AEW Rampage results (9/20): Murphy’s review of Nick Wayne vs. Rocky Romero vs. Lio Rush vs. Kip Sabian in a four-way, ROH Champion Mark Briscoe vs. Bryan Keith, Wheeler Yuta vs. The Butcher

The show opened with Excalibur, Matt Menard, and Ian Riccaboni checking in on commentary. Arkady Aura was the ring announcer…

1. ROH Champion Mark Briscoe vs. Bryan Keith in a non-title match. Briscoe controlled the early part of the match with a mix of wrestling and redneck kung fu. One notable spot was Briscoe dropping the elbow onto Keith from the ring apron. Briscoe set a chair up in the ring to do his spot where he uses it as a launching pad to dive over the top rope. Keith intercepted the chair and as referee Aubrey Edwards went to remove it, Keith it a low blow to gain the advantage. After several minutes, Keith suplexed Briscoe on the floor and the show went to a picture-in-picture break. [C]

After the commercial break, both competitors took turns on offense, in addition to exchanging blows and chops. Of note, Briscoe hit Keith with a superplex from the top rope for a near fall. The ending saw Briscoe hit Keith with a lariat, followed by a Jay Driller for the win.

ROH Champion Mark Briscoe defeated Bryan Keith in a non-title match in 10:20.

After the match, Chris Jericho attacked Briscoe with a bat. Orange Cassidy came out for the save but was stopped by Big Bill. Kyle O’Reilly came out and got the upper hand on Bill for a bit before Bill retaliated with a choke slam. The Learning Tree stood tall to end the segment. [C]

Don’s Take: As I’ve said, I enjoy Briscoe’s crazy man act. Older fans may remember “The Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant. Briscoe promos remind me a little of those. He’s not been in a serious feud but fun to watch. I don’t know that a feud between the Conglomeration and the Learning Tree does anything for me, but let’s see where it leads. Big Bill is a fellow high school alumnus so I’ll always be a fan.

Don’s Take: As I said last week, I’m liking Yuta’s character development here as the conflicted and distracted member of the Blackpool Combat Club. I’ll be curious to see how this plays out Grand Slam, as he is scheduled to join Claudio Castagnoli and Pac to defend the AEW Trios Title. If this makes him more prominent as a character, it’s a well-done angle. If this just leads him back to serving as Bryan Danielson’s sidekick, it will be a waste.

Backstage, “MxM Collection” Mason Madden and Mansoor revealed that they have stolen Max Caster’s “Best Wrestler Alive” jacket. Madden promised that the jacket would get an extreme makeover.

3. Hikaru Shida vs. Harley Cameron (w/Saraya). Shida controlled the early part of the match and had Cameron in the corner. Shida climbed the turnbuckle and began hitting Cameron with punches but was dropped on the top turnbuckle. Cameron held the advantage through the picture-in-picture break [C]

After the break, the two exchanged the advantage. At one point, Saraya was going to attack Shida with her kendo stick. That attempt was Jamie Hayter. Shida hit a Falcon Arrow for the win.

Hikaru Shida defeated Harley Cameron in about 9:00:

After the match, Saraya got on the mic and challenged Hayter to a “Saraya’s Rules” match at Grand Slam. Hayter accepted. [C]

Don’s Take: I’m hoping this program between Hayter and Saraya is done quickly as Hayter can provide more value to the women’s division than this feud. No offense to Saraya and Cameron as I do think the act has something, but they just haven’t been positioned prominently. And the same applies to Shida. She showed a glimpse of a heel turn. I’m hoping she doesn’t join the Nyla Roses and Lance Archers of the world who get brought in for a quick TV match here and there.

4. Roderick Strong and The Beast Mortos vs. Joe Keys and Marcus Mathers. This was a complete squash match with Strong hitting Mathers with a knee strike, followed by Mortos hitting a Samoan Drop. Strong then hit a knee strike on Keys and both he and Mortos pinned their opponents simultaneously.

Roderick Strong and The Beast Mortos defeated Joe Keys and Marcus Mathers in about 1:23.

Don’s Take: Straightforward as Strong is being built for an FTW Title match with Hook.

Down the stretch, each had their spots again. At one point, Romero hit his clothesline spot followed by Sliced Bread on Rush. In another spot, Rush went for a frog splash on Sabian and jumped right into a cutter by Wayne. The finish saw Sabian hit Romero with an inverted driver. Wayne threw Sabian out of the ring and stole the pin for the win.

Nick Wayne defeated Rocky Romero, Lio Rush, and Kip Sabian in a four-way in about 10:47.

Christian, Killswitch, and Mother Wayne looked on approvingly as Rampage went off the air…

Don’s Take: There’s a babyface run in Wayne’s future, but this cocky babyface persona is really fun. I don’t think he’s breaking off from Christian Cage anytime soon, but he could keep the same persona and work on his own. The sky is the limit if booked properly.

A decent episode. If you’ve read the reports this week, the show’s future is in question? Does it stay on TNT? Does it move to another network with a new name? Does it go away? Time will tell and I think we’ll have answers fairly soon.

That’s all for now. I’ll be back on Friday for another episode. Until then!