By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
AEW Rampage (Episode 168)
Taped October 23, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah at Maverik Center
Aired live October 25, 2024 on TNT
The Rampage opening aired. Excalibur welcomed viewers to the show and was joined on commentary by Tony Schiavone and Matt Menard. Roderick Strong was on commentary for the opening match as the participants were already in the ring…
1. “The Undisputed Kingdom” Matt Taven and Mike Bennett vs. “Shane Taylor Promotions” Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarity vs. “Gates of Agony” Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona in a three-way tag team match. Taven and Lee Moriarty exchanged moved in the early part of the match with Taven maintaining the advantage. Liona and Kaun took over on Taven for a bit before he hot tagged Bennett. As the show went to its first picture-in-picture break, Taylor overpowered Bennett and held the advantage. [C]
Coming out of the break, Bennett hot tagged Taven who cleaned house. Eventually, the Gates of Agony went on a tear attacking all the teams. They had laid out Moriarty but Bennett threw them both out of the ring. This allowed Taven to hit the frog splash on Moriarty for the win.
The Undisputed Kingdom defeated Shane Taylor Promotions and the Gates of Agony in about 9:02.
Strong celebrated with Taven and Bennett in the ring…
Don’s Take: A fine match for what it was but as we’ve said, none of these teams have been made to feel important in quite some time. Hopefully that will change as any one of these teams has the talent to be relevant if booked properly.
Renee Paquette was backstage with Beef, who spoke about his match with The Beast Mortos. JD Drake returned and wished Beef good luck… [C]
Renee Paquette was backstage with Roderick Strong, The Beast Mortos, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett. Strong encouraged Mortos to side with them, which caused Mortos to grunt throughout the segment…
2. Anna Jay vs. Leila Grey. Dante Martin, Darius Martin, and Action Andretti accompanied Grey out onto the stage and returned to the back. A brief match, with Grey getting in some offense, but it was largely a showcase match for Jay, who hit the Widow’s Peak for the win…
Anna Jay defeated Leila Grey in about 3:14.
Deonna Purrazzo and Taya Valkyrie were shown looking on….
A video package recapped Dynamite…
3. The Beast Mortos (w/Rush, Dralistico) vs. Beef (w/JD Drake). Mortos held the advantage for several minutes before Beef attempted a comeback. Mortos regained the advantage with a headbutt as the show went to a picture-in-picture break. [C]
Down the stretch, Beef went on an offensive run, hitting Mortos with a series of punches and power moves. Mortos retaliated and gained several near falls. The ending saw Beef on the second rope. Dralistico distracted referee extraordinaire, Rick Knox, allowing Rush to crotch Beef on the turnbuckle. This allowed Mortos to pick Beef and deliver and awkward looking piledriver type maneuver for the win.
The Beast Mortos defeated Beef in about 10:05.
After the match, Rush, Dralistico and Mortos attacked Beef. Drake looked conflicted but eventually made his way back to the ring before he was also attacked and laid out by the trio…
Don’s Take: Normally I’d say they’re keeping Mortos around for the next time he has to put someone over, but his involvement in Jake Roberts’ new faction may just help to build up his stock a bit.
Renee Paquette was backstage with Harley Cameron, who cut a promo on Thunder Rosa after being punched in the face by her on Dynamite… [C]
A video package previewed this Wednesday’s “Fright Night” edition of Dynamite…
4. Nick Wayne (w/Mother Wayne) vs. Ricochet. This match actually started out slower than you would expect with Wayne employing classic heel stalling tactics and the two engaging in chain wrestling. Wayne gained the advantage on the floor when Ricochet missed a dive but went to punch Wayne. Mother Wayne caused a distraction allowing Wayne to hit a big boot on Ricochet before throwing him over the barricade as the show went to a picture-in-picture break. [C]
Coming out of the break, both exchanged a series of innovative spots and near falls. Down the stretch, Wayne missed Wayne’s World enabling Ricochet to hit Wayne with a knee strike and a Vertigo piledriver in the center ring. Ricochet followed it up with an elbow strike for the win.
Ricochet defeated Nick Wayne in about 13:16.
After the match, Konosuke Takeshita came out onto the stage and taunted Ricochet with the AEW International Title as Rampage went off the air…
Don’s Take: I’m high on Nick Wayne and I’d normally not be a fan of him taking too many losses, but the right wrestler went over here. Ricochet on Rampage would also throw up a red flag for me, but he’s very much in the AEW International Title mix, so this was fine.
It was another decent episode as it appears we’re winding down on Rampage by the end of the year. I’ll be back tomorrow night to cover Collision. Until then!
Anna Jay is challenging Mariah May on next week’s Collision so before Full Gear