ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE PREVIEW 6/17: Darby vs. Fish, Moxley vs. Martin, Cargill vs. Nightengale with TBS Championship Implications, Caster & Gunn Club vs. Ruffin It (Who?), Swerve & Keith


SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…


ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE PREVIEW
JUNE 17, 2022
ST. LOUIS, MO. AT THE CHAIFETZ ARENA
AIRS ON TNT NETWORK, 10:00 p.m. EDT, 9:00 p.m. CDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Excalibur, Ricky Starks, Taz, Chris Jericho (various combinations)

Last Week

  • Eddie Kingston defeated Jake Hager.
  • Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh defeated Mat Fitchett & Davey Vega.
  • Kris Statlander defeated Red Velvet of The Baddies.
  • Trent Beretta and ROH & AAA Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defeated United Empire’s Will Ospreay and Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis).

Arena

This week’s episode of Rampage was recorded following Dynamite in the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, MO. See Wednesday’s Dynamite preview for more information about the venue.

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Four matches and a talking segment are advertised for tonight’s show:

Darby Allin vs. Bobby Fish

Back on the May 18 edition of Dynamite, Adam Cole defeated Jeff Hardy to advance to the finals of the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. After the match the Young Bucks got involved and, with Cole, attacked the Hardys (Matt & Jeff). Darby Allin & Sting came out for the save. They were thwarted by Cole’s cohorts Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly (ReDRagon). Sting got treated to stereo superkicks by the Bucks, and then O’Reilly leaped onto Sting’s leg that was draped in a chair.

This past Wednesday, Darby revisited that and challenged Fish to a match one-on-one for Rampage. He lost to O’Reilly at Double or Nothing. Sting has not been on TV since the attack.

Frank’s Analysis: Darby has been losing a lot lately. I know the crowd loves him and I don’t know how he’d work as a face but, I can’t see a jobber-to-the-stars babyface role for him. I avoided spoilers on this one. My guess is Darby got back in the win column.

Jon Moxley vs. Dante Martin

Jon Moxley of the Blackpool Combat Club goes one-on-one with Dante Martin. This past Wednesday on Dynamite, Dante cut a backstage promo alongside Matt Sydal talking about being tired of everyone saying he has potential. He said he will be the one to “replace Moxley” one day.

Dante has had an interesting run over the past year. He briefly spent some time in Team Taz and lost a world title match to then-champion “Hangman” Adam Page several months ago. The Blackpool Combat Club consists of Moxley, Bryan Danielson, and Wheeler Yuta. They are managed by William Regal.

Frank’s Analysis: Is Dante a candidate to join the BCC? I like them the way they are, but Dante showed a little moxie this past Wednesday. I like his work and if he can continue to expand his character, he will be a player as we move forward.

TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (champ) vs. Willow Nightingale with Stokely Hathaway on Commentary

This past Wednesday, Stokely Hathaway issued an open challenge on behalf of TBS Champion Jade Cargill for Rampage where he will be a guest commentator. It’s a good thing the camera was there, and Willow Nightingale knew Stokely was being interviewed because she sauntered right on in. Stokely offered her a spot in the Baddies, but she instead answered Jade’s open challenge.

Willow last appeared on Rampage back in April on the losing end of a trios match. Jade retained the title over Anna Jay at Double or Nothing, after which Athena made her first appearance for AEW.

Frank’s Analysis: I expect nothing but another win for Jade. This is more about Stokely establishing himself as Jade’s manager or representative or whatever you want to call him. It will be a lot of fun to hear him on commentary.

Other Items Announced

Max Caster & The Gunn Club (Austin & Colten) vs. Ruffin It (Leon Ruff and Bears Bronson & Boulder of Bear Country). Trios action is in order when Max Caster of The Acclaimed continues his relationship with The Gunn Club as they take on Ruffin It. Leon Ruff was released several months ago by WWE as has performed mostly on Dark & Dark Elevation. Bear Country have appeared sparingly on AEW television.

“We hear from” Swerve Strickland and “Limitless” Keith Lee. Apparently, we are going to hear from the team that unofficially or officially calls themselves Swerve in our Glory in Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee. Things could get chippy as it was Swerve who eliminated Keith from the Battle Royal last week on Dynamite for the right to face Jon Moxley in the main event to qualify for the Interim AEW Championship match at Forbidden Door. Swerve & Keith recently challenged now former tag team champions Jurassic Express at Double or Nothing in a triple threat match (or three-way, whatever they call it in AEW).

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!