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AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT
JULY 26, 2024
RECORDED AT THE BRIDGESTONE ARENA CITY IN NASHVILLE, TN
AIRED ON TNT
REPORT BY PATRICK MOYNAHAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Matt Menard
Ring announcer: Justin Roberts
– The opening of Rampage aired as Excalibur welcomed us to the show. He was joined by Tony Schiavone and Matt Menard.
(1) ROYAL RAMPAGE – Winner Earns AEW World Title Shot at Dynamite Grand Slam
Participants included Orange Cassidy, Brody King, Komander, Brian Cage, Tomohiro Ishii, The Butcher, Roderick Strong, Matt Menard, Brandon Cutler, Kyle O’Reilly, Jeff Jarrett, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Jay Lethal, Kip Sabian, Lio Rush, Darby Allin, The Beast Mortos, and Claudio Castagnoli.
The first four participants were Orange Cassidy and Brody King in one ring, and Claudio and Komander in the other. Cassidy and Komander each walked the top rope and took down their respective man. Ishii was out next as Claudio was nearly eliminated. Ishii entered Cassidy and King’s ring and immediately faced off with King. In the other ring, Komander had Claudio close to being eliminated as the next entrant came out. Brian Cage made his way to the second ring and quickly went at it with Claudio.
Cage caught Komander off the ropes and slammed him hard to the mat. Butcher was next and entered ring number one. Butcher and King sandwiched Cassidy then turned their sights on one another. Matt Menard entered next, as he left the commentary table to a nice reaction. Menard was a house of fire as he took it to Claudio and Cage. Roderick Strong entered next and immediately went after Cassidy and Ishii. Butcher and Strong teamed up in the first ring as Kip Sabian was next to enter.
Sabian did well to dominate the second ring until Cage caught and slammed him to the mat. Brandon Cutler was out next. He had a mic as he made his way to the ring. Cutler said he would make the Young Bucks proud and win the match. The second he entered the ring, he was immediately eliminated by Ishii. Nick Wayne was out next and entered the second ring. Wayne and Sabian went at it as Cage eliminated Menard from the same ring. Kyle O’Reilly was next. He entered the first ring and went right after Strong. O’Reilly then turned his attention to Butcher as the two traded blows. Jeff Jarrett was next and he came out to a noticeably loud reaction in his hometown. Jarrett nailed everyone in the second ring. [c]
Butcher was dumped out by King as everyone then ganged up on King from behind. Matt Taven was out next, and he quickly hit Cassidy with a DDT. Wayne eliminated Komander from the second ring as Jay Lethal made his way out next. Lethal and Wayne went right at one another. Sabian tossed out Wayne as Christian Cage was shown backstage telling Killswitch it was all his fault. Mike Bennett was next and entered the first ring. Bennett and Ishii traded chops in the middle of the ring until Strong helped his teammate double team Ishii. The Beast Mortos was next.
Jarrett attacked Mortos from behind to take him down. Jarrett and Lethal then double teamed Sabian to eliminate him. Darby Allin was next to a huge pop. He immediately faced off with King in ring one, the same man who eliminated him to win the first Royal Rampage. King took Darby to the outside and threw him into the surrounding barriers. The final entrant was Lio Rush who entered ring two. King and Darby were shown fighting in the stands; neither were eliminated. [c]
Mortos was eliminated by Rush in ring two. Ishii and Bennett were quickly dumped in the first ring. Cassidy was out next and grabbed his knee on the way out. O’Reilly was out next as eliminations came fast and furious. Rush hit Claudio with a springboard stunner in ring two but got caught during a follow up move. He and Claudio fought on the apron until Claudio swung him off and onto the floor. Lethal tried to dump out Claudio who was able to stay in and eliminate Lethal. Claudio, Cage, and Jarrett were left in one ring as Darby and King were left in the other.
Darby was able to knock King out of ring one as Jarrett took down Cage in ring two. Jarrett nailed Cage with a series of shots in the corner until Hangman Page hit the ring and attacked Jarrett from behind. Cage picked up Jarrett and threw him out. [c]
Claudio and Cage were left in the second ring as Darby waited in ring one. Claudio had Cage on the apron as he hit him with a number of shots. Claudio joined Cage on the apron and eliminated him via a neutralizer. Darby and Claudio were the final two. Darby jumped on Claudio who picked him up and threw him from one ring into the other. Darby rolled to the floor as Claudio followed. Claudio shifted the metal steps closer to Darby, and swung him right into the steps.
Claudio threw Darby back into the ring and hit him with a German suplex. The crowd chanted Darby’s name as things looked bleak. Darby ducked a charge by Claudio which sent him to the apron. Darby was pulled out with him as the two traded blows. Claudio had the advantage until Darby bit Claudio’s arm and pulled him into the turnbuckle. Claudio was draped across the top rope and Darby hit a Coffin Drop on him to eliminate Claudio and win.
WINNER: Darby Allin in 40:00
(Moynahan’s Take: Super fun match that could have easily taken up the entire show. A good winner in Darby who was clearly the crowd favorite, outside perhaps the local guy in Jarrett. This yearly tradition is a highlight for Rampage, and is a shame most likely have never seen one.)
– Highlights aired from Dynamite of Krist Statlander attacking Willow Nightingale. Willow was shown backstage and accepted Statlander’s challenge for this week’s Dynamite.
(2) KRIS STATLANDER (w/Stokely Hathaway) vs. LEILA GREY
Statlander nailed Grey with a kick then slammed her back to the mat. Statlander hit her finish, Friday Night Fever, for the quick win.
WINNER: Kris Statlander in 0:30
(Moynahan’s Take: YOUR RAMPAGE SQUASH OF THE WEEK!)
(3) LANCE ARCHER vs. ALEJANDRO
Archer carried his opponent to the ring as he was being introduced. The bell rang and Archer immediately hit Alejandro with a spinebuster before hitting a chokeslam. He hit a second after the crowd requested it, then perched Alejandro on the turnbuckle. Archer hit Blackout for the win.
WINNER: Lance Archer in 0:30
(Moynahan’s Take: YOUR SECOND RAMPAGE SQUASH OF THE WEEK!)
– Saraya and Harley Cameron cut a promo backstage.
(4) THE OUTRUNNERS (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) vs. PRIVATE PARTY (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. THE RIGHTEOUS (Dutch & Vincent) vs. KYLE FLETCHER & RUSH
The match was already underway as we were brought back to ringside. Don Callis joined commentary for this match. The Outrunners double teamed Vincent. Kassidy got caught by Dutch and slammed to the mat as Vincent helped him with a double team. The Righteous continued their double team as Fletcher and Rush looked on. [c]
Private Party took the advantage during the commercial break. Kassidy hit a stunner off the ropes on Dutch who was then draped across the middle rope. Quen came off the top and hit a 450 on Dutch. Floyd stunned Quen across the top rope until Fletcher hit the ring and took it to both Outrunners. Fletcher & Rush and double teamed The Outrunners to take over the match.
Rush went to the outside and nailed Kassidy with a stiff right hand. Inside the ring, Fletcher hit a tombstone for the win.
WINNERS: Kyle Fletcher & Rush in 7:00
(Moynahan’s Take: Completely meh main event that was simply filler and meant nothing. The Don Callis Family deserves so much more than to be cast aside onto Rampage.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: Clearly a one-match show. AEW should have just stuck with Royal Rampage and stretched it out just a bit more as there was no need to fill another 20 minutes with garbage matches. Why waste viewers time both at home and the arena when you have a strong match type that is unique to your C show? Just stick with what works instead of strong-arming more wrestling for content sake. I digress. Go out of your way to watch the Royal Rampage but skip everything else. Until next week – stay safe everyone!
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