AEW Rampage Preview (10/14/22): AEW World Champion In Action
AEW Rampage is the company’s second show in Canada this week after Dynamite became the company’s first-ever international show. Rampage has been extremely lackluster for a while. It’s clear that AEW doesn’t put much thought into the show and doesn’t view it the same way they do Dynamite. However, this show does have the potential to be a decent one. The AEW world champion, Jon Moxley, will be in action, plus the AEW tag team champions, FTR, are set to compete as well. With some of the best wrestlers in the company on the show, here’s what to expect heading into AEW Rampage.
Ethan Page vs Isiah Kassidy
Ethan Page aligned himself with The Firm a few weeks ago, in hopes of turning around his career around and getting more television time. More recently, Stokely Hathaway, the voice of The Firm, bought Private Party’s contracts from Andrade El Idolo. So now Private Party, Isiah Kassidy, and Marq Quen, work for the Firm. Well, that didn’t sit well with them since they have been trying to get out of their contracts with the help of Matt Hardy.
On Dynamite, Page challenged Kassidy to a match, but there are conditions. If Page wins, Private Party stays under contract with The Firm, plus Hardy’s contract will belong to The Firm. However, if Kassidy wins, Private Party will be free from their contracts with The Firm. Kassidy is primarily a tag team wrestler, so he is going to have his work cut out for him during this match. He’s going to have to outsmart the cocky Page if he wants to be free from his contract.
Nyla Rose vs Anna Jay
Anna Jay has been on a tear since joining the Jericho Appreciation Society, choking out anything and everything that looks at her wrong. While she has yet to win any gold in AEW, she has an opportunity to do so on AEW Rampage — sort of. While Jade Cargill is the TBS champion, Nyla Rose currently has the title. After her match against Willow Nightingale, Rose and Marina Shafir came out, attacked her, and stole the title. Now, Rose is walking around the locker room proclaiming to be the TBS champion. Jay told Rose on Dynamite that she wants to be the one wearing the title. So, this match is unofficially for the TBS Championship — well, at least to hold the title.
Shawn Spears and FTR vs Brian Cage and Gates of Agony
WarJoe’s post-match celebration on Dynamite got cut short by Brian Cage and Gates of Agony. Cage recently lost to Wardlow in a TNT championship match. It was one hell of a fight, but ultimately Wardlow came out on top. During the post-match antics, FTR and Canadian native, Shawn Spears, came out to help. This is the first time we have seen Spears since May earlier this year. He is going to have to shake off the rust if he wants to help FTR get a win on AEW Rampage.
The Butcher and The Blade vs Claudio Castagnoli and Jon Moxley (c)
Blackpool Combat Club members, Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli, are teaming up on Rampage. This is a duo we haven’t gotten a lot of because Moxley is the AEW world champion and Castagnoli is a former ROH world champion. The Butcher and The Blade are under contract with Andrade El Idolo and they didn’t like how Castagnoli treated Private Party during their match last week.
The Butcher and the Blade are one of the first tag teams in AEW. They have over fifty wins in AEW and are looking to pick up a monumental victory against Moxley and Castagnoli. This could easily shift the momentum of their future if they pull out a victory.
Moxley, meanwhile, has a world title match next week against Hangman Page, so he is going to need to stay focused on what’s in front of him. He recently signed a contract extension with AEW, so he now has one less thing to worry about. A loss for Moxley would kill all momentum he has built up and would be a devastating blow.
