AEW Rampage Live Coverage - January 7th, 2022

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AEW Rampage

This week on Rampage, AEW Women's World Champion Dr. Britt Baker teams with Jamie Hayter to face Riho and Ruby Soho. Jake Atlas takes on Adam Cole.
Also, 6-man No Disqualification Match!


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– Excalibur welcomes us to the show as the camera shoots inside the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

– The fans make a ton of noise in the background as Excalibur welcomes his broadcast partners for this evening, and we hear Taz, Chris Jericho and Ricky Starks both introduce themselves. Excalibur then informs us that it's time to get right down to business.

Adam Cole vs. Jake Atlas

We hear Adam Cole's theme song. The Elite member makes his way out and heads down to the ring. As he makes his way inside the ring, Jericho mentions this is the first time he'll have a chance to see Cole in person.

The fans loudly do the "Boom ... Bay-Bay!" part of Cole's routine with him and then his music fades down. The theme for his opponent begins playing and down to the ring to make his AEW television debut this evening on Rampage is none other than former WWE Superstar Jake Atlas.

Atlas settles inside the squared circle as Jericho puts over his ring entrance attire, noting he likes the sparkles on his vest. Excalibur informs the viewing audience a bit about the background of the newcomer, noting he is a former gymnast and college athlete.

The bell sounds now and here we go with our first match of the evening. Both guys get after it with a bunch of holds and reversals and then we see them both go for a kick at the same time. They both stop and stare each other down as the fans cheer in the background.

The AEW newcomer ends up giving Cole the "talk to the hand" gesture, which does nothing but anger The Elite member. From there, it's all Cole, as he fires up with intensity after Atlas angers him with the aforementioned disrespectful gesture. Cole knocks Atlas out of the ring and follows up with a big spot on the floor.

Back in the ring, Cole continues to work over the fresh face on the scene, taking it to him while the commentators sing the praises of the number one ranked contender in the men's singles division in AEW. We see Atlas leap on the middle rope after Cole attempts to send him into the ropes. Atlas leaps backwards for an offensive spot but instead lands on the double knees of Cole as he dropped to his back.

After the back-stabber, Excalibur talks us into a mid-match, picture-in-picture commercial break. When we return from the ad time out, we see Cole is still in control of the action. Soon after, however, Atlas begins to show signs of life, fighting his way back into competitive form. He ends up sending Cole to the floor and hitting a big tope suicida. The momentum drives Cole back into the steel barricade with authority.

Atlas brings the action back in the ring and now the pace of this one picks up as he works over Cole, who is fighting back as well. Excalibur tries to talk more about Atlas' past as a gymnast but Jericho cuts him off to point out that this isn't a point where there is a lull in the action. We see these two flying all over the place back-and-forth now, and the crowd is loving every minute of it.

Cole fights his way back into the offensive lead and begins to take over. He blasts Atlas with a big super kick and then continues to beat him down now as he settles back into a comfortable offensive lead in the match. He goes for the Panama Sunrise, but doesn't get it. Instead, he drops down and slaps a kneebar on him. Atlas taps out. Cole wins.

Winner: Adam Cole

– After the match, Cole jumps on the mic and congratulates Atlas on losing before informing him he's about to lose again.

Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly hit the ring and look to attack him, however Orange Cassidy comes out. He wraps a chain around his fist. Out behind him comes The Best Friends and the trio heads to the ring, where they eventually run off Cole, Fish and O'Reilly.

– Excalibur informs us that Dustin Rhodes will be filling in for Cody Rhodes on Saturday night, as Cody has not been medically cleared to compete.

Instead, there will be an Interim TNT Champion crowned, as Dustin and former TNT Champion Sammy Guevara will square off at the special event scheduled to emanate from Charlotte, North Carolina tomorrow night.

After quickly running down the announcement, he sends us to a message from Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara. Dustin talks about filling in for his brother and how he plans to win.

Guevara is then shown and says he "doesn't really give a sh*t" who is in there with him, he just wants his title back and tomorrow night, he will take the first step by capturing the Interim TNT Championship.

Once the special video comments from "The Natural" and "The Spanish God" wrap up, we get a quick plug for the Battle of the Belts show this weekend and then we head to another commercial break.

– We shoot backstage when we return, as Tony Schiavone is standing by with a special guest. With that said, we see Andrade El Idolo. Schiavone asks El Idolo about his recent actions, prompting El Idolo to go on a rant, making it clear that he's got his sights set on Darby Allin and Sting.

Hook vs. Aaron Solo

Now we see Aaron Solo in the ring accompanied by QT Marshall as we return inside the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Solo will be in singles action in our first match of the evening.

The fans go nuts when Hook emerges and begins making his way down to the ring. He settles inside the squared circle as Jericho talks to Taz about how some people are just popular, noting his son is as over as anyone in AEW right now.

Taz says he's so proud that honestly it's hard sometimes to even speak out here when he's in the ring. He says he doesn't want to be corny, but says Jericho knows because he's a father himself.

With both guys in the ring, the bell sounds and we are now off-and-running with our second match of the evening. Hook and Solo approach each other and Hook hoists him up with pure strength and dumps him on his dome.

As the action continues, we see Solo starting to fight back, but not for long, as Hook starts to connect on a wide-variety of suplexes. He hits one that looks as close to Taz as you can get, which Jericho points out on the broadcast.

Hook eventually locks Solo into a submission hold and gets the tap out for the win. With the victory, Hook remains undefeated in AEW. After the match, as Hook was about to exit the ring, QT Marshall gets in his face a bit too close for comfort, and pays for it.

We see Hook roughing him up first and then he heads to the back. As he does, the camera pans over to the commentary section for another special announcement regarding AEW Battle of the Belts.

Winner: Hook

– Ricky Starks will be putting his FTW Championship on-the-line against Matt Sydal at the AEW Battle of the Belts special event tomorrow night. He says he specifically wants a piece of Sydal so he can send a message to Dante Martin.

– After this, we shoot to a quick video segment with the competitors in the first-ever Women's Street Fight talk about their battle and plans now that it is in the rear-view mirror.

Dr. Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter vs. Ruby Soho & Riho

We head back inside the arena where we hear the familiar sounds of Ruby Soho's theme song. The finalist in the TBS Women's Championship Tournament that wrapped up this past Wednesday night with Jade Cargill emerging as the first-ever TBS Women's Champion, makes her way to the ring for our next match of the evening.

As she settles in the ring, her music fades down and now the theme of Riho plays. Out comes another-first ever title-holder, as the first-ever AEW Women's Champion joins Soho in the ring for what will be a women's tag-team contest.

The two settle in the ring and before the bell sounds, while Soho is at ringside, they ambush Riho. Baker and Hayter beat down the inaugural AEW women's title-holder in two-on-one fashion until finally Soho hits the ring to even up the numbers game.

We see Soho help Riho out and eventually the referee returns order in the ring and the bell sounds now to get this match officially off-and-running. Early on, we see Baker and Hayter in control of the action, however Soho and Riho start fighting back.

Baker and Hayter use some heel tactics to shift the offensive momentum back in their favor and as they are now comfortably in control of the contest again, we head to a mid-match, picture-in-picture commercial break.

When we return from the break, we see Soho still on the wrong-end of a beatdown, however moments later she connects with a big move that buys her some time. She makes it to her corner and tags in Riho. Riho takes the hot tag and hits the ring for a big offensive comeback for her team.

Riho starts running all over the place, taking out any-and-everything that moves as she brings the onslaught to Baker and Hayter by herself. She continues hitting high spots as Jericho puts her over on commentary as one of the best athletes in the company.

We see Riho has this one in the bag, however some cheap tactics by the heel opposition stops her from finishing this one off. Moments later, however, she manages to regardless. As soon as she gets the pin, Riho rolls to the floor and the commentators remind us that Baker has still never beaten Riho inside the ring. We see Baker shove Hayter and walk off out of frustration.

Winners: Ruby Soho & Riho

– Excalibur sends us to a backstage segment, as it's time to get a quick word from Dan Lambert and The Men of the Year.

– We shoot backstage and see Lambert, who is critical of the decision to put Dustin Rhodes in the Interim TNT title match at Battle of the Belts. He says it's indicative of a lot of sucking up going on behind-the-scenes in AEW. After that, Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky speak up and complain.

They rant about not being considered for the spot when Cody was forced to pull out. They then make it clear that they will be keeping a very close eye on the Interim TNT title match tomorrow night at Battle of the Belts.

No DQ AEW Trios Main Event: Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz vs. Daniel Garcia & Team 2point0

Mark Henry introduces the six competitors involved in tonight's no rules, no disqualification AEW Trios main event -- Eddie Kingston and the team of Santana & Ortiz is on one side of the screen and Daniel Garcia and Team 2point0 are on the other.

The team of Garcia, Matt Lee and Jeff Parker start talking first and as they rant and rave, literally seconds into their comments we see "The Mad King" has heard enough. He and his teammates disappear from the camera shot as their opponents continue to rant and rave.

Finally Garcia and Team 2point0 ask where they went, and just as they finish asking, we see Kingston, Santana and Ortiz emerge in their camera shot and the brawl is on. The six are duking it out now and Henry does his closing catchphrase. We head to a pre-match commercial break.

As we return from the break, we learn that the brawl is still going, as the main event competitors emerge from the entrance tunnel still fighting. The brawl finds its' way down to the ringside area and now this one is officially underway.

We see Kingston beating down anything that moves, using some weapons straight out of the gate in this anything goes, no rules AEW Trios bout. Santana & Ortiz, who are wearing their usual "Dead Presidents" influenced face-paint, start beating down Team 2point0 as Kingston focuses his attack on Garcia.

While the brawling continues, we hear Chris Jericho on commentary talking about his ongoing issues with Daniel Garcia and the Team 2point0 crew, mentioning the fact that Kingston has a problem with him getting involved in his matches to try and help him. Jericho again makes it clear he's not out to help Kingston, but settle a score of his own with the trio who attacked him backstage several weeks ago.

Eventually the heel trio of Garcia, Lee and Parker start to fight into the lead, and soon after they do, we head to another mid-match, picture-in-picture commercial break as the action in our main event continues.

When we return from the break, we see the heels are still in the offensive driver's seat, however not for long. The commentators inform us that during the break, Kingston hurt his knee and food was thrown all over the place. The heels take over again but not for long, as Santana hits a huge high spot that pops the crowd like crazy.

Kingston gets his leg taken out from under him and now again we see Garcia, Parker and Lee taking over. Some powder is thrown in the eyes of their opposition and the beatdown commences again. The trio focuses on Santana and Ortiz as Kingston sells his knee in the corner of the ring. Parker and Lee hold Kingston up while Garcia has a weapon, which he blasts over "The Mad King's" head. He immediately goes for the cover, however Kingston somehow kicks out at two.

As soon as he kicks out, Garcia pops up and makes a shocked facial expression. The trio end up dumping Kingston out to the floor and then they hoist him up for a suplex into the guard rail, where his injured leg takes the brunt of the impact. The commentators question if he has suffered long-term damage.

Santana & Ortiz enter the camera shot and attack the trio from behind. They end up getting Garcia isolated in the ring. They double-team him and nearly finish this one off, but Parker hits the ring just when they went for the cover. They end up beating Parker down and after a discus double-team finisher, we see the pin fall. The team of Santana, Ortiz and Eddie Kingston pick up the victory in this week's main event.

Winners: Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz

– Once the match ends, we see Kingston having difficulty walking on his leg, but he makes his way back into the ring to celebrate the victory with Santana & Ortiz.

As they celebrate their victory, Garcia and the Team 2point0 duo hit the ring for a post-match attack. They beat Kingston, Santana & Ortiz down. They grab some tape and pick Kingston up.

We watch as they hold Kingston against the ropes, taping his arms to them so he can't move, and then they begin grabbing weapons and they post-match ambush goes to another level now. Chris Jericho has seen enough of this and he throws down his headset and makes his way down to the ring. "Le Champion" helps his fellow Inner Circle brothers, Santana & Ortiz, fight off the heel trio. The three man team of Garcia, Lee and Parker end up heading to the back and as Jericho's theme plays, he and the Inner Circle duo of Santana & Ortiz show each other mutual respect.

Jericho goes to do the same with Kingston, but Kingston, struggling to stand because of his leg, still wants no part of it. The show wraps up on that note, with Excalibur hyping tomorrow night's AEW Battle of the Belts special event as we head off the air.