Cassidy defends against Romero on Rampage on TSN+
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Orange Cassidy puts the AEW International Championship on the line against Rocky Romero, while Black Taurus challenges El Hijo del Vikingo for the AAA Mega Championship. Plus, the Hardys take on the Kingdom. You can catch AEW Rampage on Friday sat 10pm et/7pm pt streaming on TSN+.
AEW International Championship match: "Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Rocky Romero - On this past Wednesday night's Dynamite, Rocky Romero lamented the loss of his NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship that he had held since January to Mascara Dorada at CMLL's Super Viernes pay-per-view last weekend and vowed to once again claim gold. Romero's CHAOS stablemate Orange Cassidy took that as a title challenge and offered a shot at his AEW International Championship to Romero for Friday night's Rampage. In his second reign with the title, Cassidy has been as fighting as champion as any in all of pro wrestling and will be putting his title on the line for a sixth time since reclaiming it from Rey Fenix on the Oct. 10 edition of Dynamite. During his first reign, Cassidy successfully defended it on 31 occasions before losing it to Jon Moxley at All Out. Friday's match will be the first ever meeting between the two men who have shared a ring as partners on a number of occasions. An accomplished tag-team wrestler having held the ROH World Tag Team Championship on three occasions, as part of the Havana Pitbulls with Ricky Reyes, No Remorse Corps with Davey Richards and Forever Hooligans with Alex Koslov, and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships eight times with Richards, Koslov and Trent Beretta as Roppongi Vice, Romero's nearly yearlong run with the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship was not his first with a major singles crown. Romero previously held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, defeating Tiger Mask for the title in 2005, and is the current Major League Wrestling Middleweight Champion. Cassidy is well aware of what his ally is capable of and will need to put his friendship with Romero aside when it comes to hanging onto his title. One thing is for certain, the AEW International Championship will reside with CHAOS after Friday night. The only question is, with whom exactly?
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AAA Mega Championship match: El Hijo del Vikingo (c) vs. Black Taurus - In a rematch of a sensational encounter at last Friday's Ring of Honor Final Battle pay-per-view, Black Taurus will once again have the opportunity to wrest away the AAA Mega Championship from El Hijo del Vikingo. Taurus did everything he could to put Vikingo away before ultimately falling victim to his opponent's patented 630. Coming close as he did to winning the Mega title for the first time, Taurus will undoubtedly know what needs to be different this time around. Friday's match will mark the first time that Taurus has competed in an AEW ring. The hulking competitor is no stranger to gold, having held the AAA Latin American Championship - defeating Octagon Jr. and Villano III Jr. in a triple-threat match in 2021 to claim it - and the AAA World Trios Championships as part of Los Mercenarios alongside La Hiedra, Rey Escorpion and Texano Jr. If this will be fans' first look at Taurus, they will certainly be surprised to see a man of his size move around like a much smaller competitor and it's his combination of strength and agility that make him such a difficult opponent for Vikingo. Having shared a ring with each other literally dozens of times, there are few opponents that Vikingo knows as well as Taurus, but the two have only met in singles competition on five occasions with Vikingo holding a 3-2 edge. Which of these two luchadors will leave Friday night with the Mega title?
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The Kingdom (Mike Bennett and Matt Taven) (w/ Roderick Strong) vs. The Hardys (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) - For just the second time ever, two former champion tag teams face off as Mike Bennett and Matt Taven take on Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy on Rampage. The Kingdom head into Friday's match on quite the roll, having not lost a standard tag-team match since last June and winners of nine straight. Among those who have fallen victim to Bennett and Taven during this run include former ROH World Tag Team Champions Matt Sydal and "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels and Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Berretta). Bennett and Taven are showing why they are former IWGP World Tag Team Champions, ROH World Tag Team Champions and Impact World Tag Team Champions during this impressive streak. On Rampage, though, they will be facing off with one of the most decorated duos in wrestling history in the Hardys. Matt and Jeff are former ROH World Tag Team Champions, TNA World Tag Team Champions, WCW World Tag Team Champions and eight-time WWE World Tag Team Champions. But these are not the same Hardys who wrote their names in the history books. Matt and Jeff have not reached their previous heights in AEW and are looking to pick up their first signature victory since defeating the Young Bucks (Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson) at Double or Nothing 2022. In recent months, the duo has come up short against the likes of Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis), The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) and the Jacksons. A win over an in-form Kingdom team would go a long way to turning the tide and getting back on the right track. History is on their side with the Hardys winning the only previous meeting between the two teams in 2022. Will Bennett and Taven stay rolling or will the Hardys make it 2-0 against the Kingdom?
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PLUS:
- Skye Blue is in action
- We will hear from Kris Statlander