This week’s show kicks off with the usual signature opening video package and then we shoot inside the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. where Excalibur welcomes us to the show.
Bryan Danielson vs. Nick Jackson
From there, we head straight down to the ring for our opening match of the evening here on Rampage, as Bryan Danielson makes his show debut against one-half of The Young Bucks.
Danielson’s theme hits and the crowd goes nuts as this bout will serve as the first match of the show. He settles into the ring and plays to the fans a bit as the commentators sing his praises.
With Danielson in the ring, his music cuts off. Nick Jackson’s theme hits and out he comes accompanied by Matt Jackson and other members of The Elite. As he settles in the ring, highlights are shown of the recent actions by The Super Kliq.
The bell sounds and we’re off-and-running with this one. Jackson takes Danielson down early and controls him on the mat, however after he spends a little too much time getting cute, Danielson takes over and knocks him out to the floor.
Danielson follows him out with a tope suicida before climbing to the top-rope and following up with a shotgun dropkick. Back in the ring, Danielson continues to work Jackson over with submission work on the mat. The ref argues with him and Danielson points out he’s got until the count of five.
We see Danielson pull Jackson back in the surfboard submission and then he goes for the dragon sleeper but Jackson claws at the eyes of Danielson to free himself. Back on their feet, the two trade shots but Danielson gets the better of them with some european uppercuts. Jackson hits the ropes and blasts Danielson with a huge kick that shifts the momentum back in his favor.
The crowd is chanting something so long that it can’t be made out, but Taz references it on commentary as a complete sentence that they are chanting. Danielson gets Jackson with a butterfly suplex into a cross armbreaker, but Jackson escapes. Danielson continues to work over Jackson’s arm afterwards. Now we head to a mid-match, picture-in-picture commercial break as the action continues.
As we settle back in from the break, we see Jackson is fully in control of this match now, taking it to Danielson as the crowd tries to rally behind him. We are shown footage of Matt Jackson hitting a spear on Danielson on the floor that saw the momentum in this match shift into Matt’s favor.
Jackson starts blasting Danielson with kicks while he is grounded, however he Hulk’s up and starts no-selling them. He gets up and spits in Nick’s face before going into a fired up offensive comeback as the fans cheer him on. Now he shows Nick how the kicks are supposed to be done, as he blasts him with them over-and-over again.
Danielson nearly secures Jackson in the LeBelle Lock but Jackson breaks free and the match continues. He kicks away at Jackson on the ring apron outside the ring ropes until Jackson moves and Danielson kicks the steel ring post hard. Jackson follows this up with a release German suplex on Danielson on the hard part of the ring apron.
The action continues with Jackson fighting back into the lead but Danielson turns the tide and shifts the momentum back into his favor. He gets Jackson on the mat and secures a very unique double-arm submission on The Young Buck member. He gets the tap out and the victory in his first match on Rampage.
Winner: Bryan Danielson
The Elite Retreats After Numbers Advantage Goes Out The Window
Once the match wraps up, we see The Elite hit the ring, presumably for a post-match attack on Danielson. They crowd the ring and then Christian Cage and Jurassic Express hit the ring to even the odds of justice up.
With the numbers game now even, we see a big brawl break out with all of these guys. Kenny Omega quickly escapes out of the ring and doesn’t want anything to do with this.
Eventually Omega decides to slide into the ring but is met with a beatdown from the babyfaces. He heads out and The Elite retreats.
A Message To Brian Cage From Ricky Starks
Now we shoot backstage to a special message from Powerhouse Hobbs and Hook of Team Taz. They mention Brian Cage and then send things to a video package where we see Ricky Starks driving a car and talking about being sick of Brian Cage thinking because he’s bigger than most, that he can beat up most people. He is out to prove him wrong. We head to another commercial break.
CM Punk Says It’s Time To Get Down To Business
We return from the break and Ricky Starks joins the crew on commentary. They send us to a special message from CM Punk. He talks about how his experience is what gave him the edge over Powerhouse Hobbs at Grand Slam. He says he’s happy to be back but it’s about time to get down to business. He warns anyone who steps up that going to sleep is always on the menu.
Jade Cargill vs. Nyla Rose vs. Thunder Rosa
We head back inside the Blue Cross Arena and we hear the familiar sounds of Jade Cargill’s theme music. The undefeated women’s contender makes her way down to the ring for our next match of the evening here on Rampage.
Cargill settles into the ring and then her music dies down. The theme for Nyla Rose hits and the former AEW Women’s Champion makes her way out and heads down to the ring accompanied by Vickie Guerrero.
With those two in the ring, her music cuts off and now Thunder Rosa’s entrance theme hits and she makes her way out to a nice reaction from the fans in Rochester.
The bell sounds and we’re off-and-running with this triple-threat women’s contender bout. We see some back-and-forth action from all three women and then Rosa hits a nice drop kick off the top-rope that takes both of her opponents out.
On that note, we head to a mid-match commercial break as the action continues. When we return from the break we see a trash can get involved in the mix. This sees Rose take over temporarily but Jade turns her inside out with a big spinebuster that slows down her momentum.
The action continues and we see Nyla set Rosa on the top rope as the commentators point out the table set up on the floor down below. Rosa ends up putting Rose through the table the hard way off the top-rope. Mark Sterling hands Cargill a chair and she starts wearing out Rosa with it. Moments later she scores the pin fall victory.
Winner: Jade Cargill
Malakai Black With A Message For The Nightmare Family
We shoot to a quick message from Malakai Black, who addresses his ongoing rivalry with Cody Rhodes and The Nightmare Family following his latest victory over “The American Nightmare” during Grand Slam week. After this, we head to another commercial break.
Mark Henry’s Pre-Main Event Split-Screen Interview
After the commentators run down the lineup for next week’s AEW shows, we shoot to Mark Henry, who is ready for his pre-main event split-screen interview with Jack Evans and Orange Cassidy. Henry brings up Evans not seeming thrilled about this match. Hardy says everything is fine and it was actually Evans’ idea. Henry asks Cassidy about the hair vs. hair stipulation and Cassidy seems clueless. He says he won’t lose since it’s important and walks off. It’s main event time, folks!
Hair vs. Hair Match
Orange Cassidy vs. Jack Evans
We shoot back inside the Blue Cross Arena where the familiar sounds of Orange Cassidy’s theme music hits and the “Freshly Squeezed” one makes his way down to the ring for our final match of the evening.
He settles into the ring to a rock star reaction from the Rochester fans. His music cuts off and now the theme hits to bring out Jack Evans. Evans heads down to the ring accompanied by Matt Hardy.
The bell sounds and we’re off-and-running with this hair vs. hair showdown in this week’s AEW Rampage main event. We see Evans back off as Cassidy approaches him. The ref breaks them up and while distracted, Matt Hardy hits the ring.
After he settles back at ringside, Cassidy and Evans start finally going at it. Cassidy starts off in the offensive lead and immediately gets into trademark style by putting his hands in his pockets and hitting his wimpy shin kicks as the crowd reacts enormously to each shot.
Cassidy grabs a handful of Evans’ hair and swings him around the ring over-and-over again. Hardy gets involved again from ringside and this time it plays a big factor in the match, as it helps Evans take over the offensive lead. He hits a big 450 splash off the ring apron onto Cassidy as we head to a mid-match commercial break.
When we settle back in from the break, we see Cassidy in the beginning stages of a comeback attempt. He fires up and hits a big cross body splash off the top rope for a near fall. Evans cuts Cassidy’s momentum off with a northern lights suplex and a Michinoku Driver for a near fall. He then hits a standing sky-twister for another pin attempt.
A big DDT from Cassidy shifts the offensive momentum back in his favor. The fans chant “Freshly Squeezed” as Cassidy fires up. He hits a big spot for a near fall but Evans kicks out and then we see The Blade, The Butcher and The Bunny heading to the ring. More members of the HFO come out but so do The Best Friends and The Dark Order, providing a human wall in front of the ring so HFO can’t get involved. Cassidy hits a big Orange Punch and scores the pin fall victory.
Winner: Orange Cassidy
After The Match: Jack Evans Gets His Hair Cut
When the match wraps up, we see some brawling between the heel and babyface factions and then finally the show closes with Jack Evans getting his hair cut by Orange Cassidy, The Best Friends and others live in the ring in front of the Rochester fans in attendance inside the Blue Cross Arena. Negative 1 of The Dark Order gets the center-stage final moment in the ring. A big hug gives the people what they want and then the show wraps up. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air.
