The Acclaimed defend tag titles on Rampage
Published
The Acclaimed defend their newly one AEW World Tag Team Championship in a three-way match against Private Party and The Butcher and The Blade. Plus, Rush meets John Silver and Jamie Hayter takes on Willow Nightingale. You can catch AEW Rampage Friday night at 10pm et/7pm pt streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
Three-way AEW World Tag Team Championship match: The Acclaimed ("Platinum" Max Caster and "The Five-Tool Player" Anthony Bowens) (c) (w/ Billy Gunn) vs. Private Party (Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy) and The Butcher and The Blade (w/ The Bunny) - Fresh off of winning the AEW World Tag Team Championship at AEW Grand Slam in Queens last week, Max Caster and Anthony Bowens will make their first title defence on Friday night against two sets of challengers — Private Party and The Butcher and The Blade. The latter two duos are, of course, still members of the Andrade Family Office, but that association appears to be loose...and getting looser. On this past Wednesday's Dynamite, the four men nearly came to blows until Andrade El Idolo and Jose the Assistant ensured cooler heads would prevail. But shortly after Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy left the scene, they were approached by their former mentor, Matt Hardy, who's been looking to atone for his previous behaviour and told them to get out of their AFO deal so he can make things right with them. The infighting in the AFO plays right into the hands of the champions. Even though they're dealing with two teams and not just one, Private Party and The Butcher and The Blade are unlikely to work together against them. Will The Acclaimed start their reigns off with a bang or see their titles taken away to the AFO?
--
Lee Moriarty (w/ Stokely Hathaway and W. Morrissey) vs. Fuego del Sol - For the first time since the unveiling of Stokely Hathaway's The Firm, we get a look at Lee Moriarty in action. One of the first people recruited by Hathaway as he went out to build his stable, Moriarty now lines up alongside W. Morrissey, "All Ego" Ethan Page, Colten Gunn, Austin Gunn and Maxwell Jacob Friedman in the new faction. Since failing to capture the ROH World Championship from Jonathan Gresham on the July 15 edition of Rampage, Moriarty has gone on a roll and is undefeated in singles competition, picking up wins over both Dante Martin and Matt Sydal. This will be a first-ever meeting between the two men. If Moriarty's tremendous skill weren't enough of a problem, Fuego will also have to contend with Hathaway and the monstrous Morrissey on the outside. Can Moriarty keep on rolling or will Fuego spring the upset?
--
Jamie Hayter vs. Willow Nightingale - Fences have apparently been mended between former AEW Women's World Champion Dr. Britt Baker, DMD, and her associate Jamie Hayter. For a while, it didn't look like that was going to be possible. Hayter became irate when she believed Baker prevented her from claiming the interim world title at All Out in a match that was eventually won by Toni Storm, the current AEW Interim Women's World Champion. But now back on the same page with Baker, Hayter is in action for the first time since All Out when she takes on Willow Nightingale on Rampage. Since briefly distancing herself from Baker, there has been a groundswell of support for Hayter from the fans. Their newfound loyalty will be tested because Nightingale herself is also a fan favourite. This will be another first-ever match between these two women. Nightingale is looking to pick up her first win in AEW since July. Who will come out on top?
--
"El Toro Blanco" Rush (w/ Jose the Assistant) vs. John Silver - The unpleasantness between the Andrade Family Office and Dark Order continues when Rush meets John Silver on Friday night. Rush will undoubtedly not be in the best of moods on Friday night. On last week's Rampage, Rush came within a hair of winning the Golden Ticket Battle Royal that would have guaranteed him a shot at AEW World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley. Instead, he was the final man eliminated by the match's winner, former champion "Hangman" Adam Page, who also just happens to be a close associate of Silver's. While Silver is obviously a tag-team specialist alongside Alex Reynolds, he's not going to make things easy for Rush. Silver heads into the match on a three-match winning streak in singles bouts and will attempt to give the former two-time ROH World Champion everything he can handle. Can Rush earn a measure of satisfaction after last week's loss or will Silver's streak in singles matches improbably continue?