6/10 AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT: FTR & Beretta vs. United Empire, Hager vs. Kingston, Statlander vs. Velvet, Singh’s in-ring debut

AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT
JUNE 10, 2022
RECORDED AT THE CABLE DAHMER ARENA, INDEPENDENCE, MO.
AIRED ON TNT
REPORT BY PATRICK MOYNAHAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Excalibur and Taz

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 Taz.

(1) JAKE HAGER vs. EDDIE KINGSTON

Both men were in the ring as the show kicked off, and went right at it. Hager got an early upper hand and nailed Kingston with a short-arm clothesline. Hager kept Kingston on the mat early on until he threw him to the outside. Hager followed but was met with a series of chops by Kingston. Both men found their way back inside the ring, and Hager hit Kingston with a back suplex.

Kingston rolled back to the outside as Hager followed. Hager hit a snap suplex on the floor as the ref counted both men. Kingston slowly fought back and Hager continued to maintain the offensive advantage. Both men went back inside as Hager continued to focus on Kingston’s back with a series of forearm shots. Hager locked in an arm bar as the crowd began cheering Kingston back to life. Kingston rose and nailed Hager with a number of open hand strikes. Hager cut him off and dropped Kingston back to the mat.

Hager nailed Kingston with a chop across the chest which seemed to wake Kingston up. Kingston fired back with his own series of chops, then nailed Hager across the face with a kick. Kingston missed another attempt and Hager hit an over-the-head suplex. [c]

Kingston gave Hager the finger as the two continued to battle it out. Kingston poked Hager in the eyes then hit a DDT. The ref counted as both men laid on the mat. They got up at around the same time, and Kingston hit Hager with the machine gun chops in the corner. Kingston tried but failed to hit a suplex, and Hager followed up with a Hager Bomb for two. Hager went for an ankle lock but Kingston fought out of it. Kingston blocked a gut wrench attempt, and hit Hager with an exploder, then a suplex for a two count.

Hager locked in the ankle lock as Kingston tried fighting his way out of it. He finally reached the ropes for the break but Hager continued his onslaught with a number of punches to Kingston. Hager had Kingston in the corner, and climbed to the second rope to hit him with a number of right hands. Kingston turned things into a powerbomb, then hit two spinning backfists for the win.

WINNER: Eddie Kingston in 12:00

(Moynahan’s Take: A good opener, with a great finish, but it was also a bit slow in spots. The crowd also seemed a bit subdued, but that is most likely due to sticking around after Dynamite.)

– Tony Schiavone was backstage with Britt Baker, Rebel, and Jamie Hayter. Baker said she was distracted by Toni Storm on Dynamite who dared touch her Owen Hart Tournament championship. Baker said it was bold of Storm to skip her and try and go right to the top and challenge for the Women’s World Title. She added that if anyone is going to challenge for that title it would be her. [c]
– A promo aired hyping the upcoming Hair vs. Hair match between Ortiz and Jericho on this week’s Dynamite Road Rager. Ortiz spoke about the match as clips of their feud were shown.

(2) JAY LETHAL & SUTNAM SINGH (w/Sonjay Dutt) vs. MAT FITCHETT & DAVEY VEGA

This was Singh’s in-ring debut. Lethal started things off but quickly tagged in Singh who brushed off Fitchett then laid in a huge chop to the chest. Vega came in to assist but Singh took both opponents out. Lethal tagged in and hit a double Lethal Injection as Singh held both men up for him. Lethal covered for the win.

WINNERS: Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh in 1:00

– After the match, Lethal and Singh continued their attack on Fitchett and Vega.

(Moynahan’s Take: Exactly what you would imagine this would be, a feature squash for Singh’s debut.)

– Lexy Nair was backstage looking for HOOK and Danhausen just as Danhausen appeared on a golf cart. He said it has been great tagging together, and noted they both went shopping for new rides together. As Nair asked where HOOK was. Danhausen drove off as HOOK appeared with his own suped up cart.

(3) RED VELVET (w/Stokely Hathaway & Jade Cargill & Kiera Hogan) vs. KRIS STATLANDER

Red Velvet tried attacking Statlander outside befor the bell but Statlander caught her with a powerslam, then slammed her across the apron. The match officially started as Statlander continued her onslaught on Velvet, who bailed to the outside. Statlander followed and hit Velvet with a stiff punch to the face. Velvet climbed on Statlander’s back but Statlander just walked up the steps and climbed to the top rope. Statlander threw Velvet inside the ring but missed a cross body off the top.

Statlander caught Velvet and went for a delayed vertical suplex but Velvet got out of hit and hit a chop block to take out Statlander. [c]

Velvet and Statlander were going toe-to-toe in the middle of the ring until Statlander hit a backbreaker, then threw Velvet into the corner. Statlander hit a blue thunder bomb for two as Hogan and Cargill looked on. Statlander had Velvet on her shoulders but Velvet reversed into a victory roll. Statlander reversed into a pin attempt of her own, then hit Velvet with a German suplex. Statlander planted Velvet with a powerbomb for two.

Velvet hit Statlander with double knees to the back as she was draped across the ropes. Velvet hit a cutter off the ropes, then hit Just Desserts for a close two count. Statlander caught Velvet in the Friday Night Fever for the win.

WINNER: Kris Statlander in 9:30

– After the match Hogan attacked Statlander and sent her to the outside for Cargill to nail her with a pimp kick. Anna Jay ran to the ring to take out Hogan with the Queen Slayer. Velvet took Jay out from behind. Athena’s music hit and she came out to even the odds, but she was held back by a number of officials.

(Moynahan’s Take: A very good match, and the crowd seemed to agree, as they were much more into this match than the opener, which isn’t something I would’ve expected. That said, the fans are really into Stantander as of late, which is something Excalibur made sure to call out. Here’s hoping Statlander dethrones Cargill for the TBS Title, but it looks like Athena will be first up to face Cargill.)

– Wednesday’s match between Ethan Page and Miro in the new AEW All Atlantic Championship Tournament was featured. Lexy Nair was then shown backstage with Men of the Year and Dan Lambert. Page questioned Miro’s recent return and said he looks up to himself, not a God like Miro. Page told Miro that “next Wednesday, you pray to me.”

– Mark Henry was backstage on split screen with all six men from tonight’s main event. Ospreay introduced each member of his team. Trent said he never thought he’d see him in AEW, and added that he never liked him. FTR said they were the best tag team today and talked about their recent attack by the hands of Aussie Open on Dynamite. Henry announced that it was “time for the main event.”

– Excalibur ran down this week’s Dynamite Road Rager card.

(4) FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) & TRENT BERETTA vs. UNITED EMPIRE (Will Ospreay & Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis w/Aaron Henare)

Ospreay kicked things off against Dax. Ospreay went right at Dax as the two fought on the mat. The crowd was fired up for this one as the two locked up again. The two traded chops until Dax tagged in Cash. Cash took Ospreay down with a shoulder block, but Ospreay popped right back up. Ospreay took Cash down with a messy takeover but played it off well enough. Fletcher tagged in but Cash took him down right from the jump.

Davis tagged in next as Aussie Open got the upper hand over Cash. Cash made his way to his corner to tag in Trent. Davis went for a Samoan drop but Trent reversed it into a pin attempt. Ospreay tagged back in and nailed Trent in the corner with a stiff chop to the chest. Trent fired back with a DDT. all six men hit the ring. Trent flew off the ropes onto Ospreay on the outside. Trent looked to have tweaked something in his ankle as he threw Ospreay back into the ring. [c]

Back from commercial break, Ospreay was back body dropped by Trent. Ospreay tagged in Fletcher as Trent hit him with an enziguri. Davis tagged in, and hit Trent with a senton to cut him off from making the tag. Fletcher tagged back in and continued to cut Trent off from his side of the ring. Fletcher missed a charge into the corner as Trent moved. Trent slowly made his way to his corner and tagged in Dax who took it to Fletcher and Davis with a series of rights and lefts. Ospreay came in and was caught by Dax as well. Dax his Aussie Open with a few snap suplexes as he continued to take out all three men.

Dax hit a series of German suplexes on Fletcher, then tagged in Cash. FTR double teamed Fletcher but Fletcher was able to kick out of their German suplex/pin combo. Cash went for a piledriver but Fletcher reversed. He took out Dax on the apron as Ospreay came in. The match broke down from here as Aussie Open and Ospreay double teamed Cash. Ospreay cme off the ropes with a springboard 450 splash. Trent broke up the follow up pin attempt. Dax was taken out with superkicks as Ospreay hit the Oscutter on Cash for a two count.

Dax tagged in Trent, who hit Fletcher with a suplex. Ospreay tagged in and took out FTR by flying over the top rope with a cross body. Fletcher tried a roll up attempt on Trent for two. Trent hit Strong Zero on Fletcher for the win.

WINNERS: FTR & Trent Beretta in 15:00

(Moynahan’s Take: A great main event that you should go out of your way to see. Just seeing Will Ospreay in an AEW ring is reason enough, and here’s hoping this is just the first of many. It was also great seeing FTR and Aussie Open in action, as that seems to have recently vaulted to dream match status.)

FINAL THOUGHTS: A solid 60-minute episode, with the main event taking the easy match of the night honors. And as mentioned, just seeing Will Ospreay in an AEW ring is something else, and I’m hopeful he’ll be featured in a prominent match at Forbidden Door. I think the biggest surprise for me tonight, in a positive way, was the crowd reaction to Kris Statlander, who continues to shine as a strong babyface. She needs to take that TBS Title away from Cargill sooner than later and get that big moment. Until next week, stay safe everyone!