Jim Ross welcomes us to Dyna... Rampage. Live from Atlantic City.
Mike Tyson joined Tony Schiavone, Ross and Excalibur on commentary.
Mike Tyson on commentary. And Katsuyori Shibata wrestling his second match in five years. A totally normal Friday night of wrestling.
Orange Cassidy defeated Katsuyori Shibata to retain the AEW All-Atlantic Champion in the All-Atlantic Dream Match.
***
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A brief video package that gave the backstory of Shibata's career-ending injury aired before the match.
Tyson seemed somewhat familiar with Shibata and Cassidy.
Shibata grabbed a headlock to start, then went for the punt kick. Cassidy knocked Shibata to the floor with a forearm and followed him out with a tope. Shibata came back with a boot and whipped Cassidy about the ringside barricades, then took his signature cross-legged pose in the ring. Shibata went back to the floor and exchanged forearms with Cassidy, and both guys almost lost track of the referee’s ten count. They made it back into the ring to beat the count just before the show went to a split-screen break.
Right before returning from break, Cassidy hit his diving DDT off the middle rope. Cassidy hit a diving shotgun dropkick in the corner with his hands in his pockets. Shibata caught Cassidy with a back heel trip. Shibata mocked Cassidy with his own version of Cassidy’s “high impact” kicks, and Cassidy responded by mimicking Shibata’s cross-legged pose. Shibata hit Cassidy with a hard chop, then followed Cassidy in the corner with a hard boot and elbows. Shibata hit his signature diving corner dropkick, then delivered a suplex for a near fall.
Shibata locked in a rear naked choke. Cassidy made the ropes, and caught Shibata with a backdrop driver. Both men delivered hard chops for a double-knockout spot. Tyson was openly rooting for Cassidy, who delivered his own version of Shibata’s punt kick. Shibata popped right up. Shibata no sold a second punt kick, and several more kicks before coming back with his own version of Cassidy’s Orange Punch (although it was more of an elbow strike than a punch). Shibata locked on an abdominal stretch, then transitioned into an Octopus hold. Cassidy escaped by reaching the ropes, then countered a suplex with the Slumdog Millionaire. Shibata hit a Death Valley Driver, but Cassidy countered a second one with another stunner. Cassidy hit the Beach Break for a near fall.
Cassidy landed the Orange Punch, but Shibata no-sold it. Shibata locked in a rear naked choke. Cassidy escaped. Shibata set up another punt kick, but Cassidy jumped up and caught Shibata with the Orange Punch to get the win. Great finish, pretty awesome match overall. Shibata didn't seem like he held anything back. And a surreal experience with Tyson on commentary.
After the match, Cassidy and Shibata shook hands, and Cassidy gave Shibata his trademark Aviators. Tyson was also done on commentary after this match.
– Lexi Nair interviewed Toni Storm about her upcoming title defense against Jamie Hayter at Full Gear. Storm wanted to know how the nice girl she spent the pandemic with (Hayter) became such a bully, and has allowed herself to be manipulated by another bully, Dr. Britt Baker.
– Lexi Nair asked Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson what their issues are with Chris Jericho. Seriously? Obviously, they don’t like how Jericho is disrespecting the ROH World Title. Both Castagnoli and Danielson challenged Jericho for the ROH World Title, and William Regal told Jericho to make his choice.
Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter (w/ Rebel) vs. Madison Rayne & Skye Blue (7:18)
**3/4
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Most of the first five minutes of this match took place during a commercial break. After the long break, (during which Blue was selling), Rayne got the hot tag and took the fight to her "long time rival" (according to Excalibur) Baker.
Rayne caught Baker with a cutter, and Hayter caught Rayne with a backbreaker. Baker got a near fall after a neckbreaker. Baker and Hayter hit a pair of superkicks on their opponents. After another back and forth exchange with Rayne, Hayter caught her with a ripcord lariat out of nowhere and got the pinfall.
After the match, Baker grabbed the house mic and cut a promo on Toni Storm while Hayter beat on Rayne. Storm ran in and knocked out Rebel, then brawled with Hayter. Storm locked Hayter in the Texas Cloverleaf, and Baker made the save by hitting Storm with the AEW Women's title belt. Hayter and Baker taunted Storm with the belt.
Tony Schiavone interviewed Chris Jericho (after clips aired of Lamar Jackson reacting to Jericho's challenge Wednesday). Jericho answered the challenge from earlier in the show. He wanted both Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli. And to even the odds, Jericho suggested making it a four-way with Sammy Guevara as well. Guevara, who has been with Jericho since day one, "will do the right thing" once they've both taken care of their Blackpool Combat Club opponents (who probably don't like each other anyway, according to Jericho).
Chris Jericho v. Claudio Castagnoli v. Bryan Danielson v. Sammy Guevara for the ROH World Title was later made official for Full Gear.
"Absolute" Ricky Starks came to the ring and entered himself in the Full Gear Eliminator Tournament. This was a pretty good promo, although I didn't like his line about people being proud of being pillars of AEW when "things are crumbling around here!" Nonetheless, Starks got a good reaction for his announcement and was quite over with the crowd.
Tony Schiavone interviewed Sammy Guevara, who challenged Bryan Danielson to a two out of three falls match for Dynamite Wednesday. This match was later made official.
It took 47 seconds for Excalibur to run down the upcoming Dynamite and Full Gear cards. A first round Full Gear Eliminator Tournament match between Eddie Kingston and Ethan Page was announced for Dynamite, along with an appearance from Jon Moxley and a Jamie Hayter/Skye Blue match.
The AEW Full Gear Eliminator Tournament Bracket was revealed (so quickly that if you blinked you missed it):
Samoa Joe & Wardlow defeated The Gates of Agony (w/ Prince Nana) (9:10)
***
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In the pre-match promo, Wardlow dared Powerhouse Hobbs to attack him after this match.
Toa Liona bit Joe in the ear, and Kaun caught him with a clothesline from the ring apron to allow the Gates of Agony to take control before the break.
After the break, Joe caught Kaun with an uranage and tagged in Warldow. Warldow took Kaun down with a pair of german suplexes, then caught Liona off the ropes with a german suplex as well. Wardlow got a near fall with a spinebuster. Joe pulled Liona out of the ring and choked him out on the floor. Warldow hit Kaun with a lariat. He took out Nana with a right hand, and this distraction gave Laun a brief bit of hope, until Wardlow dropped him with a headbutt. Wardlow hit four acts of the Powerbomb Symphony, then pinned Kaun with one foot. Liona watched all this from the floor while Joe was choking him out, which was a nice visual.
After the match, Hobbs came out to the stage and motioned that he wanted a belt. Warldow pushed Joe out of the way (which Joe didn't look pleased about at all) to call Hobbs down to the ring. Both men shouted threats at each other to end the show.
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