AEW Rampage Live Coverage - December 23rd, 2022
:aew:
It is Friday and tonight’s Rampage was recorded on Wednesday after AEW Dynamite. They are still in the Freeman Colosseum in San Antonio Texas, and this one is called the Holiday Bash.
Our commentary team is Excalibur, Jim Ross, Chris Jericho, and Tony Schiavone.
The $300,000 Three Kings Holiday Battle Royal
The teams involved are:
Rush & Dralistico & Preston Vance.
Kip Sabian & The Butcher & The Blade.
Best Friends & Orange Cassidy.
The Blackpool Combat Club.
The Dark Order.
The Spanish Announce Project.
Ari Daivari & Tony Nese & Josh Woods.
AR Fox & Top Flight.
It’s the last man standing who will be the winner, so you need to eliminate all members of a team. Since it’s only an hour-long show, I won’t go over ALL of the eliminations and will just point out any stories in the match and then once it’s down to the last few, I will move into play by play.
Preston Vance, as this is his first match since leaving the Dark Order, he gets a spotlight during the match.
No one eliminated as we go into the first picture in picture, but when we come back, we start to see eliminations.
Mox and Evil Uno tie up a number of times and Uno is finally eliminated by Mox after they had locked up three times that were spotlighted.
AR Fox and Top Flight are the last trio to come to the ring.
Rush spends a lot of the match “picking the bones” and eliminating people who have just eliminated someone else and are left in a precarious position.
Rush and Claudio have a nice, long fight that should lead to a Ring of Honor title match.
It comes down to Claudio and Mox vs Darius and Dante Martin. Adam Page shows and attacks Mox and is followed by security to keep them apart. Mox is eliminated as Darius takes advantage of the chaos, and Mox and Page keep fighting on the outside. Claudio is able to take out both members of Top Flight when they go for a double clothesline. He picks up both members, but they escape and put him up for a stalling vertical suplex. Claudio reverses it and then are able to escape from him.
They double-team Claudio, and they both try to dump him over the top and he fights his way free. They mix it up for a while, and while I don’t like handicap matches, they have a lot of good action since it’s a battle royal. Likewise, they hit him with a double DDT and flip him over the top. Claudio stays on the apron and he fights his way back into the ring. Top Flight is finally able to get Claudio out with an assisted Hurancanrana.
Winners and getting $300,000: Top Flight and AR Fox
The ending sequence of this match was great! With Mox and Page’s issue spilling into the match, Claudio showing his strength, and Top Flight winning with double team moves, it was well worth the long TV time.
Eddie Kingston and Ortiz come to the ring and Eddie has a mic and he talks about how the House of Black beat up Ortiz. He says he sent a contract to them and they didn’t sign it. He isn’t going to wait until the lights go out, he wants to fight them now. The lights go out.
Julia Hart is in the reed spotlight and points out the big screen where Malachi Black gives a riddle about the friend of his enemy being a friend. Yeah, it was full of double-talk, so the gist of it is that the phrasing Black used was meant to drive a wedge between Eddie and Ortiz.
We then get a pre-tape from Sammy Guevara, Daniel Garcia, and Jake Hager.
Jade Cargill (TBS Champion) vs The Already In The Ring Vert Vixen in an Eliminator match
Jade slams Vert repeatedly and then tosses her aside as we go picture in picture. When we come back to full screen, Jade gets a series of pump kicks that gives her the pin and the win.
Winner and still TBS Champion: Jade Cargill
Next is a video package about the feud between Willow Nightingale and Ruby Soho vs Ana Jay and Tay Melo.
Mark Henry asks Anthony Bowens about the match tonight and Sonjay Dutt interrupts him and his team brags about what’s going on. Billy Gunn says they will beat them tonight.
Billy Gunn and Anthony Bowens vs Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal
Max Caster gets to do a rap for the first time in weeks.
Bowens and Lethal start out collar and elbow. Lethal drives Bowens to the corner and they break with strikes. They fight to the middle of the ring and struggle to pin each other with a takedown and then get back to their blows until Bowens gets a Famouser. Gunn is tagged in and Lethal rolls to the corner to tag in Jarrett.
Jericho makes a Shotgun Saturday night reference.
They see-saw back and forth until Gunn gets a vertical suplex for a two count. Jarrett pokes Gunn in the eyes and tags out to Lethal. Lethal goes for the double ax handle from the top and Gunn nails him in the midsection and drags him to the corner to tag in Bowens. Gunn hits a pair of attacks off the ropes, Bowens then slams Lethal and they scissor over him into a double elbow drop.
Bowens stops Jarrett from an attack from the outside, and Lethal knocks him out of the ring. Jarrett clothesline Bowens on the outside as we go picture in picture. When they return to full screen, Bowens has been taking the beat down. Lethal is unloading with stomps on Bowens and then he gets a snap suplex and a two count on Bowens. Lethal grabs a rear chin lock. He pulls Bowens up and taunts Gunn. Bowens blocks the suplex, they trade waist locks, and then Bowens escapes from a suplex for a quick roll up and a two count.
Lethal hits the Lethal Combination and waits before covering for a two count. Jarrett tags in and the crowd is not a fan of Jarrett. Jarrett lays in a massive series of blows on Bowens and Bowens is able to get a series of chops and a super kick. Both men are down, and struggling to tag their partners. Bowens has the longest way to get to his corner.
Jarrett tags first, but Bowens tags right after, so Gunn gets to clean house. Satnam Singh gets in the ring and Gunn had Lethal set up, so he lets go of the move and clotheslines Singh out of the ring. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but Gunn grabs him and slams him to the mat for a pin, broken up by Jarrett. Dutt gets in to take out Gunn, and Jarrett gives Bowens the Stroke.
Max Caster gets on the apron, and gets in a punch on Jarrett. Gunn tosses Jarrett out of the ring, but he gets hit by a low blow from Dutt. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection again, and this time it connects for the pin and the win.
Winners: Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal
And we are desperately out of time!
