Bryan Danielson vs Eddie Kingston
The first semi-final of the World Title Eliminator Tournament was an intense and physical battle between two of the hardest hitters in AEW.
Danielson and Kingston had a tremendous match, a match that exceeded my expectations and I would personally rank it as the best match in the short history of Rampage. It wasn’t a technical wrestling clinic but felt more like a back-and-forth sixteen-minute brawl. To get a good understanding of the physicality of the match then have a look at the images of Bryan’s chest and how red it was after an onslaught of vicious chops from Kingston.
The ending of the match saw Bryan lock Kingston into a triangle choke and with Eddie knowing that he wouldn’t be able to escape, he defiantly flips Bryan the bird before he passes out and Bryan Danielson is announced as the winner of the match. He once again uses a different submission to win showing how dangerous he can be making opponents submit with a variety of moves that aren’t his traditional finishers.
Bryan and Kingston are both students of the game and are heavily influenced by nineties All Japan Pro Wrestling and there were moments throughout the match that harkened back to that style.
Both come out of the match looking strong, and for Bryan he once again adds another fantastic match to his AEW run and with the track he is on should be in contention for wrestler of the year on his AEW run alone.
Matt Sydal vs Dante Martin
I always find the hallmarks of a great wrestling show is when you bring multiple styles to make each match standout in a different way. This match was all about spectacular high-flying moves. You had the master in Matt Sydal trying to keep up pace with the student in Dante Martin.
Dante Martin pulled off some incredible moves with a smoothness that is hard to believe in a live setting. It was the third match the two have had against each other, with this time the story being that Dante has Lio Rush mentoring him.
Commentary brought up how Lio and Dante have been studying Sydal’s match against CM Punk from Rampage a few weeks ago, and how they have him scouted to target his weaknesses.
They went hard with a lot of fast paced action with the ending seeing Dante hit a double springboard moonsault to Matt Sydal to pick up the victory.
It was another solid performance from Dante who continues to improve and is still at a young age. The sky is the limit for Dante, although I am interested in the eventual Darius Martin return to see how he is going to fit into story and to see what potential he has.
Other Notes
CM Punk was interviewed backstage by Tony Schiavone, but he was interrupted by an angry Eddie Kingston after his match with Bryan. Eddie accuses Punk of laughing at him and the two have a heated confrontation, but a bunch of wrestlers and backstage officials get in between them before the two can trade blows.
It looks like we will be getting a Punk vs Kingston match at Full Gear which I am for all and the promos between them should be tremendous, however it will be interesting to see if it is going to lead to something more post Full Gear. The idea of Kingston and Mox teaming up against CM Punk and Bryan Danielson is exciting.
Trick or Treat
They had the duel split screen interview with Mark Henry interviewing Abadon and Britt Baker. I legit laughed out loud seeing Mark playing the straight man to the horror character of Abadon.
The match continued the trend of bringing different styles to the table. Going from the hard hitting All Japan style match of the opener, to the high-flying style of the middle match and now a brutal hardcore match in the main event.
It was another great match in the women’s division coming off the match with Serena Deeb and Hikaru Shida on Dynamite. They played up how Britt Baker might be having flashbacks to the Lights Out match earlier in the year and continued planting the seeds for the eventual rematch with Thunder Rosa.
Both women had to fight what seemed like an unbreakable table at one point, although I found it added to the story and it never felt like it impacted the match. Abadon was made to look strong as she put Baker through thumbtacks, as well as kicking out of a curb stomp from Baker on a steel chair.
There was a spot where Baker grabbed a handful of thumbtacks and put them in the mouth of Abadon before hitting her with a superkick. Baker thought about putting Abadon in the lockjaw but we get a close up shot of Abadon’s mouth and Baker rethinks her choice.
Britt would eventually get the win with a rollup after capitalizing on the numbers advantage of having Jamie Hayter and Rebel ringside. Abadon still looks strong with three women needed to beat her, and with it only being a rollup. Really great main event and another match that Britt can use to push that she is the new ‘hardcore legend.’
Final Thoughts: I loved this edition of Rampage. It each made felt different and special. Danielson vs Kingston is a classic that we will be talking about for a while, but the other two matches were very strong too.