https://www.youtube.com/embed/L2xFTV9CUOU
On Wednesday night, All Elite Wrestling returned to Norfolk, VA for a stacked edition of DYNAMITE on TBS! Jon Moxley turned away the AEW World Championship challenge of Penta El Zero Miedo, only to fall victim to an attack by Stokely Hathaway’s Firm. And when The Firm’s benefactor Maxwell Jacob Friedman eventually tried to intervene, he too fell victim to Ethan Page, The Gunns, W. Morrisey, and Lee Moriarty:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/AuYVKLU9hfI
In addition, the rest of The Blackpool Combat Club had a tremendous night in the ring as Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta defeated ROH World Champion Chris Jericho and ROH Pure Champion Daniel Garcia when Double C topped Jericho. Plus, “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson bested Sammy Guevara in their first-ever singles match, but none of that success has quelled the burgeoning hostilities between Danielson and Yuta.
The tension between Dr. Britt Baker and Saraya continued to grow, Swerve In Our Glory became the #1 Contender’s to the AEW World Tag Team Championship by defeating FTR (with a little help from The Gunns and a Swerve low blow), and Jamie Hayter topped former AEW Women’s World Champino Riho in singles competition!
All of that brings us to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT this Friday night for a LIVE edition of RAMPAGE on TNT where the action kicks off at 10pm ET/9pm CT! The AEW World Champion will be in Eliminator action against The J.A.S’ Matt Menard, the TNT Title will be on the line when Wardlow meets The Kingdom’s Matt Taven, and Madison Rayne looks to even the score with Tay Melo, only this time in a single bout! In addition to TNT, international fans can catch the action at AEWPlus.com, and everyone can get ready for the fights by visiting to the official AEW YouTube channel for Dynamite highlights, Dark: Elevation, AEW Dark, Road To, and this week’s Control Center with Tony Schiavone!
TNT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…
“The WarDog” Wardlow(c) vs. Matt Taven (w/ Maria Kanellis & Mike Bennett)
The Kingdom of Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, and Maria Kanellis-Bennett made their presence felt on RAMPAGE several weeks ago in Toronto, assaulting The Pinnacle trio of FTR and Shawn Spears after their trios victory over The Embassy unit of Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony. As 2-Time holders of the belts currently held by FTR, it shouldn’t be a surprise Taven and Bennett targeted Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood.
One thing The Kingdom did not think about in their decision to assault FTR and Spears were the allies those men have acquired here in All Elite Wrestling. As members of The Pinnacle together, TNT Champion Wardlow has remained close to FTR, and his fresh alliance with ROH World TV Samoa Joe has made Joe an FTR ally by association.
So with that in mind, this Friday night on TNT former ROH World Champion Matt Taven will step into an AEW ring for his first official match, and standing across the squared circle will be TNT Champion “Mr. Mayhem” Wardlow!
Will Taven end up another victim of the Powerbomb Symphony, or will the ROH Grand Slam winner shock the AEW faithful by adding the TNT Title to his trophy case?
AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ELIMINATOR MATCH…
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard
Originally set as The Blackpool Combat Club of Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta against Angelo Parker and Matt Menard, the above embedded words from the former ROH Pure Champion illustrate just why the bout has changed. So while Yuta teams with “The Notorious 187” Homicide and Shota Umino to take on Team Filthy at New Japan’s RUMBLE ON 44TH STREET event, the AEW World Champion Jon Moxley is not only stepping up in his BCC ally’s stead, he is giving “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard the first part of what could be the opportunity of a lifetime!
They’ve battle in trios, they’ve fought in tags, they’ve been on opposite sides of Anarchy In The Arena, and even fought inside (and outside) the Blood & Guts cage, but this will be the first time Moxley and Matt Menard lock horns in a singles bout! And as if that wasn’t enough, Moxley has agreed to upgrade this fight to an Eliminator bout, meaning if Menard wins then he will earn an AEW World Championship opportunity!
Now across the history of AEW, the champions have only lost Eliminator matches on two occasions, one being Thunder Rosa and the other being The Young Bucks, but never has it been the AEW World Champion on the losing end of these matches. For Mox, this is the second Eliminator Match of his third World Championship reign, with the first ending in a victory over Juice Robinson on 9/28’s edition of DYNAMITE.
Can Menard be the first man to hand the World Champion an Eliminator Match loss, and set himself up for a title fight down the line? In the ongoing war between The BCC and The J.A.S, who will take up the victory in this latest battle? Considering Moxley is coming off a World Championship battle with Penta El Zero Miedo on DYNAMITE that he barely escaped with title intact, this may be the best opportunity for Matt Menard to upset the apple cart!
ONE-ON-ONE…
Tay Melo vs. Madison Rayne
https://www.youtube.com/embed/XDOcpCYsRMQ
Three weeks ago on RAMPAGE, the TayJayAS duo defeated Madison Rayne and Skye Blue in tag team competition after Anna Jay forced Skye to submit to The Queenslayer. On that night it was Sports Entertainers who proved dominant over professional wrestlers, but this Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena, one of those pro wrestlers will have an opportunity to redeem herself as well as her approach to competition.
On RAMPAGE, Madison Rayne will step into one-on-one competition with The J.A.S’ resident Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt Tay Melo. Thus far in her brief AEW career, Rayne is running .500 in singles competition while Tay is 38-7 as a solo act, and at one point last year winning 15 consecutive matches.
So with the battle of Sports Entertainer versus Pro Wrestler hovering over their heads, Tay and Madison will lock horns in singles competition to see if Tay Melo can replicate the results of their tag team bout several weeks ago!
The AEW faithful have a loaded night in coming to them at the Mohegan Sun Arena this Friday night when RAMPAGE goes at 10:00pm ET/9:00pm CT on TNT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences! The TNT Title is on the line when Wardlow meets Matt Taven, Jon Moxley will be in action against Matt Menard in an AEW World Championship Eliminator Match, and Tay Melo meets Madison Rayne in their first singles bout!
Article source: allelitewrestling.com