SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT
SEPTEMBER 15, 2023
RECORDED AT THE HERITAGE BANK CENTER IN CINCINNATI, OH
AIRED ON TNT
REPORT BY PATRICK MOYNAHAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Excalibur, Chris Jericho, and Tony Schiavone
Ring announcer: Justin Roberts
– The opening of Rampage aired as Excalibur welcomed us to the show. He was joined by Chris Jericho and Tony Schiavone.
(1) THE LUCHA BROS. (w/Alex Abrantes) & THE HARDYS vs. JEFF JARRETT & JAY LETHAL (w/Sonjay Dutt & Karen Jarrett & Satnam Singh) & THE BUTCHER & THE BLADE
Penta and Jarrett kicked things off. Jarrett kicked Penta with a cheap shot but was caught with a thrust kick. Lethal tagged in and attacked Penta from behind. Fenix flew into the ring with a missile dropkick on Lethal. Butcher tagged in as the Lucha Bros. hit him with a double superkick. Jeff Hardy was in next as he continued to work away on Butcher. Matt came in, but quickly tagged back out to Jeff as the two focused on the Butcher’s arm.
The Hardy’s took down Butcher, then Blade, then Lethal in succession. Jarrett took advantage by attacking Matt from behind which gave Butcher a window to go on the attack as the legal man for his team. Lethal tagged in and rammed Matt spine-first into the corner a few times. Jarrett came in and hit a leg sweep on Matt before tagging out to Blade. Hardy had the ring completely cut off from him. [c]
Matt and Blade hit a double clothesline as they both fell to the mat. Matt finally made a diving tag to Fenix who went to work on Blade with a spinning kick to the face, then a flying cutter. Jarrett and Lethal came in and Fenix walked the top rope and kicked them both across the face. Penta flew over the top and took out three of the four opponents as Blade yanked Fenix out of the ring on the other side.
Alex Abrahantes and Sonjay got onto the apron. Alex knocked Sonjay off then flew onto Singh who caught him in mid air. Fenix hit a twisting dive off the turnbuckle, then went toe-to-toe with Blade inside the ring. Fenix hit a sit down tombstone for the win.
WINNERS: The Lucha Bros. & The Hardys in 10:00
(Moynahan’s Take: I couldn’t get into this one. Between the annoying Jarrett clan and the dark cave this episode seems to be taking place in, not a good opener.)
– After the match, The Righteous hit the ramp and stood over the Hardys who were taken out by Singh after the match.
– Britt Baker was interviewed by Renee backstage. Baker was asked what her next steps were. Baker said a lot of things haven’t gone as planned for her as of late and she should be the Women’s Champion. Baker said she would make history and be the first to hold both the Women’s title and the TBS title. She called out the winner of tonight’s TBS title match and challenged them to the main event of tomorrow’s Collision. [c]
– A new episode of QTV aired. The QTV crew was still waiting for QTV to come back.
(Moynahan’s Take: The less said the better.)
(2) THE KINGDOM (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & MATT SYDAL
Bennett and Daniels started things off, with the two trading headlocks. Bennett hit Daniels with a stiff forearm before knocking him to the mat. Bennett laid in a chop to the chest of Daniels but was taken down with a drop toe hold as Daniels tagged in Sydal. Sydal and Daniels double teamed Bennett before he was able to tag in Taven. Sydal took Taven down with a headscissors as Daniels came in and helped Sydal double team Taven. [c]
Taven dropped Sydal to the mat with a Blue Thunder Bomb for two after Daniels broke up the pin. Taven kicked Daniels across the chest but missed a follow up moonsault. Sydal and Daniels double teamed Taven which led to a Daniels pin attempt for two. Bennett caught Sydal with a DVD, then faced off with Daniels. Kingdom set Daniels up on the top rope and hit their finish for the win.
WINNERS: The Kingdom in 8:00
(Moynahan’s Take: Daniels and Sydal worked well here, but the outcome was never in doubt. If anything, this should have been a much quicker victory for The Kingdom, who need to give fans more of a reason to care about them.)
– Renee was backstage with Mogul Embassy members. Prince Nana and Brian Cage were all worked up from their showdown with The Young Bucks on this week’s Dynamite. Swerve took the mic and said Hangman ran back to the Elite, just as he suspected. Swerve then suggested that Page and the Bucks faced off against Cage and the Gates of Agony at Dynamite Grand Slam.
(3) THE ACCLAIMED (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) & BILLY GUNN vs. PETER AVALON & THE OUTRUNNERS
Gunn started things off with Turbo Floyd. Avalon came in soon after but had no luck against Gunn. Bowens made the tag and picked right up where Gunn left off until Avalon hit him with a dropkick. Bowens fired right back with a thrust kick that took Avalon down. The Ourunners were taken out, which left Avalon all alone. Gunn held Avalon’s legs for Bowens, who hit Scissor Me Timbers. Gunn followed up with the Fameasser as Caster finished things off with the Mic Drop for the win.
WINNERS: The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn in 3:00
– After the match, Dark Order came out to the ramp. Silver had the mic and called The Acclaimed pathetic liars. Silver said they were aiming for the Trios Titles. Bowens asked them why they deserved a shot. Evil Uno said they’ve been grinding for four years and were tired of good things happening to bad people. Uno suggested one of their team faced one of The Acclaimed on tomorrow’s Collision. Gunn suggested a rock, paper, scissors game to determine who should wrestle from their side. They all kept throwing scissors so nobody won. Bowens finally offered himself up and the match was set.
(Moynahan’s Take: YOUR RAMPAGE SQUASH OF THE WEEK. The post-match angle was better than anything that happened during the match itself.)
(4) AUSSIE OPEN (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) vs. DAMIAN CHAMBERS & LORD CREWE
Davis immediately attacked Crewe as Fletcher took it to Chambers.Aussie Open hit their opponents with double lariats before hitting their finish on each man. Fletcher covered for the win.
WINNERS: Aussie Open in 1:00
(Moynahan’s Take: YOUR SECOND RAMPAGE SQUASH OF THE WEEK.)
– Excalibur ran down the card for tomorrow’s Collision. Evil Uno was announced as Anthony Bowen’s opponent. The Hardys vs. The Righteous and Andrade vs. Scorpio Sky was also announced. Next week’s Grand Slam Rampage will also be two hours and will include Luchasaurus and Christian Cage vs. Darby Allin and Sting.
(5) KRIS STATLANDER vs. JADE CARGILL (w/Mark Sterling) – TBS Championship
Both women locked up before ending in a stalemate. They tried it once more as Cargill nailed Statlander with a knee to the midsection. Baker was shown watching from backstage. Statlander and Cargill hit one another with clotheslines which neither woman looked rattled by, Statlander slammed Cargill to the mat but missed a knee strike follow up. Both went to the outside, and Statlander dove toward Cargill who caught her and slammed Statlander across the apron. [c]
Statlander attempted a suplex but Cargill blocked it and hit a delayed version of her own. Baker was shown again watching from the back. Both women laid on the mat as the crowd chanted “this is awesome.” They both nipped up at the exact same time, then battled back-and-forth as Statlander got the upper hand with a number of forearm shots. Statlander hit an uppercut, then a running knee strike.
Statlander hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a close count. Statlander dragged Cargill toward the corner as Sterling got onto the apron. Statlander walked over to Sterling as Cargill went to hit Statlander. Statlander moved and ended up knocking Sterling off. Cargill and Statlander traded close counts as Jericho called this Cargill’s best match to date. Statlander rammed Cargill into the corner, then hit a spinning clothesline, a scissor kick, then a tombstone for the win.
WINNER: Kris Statlander in 10:00
– After the match, Cargill and Statlander embraced in the middle of the ring.
(Moynahan’s Take: Solid main event, which got good reviews from those in attendance. I think the commercial break took away from the full experience but the second half picked up nicely. As was reported earlier this week, this very well could be Cargill’s final match and appearance in AEW for the foreseeable future. It sure looked that way after the match.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: As noted earlier this show looked like it could have happened during the pandemic era with the lack of fans and darkened arena; sad to see. That aside, the main event is worth checking out for both the in-ring action as well as it likely being Cargill’s last AEW appearance. Until next week, stay safe everyone!
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