9/8/23 AEW Rampage Recap

The opening credits roll. Chris Jericho, Excalibur, and Tony Schiavone are on commentary from Indianapolis, Indiana.

—

Match #1 – #1 Contender’s (AEW World Championship) Grand Slam Eliminator Tournament – Quarterfinal Match: Jay Lethal (w/Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, Satnam Singh, and Sonjay Dutt) vs. Penta El Zero Miedo (w/Alex Abrahantes)
They shove each other back and forth, and then exchange arm-drags. Lethal kicks Penta in the midsection, but Penta comes back with a thrust kick. They exchange chops and Lethal takes Penta down. Lethal goes for the Figure Four, but Penta kicks him away. Lethal gets Penta up top, but Penta escapes and kicks the back of Lethal’s knee. Penta delivers a double stomp and goes for the cover, but Lethal kicks out. Penta chops Lethal against the ropes and delivers an enzuigiri that sends him to the outside. Lethal gets back to the apron, but Penta delivers another thrust kick. Penta goes for a dive, but Singh catches him and rams him into the ring post behind the referee’s back. Karen ties Penta’s mask to the bottom rope and Lethal stomps on him. Lethal tries to take Penta’s mask off, and then the referee ejects all of Lethal’s crew from ringside as the show heads to a commercial.
Back from the break, Lethal delivers right hands in the corner. Lethal slams Penta into another corner and chops him against the ropes. Penta comes back with a kick to the chest and a pair of Slingblades. Penta dives onto Lethal on the outside and gets him right back into the ring. Penta delivers a double stomp and goes for the cover, but Lethal kicks out. Lethal comes back with a kick to the face, but Penta kicks him in the midsection. Lethal counters back with the Lethal Combination and goes for the cover, but Penta kicks out. Lethal tries to take Penta’s mask off again and goes for the Figure Four. Penta kicks free, but Lethal delivers a pump kick. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but Penta counters and takes him down. Penta goes for the cover, but Lethal kicks out. Lethal rips Penta’s mask off and grabs the guitar as the referee helps Penta.
Abrahantes takes the guitar away and counters the Lethal Injection with a Backstabber. Penta applies the cross arm-breaker, and then drops Lethal with Fear Factor for the pin fall.
Winner: Penta El Zero Miedo

—

Footage of the argument between Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara after their victory on Dynamite airs, and then Guevara makes his way to the stage. Jericho walks toward him and Guevara says he is pissing him off. Guevara says he knows he is pissing Jericho off as well, but he wants to punch Jericho in the face. Jericho says he wants to punch Guevara in the face, and Guevara says he wants to punch Jericho right now. Jericho says they are brothers and have been together since day one. Jericho says they had a great win on Wednesday and are on their way to winning the tag titles, but they can’t get rid of the animosity between them. Jericho says they need to fight it out and Guevara agrees. Jericho challenges Guevara to a match and says they can finally find out who the better man in and then move on to their tag title match. Guevara asks when Jericho wants to have the match, and Jericho says it should happen at Grand Slam.

—

Footage of the confrontation between MJF and Samoa Joe from Dynamite airs.

—

Match #2 – Trios Tag Team Match: Anna Jay, Taya Valkyrie, and The Bunny (w/Penelope Ford) vs. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D., Hikaru Shida, and Skye Blue
Blue and Bunny start the match. Blue gets a quick roll-up for two, and then Valkyrie tags in. They exchange forearm shots, and then Valkyrie kicks Blue in the midsection. Valkyrie slams Blue down as the show heads to a commercial.
Back from the break, Valkyrie is still in control of Blue. Blue kicks Valkyrie away and then delivers a thrust kick. Shida and Jay tag in, and Shida delivers right hands. Shida picks Jay up, but Valkyrie breaks it up. Jay slams Shida into the corner and Bunny tags in. Everyone exchanges moves and then Baker tags in. Baker delivers a few shots and slams Bunny down. Bunny comes back and slams Baker into Shida. Bunny takes Baker down and goes for the cover, but Baker rolls through, locks in the Lockjaw, and Bunny taps out.
Winners: Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D., Hikaru Shida, and Skye Blue
-After the match, Baker asks for a fist bump from Shida, and Shida does it aggressively before leaving the ring.

—

A vignette for Hook airs. Hook says it’s good to have the FTW title back where it belongs, in New York.

—

Match #3 – Tag Team Match: Angelo Parker and Matt Menard (w/Jake Hager) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)
Parker and Nick start the match. Parker delivers a quick shot, but Nick comes back and double-teams Parker with Matt. The Bucks also double-team Menard, and then Matt drops Parker with a neck-breaker. Nick connects with a senton, and then The Bucks send Menard to the outside with a double dropkick. Matt delivers a double-stomp to Parker’s arm, but Parker comes back with a poke to the eyes. Parker grabs Matt, but Matt counters with the Locomotion suplexes. Matt then delivers a double involving Menard as well. Matt runs the ropes, but Hager trips him up. Parker delivers a dropkick to Matt and tags in Menard. Menard drops Matt with a suplex and slams him into the corner. Matt comes back with right hands, but Menard sends him to the corner again. Menard slams Matt’s head into the turnbuckle and tags in Parker. Parker and Menard double-team Matt and Parker goes for the cover, but Matt kicks out.
Parker slams Matt again and goes for another cover, but Matt kicks out again. Menard tags back in, but Matt sends Parker to the outside. Menard slams Matt into the corner and charges, but Matt kicks him in the chest and tags in Nick. Nick drops Menard and Parker with a double cross-body, and then drops them with a double arm-drag. Nick delivers a corner clothesline to Menard, and then an enzuigiri, knee strike, and elbow to Parker. Hager gets a double superkick on the apron, The Bucks deliver the BTE Trigger to Menard, and Nick gets the pin fall.
Winners: The Young Bucks

—

A vignette airs for Mike Santana. Santana says the world have been asking questions, and he will have answers soon. Santana says he is on his own now and doesn’t have a crew. Santana says he isn’t here to make friends, he’s here to make money.

—

Match #4 – #1 Contender’s (AEW World Championship) Grand Slam Eliminator Tournament – Quarterfinal Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe
Hardy drops Joe quickly and delivers a dropkick to his back. Joe delivers a diving lariat and goes for the cover, but Joe kicks out. Joe comes back with a few quick shots and rakes Hardy’s eyes. Joe beats Hardy down and stomps on him as the show heads to a commercial.
Back from the break, Joe is still in control. Hardy comes back with body shots and a jaw-breaker and goes for a cross-body, but Joe walks out of the way. Joe sends Hardy to the floor with a sliding dropkick, but Hardy gets back into the ring at the eight count. Joe delivers right hands in the corner and sends Hardy across, but Hardy comes back with a back elbow shot. Hardy drops Joe with Whisper in the Wind and follows with a few more back elbow shots. Hardy delivers a Manhattan Drop and follows with a double leg drop. Hardy drops and elbow and goes for the cover, but Joe kicks out. Hardy delivers a few quick kicks and goes for the Twist of Fate, but Joe counters into the Coquina Clutch and Hardy passes out.
Winner: Samoa Joe