AEW Rampage Live Coverage - July 8th, 2022

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AEW Rampage

This week on Rampage on TNT, it's Orange Cassidy vs Tony Nese. Eddie Kingston faces Konosuke Takeshita. Plus, Tully Blanchard Enterprises’ The Gates of Agony take on Lee Moriarty and ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham.


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– This week's show kicks off inside the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. where the commentators welcome us to the show.

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Eddie Kingston

From there, we head down to the ring for our first match of the evening. Kicking things off inside the squared circle this week is Japanese veteran Konosuke Takeshita and Eddie Kingston.

The bell sounds and we're off-and-running with our opening contest of the week. These two get off to a slow start, with there being a bit of a case of too much respect being shown.

Jim Ross, Excalibur and Tony Schiavone talk about Kingston only being nine days removed from Blood & Guts while Takeshita is more fresh coming into this one.

Kingston gets Takeshita down and controls his arm. Takeshita fights back up and the two switch back-and-forth a few times. The referee calls for a clean break, and Kingston gives it to Takeshita, however Takeshita takes advantage and blasts "The Mad King" with a cheap wide-open shot that shifts the momentum in his favor. Takeshita gets a close near fall after a blue thunder bomb and a big running forearm in the corner. As Kingston starts to fight back, we head to a mid-match commercial break.

We return from the break and see Kingston fight his way back into competitive form and then ultimately, score the pin fall to pick up the victory in the opening bout.

Winner: Eddie Kingston

– We head to a message from Athena and Kris Statlander regarding TBS Women's Champion Jade Cargill and then we shoot to another commercial break.

Gates Of Agony vs. Jonathan Gresham & Lee Moriarty

We return from the break to a vignette hyping what is next for "The Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil" Hook. We then head into the arena where the Gates of Agony make their way to the ring.

After they settle into the ring, Lee Moriarty's theme hits and out comes the promising prospect. He waits at the top of the entrance way and is joined by ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham.

The two men make their way to the ring and then the bell sounds to kick off this tag-team contest. Gates Of Agony jump on them at the bell and go to work with a shotgun-start.They do a good job of isolating Moriarty in the ring, leaving Gresham desparate for a tag on the apron. Khan hits a big Samoan Drop as we head to a mid-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, we see Moriarty fight his way into buying some much-needed time so he can make the tag to Gresham. He finally heads over there to make the tag, but Gresham refuses it. He turns his back and smiles as Moriarty looks up in shock. Gresham beats down Moriarty and then hugs Tully Blanchard and smiles. Meanwhile, Gates of Agony hit their finisher on Moriarty for the win.

Winners: Gates Of Agony

– Backstage, Eddie Kingston delivers a message to Chris Jericho, guaranteeing blood for his actions towards Ruby Soho at Dynamite, we head back to the ring.

Serena Deeb & Mercedes Martinez vs. Christina Marie & Kayla Sparks

Serena Deeb makes her way to the ring and stops. Out next is ROH Women's Champion Mercedes Martinez. These two will be in action in the women's tag-team division next on Rampage.

Already in the ring is their opponents -- Christina Marie and Kayla Sparks. The bell sounds and we're off-and-running with this one. We essentially see Serena and Martinez in a game of "anything you can do, I can do better" until finally Deeb draws the submission victory. After the match, Deeb attacks Martinez.

Winners: Serena Deeb & Mercedes Martinez

– We return from a commercial break, we see Mark Henry introduce this week's pre-main event split-screen interview.

Orange Cassidy vs. Tony Nese

"Smart" Mark Sterling and Tony Nese are shown on one side of the screen, with Sterling talking about how if Nese wins, Orange Cassidy will sign his petition to get Shane "Swerve" Strickland removed from AEW.

On the other side of the screen we see the "Freshly Squeezed" one with two of his pals. They don't have nearly as much to say and after they're done, Henry informs us that there has been enough talking. It's time for the main event!

Excalibur runs down some action scheduled for next week's show, and then we head down to the ring for our final match of the evening -- Orange Cassidy vs. Tony Nese.

Nese makes his way out with Sterling and then after him, out comes Cassidy accompanied by Best Friends and Danhausen. The bell sounds and we're off-and-running with our final match of the evening. Cassidy is no-shalant to start, as usual, and Nese makes him pay.

Cassidy ends up starting to fight back. He knocks Nese out to the floor and then floors him with a dropkick upon returning to the ring. The fans cheer Cassidy on and it amps him up. He hits the ropes with his hands in his pockets, but Nese blasts him with a back elbow.

Nese takes over control from there. He throws Cassidy out to the floor and ties up the referee. With the ref distracted, Sterling lays in some cheap shots, stomping away at Cassidy. As this is happening, we head to a mid-match commercial break.

As we settle back in from our final commercial break of the evening, we see Nese controlling Cassidy on the mat with ground-and-pound and body-scissors control over the body of the "Freshly Squeezed" one. Nese continues to dominate the action, including a close near fall off of a beautiful Northern Lights suplex. He backs Cassidy into a corner and pummels him with lefts and rights as Cassidy lays slumped over on the mat.

We see "The Premier Athlete" hoisting Cassidy up to the top-rope. He follows him up there. Once up there, Cassidy comes alive and goes berzerker mode on Nese with rapid-fire punches until Nese falls backwards like a redwood tree. "Smart" Mark Sterling hops on the ring apron, but this time we see Danhausen appear and yank him down. Nese hits a baseball slide dropkick to take Danhausen out of the picture. Nese then turns into a big shot from Cassidy, who follows up with a Michinoku Driver for a close near fall.

We see Cassidy look for the Orange Punch, but Nese does Trish Stratus' old Matrix move to lean back out of the way from the big shot from the "Freshly Squeezed" one. He follows that up with some nice offense of his own for another close near fall. Cassidy fires up again and hits a couple of DDTs. He heads to the top-rope and connects with a flying DDT for a third consecutive one in a row. He goes for the cover but Nese kicks out.

He takes his arm pad off and then notices Sterling on the apron. He gives him the wimpy leg kicks. Nese takes advantage of the distraction and hits a pump handle finisher on him. He goes for the cover but Cassidy kicks out after the count of two. The fans break out in a loud "This is awesome!" chant. Nese tries for the Running Nese on Cassidy in the corner, but Cassidy moves and Nese blasts the turnbuckle. Sterling tries hitting the ring but Danhausen hits him with a low shot and throws him out of the ring.

Nese then gets distracted by Danhausen and turns into an Orange Punch from Cassidy for the pin fall victory.

Winner: Orange Cassidy