HAPPY TGIF everybody! Lee Sanders here and man oh man we got us a double dose of AEW this Friday! I’ll be with you for AEW RAMPAGE while Jeremy Thomas tackles AEW BATTLE of the BELTS! Two hours of AEW programming this Friday! Are you excited? I know I am! Nothing to promote this week except if you have not heard, tragically, WWE Tough Enough contestant Sara Lee lost her life unexpectedly. A GofundMe has been set up to cover funeral expenses so whatever you guys are able to give for the sake of the three children she left behind is greatly appreciated. Donate by click here

Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Chris Jericho, and Tony Schiavone

MATCH 1: JON MOXLEY, CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI, WHEELER YUTA VS RUSH & PRIVATE PARTY

W. Morrisey, Stokely Hathaway and Lee Moriarty are in the crowd section enjoying a piece of cake apparently as they look on at this opening match. Claudio and Marc Quen of Private Party kick things off as Claudio delivers one mean uppercut as he tags in Yuta. Double team on Quen comes in the form of boots to Quen’s face! Kassidy gets the tag as he’s going up against Yuta. Nice series of arm drag takedowns from both men. Yuta applies a side-stretch submission hold on Kassidy in the center of the ring. Rollup attempt made as Quen gets out to tag in RUSH. RUSH spits in the direction of Moxley as Moxley wants a tag. Mox gets his wish as he and RUSH are trash-talking before going back and fourth with flying fists. High boot to the jaw of RUSH as RUSH comes back with a high boot of his own. Nice drop-step by Moxley as he connects with a stalling-driving suplex as we head into a commercial break. We’re back now as RUSH is laying the chops on Moxley who’s in the corner as Quen gets tagged in now. RUSH called himself holding Moxley so Quen could attack. Moxley manages to move out the way in time as Quen kicks RUSH instead. It’s the opening a staggered Moxley needs as Claudio gets tagged in. Claudio comes in with a series of uppercuts and a boot to the face as he calls for the SWING! Kassidy tries to step in but gets caught up in the crosshairs as Claudio somehow manages to apply his SWING while Kassidy was on his shoulders! Great feature of strength! Yuta gets in a diving crossbody, followed by a diving splash. Yuta looks for the pin attempt but is denied as RUSH breaks it up! Moxley gets in and gives RUSH a lariat followed by a dive in-between the ropes to crash into RUSH. Yuta manages to fight off Private Party as Claudio gets in to deliver an uppercut to Kassidy! Yuta connects with a under-hook while transitioning into the bicep slice on Quen to get the victory for BPCC!

Winner:Yuta, Moxley, and Claudio (12:00)
Rating: ***
Great opener for this RAMPAGE, right here in the Nations Capital of Washington, D.C. Everybody was able to get in a decent amount of offense and looked good doing so. No complaints on this one as it did its job in setting the tone for overall action that’s to come tonight.

MATCH 2: VARSITY BLONDES VS TONY NESE AND JOSH WOODS

Pillman does a great job keeping Nese isolated as Woods has had enough and comes in to take out Griff Garrison after getting the tag. Wait–What just happened??? This match is over already and it wasn’t even two minutes!

Winner:Nese and Woods (1:15)
Rating: N/R
SQUASH…SQUASH….SQUASH!!!

Post-Match Smart Mark Sterling boosts about how that tag match for his clients was too easy. He reveals he trademarked the word “VARSITY” as Nese and Woods are now known as THE VARSITY ATHLETES. The Blondes can no longer use “VARSITY” again or else they will be sued. The Acclaimed come out to interrupt Sterling as they’ve had enough as Sterling and crew quickly make their exit.

Video package is shown now as Eddie Kingston isn’t sorry for what he did to Sammy Guevara last week. What a week for Sammy huh? Shesh!!! Anyway, Eddie is upset at the fact that he only gets 30 seconds for a promo while MJF gets 15 minutes of a segment. You tell em Eddie!

MATCH 3: SKY BLUE & MADISON RAYNE VS ANNA JAY & TAY MELO

Anna Jay and Madison kick us off on this one as Anna gets in a elbow strike. Anna follows up by grabbing Madison’s hair from the back, and ramming her backwards to the canvas. Lot of showboating now by Anna Jay as Madison makes her pay for it by getting a rollup for a quick near fall. Tay gets the tag now as Madison gets in a side headlock while transitioning to a wrist lock. Sky Blue gets the tag now as a nice trip & dropkick combo lands on Tay for a two count. Anna gets the tag as Sky Blue gets a pump kick from Tay from the side apron as we head into another commercial break. We’re back as Sky gets in a tag to Madison who comes in white hot and gets in a nice suplex with bridge on Anna for a near fall. Sky gets in a blind tag to deliver a diving crossbody on Anna for another near fall. Far leg hook soon follows and that is a near fall as well for Sky Blue as Tay breaks up the pin attempt. Tay plants Sky in a piledriver as Madison gets in there to plant Tay with a crucifix bomb! Anna delivers a reverse spider-web facebuster on Madison as Sky Blue gets in there now. Nice back elbow by Sky as Tay comes in with a knee to the face of Sky as Anna applies the queen slayer for the victory!

Winner:Tay and Anna (7:00)
Rating: **
Tay and Anna have solid chemistry as a tag team. Sky Blue and Madison worked pretty decent as well. With the amount of time the girls were given, they did okay. Sadly I can see most people not caring for this match as there’s not much of a storyline here. I believe there could be if done right from the angle of Madison turning on Sky Blue. We shall see…

MATCH 4: TRIOS CHAMPIONSHIP-DARK ORDER’S JOHN SILVER, ALEX REYNOLDS, AND 10 VS PAC, PENTA OSCURO, AND REY FENIX(C)

All six men go all out brawling in the ring with one another. Referee is barely a factor here in maintaining control early on. Fenix and 10 seem to kick things off as 10 gets the best of him. Reynolds gets the tag now as Reynolds delivers a nice elbow drop. Cover attempt made as Fenix kicks out. Reynolds tries picking up Fenix but gets a jawbreaker! It’s just the opening Fenix needed as he tags in Penta! Thrust kick to the face of Penta as Silver gets tagged in as we see a nice leg sweep combo from Silver and Reynolds on Penta. Silver goes for the cover attempt but it’s a near fall as we head to ad breaks. We’re back now as Fenix single-handedly fights off Silver and Reynolds by ramming Silver into Reynolds, followed by a nice series of kicks to Reynolds. 10 tries to get inside but gets an armdrag takedown, followed by a stomp to the chest as Fenix tags in Penta! Penta delivers a big crossbody onto all three members of Dark Order. Silver walks into a fireman’s carry as he’s sent crashing into 10. A backstabber to Reynolds soon follows. It’s another near fall as Reynolds and PAC are now going at it. Nice snapping German suplex by PAC for a near fall as Death Triangle deliver an onslaught of kicks to the body of Alex Reynolds! Give this man a tag please cause he is dying here! PAC delivers a back-side suplex and follows up with a clothesline. Tag made to Fenix as Reynolds gets a spinebuster while Penta delivers a dropkick to Reynold’s groin area! Fenix applies a straight jacket submission hold as Penta is tagged in now. Penta is kicking the arms of Reynolds as he applies a single arm lock. Reynolds now tangled up in the ropes as he gets chops to the body as PAC is tagged as the onslaught on Reynolds continues. Looks like we have one last commercial break. And we are back as it looks like we’re finally seeing some fighting spirit from Reynolds as he telegraphs a back body drop from PAC! Reynolds tags in 10 as the Lucha Bros get double clotheslined by him. 10 delivers a spinebuster onto Fenix as the crowd is cheering him on. Kick to the back of 10’s head as well as kicks to the back of the head as well. Death Triangle deliver multiple kicks to 10 as the referee is allowing this carnage to continue. Fenix with the cover but didn’t hook the leg as 10 kicks out. Fenix is hammering the back of 10 as 10 reverses a back suplex attempt! Tag made to Silver as he and PAC exchange strikes and near falls. Nice deadlift brainbuster by Silver as it gets him a 2.9 cover attempt. Fenix is tagged in now as he gets clotheslined by Silver. 10 and Reynolds try to get Fenix in the pendulum bomb but Fenix fights it off the first time. Fenix isn’t as lucky the second time as Dark Order connects but it’s another near fall. Penta gets in there now as he connects with a backstabber on Silver! Penta gets a stunner, a right hand, an enziguri, a german suplex, and a lariat from Dark Order as the cover is made…AND IT’s kick out! Jose the Assistant comes out and is talking to the referee from the end of the ramp. RUSH comes out while the referee is distracted and hands PAC a hammer as he takes it to the head of Reynolds. PAC gets in the tag from Penta and applies the brutalizer to Reynolds retain their Trios titles.

Winner:Death Triangle (17:00)
Rating: ***
Now that’s what I call a tag match! Some may have felt that it had too many near falls but I was fine. I love how most of the match was spent by Death Triangle beating the tar out of Reynolds but it was becoming too much. Luckily they switched gears in time. Death Triangle needs to be on AEW television loads more. Their style of tag action is entertaining. Some good moments in this match where you thought Dark Order was going to win and I would’ve been okay with it honestly. Truth be told though Death Triangle is just getting started as the Trios champions and it was the right move to continue having them champions. I mean after all this was their first official title defense since winning the titles at ALL OUT.

End of Show

For more great talk of all things wrestling and beyond, be sure to follow me on Twitter @THERCWRSHOW and check me out on YouTube.com/thercwrshow Enjoy the weekend y’all!

THE FINAL SCORE:  REVIEW

VERY GOOD

Man this hour went by so fast! Lot of good wrestling action in here! Another thing worth noting is that this hour was highlighted by AEW’s tag division. I’m honestly okay with that as I had to remind myself during this program of just how quietly it’s come along. The tag division has gotten some serious depth these past several months. Even the women’s division has depth in it now as we’ve been seeing more and more tag matches happen. Some people may not like the fact that no singles action was on this card, let alone a singles title was on the line. I don’t have a problem with it as it’s all about hyping up BATTLE of the BELTS and watching that show if you want to see singles action. So if you’re a fan of tag team action then this was the episode for you. If not and you’re wondering if this was a show you should watch or skip? I’d say it’s worth going out of your way to watch. Loving these live RAMPAGES by the way as Tony Khan said there’s going to be more of them for the rest of October. For more great talk of all things wrestling and beyond, be sure to follow me on Twitter @THERCWRSHOW and check me out on YouTube.com/thercwrshow Enjoy the weekend y’all!