As I write this we are one week away from the debut episode of AEW Collision. With this being the penultimate episode of Rampage as AEW’s clear B show and possibly my second to last edition of these Power Rankings I was hoping for a good show tonight! Then I saw Luther announced for the card and gave up hope for that. But I watched anyway and while it wasn’t on par with the best nights of Rampage and paled in comparison to last week’s it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. So let’s get to the rankings!
Honorable Mention: Wardlow. Arn Anderson was interviewed by Renee with Wardlow next to him. He said his son Brock will be fine but Christian and Luchasaurus made a mistake by not finishing things. Wardlow said he put Joe to sleep and showed Powerhouse who the real Powerhouse is. He beat Christian in his own yard but he sees they still think they owe them more. So he’s going to take care of Jake Hager and then get back to them.
5. The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass. The trio faced off with the S.A.T. off Wish, the Spanish Announce Project. Caster mentioned Jokic, Lauren Boebert, Pride month (Bowens had gear for it) and S.A.P. standing for “Small Ass Penises” Luther is my most hated wrestler in all of wrestling who hasn’t (to my knowledge) been “me too’d” or done something criminal but I will actually say something good about him for the first time ever; I like that he, Serpentico and Angelico had matching gear. Bowens had a funny bit where he kept faking Angelico out on scissor attempts. Serpentico broke up a 3 way scissor attempts and Billy Gunn teased scissoring with him only to instead drop him with a punch. After a few more minutes The Acclaimed & Gunn won with an Arrival and Mic Drop to Luther. This was simply another showcase for The Acclained and Gunn and did it’s job. The fact it was inoffensive is the greatest compliment I can give to Luther.
4. Powerhouse Hobbs. The QTV crew were in their office as QT solicited ideas to make them edgier with the upcoming debut of Collision. Harley Cameron said she had something people could collide into and QT made me laugh when he responded “I said edgy, not 1997” Solo suggested they give the fans ice cream. QT said it’s already been done. Harley suggested spilling Jim Ross’ coffee which had also already been done. Solo suggested announcing they have an announcement and in a very funny, self-aware back and forth they debated whether that itself is making an announcement. Solo said “It’s not an announcement until Adam Cole…” and QT cut him off and said they’d just have “the champ” go out and give everyone a preview of what they can expect with Collision. Powerhouse Hobbs took on Caleb Crush who was announced as a hometown guy from Colorado Springs. Crush had more of a pro look than most local talents but it didn’t do him any good as Hobbs made quick work of him and won with a spinning Spinebuster as the QTV crew celebrated in the ring. I continue to be the biggest and possibly only fan of QTV.
3. Mark Briscoe. Jeff Jarrett’s crew was on stage with Renee and Karen Jarrett called out Aubrey Edwards. Mark Briscoe’s music hit as he and Aubrey came out. Despite being in her ref’s outfit Aubry took the mic and said AEW won’t sanction a match between them because she’s a ref and Karen damn sure isn’t a wrestler but if Aubrey sees her anywhere or catches her interfering in Jeff’s matches she’ll kick her ass. Mark said he talked to some high-ranking people and they won’t sanction a one on one match with the women but will have a mixed trios match. Sonjay said it’d be Lethal, Jeff and Karen but he can do simple math since he’s not from Sandy Fork who is Mark’s third going to be? Mark said it’s the one person who said from the start he shouldn’t trust them. Nobody fights like family so his partner…Papa Briscoe. This is the most insane six-person match I can remember in ages and should be an absolute train wreck in the most entertaining, fun way possible!
2. The Luchs Bros. and Bandido. The lucha alliance v. Ethan Page, Big Bill and Lee Moriarty opened our show tonight with the fans chanting “lucha libre” If it was more of a request Page obliged with a hurricanrana. After the lucha team worked together to chop down Big Bill and send him to the floor Penta helped vault Bandido out of the ring with an awesome-looking twisting plancha to their opponents on the floor. The former Firm members started to get the upper hand with Page ready to hit an Ego’s Edge on Bandido when Matt Hardy interrupted on the ramp joined by Jeff and Brother Zay. He said Page signed for this match before Hardy had his contract and he was willing to let him “honor (his) dates” but he was disappointed. Jeff gave him 2 good luck gifts and he hadn’t even extended them. They implored him to “extend them” and as Page leaned against the ropes and extended his Jeff Hardy-like arm bands Bandido hit a 21 plex to give the Lucha trio the win. I appreciated Matt’s “Honor his dates” comment because it was so confusing to see Page aligned with The Firm guys again and nobody say anything about it. Page was really the story of the match but the lucha trio getting a win is great and them against The House of Black even if it’s just on TV should absolutely rule!
1. Skye Blue. We got video package with short comments from Skye Blue, Mercedes Martinez, Nyla Rose and Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. who were all vying to become #1 contender to the AEW Women’s Championship in our main event fatal four way match. My assumption before the match was it had to be Britt because of her and Blue being the only faces in the match and Blue not feeling on that level yet but Nyla and commentary both mentioned Washington D.C. where the title match will take place being her hometown and that at least made me think for a second maybe she could play the face role in the match even if I knew the odds of her winning were slim. The four-way nature also opened up the chance for Baker to lose without being pinned or submitted. The Outcasts were shown watching on a monitor in the back. With no DQs Marina Shafir tried to quickly get involved and help Rose but Hikary Shida ran out with a kendo stick and chased Shafir up the ramp. There was a great looking spot where Nyla had Martinez draped over the ropes and climbed the corner for her diving knee but Baker tossed her from the top and sent her back first into the apron. Nyla broke up a double submission attempt from Blue and Baker on Martinez. Martinez hit a running knee to break up a pin attempt by Nyla after chokeslamming Baker. Baker and Martinez brawled outside and to my shock Skye Blue awkwardly mounted Nyla and hit a Code Red to win and get a shot at Toni Storm on Dynamite. In the back Toni Storm spray painted an L on the screen. This was a fun main event that was really only hurt but the sloppiness of the finish. Still a solid match and not a bad Rampage.
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