And with a crunch wrap in one hand and a grilled cheese burrito in the other, a TGIF to you all! Lee Sanders here and it’s time for another episode of AEW RAMPAGE!

This weeks matches is all singles action as we’ll see Adam Cole vs. Evil Uno. For the
FTW Championship Match: Ricky Starks (c) vs. Jay Lethal. In addition, Mercedes Martinez vs. Thunder Rosa. And, a TNT Championship Match: Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Isiah Kassidy

Commentators: Excalibur, Taz and Chris Jericho

MATCH 1: ADAM COLE VS EVIL UNO

Adam Cole red hot as he is laying a mudhole of an assault on Evil Uno to to be in control early on. Uno catches an attempted superkick by Adam Cole and applies a nice hanging neckbreaker. Uno follows up with a back elbow, clothesline, and a knife edge chop. Evil Uno now has Cole in the corner delivering strikes before the referee steps in to break the men apart. Cole takes advantage of the opening and gets in a few strikes on Uno before Uno is back on the offense. High boot to the face of Adam Cole as Uno climbs to the top rope and connects with a senton followed by a rolling elbow strike. Uno off the side apron as Cole plants him with a high knee to the face, followed by a kick to the face. Uno appears to be out as Cole plants another kick to UNO’s face. Cole delivers the BOOM for the victory…Well DAMN!

Post-match Adam Cole cuts a promo mentioning Frankie Kazarian, Jungle Boy, Anthony Green, John Silver, Wheeler Yuta, Orange Cassidy, Jake Atlas, Trent Beretta and now Evil Uno. What do all these men have in common? They are involved in Adam Cole’s undefeated singles run as he doesn’t give a damn about what happened last week. Cole promises he is a new Adam Cole, a more ruthless Adam Cole as he will take what he wants. He is one of the best pro wrestlers not just in AEW but on the planet. He’s traveled the globe for years, won championships after championships for years. At the end of the day he always becomes the guy, no matter the brand, promotion or show. There is something else he wants which is he will become the AEW World Champion. Shots fired! Shots fired!

Winner:Adam. Cole (4:00)
Rating: NR
Thoughts: A little bit of offense for Evil Uno, just a a bit that had you thinking it was going to be competitive but Cole soon dominated. This was more about Cole’s next chapter if anything.

Jade Cargill is featured in a vignette asking who’s her next challenger for her championship. Personally I’d love to see Thunder Rosa, who you all got?

MATCH 2: TNT CHAMPIONSHIP-SAMMY GUVERRA(C) VS ISIAH KASSIDY

It’s turning into a fight as both men are throwing fists at each other. Nice corkscrew dropkick by Guverra. The Spanish God comes from over the top rope with a nice dive to crash into Isiah. Action back in the ring as Guverra is sent into the corner. Kassidy tries stoping him but Guverra connects with a high kick as he also takes out Mark Quinn. Matt Hardy connects with a side effect while the referee is distracted as we go into a commercial break. Back from commercial, Sammy is fighting through the pain of his taped and bruised ribs. He’s looking for the GTH but he can’t as he stumbles. Kassidy delivers elbow strikes to the lower back. He tries charging at Guverra but Guverra plants him with a side kick to the face. Guverra now to the top rope when we hear the music of Andrade. Kassidy tries fighting Guverra on the ropes but knocks him off. Kassidy plants Guverra with a backbreaker now, pin attempt made and it’s a near fall. Kassidy connects with a springboard stunner followed by a tope suicida, followed by a senton and somehow Guverra kicks out! Backslide pin attempt made and it’s reversed as we see a nice series of counters by both men now. Sammy connects with a beautiful back moonsault to plant Mark Quinn, followed by a cutter from the top rope on Kassidy for a near fall. Sammy connects with the GTH for the victory.
Post -match Andrade gets in the ring and whatever was about to go down we see Darby Allin come out as Andrade offers Darby a pen as he’s still trying hard to recruit him. Darby isn’t budging as Andrade quickly makes his exit as Darby stares down the TNT championship on Guverra’s shoulders.

Winner:Sammy Guverra (8:00)
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Awesome back and fourth between both men with not too much interference. One could say that the match should’ve been over by a couple of minutes because there was some pretty sweet spots that had you thinking the match surely was over but it kept going. Regardless, a great outing by both men.

Vignette shown of QT Marshall who’s still not done with HOOK as he has someone in mind that will put the young man in his place. Wonder who it could be…

Kris Statlander now seen chatting it up with Tony Schiavone about the actions of Legit Hirsch when she’s attacked by Hirsch who has a steel chair. Hirsch quickly makes her exit as Statlander is laid out. This came off like a Smackdown 2 video game moment and I’m loving it.

MATCH 3: THUNDER ROSA VS MERCEDES MARTINEZ

Thunder Rosa is bringing the pain off the break on Martinez. Action goes outside the ring as Rosa sends Martinez crashing into the guard rails. Not looking too good in her AEW match debut is Martinez as Rosa is brutally beating her up. Rosa with a camel clutch on Martinez. She follows it up with clubbing strikes to her body. Rosa bounces off the ropes as Martinez tosses her into the ropes and rebounds with a spine buster as we head into commercials. Both girls are now fighting on the top rope as Martinez plants Rosa with a Death Valley Driver! Pin attempt and it’s a near fall. Martinez looked as though she was going for an electric chair but it turned into a modified Razor’s Edge by Martinez as Rosa counters for a rollup, release and a knee to Martinez face! Action now outside the ring as Martinez face is rammed into the steel steps by Rosa. Not sure where it came from but out of nowhere Martinez pulled out a steel pipe from underneath the ring quickly and clocks Rosa over the head to lay her out! Instant disqualification!

Winner:Thunder Rosa(6:00)
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Two of my absolute favorites going at it. I’ve watched these women for years, Mercedes for much longer. I felt like the old days of watching SHINE or SHIMMER seeing these two go at it. Excellent chemistry and for the first time in AEW history if I’m not mistaken we have a match end on a Disqualification, something Tony Khan and them frowned upon and been vocal about in the past but I’m all for it if it’s sparingly used. Obvious these girls aren’t done yet. But who put Mercedes on Rosa? It has Godfather II vibes. The answer to come shortly…

Vignette of Serena Deeb is shown.

Tony Schiavone chatting it up with Martinez backstage as he catches up to her wondering why the steel pipe. Britt Baker appears as she tells Martinez that’s not what they agreed upon. Jaime Hayter is wondering what’s going on as Britt tells her how someone (cough cough Hayter) around here hasn’t been able to get the job done. Britt tells Mercedes to remember who signed her check. She does not want for Thunder to beat Rosa again or she will have a short career in AEW. Much shorter than well…Retribution was maybe she was eluding to right? Marinate on that one…Mark Henry with Ricky Starks and Jay Lethal as IT’S TIME FOR THE MAIN EVENT!

MATCH 4: FTW CHAMPIONSHIP-RICKY STARKS(C) VS JAY LETHAL

Both men circle each other before locking up with a tie up. Jay Lethal into the ropes and comes off with a nice shoulder tackle. Another lockup as eventually Ricky gets a headlock on Jay. Ricky tries to send Jay into the ropes but Jay reverses it and goes into the ropes to deliver another shoulder tackle to Ricky. Jay with strong knife edged chops, Ric Flair style! Both men fighting for a suplex opportunity. Ricky powers out to drop an elbow on the back of Lethal’s head. Nice series of counters as Jay sends Ricky stumbling outside the ring. Lethal delivers not one but two dives in-between the ropes to lay out Starks. As we go into Picture in Picture break, Hobbs provides a little bit of an opening for Starks to get back on offense. Back from commercial break as Ricky is getting to a vertical position. Splash into the corner and a miss by Starks. Lethal tries getting Starks in about four pinning combination maneuvers and all have been kicked out by Starks. Hammer throw into the corner by Lethal. Lethal charges but is kicked in the face by Starks. Ricky plants Lethal with a Liger Bomb for a near fall. Both men are now delivering chops and strikes to one another. Lethal with a great series of offense as Hobbs gets up on the apron. Lethal plants Hobbs with a dropkick. Lethal now bouncing off the ropes as Starks sends him crashing into Hobbs as Dante Martin appears from out of nowhere and does a flying crossbody over the top rope onto Hobbs. Inside the ring, Lethal plants Starks with a cutter followed by an attempt of the lethal injection as Ricky tries looking for an underhook maneuver and it’s a near fall. Ricky counters Lethal’s injection with the Roshambo! Game, set, match!

Winner:Ricky Starks (11:00)
Rating: ****
Thoughts: What an excellent match between the veteran Jay Lethal and the man starting to find his peak in Ricky Starks. We do not get to see enough of Jay Lethal on television and after this performance, hopefully we’ll see more of him. You’re reminded why Jay was the ROH World champion for so long and why so many respect the heck out of him. In all my years watching Lethal, I’ve never seen him phone it in. He always hits it out the park. Great chemistry between both men as they made this FTW championship feel of great value even though the title hasn’t been officially recognized by AEW…Yet.

End of Show

THE FINAL SCORE:  REVIEW

VERY GOOD

Excellent singles action matches for this week and a great change of pace honestly. We got to see two independent wrestling favorites in Thunder Rosa and Mercedes Martinez go at it with a rare yet badass finish. Furthermore, we now know who hired Martinez as it was Britt Baker. Add into the mix Jaime Hayter and the continued seeds planted of disrespect she’s been getting from Britt and not even being consulted about bringing in Martinez as she was the original problem solver, whoa daddy! The Baker effect is strong here with so many characters here. Statlander is still chasing Hirsch and her box of an ass whopping, Andrade still wants to buy Darby Allin like he’s a doggie in a window, Adam Cole declaring he will become AEW World Champion as he’s on a mission to make it so…And an awesome Jay Lethal vs Ricky Starks match and this was a welcomed week of content. For more forest talk of wrestling and beyond check me out on YouTube.com/thercwrshow as I’ve recently been reviewing WOW Women of Wrestling Lost Episodes. You can also get at me on Twitter @TheRCWRshow