AEW Rampage live results: Hook debuts, Tag Team title match

AEW Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers will defend the gold against FTR on Friday’s AEW Rampage.

The original match set for last Friday’s show was changed to PAC and Penta El Zero Miedo vs. FTR as Rey Fenix had visa issues and couldn’t travel to Georgia for the show.  Originally scheduled for two-out-of-three falls, this will be a traditional tag team affair instead.

Friday will see the long-awaited pro wrestling debut of Taz’s son Hook as he takes on Fuego Del Sol. Taz made the announcement on Wednesday’s Dynamite in reaction to Dante Martin swerving Team Taz and eliminating Ricky Starks during the Dynamite Diamond battle royal after Martin recently joined the faction.

SuperKliq’s Adam Cole will face Wheeler Yuta of Best Friends while in six-woman tag team action, Ruby Soho, Anna Jay and Tay Conti will face Nyla Rose, The Bunny and Penelope Ford.

This week’s matches were taped after Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite at the UBS Arena on Long Island, New York.

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Your hosts are Excalibur and Taz and we’re right into the action. 

Lucha Bros (w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated FTR (w/ Tully Blanchard) to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship (13:53)

Both teams were in the ring at the start of the show.

Fenix and Dax Harwood started out. Cash Wheeler ran in to try and interfere, but Fenix was able to handle them both. Penta El Zero Miedo got the tag and Fenix came off the top of his shoulders for a splash. Wheeler and Penta were then the legal men. Wheeler interrupted Penta’s glove gimmick spot and wound up eating a superkick. Fenix got a blind tag and came off the top with a high crossbody block that sent him flying out of the ring. On the floor, Harwood threw Fenix into the ring apron, and FTR took control. 

Wheeler hit the assisted legdrop on Fenix for a near fall, then worked over Fenix with a chinlock. Harwood absolutely walloped Fenix with a forearm. Harwood went to the top, but Fenix popped up to catch him with a forearm, then took him down with a jumping rana. The show went to a picture-in-picture break. 

Back from the break, Fenix got the hot tag to Penta, and hit both members of FTR with sling blades, and hit a lung blower on Harwood.  Penta hit Wheeler with Made in Japan for a near fall. Fenix tried to go up top for the spike piledriver, but Tully Blanchard got on the apron to distract him. Fenix knocked Blanchard to the floor. 

Harwood hit a slingshot Liger Bomb on Fenix for another great near fall. Wheeler tried to hit Fenix with one of the AAA title belts, but Fenix caught him. He pulled the belt away from Wheeler and inadvertently hit Harwood. Fenix then went to the top for the frog splash, but Harwood still had the belt and used it to nail Fenix. This got a near fall. Fenix came off the top onto Harwood… but right into the Big Rig for another near fall, which Penta broke up by flying in off the top rope.  

The Lucha Bros and FTR stood toe to toe in the middle of the ring and exchanged blows. Fenix hit the rolling cutter on Harwood. He went for the same on Wheeler, but Wheeler countered into a Gory Bomb. Penta went for the package piledriver on Wheeler, but he was able to escape momentarily. Penta and Fenix hit Fear Factor on Wheeler, and Fenix flew out of the ring with a tope con hilo onto Harwood to keep him out of the ring. Penta got the pinfall and the champs retained.

Excellent match, and Fenix and Harwood in particular looked great here.

Nyla Rose, The Bunny and Penelope Ford (w/ Vicki Guerrero) defeated Ruby Soho, Anna Jay & Tay Conti (10:19)

Conti and Rose start. No entrances for the heel team because they’re clearly trying to cram a lot into this hour. 

Bunny got caught in the face corner and triple teamed. Conti hit a pump kick on Bunny in the corner, then locked in a guillotine. Guerrero tripped Conti against the ropes and Penelope Ford hit Conti with a boot for the heels to take control. 

Ford got a near fall after a pump kick, then Rose got the tag and battered Conti in the corner. Conti and Bunny knocked each other out with forearms, and tags were made to Soho and Ford. Soho took it to Ford with a clothesline and a leg sweep. What felt like the hot tag comeback leading to the finish actually lead to a commercial break, just as Rose came in and got the heat on Soho.

Back from break, the whole heat segment on Soho took place during the picture-in-picture segment. Jay just got the hot tag and took it to Rose, and tried to finish her with the sleeper. Bunny came in and broke that up with a superkick to Jay, and Conti took Bunny out with the TayKO. Rose took out Conti with a hanging neckbreaker, and Soho hit No Future on Rose. Ford took out Soho with a hook kick, and Jay suplexed Ford.  Guerrero slipped Bunny the brass knuckles, which she used on Jay. Conti took out Bunny, but Rose hit the Beast Bomb on Jay to get the pinfall. 

This match absolutely did not need to run through two segments and a commercial break.

– Tony Schiavone interviewed Sting and Darby Allin in the back and before I can even make a joke about Sting getting jumped, FTR and Tully Blanchard jumped Sting and Darby Allin. Wheeler threw Darby Allin into a loading bay door, and Blachard dropped Sting with a low blow. 

Babyfaces should not do interviews with Tony Schiavone. And they definitely shouldn’t do them around loading bay doors. 

Hook defeated Fuego Del Sol (3:19)

Hook’s entrance music is by Action Bronson.  

The crowd was chanting for Hook immediately. Predictably, Hook was fantastic on the mat. Hook took Del Sol  down with judo throws and battered him in the corner with body shots. Hook hit an awesome “crotch lift” suplex and then played to the crowd for a huge pop. Fuego mounted a brief comeback and went for a tornado DDT, but Hook blocked it and tossed him to the mat like a sack of garbage. Hook followed that up with an awesome lariat and a overhead suplex. Hook locked in the katahajime (rebranded the “Redrum” according to Taz) for the submission. 

Hook looked great, and the crowd was into him. 

– Main Event promo time! The Superkilq and The Best Friends traded barbs while Mark Henry moderated the exchange. It was almost pretty civil (although there seemed to be a bit of dissension between Trent and the other friends) until Wheeler Yuta stole Adam Cole’s “Bay-bay!”  

Adam Cole (w/ The Young Bucks, Brandon Cutler & Bobby Fish)  defeated Wheeler Yuta (w/ The Best Friends)  (7:30) 

Yuta blocked a La Magistral’s cradle into a pin attempt of his own. Yuta than walked into a superkick and Cole took control. After a suplex, Cole mocked Orange Cassidy’s high impact offense. Yuta came back and surprised Cole with some quick pin attempts, but Cole rocked him with a pump kick. Cole hit the neckbreaker out of a fireman’s carry, and this is feeling more like a Dark squash than a Rampage main event. Cole dumped Yuta out on the floor, in front of the Best Friends, and stared down Orange Cassidy. 

Back in the ring, Cole went for the Panama Sunrise, but Yuta countered it into a pinfall attempt. Yuta got another near fall after a top rope crossbody. Yuta hit a top rope forearm for another near fall. Yuta went for a German suplex, but Cole blocked it and hit an enziguri. Yuta came back and caught Cole with a German suplex for a near fall. Yuta caught Cole with a modified Olympic Slam for another near fall. Yuta went for a top rope splash, but Cole got his knees up, hit Yuta with a superkick and Lowered the Boom to get the pinfall. 

After the match, there was a bit of a standoff between the Best Friends and the Superkliq. Fish pulled Trent Baretta out of the ring and threw him into the steps. Cole hit Cassidy with a low blow, and the Bucks and Cole hit Trent with the BTE trigger to end the show. 

Final Thoughts: 

The tag team title match and the Hook debut were both great.