AEW's debut in Los Angeles was an extremely memorable night for a multitude of reasons, not the least being Hiroshi Tanahashi's arrival on the scene to answer AEW World Champion CM Punk's call for Forbidden Door (More Details) on June 26th in Chicago! On top of that, “The Redeemer” Miro returned home to decimate Johnny Elite, Ruby Soho scored a measure of revenge for Double or Nothing '22, Wardlow won his first match as an official member of the AEW locker room, the challenge was laid out for Blood & Guts in Detroit (More Details) on June 29th, and we heard from AEW's newest acquisition Athena for the first time!
All that leads All Elite Wrestling to this Friday night's edition of Rampage in Ontario, CA! Back in its usual time slot of 10pm EDT/9pm CDT on TNT, as well as AEWPlus.com for our international audience, Rampage is LIVE from the Toyota Arena with a TNT Title match, Athena's AEW in-ring debut, and the renewal of a classic rivalry between The Young Bucks and The Lucha Brothers! Given everything that went down on Wednesday, it's a must you visit the official AEW YouTube channel and Twitter feed before showtime to watch all the Dynamite highlights, and catch-up on the latest episodes of Dark: Elevation, AEW Dark, Road To, and the Control Center with Tony Schiavone!
TNT TITLE MATCH...
Scorpio Sky(c) vs. Dante Martin
Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page laid down a stipulation that if their team, along with Paige Van Zant, won at Double or Nothing 2022 then neither Sammy Guevara or Frankie Kazarian could challenge for the TNT Title while Sky held the belt.
When the fight ended with The MOTY and PVZ as the victors, it insured Sky would not be defending the championship against Frankie despite Kaz's challenge to a rematch with his former partner in their mutual homecoming this Wednesday night. Sadly that match will not come to pass for Kaz, but when the door closed for him, another opened for someone else to step through, and as seen in the video above, it was Dante Martin who stepped through!
Martin recently gave Hangman Page a tremendous fight in an AEW World Title fight, giving the young man a taste of what championship air taste likes, and now he wants another chance to claim that spot as his own. Can Dante rise up to that next level and end this second TNT Title reign of Sky's just barely a month into its existence? Or will Sky bring Martin's hopes crashing to the ground in this first-ever meeting and have himself a celebratory night on West Coast time?
ONE-ON-ONE...
Athena vs. Kiera Hogan
On Sunday night, after Jade Cargill defeated Anna Jay in their TBS Title fight, “The Fallen Goddess” Athena arrived on the scene to even the odds when the TBS Champion and her Baddies assaulted Anna Jay.
On Wednesday night, Athena had her first chance to speak to the AEW faithful, but was rudely interrupted by Jade, her publicist Stokely Hathaway, and the Baddies. After running their mouths at Athena, and telling her she wasn't about to get a TBS Title fight that night, Kiera Hogan was the first one willing to step into the Goddess' face. This brought out Anna Jay and Kris Statlander to make sure the odds were even just as Athena had done for them at DoN '22 a few days prior.
So it will be in the aftermath of that confrontation that Athena will make her in-ring debut for All Elite Wrestling this Friday night live on TNT! We know “The Fallen Goddess” has back-up of her own to keep The Baddies at bay, so perhaps fans will witness a fair fight between two of the top athletes in the game. Jade could be looking at a preview of her next challenger, so the uber-confident and ultra-arrogant undefeated TBS Champion better have her eyes on this one!
OLD FOES...
The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. The Lucha Brothers (Penta Oscuro & Rey Fenix)
On Wednesday night the combined forces of The Young Bucks, reDRagon, and Hikuleo managed to defeated the AEW World Tag Team Champions Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus and their allies of Matt Hardy, Christian Cage, and Darby Allin. With it being Matt Jackson who scored the winning pinfall on Jungle Boy, that certainly added some intrigue into the championship picture as Adam Cole, who had joined in on the commentary team for the bout, stated himself. The Young Bucks may not be in the top five rankings at this moment, but notching a win directly over the one-half of the championship team is something that must be acknowledged.
That being said, something else that needs to be acknowledged is what The Young Bucks have on hand for their return home to Ontario, CA this Friday night! For the first time since losing the World Tag Team Titles to the Lucha Brothers at All Out 2021 inside a Steel Cage, one of AEW's oldest rivalries get renewed on Rampage!
Now Penta Oscuro and Rey Fenix cannot be in the greatest of moods after DoN '22 on Sunday night when Death Triangle were defeated by The House of Black in no small part due to Julia Hart's involvement. Malakai, Brody, and Buddy have been the bane of their existence for quite some time now, and while the Triangle has yet to find the necessary blessing to beat them, they have found it on multiple occasions with the brothers Jackson. They've traded the AAA World Tag Titles in the past, battled over the AEW World Tag Titles, even fought over the PWG Tag Titles, and let's not forget the very first Ladder Match in AEW history with Escalera de la Muerte at All Out 2019; suffice to say, they know each other quite well and bring out the best in one another every time!
Now this classic rivalry is coming back together right on The Young Bucks doorstep, and each time is in dire need of a win after their pay-per-view disappointments. Matt and Nick got a little taste of redemption on Wednesday with that ten man tag victory, but this is their chance to get it in a tag team situation over their oldest rivals in the company. As for Penta and Fenix, they need a strong rebound after last Sunday and getting it over The Young Bucks in Jackson's hometown is about as strong as it gets!
Do not miss out as two teams who put the elite in All Elite collide in tag team action live on Rampage!!
This Friday Rampage is back at its normal time at coming to you LIVE from the West Coast at 10:00 EDT/9:00pm CDT on TNT, and on AEWPlus.com for international audiences! It's the aftermath of Double or Nothing 2022 and the beginning of the road to Forbidden Door and Scorpio Sky is looking to start if off in a big way with a TNT Title defense against Dante Martin! No doubt Ethan Page and Dan Lambert will be at his side, so Martin is going to have his work cut out! Plus The Young Bucks and Lucha Brothers meet again, Athena makes her AEW in-ring debut and plenty more on tap as AEW heads towards the Summer months! Get ready for all the action over on the official AEW YouTube channel with Dynamite highlights, and the latest episodes of Dark: Elevation, AEW Dark, Road To, and this week's Control Center with Tony Schiavone!