AEW continues its week in the Schottenstein Center of Columbus, Ohio. An intriguing debut for AEW. On April 17, 2017, Monday Night Raw made a stop here following WrestleMania. The episode saw two matches that night with stars that now reside in AEW. Samoa Joe opened the night defeating the current AEW World title #1 contender, Chris Jericho. Much later in the evening, Jeff Hardy defeated the now ROH World Champion, Claudio Castagnoli, then Cesaro. Truly, times have changed. With that said, let’s take a look at the AEW Rampage card for this week’s live show.
AEW Rampage Card For August 5, 2022
#AEWRampage is LIVE TONIGHT at 10pm ET/9pm CT & 10pm PT on TNT!
-AEW Interim World Title Eliminator @JonMoxley (c) v @ManceWarner
-Friday Night Street Fight @RealKeithLee+@SwerveConfident v @TonyNese+@WoodsIsTheGoods
-Debut of @MadisonRayne pic.twitter.com/utFnjMotwB— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) August 5, 2022
Friday Night Street Fight
World Tag Team Champions Swerve In Our Glory find themselves in a rather random Street Fight against the new tandem of Josh Woods and Tony Nese, who are led by Smart Mark Sterling.
As for the Shaq/Kobe dynamic of Swerve and Keith Lee, right now, it seems the duo is hitting on all cylinders. However, All Out is closing in. And one has to ask what the big match will be for those two. And if it will involve a certain three-lettered tag team.
She’s A Killer Queen
Despite the promotion, Madison Rayne already made her debut, as a surprise Dark Elevation episode aired last night and it featured Madison Rayne on commentary. That set up her debut MATCH for Rampage. The new head coach of the Women’s Division was even acknowledged as such during the broadcast as she sat next to Mark Henry and Tony Schiavone during the episode.
Madison Rayne, though denied what would’ve been a potentially great WWE run after they turned her down folling her stint as Ashley Rayne for the Mae Young Classic, is one of the most accomplished, tenured and well-versed female wrestlers on American wrestling TV. Being on TV on a near consistent weekly basis from 2007 until 2016 but still having a notable presence until returning to a full-time role in 2020 as a commentator, then wrestler, Madison is as seasoned as they get. Very few women can say they have stayed as consistent as her. Only Mickie James and Natalya can claim to surpass that. And it’s a big gap to reach fourth place.
Will Madison Rayne really make that desired difference for AEW’s Women’s Division? We can only hope.
Game Changed
Rather unexpectedly, Mance Warner’s Bunkhouse Battle Royal win at Ric Flair’s Last Match wound up having consequences for AEW. As that granted him a non-title match against the AEW & GCW World Champion on Rampage. Jon Moxley takes on another student of the hardcore game in the rather popular but still under-watched Mance Warner.
The match has really cemented the idea that while Rampage may not be that A-Show that Tony Khan claims it was, it does certainly paint that Rampage is in fact the experimental show. One more than willing to build bridges and showcase more unresolved ideas such as being the haven of the Ring Of Honor brand, seeing various unsigned talents competing, testing the waters for HOOK and now, showcasing a Game Changer Wrestling talent and potential feud.
Rampage is experimental.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS and AEW Dark: Elevation (Monday nights) and AEW: Dark (Tuesday nights) at 7 PM ET on YouTube. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night.
