6/10 AEW Rampage results: McGuire’s review of Will Ospreay, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis vs. Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, and Trent Beretta, Eddie Kingston vs. Jake Hager, Red Velvet vs. Kris Statlander, Satnam Singh and Jay Lethal in action, Hook and Danhausen promo – Pro Wrestling Dot Net

By Colin McGuire, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@McGMondays)

AEW Rampage (Episode 44)
Taped on June 8 in Independence, Missouri at Cable Dahmer Arena
Aired June 10, 2022 on TNT

The opening video aired and then Excalibur checked in, running down the commentary team while the wrestlers were in the ring. We got right to the action.

1. Eddie Kingston vs. Jake Hager. Hager had control early but once the action spilled outside, Kingston fought back with some chops. Hager cut Kingston off with a strike and the two got back into the ring. Hager worked Kingston’s back. Hager threw Kingston outside and then landed a suplex. Hager threw Kingston back into the ring and worked over Kingston’s back more with forearms.

Kingston tried to fight back, but Hager cut Kingston off again with a belly-to-belly suplex. Hager worked an arm-bar. Kingston came back with a slap and then followed that up with more open-hand strikes. Hager cut Kingston off then a knee to the gut. Kingston fired up with a series of chops and then a kick to Hager’s head. Kingston came at Hager, but Hager suplexed Kingston and the first PIP began [c].

Back from break, Hager had control, but Kingston came right back with a DDT. When the two got back to their feat, Kingston did the machine gun chop spot. Hager came back, taking Kingston down and landing a Hager Bomb for a two-count. Before long, Kingston hit a pair of Exploders for a two-count. Hager came back with a slam and then he sank in an ankle lock. Kingston made his way to the ropes for a break. Hager was pounding on Kingston in the corner, but Kingston came back with a powerbomb and then landed two spinning back-fists for the win.

Eddie Kingston defeated Jake Hager via pinfall in 11:23.

After the match, we went backstage for an interview with Dr. Britt Baker, who called out Toni Storm. Baker said she doesn’t know who Toni thinks she is, but it was arrogant for Storm to put her hand on the women’s world title (which Storm did on Dynamite). Baker said Storm thought she could skip the line and go straight to the top. Baker said the title is missing Baker more than Baker is missing it.

McGuire’s Musings: The match reminded me of the Big Damo/Tomohiro Ishii match from last week’s NJPW Strong episode. Damo dominated the hell out of Ishii, but then, wouldn’t you know it, Ishii hit a few moves and got the win. That’s pretty much what happened here, with Hager playing the role of Damo. There wasn’t much to it, as the offense here from the guy who was given the offense wasn’t all that varied. Kingston took a beating and then got a couple back-fists in, and that was it. Not much to it. The Baker promo was intriguing in that I didn’t quite think she’d be back in the women’s title picture this quickly, but we’ll see where all that goes. My hope was that we get a straight Storm/Rosa match at some point, but if Baker’s involved … we’ll see.