All Elite Wrestling continues its stay at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Texas. A brand new building that just opened this past August and hosted its very first sporting event just days before this week’s AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage taping in the form of a boxing card broadcasted on ESPN, attended by an approximate 4,000 people. So, believe it or not, this Dynamite and Rampage taping is currently the Fort Bend Epicenter’s current record holder for sports attendance. For now.
Don’t miss Friday Night #AEWRampage at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT!
• @caristicomx v @azucarRoc for Mexico’s Pound-For-Pound-Crown!
• @silvernumber1 v @TheKipSabian v @IsiahKassidy
• @RealRubySoho v @SkyeByee
• #BCC‘s @ClaudioCSRO and @WheelerYuta IN ACTION! pic.twitter.com/cGeA2ZlWBy— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) October 19, 2023
It’s a BIG Lucha Night
I always joked that AEW Rampage always happened to have a big Lucha match on every episode. Lo and behold, AEW announces this big match with over a week of anticipation. A move that did in fact move tickets. That match being Rocky Romero vs. Mistico in a classic CMLL-styled 2/3 falls match.
It’s billed as being for “Mexico’s Pound For Pound Crown”. Which, truth be told I have no idea what that means. And neither does resident English-speaking lucha expert The Cubs Fan. Rocky is the current NWA Historic Welterweight Champion and Mistico is the NWA Historic Middleweight Champion. These titles are billed as “Historic” because they were severed from the NWA nearly 15 years ago.
So they were changed from “World” to “Historic” to preserve the physical titles and their lineage. Even though CMLL isn’t one for treating Championships in the same vein as you would see in most other companies.
This is a massive match for many reasons. For one, it’s clearly a successful attraction for the local market. As these tapings have been the most successful in ticket distribution since Grand Slam. It’s also clearly blown the doors open for AEW and CMLL to continue working together, CMLL showing great happiness with an assortment of press releases saying to.
Now we just have to see how the match plays out. This will be Mistico’s first televised US outing since his days in the WWE as the original Sin Cara. A time that is not very fondly remembered. Nor by fans or himself. But he’s in there with a very familiar opponent, in a far looser environment. And most importantly of all, no silly lighting.
Unfortunately for many fans of CMLL and Mistico, the theme used for his entrance was not the very popular song by the band ‘La Quinta Estación‘ titled “Me Muero“. A very fun and catchy song from 2006 that had its music video filmed in Arena Mexico and had Mistico very prominently featured in it.
No, instead is the more recognized but not quite as fun “Ameno” by ERA. This is Mistico’s first notable theme and through the years has become a memetic sensation in social media, but not by association to him. Hopefully, if Tony Khan is so willing to pay for amazing commercial music for his wrestlers, a day where Mistico graces a US venue with ‘La Quinta Estación’ for the rest of the world to see will come soon.
If you’re curious about the theme and music video, here it is.
3 Way To Go To Battle Of The Belts
Battle Of The Belts will immediately follow AEW Collision on Saturday and it’s been announced that ‘Freshly Squeezed’ Orange Cassidy will defend the AEW International Championship. A challenger is to be determined tonight as John Silver of The Dark Order, Brother Zay, and Kip Sabian face off in a 3-way match to earn the shot. “Johnny Hungee” nor Brother Zay have ever had a crack at the Championship.
But Kip Sabian did challenge PAC for the Championship when it was still identified as the “All-Atlantic” Championship during the All Out Zero Hour last year. Which, really shows just how far Orange Cassidy managed to take that title during his first reign.
Also in action, Skye Blue. She takes on Ruby Soho, though one has to wonder if Skye Blue will continue to seem affected by Julia Hart’s black mist. As it seems to be slowly taking hold as it did with Julia Hart long ago. Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli will also be in action. Since Castagnoli lost the Ring Of Honor World Championship, it seems this duo of the Blackpool Combat Club has been finding success as a tag team, securing various wins together and finding chemistry.
All that and more tonight on AEW Rampage.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
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.
