AEW Rampage April 8th, 2022
Boston, MA
AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)
AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)
AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)
AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)
AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 3/9/22)
Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone
1) Bryan Danielson vs. Trent Beretta
William Regal joined commentary for this one. Loud, strong “you’re gonna get your fucking head kicked in” chants to start. The strongest since Danielson debuted in AEW which is sick. Good wrestling for the first few minutes with Danielson targeting Trent’s neck. A sick saito suplex on the floor from Trent to Danielson sends us to break. Trent fights from under after the break with a super plex and a release german for a nearfall. Danielson fires back with a shoulder capture suplex for a two count. They run back and forth with big moves for the final few minutes. Danielson hits the running knee and stomps Trent’s head in before wrenching back on his head and twisting it for the referee stoppage. Another dominant performance from Danielson and Trent put in a super solid singles effort as he always does when given the chance.
Match rating - ***1/2
Backstage, HOOK is approached for an interview again. He still has nothing to say and goes to leave the room when Danhausen pops out of the trash can. Hausen eats the chips that Hook tossed in the can and says “maybe this is where he gets his powers” LMAO.
2) Swerve Strickland vs. QT Marshall
This was a throwaway match. It’s nice seeing Swerve, but there isn’t much to write home about. An easy way to get him on the show and put him over a name who’s been around since the start of AEW, but I barely even paid this any attention. Swerve wins and yeah.
Match rating - *3/4
At some point around this time, Excalibur runs down matches for Dynamite next week and CASUALLY announces Samoa Joe challenging Minoru Suzuki for the ROH TV Title. WHAT THE FUCK. Dream match any day of the week and I cannot fucking wait.
3) Willow Nightingale vs. Red Velvet - Women’s Owen Hart Memorial Cup Qualifier
Willow tried. Red Velvet should not have won this, and the match itself even told that story. Nightingale is clearly the better competitor and was the only thing that held this match together. Unfortunately, Velvet wins and gets an undeserving spot in the women’s portion of the Owen cup. A much more enjoyable story would’ve been Willow getting the shocking victory and tournament entry despite not being signed and then using this big loss to run a rehabilitating Red Velvet story if you insist on keeping her on TV. This was predictable and not in a good way. Great effort and performance from Willow, though.
Match rating - **1/4
4) Jon Moxley vs. Wheeler Yuta
Wow… I’m almost just at a loss for words. The greatest match in the short history of Rampage and one of the best matches in the history of AEW. And the fact that it was filmed on the same night as FTR/Bucks is just insane. A true testament to how special the run AEW is on is. This is a story that began developing before our eyes long before we even realized it. This is the third match between Mox and Yuta. The first two were fine, but it wasn’t until the last few weeks and this match in particular, that the full story came together right in front of us. Moxley absolutely pummels Yuta and Yuta refuses to die. Amazing facial expressions, his blade job was awesome— who knew Yuta was a grade a gusher? This just checked all the boxes. The blood and fire from Yuta was enough, then they threw in some crazy false finishes at the end. Yuta kicked out of TWO paradigm shift’s which I don’t think anyone ever expected. The crowd was biting on every single bit of this and I was too. In an era where AEW has been around a few years and a small bit of the luster from their first crop of top stars is beginning to wear off, a new breed has began to rise and Yuta is the first to ascend to that new level. This match will be remembered for years and years to come. After the match, we get an equally phenomenal moment as William Regal & Bryan Danielson come to the ring. After a staredown and Yuta asking for more as he still gushes blood, Regal shakes his hand. Yuta uses his own blood to write BCC on his chest and when the show goes off air, Danielson attaches the ROH Pure Title around his waist.. TALK ABOUT THE TORCH BEING PASSED HOLY FUCK WHAT A MOMENT. As the show goes off air, Mox tells Yuta “now the real work begins”.. my god. This was epic.
Match rating - ****3/4
