AEW Rampage notes: Jon Moxley vs. Wheeler Yuta, Danielson vs. Trent
By: Dave LeClair
AEW Rampage was a taped show from Agganis Arena in Boston, MA. Matches announced for the show included Bryan Danielson versus Trent Beretta, Swerve Strickland versus QT Marshall, and Jon Moxley versus Wheeler Yuta. As Rampages go, this one had a lot of star power.
Match Results:
- Bryan Danielson over Trent Beretta
- Swerve Strickland over QT Marshall
- Red Velvet over Willow Nightingale
- Jon Moxley over Wheeler Yuta
The show started with Bryan Danielson and Trent Beretta already in the ring. William Regal joined the commentary team to speak on Danielson’s match. Danielson picked up the win with a neck crank submission after a back-and-forth match where both competitors looked good.
Hook did a backstage interview where he ate chips and didn’t speak. Danhausen popped out of the trash and tried to curse Hook. It didn’t work. I still love both of these guys.
Ethan Page, Scorpio Sky, and Dan Lambert cut a promo in the ring, but they were quickly interrupted by Tay Conti and Sammy Guevara. Guevara said he was going to make the trio’s life miserable until they give him the match he wants.
Chris Jericho named QT Marshall the Sports Entertainer of the Week before Marshall’s match with Swerve Strickland. Strickland won with a back heel kick after a relatively quick but solid match. After the match, Starks challenged Swerve and Keith Lee to a tag team match for the 4/13 episode of Dynamite.
A brief pretaped promo for Marina Shafir led to a match between Red Velvet and Willow Nightingale to qualify for the Owen Hart tournament. Red Velvet picked up the win in a match that started strong but became sloppy towards the finish.
Immediately after the match, they went to a backstage segment with Tony Nese complaining that he doesn’t get the respect he deserves. Smart Mark Sterling interrupted, offering his services to Nese.
Wheeler Yuta cut a decent promo in the Mark Henry main event segment, but then Moxely eviscerated him before storming off.
While Moxley was making his entrance, Yuta flew through the ropes with a massive suicide dive that looked a bit scary but led to brawling in the crowd. Wheeler got busted open on the steel steps and he bled quite a bit. As the story of the match was Yuta attempting to earn Moxley’s respect, him taking a beating and bleeding fit well.
The highlight of the match was Wheeler diving from the top rope to the outside, putting himself and Moxel through a table. Yuta also hit Moxley with Danielson’s head stomps, furthering the storyline. This match was incredible and Yuta really went to another level. He even kicked out of two of Moxley’s Paradigm Shift finishers and escaped from Moxley’s bulldog choke.
Eventually, Yuta lost to a rear-naked choke, but he certainly earned everyone’s respect. The match saw Danielson and Regal make their way to the ring while Yuta begged them for more punishment. Instead, Regal extended his hand to Yuta and the two shook hands.
The show went off the air with Moxley saying “now the real work begins” to Yuta.
