Cassidy defends against Beretta on Rampage
Published
The Best Friends collide when Orange Cassidy defends his AEW All-Atlantic Championship against stablemate Trent Beretta. Plus, the undefeated Jade Cargill puts her TBS Championship on the line against former Baddie Kiera Hogan and Swerve Strickland meets Wheeler YUTA. You can catch AEW Rampage on Friday at 10pm et/7pm pt streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
AEW All-Atlantic Championship match: "Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Trent Beretta (w/Chuck Taylor and Danhausen) - Best Friends collide when Orange Cassidy puts his AEW All-Atlantic Championship on the line against Trent Beretta in a match that came together on this past Wednesday's Dynamite. When Kip Sabian asserted that his elimination of Cassidy from last Friday night's Three Kings Christmas Casino Battle Royale earned him a title shot, Beretta noted that he subsequently eliminated Sabian, so he should be the one to get the match. Cassidy quickly agreed and will now defend against his stablemate. Since beating PAC for the title in Toronto in October, Cassidy has successfully defended his belt seven times, most recently against Trent Seven on the Dec. 9 edition of Rampage. While Cassidy and Beretta have teamed together on numerous occasions, they have never met in a singles match and haven't faced each other in any kind of match in over eight years. Considering their relationship, it begs the question as to whether or not either man is capable of going full bore against the other. And what role will Sabian, who essentially bated Beretta into the match, play on Friday night? Will Beretta win his first championship in AEW or will Cassidy hang onto the gold?
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TBS Championship match: Jade Cargill (c) (w/ Red Velvet and Leila Grey) vs. Kiera Hogan - Two things will be on the line for Kiera Hogan on Friday night: 1. The TBS Championship and 2. An opportunity for revenge against former ally Jade Cargill. On the Nov. 23 edition of Dynamite, Hogan was abruptly fired from the Baddies when Cargill's attorney, "Smart" Mark Sterling, presented her with termination documents. Hogan had previously joined Cargill's entourage back in the spring. Hogan's first chance at vengeance was an unsuccessful one on the Dec. 7 Dynamite when she teamed with Madison Rayne and Skye Blue in a losing effort against Cargill, Velvet and Grey. Hogan had been on a role recently, reeling off six straight singles wins before falling to ROH Women's World Champion "The Fallen Goddess" Athena on the Boxing Day episode of AEW Dark: Elevation. Cargill and Hogan have met once before in singles action back in the summer of 2021 when Cargill dispatched Hogan in little over a minute with Jaded. Will history repeat itself with Cargill coming out on top or will Hogan claim the title from her former associate?
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ROH Pure Champion Wheeler YUTA vs. Swerve Strickland (w/ Mogul Associates) - Swerve Strickland made his break with Keith Lee a permanent one on last week's Dynamite when he jumped the man with whom we once held the AEW World Tag Team Championships with help from the monstrous Parker Boudreaux and a heavily tattooed mystery man. Strickland dubbed his new crew "Mogul Associates" and promised big things to come. Taking umbrage with the way Swerve set up Lee, the Blackpool Combat Club's Wheeler YUTA challenged him to a match on this past Wednesday night's Dynamite. This will be a first-ever meeting between the two competitors. YUTA has won three straight singles matches including defeating Daniel Garcia for the ROH Pure Championship at Final Battle. Now out on his own after dedicating the past several months to Swerve in Our Glory, Strickland will want to use Friday's match to put the rest of AEW on notice that he's once again a singles competitor and coming for titles. Can YUTA stay rolling or will Swerve make a statement?
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PLUS:
- "Superbad" Kip Sabian (w/ Penelope Ford) is in action
- Tony Schiavone talks to Jon Moxley about his ongoing feud with "Hangman" Adam Page