After Wednesday night's edition of DYNAMITE, the Semi-Finals of the Men's World Title Eliminator Tournament are set, we have a second woman who has advanced to the Quarter-Finals of the TBS Women's Championship Tournament, and Adam Page fired the first shot in his latest battle with The Elite! It was a hot night in Beantown, and that will absolutely be the case this Friday night when RAMPAGE takes over the TNT airwaves!
Kicking off at 10pm EST/9pm CST on TNT, or at AEWPlus.com for the international fanbase, this Friday night we will see the first Men's World Title Eliminator Semi-Final match between “The American Dragon” and “The Mad King”, Dr. Britt Baker will battle Abadon in a No DQ Trick or Treat Match with World Title implications, and due to an injury suffered by Mike Sydal, Dante Martin will get a third try to best his mentor Matt Sydal in one-on-one competition!
MEN'S WORLD TITLE ELIMINATOR TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINAL...
“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston
***WINNER FACES JON MOXLEY/ORANGE CASSIDY***
It's been over eleven years since the one and only time Eddie Kingston and Bryan Danielson stepped into a wrestling ring for a one-on-one fight in Taylor, MI. It was a fifteen minute battle that “The American Dragon” won, his first match back on the independent wrestling scene after a year, but just two months later the possibility of repeat business became a seeming impossibility.
Of course, as AEW fans have learned over the last two-plus years, few things have proved impossible here, as evidenced by Bryan Danielson joining All Elite Wrestling to fight Kenny Omega, Minoru Suzuki, and Dustin Rhodes over the weeks since his ALL OUT 2021 debut, and now Boston will play home to that rematch!
Seeing as how these two men have been in each other's orbits for many years early in their careers, despite only being in the same ring a scant number of times, it did not take long for the tensions to ratchet up and become quite personal:
Watching that, it almost felt as if Bryan is purposely pushing Eddie's buttons to get the absolute best fight out of the man that he can. It felt like Danielson knowing exactly what to say to really get at Kingston and drive him to be the highest version of himself. Most would question this strategy, if wanting to fight someone at their peak is the smartest idea, but most athletes are not Bryan Danielson. He is a fighter who wants his opponent, no matter who it may be, to be at the absolute zenith of their abilities, to bring the best fight to the table when the bell rings. It is only then that Bryan is satisfied with his victory or his loss, because at least he knows the outcome came with an opponent fighting at their peak performance.
Kingston, fighting at his in-ring best, now that is a scary thought no matter who the foe is and certainly falls under the “be careful what you wish for” category. A year ago at FULL GEAR 2020 Jon Moxley got to fight a version of Kingston who was willing to do absolutely anything TO HIS OWN FRIEND in order to become the World Champion. Now this fight may not be for the championship, but a victory here is imperative in getting a future title opportunity, so just what will this Eddie be willing to go to in the confines of a traditional wrestling match in order to get closer to that title?
And there is so much intrigue of the possibilities here given that at FULL GEAR 2021 the winner of this faces the winner of Orange Cassidy versus Jon Moxley that will take place on Wednesday night's DYNAMITE in Kansas City. Will it be Danielson versus Moxley for the first time since 2010 or Danielson versus Orange Cassidy for the first-time ever? For Kingston, either way it puts him in a position of having to men with whom he has rich history. The story of Kingston and Moxley has been told in great detail since both men began occupying AEW, but the story of Kingston and Cassidy dates back nearly 15 years to the early days of their respective wrestling careers. For Eddie, either way, he will be fighting a friend in order to get what he wants in All Elite Wrestling.
But one step at a time; before FULL GEAR 2021 becomes a consideration, one of these two men must make it out of RAMPAGE this Friday night as the victor. And we all know what goes to the victor...
THE THIRD DANCE...
Dante Martin (w/ Lio Rush) vs. Matt Sydal
Originally scheduled as Dante Martin and Lio Rush versus Matt and Mike Sydal, an unfortunate injury to Mike necessitated a change to this contest, thus postponing Lio's first televised AEW match. Instead, for the third time since June 4th, Dante will get to dance with his mentor and inspiration, in hopes of finally scoring that huge singles win. You can check out their first amazing encounter here, and see just why this rematch is such a tantalizing prospect:
But now, unlike the previous two encounters, there is an added x-factor to Martin's side of the encounter, that being the presence of Lio Rush and his influence on Dante. Is Lio one to get involved in the fight to help his charge? Or will he sit back and let the events unfold without outside interference? This is just the second time Rush has been in this position with Martin, but it is a bout of far higher profile than that of the DARK match with JDX last Tuesday night. Quite honestly, for as crucial as this win would be to Martin's career, it may be just as crucial to Rush proving his own worth to Dante's career.
Seeing as how he's rolling solo now on Friday, Sydal best have his third eye wide open just in case Lio Rush takes the low road to help Dante Martin's goal of finally defeating his mentor. Regardless of that potentiality, based on the first two encounters between Sydal and Martin, fans are certainly in store for a treat with this third epic encounter!
TRICK OR TREAT MATCH...
AEW Women's World Champion Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D vs. Abadon
***NO DISQUALIFICATIONS, IF ABADON WINS, SHE EARNS A TITLE MATCH***
Halloween is coming early for the Good Doctor when she has to contend with the terror that is Abadon this Friday night on RAMPAGE! Turns out on the recent Jericho Cruise, Baker bailed on a match with AEW's “Living Dead Girl” so AEW GM Tony Khan has signed this match for RAMPAGE with incredibly high stakes for each woman. Abadon has everything to gain with her treat being a potential World Title shot on the line, and a wide open playing field to play some tricks given the No Disqualification stipulation. Mind you this is a woman fans have witnessed bite her foes in the past, just ask former AEW Women's World Champion Hikaru Shida about that, so one would believe this addendum to the bout tilts it in her favor.
Unfortunately for the hopeful contender, the Women's World Champion has two allies in Rebel and Jamie Hayter to whom the stipulation gives carte blanche to act as they please during this Friday fight! Fans have witnessed Rebel stick her nose, or crutch, into Baker's matches for well over a year now so we know she has no problem getting involved at any moment, and Britt has very clearly stated Hayter is by her side because Rebel can't do the job on her own. So with those two pieces of firepower on her side, the No DQ stipulation may actually tip the match in favor of the champion. In addition, the world witnessed how violent Baker can get in that monumental Lights Out loss to Thunder Rosa, so she does have the capacity in her when the situation calls for it.
But can Britt get dark enough to battle a woman who presents as if she crawled out of the ninth circle, who fights with blood spittle dripping from her lips, and has no qualms about taking a chunk out of her foe as casually as one would eat a steak? The Good Doctor may have to find that darkness inside herself is she aims to survive Abadon; Shida is the only woman in AEW who has managed to survive the experience thus far, will Britt be the second or will “The Living Dead Girl” earn her second World Championship match of 2021?
This Friday night, starting at 10pm EST/9pm CST on TNT, or at AEWPlus.com for the international fanbase, the first Men's World Title Eliminator Semi-Final match goes down between “The American Dragon” and “The Mad King” and it has quickly gotten heated! Plus, Dante Martin tries to finally score the win over Matt Sydal in their third meeting while Abadon aims to trick or treat her way to an AEW Women's World Title Match with Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D!
Prepare for the red-hot RAMPAGE action by visiting the official AEW YouTube channel for DYNAMITE highlights, the latest edition of AEW DARK and DARK: ELEVATION, as well as the ROAD TO... special of the week! And of course the best place for latest AEW news, matches, and “as it happens” event coverage is always the official Twitter account!
Then next week, AEW comes at you with TWO live events as we head to the Kansas City area for DYNAMITE (Event Details) on Wednesday and, after great anticipation, make it to St. Louis for RAMPAGE (Event Details) on Friday! Join us LIVE in those great cities, as well as Indianapolis and Minneapolis, as we travel on the road to FULL GEAR 2021 (Event Details)!