrestling, with a solid main event and a somewhat surprising women’s match, which the crowd seemed to really get behind. Surprisingly, the opener between Moxley and Dante seemed to be the one match that lacked much in the way of crowd support. That said, I can’t imagine having to follow the insane tag team ladder match from Dynamite, so I will give the crowd a pass on that one. And as far as furthering the build for Forbidden Door, I’m glad to see the tag team title match has been made official, and we did get some additional intrigue with the announcement that HOOK will be taking on a prospect from the NJPW Dojo. Until next week, stay safe everyone!