Shibata debuts, Tyson returns on Rampage

"Iron" Mike Tyson makes his return to AEW as a guest commentator on Rampage where Orange Cassidy will defend his AEW All-Atlantic Championship against New Japan Pro-Wrestling superstar Katsuyori Shibata in his first real match in five years. You can catch AEW Rampage LIVE at 10pm et/7pm pt streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.

AEW All-Atlantic Championship match: "Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata - Well, who saw this one coming? Orange Cassidy successfully defended his AEW All-Atlantic Championship this past Wednesday night on Dynamite in a three-way match against Luchasaurus and Rey Fenix. Along with the title, the winner of the match was granted a dream match opportunity against any opponent of their choosing. As Fenix's Death Triangle stablemate and former All-Atlantic Champion PAC began to beat down Cassidy after the match, Katsuyori Shibata made his way down to ringside to deal with "The Bastard" and sign his name on Cassidy's dream match contract to set up Friday night's bout. The match will mark the first time Shibata has worked a match since April of 2017. At NJPW's Sakura Genesis event in Tokyo, Shibata met Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Championship after earning a title shot by winning the 2017 New Japan Cup. After falling to Okada in the match, Shibata collapsed backstage and was rushed to a hospital. It was there he was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma and underwent emergency brain surgery. Following several months out of the public eye, Shibata returned to New Japan at the G1 Climax Final in August where he simply declared "I am still alive! That's all." With his in-ring career seemingly over, Shibata relocated to Los Angeles to serve as the head trainer at New Japan's LA Dojo. At the 2021 G1 Climax Final, Shibata competed in a UWF-rules five-minute exhibition grappling match with Zack Sabre Jr. and again partook in an exhibition bout at this past January's Wrestle Kingdom 16 against former pupil Ren Narita. But on Friday night, Shibata returns in earnest with a chance at gold. Shibata has stepped in the ring with the best New Japan has to offer, including the likes of Minoru Suzuki, Tetsuya Naito and Shinsuke Nakamura, and will be the stiffest test for Cassidy's championship reign yet. Can Cassidy hold onto the gold or will Shibata mark his remarkable return to the ring with the AEW All-Atlantic Championship?

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Dr. Britt Baker, DMD, and Jamie Hayter (w/ Rebel) vs. Madison Rayne and Skye Blue - Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter have a lot on their respective plates right now. The former AEW Women's World Champion Baker has engaged in a bitter feud with Saraya since the latter has arrived in AEW. Meanwhile, Hayter's recent run of in-ring success has led to a title shot against AEW Interim Women's World Champion Toni Storm at this month's Full Gear pay-per-view. Before either woman can move on to what's next, they will team up on Friday night to meet Madison Rayne and Skye Blue. Friday night will mark the third time that Rayne and Blue have teamed together. Since coming to AEW to serve as both a wrestler and coach in the women's division, Rayne has taken an interest as one of the most tenured veterans on the roster in Blue, one of the youngest competitors in all of AEW. The two women will hope Friday's match goes better than their previous team-ups. Rayne and Blue came out on the losing end in both of their other matches, falling to the Jericho Appreciation Society (Tay Melo and Anna Jay-AS) and the team of Serena Deeb and Emi Sakura. Working to their advantage this time out might be their opponents' preoccupation with other matters. If Baker and Hayter don't focus on the task at hand, they could be ripe for an upset. Which of these two teams will come out on top?

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PLUS:

- We will hear from "Absolute" Ricky Starks

- "Iron" Mike Tyson makes his return to AEW and will sit in on commentary with the broadcast team