Wednesday's edition of DYNAMITE played host to all the fallout of FULL GEAR 2022, well except for new AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman actually showing up for work, instead choosing to film a role for a major motion picture, at least according to William Regal, rather than appearing in Chicago just four days after Regal and MJF screwed Jon Moxley out of his championship.
What fans in attendance did get to witness was the damndest ROH World Championship match between Chris Jericho and Tomohiro Ishii, a fight that actually drew blood from The Ocho's chest courtesy of the vicious chops from his foe, and once again demonstrated that Jericho is on his way to being one of the best ROH World Champions to ever hold the title. Plus, “All Ego” Ethan Page fell to Ricky Starks in the World Title Eliminator Tournament Finals, meaning “Absolute” will get his AEW World Championship opportunity on December 14th at DYNAMITE: WINTER IS COMING 2022!
In addition Jamie Hayter was named the true AEW Women's World Champion while Toni Storm's championship reign was retroactively ruled to be that as well, The Acclaimed had their moment spoiled by Jay Lethal and company, and The Elite failed to even the score in their Best of 7 series with Death Triangle.
The action continues this Friday afternoon, and you can catch it all when RAMPAGE hits TNT at a special start time of 4pm ET/1pm CT, or at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, and get caught up on the action at the official AEW YouTube channel for DYNAMITE highlights, AEW DARK: ELEVATION, AEW DARK, and the CONTROL CENTER with Tony Schiavone!
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood)(c) vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin)
Top Flight, Dante and Darius Martin, are only recently back in action together after Darius experienced a car accident whose consequences put him back on the shelf for months. That being said, the duo (along with AR Fox) looked superb in their unsuccessful World Trios Championship challenge against Death Triangle, and that has only fueled their hunger to get right back in the hunt for their first titles since signing with All Elite Wrestling.
That brought them to the doorstep of the IWGP/AAA/ROH World Tag Team Champion team of FTR, and led the Martin Brothers to properly, respectfully, honorably, stating their desire to face Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, and challenge them for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. They were willing to wait, to climb the ranks as needed given the fact Top Flight hadn't even competed in a traditional tag match since April, but the defending champs were game to have that title fight in the her-and-now!
So this Friday afternoon it will be FTR defending their ROH World Tag Team Championship titles against Top Flight, a first-time collision between the two teams! Now Dante has faced Cash and Dax once before, back in April 2021, but that was with mentor Matt Sydal as his partner rather than his brother. It was a losing affair for Dante, but it allowed him to gauge some of what FTR brings to the table, and can only help him in this championship bout Friday afternoon!
With FINAL BATTLE 2022 just around the corner on December 10th, which team will head into Ring of Honor's premiere event as the champs? Can Top Flight upset FTR, or will Cash & Dax continue to demonstrate why they are the best tag team on the planet today?
ONE-ON-ONE
Darby Allin vs. Anthony Henry
AEW fans may only know Anthony Henry from his singles work in All Elite Wrestling over the last year, as well as his WorkHorsemen tag team with JD Drake. While he has not been the most successful in his elite endeavors, Henry has an impressive resume in his wrestling life away from the AEW ring, capturing a dozen titles around the independents in his twenty years on the grind since having been trained by former ROH World Tag Team Champion Sal Rinauro.
Away from AEW, Henry has faced off with KUSHIDA, Alex Shelley, Bandido, The Briscoes, and Minoru Suzuki, as well as both Malakai Black and Brody King, The Kings of The Black Throne. But most importantly for this Friday night is his history with the record-setting former TNT Champion Darby Allin: five times since 2016 they have collided in one-on-one bouts, and be it Florida, Tennessee, Maryland, or New York, they have absolutely tore the house, and themselves, apart trying to be the better man.
On three of those occasions it was Allin who came out of the match victorious, albeit one of those wins stemming from Henry blasting him with a chair, but twice, and perhaps most importantly the last time, it was Anthony Henry who picked up the win. Now their rivalry will renew, some three years and seven months removed from the last bout at La Boom, but in front of more fans that have ever witnessed their hostilities.
Suffice to say, if all you know of Anthony Henry is what you have seen in AEW, then what this match, and all the hostile history that comes with it, is likely to pull out of Henry will surprise you. With Darby coming into this hurting from his FULL GEAR 2022 fight with Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, and Satnam Singh, it may be the best possible night for Henry to shock the world and add a third victory to his tally against Darby.
Allin may be relentless, he may be able to withstand obscene amounts of pain and punishment, but everyone has their limits and Anthony Henry may know them better than almost any man in All Elite Wrestling. Will we see the upset of the year on Friday afternoon, or can Allin push through to score a victory on TNT?
TRIOS ACTION
The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, John Silver, & Ten) vs.
LFI (Rush, The Blade, & The Butcher)
This issue between The Dark Order and LFI has been on the verge of exploding for weeks, and it looks like this Friday night it's going to pop off! After LIF courting Ten relentlessly, after John Silver's persistent mockery of Rush and Jose The Assistant, and Rush beating Silver in their singles match, it has come down to this Trios battle on RAMPAGE!
As a unit The Dark Order team certainly has an advantage; where Rush, Butcher, and Blade have only fought as a trio on two previous occasions, this Dark Order threesome has won 11 of 13 together, including eight consecutive bouts, and even battled for Death Triangle for the AEW World Trios Championship back in October. They've been tested together, they've traveled together, they've become a family over the last several years, but lately Ten has seemed a bit estranged from that dynamic because of the games of Rush and LIF.
Can The Dark Order pull together this Friday night and finally put Rush's harassment of Ten to an end? Or will Rush, The Butcher, and The Blade demonstrate why Los Faccion Ingobernables is the dominant one of the two?
SHIDA IN ACTION!
She is the current Ice Ribbon International Ribbon Tag Team Champion with Ibuki Hoshi, the current Pro Wrestling Wave Regina Di WAVE Champion, the longest-reigning AEW Women's World Champion of all-time as well as the most successful with 8 defenses to her name, and she would like nothing more than to get back in that hunt to add “first 2-Time Champion” to her resume as well!
This Friday night on RAMPAGE, Hikaru Shida will be in action with that goal in mind, and whatever foe stands across from her best beware!
THE OCHO SURVIVED THE PITBULL!
Whether he likes it or not, Chris Jericho is fast on his way to becoming one of the great Ring of Honor World Champion in the title's 20-year history, and if he keeps it up, he may even become the greatest. He's pushing himself harder than almost every single man whose held the title prior to him, and while he's got a long way to go to even touch Samoa Joe's record-setting length as champion, “The Ocho” is making sure his reign is historic by ONLY fighting former champions.
Now, with ROH's FINAL BATTLE 2022 event fast approaching on December 10th, the reigning ROH World Champion has some words after being assaulted on DYNAMITE by Claudio Castagnoli, the man Jericho bested to become ROH World Champion in the first place. What does “The Ocho” have to say with the biggest event of ROH's calendar year just over two weeks away?
TONI STORM SPEAKS!
On Wednesday night, it was made official that Jamie Hayter, having captured the Interim Women's World Championship from Toni Storm at FULL GEAR 2022, would in fact not be considered an Interim Champion but rather the Undisputed Women's World Champion! That was major news in the division for sure, but it wasn't the only huge news that came out of Wednesday. In addition to Jamie Hayter's much-deserved elevation to World Champion, it was also ruled that Thunder Rosa's championship reign would be considered over effective ALL OUT 2022, meaning Toni Storm's impressive title run would also officially be considered as the AEW Women's World Champion!
We heard Jamie's thoughts on the interview with Lexy Nair embedded above, and come Friday afternoon we will hear from Toni Storm as well! What does she think about this retroactive change to her championship reign? We will find out when RAMPAGE takes to the airwaves starting at 4pm ET on TNT!
Tune into TNT at a special 4pm ET/1pm CT start time for RAMPAGE: BLACK FRIDAY featuring an ROH World Championship match pitting FTR against Top Flight, Hikaru Shida in action, Darby Allin and Anthony Henry bringing their rivalry to AEW, and trios action between The Dark Order and Los Faccion Ingobernables! Now get prepared for the fights at the official AEW YouTube channel with DYNAMITE highlights, AEW DARK: ELEVATION, AEW DARK, and the CONTROL CENTER with Tony Schiavone!