Friday’s episode of AEW Rampage averaged 365,000 viewers on TNT, up 0.6 percent from the previous week. It’s the highest audience total for the show since September 8.
Rampage drew a 0.12 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 14.3 percent from last week but is tied for the third-highest rating the show has done since the August 18 episode.
There was no major sports competition on the night, but Rampage’s placement on the cable rankings is not currently available.
As compared to the same week in 2022, Rampage was down 22.7 percent in overall audience and down 25 percent in the 18-49 demo. It’s the 16th straight week the overall viewership was down year-over-year.
Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for Rampage, along with the 10-week averages in both categories. This week’s show was down 1.8 percent in overall viewers but steady in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.
Filthy Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including Tom’s thoughts on Smackdown and AEW Rampage this week, plus some thoughts on NXT No Mercy and WrestleDream. Also, the ultimate question: Who had the best match of the weekend? A fun show as always so check it out~!
Friday’s edition of AEW Rampage averaged 363,000 viewers on TNT, up 6.5 percent from the previous week’s two-hour Grand Slam special. This is the highest audience total for the show since September 8.
Rampage drew a 0.14 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s up 16.7 percent from last week and ties the second-highest rating the show has done since April 14. Rampage finished ninth among cable sports programming for the day on Friday.
As compared to the same week in 2022, Rampage’s total viewers were down 25.3 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 12.5 percent.
For the month of September, Rampage averaged 358,250 viewers and a 0.1125 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down from the 475,600 viewers and 0.154 rating the show averaged in September 2022.
Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for Rampage, as well as the 10-week averages in both categories. This week’s show was down 3.7 percent in overall viewers but up 16.7 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.
Ahead of WrestleDream, two championship matches will air on tonight’s edition of AEW Rampage.
Eddie Kingston puts his NJPW Strong Openweight Championship on the line against Rocky Romero. Kingston recently became a double champion, winning the ROH World Championship from Claudio Castagnoli in a title vs. title match at Dynamite Grand Slam. Kingston is scheduled to defend both belts against Katsuyori Shibata at WrestleDream this Sunday.
The AEW Trios titles will also be defended tonight as The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn take on The Hardys & Brother Zay.
In another match with championship implications, Ruby Soho faces Hikaru Shida. The winner challenges Saraya for the AEW Women’s World Championship on the upcoming Title Tuesday edition of Dynamite on October 10.
The Righteous will be in action ahead of challenging for the ROH Tag Team titles at WrestleDream. At the pay-per-view, they’re facing MJF for the titles in a handicap match. MJF has to defend the titles on his own due to Adam Cole’s broken ankle.
Our live coverage starts at 10 p.m. Eastern time.
Excalibur & Taz were on the call this week, with Tony Schiavone on assignment and Chris Jericho preparing for his matches this weekend.
AEW World Trios Title Match – The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens, Max Caster, & Billy Gunn) defeated Isiah Kassidy & The Hardys (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy) to retain the titles
This was the best possible version of this match. The Hardys looked much better in this trios setting.
This was the fourth defense by The Acclaimed.
Kassidy & Bowens started with a handshake before Kassidy used his speed to get the better of an exchange. Bowens came back with a jumping Fameasser before Caster tagged in. After a misdirection, Caster ended up on the wrong side of a Jeff Hardy splash for a nearfall. Caster evaded a Twist of Fate but couldn’t avoid a reverse kick.
Matt Hardy and Gunn tagged in, and after some hand signal shenanigans, Gunn took Hardy down with a shoulder block. Hardy avoided a corner charge before bashing Gunn’s head into the ropes. The challengers triple-teamed Gunn, hitting a pair of Poetry in Motions. The Acclaimed cleared the ring and hit Kassidy with Scissor Me Timbers for a nearfall.
The Acclaimed held serve on Kassidy after a commercial break. After a Matt Hardy distraction, Kassidy evaded a corner charge. Kassidy hit an enzuigiri on Gunn before tagging in Jeff Hardy, who ran wild on all three champions.
Hardy hit a Whisper in the Wind, and after a flurry of offense from the challengers, Hardy hit a Swanton Bomb on Gunn for a nearfall. The Acclaimed came back and ran wild on the Hardys, allowing Gunn to tag out to Bowens. Kassidy tagged in on the other side and hit a twisting facebuster on Caster. Kassidy followed with a springboard moonsault on Gunn, but springboarded into a double team from the Acclaimed. The Acclaimed hit the KRS-1 on Kassidy to win and retain the titles. It was announced here that The Acclaimed would defend the Trios Titles on WrestleDream: Zero Hour against New Japan’s TMDK – Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, & Bad Dude Tito.
Backstage, Eddie Kingston spoke on his STRONG Openweight Title match tonight against Rocky Romero. He respected Romero before getting interrupted by Jay Lethal & the Jarrett crew. Lethal said that he spent most of his life fighting for the ROH World Title, and Kingston was unfit to be ROH World Champion. Kingston laughed them off and left.
In video from last Saturday, Lexy Nair spoke to Andrade El Idolo after his loss to Jay White. Andrade asked Juice Robinson – who cost him the match – if they had a problem. Andrade told Robinson that he would see him in Seattle.
NJPW STRONG Openweight Title Match – Eddie Kingston defeated Rocky Romero to retain the title
A fun, hard-hitting bout here. A real highlight of AEW is having fun matches like this in the middle of any show.
This was Kingston’s third defense of the STRONG Openweight Title.
Romero won the opening exchange with a dropkick that sent Kingston into the corner. Excalibur talked about Romero’s success in Japan and Mexico as Romero took Kingston to the floor with a hurricanrana. Romero hit a pair of dives to Kingston on the outside. On the third try, Kingston caught Romero and hit a suplex on the floor as we went to a commercial.
We came back to see Romero fight out of a Northern Lights Bomb. Romero rocked Kingston with a jumping knee before tying Kingston in the ropes. Romero hit a spin kick before hitting a springboard dropkick for a nearfall. Romero went for Sliced Bread, but Kingston shoved him away and hit the machine gun chops in the corner. Kingston brought Romero to the top rope, but Romero hit an Avalanche Sliced Bread for a nearfall. Romero hit the Forever clotheslines but ran right into a Kingston Backfist. Kingston hit a second Backfist before locking on the Stretch Plum and scoring the submission win.
The two men bowed to each other after the match, with Romero raising Kingston’s hand. Katsuyori Shibata made his way to the ring to go face-to-face with his opponent at WrestleDream. The two men shook hands.
Aussie Open were backstage. Mark Davis was tired of hearing FTR walk around with their egos unchecked. Kyle Fletcher said that their loss to FTR last year broke them, but this year, they would take the AEW World Tag Team Titles and build their empire here in AEW.
The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent) defeated Caleb Crush & Gunnar
A quick win for the Righteous before their WrestleDream title match. I’m impressed at the level of heat they’ve garnered this quickly into their run in AEW.
For anyone interested, this was not the Gunnar of TNA Impact fame. Dutch dropped both men with a double clothesline. Vincent sent Gunnar into a Bossman Slam from Dutch. Vincent did the same with Crush before tagging in and hitting Autumn Sunshine on Gunnar for the quick win.
We got a video from Ortiz, going over the history between himself and Mike Santana. We got clips of their highlights over the years, with sound from their longtime manager Konnan talking about how the two don’t talk anymore.
We got a video package highlighting Christian Cage & Darby Allin, hyping their match at WrestleDream. Backstage, Nick Wayne spoke about his role in their situation. He said that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be at ringside for Darby at WrestleDream, but he did want to finish his business with Luchasaurus. He wanted payback for Luchasaurus chokeslamming him at Wembley Stadium and would get it in a singles match on the WrestleDream Zero Hour.
We got a rundown of the Collision and WrestleDream cards.
Backstage, Renee Paquette spoke to Zack Sabre Jr. Sabre felt fresh as a daisy after his fifteen-hour flight from Japan. He said that a stiff breeze could knock Danielson over, much less a match with Sabre. Sabre said that Danielson didn’t have a year to retire, he barely had a weekend. Sabre was going to force Danielson to retire in Seattle for the second time in his career. He called it The Final Retirement before humming The Final Countdown. Be careful Zack, Europe will charge for that too.
AEW Women’s World Title #1 Contender’s Match – Hikaru Shida defeated Ruby Soho
An excellent Rampage main event. Shida and Soho had a fun match here, with a couple of good nearfalls that I thought would be the finish. It’s been good to see Shida stay in the mix in the women’s division.
The winner of this match will challenge Saraya on the October 10thTitle Tuesday edition of Dynamite.
Shida knocked Soho down with a shoulder block, but Soho escaped the ten punches in the corner. Soho grabbed Shida by the hair and clubbered on Shida in the corner. Soho escaped the ten punches again, but Shida hit her with a reverse crossbody. Shida finally got the ten punches before hitting a missile dropkick as we went to a commercial break.
Both women were down as we came back from the commercial. They traded forearms before Shida hit a jumping knee. Shida followed with a brainbuster for a nearfall. Soho rolled out of the way of the Kitana, but Shida hit a missile dropkick off of the stairs to the floor. Shida carried Soho up the ramp, where they brawled before diving into the ring at a nine count. Soho hit Shida with a Saito suplex for a nearfall.
Soho grabbed Shida’s kendo stick, but only used it as a distraction. Soho went for the spray paint, but Shida caught it. The referee got knocked down in the process, costing Soho the win after she hit No Future. Soho went to hit Shida with the kendo stick, but Shida took it, cracked Soho in the head, and hit a Kitana. Aubrey Edwards came out to count the pin, but Soho was able to kick out. Soho avoided a Meteora before hitting an STO. Soho went for a top rope senton, but Shida got the knees up and hit a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Soho hit No Future, but Shida came back with the Kitana for the win.
After the match, Saraya came out to collect Soho and stare down her challenger for October 10th.
Friday night’s Grand Slam edition of AEW Rampage averaged 341,000 viewers on TNT, up 1.8 percent from the previous week. It’s still the second-lowest audience total the show has done since July 28.
Rampage drew a 0.12 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s up 33.3 percent from last week and is Rampage’s second-highest rating in that category since August 18.
This was a special two-hour edition of Rampage. The first hour averaged 374,000 viewers and drew a 0.13 rating in the 18-49 demo. The second hour averaged 309,000 viewers and did a 0.12 rating.
Last year’s Grand Slam Rampage averaged 558,000 viewers and drew a 0.18 rating in hour one and 486,000 viewers and a 0.16 rating in hour two. So the year-over-year numbers were down 40.1 percent in viewers and down 27.8 percent in 18-49 for hour one and down 36.4 percent in viewers and 25 percent in 18-49 for hour two.
Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for Rampage, along with the 10-week averages in both categories. This week’s show was down 8.8 percent in overall viewers but even in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including WWE roster cuts, SmackDown returning to USA next year, Eddie Kingston announcing he is done with indies for a while, updates on Adam Cole and Jon Moxley, tons of New Japan notes, Jericho to DDT, reviews of Rampage, Collision and SmackDown, and more.
A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Matt Riddle among other WWE releases
7:33: SmackDown to USA Network
13:11: Notes on Jon Moxley, Adam Cole, Eddie Kingston pulling out of indies, Mariah May
19:13: Yota Tsuji vs. Will Ospreay at NJPW Destruction
25:37: Hulk Hogan married for the third time, story on Andre the Giant vs. Akira Maeda
Grand Slam 2023 finishes up with a special two-hour edition of AEW Rampage tonight.
The show begins on TNT at 10 p.m. Eastern time. Sting will be in action, teaming with Darby Allin against Christian Cage & Luchasaurus. The match is airing one night before Luchasaurus defends his TNT title against Allin and Christian in a three-way match on Collision.
Two sets of Trios titles will be on the line tonight. The Young Bucks & Hangman Page are challenging Mogul Embassy for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles, while The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn are defending their AEW Trios titles against The Dark Order.
The Kingdom, The Hardys, The Righteous, and Best Friends are facing off in a match with WrestleDream implications. The winning team earns a shot at MJF & Adam Cole’s ROH Tag Team titles at the October 1 pay-per-view.
Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy & Hook are set to clash with Anna Jay, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker in a trios match. Mike Santana is also set for action, Skye Blue takes on Julia Hart, and we’ll hear from Sammy Guevara & Don Callis.
Taped at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, Queens, New York.
Excalibur, Tony Schivone, and Ian Riccaboni were on commentary.
Sting & Darby Allin defeated Luchasaurus & Christian Cage (7:40)
Sting paired off with Cage and Luchasaurus with Allin to start the match. Allin hit his high-speed plancha on Luchasaurus who was sitting on the long entrance ramp (so it didn’t look as impressive as usual). Allin took a bump into the ring post and then crashed into the barricade, and the crowd chanted “Please Don’t Die!” Since it’s Darby, he got back into the ring and was worked over by the heels.
Darby fought his way back with a springboard coffin drop, but Luchasaurus cut off Sting from getting the tag. The heels worked over Allin during the split screen break. Allin backflipped out of a chokeslam attempt, but Cage snapped Allin’s back against the ring ropes and Luchasaurus hit the chokeslam anyway for a near fall. Cage missed a flying headbutt from the top, and Allin got the tag to Sting.
Sting hit a pair of clotheslines and a spinebuster on Cage. Sting hit a Stinger Splash on Cage and Luchasaurus, then took Cage out with a Scorpion Death Drop. Sting hit Luchasaurus with the Scorpion Death Drop while Allin hit a Coffin Drop simultaneously, a very cool double team. Christian came back and tried the Killswitch on Allin, but Nick Waye got on the apron to distract Cage, and Allin reserved Cage’s finisher into a cradle and got the pinfall.
Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy and Hook vs. Anna Jay, Angelo Parker & Matt Menard (w/ Jake Hager) (8:10 aired)
Referee Bryce Remsberg clarified in the instructions that it’s “men with men, and women with women.” Hook tossed Menard and Parker around and nearly got the Redrum on Menard, but Menard got the tag to Anna Jay, which forced Statlander into the match. Statlander caught Jay with a delayed vertical suplex. While Statlander celebrated, Hager leveled Cassidy with a forearm, and Menard ambushed Hook on the floor.
Parker got the tag (which also made Hook legal because of the same gender rules), and caught Hook with a suplex for a near fall. Menard held Hook open for a running knee for another near fall.
After the commercial, Cassidy got the hot tag and hit a dropkick on Parker and Menard, then took Hager out with a plancha. All the babyfaces suplexed all the heels in a triple suplex for a huge pop. Hook suplexed Parker and Menard, then suplexed Parker on Menard. While Anna Jay distracted the ref, Hager hit Hook with a clothesline, and Cassidy took out Hager with the Orange Punch. Jay tried to put the sleeper on Cassidy, but Statlander pulled her into an electric chair drop. Hook took out Menard with the Redrum, and Cassidy hit the Orange Punch on Parker for the pinfall.
– QTV Segment. The QTV geeks kicked it to footage of QT Marshall defending his title. QT Marshall is looking for a tag team partner for next week, and despite the description of what QT was looking for fitting Aaron Solo to a T, Johnny TV accepted the job.
– Tony Schiavone interviewed Don Callis, with Konosuke Takeshita. The crowd absolutely booed Callis out of the building. But Callis did his promo anyway. Callis pursued Jericho, but the man he really wanted was Sammy Guevara, and that’s who he got on Wednesday. Guevara’s wardrobe budget has improved 200% since joining up with Callis, and he shook Takeshita’s hand. Guevara thank Callis for showing him a real family, and turned on Jericho for holding him back. Guevara is also done with the fans, who couldn’t decide whether to cheer him or boo him.
Just as Guevara said he was done with Chris Jericho, here came Chris Jericho. Jericho attacked Takeshita and Guevara. Just as Jericho got his hands on Callis, Takeshita hit him from behind with a chair. Guevara took the chair from Takehsita and really worked over Jericho, then both Takeshita and Guevara held Jericho open for Callis to get his shots in. Just before Callis murdered Jericho with a screwdriver (I mean, that’s what it looked like he was going for), Kenny Omega ran in with a pipe to chase off the heels. Riccobani: “Callis is that big of a piece of garbage, he put Jericho and Omega on the same side of things.” Jericho went for a really contrived spot where he accidentally “backed into” Omega, but Omega left without shaking Jericho’s hand.
– Alex Marvez caught up with Kenny Omega in the back, who isn’t interested in helping Jericho so much as he wanted to get at Callis. Jericho interrupted. He knows it was their rivalry that started the company, but suggested he and Omega unite to take out the Don Callis family at WrestleDream. Omega accepts, and Jericho clarifies it’s Jericho, Omega and Kota Ibushi against the Don Callis family. “Who ya got?”
The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) defeated The Hardy Boys (Matt & Jeff), The Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) and The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) to become the #1 Contenders for the ROH Tag Team Championship (9:23).
Jeff’s facepaint with eyes all over his face freaked me out. Also it’s been almost 15 minutes since the end of the last match, almost unheard of for Rampage.
The Best Friends and The Hardys briefly took out the heels. They almost celebrated with a group hug, but the heels rebounded to break that up. Taven hit a springboard kick on Dutch, then hit a dive on a bunch of his opponents on the floor. The Best Friends (after a celebratory hug) took out all of the heels on the floor with stereo somersault planchas.
After a split-screen break, the match has settled into a standard four-corners tag match. Matt hit the Side Effect on Vincent while Schiavone points out the inherent flaw in these type of matches: you tag out to another team, you take your team out of possibly winning the match. The Hardys double-teamed Vincent. Jeff and Matt hit Poetry in Motion on VIncent, and the match seemed to settle into The Righteous vs. The Hardys.
And just as I typed that, Taven hit a kick on Dutch and Vincent took him out with a Russian leg sweep. Dutch hit the Black Hole Slam on three of his opponents, but Beretta counterd the move with a suplex. Bennett low-blowed Taylor and the Kingdom hit a spike piledriver for a near fall. Jeff Hardy got the tag and hit the Swanton on Taylor, but not before Vincent got a blind tag. Dutch pulled Jeff out of the ring and Vincent hit his own Swanton bomb. Vincent got the pin, and the shot at Better Than You, Bay-Bay? After building up the Kingdom as the obvious next opponents for weeks, the title match goes to The Righteous?
After the match, the Kingdom took out the Best Friend with a bunch of chair shots. And that ends the first hour of Rampage.
The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn defeated The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds & John Silver) to retain the AEW World Trios Titles (10:40)
Reynolds and Caster started out exchanging headlocks. Caster caught Reynolds with a back hand and took control with an armbar. Gunn and Bowens hit a scissor double elbowdrop on Silver, but Reynolds broke up the Scissor Me Timbers. The Dark Order took out Bowens and Gunn on the floor, and Silver got a near fall on Caster with a German suplex.
The Dark Order worked over Caster during the split screen break. Silver kept posing while screaming “I’m Freaking Jacked, Baby!” Silver cut of Caster’s comeback with a german suplex, then Uno stomped away at Caster in the corner. Uno hit an avalanche in the corner and followed up with a short-arm clothesline. Caster caught Reynolds with a cradle for a near fall, then got the hot tag to Gunn, who dumped Silver and Uno, then dropped Reynolds with a hig back body drop. Reynolds avoided the Famasser but got knocked for a loop with a clothesline. Reynolds caught Bowens with a cradle for a near fall, but Bownes came back with the four-piece combo. The Arrival and Mic Drop almost finished off Reynolds, but Silver broke up the pin attempt.
While Silver argued with referee Aubrey Edwards, Uno hit Caster with one of the trios title belts. Reynolds got a near fall off the belt shot. Gunn hit Uno with a clothesline, and Silver hit Gunn with a somersault cannonball. Silver and Reynolds went for the Wombo Combo, but Caster cut it off with a Fameasser of his own. The Acclaimed finished off Reynolds with a move that started out like a Magic Killer, but they flipped Reynolds up into a crazy high powerbomb and what even was that? Love that finish, and it got the pinfall for The Acclaimed.
Really good trios match.
Julia Hart (w/ Brody King) defeated Syke Blue (7:12 aired)
Hart has a 24 match winning streak and is undefeated in 2023. I would have never called any of this for Hart when she debuted as a bubbly cheerleader on Dark in 2021.
Blue and Hart played mind games with each other to start, with Blue seemingly nonplussed by Hart’s antics. Hart pulled Blue in to whisper something in her ear, and Blue responded with a knee strike and suplex for a near fall. Hart avoided a charge in the corner and tripped Blue into the turnbuckles.
After a break, Blue mounted the comeback with forearms and a knee strike. Enziguri from Blue got a near fall. Blue went to the top, but Hart cut her off. Blue and Hart brawled on the top turnbuckle. Hart superplexed Blue, with Hart’s own legs still hooked on the turnbuckle. Hart then spinder-crawled into a moonsault for a near fall. Hart hung upside down in the corner for a minute, then did a handstand out of the corner into a moonsault for a near fall. Blue countered the Hartless, but Hart countered the counter with a crucifix for a near fall. Blue got a brief comeback, but Hart hit a sliding forearm to the back of the head, then locked in the Hartless to get the tap out. That is Hart’s 25th win in a row.
After the match, Hart locked in the Hartless again until Willow NIghtingale ran in to make the save. Hart hid behind King and taunted Nightingale, who checked on Blue. It feels like Hart just has every aspect of this character down.
– Bullet Club Gold (with the Cardblade, which should be called the Switchboard) cut a promo on Andrade El Idolo in advance of Jay White’s match with him tomorrow night. This was an excellent promo from White.
Mike Santana defeated “Dirty Bulk” Bronson (2:25)
Bronson is from the Iron Savages (formerly Bear Conutry). Why are the Bear Country guys doing a gym rat gimmick when they don’t particularly look like gym rats?
Santana hit a rolling cutter and a discus lariat sent Bronson to the floor. Santana followed him out with a tope suicida. The crowd was solidly behind Santana. Santana hit a cannonball senton in the corner. Santana finished Bronson off with a high angle Jay Driller.
After the match, Ortiz came out on the ramp to talk to Santana, but Santana walked away from Ortiz.
Collision Update: Hook & RVD will face Jeff Parker & Matt Menard, and Julia Hart will face Willow Nightingale in new matches for tomorrow night’s show. No new matches were added to Dynamite or WrestleDream.
The Elite (The Young Bucks & Hangman Adam Page) defeated The Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona w/ Prince Nana) to win the ROH World Six Man Titles.
The Elite came out to “Carry on My Wayward Son.”
This match was just one crazy move after another.
Page hit a boot on Kaun who fell off the apron and landed in the arms of the Bucks. Page then hit a shooting star press onto Kaun while the Bucks held him off the apron. Nick Jackson hit a springboard Canadian Destroyer on Cage. The Elite were about to hit a triple-team BTE Trigger on Cage, but Swerve Strickland’s music hit and he came out to observe from the stage. The Gates of Agony tossed Matt into a sitdown powerbomb from Cage for a near fall. Kaun hit Matt with a backstabber in the corner, and Liona dove into Jackson with an elbow while he was still hung up in the corner.
After a split-screen break (where the heels worked over Matt Jackson), Jackson hit a top rope crossbody to the floor on Liona and Kaun. Page got the tag and hit Cage with a boot. Page flipped out of a German suplex, hit a springboard lariat on Kaun and a moonsault on Cage for a near fall. The Bucks hit a pair of dives on The Gates of Agony, but Cage hit a water wheel drop (an Alabama Slam into a sitout powerbomb) for a near fall. Page countered a Cage’s attempt at death valley driver from the top with a super hurricanrana. The Bucks hit a pair of superkicks on Cage, and more superkicks on the Gates of Agony. The Bucks and Page went for the Dave Meltzer driver, but Cage caught Nick diving in. The champs hit all three of their opponents with Samoan drops (Cage’s might have been more like an F5), and Cage got another near fall on Page.
Cage and Kaun held Page open for a middle rope splash from Liona for a near fall. The Bucks hit more superkicks, but The Gates took out the Young Bucks with clotheslines. Page hit a double Buckshot Lariat on the Gates. Page hit the Deadeye on Cage for another near fall. Strickland walked down the ramp to distract Page, allowing Cage to hit a discus lariat. Cage went for the Drill Claw, but Page countered that into a cradle for the pinfall. The Elite are once again the ROH World Six Man champions. This is the second reign for Page & The Young Bucks.
After the match, Strickland and Page had an intense staredown while Swerve walked to the back (never breaking eye contact with Page). The Bucks encouraged Page to “celebrate the moment.”
Final Thoughts:
Three years into this and it just occurred to me the could be calling this show “Grand Slampage.”
AEW has announced that we’ll hear from Guevara and Don Callis on Rampage Grand Slam tonight. The special two-hour episode was taped on Wednesday and airs on TNT at 10 p.m. Eastern time tonight.
Jericho defeated his protege Guevara in a match on Dynamite Grand Slam this week. Following the match, there was an angle where Guevara betrayed Jericho and aligned with Callis. Jericho and Guevara initially hugged after their match, but Guevara gave Jericho a low blow. Callis then made his way out and left with Guevara.
Sammy Guevara just hit a low blow on his mentor, Chris Jericho, and now he's walking out of the ring with Don Callis!
Guevara looks to be the newest member of the Don Callis Family, which also includes Konosuke Takeshita and Will Ospreay. Ospreay defeated Jericho at AEW All In this August.
Jericho vs. Guevara at Dynamite Grand Slam was their first-ever singles match against each other.
Here’s the updated lineup for Rampage Grand Slam:
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) defend against The Elite (The Young Bucks & Hangman Page)
AEW Trios Champions The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) & Billy Gunn defend against The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds & John Silver)
ROH Tag Team title number one contender’s match: The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. The Hardys (Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy) vs. The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) vs. Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor)
Sting & Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage & Luchasaurus
Orange Cassidy, Hook & Kris Statlander vs. Matt Menard, Angelo Parker & Anna Jay
Friday night’s episode of AEW Rampage averaged 335,000 viewers on TNT, down 13 percent from the previous week. It’s the lowest audience total for the show since July 28.
Rampage drew a 0.09 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 30.8 percent from last week and is the lowest rating the show has ever done in its regular time slot on TNT. Rampage did a couple of 0.07 ratings earlier this year, but those were weeks when it was moved out of its normal time slot.
As compared to the same week in 2022, Rampage was down 28.7 percent in overall viewers and down 35.7 percent in 18-49.
Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for Rampage, along with the 10-week averages in both categories. This week’s episode was down 11.1 percent in overall viewers and down 25 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.
Friday’s AEW Rampage averaged 385,000 viewers on TNT. That’s up 3.5 percent from last week and is the best audience total for the show since August 18.
The episode featured two first-round matches in AEW’s Grand Slam eliminator tournament. The Young Bucks were also in action against Matt Menard & Angelo Parker.
Rampage drew a 0.13 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 18.2 percent from the previous week. That ties the best 18-49 rating Rampage has done since August 11.
As compared to the same week in 2022, Rampage was down 10.3 percent in overall viewers and down 7.1 percent in the 18-49 demo.
Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for Rampage, as well as the 10-week averages in both categories. This week’s show was up 0.4 percent in overall viewers and up 8.3 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.
Friday’s AEW Rampage averaged 372,000 viewers on TNT, up 6.9 percent from the previous week. It’s the second-lowest audience total for the show since July 28.
In the 18-49 demo, Rampage finished 17th on the cable charts with a 0.11 rating. That’s identical to last week and ties Rampage’s lowest rating since the July 28 episode of the show. Rampage did have tougher-than-usual competition with the ending of two college football games as well as US Open tennis all airing head-to-head.
As compared to the same week in 2022, Rampage’s total viewership was down 23.3 percent while its 18-49 rating was down 31.3 percent.
Listed below are the last 11 weeks of total viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for Rampage, along with the 10-week averages in both categories. This week’s show was down 3.5 percent in total viewers and down 8.3 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.
Filthy Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including thoughts on Smackdown, Rampage, Collision, Danielson vs. Starks and Orange vs. Moxley, Gunther vs. Chad Gable, and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
AEW has announced a special Friday night episode of Collision for November,
It was revealed today that AEW Collision and AEW Rampage will both take place from the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California on Friday, November 17. Both shows are happening on the eve of Full Gear, which is also being held at The Forum.
The one-week move from Saturday to Friday means that Collision will be airing head-to-head with WWE SmackDown on November 17.
Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast reported over the weekend that Warner Bros. Discovery was told late last week that the soft roster split for Collision would be ending. AEW announced on September 2 that CM Punk’s contract has been terminated by the promotion.
Tickets for the November 17 Collision/Rampage event are going on sale to the general public this Friday (September 8) at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
An updated list of upcoming AEW show locations is listed below:
September:
Wednesday, September 6: Dynamite/Rampage from Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana
Saturday, September 9: Collision from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio
Wednesday, September 13: Dynamite/Rampage from Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio
Saturday, September 16: Collision from Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania
Wednesday, September 20: Dynamite/Rampage Grand Slam from Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, New York
Saturday, September 23: Collision from Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Wednesday, September 27: Dynamite/Rampage from 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado
Saturday, September 30: Collision from Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington
October:
Sunday, October 1: Wrestle Dream from Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington
Wednesday, October 4: Dynamite/Rampage from Stockton Arena in Stockton, California
Saturday, October 7: Collision from Maverik Center in Salt Lake City, Utah
Tuesday, October 10: Dynamite/Rampage from Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri
Saturday, October 14: Collision from Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio
Wednesday, October 18: Dynamite/Rampage from Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Texas
Saturday, October 21: Collision TBA
Wednesday, October 25: Dynamite/Rampage from Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Saturday, October 28: Collision from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut
November:
Wednesday, November 1: Dynamite/Rampage from KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky
Saturday, November 4: Collision from INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas
Friday, November 17: Collision/Rampage from Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California
Saturday, November 18: Full Gear from Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California
Friday’s episode of AEW Rampage averaged 348,000 viewers on TNT, down 16.4 percent from the previous week. It’s the lowest audience total for the show since July 28.
Rampage drew a 0.11 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down 15.4 percent from last week and is also the lowest rating the show has done since that July 28 episode.
As compared to the same week in 2022, Rampage was down 19.3 percent in overall viewers but had the same 18-49 demo rating.
For the month of August, Rampage averaged 399,000 viewers and a 0.13 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s down from the 472,000 viewers and 0.14 demo rating the show averaged in August 2022.
Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for Rampage, as well as the 10-week averages in both categories. This week’s show was down 11.4 percent in overall viewers and down 8.3 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back today and the boys TRIUMPHANTLY COMPLETE AN ENTIRE SHOW WITHOUT AN ISSUE. Tony Khan talks All Out and changes to the show, AEW Collision, Rampage and Smackdown ratings for the week, the world famous RAW report and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
