It’s New Year’s Eve-eve and we’re coming off of a fantastic episode of Dynamite. Let’s see what we can expect from another themed episode of Rampage tonight :
- Swerve Strickland vs. Wheeler Yuta
- AEW TBS Title: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Kiera Hogan
- AEW All-Atlantic Title: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Trent
Make sure to keep refreshing the page as the most recent results are below!
AEW Rampage: New Year’s Smash 2022
Tony Schiavone, Paul Weight, and Excalibur are on the call tonight from the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado!
Match #1. AEW All-Atlantic Title: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Trent
A forever handshake starts this one. Cassidy evades an arm drag and grabs a head lock. Trent dumps Cassidy to the outside but Chuck is there to help him up. Orange calls for the hug but dumps Trent to the outside instead. Chuck helps up Trent. Cassidy get back body dropped to the outside and Danhausen helps him up. Trent with a suicide dive but Chuck catches him and… they hug. Cassidy with a plancha outside and a diving cross body back on the inside. Throat thrust by Trent and a baseball slide to Cassidy on the outside. Cassidy fires an elbow but Trent throws Cassidy into the guard rail. Cassidy side steps a spear as Trent eats guard rail. Shotgun drookick by Cassidy. Back in the ring and both men are exchanging strikes but Cassidy fires up with some Orange kicks. Big chop by Cassidy. Elbow by Trent. Trent counters Stundog Millionaire into a half and half suplex. Running elbow in the corner by Trent. Tornado DDT countered into an around the world DDT by Cassidy! Diving DDT off the top by Cassidy! Two count. Tieres attempt by Cassidy but Trent reverses it into a spinning tombstone! One, two, no! Stuck piledriver by Trent but Cassidy barely kicks out at two! Penelope Ford now joins us at ringside and distracts Trent, allowing Cassidy to hit Beach Break! Two count. Orange Punch seals it!
Winner and STILL AEW All-Atlantic Champion: Orange Cassidy
Rating: ***. Fun opening match here between two members of Best Friends. Cassidy gets another win and the storyline here was that these two guys knew each other inside and out, so they had to dive deep into the bag of tricks. The future of Best Friends looks… bleak.
Sting and Darby are in the back and Darby gets a shot at Samoa Joe in two weeks. Darby wants to know if Sting believes in him. Sting says Darby shouldn’t care if he believes in him or not, he needs to shut up and win.
Match #2. Kip Sabian vs. Atiba (?)
Imploding cannonball in the corner. Diving double stomp off the top rope. Orange Punch.
Winner: Kip Sabian
Rating: NR
10 aka Preston Vance has a new name? Perro… something or other.
Back from break and Moxley is in the ring with Tony Schiavone. Moxley says himself and Hangman stood above the rest in the early days of AEW. Moxley and Page eventually fought and Moxley slept like a baby while Hangman ended up in the hospital. BCC deserves to sleep like babies because they work harder than anyone else and don’t care about the “safety of other athletes.” Moxley is hurt too, this is a tough business, and this is the major leagues. January 11th, The Forum in Los Angeles… Moxley will be there.
Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett are the next challenges for The Acclaimed’s AEW World Tag Team Titles.
Match #3. AEW TBS Title: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Kiera Hogan
Delayed vertical suplex by Jade but Hogan reverses into a cradle that gets two. Big chokeslam by Jade. Hogan rolls to the outside and Jade follows, putting the boots to Hogan at ringside. Snap suplex by Jade on the floor and an Irish whip into the guard rail before we head to a full commercial break. Back from break and Jade catches a diving Hogan but Hogan gets free and finds herself on the business end of a pump kick. Two count. Hogan rolls to the outside and Grey holds Hogan for Jade… but Red Velvet catches Jade’s hand. Not today. Back in the ring and Hogan reverses Jaded into a bulldog. Superkick by Hogan. Make that two. Sliding single-leg dropkick in the corner by Hogan. Hogan heads up top and comes off with a cross body for two. Jade hits Jaded literally out of nowhere and this one is over.
Winner and STILL TBS Champion: Jade Cargill
Rating: **. Very slow start but the match picked up once back from commercial break. Nice to see Jade in trouble, if even for a short amount of time. Hogan got some good offense in towards the end but as usual, the winner was never in doubt.
Post-match, Red Velvet leaves Jade and Grey and heads to the back by herself.
Smart Mark Sterling is tired of Bryan Danielson meddling in MJF’s life, so next week, it’s Tony Nese vs. Bryan Danielson.
Match #4. Wheeler Yuta vs. Swerve Strickland
Both men trade wrist locks to start. Body slam by Swerve and after an exchange Yuta locks in a leg lace. Bow and arrow stretch by Yuta but Swerve rolls through for a two count. Swerve with a bottom rope assisted something, but Yuta catches him in mid-air with a dropkick. Suicide dive to the outside by Yuta. The Mogul Affiliates distract Yuta which allows Swerve to connect with a pump kick on the apron. Diving kick to the back of the knee by Swerve. Calf slicer by Swerve but Yuta breaks free, as Swerve focuses the attack on the injured knee. Pump handle back breaker now before applying an over the shoulder knee bar. Yuta reverses with a head scissor and a big back body drop. Two. Swerve blocks a third one and gets a cradle for two. Diving elbow off the top to a standing Swerve gets two. German suplex (on one leg) by Yuta with a bridge gets another two count. Swerve kicks out the knee of Yuta which allows him to connect with a brainbuster for two. Victory Roll by Yuta gets two. Right hand by Swerve but Yuta rebounds through the bottom rope and hits Swerve with an arm-trapped Angle Slam for a long two count. Yuta charges Swerve but the knee buckles. Swerve traps Yuta’s knee over the middle rope and comes running with a diving dropkick. Swerve heads up top but Yuta catches him and both men are jockeying for position in no man’s land. Superplex off the top by Yuta! Hammer and anvil elbows by Yuta and Swerve is in trouble. Seatbelt by Yuta but Swerve counters with the Swerve kick (?). Two count! Swerve inadvertent takes out the referee which allows him to go low on Yuta. JML Driver! That’ll get it done.
Winner: Swerve Strickland
Rating: ***1/2. Really good action in the main event here, which you expect from two of the most technical wrestlers on the planet. Swerve needs to build momentum after that awful segment a few weeks ago, and a decisive win over a guy like Wheler Yuta is a great start. Great action back and forth in a match that told a story and made sense. Good stuff.
Final Thoughts: An above average episode of Rampage that was bookended by some strong pro wrestling. The cracks in the foundation of the Best Friends are finally starting to show and Trent might be on his way out. Elsewhere, AEW is going to have to do a better job to make the fans care about The Baddies split because that whole segment felt flat. Finally, Swerve (with goons) getting a big win over a member of the BCC at least lets the fans know he should be taken seriously going forward, with or without the cinderblock. 6.75/10.