By Colin McGuire, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@McGMondays)
AEW Rampage (Episode 56)
Live from Chicago, Illinois at NOW Arena
Aired September 2, 2022 on TNT
The broadcast team of Jim Ross, Excalibur, Don Callis and Chris Jericho checked in. We’re live, pal. All six wrestlers for the first match were already in the ring.
1. Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta, and Chuck Taylor vs. Hangman Page, Alex Reynolds, and Jon Silver in an AEW Trios Titles tournament match. Danhausen began the match by cursing Hangman Page, and as such, the referee kicked him out of ringside. Cassidy and Page began the match with a tiny bit of shenanigans, including Cassidy riding Page like the cowboy he is. The two tag-teams tagged in and we had four guys in the ring with occasional hugging.
Ultimately, Best Friends got the upper-hand and Cassidy tagged in, but Page ran in and saved Silver by picking him up. As a result, Cassidy hit his soft kicks on Page. More comedy ensued before the action broke down and Trent hit a DDT on Reynolds. Silver responded to that with a running uppercut onto Trent. Things settled down between Cassidy and Silver and we got our first PIP [c].
Back from break, Best Friends had control and Cassidy tried to leap onto Page, but Page caught him and took control. From there, Best Friends choke-slammed Page through a table. Inside the ring, Reynolds landed an elbow for a two-count on Cassidy. Silver tagged in and took out his opponents climaxing with a Stungun Millionaire on Cassidy. Cassidy came back with a Beach Break for a two-count. Cassidy and Best Friends did their six-man tag finisher, but Page broke up the pin.
Page got the hot tag and landed his moonsault onto Chuckie T, who was on the outside. Page hit the DeadEye on Cassidy, but Chuckie T broke up the pin attempt. Silver and Cassidy ended up in the ring and Cassidy went for an inside cradle for a two-count. Chuck Taylor tagged in and hit a Strong Zero onto Reynolds on the floor. Taylor hit a running powerbomb on Silver for a good near-fall that Page broke up. Silver eventually rolled up Taylor after some quick exchanges for the win.
Hangman Page, Alex Reynolds and John Silver defeated Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor via pinfall in 11:10 to advance to the finals of the AEW Trios Title tournament.
After the match, we went right to a video for Eddie Kingston and Tomohiro Ishii. There was no more Don Callis on the commentary team and we got the Draft Kings commercial.
McGuire’s Musings: Goodness, gracious, that match was action-packed. A lot of comedy. More cute than I expected, actually. It seemed obvious that the Dark Order team would go over because they started to tell the story between Page and the Young Bucks weeks ago. The finals should be fun at All Out, but damn, these trios matches are tough to cover in a live manner. OK, enough whining. There were some inventive spots, and Page somehow went from being booed to being cheered in a matter of three minutes (it’s like watching the Internet Wrestling Community come alive on a TV screen!). In all, a very fun opener with the expected outcome. The line of the night is already in the bag and that award goes to Ross, who somewhat exasperatedly asked in the first segment after Excalibur ran down the card, “What, is this show eight hours?!”
2. Rey Fenix vs. Blake Christian. Fenix hit a loud chop early. Fenix hit a series of springboard spots before Christian landed a splash onto Fenix, who was on the outside. Christian went for a springboard move, but Fenix hit a super-kick and a series of chops. Fenix landed his finisher shortly thereafter to win.
Rey Fenix defeated Blake Christian via pinfall in 2:21.
After the match, we went right backstage to an interview with Hook that was immediately interrupted by Angelo Parker and Daddy Magic. It’ll be Parker vs. Hook for the FTR on the pre-show for All Out. Tay Melo and Sammy Guevara made their entrance.
3. Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo vs. Rubo Soho and Ortiz for the AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles. Ortiz and Guevara began the match. Ortiz roughed up Sammy to start out and then hit a series of elbows on Sammy’s head. Soho kicked Guevara and Melo then jawed at Soho until Soho gave her a kick as well. Ortiz and Soho posed as we got our second PIP [c].
Back from break, Guevara was working over Ortiz. Before long, Ortiz power-slammed Guevara and got the hot tag to Soho, who hit a series of headbutts on Melo. Guevara tagged in after Soho hit a knee to Melo’s head. Ortiz and Soho landed a series of double-team moves on Guevara for a two-count. Ortiz tagged in, but Soho ran in and headbutted Guevara. Melo came in landed a DDT for a two-count and then things broke down between all four wrestlers. Soho rolled up Melo to win.
Ruby Soho and Ortiz defeated Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo via pinfall in 7:40.
We went right backstage to an interview with Hangman and Reynolds and Silver. Callis interrupted everything and told Page he screwed his friends over for power and money. Page scared Callis off. Excalibur ran down the card for Sunday, which now includes a rematch for the AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles. We went from there to a Mark Henry interview segment between Jade Cargill and Athena. Cargill called Athena an “ungrateful bitch.” Athena stood up and said Cargill disrespects every woman in the company. Athena said she’s going to be Jade for all the women in the back. We then got a video hyping Moxley vs. Punk.
McGuire’s Musings: Poor Blake Christian. He shows up everywhere these days (and by the way, can someone tell me what Christian’s GCW promo was all about a few weeks ago in Atlantic City? Bizarre), and yet he never seems to get a win on a big stage. Still, he had some nice looks against Fenix, who you knew was going to win in short fashion. As for the mixed tag, it should be noted that while it was initially noted the match was going to be for the AAA mixed tag-team titles, turns out, it wasn’t. Instead, that title match will happen on the All Out pre-show. The match here was fine enough. I was curious as to why they would run it back for no obvious reason (unless if the titles were going to be on the line), but it appears it was just to set up the rubber match for Sunday. Here’s hoping that match has just a little more fire than their first two encounters. I like everyone’s work, but for some reason, these mixed tag matches between the two always feel like they lack something.
Back from break, we had an interview segment between Swerve In Our Glory and The Acclaimed. The Acclaimed touted their new shirts and said everyone loves The Acclaimed. Lee said they needed to prove they were more than just a stereotype. Swerve called out Bowens, saying his body always gives out on him. FTR’s music hit and they came out in street clothes. Wardlow joined them. The crowd chanted “FTR” and Dax grabbed a microphone. Dax said there was a time in his life when he felt worthless and he was the bottom of the barrel. He said he felt like nobody loved him and then 2022 happened and from there, their life, career and momentum turned around.
Dax said people are questioning why their match at All Out is even happening. Dax said every single match goes toward their legacy, their career and their lives. Dax said there’s three things you don’t mess with in life, but he was cut off by Chris Sabin and Sabin introduced he and Shelley while being flanked by Jay Lethal and his group. Shelley said FTR is the best tag-team on the planet. Shelley said the one thing they have that FTR doesn’t is the respect of the locker room. Shelley said the four of them had been together for nearly 20 years and he called them a family. Sanjay Dutt grabbed the microphone and taunted the FTR shirt referencing Dax’s daughter. We went backstage as Dax was being held back for the Mark Henry segment. QT Marshall said he’d get the job done against Ricky Starks by himself and pointed out there was no Factory behind him. Ricky Starks chimed in and showed that he locked The Factory in a room before Henry said it’s time for the main event.
4. Ricky Starks vs. QT Marshall. The match came to the ring after the two brawled in the back as Marshall tried to free his boys. The two then fought in the crowd. Once it actually got in the ring, Starks was choking Marshall with his foot. Shortly thereafter we got our final PIP of the night [c].
Back from break, Starks landed a super-plex to even things out and the two exchanged blows. Marshall landed a kick before Starks came back with a suplex and DDT for a two-count. Somehow, The Factory got free and ran to the ring. Marshall got a watch, but Starks ducked. Still, Marshall tried to pin Starks and had his foot on the ropes, so the ref stopped the count. Starks took care of The Factory on the outside and came back inside the ring try a pin and got a two-count. Starks jumped into a Diamond Cutter for a good near-fall. The two ran the ropes and Starks hit a spear to fire up. Starks hit his finisher for the win.
Ricky Starks defeated QT Marshall via pinfall in 7:03.
Powerhouse Hobbs appeared and brawled with Starks until the refs came out to break them up. The pul-apart didn’t work well and Bryan Danielson appeared to confront Jericho at the commentary table. Jericho and Danielson jawed at each other to close the show.
McGuire’s Musings: A frantic end to a frantic show. Hobbs and Starks could have used the show-closing attention because while the feud does have a little bit of heat and it’s a story the company has been telling for months, it doesn’t feel as hot as it once felt it would be. Having Jericho and Danielson steal some of the shine by confronting one another at the top of the ramp didn’t help. Still, Starks vs. Marshall was fine. Not necessarily main event worthy, but fine, nonetheless. The thing about AEW is when they try to pull age-old pro wrestling prose, they do it in moments that are so rushed, it’s now become noticeable. Starks locked Marshall’s faction in a closet and as a result, the two brawled in the back and in the crowd before the match started. This was, in theory, designed to heat up the match. But because Starks was in the middle of two separate stories between the long-form Hobbs situation and the more recent Factory situation, the whole ordeal just felt like a cheap way to get cheap quick heat and it didn’t really work. Or, well, at least for me.
Anyway, I’m interested to find out when this resurgence in Rampage episodes is going to kick in. I’ll admit, I had high hopes for tonight. It’s All Out weekend, it’s a live episode, TK did his usual over-hype media blitz. But the hour didn’t quite pull through for this viewer. The opening match was fun and entertaining, but I suspect it’ll also be polarizing to some. The rest of the segments moved too quick to hold any relevance and while I understand it sounds like a broken record coming from some of us who review this stuff weekly, it’s worth noting that Tony Khan continues to laud how plugged in he is to what people actually want. Do the majority of viewers want to see the finish of a match, then a cut to a 20-second backstage segment, then a cut to a 15-second video, then a cut back to the ring for an entrance? It’s an impossible question to answer, so I’ll shut up. Where I won’t shut up is during my audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Tune in, friends, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow afternoon for my live review of WWE’s Clash At The Castle.
Gee, McGuire wasn’t impressed by an episode of Rampage. Shocking.