By Colin McGuire, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@McGMondays)
AEW Rampage (Episode 47)
Taped on June 29, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan at Little Caesars Arena
Aired July 1, 2022 on TNT
Jim Ross welcomed everyone in and said the commentary team will be he, Tony Schiavone and Excalibur. Hangman Page’s music then hit. Darby Allin’s music hit. Wrestlers were already in the ring and the bell rang.
1. The 20-man Royal Rampage for a shot at the Interim AEW World Championship. Powerhouse Hobbs and Tony Nese were the only other wrestlers in the ring and the four wrestlers fought in two rings. In about 30 seconds, Ricky Starks made his way to the ring as the next entrant. Starks faced off and Page faced off and exchanged blows. Allin eliminated Nese via a back body drop.
Tony Nese was eliminated via Darby Allin.
The Butcher’s music hit and he made his way to the ring. The Butcher whipped Darby around. John Silver’s music hit and he ran to the ring and went after Hobbs and Starks. Silver and Page teamed up up slam Hobbs. Silver and Page hugged. Page teased throwing Silver out and Silver returned the favor. Max Caster then made his entrance with a rap that included a jab at someone hugging Tony Khan. Rush’s music hit after the rap and made his entrance.
Silver chopped Rush, but Rush came back with a suplex. The Blade’s music then hit while Rush slammed Page. The Butcher and Blade worked over Darby and Caster in respective corners. Penta Oscuro’s music hit and Penta made his way tot he ring, but Rush met him in in the aisle. Penta and Rush fought outside the rings. Starks ran at Silver to eliminate him.
John Silver was eliminated via Ricky Starks.
Swerve’s music hit and he came in to work over The Blade. Swerve then kicked Caster to eliminate him.
Max Caster was eliminated via Swerve.
Keith Lee’s music hit and Lee made his way to the ring. Lee and Swerve had a fist bump and we went to the first PIP [c].
Back from the break, Matt Hardy was in the ring and Dustin Rhodes’s music hit. Dustin landed a snap power-slam on Starks once he hit the ring, Penta and Rush faced off again. The two fought not he apron and Penta pulled Rush out for the elimination.
Penta Oscuro and Rush were eliminated via each other.
Frankie Kazarian made his entrance and went after Darby. The Butcher and The Blade worked together to throw Matt Hardy out.
Matt Hardy was eliminated via The Butcher and The Blade.
Dante Martin’s music hit and Martin went after Starks. Takeshita’s music hit and he made his way to the ring to go after Swerve. Takeshita hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Darby and then landed a German Suplex on both Swerve and Darby at the same time, which was nuts. The Blade then clotheslined Kazarian over the top.
Frankie Kazarian was eliminated via The Blade.
Brody King made his entrance. King went after Rhodes. The final entrant was Orange Cassidy. Brody King threw Dante Martin out of the ring while Cassidy made his entrance.
Dante Martin was eliminated via Brody King.
Cassidy and Takeshita faced off in the ring and Takeshita hit a clothesline. Dustin Ropes was then thrown out.
Dustin Rhodes was eliminated via Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs.
The Butcher and The Blade pushed Takeshita out.
Takeshita was eliminated via The Butcher and The Blade.
Swerve threw Cassidy out. Hobbs threw Lee out. The Butcher and Blade threw Swerve out. Swerve was eliminated. Starks was eliminated by Page. King eliminated Page. Darby eliminated The Butcher and The Blade. We were left with Darby and Brody and Brody power-bombed Darby. Brody rag-dolled Darby. Brody landed a cannonball. King put Darby on the top and chopped him. Darby bit King’s hands to try and eliminate him, but King came back and lifted Darby onto the apron. King sank in a sleeper, Darby passed out and King dropped him for the win.
Brody King won the 20-man Royal Rampage to get a shot at Jon Moxley’s Interim World Title in 22:46.
McGuire’s Musings: Holy wow. I tried to keep up with each elimination but they went through a rapid-fire phase where those eliminations were coming every five seconds. I love the result. That’s not just because I’m a big fan of Brody King’s work, but this gives a completely fresh matchup to the world title picture, even if it’s only the interim world title. I’m outrageously curious to see how that matchup goes because both of those guys are brawlers and King’s stuff can oftentimes look like it’s on another level, even from Jon Moxley. All of that’s the positive. The negative? What the hell were the rules to this thing again?
Back from the break, Alex Marvez tried to interview Hook, but … yeah, you know how that went. Hook spoke a bit, and said anything essential is invisible to the eyes. So, hey. Looks like Hook is profound. We went back to the ring for the next match.
2. AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto in a non-title match. Goto and Nick began the match and went back and forth for a few minutes. Matt came into the ring, but Goto and Yoshi-Hashi worked over both Bucks. Ultimately, Matt did his series of German Suplexes spot. Nick hit a splash onto Yoshi-Hashi and Goto on the outside and we got our second PIP [c].
Back from break, Goto was working over Matt and hit a bulldog for a two-count. Nick tagged in and ran at Goto to land a knee strike. The Bucks worked over goto with knees and went for a cover, but Yoshi-Hashi broke it up. Yoshi-Hashi ran in and the two challengers hit a headhunter combination for a two-count on Nick. Yoshi-Hashi was pulled outside and Nick was alone in the ring, but Matt came in and took back control with a super-kick. Yoshi-Hashi ran into a super-kick and all four guys were down.
Goto lifted Nick and then Yoshi-Hashi hit a chop and a super-kick of his own. Goto lifted Nick again and Yoshi-Hashi kicked Nick for a two-count. Matt came in for a blindside super-kick and the two super-kicked Goto. The Bucks hit the BTE Trigger on Yoshi-Hashi. Nick leapt over both rings to land a splash on Goto. From there, the Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver on Yoshi-Hashi for the win.
The Young Bucks defeated Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto via pinfall in 10:37.
After the match, we got a promo from Jonathan Gresham, who kind of/sort of called out Claudio and Danielson. Gresham is going to defend the title next week on Rampage and he said he will show people why he’s one of the best technical wrestlers in the world.
McGuire’s Musings: The type of match you would expect from the Bucks and Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi. I was actually sort of delighted that the challengers got as much love as they did because all told, they deserved it, and it felt like the Bucks wanted to give it to them. As for the Gresham promo, I am beyond thrilled that he’s finally getting some TV time. He is the ROH champion, after all. With any luck, this will lead to Ring Of Honor actually getting some love in this weird, wild, inconsistent mix.
Back from break, Toni storm said she’s not going to stop until she gets back to Thunder Rosa for the championship. Rose, meanwhile, almost cussed, but perhaps was scared that Danhausen would curse her. We went to the ring and Rose was accompanied by Marina Shafir.
3. Nyla Rose vs. Toni Storm. The two locked up and Rose got the best of it. Rose worked over Storm’s arm. Storm went to run the ropes, but Shafir pulled the ropes and Storm fell to the outside. Shafir then kicked Storm as we went to our final PIP of the night [c].
Back from break, Storm landed a double DDT on Rose and Shafir on the outside. Back in the ring, Storm landed a splash for a two-count. Rose went for a Beast Bomb, but Storm rolled through, but Rose sat down for a two-count. The two got to their feet and traded strikes. Rose landed a super-kick for a two-count. Rose draped Storm over the top rope and went to the top, but Storm moved. Back inside the ring, Storm hit a German Suplex for a two-count. Storm hit a tornado DDT while kicking Shafir, who was on the apron. Storm then landed a pendulum DDT for the win.
Toni Storm defeated Nyla Rose via pinfall in 9:48.
After the match, Shafir attacked Storm, but Thunder Rosa ran down for the save. Rosa and Storm shook hands to end the show.
McGuire’s Musings: A fine match for what it was. I’m a fan of both wrestlers here, so I was entertained, but I can also understand how people might have found this too formulaic. Rose took control for the bulk of the match. Storm made her comeback. Shafir tried to interfere. Storm overcame all of it to win. I’m happy they main-vented the show and I’m even more happy that they had a good match, but a lot of the action was thrown away due to the final commercial break of the night. I enjoyed what we saw; we just didn’t see enough.
In all, this was a wild episode of Rampage. The battle royal, which took up more than half the show, was obviously the main attraction here, and for good reason. I’m a huge fan of the winner and I’m a huge fan of AEW’s ability to make something feel fresh in a time of injury, uncertainty and potential staleness. I’ll have a bunch to say during my audio review, but you already knew that. Happy holiday weekend, to everyone in the U.S.
McGuire back with his “I HAVE to find something negative” reviews. Wonderful.