By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
AEW Rampage (Episode 161)
Chicago, Illinois at NOW Arena
Aired live September 6, 2024 on TNT
Rampage opened with the last 12 minutes of the eight-man tag team match featuring Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, and Pac against Kazuchika Okada, Matther Jackson, Nicholas Jackson, and Jack Perry.
Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuinness were on commentary…
Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, and Pac defeated Kazuchika Okada, Matther Jackson, Nicholas Jackson, and Jack Perry.
Don’s Take: Tagging in here for my usual spot. Jason Powell’s Collision report has all the details on this match, which was a good one to set the stage for tomorrow’s pay-per-view.
Lexy Nair was backstage with the Outrunners and Erica Leigh. Nair congratulated them on their first AEW win. As they were celebrating, Jon Moxley and Marina Shafir attacked from behind. Moxley said this is what he was talking about…
1. Queen Aminata vs. Missa Kate. Matt Menard joined the commentary team. There was a weird shot of backstage which I assume was an error. Serena Deeb was shown looking on from backstage. This was a quick squash match with Aminata hitting a head butt for the win. [C]
Queen Aminata defeated Missa Kate in 1:10.
Don’s Take: A quick spotlight win for Aminata and I’m guessing we’re getting the pairing of Deeb and Aminata given Deeb’s proposal last week on Collision for them to team up.
Taz, Excalibur and Christopher Daniels provided voice overs during a preview video for MJF vs. Daniel Garcia at All Out…
2. Dustin Rhodes, Sammy Guevara, and Hologram vs. “The Dark Order” Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds and John Silver. The two teams exchanged moves. Heading into the picture-in-picture break, the babyfaces were break dancing and posing in the ring until the Dark Order pulled Rhodes and Guevara to the floor. [C]
Back from the break and the heels worked over Guevara until he made the hot tag to Rhodes who cleaned house. Ariya Daivari, Josh Woods, Tony Nese and Mark Sterling were shown looking on from backstage. After back and forth action down the stretch, Rhodes hit Reynolds with the Canadian Destroyer. Guevara hit a cutter on Reynolds from the second rope and Hologram finished Reynolds off with a 450 splash.
Dustin Rhodes, Sammy Guevara, and Hologram defeated “The Dark Order” Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds and John Silver in 7:31.
Don’s Take: I’m happy Rhodes is getting a title run but this was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It looks like the Premier Athletes are next up to challenge Rhodes and Guevara for the ROH Tag Titles. My enthusiasm has not increased.
Juice Robinson, Colten Gunn, and Austin Gunn were backstage. Robinson talked about the importance of wins and momentum. Austin complained that he didn’t have a nickname. Bishop Kaun, Toa Liona and Brian Cage entered. Kaun called Austin an ass boy, a runner up in the Top Prospect tournament and a former champion. Austin recalled beating them for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Titles. Cage said it was because they were outnumbered and challenged the Bang Bang Gang to a match next week… [C]
A graphic listed upcoming events while Tony Schiavone plugged tickets being on sale…
Lexy Nair was backstage and announced that during the All Out Zero Hour pre-show, Top Flight and Action Andretti would meet Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, and The Beast Mortos, as well as Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, and Roderick Strong. The three teams argued to set up this match.
3. “House of Black” Buddy Matthews and Brody King vs. “MxM Collection” Mansoor and Mason Madden. The early part of the match was basic chain wrestling. MxM had judges at ringside who would give MxM high scores for just about everything and low scores to the House of Black. Mildly entertaining. King crossbody blocked Mansoor as the show took its final picture-in-picture break. [C]
King traded blows with Madden as the action broke down between all four men down the stretch. The finish saw Matthews hitting a top rope superplex on Mansoor. Matthews gave Mansoor to King, who delivered a reverse piledriver for the win…
“House of Black” Buddy Matthews and Brody King defeated “MxM Collection” Mansoor and Mason Madden in about 11:40.
Don’s Take: A fun main event, though I continue to feel that Black and Matthews deserve something more prominent. They are spinning their wheels at this point.
Will Ospreay cut a backstage promo talking about his history with Pac and how he was always told that he was good, but he was no Pac. He promised Pac he never forgot about him and that he has surpassed him in ability. He promised to prove it All Out…
Tony Schiavone ran down the All Out card to end Rampage…
Don’s Take: A throwaway edition. I have no problem with AEW moving Collision to Fridays when the pay-per-view is on Saturday. Rampage attempted to hook viewers by having the Collision main event spill into the show for about 12 minutes. The rest was pointless unless you like wrestling for wrestling’s sake. That said, we’ll do it all again next week with another edition of Rampage. Until then!
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