Tag: Bandido

AEW Rampage results: Orange Cassidy retains again

Get quick AEW Rampage results for the November 11, 2022 episode, featuring Orange Cassidy vs. Lee Johnson for the All-Atlantic Championship.

Who would have imagined that Orange Cassidy would be the hardest working champion in AEW? It doesn’t really fit his personality at all, but Freshly Squeezed is back at it again on AEW Rampage, defending his All-Atlantic Championship after several tough defenses just last week.

This time out, it’ll be Lee Johnson getting a shot at the gold. And speaking of gold, the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament was supposed to have all three of its remaining first round matches on tonight’s show. However, Ricky Starks isn’t cleared to compete, kicking his match with Lance Archer into next week.

We’ll still see two other tourney matches as Brian Cage takes on Dante Martin and Rush collides with Bandido. The winners of those matches will join Ethan Page in the semifinals after his victory on Dynamite.

Let’s check out what’s going down as we wrap up the week in AEW on TV.

AEW Rampage results in 30 seconds:

  • “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry wants to challenge Luchasaurus to a Steel Cage match face to face, but it doesn’t go so well when he ends up getting slammed onto a steel chair
  • Pac lectures the rest of Death Triangle again for not cheating like he does, saying they need to defend their trios titles by any means necessary
  • Brian Cage def. Dante Martin by pinfall in an AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament match
  • Lee Moriarty says he wants any champion in AEW … but even Stokely Hathaway loses some of his bravado when Hook shows up
  • Another promo video airs for the House of Black
  • Bandido def. Rush by pinfall in an AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament match after John Silver helped counteract interference from Jose The Assistant
  • Jake Hager made a challenge of some sort to Claudio Castagnoli
  • Nyla Rose def. Kayla Sparks by pinfall, but gets dropped by a pump kick from an angry Jade Cargill
  • Orange Cassidy def. Lee Johnson by pinfall to retain the AEW All-Atlantic Championship

Breaking down the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament bracket

We’re ready to tear up our bracket after Dynamite just like we often do after the first day of March Madness if we’ve got this wrong.

World championship eliminator matches, where a challenger has to beat the champ to get a shot at the champ’s title, aren’t cool. You know what is cool, though? Tournaments for a world championship opportunity, which is exactly what is kicking off this week with the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament.

The format couldn’t be simpler. It’s eight men vying for a chance to take on the AEW World Champion — which could be current holder Jon Moxley or MJF by then —at Winter is Coming in December. The first round matches are this week, one on Dynamite and three on Rampage, with the semifinals following next week ahead of the final, which will be part of the Full Gear card on Saturday, Nov 19.

None of the eight competitors have held the AEW World Championship, though several have had previous title shots. There are some of the usual suspects but some refreshing new faces as well.

Let’s break down the bracket ahead of the first round and see where we land.

First round: Eddie Kingston vs. Ethan Page

Eddie Kingston has a history with Moxley as both friend and foe, and another championship opportunity for him would likely be received warmly by AEW fans. Yet it feels like Ethan Page, who always felt like he was taking a backseat to partner Scorpio Sky in Men of the Year, may finally have found his footing in The Firm.

Is AEW ready to push Page harder? Giving him a win here only really makes sense if the company is committed to at least having him in the final. It’s hard to say for sure but it certainly might be his time.

Prediction: Page advances

First round: Bandido vs. Rush

This is a nice showcase for both men, put particularly Bandido since he is going to be sticking around as an AEW regular. He is a fantastic talent who should only get more love from the fans as they are exposed to more of his work.

Rush is great too, but has been on TV a fair amount over the past few months. A win for him is logical if Kingston wins the other quarterfinal on this side of the bracket, but since we’re rolling with Page, we’ll go with the face here.

Prediction: Bandido advances

First round: Lance Archer vs. Ricky Starks

Though Lance Archer hasn’t consistently been on AEW TV for a while, the company always treats him like a big deal when he’s around. Thus, his inclusion in the tournament is fine even though he’s barely been on Dynamite or Rampage for months.

So he’s moving on for sure, right? Not so fast. AEW just had Ricky Starks cut a promo last week touting his entrance in the tourney and positioning him for bigger things. Like Page, Starks is a very talented performer who simply hasn’t been given the push to prove it. It would be disappointing if AEW went to the effort to highlight that just to have him lose in the first round, whereas a victory over Archer would be huge for Starks.

Prediction: Starks advances

First round: Brian Cage vs. Dante Martin

This feels like the clearest first round match of the four. Brian Cage has recently been back on TV quite a bit, albeit on the ROH side as part of The Embassy. Dante Martin is the perennial “look great in a losing effort” guy and that would apply here once again.

The x-factor would be if Cage’s Embassy beef with Samoa Joe and Wardlow spills over into this bout, which could definitely happen. Otherwise, Cage should move forward.

Prediction: Cage advances

Semifinals

Page vs. Bandido wouldn’t really be a battle of contrasting styles as much as a showdown between two wrestlers who can do a little bit of everything. We haven’t even mentioned The Firm giving Page the edge, but it’s not hard to picture the faction lending the hand he’d need to overcome Bandido, who doesn’t have obvious friends to come to his aid since he’s still new to AEW. That could be the difference.

On the other side of the bracket, Starks and Cage have history as former Team Taz members who eventually had a falling out. Things are different now since Cage was (sort of) the fan favorite when he left the group and Starks is now in that position. Cage also has a team backing him whereas Starks doesn’t, but maybe this is where Joe and Wardlow show up to counter The Embassy. Either way, Starks making the final would be great for him.

Prediction: Page, Starks advance

Final

If it is indeed Page and Starks in the final, it could be a bellwether for what goes down in Full Gear’s main event. A Page victory makes more sense if it’s Moxley who retains, seeing as it would make for a more classic heel vs. face title match at Winter is Coming.

That said, MJF has been showing face tendencies of his own, and while it’s possible he’s simply going to show his true colors after he dethrones Mox — in which case having Starks win this tournament would be the way to go, particularly since Max and Ricky would be a really fun battle of dueling promos for a few weeks — it’s just as likely AEW wants him to keep leaning into that for a bit longer.

As well, MJF has had a falling out with The Firm that could carry over for another month if he wins the AEW World Championship and Page emerges here. For that reason, Page going all the way is the outcome we’ve talked ourselves into.

Prediction: Page wins the tournament

AEW Dynamite live report: Even less in numbers, Philly crowd still hot

Wrestling Junkie reflects on the best moments, crowd reactions and more, live from the September 28 AEW Dynamite in Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA — If absence makes the heart grow fonder, perhaps the opposite is also true. When AEW Dynamite went live on Wednesday night from The Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University, it was in front of a noticeably lighter crowd than the last time the show came to Philly.

Then again, said show was just over five months ago.

There’s definitely a law of diminishing returns when it comes to how often pro wrestling promotions can hold events in the same venues, and with only a few years of operation under its belt, AEW is still feeling its way through some of these things. Maybe Dynamite and Rampage simply hadn’t been gone long enough to make this particular show a must-see for fans in the area.

AEW had something else working against it on this particular night: Mother Nature. Though the weather was fine in the Philadelphia area, Hurricane Ian was menacing the company’s home state of Florida. Tony Khan had already informed talent that if anyone needed to miss the show because of travel or family concerns, they had his blessing.

Several wrestlers reportedly were forced to cancel plans to participate, leading to some changes to Dynamite. It felt just a slight bit off, or at least different than the usual. Instead of the match that kicks off most Wednesday broadcasts, there was an extended in-ring bit with the Jericho Appreciation Society, one that felt like one of the longer non-wrestling opens in Dynamite history.

Another segment featured recent AEW debutant Saraya calling out the entire women’s division, or a good chunk of it anyway. That one led somewhere, namely an interim women’s title match between Toni Storm and Serena Deeb with the other women as lumberjacks, but it still seemed a bit disjointed. And there was additional filler, like a squash match for Ricky Starks.

Despite a number of hurdles, though, Dynamite didn’t have a less enthusiastic crowd, even if it was smaller. Philadelphia has long been a hotbed of the east coast wrestling scene, and it sounded that way again on Wednesday. With few exceptions, the fans reacted to pretty much everything offered and seemed pleased by the end of the night.

Some random observations from section 114, row K:

  • Masterful as ever at trolling fans, MJF appeared on a pre-recorded video that played (several times in a row) before Dynamite went live, singing “Meet the Mets.” He also riled up the crowd in person during his segment of the show, and it’ll be interesting to see how Wheeler Yuta, who can go in the ring but is a ways behind MJF in terms of mic skills, might get a rub from working against him.
  • Khan got a mix of boos and cheers when he spoke to the crowd immediately before Dynamite, but that appeared to be mostly due to his role with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who play the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend.
  • “We want pizza” chants were a recurring theme all the way until the end of Dynamite thanks to the Jericho Appreciation Society having some pies, but not sharing them, to open the show. Also, poor Luigi Primo got KOed by Daniel Garcia and carried out by Sammy Guevara like a sack of potatoes.
  • Juice Robinson had a nice match with Jon Moxley, but the crowd definitely tailed off in the middle, and it didn’t seem like everyone knew who Juice was.
  • Hangman Adam Page remains very popular, starting from the time his music hits. The live crowd was definitely into his staredown with Moxley.
  • Jamie Hayter is incredibly over right now, getting such a loud face reaction at one point that it was hard for Britt Baker to talk over it. She’s set to be a breakout star whenever AEW decides to push start on her inevitable face turn.
  • Bandido was more warmly received than Robinson as a “visitor” to AEW, but that was likely because of his history with ROH and the fact that he was the face in the main event. Putting him in a big spot for the TV audience was a nice touch, however, because he is terrific.
  • No spoilers for AEW Rampage, but The Acclaimed was on the show, and being there in person during the run they’re on right now is definitely special.