By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Rampage (Episode 64)
Live from Uncasville, Connecticut at Mohegan Sun Arena
Aired October 28, 2022 on TNT
The Rampage opening aired… Pyro shot off on the stage while Jim Ross welcomed viewers to the show. Ross was joined by Excalibur and Tony Schiavone on commentary. Ross said they were going to have some fun…
Ring announcer Dasha Gonzalez introduced AEW World Jon Moxley, who made his side stage entrance while Matt Menard and Angelo Parker were already inside the ring. The broadcast team narrated highlights of Moxley and MJF being attacked by The Firm at the end of Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite…
1. AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. Matt Menard (w/Angelo Parker) in an eliminator match. Moxley quickly tossed Menard to ringside and ran him into the barricade. Excalibur ran through some upcoming Dynamite and Rampage matches and then announced that Mike Tyson would return to AEW on next week’s Rampage from Atlantic City. Menard picked up Moxley and ran him crotch-first into the ring post heading into a picture-in-picture break. [C]
Back inside the ring, Moxley rallied with a lariat clothesline. Moxley set Menard on the ropes and then suplexed him. Moxley applied an ankle lock, which Menard kick out of. Menard performed a sunset flip, but Moxley rolled through it and then delivered a knee to Menard’s head. Moxley covered Menard for a two count.
Moxley grabbed the arms of Menard and stomped his head. Parker ran in and Moxley put him down with a cutter. Menard ran Moxley into the corner and then rolled him up for a near fall while he held the tights. Menard returned the favor by grabbing the arms of Moxley and throwing weak kicks to his head. Excalibur said Menard is a sports entertainer who wasn’t used to delivering downward kicks. Moxley countered into a rear naked choke hold and got the submission win.
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defeated Matt Menard in 8:05 in an eliminator match.
After the match, Stokely Hathaway called for Moxley’s music to stop playing. Hathaway walked onto the stage with Lee Moriarty. He said that he knew Moxley was pissed and wanted to get his hands on him, but he wouldn’t do anything. Hathaway proposed that Moxley face Moriarty in a match on AEW Dynamite. Hathaway pointed to the big screen where a Moriarty promo aired. He spoke about Taiga Style (and was wearing a t-shirt with that name on it).
Moxley said Moriarty is a talented guy and added that the Blackpool Combat Club liked him. Moxley said Moriarty is hanging with the wrong crowd. He said that if Moriarty wanted a fight, all he had to do was ask. Moxley said Moriarty will never be the same again…
Powell’s POV: The Moxley and Menard match was enjoyable until the ridiculous finish. Menard isn’t used to throwing downward kicks because he’s a sports entertainer? Ugh. The sports entertainment mockery continues to feel dated and weak. It’s a shame because the match was fine until the joke finish.
Excalibur announced an AEW Title Eliminator Tournament that would conclude at Full Gear with the winner earning a shot at the Winter Is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite. Excalibur announced Dante Martin as the first entrant in the tournament… Ross hyped Keith Lee as coming up after the break… [C]
Jade Cargill was shown doing pull-ups. She spoke about Nyla Rose and how she would show everybody why she is that bitch…
2. Keith Lee vs. Serpentico. Lee’s entrance was televised while Serpentico was already inside the ring. Serpentico chopped Lee, who grabbed him and performed a sit-out powerbomb. Lee covered Serpentico and got the three count. Ross said you win if you had Lee winning in under a minute in an office pool…
Keith Lee beat Serpentico in 0:15.
Tony Schiavone interviewed Keith Lee in the ring and congratulated him on earning the tag team title shot at Full Gear. Lee was interrupted by The Acclaimed’s entrance music. Anthony Bowens came out and apologized that there wouldn’t be a Max Caster rap, but they had a question that Lee had the answer to. They questioned where Billy Gunn was and noted that Swerve Strickland wasn’t present.
Schiavone told Caster and Bowens that Gunn had a family issue. Swerve appeared on the big screen and revealed that he had Gunn tied to a chair. Swerve said that when he and Lee challenge for the AEW Tag Team Titles, Gunn wouldn’t be there. Strickland asked if Gunn knew why. Strickland pulled out a pliers. Gunn pleaded with him not to use it. Swerve put the pliers behind Gunn’s back where the camera couldn’t see it. Gunn cried out in agony.
Caster and Bowens ran out out of the ring and headed to the back. Lee looked bothered by the footage…
Powell’s POV: So Swerve is a psychopathic lunatic now. Yep, that happened. Will Billy Gunn show real commitment to the story by having one of his fingers or thumbs removed?!? Anyway, the only thing I like about this is the conflicting personalities of Swerve and Lee. I went from hoping that they would split up and feud to now hoping that they remain a tag team because I enjoy their act. Well, at least I do when Swerve isn’t acting like an American Horror Story villain.
Footage aired of The Jericho Appreciation Society’s backstage promo from Dynamite with Chris Jericho challenging any former ROH champion, and Tay Melo saying she had unfinished business with Madison Rayne that would be addressed on Rampage…
Tay Melo made her entrance with Sammy Guevara and they kissed on the stage. Madison Rayne’s entrance followed. Schiavone was back on commentary and stated that Keith Lee has always been a very open and honest man, whereas Swerve is a different kind of cat…
3. Tay Melo (w/Sammy Guevara) vs. Madison Rayne. Melo placed Rayne in a seated position on the top rope. Melo went to the second rope, picked up Rayne, and slammed her onto the top turnbuckle heading into a partial PIP break. [C]
Rayne put Melo down with a DDT coming out of the break. Rayne threw punches and chops and then performed a neckbreaker for a two count. Melo went to the ropes and was greeted with a couple of Rayne punches. Rayne joined Melo on the ropes and performed a cutter style move from the ropes and then covered her for a two count.
Melo came back and slammed Rayne to the mat, which led to a two count. Rayne stuffed a Gotch style piledriver. Rayne hit a sliding lariat for a two count. Melo shoved Rayne into the corner. Both women traded strikes. Melo threw a high knee in the corner and then hit her TayKO finisher for the win…
Tay Melo beat Madison Rayne in 9:25.
After the match, Sammy entered the ring and made out with Melo…
Powell’s POV: A decent match. The crowd was quiet, but they also came to life to clap in support of Rayne at one point. It was hard to blame the crowd for not being fully invested since the match felt fairly random.
Backstage, Lexi Nair interviewed Ethan Page and asked him what he and The Firm were thinking when they attacked MJF. Page said MJF changed the plan and decided that he could do it all by himself. Page said The Firm made MJF the number one contender and was going to make him the AEW World Champion. Page said they did a favor for Jon Moxley because they made sure MJF won’t be going into the title match at one hundred percent. Page announced that he will be in the eliminator tournament. Page said he would win it and then do what MJF won’t be able to do – beat Jon Moxley. Page closed by saying good luck, Max. Nair hyped the Rampage main event… [C]
Mark Henry hosted his usual split screen segment with the Wardlow on one side of the screen and Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, and Maria Kanellis on the other. Yes, Taven worked in his eye-rolling Melvin insult that he just can’t let go of. Wardlow said he would throw in an extra couple of powerbombs to properly welcome The Kingdom to Wardlow’s World…
The broadcast team ran through the Dynamite and Rampage lineups for next week… Entrances for the main event took place…
4. Wardlow vs. Matt Taven (w/Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis) for the TNT Championship. Ross said The Kingdom are great singings because they have track records and are hungry. Taven put Wardlow down on one knee with a dropkick. Taven mugged for the camera while saying his catchphrase. Wardlow was back on his feet and tossed Taven across the ring.
Wardlow took the match to ringside. Maria and Bennett distracted Wardlow and then Taven, who had returned to the ring, dove over the top rope onto Wardlow. Bennett ran Wardlow’s knee into the steps. Back inside the ring, Taven performed a top rope splash onto of Wardlow’s bad left leg heading into a PIP break. [C]
Wardlow made his comeback and turned Taven inside out with a clothesline. Wardlow followed up with a spinebuster and then played to the crowd. Maria distracted Wardlow to allow Taven to trip Wardlow and go for a pin, but Wardlow powered him up and powerbombed him. Wardlow performed four more powerbombs and then placed one foot on Taven and pinned him. “Welcome to Rampage,” Ross said.
Wardlow defeated Matt Taven in 9:00 to retain the TNT Title.
After the match, Mike Bennett chop blocked Wardlow’s bad leg. Samoa Joe made his entrance and beat up both members of the Kingdom and then cleared them from the ring.
Powerhouse Hobbs made his entrance. Excalibur wondered who Hobbs had in his sights. Ross said anyone he wants. Brian Cage, Kaun, and Toa attacked Samoa Joe and Wardlow from behind while Prince Nana watched from ringside. Hobbs joined in on the beatdown. Hobbs picked up the TNT Title belt and held it over his head. Excalibur went into auctioneer mode by plugging upcoming matches, and then Ross closed out the show…
Powell’s POV: Wardlow retaining was the right move, but I am surprised that he was so dominant and Taven wasn’t protected in the slightest. They followed that up by having Samoa Joe beat up Taven and Bennett by himself. It’s hard to be excited about The Kingdom in AEW even though they just recently signed with the company.
Overall, this was a slightly above average edition of Rampage with more star power thanks to Moxley working the opener and Wardlow working the main event. It’s still felt like a mostly missable episode for those who didn’t see the show live. In fact, if I was going to recommend something from the show, it would probably be the Swerve Strickland and Billy Gunn segment for all the wrong reasons. AEW has a ridiculously deep roster and they should be able to do more with Rampage. I will have more to say about that and the show later tonight in our weekly Rampage audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
That was… bad. And I used to be AEW’s biggest supporter. What do rankings even matter anymore? Wtf was that Swerve segment (awful). TK better wake up quick bc this sucks. Where’s Miro btw?
I can’t say I’ve watched this show in months maybe a year… But the reviews I read I generally not that great
Rather than pushing a show that doesn’t seem to have much traction… Why doesn’t Tony take his obsession with ROH… And make this show… “AEW presents ring of honor”… Then you could take the ROH stuff off of his main show… And actually maybe give this show an identity