AEW Rampage results (12/6): Murphy’s review of Kazuchika Okada vs. Mark Briscoe, Ricochet vs. Komander, and Daniel Garcia vs. The Beast Mortos in Continental Classic matches

Excalibur welcomed viewers to the show as Mark Briscoe made his way to the ring. Justin Roberts was the ring announcer.

1.  Kazuchika Okada vs. Mark Briscoe in a Continental Classic blue league match. Excalibur was joined by Matt Menard, Tony Schiavone and Chris Jericho on commentary. Briscoe held the early advantage both in the ring and outside. Okada shifted the momentum by dodging a charging Briscoe and hitting a drop toe hold on Briscoe into a chair. Okada slammed Briscoe’s head into the ring post. Back in the ring, Okada hit a DDT. The two took turns exchanging blows until Okada hit a face plant. The show went to its first picture-in-picture commercial break. [C]

Coming out of the break, Okada was still on offense hitting a big boot that knocked Briscoe off the ring apron. Okada went for a super plex but Briscoe knocked Okada off the second rope. Briscoe made the hot babyface comeback. Briscoe appeared to have a cut over his right eye. Okada kicked Briscoe out of the corner but Briscoe responded with lariat and a fisherman buster for a near fall.

Down the stretch, Briscoe hit Froggy Bow for a close near fall and then a great closing sequence with Briscoe avoiding the Rainmaker and Okada blocking the Jay Driller. At one point, Okada countered into a tombstone piledriver for a near fall, but in the end, Okada finally hit the Rainmaker clothesline on Briscoe for the win.

Kazuchika Okada defeated Mark Briscoe in 14:24.

After the match, Okada played to the crowd….[C]

Don’s Take:  This was a good match and the final Rampages should be decent given that they’re including Continental Classic matches. I know they were limited by TV time constraints, but this left me wanting to see them run it back down the road. Fourteen minutes is a fair amount of time and in a world where AEW specializes in 15 minute-plus matches, I would’ve been OK with these two getting 5-10 more minutes.

After the break, Chris Jericho entered the ring and complimented his hat. He spoke about being accosted by Matt Cardona on Thursday’s episode of Ring of Honor and said that if Cardona was there, Cardona would have no idea what he’d to him. A graphic listed Jericho vs. Cardona for the ROH title at Final Battle on December 20^th at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

Matt Cardona came out and said that his “always ready” moniker isn’t just a gimmick and that he’s busted his ass for the last five years to reinvent himself. He said that at Final Battle, it won’t be about proving any critics wrong. It will be about proving himself right. Jericho agreed and said he respected him. Jericho added that Cardona is bigger now than he was even fifteen years ago. But despite all that, Cardona will always be “Zack.”

Jericho slapped Cardona, who returned the favor. Cardona attacked Jericho which brought on Bryan Keith. The two attacked Cardona with Jericho whipping him with the ROH title. Jericho then held Cardona up while Keith hit him with his belt buckle. Jericho knelt over Cardona with the ROH title to end the segment.

Don’s Take: Good stuff here. Admittedly, I’ve stopped watching ROH because it just hasn’t been “must-see” and moreso due to a lack of time. This match may have enough intrigue for me that I’ll at least check out the pay-per-view and go from there.

A Continental Classic promo aired which led to a World’s End advertisement with Jon Moxley and the Death Riders standing in the middle of a desert. Moxley said, “I’m going to show them all that nothing lasts forever”…

2. Daniel Garcia vs. The Beast Mortos in a Continental Classic blue league match. Chain wrestling to start with both wrestlers even. I got a kick out of Tony Schiavone saying that Garcia’s coming out party was when he beat Bryan Danielson in 2022. A bit of revisionist history there as it was a heel swerve which brought Garcia back to the Jericho Appreciation Society and he proceeded to flounder for the better part of two years.

The two battled on the floor with Garcia hitting the same drop toe hold spot onto a chair that Kazuchika Okada hit on Mark Briscoe in the previous match. Back in the ring, Mortos hit a Samoan Drop for a near fall as the show went to a picture-in-picture break. [C]

The two blocked suplexes. Garcia eventually hit his. The two exchanged moves down the stretch with Garcia hitting a top rope super plex for a near fall. Mortos hit a shoulder breaker and a lariat for a near fall. Mortos missed a corkscrew from the top tope, leading to another flurry of offense by both competitors. Mortos missed a discus lariat, allowing Garcia to scoop his legs and roll into a pinfall for the win.

Daniel Garcia defeated The Beast Mortos in about 10:20.

Don’s Take: A decent match. The creative team and announcers are really trying to strap the rocket to Garcia and make him seem like a big deal. Yes, he’s the TNT Champion and he’s solidly in the Continental Classic mix. They’re going to have to do much more from a character standpoint to undo the damage done from the past few years of directionless booking on the mid card. Cutting him away from Matt Menard would be a big help.

A video previewed the Continental Classic matches that will happen on Collision – Daniel Garcia vs. Mark Briscoe, Darby Allin vs. Komander and Kyle Fletcher vs. Kazuchika Okada…

Don’s Take: I’m looking forward to Fletcher vs. Okada. I’m a little surprised they didn’t save that for Dynamite but I guess they’re looking for eyeballs on Collision. I’m interested to see how they work that. Fletcher is emerging as a top act so I’m really not keen on seeing him take a loss here even if it is Okada. In addition, Okada just did a time-limit draw with Daniel Garcia so I doubt they’ll run that back so quickly.

3. “The Vendetta” Deonna Purrazzo and Taya Valkyrie vs. Ella Elizabeth and Freya States. This match was already in the ring with no televised entrances. This was a complete squash with Purrazzo eventually locking Elizabth in the Fujiwara arm bar for the submission. [C]

Deonna Purrazzo and Taya Valkyire defeated Ella Elizabeth and Freya States in about 2:24.

Don’s Take: This seemed a bit unnecessary but OK for what it was to further establish Purrazzo and Valkyrie alliance.

4. Komander (w/Alex Abrahantes) vs. Ricochet. An even match to start. Heading into the final picture-in-picture break of the evening, Ricochet dove onto Komander on the floor and hit him with a high cross body in the ring. [C]

Back from the break and Ricochet held the advantage but Komander countered with a roll-up for a near fall. Komander mounted a comeback, hitting a top rope moonsault on Ricochet to the floor. Back in the ring, Ricochet hit a Northern Lights suplex for a near fall. Ricochet countered with a brain buster and a running shooting star press for a near fall. Komander hit an impressive huracarana after jumping from one top rope to the other for a near fall. Komander also hit a 450 splash for a near fall. In doing the move, Komander looked like he had a bit of a hard time establishing his balance. Komander missed a top rope dive and Ricochet hit a suplex on the ring apron followed by his own 450 splash for a near fall. Ricochet hit a running Death Valley Driver followed by his running elbow finisher for the win.

Ricochet defeated Komander in about 13:37.

After the match, Ricochet celebrated as Rampage went off the air….

Don’s Take: A fine main event despite the predictable outcome. I wonder if the plan here is to have Ricochet win the tournament in an attempt to give him a rub and silence the critics. Don’t get me wrong, Ricochet is super talented. He just doesn’t stand out from the other high flyers in the company and is an average promo at best. For the AEW diehards, that might be enough.

The final month of Rampage will likely feature Continental Classic matches which is a good thing. It’s a shame they couldn’t find a way to make the show relevant the other 48 weeks of the year but there’s too much wrestling on anyway. That’s all for me. I’ll be back later with my review of Saturday’s Collision while John Moore has you covered with NXT Deadline. Until then!