AEW Rampage 6/16/2023

AEW Rampage 6/16/2023

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/aew-rampage-692023.html

The United Empire (Will Osperay, Jeff Cobb and Kyle Fletcher) vs Best Friends and Rocky Romero

Kyle shoulders Trent over then Trent does a jumping knee press on him. Will gets in and hits forearms and chops on Rocky. He pops up Rocky and Rocky hurricanrana's him. Cobb takes a double shoulder in what looked like a botched spot then Kyle is lariated over the top. Trent holds the middle rope down and Rocky dives through his legs. Chuck then tope con hilos and Trent 2nd rope moonsaults to the outside.

Will takes a double back elbow then a double elbow drop. Will handsprings into a corkscrew kick on Chuck and we go to break. We return and Chuck hits soul foot on Cobb. Trent and Kyle trade forearms then Trent germans him. Trent hits a backdrop then Kyle brainbusters him out of a tornado ddt attempt.

Trent jumping knees Kyle then Rocky dropkicks Kyle as he hangs over the top rope. Cobb deadlifts Trent with a german and Cobb takes jumping double knees. Trent slams Cobb then Cobb takes a soul foot into a half-nelson suplex. The Best Friends hug and Cobbs lifts up two of them into a backdrop out of it. Rocky 2nd rope hurricanrana's Cobb then Cobb moves him into an overhead belly to belly. Will facekicks Rocky then top rope forearms him in the back of the head. Will takes a backslide off a hidden blade attempt then everyone starts getting a move in. Trent messes up a tornado ddt on Cobb then takes a hook kick. Will is lariated by Rocky. Rocky goes for a shiranui but is caught with a Kyle tombstone then is hit with a hidden blade for the United Empire win.

There wasn't a lot of selling or tagging in here. They kept it moving fast, doing a ton of stuff and people were coming and out. There were also a few sloppy moments.

Taya Valkyrie vs Trish Adora

Taya hits forearms and chest slaps her. Taya hits double knees in the corner and piefaces her. Trish is put on the 2nd rope and Taya sliding germans her. Trish hits forearms then Taya hits a big spear. Taya curbstomps her and picks up the win.

This was just a squash. Taya's stuff looked good.

The Hardy's, Ethan Page and Isaiah Kassidy are interviewed. Matt says the Hardy's fight The Gunn's on Dynamite. Matt says they have been on top of wrestling for 3 decades and says The Gunns will be their stepping stone to the AEW tag titles. Matt said their beat their dad's @ss 30 years ago and beat theirs now. Jeff says their daddy scissors and they suck. Jeff says they will make them famous.

Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett and Karen Jarrett vs Mark Briscoe, Papa Briscoe and Aubrey Edwards

Mark and Lethal shake hands. Mark shoulders him over then Jeff hits shots on Mark and hiptosses him. Jeff does his strut and kisses Karen then Mark hits chops on him. Mark hiptosses him and Jeff tags Karen in. Aubrey is then brought in but Karen tags out.

Mark and Lethal get in and Mark hits chops. Mark and Papa double shoulder Lethal then Papa throws Lethal in the corner. Mark suplexes Lethal and Dutt distracts Mark on the ropes. Mark is knocked to the outside then Jeff is triple stomped outside. Mark then has his throat dropped over the rail as we go to break.

We return Mark double lariats Jeff and Lethal. Papa gets in and hits clotheslines on Jeff. Papa grabs Lethal by the throat then hits a great lariat on him. Papa lariats Dutt off the apron then spears Jeff. Aubrey and Karen get in and catfight. Aubrey hits mounted shots then hair snapmares her. Karen eye rakes her and grabs a guitar. Aubrey kicks her, grabs the guitar and Lethal gets in the way. Lethal tells Aubrey to hit him then Aubrey hits him with the guitar. Karen goes for the stroke but Aubrey stops her. Aubrey puts a figure four on Karen and submits her for the win. Mark somehow got cut open during this.

Look, this was a sideshow. They knew the girls couldn't do much so they didn't let them do much. They also knew Papa was limited and didn't have him in there for too long either. I think the finishing sequence could have been better, but they didn't do bad for having three non-wrestlers in there.

Taya Valkyrie is interviewed in the back. She said she feels amazing and is asked about Kris Statlander. Taya says haven't we all had enough of her? Kris then walks in wearing jeans with the pockets cut out. She said it wasn't her fault Jade put out the open challenge. Taya said she wore Jade down and cheated her out of it, taking her spot. Kris said she will put out a challenge for her next week if she wins a shot. Taya says she will see her when she sees her. I thought them saying that Taya softened Jade up leading to Kris' win was smart.

Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita are interviewed. Don says Bandido is a top level athlete and KT only fights top level athletes. Don says Kt is betting than Santo and Perro Aguayo. He calls him El Hijo de Don Callis and said he if the new god of pro wrestling. KT then says something in Japanese as Mark Henry looks confused.

Nigel McGuinness, Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly will be the announcers for Collision. Kevin Kelly is with New Japan, so this is going to present schedule issues. He's going to miss various shows. He said he is going to work for both promotions, but I think he will do NJPW for a few months and probably leave if Collision is sticking around. There's just going to be too much travel.

Bandido vs Konosuke Takeshita

Bandido hits chops and KT facekicks him. KT throws him and blocks Bandido's 21plex. Banaido is sent out then plancha'd. KT facekicks Bandido over the rails and forearms him on the floor. Bandido delay suplexes KT twice. KT is enzugiri'd on the apron then Bandido hurricanrana's him from the top as KT is on the apron. Bandido springboards into a knee then KT hits mounted punches.

We go to break and return. Bandido hits forearms then KT lariats him. KT hits more mounted forearms. Bandido euros KT then top rope tornillo's him. Bandido hits a satelittle ddt then does a top rope moonsault outside on KT. JR rips Bandido for doing the spot, pointing out how unlikely it was then KT blue thunders Bandido inside. Bandido gorilla presses KT then hits a top rope frogsplash for 2. They go up top and KT bites Bandido. Both stand on the top and KT larits him up there. Bandido of course kicks out of the pin attempt on that. Bandido hits a knee and KT flips out of his 21plex. Bandido flips out of his chaos theory german then KT facekicks him.

Bandido hits a code red out of a powerbomb attempt then hurricanrana's him out of a blue thunder for 2. They lariat battle then KT flying knees him. KT pumping knees him and wins it.

I wasn't a fan of this at all. It was very indy with lots of big moves and little selling.

Overall thoughts: Lots of moves here tonight and not a lot of selling or stories. This one wasn't for me, though I'm sure AEW fans will love it. They did a decent job with the mixed trios match.