By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
AEW Rampage (Episode 170)
Taped November 6, 2024 in Manchester, New Hampshire at SNHU Arena
Aired live November 8, 2024 on TNT
Excalibur welcomed viewers to the show and was joined on commentary by Tony Schiavone and Matt Menard. Hikaru Shida made her way to the ring for the opening match…
1. Hikaru Shida vs. Viva Van. Van was already in the ring and did not get a televised entrance. This was a brief yet competitive match. Shida controlled early on with basic chain wrestling. Van clearly played the heel role and held the advantage for several minutes before Shida countered with a dropkick from the second rope. Down the stretch, it was back and forth with Shida hitting a knee strike and Van hitting a cross body, both for near falls. Shida hit Van with the Falcon Arrow for the win.
Hikaru Shida defeated Viva Van in about 7:14.
Don’s Take: Good to see Shida back on AEW television. They had teased a heel run prior to her loss to Mercedes Mone at All Out and I’m wondering of we’re going to see a reboot of that or if she’s being primed for a high-profile match and loss. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think she’s met Mariah May since May won the title, so that would be the logical direction.
Renee Paquette was backstage with Harley Cameron. Paquette said that Cameron has had quite the year. Cameron went through everything she’s been through in 2024 and started to get into her future before Paquette said they were out of time. Cameron proclaimed that we would feel her wrath.
2. “The Dark Order” Alex Reynolds and John Silver vs. “The Undisputed Kingdom” Matt Taven and Mike Bennett vs. “The Infantry” Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo (w/Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, Trish Adora) in a three-way tag team match. The Infantry attacked the Undisputed Kingdom to start the match and then brawled with the Dark Order. The two teams squared off for the first several minutes before Bennett tagged in. Heading into the first picture-in-picture break of the night, Bravo held the clear advantage over Bennett, particularly after an attack on the floor in which Bravo and Dean threw Bennett into the ringside barricade.
Coming out of the break, The Infantry continued to work over Bennett. At one point, Bennett was close to tagging Taven but Bravo knocked Taven off the apron. Bennett hit a spine buster and went to the empty corner. He then turned around and was able to hot tag Silver who cleaned house. Eventually Taven tagged in and went on the offense. At one point, he hit a moonsault while everyone was on the floor. He attempted to finish off Bravo with a frog splash but was distracted by Moriarty which allowed Dean to knock him off the top tope. Down the stretch, Taven and Bennett were left in the ring with Reynolds. They hit a double team power bomb/cutter combo for the win.
The Undisputed Kingdom defeated The Dark Order and The Infantry in a three-way tag match in 9:27.
After the match, Brian Cage came out to distract Taven and Bennett which led to Lance Archer attacking both men from behind. Archer hit his Blackout finisher on Taven. Then, he and Cage hit Bennett with a chokeslam/power bomb combo.
Don’s Take: I’m into the Cage/Archer tag team as they remind me of the Skyscrapers back in the late-80s NWA days. That said, while the matches will be good, Taven and Bennett haven’t been built up enough to where I’m anticipating this match.
Lexy Nair was backstage with Roderick Strong. Nair asked him about Cage and Archer attacking Taven and Bennett but Strong pivoted to talking about MJF. He said he wasn’t surprised that MJF hired the Don Callis Family to do his dirty work. He was interrupted by Jake Roberts who told Strong to back off from distracting the Beast Mortos, as LFI had an important match upcoming the Acclaimed. Strong said that he and Mortos were “boys” and said if he had a problem with him, they could meet on Collision so that Strong could get another win before he faces MJF. Roberts called him a fool and walked off. [C]
A vignette aired with Deonna Purrazzo and Taya Valkarie in a café setting. They are apparently going by “The Vendetta” now and talked about getting revenge and sending a message to the entire women’s roster.
3. “Top Flight” Dante Martin and Darius Martin (w/Leila Grey, Action Andretti) vs. JD Drake and Beef. This one was back and forth for the first several minutes as Drake and Beef worked over Dante. Private Party was shown looking on. Dante tagged in Darius who had the advantage on Drake heading into a picture-in-picture break. [C]
Coming out of the break, Dante had just tagged in and was going after Drake. Down the stretch, both teams brawled. In the ring, Beef missed a splash on Dante. The Martins hit a DDT/leg sweep finisher on Drake for the win.
Top Flight defeated JD Drake and Beef in about 8:26..
All four men were shaking hands afterward when Lio Rush came out and exchanged some words with the Top Flight crew. This was cut short as the show went to a picture-in-picture break. {C]
Don’s Take: As I don’t think this feud will get much higher than mid-card, I’m hoping they move ahead with whatever the plan is to break up the Top Flight faction. While it doesn’t do anything for me, Rush does play a decent, annoying heel if that’s where they are going. Andretti could also have potential in that role, but that has been unproven to date.
4. Komander (w/Alex Abranantes) vs. Lio Rush. The action in this match was what you thought it would be, back and forth from the start. Rush dove onto Komander on the floor as the show went to its final picture-in-picture break. [C]
After the break, we saw the same type of action down the stretch, with a series of hot moves and near falls. In the end, it was Rush with a bottom rope stunner followed by a frog splash for the win.
Lio Rush defeated Komander in about 12:08.
Rush celebrated as Rampage went off the air…
Don’s Take: This was a rematch from late October where Komander had gotten the win and it sounds like there will be a third match. This one was good but online reports note that many fans left before this match which speaks to the larger problem of AEW cramming too much into their shows.
A decent episode and unless we hear otherwise, I think we only have about seven left. Will it go out with a bang or will it be the same for the duration. We can tune in next week to see what takes shape. Until then!
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