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AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT
OCTOBER 14, 2022
RECORDED AT COCA-COLA COLISEUM
AIRED ON TNT
REPORT BY PATRICK MOYNAHAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Chris Jericho, and Jim Ross
Ring Announcer: Dasha Gonzalez
– The opening of Rampage aired, and JR welcomed us to the show. Ross was joined by Excalibur, and Tony Schiavone.
(1) BLACKPOOL COMBAT CLUB (Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli) vs. THE BUTCHER & THE BLADE (w/the Bunny)
William Regal joined commentary for this match. All four men went at it right from the bell, then battled to the outside. Blade was thrown over the announced table by Moxley. The commentary team questioned whether it was wise for Moxley to have this match so close to his World Title defense against Hangman Page on next week’s Dynamite.
Moxley hit Blade inside the ring with a German suplex, then tagged in Claudio. Page was shown backstage looking on. Claudio nailed Blade with a huge uppercut. Butcher made the tag and immediately took Claudio to the mat, then hit him with a running knee. Claudio blocked a suplex attempt, then hit one of his own on Butcher.
Blade tagged back in and Claudio immediately took him to the corner with running supercuts. The Bunny jumped in to cut Claudio off, which allowed Butcher to attack him from behind. [c]
Blade continued to control Claudio when we came back from the commercial. Butcher assisted Blade by taking out Moxley on the apron. Butcher and Blade hit a double team move on Claudio, then went for a cover but only managed two. Claudio caught Butcher with an uppercut and a lariat to even the odds. Claudio made his way toward Moxley and finally made the tag.
Moxley took Blade out with a cutter, then hit a tope onto Butcher on the outside. Moxley perched Blade on the top rope and raked his back before hitting a superplex. Moxley hit a nasty looking piledriver and Blade kicked out of the pin attempt. Butcher came in to assist Blade as the two double teamed Moxley. Claudio cut them off and saved Moxley. All four men faced off in the center of the ring as the crowd popped. BCC hit a pair of clotheslines to take down Butcher and Blade. The two then hammered away with a series of kicks to the face. Moxley and Claudio each hit their finish and picked up the win.
WINNERS: The BCC in 8:00
(Moynahan’s Take: Great way to kick off the show. It was fun watching Moxley and Claudio team up, and this served as a good tune up match for Moxley before he faces Page next week.)
– Moxley and Claudio took the mic after the match and said they didn’t care who they fought. Claudio said Page would get stepped on if he didn’t step up in his match against Moxley next week.
– Renee was backstage with Swerve and Keith Lee. Renee asked Swerve what was next after his recent win against Billy Gunn. Serve said they wanted to go after the tag titles again, then started laughing when thinking about Mark Sterling taking the rights to ‘Scissor Me.’ Lee chimed in and made it clear he wasn’t happy with how Swerve has been acting.
– Renee was backstage with Dark Order and asked how they would come back together after another tough loss. Jose the Assistant cut in and tried speaking with 10. 10 said he’d face Rush next week and said they’d have to leave him alone for good after he won. Dark Order then put their hands together and another hand suddenly appeared. It was Stu Grayson who said he wouldn’t miss showing up in Canada.
– Chris Jericho and JAS appeared in the ring. Parker and Menard spoke first and said the family was back together. Menard asked the crowd if they wanted to know what makes his nipples hard. He said it was because the JAS would be together forever, forever, forever. Anna Jay then spoke and introduced Daniel Garcia. The crowd was definitely chanting for JAS and Garcia specifically. Garcia said everyone was asking why he did what he did by attacking Bryan Danielson last week. Garcia started explaining himself as the crowd chanted “you’re a wrestler.” He said he’d never be a pro wrestler and while he still says Danielson is his hero, he said Jericho taught him how to win. He said he realized Sports Entertainers beat Pro Wrestlers every single time. Garcia said his name is Daniel Garcia, and he is a Sports Entertainer. Jericho said he was the greatest ROH Champion ever and he will continue to beat all ROH champs that have ever existed.
Dalton Castle’s music hit as he made his way to the ramp. Castle was noted as a former ROH champion. Castle called Jericho a silly little goose and it made him sick to see Jericho as ROH champ. Castle said he broke his back for that title, and he’s willing to break Jericho’s in order to give the fans a champion they can be proud of. Castle challenged Jericho to a ROH title shot on next week’s Dynamite. Jericho accepted.
(Moynahan’s Take: Very good segment with some clear explanation from Garcia and a surprising match set up between Jericho and Castle of all people.)
– A video hyping the Women’s World Title match between Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida aired.
(2) NYLA ROSE vs. ANNA JAY A.S.
Jay hit an elbow strike but Rose came right back with a takedown to the mat. The two traded blows until Jay got caught with a scoop slam. Rose hit a second slam, then a leg drop. Rose covered for a two count. Rose splashed Jay in the corner, then went for a cannonball but missed. [c]
Rose hit a big knee lift, then climbed to the top. She missed a knee drop off the top as Jay moved. Jay hit a flipping neckbreaker and covered for two. Jay hit Rose with a boot to the face but got caught coming off the middle rope. Rose hit Beast Bomb for the win.
WINNER: Nyla Rose in 7:00
– After the match, Vickie Guerrero mocked Jade Cargill by holding up a 1-0 sign. Cargill’s music hit as she entered with the Baddies. The Baddies were held back by security but Jade took them out one by one. As Cargill was taking out security, Vickie and Rose scampered away with the TBS title.
(Moynahan’s Take: An okay match, which was negatively affected by a long commercial break and a quiet crowd. The post-match saved this segment a bit for me.)
– Daivari and Sonny Kiss were shown backstage talking about Hook. Daivari challenged Hook to an FTW title match on next week’s Rampage.
(3) Isiah Kassidy (w/Marq Quen & Matt Hardy) vs. Ethan Page
Page immediately took Kassidy down with a pump kick as the bell rang. Page continued the onslaught as Matt Hardy and Marq Quen looked on. Kassidy hit a cradle roll up for a close count, then hit a swinging DDT for another close count. Page bailed to the outside as Kassidy flipped over the top onto Page. Page hit Ego’s Edge for the win.
WINNER: Ethan Page in 2:30
(Moynahan’s Take: Hardy and Quen looked dejected after the match after realizing they had to join The Firm. Meh, I feel like variations of this same storyline have now been going on for two years or more.)
– Best Friends were backstage and challenged Death Triangle for the Trios Titles on this week’s Dynamite.
– Mark Henry was backstage with participants from tonight’s main event. He said Prince Nana and his team get the Top Guys and Canada’s own tonight. Nana began singing “Ebony & Ivory” as Spears cut him off. FTR ended by saying Pinnacle was always forever. Henry announced that it was “time for the main event.”
(4) SHAWN SPEARS & FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. THE EMBASSY (Brian Cage & Kaun & Toa Liona) (w/Prince Nana)
Spears entered doing his Perfect 10 gimmick. Excalibur mentioned that it’d been nearly 150 days since Spears wrestled in AEW. Cage and Spears started things off but Cage quickly tagged out to Kaun. Spears worked Kaun into a standing submission, then took him down with a takeover. Spears hit Liona with a dropkick from the apron, then took Liona and Cage out on the outside. [c]
Spears was still the legal man for his team as The Embassy continued having their way with him. Cage hit him with a suplex off the apron side of the ropes into the ring. Cage went for a move but Spears reversed mid-move and took Cage down. Kaun stopped Spears from making the hot tag, but Spears was able to tag in Dax on a second attempt. Dax hit Kaun with a spinebuster.
Cage hit the ring and took out Cash on the apron, then Dax inside the ring. Kaun picked Dax up and tagged in Cage who flew off the top with an elbow drop. Spears broke up a pin attempt. Liona charged the ring but Spears sent him to the outside, Cage then dropped Spears with a suplex. Kaun tagged in and tried suplexing Dax but Cash saved him. FTR locked in double sharpshooters as Spears locked in one on Prince Nana. Liona hit the ring and took out FTR.
Liona slammed Dax to the mat then went to the outside. He missed a follow up charge and rammed into the steps. Spears hit Cage with a DDT on the mat. Dax hit a sunset flip but Kaun reversed it and held the ropes for a pin attempt. Cash broke it up and FTR and Spears triple teamed Kaun for the win
WINNERS: Shawn Spears & FTR in 11:00
– After the match, Maria Kanellis, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett hit the ramp. Maria said FTR called themselves Top Guys but they never faced Taven and Bennett. She said the titles FTR now originally belonged to them. She said Taven and Bennett were known as The Kingdom. The Embassy attacked FTR and Spears from behind as The Kingdom hit the ring and helped in on the attack. Samoa Joe’s music hit as he and Wardlow hit the ring to even the odds.
FINAL THOUGHTS: A solid episode of Rampage with a hot crowd. Go out of your way to watch the opener and main event, as well as the JAS segment. That aside, I still can’t get over why we keep seeing so many ROH-focused angles and talent. It’s one thing to showcase ROH with Jericho as champion, which makes for a good storyline. If this isn’t clearly building to an ROH TV show, or even a PPV in the next month or so, where is this going? Time will tell.
CATCH-UP: 10/7 AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT: BCC vs. Rush & Private Party, Trios title match, more
I enjoyed seeing Mox in the ring with The Blade (Pepper Parks). Takes me back to the HWA from 2005! I’d love to see Butcher Blade and Bunny in the BCC.