Toni Storm returns to an AEW ring for the first time since August on tonight’s AEW Rampage Winter is Coming.
Storm, the former AEW Women’s World Champion, made her surprise return to the promotion on Wednesday’s Dynamite in the main event segment following Mariah May’s successful World title defense against Mina Shirakawa. Storm is in action on tonight’s episode against Harley Cameron.
A tag team bout featuring members of the Don Callis Family is also set for the show, with Callis charges Konosuke Takeshita and Lance Archer taking on Powerhouse Hobbs and Mark Davis, formerly of Aussie Open.
Callis will also speak on tonight’s show in a promo segment with Kyle Fletcher.
The top contender to the ROH World title Matt Cardona faces Bryan Keith on tonight’s show. Cardona challenges Chris Jericho for the ROH World title at Final Battle next Friday. Jericho will be on commentary for tonight’s contest.
Deonna Purrazzo vs. Shazza McKenzie is also set for the show.
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Matt Cardona def. Bryan Keith
Chris Jericho joined Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Matt Menard on commentary for this match between “the Bad Apple” and his Final Battle opponent, Matt Cardona of GCW. Before the match, we saw a highlight of Cardona and Jericho’s contract signing on last night’s episode of Ring of Honor on HonorClub.
Cardona and Keith started off with a lockup in the ring as the fans chanted “Always Ready”. Keith backed away from Cardona after the test of strength, but found himself down on the mat with a shoulder block from Cardona.
Keith got flattened by a flapjack from Cardona, followed by a clothesline in the corner. Keith rolled out of the ring to avoid a corner attack from Cardona, but he couldn’t escape the dropkick afterwards. Outside the ring, Cardona threw Keith into the barricade with a Russian leg sweep. On the opposite apron, Keith attempted to regain the advantage with a bite to Cardona’s forehead before he sent him face-first into the steel steps from the apron.
In the ring, Keith had the advantage with a resthold, followed by a jumping knee to the head of Cardona for a two count. In the corner, we got an exchange of chops between Cardona and Keith, but the Bad Apple regained momentum with a boot to the head. Another kick to the face from Keith kept Cardona reeling, as it sent him out of the ring, which led to a picture-in-picture break.
We returned to Rampage with Keith still in firm control of the action as he bit into Cardona’s ear in the corner. Cardona created some separation with a leg sweep, which allowed him to set up his second wind. With Keith stunned in the corner, Cardona hit his running knee in the corner for a near fall. A missile dropkick from Cardona was answered with a uranage from Keith for the close two-count.
Keith had Cardona set up in the middle of the ring, but he was reversed into a straitjacket slam. Cardona blocked a German suplex attempt from Keith and finished things off with the Silence for the one, two, three.
A good match, all things considered meant to build Cardona up as a credible challenger for Chris Jericho and the ROH World Championship. Job accomplished on that regard.
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– A promo for ShopAEW with Harley Cameron singing a funny song about what fans can find on the official online store of All Elite Wrestling aired.
Toni Storm def. Harley Cameron
Like on Dynamite: Winter is Coming, Storm entered with her pre-Timeless entrance music and attire.
Storm offered a handshake to Cameron, but got caught in a side headlock. She responded with a shoulder block, dropkick, and a running boot. Storm worked over Cameron in the corner with the ten-punch combo until she got countered with a strike. Cameron hilariously cued up the picture-in-picture break by saying, “we’ll be right back when this idiot remembers who she is.”
We came back with Storm landing a backbreaker on Cameron, which led to her mounting a comeback. Fisherman Suplex from Storm only got a two count as Cameron regained the advantage with a shining wizard for a near-fall of her own. Storm roared back with a Sky-High powerbomb for a near-fall as she cued up the running hip attack in the corner by briefly going to her Timeless persona. Storm then put an end to this match with Storm Zero for the victory.
This was a great match and showcase for the returning Storm, and the subtle hints of her Timeless persona were quite interesting to see, so it’s clear that there is certainly more to Storm’s return than meets the eye. It’s something I’m wanting to see more of in the coming weeks and months. Meanwhile, Harley Cameron was a great opponent for Storm and she continues to be a highlight whenever she shows up.
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Deonna Purrazo def. Shazza McKenzie
Purrazo began by fiercely working over McKenzie in the corner with stomps and chops. A short burst of adrenaline from McKenzie got snuffed out early by a Purrazo clothesline as she found herself trapped in the tree of woe. Spear to the midsection, followed by the powerbomb, and the Fujiwara armbar spelled victory for Purrazo.
Short and sweet match to showcase Purrazo’s dominance, and it’s nice seeing Shazza McKenzie get a look in this one.
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– Alex Marvez interviewed Kris Statlander backstage, as he asked Statlander where she’ll go next. Statlander said that she gave credit to Mercedes Mone for being everything that she is, and that all she can do to move forward. She said that she’ll wrestle on Collision and that whoever wins on Dynamite: Holiday Bash this Wednesday between Mone and Anna Jay, that she’d be coming for the TBS Championship once again.
Don Callis Family Interview
Tony Schiavone was in the ring as he introduced the Callis Family: Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, and Lance Archer ahead of tonight’s main event match. Schiavone started by saying that the crowd’s reaction is a tell-tale sign of what everyone thinks of the Callis Family.
Callis took the microphone and said that his Family is in the “getting over and making money” business, as he praised Archer, Takeshita, and especially Fletcher. He said that there was once a man who thought he was the greatest in the ring, a man by the name of Will Ospreay. Callis said that was before he ran into Kyle Fletcher. He asked Ospreay, “How does it feel, bruv?” Callis then brought up how Fletcher defeated “the best tournament wrestler” in Kazuchika Okada and asked, “How does it feel, bitch?”
Fletcher took the microphone and took in the Kansas City fans’ boos as he said he’d be the winner of the Continental Classic. He then had words for his C2 opponent, Mark Briscoe, stating that nobody would get in the way of his destiny.
Callis declared that his Family were the “one percenters of AEW”, and that nobody was bad enough and big enough to get in the ring with them.
Powerhouse Hobbs & Mark Davis def. Konosuke Takeshita & Lance Archer
Hobbs and Takeshita seemed to start off in the ring, but Archer was tagged into the match as Hobbs wanted a piece of Takeshita. In the ring, Archer and Hobbs, big meaty men that they were, traded meat as Hobbs got the advantage in the corner. Davis entered the match and teed off on Archer with some strikes of his own.
Davis and Hobbs got the advantage with a double team shoulder block on Archer, followed by a double-team standing suplex. Archer managed to kick out at one following that move as he regained the advantage after a well-placed Takeshita kick to the back of Davis, which sent us to our final commercial break of the night.
Rampage returned with Archer working over Davis, who tried to create some separation between him and the Callis Family. Just as Davis was about to tag Hobbs, Archer knocked him off the apron to the loud boos of the crowd. Takeshita tagged himself in and showed an impressive display of power with a suplex on the 285-pound Davis.
Davis knocked Takeshita down and finally got the hot tag on Hobbs, who teed off on Takeshita momentarily. Standing clothesline from Hobbs wasn’t enough to keep Takeshita out, as he is met with a powerful knee strike from Takeshita.
Davis and Archer tagged into the match for their respective teams and began trading strikes until a boot from Archer took Davis down. On the top turnbuckle, Takeshita and Archer had Davis set up for a double superplex, but Hobbs ran in and hit a tower of doom powerbomb on everyone instead.
Hobbs was tagged in as he pulled down the straps as Takeshita hit him with an elbow, which led to an Archer chokeslam for the close two-count. In the corner, Davis pulled out Takeshita from the apron, which led to Hobbs hitting the powerslam on Archer, followed by the Powerhouse Spinebuster to pick up the win in the Rampage main event.
Post-match, Takeshita attempted a cheapshot on Hobbs, but got met with a Powerhouse Spinebuster. Hobbs took the AEW International Championship and raised it over Takeshita as we ended the night on him and Davis standing tall.
Fun little main event with lots of big meaty men slapping meat, and it’s quite clear we’re getting a Hobbs vs. Takeshita International Championship match down the line, and this match did a great job in setting that up for the future.
As the end draws near for Rampage, we’re getting a lot of packed cards, which makes for a fun hour of AEW action. Tonight was no exception. I really enjoyed tonight’s episode as the hour went by like a breeze. Rampage will be missed when its run ends in a couple of weeks.
