AEW Rampage live results: Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy, Young Bucks in action
The Grand Slam eliminator tournament continues on Friday’s AEW Rampage.
Samoa Joe will begin his quest to earn a shot at AEW World Champion MJF at this month’s Dynamite Grand Slam as he faces Jeff Hardy while Penta El Zero Miedo takes on Jay Lethal.
The winner of Joe vs. Hardy will face the winner of Penta vs. Lethal on Saturday’s Collision while Darby Allin will take on Roderick Strong in the other semifinal. The finals will take place next Wednesday.
The Young Bucks will return to tag team action as they face Matt Menard & Angelo Parker. Matt & Nick Jackson will be looking to rebound from their loss to AEW Tag Team Champions FTR at All In and win their third match in their last four.
In a trios match, former AEW Women’s Champions Hikaru Shida and Britt Baker will team with Skye Blue in trios action against Taya Valkyrie, Anna Jay & The Bunny.
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Taped in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Chris Jericho were commentary.
Penta El Zero Miedo (w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated Jey Lethal (w/ Jeff Jarrett et. al.) to advance in the World Title Eliminator Tournament (10:39)
The winner faces the winner of tonight’s Samoa Joe v. Jeff Hardy match on Collision tomorrow night. It’s wacky now that they’re booking from show to show to show, where what happens on Dynamite and Rampage now impacts what happens on Collision. But I guess that’s a lot easier when you don’t have to worry about who’s allowed in the building or not.
Penta got Lethal hung up in the corner and came off the top with a double stomp for a near fall. Jarrett tried to trip up Penta and got his hand stomped on, and Penta sent Lethal to the floor with a gamingiri. Lethal caught a superkick trying to re-enter the ring. When Penta tried to follow up with a plancha, Sahtnam Singh caught Penta and smashed him against the ring post. Karen Jarrett tied up Penta’s mask against the bottom rope. The ref caught Jarrett and his crew doing this and sent them all to the back as the show headed into a split-screen break.
After the break, Lethal worked over Penta with chops in the corner. Penta came back with a pair of slingblades and hit Lethal with a tope con hilo on the floor. Back in the ring, Penta came off the top with a double stomp for a near fall. Lethal came back with the Lethal Combination for a near fall. Lethal tried to take off Penta’s mask again. Penta countered a Lethal Injection with a dropkick for a near fall. Lethal pulled off Penta’s mask, and he immediately covered up. Letha tried to grab Jarrett’s guitar, but Abrahanets grabbed and a tug of war ensued, which Abrahanes won. Meanwhile, Penta got his mask back on, and Lethal turned around into an attack from Penta. Penta used the arm breaker and the Fear Factor stuff piledriver to get the pinfall. Very good TV match.
– Sammy Guevara came out to interrupt a recap of the recent tribulations between Guevara and Chris Jericho. The crowd suggested they “hug it out!” They both agree they’re pissing each other off and would like to punch each other in the face. Even though they’re well on their way to being AEW World Tag Team Champions, Jericho and Guevara need to get over this animosity, and Jericho suggests a match between them at Grand Slam to “get all this crap out of [their] system.” Both guys shake hands and agree to the match. Very good promo segment.
– Recap of the Samoa Joe & MJF angle from Wednesday.
Hikaru Shida, Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. & Skye Blue defeated Taka Valkyrie, Anna Jay & The Bunny (w/ Penelope Ford) (6:33 aired)
Shida & Baker will be in a four way on Wednesday (along with Nyla Rose & Toni Storm) to determine the challenger for Saraya at Grand Slam. So there’s a little bit of tension between them on the entrance stage.
Blue has a lot more confidence and presence than she did a few months ago. Bunny blocked an arm drag attempt from Skye Blue, but Blue turned it into a cradle for a near fall. She got into a striking exchange with Valkyire, but Valkyrie sent her into the mat face first.
After the break, Blue finally got the tag out (she’d been in the ring the whole match) to Shida. Shida racked Anna Jay, which Valkyrie broke up with a kick. Baker got the blind tag from Shida and hit a superkick on Bunny, then suplexed Jay. Bunny sent Britt into Shida, then hit a knee for the near fall. Britt got the lockjaw on Bunny and she quickly tapped out. After the match, Shida left, frustrated with her partners.
– A recap of Hook regaining his FTW World title with no mention or even a glimpse of who he beat. Jungle Berry or something? Anyway, Hook is glad to have the FTW title back where it belongs, in New York.
The Young Bucks defeated Matt Menard & Angelo Parker (w/ Jake Hager w/out his hat) (5:03)
Matt hung up Parker with a hangman’s neckbreaker, and Nick followed up with a senton. Matt came off the top with a double stomp on Parker’s arm. Matt gave Angelo a series of Northern Lights suplexes. And Parker was having a good hair day, too! Parker and Menard got the advantage on Matt Jackson while the crowd chanted “Where’s your hat?” at Hager. Parker dropped an elbow off of Menard’s back for a near fall while Jericho and Schivone got catty with each other on commentary.
Matt got the tag to Nick, who hit a crossbody on Parker and Menard. Parker tried the springboard elbow again, but sprung right into a superkick from Matt Jackson. A superkick took out Hager, and Bucks leveled Menard with the BTE trigger to get the pinfall.
– A promo from Mike Santana, who is breaking out as a single. He’s “not here to make friends, he’s here to make money.”
– Jon Moxley v. Action Andretti for the International Title, a Kris Statlander open challenge for the TBS Title, and an 8-man tag for Bullet Club Gold have been added to Collision tomorrow night.
Samoa Joe defeated Jeff Hardy (w/ Matt Hardy) to advance in the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament (8:30)
The crowd still really likes Jeff Hardy. And they really do not like Samoa Joe. Hardy caught Joe with a low dropkick and a lariat off the middle ropes. Joe went to Hardy’s eyes to get the advantage, then hit Hardy with some jabs and kicks.
Joe continued to dominate Hardy through the split-screen break. The crowd got behind Hardy with chants, and Joe casually avoided a flying forearm from Jeff, which sent him flying into the ropes and to the floor. When Hardy got back into the ring, Joe softened him up with jabs and body shots, then taunted the crowd by applauding Hardy.
Hardy came back with Whisper in the Wind. Hardy hit a clothesline, an elbow and a forearm. Hardy dropped an elbow for a near fall. The crowd chanted for a swanton bomb, and Hardy caught Joe with a kick. He went for the Twist of Fate, and Joe quickly countered into the Kokina Clutch. Hardy quickly tapped out.
Samoa Joe v. Penta El Zero Miedo is now official for Collision. The winner of that match will face the winner of Roderick Strong v. Darby Allin, also on Collision.
Final Thoughts:
Star power and some good matches made for the most watchable episode of Rampage in a while. Everything on tonight’s show felt important.