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It’s Friday Night and you know what that means! It’s time for AEW’s Friday Night delight AEW Rampage. Lee is out for tonight likely fighting dragons and protecting us from the most evil trolls in the IWC so tonight Fill in Jones is here. Every week I cover AEW Dark & Impact wrestling so you’re in good hands. I’m stoked to kick back and watch some Rampage with you tonight. Truthfully I’ve missed a fair amount of previous episodes of Rampage but last week’s debut of Hook brought me back around and i’m pumped for tonight’s show.

Announced for tonight we’ve got some ten man tag action featuring 2.0, Daniel Garcia & The Acclaimed taking on Pride & Powerful, The Lucha Bros & Eddie Kingston. We’ve also got a little EIGHT man tag action when Adam Cole & Bobby Fish partner with the Young Bucks to take on Orange Cassidy, Rocky Romero & The Best Friends. We’ve got some singles action as well as Tay Conti will take on Penelope Ford in a submission match. Apparently everyone’s favorite MMA enthusiast Dan Lambert will also be back. This week we’ve got one heck of a card so it’s sure to be a treat. Let’s get to the action.

Commentary: Excalibur, Taz, & Ricky Starks

Match One – The Best Friends, Orange Cassidy & Rocky Romero vs. The Young Bucks, Adam Cole & Bobby Fish

Chucky T kicks this one off with Matt Jackson and Jackson takes control early with a series of strikes, Chuck into the corner but he drops Matt with a back elbow and looks for a moonsault but Matt moves. Chuck lands on his feet and hits Matt with a standing sliced bread and covers for a two count. Chuck drops Nick Jackson off the apron and the distraction is enough to get Matt back in control. Matt sends Chuck into the ropes but Rocky with the blind tag. Rocky drops Jackson before he tags in Bobby Fish. Fish takes control with a series of strikes but Rocky drops Fish with a running drop kick and tags in Orange Cassidy. Cassidy tosses Bobby into the corner with the help of Rocky. Rocky with a series of clotheslines and OC slowly walks over and tosses Bobby into the arm of Rocky. Fish tags in Adam Cole and we get a brief stared own between he and Orange Cassidy. Cole opts to avoid OC and tags in Nick Jackson. Cassidy goes to put his hands in the pockets but Nick prevents it with a kick to the midsection and grabs his hand. Nick climbs to the top rope and hits him with an arm drag and holds on to the hand. Orange Cassidy takes control and we see him grab Nicks hand and do some fancy pants jones as OC walks across the rope but Nick pulls him down. We get a flurry of offense as OC has the hands directly in the pockets. Cassidy drops Nick with a monkey flip and kip up but Adam Cole jumps in and drops Orange Cassidy illegally. Cole is removed from the ring but the Young Bucks are outside and set their sights on Trent. The Bucks & Adam Cole triple powerbomb Trent into the ring apron. Nick Jackson tags in Adam Cole and they tease the hug with Orange Cassidy but instead the Bucks and Cole hit OC with a three way superkick as we go to break.

Back from beak and The Bucks have kept OC isolated from his team. Nick Jackson tags in and mocks the pockets as he dives off the top rope onto Orange Cassidy. Adam Cole tags in and locks Orange Cassidy in the camel clutch, the Bucks bounce off the ropes but Chuck Taylor and Rocky break it up pulling the bucks out of the ring. Cole charges Cassidy in the corner but Orange Cassidy reverses and looks for the tag but the Bucks pull everyone off the apron preventing the tag. Adam Cole looks for the Panama Sunrises but OC counters it into a back drop and Trent is back. Trent tags in and mows through The Bucks and Adam Cole to a nice pop. Trent catches Cole on the apron and hits him with a senton on the apron, Trent continues and drops Fish with a spear and Brandon Cutler with a nice backdrop on the outside. Trent climbs to the top and hits a diving splash onto the back of Nick Jackson and covers for a two count. Trent lifts Nick up and hits him with a chop, Nick catches Trent with a kick as he comes off the ropes. Rocky jumps into the ring and hits a double knee strike with Trent on Nick on the rebound. Trent hits a knee strike to the back of Nick’s head and covers for a two count. Matt Jackson pulls Rocky out of the ring and tries to get back in but Trent drops him to the outside. Trent looks for a dive outside but Chuck stops him and we get a hug for the people. Trent and Chucky drop Cole with a double team and Chuck dives to the outside on Bobby Fish. Trent on the top rope and Nick Jackson sweeps the legs and sends Trent back first into the top turnbuckle. Trent in the corner and gets hit with a double superkick brain buster on the knee combo. Fish tags in and hits Trent with a diving headbutt off the top and covers Trent and he kicks out JUST IN TIME. The Bucks set Trent up on the top rope and prevent anyone from making the save. Bobby Fish hits the avalanche falcon arrow on Trent and covers for a two count before Orange Cassidy makes the save! Orange Cassidy looks for the orange pump on Bobby but Cole breaks it up. Rocky sends Adam Cole to the outside and hit him with a tope. Nick Jackson follows up with a dive of his own. Orange Cassidy sends Matt to the outside with an Orange Punch and then hits a dive of his own. Trent hits Bobby Fish with the strong zero and covers him for the victory!
Winners: The Best Friends, Orange Cassidy & Rocky Romero (13:32)
Rating: ***
Review: This was a really solid opening tag match that was a combination of what you may see in PWG or NJPW. Both companies have their own distinct style of multiman tags and I believe this was a good mesh of both styles that lead to a solid TV match. I actually expected more of the New Japan style of booking from AEW early so I wouldn’t mind more multiman tags, fortunately this week we’ve got two! I can see some gripes with the legal man and what not It’s not a gripe I have but I can understand others issue with it. In my opinion AEW wrestlers do a pretty good job at recalling who the ‘legal’ man is despite the massive breakdowns that sometimes occur and leave the viewer a bit lost.

Dan Lambert Speaks

Dan Lambert says he’d rather be anywhere but here but he wasn’t going to allow Tony to screw his men out of what they deserve. Lambert runs down Tony’s outside escapades in Soccer and Football. Lambert questions Tony’s ability to live up to his promises of giving the fans what they want. Lambert says Tony conned them by doing things like pushing Darby and signing Punk but the truth is he’s constantly giving title shots to the EVPs. Lambert says AEW is becoming late 90s WCW and says Cody has constantly worked his way into spots he doesn’t deserve. Lambert buries Rhodes to the top and the man has a point.

The lights break for a moment, Cody’s theme hits and he makes his way to the ring in workout gear to a mixed reaction. Cody snatches the mic from Lambert and Lambert snatches it back, “good”-Ricky starks. Cody steals it back but Lambert again takes it before handing it to Cody so he can speak. Cody tosses the mic into the hands of Scorpio Sky and attacks Ethan. Ricky says he’d beat up Cody just because of the shoes, Starks is the best. Sky and Ethan lay into Cody but Dustin hits the ring and drops both men before setting his sights on Dan. The Men of the year catch him off guard and drop Dustin. Ethan works over Dustin while Scorpio takes care of Cody. Sammy Guevara hits the ring and takes care of both Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky sending them both walking. Sammy stands tall with the championship saving Cody ahead of their championship match next week on Christmas night.

* We get a TBS Championship promo package to highlight all four of the Semi Finals. Ruby is the only person left who didn’t get a bye. Interesting. 

Tay Conti vs. Penelope Ford – Submission match.

Penelope wastes no time getting this one started but Tay fights back and sends Penelope into the corner, Tay hits one pump kick but Ford doges the second and drops Tay. Tay looks for a single leg but Penelope crawls and the bunny helps her get to the rope in time. Ford rolls out of the ring and Tay hits her with a dropkick to the outside. Penelope catches Tay in front of the post and chops her twice before Tay moves and Ford smashes her hand into the post. Tay catches Ford’s arm and looks for a cross arm breaker but Ford crawls and gets her foot to the rope. The Bunny screams at Tay to let go, love that friendship spirit. Ford trips Tay and sends her into the corner but Tay blocks the elbow in the corner and locks in a submission but Ford breaks out and locks in a bow and arrow stretch. Ford struggles to lock the hands and lock it in so Tay rolls over and drops elbows into the ribs of Penelope Ford. Tay locks in a modified arm breaker and The Bunny gets on the apron to distract Aubree. Tay breaks the hold to get Penelope off the apron giving Penelope time to recover. Tay catches Penelope in the corner with a sleeper hold pulling her on to the top rope. Both women up top and Tay looks for a roll through but Penelope locks in a dragon sleeper. Penelope lets go of the dragon sleeper and locks in a standing crossface with the support of her knee in the back. Tay knees Ford into the face and forces the break. Penelope with the springboard cutter and locks in a cravat on Tay but she crawls to the ropes for a break. Tay begins to get to her feet and Ford kicks away at her sort of upsetting Tay. Tay drops Ford with a pump kick sending her into the ropes. Ford fights back and looks for the casadora but Tay sits out with her and locks in a nasty choke forcing Ford to tap out giving Tay the victory.
Winner: Tay Conti 
Rating: **1/2
Review: This wasn’t bad but it had it’s hiccups, theres stuff that Ford does that I just don’t love, the springboard cutter for example just never really looks that great. I love Tay and I think Penelope has a ton potential but I think that comes with letting her focus more on the simple things and letting go of stuff that looks great maybe a quarter of the time. This feud is getting interesting though. 
Post match: The Bunny drops Tay with the brass knuckles but Anna Jay jumps into the ring with a chair to send them running.

Mark Henry interviews the 10 men set for the Main Event

Mark Henry is backstage and asks 2.0 and Garcia what their plan is, The acclaimed go to sing but 2.0 say that Eddie Kingston finally found people who could stand him. Kingston walks off while 2.0 continue to run him down. Bowens says Penta says everyone loves the acclaimed. Kingston comes back and tells them to shut up and fight, he tells Mark Henry to do his thing and say it’s time. Mark Henry obliges and says IT’S TIME for the main event.

Proud & Powerful, The Lucha Brothers, & Eddie Kingston vs. The Acclaimed, 2.0 & Daniel Garcia

This one breaks down before the Acclaimed can even get their raps off. Ricky wanted to hear more and so did I but alas. This one hasn’t even started yet but all ten men are outside brawling on the outside with no team taking a clear advantage. We have Garcia taking control of Fenix meanwhile Bowens is getting beat down by Kingston on the other side. The bell sounds and Penta kicks this one off with Caster. Eddie tries to get into the ring with a chair but Remsburg isn’t letting it fly. Penta and Caster exchange chops in the center of the ring. Penta tags in Fenix and we get some combination kicks from the AEW tag team champions. Fenix with the cover for a two count and then stares down all four men on the apron. Fenix with a chop and goes for a suplex but Caster breaks it up, Fenix breaks the hold and tags Ortiz in while Caster tags in Bowens. Santana and Ortiz walk through Bowens with some fancy tag team move before we go to our final? break of the night!

Back from break and 2.0 have control but Santana hits a moonsault taking both members out giving him a chance to tag in Penta. Penta drops both members of 2.0, Daniel Garcia and Anthony Bowens. Caster enters the ring and shoves Penta but gets hit with a superkick and a kick from Fenix. Fenix with some quick action on 2.0 before catching Garcia with a kick in the corner. Fenix climbs to the top and goes for a torneo. Fenix overshot but he knee’d Garcia right in the face OUCH. Fenix covers but Garcia kicks out. Fenix with the tag to Kingston who squares up with Garcia. 2.0 pull Kingston to the outside and get some shots in before the lucha brothers take them out with a double tope. Bowens in the ring with Ortiz and drops him with a series of strikes. Santa catches Bowens with a gotch piledriver but Caster hits him with a crossbody. Kingston catches Caster and sends him to the outside, Garcia back in and eats a series of strikes from Kingston, Kingston goes for the backfist but Garcia ducks it and rolls up Kingston. Garcia holds the tights and picks up the shocking victory!
Winners: Daniel Garcia, 2.0 & The Acclaimed(8:37)
Rating: ** 3/4
Review: This match was exciting and I might be biased based on Garcia getting a significant victory over Kingston, regardless of tactics. That said, I can’t lie and act like it was out of this world, a compliment I gave earlier I very well may have ate my words for in this one. I couldn’t keep track but it felt like at least once we saw the legal man change without a tag here. It was a brawl and it was exciting but it definitely wasn’t a technical masterpiece.
Post match: The winners continue their assault before Jungle Boy and his crew hit the ring to make the save. Jungle Boy hands the AEW Tag team championships over to the Lucha Brothers and we get an interesting stare down. Jungle Boy’s music hits and he stands tall with Luchasaurus and Christian. Eddie Kingston chases Garcia and 2.0 up the ramp and we close out the show!