AEW RAMPAGE RESULTS (11/8): Komander vs. Lio Rush, Undisputed Kingdom vs. Dark Order vs. Infantry, Hikaru Shida vs. Viv a Van, Top Flight vs. J.D. Drake & Beef

AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT
NOVEMBER 8, 2024
RECORDED AT THE SNHU ARENA IN MANCHESTER, NH
AIRED ON TNT
REPORT BY PATRICK MOYNAHAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Matt Menard

Ring announcer: Justin Roberts

(1) HIKARU SHIDA vs. VIVA VAN

Commentary hyped up Shida’s volume of wins over her span in AEW. This win would take her to 80 total. Both women traded holds in the early going until Shida caught Van and dropped her to the mat. Shida followed up by hitting a running knee strike as Van was laid out across the apron. Van fired back with a rolling kick and a cover for two. Van had Shida on the mat, face-first, as she taunted her. Shida fought her way to her feet as the two traded blows.

Shida hit a dropkick off the middle rope to drop Van. She followed up with a bulldog, then a running knee strike for a close count. Shida countered a springboard off the ropes into a pin attempt. Shida rolled Van up in another pin attempt before hitting the falcon arrow for the win.

WINNER: Hikaru Shida in 5:30

(Moynahan’s Take: A fine showing for Shida, who seems to have disappeared from TV as of late. It’s nice that AEW continues to hype her on commentary but it feels like we’re reliving past glory with Shida rather than building her for something new.)

– Renee was backstage with Harley Cameron and said it’s been quite a few weeks, then months, and finally a year for Cameron. Cameron then quickly recounted her year-long storylines, which sound fairly ridiculous when you take them all in at once. Cameron was about to talk about her next steps as Renee told her they were out of time.

(2) UNDISPUTED KINGDOM (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. DARK ORDER (John Silver & Alex Reynolds) vs. THE INFANTRY (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean)

The Infantry attacked Undisputed Kingdom before the bell, then went toe-to-toe with the Dark Order. Reynolds was still bandaged up from the attack he suffered from Death Riders a few weeks back. Taven tagged in and nailed Bravo with a dropkick before tagging in Bennett. Bennett went for a quick cover for one. Bravo rammed Bennett into his corner and was able to make the tag to Dean. The Infantry double teamed Bennett who was draped across the apron. Bravo threw Bennett back into the ring to continue the onslaught with a snap suplex. [c]

Dean whipped Bennett into the corner, then hit him with a running splash. Bravo came in and went for a half-handed cover for two. Bennett was close to making a tag to Taven but Bravo cut things off. Bennett hit Bravo with a spinebuster and tagged in Silver since Taven was previously knocked off the apron. Silver dropped Bravo then hit an elbow strike on Dean in the corner. Silver followed up with a back cracker for two. Silver fell into the corner to allow Taven to tag in.

He took down Reynolds before hitting a middle rope moonsault to the outside. Things broke down from here as all teams hit the ring before Dark Order singled out Taven. Reynolds had Taven one-on-one until Bennett hit the ring and Undisputed Kingdom hit their finish on Reynolds for the win.

WINNERS: Undisputed Kingdom in 9:30

– After the match, Brian Cage and Lance Archer hit the ring to attack the Undisputed Kingdom. Archer dropped Taven with the Blackout before Cage and Archer hit their finish on Bennett.

(Moynahan’s Take: This was fine. The infantry were given a strong look here, and played the primary heels; confusing since all three of these teams were heels not too long ago. I like the post-match beatdown by the dominant Archer and Cage team. Let’s hope they have something cooking for these two.)

– Lexy was backstage with Roderick Strong, who asked him to react to what he just saw. Strong said he wasn’t surprised that MJF hired Don Callis to do his dirty work. Jake Roberts walked in and told Strong to lay off the Beast Mortos. Roberts said Mortos needed to be focused and be the killer that he is. Strong said Mortos was his boy but that if Roberts wanted him to be the killer he is, Strong would face Mortos on tomorrow’s Collision. [c]

– A video package featuring The Vendetta, Taya Valkyrie and Deonna Purrazzo. They were walking around what looked like the Italian Market in Philadelphia and said they were open for business. This definitely had some mobster vibes.

(3) TOP FLIGHT (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) vs. J.D. DRAKE & BEEF

Beef and Darius started things off as Dante made the early tag. Private Party was shown looking on from the back. Beef nailed Dante with a dropkick which seemed to rile up Daddy Magic on commentary. Drake made the tag and Dante leaped off of his back before taking him down with a headscissors. Top Flight worked together to nail Drake with a suplex. [c]

Dante nailed Drake with a series of elbow shots and a follow up cannonball splash of the ropes. Dante jumped over Drake to evade a move, but was caught with a stiff clothesline. Drake and Beef double teamed Dante with a crossbody off the ropes, then a spinebuster. Darius was able to hit the ring and make the save. Beef missed a move off the ropes which allowed Top Flight to hit a double team move for the win.

WINNERS: Top Flight in 9:00

(Moynahan’s Take: Another fine match, and this Beef and Drake team are fun to watch, mainly because they don’t look like most anyone else in the tag division. Not sure Tony Khan has any interest in doing anything with them, but it wouldn’t be a bad change of pace to push them a bit stronger.)

– Lio Rush made his way to the ring for the main event. [c]

(4) KOMANDER (w/Alex Abrahantes) vs. LIO RUSH

The two shook hands before the match, unlike last week. The two unsurprisingly used their speed in the early going, while going for quick pin attempts. Rush bailed to the outside to slow down the pace. Rush got into the ring, but declined to shake hands this time. He slapped Komander across the face. Rush hit Komander with a clothesline from behind, then another across the face. Komander rammed Rush into the corner and tried to go to the ropes but Rush cut him off. Komander went to the outside as Rush hit a bottom rope moonsault. [c]

Komander kicked Rush across the back of the neck just as Rush went for a handspring. Komander dropped Rush then went for a cover for two. Rush caught Komander’s foot but got a kick across the face for his troubles. Komander went to the ropes but came down after Rush moved to the apron. Komander tried for a backstabber but Rush held the ropes. Komander was knocked to the floor which allowed Rush to hit a tope through the ropes. Back inside the ring, Rush hit a blue thunder bomb for two.

Rush looked frustrated as he went to the top. Komander rolled away so Rush followed and dropped him with an F-5 type move. Rush covered for yet another close count, which frustrated Rush again. Rush went back to the top rope. He missed a frog splash but quickly charged at Komander who threw him into the turnbuckle. Komander hit a top rope moonsault for two.

Komander went for his rope-walk shooting star press but Rush moved in time. Rush hit the spinning kick, then the springboard stunner. He then came off the top rope with a frog splash for the win.

WINNER: Lio Rush in 12:00

(Moynahan’s Take: Another great main event between these two in back-to-back weeks. The sad part is how Komander’s win from last week is forgotten, unless this feud goes further? I hope this potential Rush heel turn goes somewhere; perhaps via an alignment with MVP?)

FINAL THOUGHTS: Your typical Rampage; a mix of good to great average wrestling but nothing you need to go out of your way to see. Tomorrow’s Collision looks packed from a match count perspective, which was hyped up nicely throughout tonight’s show. Will we see a Lio Rush vs Komander 3 next week? Until then – stay safe everyone!