By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Rampage (Episode 41)
Taped May 18, 2022 in Houston, Texas at Fertitta Center
Aired May 20, 2022 on TNT
The Rampage opening aired… Excalibur, Chris Jericho, and Taz were on commentary, and Justin Roberts was the ring announcer…
1. “House of Black” Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews vs. Fuego Del Sol, Evil Uno, and 10. The wrestlers were already in the ring when the show started and the bell rang to start the match. The House of Black dominated the bulk of the first four minutes of the match heading into a commercial break. [C]
Fuego performed a standing Spanish Fly on Matthews and tagged in 10, who kicked King off the apron and worked over Black and Matthews. King returned to the ring, but 10 clotheslined him over the top rope and back to ringside. 10 held up Black and then Uno clotheslined him using the top rope, and then 10 performed a slingshot suplex. Uno dove from the apron onto King and Mathews.
Black eventually caught 10 in a kneebar. Uno returned to the ring and kicked Black to break the hold. Black stood up and kicked Uno before clearing him from the ring. 10 turned Black inside out with a clothesline and then both men tagged out.
King and Uno checked in. Uno got some brief offense on King and went or a powerbomb, but King stuffed it and then backdropped Uno. Black took out 10 with a dive. Matthews DDT’d Fuego on the apron. King clotheslined Uno and then hit him with the Gonzo Bomb and pinned him.
“House of Black” Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews defeated Fuego Del Sol, Evil Uno, and 10 in 9:25.
After the match, a tombstone was covered on the stage. Death Triangle” Pac, Penta Oscuro, and Rey Fenix came out. Penta removed the covering to show that the tombstone read House of Black and Double Or Nothing…
Powell’s POV: Good action. Fuego and the Dark Order duo got some offense, but the outcome of the match was never in question. I’m filling in for Colin McGuire tonight, but he will return to Rampage coverage next week. I also filled in for Jake Barnett on AEW Dynamite coverage, so Jake will be covering WWE Smackdown coming up at the top of the hour. There will be a quiz on all of that later.
Backstage, Lexi Nair interviewed Billy Gunn, Colten Gunn, Austin, Gunn, and Max Caster. Footage was shown from Dark Elevation of Anthony Bowens suffering an injury. Nair asked what they would do without him. All three men asked Billy what they would do. Billy pushed one of his sons out of the way and put his arm around Caster and then referred to him as “son.” Billy wished Bowens well and said they were going to have a “big ol’ scissors party”…
Excalibur set up an ad for AEW’s daily fantasy sports website game… [C]
Tony Schiavone interviewed “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, who accepted the challenge of Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero to an ROH Tag Title match. Harwood took issue with Beretta mocking the pro wrestling business and said they were in for a fight on Wednesday’s edition of AEW Dynamite…
2. Shawn Spears vs. Big Damo. Damo worked as Killian Dain in WWE. He shaved his head bald since his last appearance on WWE television. The action spilled to ringside where Damo performed a running cross body block. Back i the ring, Damo slammed Spears to the mat and followed up with a senton splash.
Spears avoided Damo going for a splash from the middle rope. Spears hit Damo with a knee to the face. Spears hoisted up Damo and called out “Wardlow” before hitting him with the C4 and pinning him…
Shawn Spears beat Big Damo in 1:40.
After the match, Spears said he is Wardlow’s kryptonite. Spears referred his cage match with Wardlow as the Dynamite main event and said Wardlow would be locked inside the cage with the giant killer…
Powell’s POV: I was expecting a local talent to face Spears, so Damo was actually a fun surprise. It was also a more meaningful win for Spears than it would have been had he beat an enhancement wrestler with no name value.
The Undisputed Elite’s Adam Cole, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly delivered a backstage promo. Cole said it couldn’t get any better than him facing O’Reilly in a battle of friends in the finals of the Owen Hart Cup tournament. The Jacksons challenged Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy to face them at Double Or Nothing…
3. Red Velvet vs. Kris Statlander in an Owen Hart Cup tournament first-round match. Ruby Soho sat in on commentary for the match. Jade Cargill, Mark Sterling, and Kiera Hogan watched the match from seats on the floor at ringside. Statlander slammed Velvet onto the apron in front of them heading into a PIP break. [C]
Statlander hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Velvet for a near fall. Velvet went to the apron and then clotheslined Statlander over the middle rope. Velvet put Statlander down with a face first plant for a near fall of her own. Statlander rallied, but was rolled into a pin by Velvet, but Statlander reversed it and got the three count.
Kris Statlander defeated Red Velvet in 7:50 to advance to the semifinals of the Owen Hart Cup tournament.
Kiera Hogan attacked Statlander after the match. Ruby Soho ran from the broadcast table to help Statlander. Jade Cargill entered the ring and slammed Soho to the match. Anna Jay came out with a crutch to run off the heels…
Powell’s POV: A good match. Statlander will face Soho in the semifinals next week. I’m enjoying the non-alien version of Statlander even if I’m not really sure what her character is these days.
A video package showed Hook and Danhausen training, as well as their Double Or Nothing opponents Tony Nese and Mark Sterling doing the same…
Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page, and Dan Lambert stood in the ring and delivered a promo. Page took a jab at The Inner Circle no longer existing, and then he and Sky called out Sammy Guevara. Big screen footage showed Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti outside the building. Guevara took a sledgehammer to the interim TNT Championship belt that Lambert once wore. Frankie Kazarian showed up and helped destroy the title belt while Guevara made out with Conti. Guevara said a tag match between the two sides would happen…
Tony Schiavone interviewed Britt Baker and Toni Storm in the backstage area about their semifinal tournament match. Baker mocked Storm by questioning if she could handle the pressure of the match. A confident Storm said she’d do the same thing to Baker that she did to Jamie Hayter last week. She also said she would rearrange all of Baker’s teeth and become her DMD… [C]
Mark Henry hosted the split-screen interview segment. Matt Sydal spoke about loving peace and not having to beat Dante Martin to teach him. Bryan Danielson said he loves peace and pro wrestling, and defended his style by pointing out the success that Wheeler Yuta has had. Jon Moxley said to abandon all hope when facing the Blackpool Combat Club. Henry said it was time for the main event…
Excalibur entered auctioneer mode while running through the AEW Dynamite and AEW Double Or Nothing lineups. He threw it back to Tony Schiavone, who tried to interview TBS Champion Jade Cargill. She did he usual by telling Schiavone to cut the shit. Cargill challenged Anna Jay to a title match Double Or Nothing. Excalibur went back to hyping the matches and included the Cargill vs. Jay match for the TBS Title…
4. Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson vs. Dante Martin and Matt Sydal. William Regal sat in on commentary, and Jericho had Jake Hager standing behind him for protection. Moxley and Danielson were dominating heading into the final break [C]
Sydal and Moxley returned to the ring. Martin and Sydal hit simultaneous kicks on Moxley. Martin performed a double jump moonsault on Moxley and went for the pin, but Danielson broke it up. Martin stuffed a Paradigm Shift attempt. Moxley caught him in a sleeper, but Matin pushed his way out of it.
Moxley stuffed a top rope move attempt by Martin and hit him with a piledriver for a near fall. Moxley followed up with elbows to the head and then Danielson caught Sydal in a triangle and hit him with elbows to the head. Moxley put Martin down with a Paradigm Shift and pinned him.
Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson defeated Dante Martin and Matt Sydal in 12:00.
As Moxley and Danielson headed up the ramp, they were attacked by Chris Jericho, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Daniel Garcia, and Jake Hager. Santana and Ortiz ran out and helped and they brawled as the show went off the air…
Powell’s POV: There was zero mystery regarding the outcome of the main event, but it did have Moxley and Danielson providing a lot of star power. Overall, they crammed a ton of things into the hour, as usual. It was a good show that turned out to be a little newsworthy with some new matches announced. I will have more to say about Rampage in my same night audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Have a great weekend.
10 minutes to beat 2 Dark Order jobbers and Faygo del K-Pop who’s even worse than those 2?
12 minutes to beat Mr. Enhancement and Dante?
AEW does an amazing job of making absolutely nobody special.
I feel like they might have been better using a big enhancement talent instead of Damo, who is a massive talent and could be a player anywhere if used properly, like he was in NXT for a while. Spears has zero chance against Wardlow so there is no point in wasting someone like Damo to build him up for one week.