AEW Rampage live results: Young Bucks vs. Top Flight, Keith Lee vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
Friday’s AEW Rampage will see the rematch between two of the tag team division’s most entertaining teams in addition to a grudge match that has been building for weeks.
In the opener, former AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks will take on Top Flight in a rematch of their November 2020 meeting on Dynamite.
The main event will see Keith Lee taking on Powerhouse Hobbs of Team Taz for the first time. The two have been at odds for week as Hobbs and Ricky Starks have targeted Lee since he debuted.
In a match stemming out of last week’s Rampage, the House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King and Buddy Matthews) will take on Fuego Del Sol and Dark Order’s Evil Uno and Stu Grayson.
In the second Owen Hart Tournament women’s qualifying match, Jamie Hayter will take on Skye Blue.
Two promos are also scheduled as Kris Statlander will speak publicly for the first time since her recent character change in addition to TNT Champion Scorpio Sky, Paige VanZant and Dan Lambert.
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Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks and Chris Jericho were on commentary.
The Young Bucks defeated Top Flights (10:48)
Nick and Dante started out, and a sequence that started with a simple lockup saw Nick armdrag Dante, but Dante rolled through and try to toss Nick on the floor. They both wound up on the floor where they missed simultaneous dropkicks and kipped up. But when Dante got back in the ring, Matt floored him with a clothesline from the apron and the Bucks tried to take control. Darius caught Matt with a shoulderblock from the apron, Dante hit Matt with a clothesline in the corner, Darius suplexed him out of the corner, kipped up and tagged Dante, who hit a slingshot senton on Matt. Nick ran in and got a double dropkick by Top Flight.
Darius slowed the match down and worked over Matt’s arms on the mat. Top Flight kept the advantage. Nick caught Darius with a forearm, then lept into a reverse atomic drop from Darius, who clotheslined Nick out of the ring. Brandon Cutler caught Nick, pushed him back onto the apron and into a springboard dropkcik from Dante. Darius caught Matt with a tiger feint kick, and Dante caught both the Bucks on the floor with a tope suicidia. The Bucks gave Top Flight a lot here.
Dante tried to hold the ropes open for Nick to get back in the ring, which was kind of insulting, so Nick took him out with a superkick. When Darius gave chase, Matt caught him with a superkick on the floor. This allowed the Bucks to take control. Darius took a powerbomb into the buckle/enziguri combo from the Bucks in their corner, and the show went to a split-screen break.
Back from break, Dante dove off his brother’s back and into a headlock takeover on Matt. Darius hit Nick with a superkick on the ring apron and came off the top with a shotgun dropkick on Matt. Matt came back with a facerake on Dante. Matt dumped Dante on the floor, Nick went for a kick on Dante, but caught a gamengiri and a flatliner from Darius, and Dante hit a 450 senton for a near fall. Nick tried to german suplex Darius, but Darius threw his brother over both of them so Dante was behind them both, and then set up Dante rolling Nick from behind and into a German suplex from Darius for two. Insane.
Darius went for the double jump moonsault, but Matt shoved him off the top into the barricade. Darius caught Matt with a Spanish Fly. Darius and Nick exchanged forearms in the ring. Darius caught Nick with a superkick and went for a backslide, but Nick rolled through and held Darius’ wrist, and Matt ran in and the Bucks combined for the BTE Trigger. Matt got the pin. A very good match.
I just realized the Bucks were wearing the same tights here they were wearing at the ROH ppv. Awesome.
– Kris Statlander video package promised “the other side of Kris Statlander.”
– Dan Lambert promo, with Paige VanZant, Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page. The only one who didn’t talk was TNT Champion Scorpio Sky. Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti interrupted from a parking lot (via the video wall) and destroyed Dan Lambert’s car with sledgehammers. Lambert still denied Guevara a TNT title match.
– Tony Schivone “interviewed” Hook, but of course Tony was interrupted, this time by Danhausen. Danhausen said he is here to make the human monies and curse people. He tried to curse Hook again, but again Hook brushed it off and walked away.
The House of Black defeated Evil Uno, Stu Grayson & Fuego Del Sol (7:15 aired)
Buddy Matthews and Grayson started out. Grayson hit Matthews with a tope con hilo, then worked over the arm. Del Sol tagged himself in and was basically law-darted into the middle turnbuckle by Matthews. King military pressed Del Sol and tossed him unto the Dark Order on the floor. The House of Black looked strong as the show went to a picture in picture break.
Del Sol was dominated through the break, then Grayson got the hot tag. Uno hit a sit down powerbomb on Black, but King broke up the pin attempt by tossing Grayson into Uno. King hit a cannonball on Uno and Grayson on the floor. This left Del Sol with Black… until King and Matthews got back in the ring. The Dark Order pulled King and Matthews to the floor, and Del Sol got a two off a roll up. Del Sol hit a poisoned rana, then went for the quebrada and flew right into the Black Mass. Black got the pin.
Chris Jericho then named the House of Black his Sports Entertainers of the Week!
– In a backstage promo with Brandon Cutler, The Young Bucks accepted the challenge from FTR for a match on Wednesday (the same challenge they accepted an hour before on the ROH ppv).
Jamie Hayter (w/ Rebel) defeated Skye Blue in an Owen Hart Cup Qualifying Match (5:36)
Britt Baker is not at ringside because she’s boycotting AEW until their return to Pittsburgh next month.
Blue got a pair of near falls with a small package and a crucifix bomb. Hayter came back with a back breaker. After another brief flurry of offense from Blue, Hayter folded Blue up with a backdrop driver. Blue hit a superplex and went to the top rope, but Hayter caught her with a superplex and rolled through into a brainbuster. Hayter followed up with a ripcord clothesline and got the pin. Fun back and forth match.
– Penta Oscuro and Alex Abrahantes promo. Death Triangle has not forgotten about House of Black, and the House of Black shouldn’t forget about them.
On Dynamite Wednesday:
- FTR v. Young Bucks
- Hardy Boys v. Butcher & Blade in a Tables Match
- Adam Cole v. Christian Cage
Main Event Promo: Hobbs promised to make Lee “bask in defeat” in a very good promo. Lee thinks Hobbs should be prepared to “bask in his glory.” Both men were fantastic here. “It’s TIME for the main event!”
Keith Lee defeated Powerhouse Hobbs (10:53)
Keith Lee was definitely over here, spending the first minute of the match soaking in the cheers from the crowd. Taz called the match a “Hoss fight.” After a pair of lockups, Hobbs grabbed a side headlock. Lee shrugged him off and both guys exchanged shoulder blocks. Hobbs hit Lee with a Pounce, and Lee responded with a Pounce that sent Hobbs to the floor.
During the last split-screen break, Hobbs sent Lee into the ring barricade and choked him against the ringpost. Back in the ring, Hobbs buried knees into Lee’s chest and took him down with a lariat for two. Lee came back with overhand chops and a forearm. Lee buried Hobbs with a lariat for two. Lee went for the Spirit Bomb, but Hobbs countered with an impressive backdrop. Hobbs ducked a clothesline and hit a spinning powerslam for a near fall. Lee avoided an avalanche in the corner, hit his own avalanche and beeled Hobbs across the ring.
After Lee connected with a headbutt on Hobbs, Ricky Starks ran to the ring from commentary with a steel chair. Lee punched the chair out of Starks hands, and Swerve Strickland ran in and attacked Starks. Back in the ring, Hobbs hit the spinebuster on Lee and got a visual pin, but the referee was on the floor dealing with Starks and Strickland. Taz left commentary to get the ref back into the ring. And back in the ring, Lee gave Hobbs the Big Bang Catastrophe (still not being called that on commentary) and got the pin. Very good hoss fight. The match needed JR on the call.
Tons of chaos followed the match. Starks put Strickland through the timekeeper’s table with the Roshambeaux. Starks tried to attack Starks with a chair, but Lee pounced him out of the ring. Hobbs got the chair and waylaid Lee with a chairshot. Starks set up another table in the corner, then beat Lee with his shoe. Lee briefly came back, but Hobbs speared Lee through the table to end the show.
Final Thoughts:
Lots of other stuff going on tonight means this show is getting lost in the shuffle, but the opening tag was very good and the main event was a great power match. There’s probably a million hours of wrestling this weekend to watch, but fit those to matches in where you can.