AEW Rampage

The minutes are ticking away to the moment ALL OUT 2021 hits pay-per-view airwaves on Sunday night, but before we get to the final destination, there is one last stop on the road in the form of AEW RAMPAGE! Coming off a red-hot DYNAMITE on Wednesday, all the athletes in the AEW locker room are raring for a fight and Friday night is their last chance before the PPV party begins!





– This week's show kicks off with the usual signature opening video and then we shoot live inside the NOW Arena where fireworks and pyro explode as Excalibur welcomes us to the show.

– The rest of the commentary crew, which consists of Chris Jericho, Mark Henry and Taz, join in and help Excalibur run down the lineup for tonight's show and then they send things down to the ring where it's time for our first match of the evening.

Malakai Black vs. Lee Johnson

Malakai Black slowly walks towards Lee Johnson, who is bouncing up and down in the corner. Lee Johnson looks for a waistlock. Black turns around, and Johnson ducks under and towards the ropes. Black looks for a waistlock of his own. Johnson breaks it up with a heavy back elbow. The fans try to warn Johnson he made a major mistake doing that. Black drops Johnson to the mat with an elbow. Their match goes to Picture-in-Picture.

During the commercial break, Black is in the driver’s seat. Black applies a tightly clasped side headlock. Johnson rolls out, then gets his arm trapped. Johnson rises to his feet and lays down a few rib shots. Black turns the arm lock into a mat-driven side headlock. Both men make it back to a vertical position just before the commercial break ends.

Back on the main screen, Johnson hits a dropkick. Black escapes out of the ring. Johnson meets him on the outside with a speedy suicide dive. Johnson rolls Black back in the ring but does not look for a cover. Black counters Johnson with an overhook and lands a Muay Thai kick to the face of Johnson. The leg strikes continue in the corner. Black retreats out of the ring and grabs a steel chair. Warnings have been issued to Black. Black takes the chair and slides it over to Johnson, and offers him a free shot to hit him. Black turns his back.

Johnson gets up and grasps the chair with both of his hands. Well, Johnson fell right for it as Black sets him up with a spinning kick (fka Black Mass). Night, night, Johnson. 1-2-3. Black dominates in this bout.

Winner: Malakai Black

– After the match, Dustin Rhodes runs out. Malakai Black retreats out of the ring.

– Up next, we’ll hear from the TNT Champion Miro!

– Mark Henry is standing by with Dustin Rhodes. Dustin wants a match with Malakai Black this Wednesday on Dynamite. Dustin says for years, he’s lived in the darkness, and Black doesn’t scare him. He thrives in it, and he wants to put a stop to Black’s maddening attack on his family.

– Standing in the ring, with a spotlight over him, Miro tells Eddie Kingston ahead of their title bout on Sunday that he acknowledges Kingston’s struggle to get to AEW. However, he thinks he’s gotten soft now that he stands behind Jon Moxley.

Kingston runs out. Kingston informs Miro that “His God” sent him here to bulldoze his legacy. Miro warns if Kingston dares step foot in his ring, he won’t be standing come Sunday. Kingston doesn’t care; he runs in, anyway. Kingston slides in the ring. Miro retreats to the outside. Kingston gets whacked with the TNT Belt. They make their way back to the ring. Kingston hits a perfect DDT that sends Miro flat on the mat.

Handicap Match: Kris Statlander vs. Rebel and Jamie Hayter (w/AEW Women’s Champion Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.)

Kris Statlander and Jamie Hayter kick things off. Both women lock horns in a strong collar and elbow tie-up. Statlander hits the ropes. Rebel pulls Statlander’s hair, helping Hayter get some stiff shots in. Hayter makes a tag to Rebel. Rebel connects a flurry of stomps in the corner. Rebel looks for a inside hook. Statlander kicks out at two. Rebel plants a few Yes Kicks (hint, hint). Hayter runs in to help Rebel. Statlander uses them against each other by hitting a DDT on Rebel and a splash on Hayter.

Statlander evades a splash in the corner. Statlander hoists Rebel up. Hayter climbs on. Statlander slams Rebel with a powerbomb and a regular slam on Hayter – at the same time!! Statlander puts Rebel in a spider-crab submission of sorts. Rebel immediately taps out. Statlander picks up a major victory before going toe-to-toe with Britt Baker on Sunday!

Winner: Kris Statlander

– Baker looked nervous after the match ended at how well Statlander fared this evening. As she and Hayter appear to re-enter the ring with intentions of joining Rebel in a three-on-one post-match beat down, before any of them can do anything, Red Velvet runs down and runs them off to the back.

– We see highlights from the AEW All Out press conference where Jon Moxley and NJPW legend Satoshi Kojima get involved in a pull-apart after Moxley flips the table over and pie-faces the Japanese star. The commentators run down the lineup for All Out, promote the Countdown special for Sunday's PPV after tonight's Rampage and then mention the Fallout from All Out at next Wednesday's Dynamite.

– We go to our weekly pre-main event, triple-split-screen live interview with Mark Henry talking to the competitors in the scheduled headline attraction. This week it's Darby Allin vs. Daniel Garcia, so we shoot to a three-way split screen that features Allin and Sting in one window, Henry in the middle and 2.0 and Garcia in the far right screen.

2.0 and Garcia talk about being disgusted at Allin being one of the breakout stars in AEW. They vow to beat him down tonight. Allin then guarantees us he's not looking past Garcia despite CM Punk being on his mind for All Out and "The Best in the World" being on commentary for this match. He says he's gonna knock Garcia on his ass and then get in Punk's face one more time before All Out.

"The World's Strongest Man" tells us and everyone in the NOW Arena that it's time for this week's main event!.

– Next week, PAC will take on Andrade El Idolo next week on Rampage!

– Backstage, we hear from Daniel Garcia (w/2point0). 2point0 guarantee Garcia is going to do some damage on Darby Allin tonight. Allin thinks this match with Garcia will help him prepare for his career-defining match against CM Punk on Sunday.

– We head back inside the NOW Arena and the sounds of "Cult of Personality" plays as Chicago's favorite son, CM Punk, makes his way out. He leaps into a group of fans arms as he did in his debut appearance on Dynamite before heading over to the commentary section as we head to a pre-match commercial break.

Darby Allin (w/Sting) vs. Daniel Garcia (w/2point0)

Both men go for a lockup. Darby Allin shoves Daniel Garcia in the corner. Garcia lays a heavy forearm on Allin. Allin returns the same blow. They spill to the outside. Garcia evades an attack from Allin. Allin goes crashing over the bell table. Sting finds 2point0, who are sneaking their way over to Allin. Sting wipes them out for now.

Back in the ring, Garcia drags Allin back into the ring. Allin recovers and looks for a Fujiwara armbar. Garcia finds the bottom rope fast. On the outside again, Allin slams Garcia’s arm on top of the steel stairs. Garcia sends Allin crashing to the mat with a major superplex. He looks for a cover. Allin kicks out. Their match continues in picture-in-picture.

Daniel Garcia is in full control during the commercial break. CM Punk stands up from the commentary table and points at Garcia. Garcia takes Punk’s opponent and tosses him to the corner. Allin tries to fight back, but his punches aren’t doing him any favors right now. Moments later, Allin rises to his feet. Garcia plants a nasty knife edge chop. Allin fires back with a heavy forearm. Garcia traps Allin in rear naked choke just as the ads conclude.

Back on the main screen, Allin keeps Garcia in the corner with some nice back elbow smashes. Garcia escapes out and applies another rear choke. Allin, still locked in the hold, climbs to the top, and they both come tumbling down from a Coffin Drop! Back to a vertical base, Allin pulls a trick out of Punk’s playbook with a Pepsi Twist on Garcia. Punk gives Allin a clap and tells the guys on commentary that Allin did that move better than he ever did.

Back in the ring, Allin applies a backslide for a two count. Allin twists Garcia up in the Last Supper. 1-2-3.

Winner: Darby Allin

– As soon as the match ends, 2.0 hits the ring and begins beating down Darby along with Garcia. Sting hits the mix but the three-on-two numbers disadvantage ends up being too much.

CM Punk throws his headset down and heads down to the ringside area to apparently lend a helping hand to his opponent at Sunday's PPV.

Instead, as he makes his way to ringside, Darby flies through the ropes to take out the heels at ringside and then gets in Punk's face for a stare down as the show goes off the air.