After an excellent episode of Dynamite, we’re back with what looks like one of the better Rampage’s in recent memory, at least on paper. Let’s see what we’ve got:
- Serena Deeb vs. Madison Rayne
- AEW World Title Tournament Wild Card Round: Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin
- ROH World Title: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Dax Harwood
Make sure to keep refreshing the page as the most recent results are below!
AEW Rampage 9/9/22
Coming to you via tape delay from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York! Your hosts are Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Chris Jericho, and Excalibur!
Match #1. AEW World Title Tournament Wild Card Round: Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin
These two seemed destined to fight forever and I’m fine with that. Sammy slaps Darby in the face to start and Darby responds in kind. Head lock take over by Darby as Sammy sends him into the ropes. Gory Special by Darby with a double arm bar, before sitting through to a Fujiwara arm bar. Sammy makes it to the ropes. Coffin splash in the corner by Darby. Make that two. A third misses as Sammy responds with an enziguiri and some hard chops in the corner. Sammy sets Darby up on the top rope and looks for the superplex but Darby shoves him off. High kick by Sammy stuns Sammy, which allows him to deliver that avalanche brainbuster. Sammy holds on and rolls through for a second suplex. Sammy looks for a third but both men go over the top rope, still locked in the front chancery, and Darby capitalizes with a suplex of his own on the outside. Tay stops Darby from doing a tope through the bottom rope, then Darby thinks better of it and does it anyway, but Sammy catches him with a cutter in mid-air! Back in the ring, Sammy is in control and heads up top looking for the Shooting Star Press. Darby moves out of the way and Darby capitalizes with a Code Red for two. Sammy rolls outside and Darby gets distracted by Tay, allowing Sammy to hit a jumping high kick off the ring steps. Sammy stops for a kiss which allows Darby to hit the running diving lope cannonball to the outside! Both men are back in the ring now and Darby has a straight wrist lock before removing Sammy’s wedding ring! Tay distracts Darby which allows Sammy to blindside him and recapture his wedding ring. Enziguiri by Sammy drops Sammy. Sammy heads to the apron and hits the double jump springboard diving cutter! One, two, no! Sammy tries a coffin drop of his own but Darby rolls out of the way. Darby goes up top for HIS coffin drop, but Anna JAS is here and that allows Tay to low blow Darby. Sammy then slams Darby on his skateboard which is UPSIDE DOWN. Brutal.
Winner: Sammy Guevara
Rating: **3/4. This was quick and it just didn’t feel like I was hoping it would. It didn’t have that Sammy and Darby feel to it, which is unfortunate, because this match has had higher takes than any of their previous. Couple that with Darby losing cleanly, and it just all felt flat to me.
Samoa Joe is here and wants everyone to know that he’s back in business. Smart Mark Sterling is here and says his business never closed. Tony Nese has more abs than Joe does matches in AEW. Mark says Woods saved his life this week and deserves a shot at Joe’s ROH World TV title. Joe says he likes that idea.
Miro says his gold hangs around the waist of lesser men. Miro wants his God to admit he’s failed The Redeemer.
Match #2. Serena Deeb vs. Madison Rayne
Wrist lock by Deeb as Rayne rolls through with an arm drag. Deeb is up and looking for the DeebTox early but Rayne counters with a back body drop and a roll up for a two count. Deeb is heated and tells Rayne that she was here first. Deeb shoots a double leg and follows with some ground and pound before the ref pulls her off. European uppercuts by Deeb. Swinging neck breaker by Deeb gets two. Deeb taunts Rayne and Rayne rolls her up for a two count. Enziguiri by Rayne and some forearms to the chest drop Deeb. Sliding lariat by Rayne gets two. Rayne locks in a guillotine choke but Deeb shrugs her off and quickly locks in the Serenity Lock. Rayne taps.
Winner: Serena Deeb
Rating: *1/2. This wasn’t great. Deeb can work with just about anyone, but Rayne doesn’t seem to be connecting right now.
Jade and crew are with Lexy. Jade is giving out work. Alright then.
Match #3. ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Dax Harwood
Code of Honor to start and away we go. “I hate the Code of Honor” – Chris Jericho. Headlock by Claudio before Dax shoves him off and rolls him up for two. Cradle by Dax for two. Headlock take over by Dax but Claudio rolls through and they bridge out. Back slide attempt but Claudio responds with some European uppercuts. Chops by Dax. Both men are trading heavy shots. Short arm clothesline by Dax. Dax looks for a suplex but both men struggle and wind up both going over the top rope and crashing to the outside. Both men fight their way back inside as Dax locks in a front chancery. Claudio struggles to make it to the ropes but eventually does, and then grabs an arm ringer and tosses Dax into the turnbuckle sternum first. Claudio shoves Dax to the outside as we head to a commercial break. Back from break and Dax is lighting Claudio up with chops before Claudio tosses Dax under the bottom turnbuckle and into the ring post from the inside of the ring. Baseball slide by Claudio sends Dax into the guard rail. Claudio grabs an abdominal stretch in the center of the ring but Dax is able to free the leg and hip toss Claudio. Lariat by Claudio before putting Dax on the top rope. Dax tries to fight Claudio off and finally does, before coming off the top with a diving headbutt for a two count. Left hands by Dax and a BIG piledriver! One, two, no! Dax heads up top but Claudio comes in with a flying European uppercut. Make that two. Claudio heads up top and nails a big superplex. 2.99! Sunset flip by Dax fails to get Claudio over, but Dax wriggles out and hits a brainbuster for a two count! Claudio heads to the outside for a breather but Dax follows. Dax looks for a piledriver on the outside but Claudio reverses it into a slingshot sending Dax into the ring post! Dax just makes it in before the ten count but walks right into a short arm clothesline. Make that two. Dax fires back with some right hands and counters a pop-up into a back slide for two. Dax catches Claudio coming in with a big boot and counters with a slingshot Liger Bomb! One, two, no! Claudio misses a charge in the corner and Dax hits a series of German suplexes. Dax puts Claudio on top and looks for an avalanche back suplex but Claudio shifts his weight, however Dax rolls through and gets a cradle for two. Both men barely make it up before the ten count and it’s a hockey fight in the center of the ring. Dax finally goes down. BIG SWING. Claudio locks in the Sharpshooter but Dax is trying to reach the ropes. Claudio sees Dax’s arm and sits through for a crossface, but Dax reverses into a Sharpshooter of his own! Claudio is trying to fight through and does, while maintaining double wrist control. Up kicks from Claudio drop Dax and now Claudio delivers some Hammer & Anvil elbow strikes! Dax looks like he’s out. Claudio grabs a hold of the Sharpshooter and Dax is forced to tap!
Winner and STILL ROH World Champion: Claudio Castagnoli
Rating: ****. Hard hitting, real life, professional wrestling. There’s no better representative for Ring of Honor than Claudio, and he continues to show it. Dax is just a damn good wrestler, whether it’s in a tag team or a singles match. It’s a small thing, but I really enjoy seeing the guys from the Blackpool Combat Club winning in different ways, showing how versatile and dangerous their offense is.
After the match, Dax and Claudio shake hands as Regal congratulates Dax on a great performance.
Final Thoughts: Nice change of pace here this week, with a pretty strong showing on Rampage. The opening Darby and Sammy match left a little to be desired, but it was still a far more meaningful match than what we’ve seen on the show lately. If AEW is angling to set up Rampage as the Ring of Honor show, I’m totally fine with it, let’s just keep it consistent. 7/10.
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