Coming off the heels of one of the most noteworthy episodes of Dynamite, well, ever, we’ve arrived at Rampage on our way to next week’s All Out. Let’s check out the show:
- ROH World Heavyweight Title: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Dustin Rhodes
- The Dark Order vs. The House of Black
- Intergender Tag Team Match: Ortiz & Ruby Soho vs. Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo
- Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ashton Day
- AEW TNT Title: Wardlow (c) vs. Ryan Nemeth
Make sure to keep refreshing the page as the most recent results are below!
AEW Rampage 8/26/22
Still here at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio! Chris Jericho, Excalibur, Jim Ross, and Tony Schiavone on commentary. The men are already in the ring, let’s do this!
Match #1. AEW World Trios Title Tournament Semi Final: House of Black vs. Dark Order
King and 10 start off and trade shoulder blocks, but neither man moves. 10 goes up and over King and lands awkwardly on his knee, allowing John Silver to tag in as Buddy Matthews comes in for the House of Black. Back elbow by Silver as he attempts a hurricanrana off the top rope but Matthews catches him into a powerbomb that Silver flips out of. Big knee by Matthews and Black is in. Boot by Silver and Reynolds gets the tags. Black cartwheels out of a hurricanrana attempt and sits down to give Reynolds something to think about. Shoving match ensues and now all six men are in the ring and it all completely breaks down. Reynolds and Black are the legal men, but King comes in and distracts Reynolds, allowing Black to hit a rising knee and a lariat by King. Two count. King in now and he chops the soul out of Reynolds. Body slam and senton by King. Tag to Matthews and a soccer kick to the back of a seated Reynolds. Black in now with a running back elbow as the Best Friends look on from ringside. Matthews is in with a stomp off the top to the elbow of Reynolds. Big boot by Reynolds but a bigger boot by Matthews. Rolling elbow by Renolds and 10 gets the tag. Clotheslines to the House of Black and a spine buster to Black. Full Nelson to Black! Matthews with an enziguiri and a Meteora to 10 over Black. Silver and Reynolds make the save with some tandem offense. Stunner and Eat Dafeet to King but King deicdes he’s had enough and clears the ring with lariats to everyone. 10 is in now with Black who tears the knee brace off of 10. Rolling straight ankle lock to 10! House of Black prevent Dark Order from getting in the ring but it’s the horns! Miro is here! Miro back body drops Matthews on the apron as Reynolds rolls up Black for the three!
Winners: Dark Order
Rating: ***. The matches from the AEW trios tournament have honestly just been a lot of fun. Surprising ending here, but it looks like we’re going to get Miro and Black at the PPV. Nice to see the spotlight shining a little brighter on Matthews, and King is starting to feel like a star.
King throws Miro into the stairs and Black hits the Black Mass before all three men continue the beat down. Darby and Sting are here! The House of Black decide they want to live to fight another day as they clear the ring.
Match #2. AEW TNT Title: Wardlow (c) vs. Ryan Nemeth
Nemeth is out early and runs down Cleveland, but Wardlow cuts him off. Sonjay Dutt, Satnam Singh, Jay Lethal, and Chris Sabin arrive on the ramp way to do some homework. Nemeth continues on the microphone but Wardlow has had enough. Huge headbutt by Wardlow and a ridiculous lariat. Powerbomb number one. Two. Three. Four. Finito.
Winner and STILL TNT Champion: Wardlow
Rating: NR.
Private Party and the LFI are in the back as Private Party remind Rush and Dragon Lee that they lost last week. Rush said he doesn’t care and he’d turn on his own family. Andrade said there will be consequences.
Match #3. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ashton Day
Clothesline. Spine buster. Finish.
Winner: Powerhouse Hobbs
Rating: NR
QT Marshall and the Factory are in the back with a bloodied-up Ricky Starks. QT said he owed Hobbs one.
Jade Cargill is in the back and tells Athena she can come get these hands at All Out. Elbow from Athena out of nowhere and I guess we’ve got a TBS title match at All Out?
Match #4. Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo vs. Ortiz & Ruby Soho
Take down by Melo as she stomps the arm of Soho. Flying knee by Melo to Soho in the corner. Soho responds with a big right hand since the previously injured arm is out of commission. Ortiz gets the tag but Sammy cuts him off. Clothesline by Ortiz. Another short arm clothesline. Body slam by Ortiz as Ortiz uses Soho as a weapon for an assisted splash. Ortiz hits the ropes as Melo trips him up, allowing Sammy to hit the big rising knee before taking control. Vertical suplex attempt by Sammy by Ortiz folls through into a cradle for two. Clothesline by Sammy gets two before we go to commercial. Back from commercial as Ortiz gets a big clothesline before making the hot tag to Solo. Double leg by Solo and some ground and pound. Knee to the face, kick to the chest, and a Saito suplex by Soho. Running boot to the face in the corner by Soho gets a two count. Soho puts Melo on the top rope but Sammy drags her off… poison rana by Soho! Diving cross body by Melo gets a two count. Sammy runs in and eats a DDT by Soho. No Future by Soho but Sammy breaks up the pin. Soho makes the tag to Ortiz who charges Sammy, but Anna Jay tosses Soho into the steps as the referees back is turned. Ortiz notices and it’s caught his eye, but Sammy comes off the top with a springboard cutter that gets the win.
Winners: Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo
Rating: **1/2. This match was fine, but the double commercial break didn’t help it’s cause. Sammy and Tay are bordering on XPac heat here, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing. Soho is so good, and it’s time she has something to do.
Footage of CM Punk from the trainer’s room on Dynamite is shown. Punk says he couldn’t put weight on it and didn’t feel anything, which is what he felt when he broke it the first time.
Match #5. ROH World Heavyweight Title: Claudio Castagnoli (c) with Wheeler Yuta vs. Dustin Rhodes w/ Arn and Brock Anderson
Code of Honor is adhered to and here we go. Dustin on fire to begin with a few arm drags and an early one count. Head lock take over by Claudio as Dustin rolls through for a two count. Big shoulder block by Claudio that sends Dustin into the bottom rope headfirst. Dustin is in unbelievable shape, by the way. Sunset flip by Dustin gets two. European uppercut by Claudio as he throws Dustin into the turnbuckle headfirst. Dustin reverses an arm ringer into a Manhattan Drop and a big boot that gets two. Claudio ducks a cross body block as Dustin comes crashing down on the outside. More European uppercuts by Claudio. Shoulder breaker by Claudio gets a two count before applying a top wrist lock as we go to PIP. Dustin misses the drop-down uppercut and Claudio hits a diving neck breaker. Gut wrench suplex by Claudio gets another two. Crippler Crosssface applied now as Rhodes scramble to find the ropes, but decides to hit a sidewalk slam instead. Both men are trading right hands now but Dustin looks for a back slide, but can’t get it, and settles for a big clothesline. Another one. Claudio rolls outside and Dustin follows with a cannonball off the apron. Flying clothesline by Rhodes gets another two count. Big boot by Dustin and a hurricanrana off the middle rope! Drop down upper cut by Dustin. Code Red to Claudio! One, two, no! Dustin attacks Claudio but Claudio hot shots him off the top rope. Big clothesline by Claudio gets a two count. Big swing! Eight, maybe nine rotations? Two count. Crossface is locked in again! Dustin reverses into a pinning combination for two. Claudio rushes in but Dustin catches him in a powerslam. Seated falling powerbom piledriver… maybe (?) by Dustin gets another two. Arn signals to Dustin that it’s over! Dustin hits the ropes and Claudio tries to leap frog but Dustin’s head catches Claudio directly in the groin (think Dr. Death vs. Barry Windham from Starrcade 87). Arn jumps up on the apron and tells Dustin to attack, but Dustin hesitates and Claudio pops him up into the European uppercut that will seal this one.
Winner and STILL Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Champion: Claudio Castagnoli
Rating: **3/4. Eh, I don’t know what exactly the plan was for this one. Dustin is a feel-good challenger who never had a chance of winning, and the whole low blow spot at the end was just weird, and they lost me. Dustin can still put on a more than acceptable match, but this one just missed.
Final Thoughts: Rumors say that Tony Khan is looking to revamp Rampage, and I think that’s a good idea. Rampage has consistently felt like a “Dark +” show for months, with most of the winners of these matches never in doubt. Now we’re seeing five matches in a one-hour show, and there’s no reason to try and do that much. This show, to me, did not help the built to All Out. 6/10.
