AEW Rampage Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From Jan. 26
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- Christopher Daniels vs. Konosuke Takesh*ta
- Anna Jay vs. Ruby Soho
- Lee Moriarty vs. Jon Moxley
- The Butcher vs. Kip Sabian vs. Komander vs. Vikingo
Rampage.AEW
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of AEW Rampage on January 26.
As usual, Tony Khan set up four matches for the hour-long show. Here is a look at the card for this week's episode:
Let's take a look at everything that happened on Sterling Archer's favorite wrestling program.
Lee Moriarty vs. Jon Moxley
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- The first chop Moxley hit on Moriarty looked painful.
- Mox was showing more heel tendencies in this match than usual. He has always been a tweener, but he seemed a bit more aggressive, which lines up with his recent promos.
- Finger snap spots are always painful to watch.
- Moriarty would be a perfect addition to BCC.
Rampage.AEW
Rampage opened with Moxley making his way through the crowd as he prepared for the opening match against Moriarty, who had Shane Taylor at ringside.
Mox came into this match with a winning record against Shane Taylor promotions, so Moriarty and Taylor spent some time strategizing during the match whenever they could.
This felt like a surprisingly even fight for the first several minutes, but once Moxley hit a stiff forearm and knocked Moriarty to the mat, he was much more in control of the pace.
Moriarty continued to put up a fight and even managed to get some near-falls, but this was always going to end with the former AEW champion getting the win. Taigastyle put on a great performance and survived some close two-counts, but Moxley choked him out to get the win.
Moriarty needs to start getting some wins on TV, but this is still a standout performance for him. Moxley shook his hand but Taylor attacked him so he and his protege could stomp on him.
Result: Jon Moxley defeated Lee Moriarty
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
Konosuke Takesh*ta vs. Christopher Daniels, Anna Jay vs. Ruby Soho
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- The music for the Callis Family is cool but doesn't really get the crowd to react much.
- The way Takesh*ta hits a high-angle German suplex always looks so cool.
- Ruby is one of those people who doesn't need size to be intimidating. She looks like she is not someone you want to cross.
The next match on this week's show saw Daniels take on Takesh*ta, who had Don Callis,, Kyle Fletcher and Powerhouse Hobbs by his side.
Big Take is a big man, so he had a height and slight weight advantage. Daniels is no longer the cruiserweight he once was, but he has added some power moves to his arsenal to replace some of the high-flying stuff he used to do.
This was a short match at just a couple of minutes long, but they packed more into it than expected. Everything they did looked good. They just didn't have time to do much. Takesh*ta got the win in the end.
Result: Konosuke Takesh*ta defeated Christopher Daniels
Grade: C+
Saraya and Harley Cameron were ringside to support Soho as she took on Jay, who had a backstage argument with Angelo Parker before the match.
Daddy Magic was on commentary, but Parker was nowhere to be seen. As usual, Saraya and Cameron interfered on Soho's behalf whenever they could.
This match was long enough to have a commercial in the middle, but it felt like most of the action we got to see took place during the picture-in-picture portion of the match, so the actual amount of full-screen TV time wasn't much.
Once the ref caught on, he ejected Soho's allies from ringside. Jay was able to capitalize and score the win.
Result: Anna Jay defeated Ruby Soho
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
Sabian vs. Komander vs. Butcher vs. Vikingo
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- The moment Sabian and Butcher realized they were opponents was kind of funny.
- Komander and Vikingo had some fun lucha exchanges.
- Daddy Magic marking out for Butcher on commentary was hilarious.
- Vikingo breaking up a pin was a fraction of a second late but Aubrey Edwards did a good job making it look like he got there in time.
- The tower of doom suplex spot did not look good, but at least everyone made it out safely.
- Edwards should not have counted the two-count when Sabian hit a German suplex on Komander. His shoulders were nowhere near the mat.
Rampage.AEW
The main event of this week's show was an interesting setup for a Fatal 4-Way. Komander and Vikingo have been allies, and so have Sabian and Butcher, but they were all vying for a shot at Orange Cassidy's international title.
Sabian isn't as small as the luchadors, but The Butcher still had a significant size advantage over all three opponents.
This was a fun match that was structured surprisingly well. Fatal 4-Ways can be tricky. They either feel too planned out or too chaotic. This one struck a good balance.
The outcome to this was unpredictable because any of these men would make good opponents for OC, and unpredictability always helps any bout more exciting.
This was a fun main event, but a couple of very sloppy moments stood out. Komander picked up a victory by pinning Sabian, earning a match against OC on Collision.
Result: Komander won a shot at the International Championship
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
