By Jake Barnett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@barnettjake)
AEW Rampage (Episode 62)
Taped October 13, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario at Coca-Cola Coliseum
Aired October 14, 2022 on TNT
Jim Ross, Excalibur, and Tony Shiavone opened the show. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagonoli, The Butcher, and The Blade were in the ring. The Match began immediately after the show came on the air.
1. Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli vs. The Butcher and The Blade: The action spilled outside immediately and Claudio dumped The Butcher into a barricade. The Blade dropped Moxley’s groin on a barricade on the opposite side of the ring. Moxley recovered and landed a German Suplex, and then tagged in Claudio. He entered, but The Blade raked his eyes and tagged in The Butcher. He entered and slammed Claudio, and then landed a running leg drop. Butcher attempted a vertical suplex, but Claudio reversed it and caught his breath.
The Blade tagged in, and Claudio landed a couple of European Uppercuts. The blade was able to turn things around with a kick to the gut, and then tagged in The Butcher…[c]
Claudio attempted to break free to make a tag, but The Butcher ran in and knocked Moxley to the floor. They then landed a double team Veritcal Suplex on Claudio for a near fall. Claudio landed an uppercut and a lariat on The Butcher and made the crawl over to Moxley. Both Moxley and The Blade entered at the same time. Moxley landed a cutter and knocked Butcher to the floor. He then dove on him through the ropes, and landed a lariat on The Blade. Hangman Page was shown watching the match backstage.
Moxley raked the back of The Blade, and then pulled him into the ring with a Superplex. He then delivered a piledriver for a near fall. The Butcher returned to take out Moxley with a cross body. The Butcher then went back to the apron to tag himself back in. Butcher picked up Moxley for their finisher, but Claudio made the save and put him back on his feet. They then landed dueling lariats on The Butcher and The Blade and then stomped on their heads. Claudio got the pin on The Butcher after a Death Rider and Ricola Bomb combo.
Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli defeated The Butcher and The Blade at 9:19
After the match, Moxley and Claudio said the Blackpool Combat Club doesn’t care who they get in the ring with, and if they go down, they never stay down. They sent a message to Hangman Page that he would get stepped on if he didn’t step up.
Backstage, Renee Young interviewed Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland. Swerve mocked Billy Gunn and The Acclaimed for not being able to do their Scissoring anymore. Keith Lee told Swerve that he stuck with him because they were the best, and questioned why Swerve needed to cheat to win against Billy Gunn. He told him that he was swerving into the wrong lane. Lee then walked away and Swerve looked like he had some things to think about.
My Take: A whirlwind of a match with all the quick cuts. They clearly had to cut corners in order to fit everything they had planned into this show. Good work from everyone, but a rather predictable outcome. The Blackpool Combat Club feels colder than it should be as a concept.
Renee Paquette interviewed Dark Order backstage. She asked them about losing another opportunity at the Trios Titles. Jose walked up before they could answer and mocked them. Preston Vance demanded a match with Rush, and if he wins, Jose and Rush have to leave them alone. The Dark Order put their firsts together to salute one another, and Stu Grayson returned to put his fist in with the group. They welcomed him back with excitement.
In the arena, Chris Jericho made his entrance with Daniel Garcia, Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, and Anna Jay. Parker told the crowd that the family was back together. Menard asked the crowd if they wanted to know what made his nipples hard….and they cheered? He said it was that the JAS would be together forever…..forever…..forever. Anna Jay then introduced Daniel Garcia, and said he was too sweet to be sour a la Dusty Rhodes.
Garcia grabbed the mic and answered the question as to why he did what he did on Wednesday. He said Jericho always said Sports Entertainers were better than Pro Wrestlers, and for a while he questioned him, but he was being rebellious and listening to the wrong people. Garcia said that while his hero Bryan Danielson taught him heart and toughness, Chris Jericho taught him how to win when he hit him with the ROH title belt. Garcia said he was a Sports Entertainer and that he had learned his lesson. Jericho said he would continue his destruction of the legacy of ROH…..but he was interrupted by Dalton Castle.
Castle called Jericho a silly goose and said it was a disgrace that he was the Ring of Honor Champion. He said Peacock Power was running through his veins and the power of Peacocks had flowed through him into the building. Castle said the energy his his veins keeps the lights on in the building. He fired up and said that he broke his back for the ROH Championship, and he was willing to break Jericho’s to give the people a Champion that they could be proud of. He challenged Jericho to a ROH Title Match on Tuesday Dynamite, and he accepted.
Jericho said he would defeat Castle, and all would hail The Ocho. After a flash cut, Nyla Rose made her entrance for the next match. Anna Jay A.S. was already in the ring. This match is for the stolen AEW TBS Championship.
2. Anna Jay A.S. vs. Nyla Rose: Anna landed some strikes out of the gate, but Nyla quickly put her down with a couple of scoop slams and a leg drop. Nyla attempted a cannonball in the corner, but Anna moved out of the way…[c]
My Take: Dalton Castle got a nice reception from the crowd, but I’m not sure a Castle vs. Jericho match is going to drive a ton of viewers to a Tuesday Edition of Dynamite. It should be a quality match though, so there is that. Castle did a nice job trying to cram as much character work as he could in a short promo segment.
Nyla dominated during the commercial break, and hung her on the top rope as the show returned. She then went for a top rope knee, but Anna avoided it and then made a cover for a two count. Anna then applied her Queenslayer sleeper hold, but Nyla quickly escaped. Anna attempted a second rope flying nothing, and then got caught with the Beast Bomb and the win.
Nyla Rose defeated Anna Jay at 5:29
After the match, Vickie held up a 1-0 sign as Nyla held onto her unearned title. Jade Cargill then walked to the ring with Leila Gray and Keira Hogan. Security prevented Jade from getting to the ring, and Jade knocked them around. While Jade was occupied, Nyla, Vickie, and Marina Shafir escaped up the ramp.
We got a brief video package that revealed the envelope he gave Hook contained $1000 in cash to purchase the FTW title. Hook has torn it up. He said he would pursue the FTW title by any means necessary. After a flash cut back to the ring. Ethan Page and Isiah Kassidy were already in the ring for the next match. Page blindsided Kassidy with a pump kick to start things.
3. Isiah Kassidy vs. Ethan Page: Kassidy quickly recovered and dumped Page to the floor. He then performed a Tornillo on Page on the floor. Stokely provided a distraction, and Page recovered in the ring. He landed a Twist of Fate on Kassidy to mock Hardy, and then landed the Ego’s Edge to get the win.
Ethan Page defeated Isiah Kassidy at 2:12
After the match, we got a video package that put together Best Friends and Orange Kassidy vs. Death Triangle for the Trios Championships. OC wanted to get some gold for all the boys…[c]
My Take: The TBS Title theft is a silly gimmick, but it’s giving Jade something to do aside from sit around waiting for challengers. The match between Anna and Nyla was a bit clunky, including the finish. Page getting a dominant win over Kassidy seemed like the obvious path, but I’m not looking forward to another protracted Matt Hardy story getting a lot of TV Time.
Mark Henry asked Prince Nana how he thought it was going to work tonight against FTR and Shawn Spears. Nana started singing Ebony and Ivory, but Cage told him to shut up and started yelling about nobody being better than Cage and The Gates of Agony. Spears responded that Cage was a Charisma vacuum, and FTR said The Pinnacle is always on top.
In the arena, Shawn Spears and FTR made their entrances. They were followed by The Embassy (Prince Nana, Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, Toa Liona).
4. Shawn Spears, Dax Harwood, and Cash Wheeler vs. Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona: Kaun and Spears started the match. Spears got the early advantage with an abdominal stretch, followed by a hip toss and some 10 gestures. He then backed Kaun into the corner and delivered 10 punches. Spears then knocked Cage and Liona off the apron. He attempted to dive onto Kaun and Liona, but was caught. Harwood gave an assist with a basement dropkick and knocked over Kaun and Liona.
On the floor, Brian Cage got involved and roughed up Spears on the floor…[c]
Liona landed a running Senton on the apron onto Shawn Spears as the show returned. Cage then suplexed him back into the ring. Spears managed to recover and escape from Kaun to make the tag to Dax Harwood. He landed a Spinebuster on Kaun, but Cage shut him down with a lariat. Kaun then tagged Cage, who landed a top rope elbow. Cash Wheeler had to break it up.
Spears disposed of Liona and FTR applied dueling Sharpshooters to Kaun and Cage. Spears then applied a third to Prince Nana. Liona entered the ring and broke things up. He then landed a Uranage on Dax Harwood. The action spilled outside, where Liona crashed into the steps trying to take out Harwood.
Kaun tried to steal a pin on Harwood by grabbing the ropes, but Cash broke it up. After a series of blind tags, FTR landed a Hart Attack on Kaun. Spears then hit his C4 Death Valley Drive and got the win.
Shawn Spears, Dax Harwood, and Cash Wheeler defeated Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage, and Toa Liona at 11:18
After the match, Maria Kanellis-Bennett, Mike Bennett, and Matt Taven walked out on the stage. Kanellis said she was the First Lady of Professional Wrestling. She said the NJPW and ROH Titles belonged to them first, and FTR had never faced them. She said the entire company (ROH I assume) was built on their backs and they never get enough credit. She introduced Taven and Bennett as The Kingdom, and then the defeated Embassy Team attacked FTR and Spears in the ring.
Bennett, Taven, and Kanellis walked to ringside to join in the beat down, but Wardlow and Samoa Joe ran in for the save. The show quickly left the air as WarJoe hit the ring…
My Take: At this point I’m convinced that Tony Khan would hire 10 wrestlers to change the oil in his car. Nothing personal against Kanellis, Bennett, or Taven, but there’s far too many talents already in this company to continue to add more to the equation. On top of that you have the strange assumption that AEW fans are significantly invested in ROH stories and characters that were associated with the company during a time of significant decline in overall mindshare and popularity.
I’m sure the strategy here is attempting to convince Warner Brothers Discovery to add additional hours of TV dedicated to ROH, but it’s not doing much to excite me as a viewer. I’d much rather see a more tightly focused company get back to focusing on what made it originally standout in the wrestling marketplace, rather than continue to water itself down with additions that spread the creative energy too thin.
“I’m not sure a Castle vs. Jericho match is going to drive a ton of viewers to a Tuesday Edition of Dynamite. It should be a quality match though”
A quality match is a match that drives viewership, attendance, PPV buys, etc. Everything else is just dudes in their underwear play fighting. If Castle vs Jericho doesn’t do anything for viewership then it isn’t a quality match.
Agreed, Jason. AEW has lost its identity.
Too many belts, too many interpromotional tie-ins, too many factions, too many people doing play by play, too many things to announce all at once, too many people saying “shit”.
The world champion is wrestling a tag team match to open the show? This kind of booking is why Mox doesn’t feel like a world champion. His appesrances should feel special.
Kahn keeps trying to soft pilot ROH in AEW shows, but he would have been better off streaming the show, or making it a youtube show, to build a fanbase. People would seek out Joe and Jericho, if that was the only place to see them.
The whole company is just a bloated, directionless mess.
Although I am very much on the same page with him, Jake Barnett wrote tonight’s review.
AEW diehards cheering for some guy’s hard nipples came as a surprise?
Wow, a review by Barnett about Rampage that is nothing but either “it was good, but…” or just negative comments.
Hope people do watch Castle, as if they haven’t seen him against quality opponents, they are in for a treat as he’s really good in the ring. Other than that, fun episode, and I’ve given up hope on anyone reviewing Rampage on this site that doesn’t have a preconceived opinion before the show starts. If you doubt that’s true, remind yourself that the last comment he posted is nothing but an overview of negative comments about the show and the company.
Personally, there are a lot of wrestling fans out here, myself included, who enjoy Tony Khan bringing in talent that a lot of us either haven’t seen or haven’t seen a lot of.
Wonder if next weeks review will include a lot of “that was good, but..” or “that wasn’t good” comments after every match and segment. Hmm…
Wait, does this site have a pro WWE/anti AEW bias, or a pro AEW/anti WWE bias?
I’m so confused.
MJoseph, so…are you mad that he’s telling it like it is and actually pointing out the show’s flaws, rather than just riding Tony’s dick? Should Barnett just ignore the stupid shit AEW does and give it a glowing review the show in NO WAY deserves?