Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, Darby Allin and Jack Perry ruined the plans of AEW World Champion MJF when they defeated the champ and his “friend” Sammy Guevara in their Four Pillars Tag Team bout to transform the main event of DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023 into a Four Way AEW World Championship match!
Plus, The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass won the Tres de Mayo Trios Battle Royale, Ricky Starks topped Juice Robinson, TNT Champion Wardlow called out Christian Cage and Luchasaurus, and we heard from both The Blackpool Combat Club and Kenny Omega ahead of the huge Steel Cage clash next week in Detroit!
All that action from Wednesday night's edition of DYNAMITE spills over to RAMPAGE this Friday, dropping at the special broadcast time of 6:30pm ET/5:30pm ET, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences! Before the action gets started, be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from recent episodes of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest editions of ROAD TO, THE CONTROL CENTER, and much, much more!
THE FIRM DELETION...
Big Bill, Ethan Page, Lee Moriarty, & Stokely Hathaway
vs.
FTW Champion HOOK, Isiah Kassidy, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy,
It's come down to this, Matt Hardy and his collection of allies meeting The Firm, on The Hardy Compound no less, to bring these months of indentured servitude, forced friendship, and hostility to a bitter end.
This whole situation began when The Firm took over the contracts of Hardy and Private Party from LFI, and the three men found themselves under the thumb of Stokely Hathaway and “All Ego” Ethan Page. Yet, something weird appeared to happen over the course of the months Hardy spent answering to Ethan; it seemed that the men were becoming actual friends, even helping to prepare Stokely for his match with HOOK, although Hardy did clearly take some pleasure in putting Big Stoke through the ringer.
But as the weeks dragged on, as Hardy was himself inserted into the issues between HOOK and Stokely, it became evident that Matt had something else spinning around in his head. It wasn't anything that Ethan or Stokely or any other Firm member picked up on, but it was seen by the fans in those secret glances at the camera, the look in Matt's eyes when Ethan signed that contract, and the joy that Hardy exhibited when the pieces all finally came to light. Unfortunately for Matt, even though his machinations earned him freedom, he still had to contend with the numbers advantage The Firm had over he and Isiah Kassidy, especially with Marq Quen out of the picture dealing with injury.
Thankfully HOOK was there to offer his support, having his own issues with Stokely and The Firm, and to further bolster Matt's mission of erasing The Firm from AEW, his brother Jeff would make a long-anticipated return to All Elite Wrestling to even the odds between the two sides! So now, with the decks evened up, The Firm will walk at The Hardy Compound this Friday to engage in what Matt has dubbed “The Firm Deletion”! It's not the first time AEW audiences have been welcomed to these wilds of North Carolina, Sammy Guevara entered the grounds 2.5 years ago at FULL GEAR 2020 for the Elite Deletion and it certainly proved a completely unpredictable situation.
What will The Firm experience when they enter The Hardy Compound this Friday night with the threat of deletion hanging over their head? Can Ethan, Stokely, Lee Moriarty, and Big Bill survive the experience that awaits them? No matter what The Firm thinks they're going to experience on these grounds, there is nothing that can prepare them for what is to come...
ONE-ON-ONE...
Mark Briscoe vs. “Perro Peligroso” Preston Vance
So...that happened; Jarrett, Lethal, Satnam, and Sonjay actually went to Mark Briscoe's farm to lend a helping hand, but thankfully Papa Briscoe showed up to remind his son that, despite his long-time relationship with Jay Lethal, the rest of that crew cannot be trusted whatsoever. For that matter, it's actually pretty questionable if Lethal can be trusted either, as his relationship with Sonjay and Double J runs pretty deep as well, but for now Mark is giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Still, given that challenge Lethal and Jarrett made to FTR in the video above, one can't help but wonder if they're just trying to keep Mark close as a pawn against Dax and Cash, to use his knowledge about the AEW World Tag Team Champions to potentially beat them at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023. Lethal putting Mark into a match this Friday night on RAMPAGE, without his prior knowledge, doesn't exactly scream of a trustworthy friend, not that the 13-Time ROH World Tag Champ minds fighting, but to be thrown into it by a supposed friend without ever having a discussion...well that's something rather questionable.
Especially when that foe is as tough a competitor as LFI's “Perro Peligroso” Preston Vance! There has been a distinct vicious streak that's emerged in Vance ever since he turned his back on Dark Order to join Rush in LFI, as well as a sadistic bent, taking pleasure in the pain he inflicts on his foes. Mark Briscoe is in for a fight this Friday night on RAMPAGE, and Vance would love nothing more than to be the man to shut down Mark Briscoe in Baltimore, a town and its fans who have rode with Dem Boys for years!
CAN SHE BE STOPPED?
TBS Champion Jade Cargill is on a winning streak unlike any other competitor in the near four year history of All Elite Wrestling. No one, be it man, woman, tag, or more, has amassed the kind of win streak that she has over the last two years. She has won 56 consecutive matches, 48 of them in singles competitions, and 22 of those in TBS Championship matches; there is not another individual even close to that streak, and only Orange Cassidy is near Jade's championship defense record. Thunder Rosa's 25 match streak from 3/10/21-9/28/21 is the closest in the Women's division, and Colten Gunn's 35 from 11/17/20-11/24/21 is the longest in the Men's, albeit none of that is in singles competition.
So who can stop this historic run? Can anyone? Jade has made it past the likes of Ruby Soho, Nyla Rose, Athena, and most recently Taya Valkyrie (barely), as well as a plethora of women from outside hoping to shock the world by scoring the biggest upset in AEW's history, but not a one has been able to pull it off. A few have come close, Taya quite likely the closest ever, but no one has snapped that streak yet.
With that in mind, Jade will be in action this Friday on RAMPAGE, giving yet another individual the opportunity to go down in history as the one who ended the TBS Champion's historic streak! Will this be the night it finally comes to an end? Or will Jade demonstrate once again why she is such a dominating force in professional wrestling!
TRIOS BOUT...
ROH World Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) and AAA Mega Champion El Hijo Del Vikingo
vs.
QTV (Aaron Solo, Powerhouse Hobbs, & QT Marshall)
During the course of the Tres de Mayo Trios Battle Royale on Wednesday night, the unit consisting of the Lucha Brothers and El Hijo del Vikingo were all eliminated by Powerhouse Hobbs. Now Penta and Fenix, their elimination came about directly as a result of the eliminated QT Marshall and Aaron Solo interfering, while Vikingo was dumped out after attempting to soar through the skies, but being caught and tossed by Hobbs for his efforts.
As a direct result of that situation on Wednesday night, the two trios will collide in each team's first traditional trios bout this Friday on RAMPAGE! Now the Lucha Brothers comprise 2/3 of a former AEW World Trios Championship team, having reigned with “The Bastard” PAC for 126 days, so while their trios experiences are not with Vikingo, they've got a plethora of it nonetheless, especially compared to their opponents who have very little.
Can the QTV contingent step up and defeat this trio of luchadores, or will The Lucha Bros and Vikingo prove the dominant unit?
Once again RAMPAGE airs a bit earlier this Friday night, coming to you at 6:30pm ET/5:30pm CT, well as at AEWPlus.com for AEW's international fans, and you must visit the official AEW YouTube channel to catch up on all the action, including highlights from this week's episode of DYNAMITE as well as the latest editions of ROAD TO, THE CONTROL CENTER, and much, much more! The undefeated TBS Champion will be in action, The Lucha Brothers and El Hijo del Vikingo are in Trios competition with QTV, Mark Briscoe takes on Preston Vance, and more! It's all building towards DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023 on May 28th, live on PPV from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV!!!