Rampage is LIVE tonight and that ALWAYS makes for a more fun show! Let’s see what we’ve got on tap:
- Madison Rayne vs. Leila Grey
- Street Fight for the AEW Tag Team Titles: Swerve in Our Glory vs. Josh Woods & Tony Nese
- AEW World Title Eliminator: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Mance Warner
Make sure to keep refreshing the page as the most recent results are below!
AEW Rampage 8/5/22
We are LIVE from the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan! Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Jim Ross are on the call tonight. William Regal is here too, which can only mean one thing.
Match #1. AEW World Title Eliminator: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Mance Warner
Mance Warner gets a pre-match video package and that’s super important since the “casual” AEW fan more likely than not does not know who he is. Mance calls Moxley out on the stage and we’re starting on the ramp here. Mance with some chops on the outside as both men enter and the bell finally rings. Outside we go again as Moxley suplexes Mance on an open chair. Mance responds with dropping Moxley crotch first on the guard rail. Moxley rolls back in the ring and Mance follows as Moxley focuses his attack on the leg. Dragon screw leg whip by Moxley as Mance now responds with straight rights and lefts. Moxley is fired up and delivers some of his own. Hammer throw into the corner by Mance and a dropkick to the face. Irish whip by Mance into the steps on the outside. Irish whip into the guard rail now too. Mance with a suplex to Moxley on an open chair now. DDT by Mance to Moxley on the steel steps! Back in the ring and a big boot to Moxley as Mance locks in the figure four. Classic eye poke by Mance. Moxley fights his way out and charges in but gets caught with a spinebuster for two. Mance just pounding on Moxley with fists here. Mance heads under the ring and grabs a chair. Is this a no DQ, or? Mance brings the chair in the ring as referee Paul Turner tries to prevent him from doing so, and Moxley hits a rolling elbow to Mance’s face. That’s not a DQ I guess because Mance held the chair. Mance falls outside and Moxley follows up with a tope suicida. Mance is busted open now. Moxley places Mance on the top rope and delivers a superplex from the middle rope. Hammer and anvil elbow strikes but Mance grabs wrist control and shoots Moxley into the ropes. Big knee by Moxley but Mance respond with a clothesline as both men are down. Kimura by Moxley but Mance escapes. Wrist control by Moxley with some stomps to the head. Pile driver by Moxley! More stomps! Moxley grabs a standing bulldog choke and Mance goes to sleep!
Winner: Jon Moxley
Rating: ***. Fine match here with Moxley looking strong going into Quake by the Lake on Wednesday. Moxley has an absolute knack for making his opponents look damn good in defeat.
Match #2. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ryan Nemeth
Did I miss this match being announced somewhere? Huge clothes by Takeshita and a helluva kick. Pretty Peter Avalon trips up Takeshita as Nemeth delivers some knees from the clinch. Neckbreaker attempt by Nemeth but gets caught coming in with a HUGE Blue Thunder Bomb. Rising knee strike. Fin.
Winner: Konosuke Takeshita
Rating: NR. A win for Takeshita in advance of his match with Claudio.
Pretty Peter jumps Takeshita after the match but Takeshita delivers a huge rising knee and that’s that.
Best Friends are in the back with Lexi Nair. Chuck Taylor says things haven’t been going great, but they’re at their best when they are a trio… like the trio’s titles? Danhausen is here and puts his hand in too.
Match #3. Madison Rayne vs. Leila Grey w/ Stokely Hathaway
Madison Rayne was announced as being a coach backstage for the women’s division just yesterday, and now she’s making her debut on Rampage. Good for her. Lock up to start. Rayne looks for the quick win with a series of pinning combinations and gets a bunch of two counts. Arm drag and arm bar by Rayne but Grey pushes back to the ropes. Rayne is on the apron and looking for something but Big Stoke gets her attention and Grey dumps her off the apron. Snap suplex on the outside by Grey. Two count back in the ring as we go to a commercial. Back from break as Rayne hits a jawbreaker and an enziguiri. Face buster on the knee by Rayne and a Northern Light’s suplex gets a two count. Grey ducks a clothesline and hits a Side Effect for a two count. Both women are trading elbows in the center but Rayne blocks an attempted X-Factor. Seated lariat by Rayne. Cross Rhodes (now called Cross Raynes) by Rayne! That gets the three.
Winner: Madison Rayne
Rating: *3/4. Not the strongest debut with a lot of awkward spots. Commentary had mentioned Jade here so I wonder if Madison will be next on the list.
Speak of the devil, here’s Jade. Jade says she’s still that bitch, and she’s big on charity, so this week she’s still giving out free TBS Title shots. Rayne is welcome to step up this week, but maybe she should take a few days off. Kiera Hogan attacks from behind but Rayne disposes of her swiftly with the Cross Raynes (I kind of hate that name).
Mark Henry is here with both teams in the main event. Is this the first time Swerve in Our Glory have matching trunks? Sterling says Woods is a technical savage. Keith Lee says Sterling is not a smart man.
Match #4. Street Fight for the AEW Tag Team Titles: Swerve in Our Glory vs. Josh Woods & Tony Nese
Fast start here as expected as all men brawl on the outside. Woods drives Swerve into the guard rail as Lee is throwing Nese around. Woods wants a shot at Lee however, and both men exchange strikes on the outside as Lee leans into Woods’ elbows. Double chop by Lee drops Woods. Swerve sends Nese into the guard rail and chair face-first. Nese tosses a handful of protein powder in the eyes of Lee (absolutely outstanding) but Swerve kicks it in Nese’s face and tosses him into the steps. Swerve attempts to murder Nese with a toolbox but misses. Lee borrows water from a fan to wipe the powder out of his eyes as Nese hits him with a TV. Woods hits a falling twisting suplex (think Zack Gibson’s Helter Skelter) on Swerve into the steel steps in a brutal spot there. Back in the ring and Nese tosses Swerve into a garbage can propped up into the corner. Vicious ground and pound by Woods to Swerve. Table set up at ringside now, as Woods and Nese have Swerve in a precarious position on the apron. Swerve does his best to fight out but Nese is trying to buy time for some reason. Nese keeps fighting Lee off as he looks to powerbomb Swerve from the apron through the table but Swerve is able to avoid. Lee makes the save and tosses Woods to the floor. Spinning back kick by Nese to Swerve but Lee is in and he’s seen enough. Shoulder blocks to everyone as Lee then biels Nese into Woods. Lee hits the ropes but Sterling hits him with a chair, which does nothing but anger Lee. Lee has a chair in his hand and Nese pump kicks the chair into him as Woods and Nese hit a double DDT on Lee on the chair. Both men go for the cover, but Swerve comes off the top with a 450 splash on all three guys! Nese hits Swerve in the stomach with a chair and sets the table up inside the ring. Knee to the face by Swerve but Smart Mark Sterling cracks Swerve in the back of the head with a wrench. Woods puts Swerve on the table but Lee pulls him from the ring. Nese dives to the outside but Lee catches him with a headbutt. Sterling runs up top while Swerve is still on the table but gets caught by Lee. Lee throws Sterling off the top through the table as the crowd responds in kind. Woods is now looking for a German suplex to Lee off the apron through a table, but Lee is holding on. Nese is in the ring and hits Lee with a superkick which allows Woods to hit the German! Woods and Lee are OUT! Nese brings about six chairs in the ring but gets back body dropped by Swerve on to all of them! Swerve goes up top… Swerve Stomp to Nese on the chairs! One, two, three! And Still!
Winners: Swerve in Our Glory
Rating: ***1/4. Nice introduction for Woods to the AEW fans, but the winners of the match were never in doubt. Swerve in Our Glory are just getting started and they’re getting better by the week, which is saying something since they have really been fun since the beginning. Important to have the new champs continue building momentum before their first big feud. Fun plunder match here with all the bells and whistles, but it feels like we saw it a bit in the first match and just two days ago in the dumpster match.
Final Thoughts: Tonight’s show was almost an infomercial for Battle of the Belts 3 and Quake by the Lake, and that’s okay sometimes. The live crowd absolutely held, but the wrestling just isn’t on the level that we normally see on Dynamite. Takeshita is the absolute next big thing, and I don’t think he’s got a chance tomorrow night but building a name for yourself by taking veterans to the limit is just fine for a guy this fresh in the company. Madison Rayne is a nice addition to the coach’s roster, but in the ring, we already saw the fans turning on her in favor of her opponent next week, Jade. Gimme more Southern Psycho, though. 6.75/10.
