Five matches are set for tonight’s AEW Rampage from Cleveland, Ohio.
Lio Rush will face Komander in a match showcasing two of the great high-flyers in the industry. Rush is looking to snap a five-match losing streak in AEW while Komander has lost 13 straight in AEW dating back to July 2023.
La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush, Dralistico & The Beast Mortos) will face The Butcher, JD Drake & Beef while in another trios bout, Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds & John Silver) will face Top Flight (Darius & Dante Martin) and Action Andretti. Both Dark Order and Top Flight/Andretti have been feuding with the Blackpool Combat Club as of late.
Top Flight’s Leila Grey will take on Queen Aminata in a battle of two up-and-coming stars in the women’s division while Taya Valkyrie will also be in action, flanked by new running mate Deonna Purrazzo.
This week’s show was taped Wednesday following Fright Night Dynamite. Spoilers from the show are available here.
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Taped in Cleveland, Ohio.
Excalibur, Matt Menard & Tony Schiavone were on commentary.
LFI (Rush, Dralistico & The Beast Mortos) vs. The Butcher, JD Drake & Beef (9:20)
Everyone was in the ring brawling before the credits from Thor had finished rolling. This match actually stemmed from the Beef match last week, where LFI laid out Beef and Drake. Rush and Butcher exchanged forearms in the ring before a rolling elbow took Butcher down and out in the LFI corner. Drake flopped into Mortos with a knee strike off the middle rope and chopped him in the corner. Somehow, Mortos got Drake up for a pop up Samoan Drop for a near fall. Drake got dumped the floor, and Rush sent him into the ring barricade.
Back in the ring, Rush chopped Drake in the corner. Rush splashed Drake in the corner, and Dralistico hit a superkick. Rush set up Drake for the diving corner dropkick with his partners disposed and could have just ended the match, but he did that dumb spot where he just stopped and gave him a love tap instead. Because I guess all Rampage openers just have to run through a commercial.
After a split-screen break, Drake caught Rush with the spinebuster and got the tag to Beef. Beef was the proverbial house of fire, until he ran into a chop from Rush. Beef actually staggered Rush with a series of right hands (with the crowd chanting “Beef!” with each shot). Beef then took him out of the corner with the bulldog. Beef went up to the top for a splash, but Dralistico crotched him. Mortos clipped Butcher’s knee, Dralistico hit a springboard lung blower on Butcher, Mortos followed up with a cannonball, and finall Rush finished him off with the Bull’s Horns diving dropkick in the corner.
The crowd is into Beef so just push him already.
– Renee Paquette asked Stokely Hathaway if he had a hand in Private Party winning the World Tag Team titles on Wednesday, and of course he takes credit. He called himself the “Architect of Champions.”
Taya Valkyrie (w/ Deonna Purrazzo) defeated Zoey Lynn (0:54)
Valkyrie by locking her opponent in a surfboard, then stomping her face into the mat. I like Purrazzo, but Valkyrie does nothing for me.
After the match, Renee tried to interview Valkyrie and Purrazzo. But Hathaway stirred the point and told Valkyrie that Lynn was talking trash about them before the match. So Valkyrie ran out and attacked Lynn, giving Lynn her finish on the floor.
– A promo for the Thunder Rosa/Harley Cameron match tomorrow from Collision in Philadelphia.
Queen Aminata defeated Leila Grey (5:35)
So there was a spot where Aminiata was supposed to get a suplex out of a side headlock, but Grey tried to countered with a small package. When Aminata kicked out, it looked like Grey’s hair got caught on Aminata’s outfit and came off (they cut to a wide shot). I had to watch this a couple of times to figured out what happened. They cut away from Grey and I think she dumped her wig on the floor. Then they spent another minute working the headlock to set it up Aminata hitting the suplex a second time.
Grey went for a butterfly suplex, but Aminata transitioned into an Air Raid Crash for a near fall. Aminata tied up Grey’s arms from behind with her legs, then transitioned out of that into a Dragon Sleeper and a body scissors at the same time. Aminata hit a second snap suplex, and Grey looked seriously winded. But Grey got out of the way of an attack on the corner and hit a bulldog for a near fall. Grey hit a blockbuster out of the corner for a near fall. Grey laid in some forearm shots, but Aminata cut her off with an axehandle. Aminata then tied up Grey with something that looked like it was out of Zach Sabre’s playbook, and Grey tapped out. I thought this was pretty clunky at first, but actually they held it together really well considering how the match started.
Top Flight (Darius and Dante Martin) & Action Andretti vs. Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds & John Silver) (7:31 aired)
Both sides of this match are standing tall against the Moxley World Order, so it doesn’t make much sense that they’re fighting. Reynolds ribs are taped up, and after a shoulder tackle he had to tag out because of how bad he was hurting. Dante countered a back suplex attempt from Uno into a DDT. Uno went to the floor, and Andretti hit him with an Arabian Press.
After a commercial, Andretti hit Silver with a Falcon Arrow. Darius kicked Silver into a neckbreaker from Andretti for a near fall. Uno saved Silver from a double suplex, then hit Something Evil on Darius for a near fall. Silver and Reynolds hit the Wombo Combo on Darius. The Dark Order tried to set up Darius for a pendulum bomb, but Reynolds’ couldn’t hold him up due to his ribs. Andretti dove in off the top with a high cross to take out Silver and Uno. Andretti went after Reynold’s rib tape, but Dante wouldn’t let him. Uno took out Dante, and Andretti got the rib tape off Reynolds. Andretti then sent Reynolds into the ringpost ribs first. Andretti finished Reynolds off with a split-legged moonsault. After the match, Top Flight shook hands with The Dark Order, and eventually Andretti shook hands with the Dark Order as well.
Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated Lio Rush (11:55)
Komander dropkicked the taste out of Rush’s mouth. Komander went for a springboard, but Rush avoided it. Rush sent Komader to the floor with a handspring into a kick, then hit a plancha on the floor.
Komander and Rush wrestled through a four minute split-screen break. After the break, Rush missed a frog splash off the top and caught a back elbow. Komander hit a springboard crossbody off the middle rope. Komander did some fancy rope-walking and hit a superkick. Komader hit a top rope moonsault for a near fall.
Rush caught Komander with a stunner. Rush locked in a cravat, then hit another stunner. Komander countered a suplex attempt, but Rush blocked a hurricanrana attempt with a powerbomb. Rush hit a Falcon Arrow for two. Rush walked into an up kick from Komander on the apron. Komander hit Rush with a backstabber on the apron. Back in the ring, Rush hit a springboard stunner off the bottom rope.
Rush went to the top and missed a frog splash. Komander caught him with a crucifix for two. Komander hit a superkick. Komander walked the ropes and hit a shooting star press to get the pinfall. Not as good as I thought it would be.
Going in, I thought Rush was going to win this, but Komander has a big match tomorrow night against Kyle Fletcher.
After the match, Rush and Komander shook hands. But Top Flight and Andretti met Lio Rush in the aisle. Andretti looked intense and he gave Rush Alex Reynold’s rib tape.
