AEW Rampage 9/22/2023

AEW Rampage 9/22/2023

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/09/aew-rampage-9152023.html 

Sting and Darby Allin vs Luchasaurus and Christian Cage

Darby jumps on Lucha's shoulders and pounds on him then sting bangs Cage's head off the buckles. Sting throws Cage out. Lucha is knocked onto the ramp then Darby topes him on the ramp. Lucha headbutts Darby on the ramp then throws him hard into the post. Lucha slams Darby in the ring and knocks Lucha off the apron.

We go to PiP break and return. Darby has his neck pulled down over the top rope then takes a big chokeslam. Cage misses a top rope headbutt then Sting flapjacks him. Sting cornersplashes both opponents then Sting reverse ddt's Cage. Lucha takes a reverse ddt + a coffin drop. Darby shotgun dropkicks Cage and Sting splashes Lucha on the rails.

Nick Wayne gets on the apron, Cage is distracted by him then Darby rolls him up to win it.

The ending felt sudden and the match was too short for what they were doing.  

I will not be covering the intergender trios match.

We go to QTV. Harley is doing impersonations of a hot dog. Johnny TV then pops in and asks if they enjoyed Montreal. Solo says he wasn't invited to Montreal. Johnny says to roll the footage, but Harley says it only works if she says that. We then see video of QT Marshall winning an indy match in Montreal.

Solo and Johnny do a handshake. Johnny got a text from QT and said he needs a tag partner for next week. Johnny and Solo argue over which one of them it will be and Johnny says its him. As usual, you have to wonder why we are getting these segments and what the point of them is.

 Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita are interviewed by Tony Schiavone in the ring. Don said he didn't get what he wanted in his pursuit of Jericho, but got the person he really wanted - Sammy Guevara. Sammy comes out and said he hated Don for a long time. He said he never really had a family until now. Sammy said he turned on Jericho because he has been holding him back and taking him for granted. Sammy said he's not trying to earn the love of the fans. He says Jericho is dead to him and he doesn't want to see him again.

Chris Jericho comes out and beats them all up. Don hits Chris from behind then Takeshita chairs Jericho in the back. Sammy then chairs Jericho. Don then goes to use a screwdriver on Jericho and Kenny Omega makes the save. Jericho runs into Kenny and puts his fists up. Then Kenny walks off.

Kenny is interviewed in the back. He said this is more than about Chris Jericho. He wanted to take care of Don. Jericho comes in and says he knows it was not because they are friends. Jericho says he and Kenny should unite to take him out. Jericho says Sammy is a true judas. Kenny says Don Callis' Wrestledream will be a Wrestlenightmare. Jericho then challenges Don to a trios match with Jericho, Omega and Ibushi.

#1 Contenders to the ROH Tag Titles - The Kingdom vs Best Friends vs The Righteous vs The Hardy Boys

Everyone pushes each other and everyone pairs off to fight. The faces all attack their opponents off the 2nd rope at the same time and their hug is interrupted. Taven springboard kicks Dutch then does a suicide dive on everyone. Trent and Chuck then do stereo tope con hilos outside.

We go to break and return. Trent tornado ddt's Taven. Matt H hits lariats on Vincent then hits a side effect. Vincent then takes a chinbreaker and a splash. Jeff jumps off of Matt H's back to splash Vincent in the corner Jeff legdrops Vincent in the nuts then Dutch blackhole slams Jeff. Vincent russian legsweeps Taven. Mike Bennett and Matt H. take black hole slams. Trent germans Dutch.

Chuck takes a spike piledriver from Kingdom and Jeff hits a twist of fate on Chuck. Jeff hits a top rope swanton on Chuck then Vincent top rope swantons Chuck. Vincent picks up the win.

Taven throws Trent into the rails after then Bennett chokes Chuck with a chair. Chuck's head is then banged off a chair.

It was a short match with a few spots in it. It was rather forgettable and just a midcard match.

Mike Santana does a promo. He talks about his injury and says he will put you down if you get in-between him and his money. He says if you don't like it, fight or fire him. He says either get down or lay down. 

AEW Trios Title - The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn vs The Dark Order

Alex takes down Max. Max shoulders him over then Bowens hits punches on Silver. Silver takes a back elbow then a double elbow drop from Billy and Bowens. Silver's legs are held open and Bowens goes to legdrop him but Alex stops it. Bowens is sent into the rails and Billy is sent inot the post. Silver germans Alex for 2. The Dark Order then scissor.

We go to break and return. Silver kicks Max in the chest then germans him. Max takes corner attacks and a short arm lariat.  Billy throws Uno and Silver out then back body drops Alex. Alex spinning forearms Billy then Billy lariats him. Bowens comes in and superkicks Silver along with other strikes. Alex takes the arrival and a mic drop. Uno gets in the ring and hits Max with a trios title belt. Alex then gets a 2 count on Max.

Billy lariats Uno outside then Silver cannonballs Billy off the apron. Max hits a fameasser on Alex and Silver's crotch is pulled into the post. Alex takes a wild double team driver and The Acclaimed win it.

I didn't like the Dark Order losing here as they just turned and could have used this win to gain some credibility. It was  okay but just an average match. The Acclaimed's new finish is pretty wild and will likely kill someone soon.

Skye Blue vs Julia Hart

This has disaster written all over it. They take off their hats at the same time as they stare at each other. They miss a tie up and make a face at each other. Hart pulls her in on a handshake and slaps her. Skye hits a knee to the face and suplexes her.

Hart's head is banged off the buckles then Skye is tripped into the 2nd buckle. Hart hits mounted forearms and we go to break. We return and they are slapping each other. Skye hits forearms and step up knees her on the ropes. They fight up top and Hart spider suplexes her. Hart then does a standing moonsault for 2.

Hart running forearms Skye in the back of the head then wins with a grounded cobra twist. Hart puts her in it again after and Willow Nightingale comes out to make the save.

Nobody really botched anything which was good. It was a short match and they didn't really have enough time here. 

Colten Gunn talks to the Bullet Club in Spanish for some reason and they try to teach him how to say Andrade's name. Jay said Andrade El Idolo didn't know him in Japan but will know him now. He said he will beat him tomorrow and his moment in the spotlight will end.

Mike Santana vs Bronson

 

Bronson hits some punches and Santana facekicks him. Santana backrolls into a cutter and hits a spinning lariat. Santana topes him then corner cannonballs him. Santana does a dominator, sending Bronson down on his knees and wins it.

Ortiz comes out on the ramp after and motions to him to come on. Santana goes up to him. Ortiz asks if he's ready to talk and Santana leaves. 

ROH World Six Man Tag Titles - The Mogul Embassy vs Adam Page and The Young Bucks

They trade some shots, Kaun and Toa are sent over the top then tope'd on. Cage akes a spinning forearm into a double dropkick and a facekick. Kaun is bridged off the apron and Page ssp's him off the apron. A buck does a slingshot facebuster onto Cage then does a slingshot canadian destroyer. The other Buck does a top rope elbow on Cage.

The Bucks and Page go for a BTE trigger then Swerve Strickland comes out. Nana dances outside. Matt is swung into a sitout powerbomb. Cage then deadlift 2nd rope suplexes a Buck. Kaun and Toa slap each other. Matt then takes a backcracker into an elbow drop.

We go to break and return. A Buck dives off the top to the outside then Page hits punches on Cage. Page facekicks Cage  then Page top rope moonsaults Cage. The Bucks hit stereo topes on the outside and Page slingshots himself into a sitout spinebuster.

Page hits a 2nd rope hurricanrana on Cage then The Embassy are all superkicked. A Meltzer driver is blocked and The Elite take triple stereo drops for 2. Page takes running corner moves. Page is held up and takes a 2nd rope splash from Toa. The Bucks hit superkicks then are stereo lariated over. Page hits a double buckshot lariat then deadeye's Cage.  Page runs into Swerve on the apron then is lariated. Page then reverses drill claw on Cage and wins it.

I hated every bit of this. They didn't respect the size of the heels at all and treated them just like anyone else. Swerve was out there for a distraction and just stood there as his crew lost 2 feet away from. There was little selling here and they had to rush due to not having enough time. The Embassy losing also really sucked. They are one of the few things the new ROH has gotten right and they lost their titles after 284 days without any real build-up to it. And while that's a problem on its own, it's going to be a bigger problem going forward as The Elite will never be on ROH while The Embassy will be left with nothing to do.

Overall thoughts: I skipped one match here. The main was the usual Young Bucks garbage and they killed a 284 day title reign without any build. Darby/Sting vs Christian/Lucha was too short. The Dark Order lost whatever momentum they had with their new heel turn by losing here and Santana didn't really impress in his singles return. This was not a good episode of Rampage, though it was 2 hours and they gave away a lot more than usual.