AEW Rampage- December 10, 2021
by Doc Allen
Taped from the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York. Our hosts are Excalibur and Taz.
AEW Tag Team Championship:
Lucha Bros. © (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix, with Alex Abrahantes) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, with Tully Blanchard)
Fenix and Harwood feel each other out with some chain wrestling. Fenix kicks off Cash to take Dax down with an armdrag. Fenix controls Harwood’s wrist while hitting Wheeler with a springboard rana! Penta tags and Fenix hits a splash from his shoulders. Penta’s gloves come off and he blasts Cash with a superkick. Fenix gets a blind tag and soars in with a high crossbody. Harwood cuts Fenix off with a slam onto the apron. Fenix survives a chinlock and hits Dax with a springboard super rana! Back from commercials, Penta is rolling on a hot tag. Made in Japan gets 2 on Wheeler. Meanwhile, Fenix blocks a shot from Tully and cleans his clock. Fenix runs wild on a blind tag, at least until Dax destroys him with a slingshot Liger Bomb. Fenix and Cash fight for control of a tag belt, Fenix inadvertently smashes it into Harwood’s face, but decides to roll with it. Fenix delivers a crazy tightrope walk penalty kick, but Harwood counters his springboard attack for a nuclear hot false finish. Fans chant “This is awesome!” Penta dives from the top rope to break another cover and everyone takes a breather. Both teams stumble to their feet for a stereo slugfest. Cash counters with a Gory Bomb on Fenix, but Penta hits him with a back body drop. Lucha Bros. hit Fear Factor/Double Stomp combo and Cash is finished at 14:00! These teams have seen a lot of each other lately, and have really polished their chemistry. This **** effort felt almost effortless.
Winners and still AEW Tag Team Champions: Lucha Bros.
Ruby Soho, Tay Conti, and Anna Jay vs. Nyla Rose (with Vickie Guerrero), The Bunny, and Penelope Ford
Tay eagerly gets into Nyla’s face, but gets pulled into enemy territory. Tay throws Bunny around like a ragdoll. Conti hits a facebuster, roundhouse kick, and whips her partners into Bunny. Conti’s pump kick looks brutal but only gets 2. Vickie’s distraction and Ford’s cheap shot allow the heels to take control of Conti. It doesn’t take long for Ruby to get a hot tag and run wild through Penelope, hitting a leg sweep for 2. Nyla catches Ruby with a wild clothesline just in time for commercials. They return with Anna taking her turn for a hot tag and dominating Nyla. Anna’s low crossbody gets 2. Ford saves Rose from Anna’s chinlock, Tay hits TayKO on Bunny. Ruby hits Nyla with No Future, but turns around for Ford’s heel kick. Anna hits Ford with a snap suplex, everyone is down for applause. Vickie passes brass knucks to Bunny, who decks Anna in the head. Anna is easy picking for Nyla’s Beast Bomb and for the pin at 10:23. Better than expected, largely due to Conti continuing to make massive gains in her ring work. They had the fans with them too, **½.Winners: Nyla Rose, Penelope Ford, and The Bunny
Tony Shiavone interviews Darby Allin and Sting backstage. Tony brings up Sting’s upcoming return to Greensboro, but they get ambushed by FTR. Looks like we know what Sting will be doing on the Greensboro Dynamite. Darby gets tossed into the metal garage door, and FTR hold Sting still for Tully’s cheap shot. While the interview interruption trope continues to make me giggle, I’m totally on board for this match, even if this insta-feud setup is pretty silly.
Hook vs. Fuego Del Sol
It’s finally time to SEND HOOK to the ring. He marches in like a stud, like he knows something we don’t. Hook has become a popular meme among fans so there is a buzz in the arena as he locks up with Fuego. Hook hits a mean Judo throw, Fuego uses the ropes to escape a choke. Hook intimidates the ref and nearly gets rolled up, but he recovers with a Bow and Arrow choke. Fuego escapes, so Hook punishes him with body shots. Fans chant “Hook is gonna kill you.” Gut wrench suplex by Hook earns him a standing ovation. Fuego gets booed for his flurry of token offense. Hook viciously blocks a tornado DDT and nails a lariat. Hook hits an overhead belly to belly suplex and finishes with the Tazmission at 3:20! Extra memorable squash, thanks to all the outside circumstances, as well as Hook holding up his end of the bargain in the ring.Winner: Hook
Mark Henry hosts the split screen interview with The Elite and Best Friends. The Elite hate Trent’s stupid haircut and Rocky Romero’s dumb eye patch. Adam Cole is ready to whip Wheeler Yuta’s @ss in front of his friends. Orange Cassidy warns Cole not to take Yuta lightly, “bay-bay.” Cole is offended by Cassidy using his catchphrase, but Henry ends it with his increasingly popular “It’s time for the main event” slogan.
Adam Cole (with The Young Bucks, Bobby Fish, and Brandon Cutler) vs. Wheeler Yuta (with Best Friends and Rocky Romero)
Tempers quickly flare and they trade forearms. Cole gains the quick advantage and hits a spinning elbow. Yuta counters with a nearfall but then runs into a superkick. Hard Irish whip by Cole gives him time to flex. Cole casually ducks to avoid Yuta’s high crossbody. Cole mockingly hits some sloth kicks, but Yuta rolls him up for 2. Pump kick by Cole seems to knock Yuta loopy. Cole hits his fireman's neckbreaker and throws Yuta outside. Cassidy removes his shades and stares a hole through Cole. Yuta blocks the Panama Sunrise and finally hits his high crossbody. Yuta goes on a hot streak of token offense, and lands a diving elbow for 2. Cole answers with an enziguri, but Yuta recovers with a German suplex for 2. Yuta follows up with an Olympic Slam, but Cole blocks his frog splash. Cole looks at Cassidy while lowering his knee pad for a KO blow to Yuta for the win at 7:11. Match was a glorified squash to develop the issues between Cole and Cassidy, Yuta’s nearfalls felt polite, with no sense that he was on the verge of an upset, **¼.Winner: Adam Cole
The Elite swarm the ring to beat up Best Friends. Cassidy is set up for Panama Sunrise, but Cole kicks him in the groin instead. Trent suffers a BTE Trigger for good measure. I’ve been hearing a lot lately that there are no real heels in wrestling anymore, so I would like to point out that Cole just deprived the fans of seeing his cool looking finisher in exchange for a low blow. I still cannot recall what exactly started this Cole/Cassidy feud, but it certainly picked up some steam here.
Final Thoughts: Hook.
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