8/4/23 AEW Rampage Recap
The opening credits roll. Chris Jericho, Excalibur and Tony Schiavone are on commentary from Tampa, Florida.
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Match #1 – Trios Tag Team Match: Keith Lee and The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) (w/Ethan Page and Isiah Kassidy) vs. Kip Sabian and The Butcher and The Blade (w/Penelope Ford)
Jeff and Sabian start the match. Sabian drops Jeff with a shoulder tackle and sends him to the outside. Jeff comes back with a few shots, and then Matt tags in. Jeff splashes Sabian in the corner and Matt follows with a scoop slam. Matt delivers an elbow shot from the middle rope, but Sabian backs him into the corner and Blade tags in. Blade delivers shots to Matt in the corner, but Matt comes back with a back elbow and the Side Effect. Matt goes for the cover, but Blade kicks out. Butcher knees Matt in the back and tags in. Blade and Butcher deliver double headbutts to Matt, and then Butcher chokes him with his knee. Butcher chops Matt and slams him into the corner. Butcher sends Matt across and charges, but Matt dodges and slams Butcher’s head into the turnbuckles a few times. Jeff tags in and delivers a thrust kick. Jeff delivers a few right hands, but Butcher sends him into the corner.
Jeff knocks Blade and Sabian to the floor, but Butcher sends Jeff to the outside with a knee strike. Blade slams Jeff into the barricade, and then Sabian drops Jeff and Page with a moonsault. Sabian tosses Jeff back into the ring and Butcher drops a knee. Btucher clubs Jeff in the back and slams him into the corner. Blade tags in and delivers a chop to Jeff as the show heads to a commercial.
Back from the break, Blade chops Jeff down in the corner. Sabian follows with a cannonball, and then Butcher tags in and delivers a back-breaker. Butcher knocks Matt to the floor, but Jeff comes back with a jaw-breaker and tags in Lee. Lee runs over Blade and Butcher and splashes them in the corners. Sabian jumps on Lee’s back, but Lee splashes Blade and Butcher in the corners again. Lee throws Blade into Butcher, and then throws Sabian into both of them. Sabian comes back with an enzuigiri, but Lee slams him down. Lee goes for the cover, but Butcher breaks it up. Matt drops Butcher with the Twist of Fate, and then does the same to Blade. Sabian comes off the ropes, but Lee chops him down. Lee slams Sabian down and tags in Jeff. Jeff hits the Swanton Bomb and gets the pin fall.
Winners: Keith Lee and The Hardys
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Footage of Roderick Strong destroying things backstage after MJF vs. Adam Cole was made official for All In airs. The Kingdom walked in and talked to him as he calmed down, and then footage of The Kingdom with Cole as a member in ROH airs. Matt Taven and Mike Bennett talk about those times, and then ask Cole what about them now.
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The Young Bucks cut a promo. They say it’s about time they get back to the tag team division, and then pull The Hardys over. The Bucks thank them for having their backs, and then Matt challenges them to a match. The other Matt says it would be an honor to face the second-best brother tag team, and the match is match official for Dynamite.
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Match #2 – Singles Match: Anna Jay (w/Angelo Parker and Matt Menard) vs. Skye Blue
Blue drops Jay with a side-headlock take down and gets a quick one count. Jay gets free and they lock up. Jay goes behind for a waist-lock, but Blue gets free and sends Jay to the outside. Jay gets back in the ring, and Blue delivers a few elbow strikes. Blue drops Jay with a shoulder tackle and follows with a kick to the face. Jay dodges Blue in the corner and delivers an elbow strike. Jay slams Blue into the turnbuckle and delivers the Dangerous J Kick to send Blue to the floor as the show heads to a commercial.
Back from the break, Jay is still in control. Blue fights back with elbow strikes and right hands, but Jay delivers a knee strike and sends her to the corner. Blue delivers a back elbow and drops Jay with a cr0ss-body. Blue delivers a knee strike against the ropes and follows with a kick to the head. Blue goes for the cover, but Jay kicks out. Blue delivers a few elbow strikes and gets a roll-up for a two count. Jay comes back with a back heel kick and drops Blue with a Flatliner. Jay goes for the cover, but Blue kicks out. Jay comes back and goes for the Queen Slayer, but Blue gets free and delivers a thrust kick. Blue goes for the cover, but Parker gets on the apron. Blue slaps him off the apron, but Jay applies the Queen Slayer and blue taps out.
Winner: Anna Jay
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Kris Statlander does squats with Renee Paquette on her shoulders as Paquette interviews her. Statlander says she has a problem with Mercedes Martinez attacking her with her own belt last week. Statlander tells Martinez that she better be ready for their match tomorrow night.
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Paul Wight and Tony Schiavone are in the parking lot of Daily’s Place for tonight’s main event between Best Friends and The Blackpool Combat Club. They say that PAC is out indefinitely with an injury and that The Lucha Brothers have challenged the winners of the Parking Lot Fight to a match on Dynamite.
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Match #3 – The Mogul Embassy (AR Fox and Swerve Strickland) (w/Prince Nana) vs. Logan Cruz and Tyshaun Perez
Fox sends both guys to the outside and takes them out with a dive. Fox tosses Cruz back into the ring and Strickland delivers a diving uppercut to his back. Fox and Strickland double-team Perez and send him back to the floor, but Cruz comes back with an elbow strike to Strickland. Fox tags in and delivers an uppercut to Cruz. Fox slams Cruz down and follows through with a cutter. Strickland drops Crus with a Brain Buster and Fox hits the 450 splash for the pin fall.
Winners: The Mogul Embassy
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The latest episode of QTV airs. Aaron Solo asks where Johnny TV has been, and QT Marshall says he is upset that they lost to The Acclaimed. They ponder what they are going to do next, and then footage of Johnny airs where he issues a challenge to anyone who has been on television.
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Big Bill, Brian Cage, and Prince Nana cut a promo about their match against FTR tomorrow night. They say they are going to add more gold to the Mogul Embassy.
The show switches to the parking lot of Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida for the main event.
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Match #4 – Parking Lot Fight: Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta) vs. The Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli and Jon Moxley)
All four guys brawl from the start. Moxley stabs Beretta in the head with a fork as Taylor slams Castagnoli into a car. Beretta is busted open as Castagnoli hits Taylor with a car mirror and a spoiler. Beretta comes back with shots to Moxley and takes him down, but Castagnoli hits him with the spoiler. Moxley is busted open now, and Best Friends slam Castagnoli into a rear door on a van. Taylor hits Castagnoli with the spoiler, and then they slam Castagnoli under the of a car. Moxley comes back with a knee strike to Taylor, and then he and Castagnoli slam Beretta under the car hood a few times. Castagnoli power bombs Taylor onto the hood of the car as Beretta was still under it. Moxley goes for the cover, but Beretta kicks out. Castagnoli swings Beretta as Moxley grabs a trash can. Castagnoli swings Beretta into the side of the trash can, but Beretta comes back with shots to both of them.
They beat Beretta down, but Taylor comes back and hits Castagnoli and Moxley with a street sign. Taylor sends Castagnoli through the windshield of a car and stabs Moxley in the head with the fork. Taylor grabs a guardrail and props it against a car. Moxley comes back with shots to Taylor, and then suplexes him through the guardrail as the show heads to a commercial.
Back from the break, Best Friends have Castagnoli on top of a guardrail, which is propped on open car doors. Beretta connects with a senton from the roof of the car, but Moxley comes back and drops Taylor with a Paradigm Shift on the roof of the car. Beretta charges at Castagnoli, but Castagnoli dodges and Berertta hits a car. Castagnoli throws Beretta onto the roof of a car and goes for a power bomb, but Beretta counters with a Dude Buster. Moxley applies a rear choke on Beretta, but Beretta counters out. They exchange holds on the roof of the car and then exchange shots on the hood and the windshield. Moxley slams Beretta through the windshield with the Death Rider. Taylor gets some gas out of a car and lights a barbed wire board on fire. Wheeler Yuta gets out of one of the cars and tells Taylor to hit him with the board. Taylor hesitates and Moxley steals the board and hits Taylor with it.
Yuta stabs Taylor with a screwdriver, but then Trent’s Mom, Sue, pulls up in her van with Orange Cassidy on top. Cassidy drops Castagnoli and Moxley with a cross-body, and then wraps a chain around his hand. Cassidy goes for Yuta, but Castagnoli cuts him off and the BCC beat him down. Castagnoli slams Cassidy’s knee onto the hood of Sue’s van, and then Yuta drops Cassidy with a DDT. Castagnoli opens the door and tells her to leave. She does, but Beretta comes back with a few shots. Moxley and Castagnoli slam Beretta into the side of the van a few times, and then Moxley throws a crow bar to Yuta. Castagnoli rips the door of the van and Yuta breaks all the windows with the crowbar. Castagnoli puts Beretta on the windshield and Moxley delivers a curb stomp to Beretta. Castagnoli gets Beretta on the floor and gets the pin fall.
Winners: The Blackpool Combat Club
-After the match, The BCC continue to destroy the van and then finally walk away as the show comes to a close.
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Announced for tomorrow night’s Collision:
-Real World Championship Match: CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks
—-Ricky Steamboat will serve as the Special Outside Official
-AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: FTR (c) vs. Big Bill and Brian Cage
-AEW TBS Championship Match: Kris Statlander (c) vs. Mercedes Martinez
-We will hear from The Acclaimed
Announced for next Wednesday’s Dynamite:
-FTW Championship – FTW Rules Match: Jack Perry (c) vs. Rob Van Dam
-The Blackpool Combat Club vs. The Lucha Brothers
-The Hardys vs. The Young Bucks