AEW Rampage Preview for October 15, 2021

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This week’s broadcast for All Elite Wrestling are taking a bit of a twist! Although DARK: ELEVATION and AEW DARK still dropped in their usual timeslot on the official AEW YouTube channel, DYNAMITE will be broadcast in a special Saturday night time slot LIVE at 8pm EST/7pm CST, making AEW RAMPAGE the first LIVE broadcast of the week, coming your way LIVE at 10pm EST/9pm CST on TNT or on AEWPlus.com!

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And what a live broadcast we have in store for our fans at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, and those watching around the world! The war of words Dan Lambert has been raging against AEW, and specifically against Chris Jericho, has been going on for weeks and already cost The Inner Circle one loss to The Men Of The Year. This Friday, in the home of American Top Team, Jericho and Hager enlist the services of their I.C. ally, the TNT Champion Sammy Guevara, to go to battle with TMOTY and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos!

TRIOS MATCH…

The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, TNT Champion Sammy Guevara)

vs.

The Men Of The Year (Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky) and Junior Dos Santos (w/ Dan Lambert & Jorge Masvidal)

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It may be his first professional wrestling match, but this is far from Junior Dos Santos’ first fight. The man is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, he has secured Knockout of the Night and Fight of the Night honors on three occasions, to this day holds the longest winning streak in UFC Heavyweight division history, and is tied for the second most knockout wins in the divisions history as well. He trained in Capoeira as a teenager, transitioned into Brazilian jiu-jitsu at 21 years old, picked up boxing to round out his game, and turned pro at 22 years of age. He won six of his first seven fights, and when Junior made his UFC debut, he knocked out top contender and another future UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum in 1:20 to get that first KO of the Night award! Second fight: 54 seconds to get a knockout, and in Dos Santos’ third fight, he forced the legendary Mirko Cro Cop to verbally submit in the third round. All-in-all, he stands with a 21-9 record in Mixed Martial Arts with 15 knockouts and a submission to his credit, and now Junior is bringing all of that lethal skill to bear when he aligns with Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page this Friday night on RAMPAGE!

The other side of the ring, The Inner Circle’s corner, that features a former AEW World Champion in Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara who stands as the current TNT Champion, as well as an All American amateur wrestler in Jake Hager who also happens to be undefeated in Bellator MMA with 2 submissions, 1 decision, and 1 no contest under this belt. It is not the same level of experience as Junior Dos Santos in the MMA field, but Hager certainly stands as one of the toughest individuals in the AEW locker room, and MMA is not professional wrestling. That experience edge is clearly on the side of The Inner Circle, by himself Jericho nearly has more ring years than Page and Sky combined, then factor in the tenure of Jake Hager as well as Sammy Guevara’s momentum coming on the heels of that TNT Title victory over Bobby Fish, and The Inner Circle is revved up for this fight! The last time they tussled it may have been The Men Of The Year who got the win, but the way that went down just gave Jericho and company added motivation. Will Junior Dos Santos, in his very first match, prove as lethal a force inside the squared circle as he did in the octagon or will The Inner Circle even the score with Sky, Page, Lambert and their entourage?

THE TBS TITLE LOOMS…

“The Runaway” Ruby Soho

vs.

The Bunny

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Last week, the introduction TBS Championship was made on DYNAMITE and several woman immediately staked their claim, verbally at least, for why they are deserving entrants into the tournament taking place in 2022 in accordance with the move to TBS on January 5th. Serena Deeb, with her violent victory over Hikaru Shida, was the first woman to make a statement in the ring, but she would be followed by Jade Cargill on RAMPAGE last Friday, then by Penelope Ford, Tay Conti, and Ruby Soho on DARK: ELEVATION a few days ago, as well as KiLynn King on AEW DARK this past Tuesday.

Although the tournament is still a bit in the future, clearly it is already a matter of importance to the women of the AEW roster, clearly it is already on the radar of AEW Women’s World Champion Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D, and as evidenced by those names listed above, the hunt to become the first TBS Champion is already underway in their minds. And that is what brings us to this bout right here between 2021 Women’s Casino Battle Royale winner Ruby Soho and The HFO’s Bunny! The war of words has already begun on social media, and if the venom spewed in text is any indication of what these fighters will bring to the ring on Friday night, the fans are in store for a helluva fight:

It is unquestionable that Ruby was shafted in her World Title fight with the Good Doctor, can she rebound as the bids for TBS Title Tournament slots get underway? Or will The Bunny deliver on her promise to drag “The Runaway” deep down the rabbit hole? Tune into RAMPAGE this Friday night for all the action!

ONE-ON-ONE…

CM Punk

vs.

Matt Sydal

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August 31, 2003 in Nashville at The Fairgrounds; that was the first night on record where Matt Sydal and CM Punk ever touched inside the squared circle. It was a tag team bout between two men very young in their careers, just a few years each with Punk slightly edging Sydal out as the veteran, but each with a very strong reputation for their work, each building a name for themselves as independent wrestlers.

11 months later in Highland, IN, the two competitors would meet for the second time, this one marking their first singles bouts, and it would be Punk who had his hand raised on that night. There would be one more singles encounter between the two Midwesterners, just a few weeks shy of a year later and a month before Punk, in his words, “left professional wrestling”. This time the bout would go down in Salem, IN but the change in venue did not change the result as it was once again CM Punk who scored the victory.

In August of 2005, Punk would move on from the independent scene, and Sydal would actually follow a few years later, yet despite sharing that locker room from 2008–2013, the two wrestlers would never again meet inside the ring in any fashion. No singles, no tags, no multi-man or wild stipulation sort of match, it could be said they were on passing ships, waving at each other from their respective decks, but never docking at the same port.

Now here we are in 2021, 16 years and a few months since that last meeting inside a National Guard Armory, and it’s time to run it back LIVE on international television as part of this Friday night’s edition of AEW RAMPAGE! It’s CM Punk versus Matt Sydal, and the latter may have to thank Lio Rush for making this happen:

Both Punk and Sydal have grown tremendously as competitors since the last time they locked up, each has matured, learned, adapted new styles and techniques, and now they meet again with nearly two additional decades of experience from which to draw. Can CM Punk continue this unbeaten streak of his, or will Sydal step up to the plate and knock this one out of the park to prove his worth to this unit Lio Rush appears to be building within AEW? Matt is the most experienced combatant that Punk has faced since his return to wrestling after a 7-year hiatus, will that be the difference maker come Friday night?

RAMPAGE BUY-IN…

As if the jam-packed hour of RAMPAGE was not enough, starting at 9pm EST/8pm CST there will be a special RAMPAGE: BUY-IN airing LIVE on the official AEW YouTube channel and featuring two highly-anticipated match-ups, one that is undoubtedly fits the bill of Dream Match!

THE DREAM MATCH…

“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson

vs.

Minoru Suzuki

From October 2002 until November 2004, a young Bryan Danielson spent a fair share of his time competing in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He fought the likes of Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, HEAT, held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Titles with Curry Man, fought in the 2004 Best of the Super Juniors Tournament, and challenged Hiroshi Tanahashi for the now-defunct U-30 Openweight Title. In the midst of all that, “The American Dragon” stepped into the ring with Minoru Suzuki on eight instances between 3/16/04 and 10/20/04, seven of those fights were in tag team or multi-man situations, some of them even with both men on the same side of the bout, but only a single match of the eight was a one-on-one meeting. The match went down on July 20th of 2004 during the NJPW Summer Struggle tour and, after 13 ½ minutes, saw Suzuki score the victory, and unfortunately may be lost to the sands of time as far as video evidence of the fight.

Clearly, based on Bryan’s tweet above though, the recollection of the fight has not suffered the same fate and the violence of it still resonates within his memory. Fortunately for all of us, there is still a platform where this match can happen in 2021, between two far more experienced versions of these combatants than 17 years ago, and it will be absolutely free on AEW’s YouTube channel this Friday night! Much like the battle between Bryan and Kenny Omega, this is another dream match that no one ever expected to see happen, and yet here we are with the wrestling world, fans and wrestlers, salivating at the prospect of what this will bring. Be sure to subscribe to the official AEW YouTube channel for notifications so as not to miss out on this match that may never happen again!

ONE-ON-ONE…

Bobby Fish vs. Lee Moriarty

Last week on DYNAMITE, Bobby Fish made an impressive debut for All Elite Wrestling, demonstrating what nearly 20 years as a world-traveled grappler has taught him. It wasn’t quite enough to dethrone Sammy Guevara as TNT Champion, but it did earn “The Infamous” a spot in the locker room as a member of the AEW roster.

Another man who went through a similar experience, earning his way onto the AEW roster by virtue of spectacular work inside the ring, is Lee Moriarty. Moriarty, with a quartet of AEW matches to his credit, impressed in fights with Dante Martin, Joey Janela, and Daniel Garcia, as well as in his tag team bout against FTR on this week’s DARK: ELEVATION with a promising talent in LSG serving as his partner.

This Friday night, during the RAMPAGE: BUY-IN special dropping on the AEW YouTube channel, these two new additions to the roster will collide in singles competition! It’s a chance to make a huge impression on the eyes that will be watching, especially in the case of Fish as he heads towards a SATURDAY NIGHT DYNAMITE battle with Bryan Danielson less than 24 hours later. It’s a golden opportunity for each man, it just a question of which one will make the most of it!

WELCOME TO THE SHOW….

Tay Conti vs. Santana Garrett

On October 5th, Santana Garrett made her in-ring debut for All Elite Wrestling and she did not hesitate to step inside the squared circle with one of the toughest women in the game in Diamante. Garrett may have lost the fight, but she left an impression on AEW fans and the other wrestlers as well. This Friday night, as part of the RAMPAGE: BUY-IN on YouTube, Santana will get another chance to make an impression when she battles another of the strongest competitors in the Women’s Division: Tay Conti! Much like the battle between Ruby Soho and The Bunny, this one will no doubt have implications on the TBS Title picture as it begins to coalesce heading into 2022. Conti, since her AEW debut, has developed into one of the premier athletes on the roster and has eyes on that TBS Title to solidify her position as one of the best!

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All Elite Wrestling is bringing professional wrestling back to Miami this weekend, and it all kicks off with a loaded RAMPAGE on Friday night! Tickets are still available here (Buy Tickets) for both nights of action, so if you are in the area, do not miss out on the chance to experience AEW live! Also, if you purchase your tickets at the box office, you can take advantage of the offer described in the tweet embedded below!

Article source: allelitewrestling.com