All Elite Wrestling presented an action-packed episode of AEW Rampage on June 23.
48 hours before AEW and NJPW clash in Toronto, the June 23 episode of Rampage will feature AEW World Champion MJF will make his first-ever appearance on the show. On the June 21 episode of AEW Dynamite, MJF agreed to defend his title against Hiroshi Tanahashi at the pay-per-view.
Elsewhere on the show, United Empire‘s Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, and Kyle Fletcher will team with Swerve Strickland to take on a CHAOS team that includes Rocky Romero and Best Friends. Another Forbidden Door preview will include “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry taking on Douki of Just Five Guys before he challenges SANADA for the IWGP World Championship.
The AEW Women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament will kick off on Friday night, as Anna Jay.A.S. will take on Skye Blue in a quarterfinals match. Plus, The Acclaimed will be in action, and fans will also hear from Adam Cole.
The AEW Rampage results are as follows:
Match 1: Swerve Strickland & United Empire defeat CHAOS via pinfall
In a pretty quick opening match, things broke down almost immediately and fell into chaos. United Empire would clear the ring of the Best Friends and Rocky Romero, and then begin attacking YOH as a group. Will Ospreay closed things out by hitting the Hidden Blade on YOH for the pin and win.
In-ring segment: Adam Cole and MJF
Adam Cole came down to the ring but before he could do anything, MJF interrupted him. Making his first ever appearance at AEW Rampage, MJF said that he wanted to thank Cole for giving him the confidence to face off against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Forbidden Door. As a way to return the favor, MJF said he talked to Tony Khan and had Khan book Cole in a match against Tom Lawlor at the pay-per-view.
Before Cold could do much, Lawlor and Royce Isaacs stormed the ring, attacking Cole from behind as MJF watched. The reigning AEW World Champion said he’d make the save, but instead slowly made his way down to the ring, coming in just as things cleared up.
Match 2: Billy Gunn & The Acclaimed defeat three local talent via pinfall
This match ended almost immediately, with Caster hitting the Mic Drop to end things. Aftr the match, QTV’s Harley Cameron came out and entered the ring. After some back and forth between the group, QT Marshall and Aaron Solo made their way out, and eventually, The Acclaimed chased after them and left the ring.
With Gunn alone, a backup dancer who appeared with the QTV crew removed his costume, revealing himself to be Johnny TV (John Morrison). The superstar knocked out Gunn, and aligned himself with QTV in the process.
Match 3: Skye Blue defeats Anna Jay
In the first match of the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup Tournament, Blue worked her way to a win thanks to some late momentum. After battling back and forth for most of the match, Blue eventually found herself locked in the Queenslayer.
However, Blue flipped Jay into the lower turnbuckle, and would eventually set up the Code Blue to get the pin and win.
Match 4: Jungle Boy defeats DOUKI via submission
In a match where DOUKI was the overwhelming fan-favorite, Jungle Boy was the one who came out on top with a win. The pair fought all over the place in this match, taking things outside of the ring, as DOUKI would eventually put Jungle Boy on a cleared out announcer’s table and then hit a massive senton through the table.
Toward the end of the match, the crowd was clearly rooting for DOUKI, and he nearly came away with a big win after hitting a DDT for a near fall. However, Jungle Boy would regain the momentum, and hit a big superkick, followed up by an elbow strike from behind. Despite the crowd being so unhappy, Jungle Boy locked in a vicious submission for the win.
After the match, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada appeared, entering the ring with his title draped around his arm. The two then stared at each other before Sanada lifted his belt up and left the ring.
