AEW Rampage comes to us tonight, taped from the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Titles, tournament matches, and more scheduled for the show. Let’s take a look:
- Lance Archer vs. Serpentico
- Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia
- Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Qualifying Match: Adam Cole vs. Tomohiro Ishii
- AEW TBS Title Match: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Marina Shafir
Make sure to keep refreshing the page as the most recent results are below!
AEW Rampage 4/22/22
HAPPY STONE PITBULL DAY!
Match #1. Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifying Match: Tomohiri Ishii w/ Orange Cassidy & Rocky Romero vs. Adam Cole
The show starts and both men are in the ring, we’re getting right to it! Ishii with a shoulder block early and Cole rolls out of the ring to take a few minutes to regroup himself here. Ishii follows Cole and delivers some thunderous chops on the outside. Ishii misses a lariat on the outside and hits the ring post! Cole is in control now as we take a pit stop at Chinlock City. Crowd is split down the middle with “Let’s go Ishii” vs. “Let’s go Cole” chants, which I think is important to note considering this flowering partnership between NJPW and AEW. Cole now slapping Ishii in the face while calling him stupid, and that won’t end well. Ishii gets up and starts headbutting Cole’s forearm attempts. Ishii catches Cole running in with a powerslam and nails a back drop suplex. Ishii looks for a powerbomb but Cole fights out, and picks Ishii up in a fireman’s carry. Counter. Ishii side steps a super kick but Cole nails the Ushigorishi! Two count. Back stabbed by Cole. Cole heads up to the second rope but Ishii catches him and looks for a superplex. Stalling vertical suplex from the second rope gets a two count! Cole ducks a sliding lariat and comes back with a super kick to the knee, Ishii drops, super kick to the face! Cole lowers the boom but Ishii ducks, sliding lariat by Ishii! Two count! Pump kick by Cole and a brain buster on the knee gets a two count on Ishii! Super kick by Cole… ISHII DOESN’T CARE! ISHII EATS IT! Headbutt by Ishii! Enziguiri by Cole! Enziguiri by Ishii! Whooo! Both men are down but Ishii gets to his feet first. Super kick by Cole catches Ishii flush but Ishii rebounds with a HUGE lariat! Jay White is here and he tosses Romero into the steps! Referee checks on Romero, low blow by Adam Cole! No, not this way! Cole lowers the boom by Ishii and that’ll do it.
Winner: Adam Cole
Rating: ***3/4. Man, I wish this was longer, but I’ll take what I can get. I love seeing Ishii on AEW, being over with the crowd, and being in strong, competitive matches. The win by Adam Cole puts him in the tournament alongside Samoa Joe and Kyle O’Reilly, and that’s quite the field already.
The Jericho Appreciation Society has arrived, but security isn’t letting them all in. Daniel Garcia says he’s beaten Eddie Kingston twice and not to worry, he’s got this one. The rest of the JAS leaves, but not before they threaten to call HR.
Hook is in the back and Danhausen is here! Danhausen has Hook’s potato chips and now Hook’s pissed. “You wanted my attention? You’ve got it.” Hook speaks!
Match #2. Lance Archer vs. Serpentico
Serpentico dives on Archer but Archer catches him and choke slams him on the apron. Splash by Archer in the corner. Blackout. Everybody dies.
Winner: Lance Archer
Rating. NR. Well that happened.
Choke slam by Archer after the bell. Another one. The Chokeslam Symphony from Lance Archer, if you will.
Match #3. Daniel Garcia vs. Eddie Kingston
Eddie gets a hero’s welcome as usual as he backs Garcia up with palm strikes. Eddie trips Garcia in the corner and hits a running hip attack. Garcia gets tossed outside and Eddie throws him into the steps. And again. Garcia grabs Eddie’s trunks and pulls him into the steps, and then quickly takes control. Garcia with a Garvin Stomp of sorts, followed by some knee drops. Eddie isn’t happy as he chops up at Garcia, but Garcia with a knee to the stomach. Hammer lock by Garcia as he drives more knees into Eddie’s side. Garcia boots Eddie in the face as he begs for more. European uppercut by Garcia and Garcia is pounding on Eddie in the corner. Garcia mounts Eddie in the corner and bites him in the face. Garcia throws Eddie to the outside and then posts him shoulder first. Back in the ring and Eddie is struggling to fight back. Running basement dropkick by Garcia to a kneeling Eddie. Eddie reverses an Irish whip and hits Garcia with a kitchen sink. Garcia reverses an Irish whip and hits Eddie with a kitchen sink. Back from commercial break and both men are trading chops in the middle of the ring. Garcia with a European uppercut. Eddie follows Garcia into the ropes and hits a knee, but Garcia isn’t backing off. Abdominal stretch by Garcia but Eddie reverses into one of his own, as Garcia reverses into a German suplex! Two count. Garcia charges Eddie in the corner but Eddie gets his boot up. Eddie hits a King Kong Knee off the second rope to a hunched over Garcia! Eddie looking for the back fist but Garcia locks in the Sharp Shooter. Eddie gets to the ropes. Garcia grabs wrist control but Eddie slaps him in the face. One more. Arm breaker by Garcia but Eddie gets out at two. Eddie ducks a clothesline, exploder suplex! Two count. Back drop driver by Eddie! Garcia stumbles to his feet, back fist! That’s all she wrote!
Winner: Eddie Kingston
Rating: ***1/2. This was not pretty. This should not have been pretty. This was a fight! Heavy strikes, hard throws, a realistic battle between two dudes who don’t like each other.
Eddie grabs the mic and he’s taken his belt off! “Chris, I’m saving this whipping for you. This was just a message, send it to your boss!” Eddie drops the mic and the belt.
Tony Schiavone is in the back with Swerve and Keith Lee. Lee says he used to look up to Taz, but he tarnished the match. Swerve takes the mic and says they might have won the battle last week, but the war is far from over.
Ricky Stars says the fight is on, and calls Swerve and Lee “broke ass Kenan & Kel” and I truly appreciate the reference.
Tony Schiavone is in the back with Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, and Toni Storm. Toni wants to know if Britt has ever left Pittsburgh? Has she ever done anything else?
Match #4. AEW TBS Title: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Marina Shafir w/ Smart Mark Sterling
I really dig Shafir’s music. Jade ducks a clothesline and taunts… while Shafir kicks her from behind. Jade catches a roundhouse and hits an inside trip. Jade catches Shafir in mid-air and hits a fall away slam… followed by a kip up. That’s something else. Shafir on the outside and gets attacked by the Baddie Section as Smart Mark Sterling is distracting ref Aubrey. Running back elbow by Jade in the corner. Shafir with some outside leg kicks and she dives for a guillotine choke. Cargill able to maneuver Jade into a Tour of the Islands like slam. Two count. Top wrist lock by Jade, followed by a back elbow. Irish whip and rising knee lift by Jade gets a two count. Jade with a pair of vertical suplexes. Top wrist lock for the third time in so many minutes by Jade, but Shafir hits a hip toss. Shafir grabs the single leg and attacks the knee with elbows. Shafir then sits back for a straight ankle lock but Jade gets to the ropes. Shafir wraps Jade’s knee around the ring post and follows up with some outside leg kicks. Smart Mark Sterling is there but Marina hits him with a stiff(!) hip toss on the outside. Shafir breaks the count and rolls back outside, but the Baddie Section distracts her and Jade hits the pump kick. Jade uses Shafir to break the count, but then attempts to choke slam Shafir through the table, but the table doesn’t break. Ouch. Jade rolls Marina in and only gets a two count. Marina throws up a last-ditch attempt at heel hook but it’s not locked in, and Jade is able to break free. Shafir doesn’t have much left and Jade sees it… Jaded! That gets it done.
Winner and STILL TBS Champion: Jade Cargill
Rating: **. I don’t feel the outcome was ever in doubt in this one. I do think Jade is improving, but she’s still got a lot of room to grow. Shafir showed some promise, but I think both women are more suited to be in the ring with veterans at this point in their careers.
Final Thoughts: As usual, sixty minutes flies by on Friday nights. Adam Cole advancing in the Owen and Eddie sending a message to Jericho via a win over Garcia make this a pretty entertaining episode of Rampage. Both Owen’s are taking shape and I’m excited to see the brackets. 8.25/10.