AEW Rampage: Grand Slam Preview – CM Punk's first TV match in 7 years, Top faction reunites after 5 years
Welcome to the AEW Rampage: Grand Slam preview. This Friday's show will follow Wednesday night's Dynamite and will be a two-hour special.
Several high-profile matches have been booked for AEW's Friday night show. CM Punk will be in action on a televised show for the first time in over seven years while Superkliq will reunite for the first time in nearly five years. Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki will square off against Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley.
Lucha Brothers and Proud n Powerful will team up to take on Hardy Family Office while Anna Jay and Penelope Ford look to settle their issues. The last announced match will see Men of the Year face Inner Circle's Jake Hager and Chris Jericho.
Let's jump into what Friday has in store for us.
#6. Anna Jay will look to continue her momentum against The Bunny and Penelope Ford at AEW Rampage
The Bunny & Penelope Ford get the last laugh after the match when Ford hit Anna Jay & Tay Conti in the face with some brass knuckles.
#AEWRampage https://t.co/SNLEootJz9
Anna Jay returned to action after nearly ten months to make the save for her best friend Tay Conti, interjecting herself in the feud involving the Brazilian star and The Bunny and Penelope Ford.
Last week, Anna defeated The Bunny, and this week she will look to repeat the trick against Penelope.
#5. Lucha Brothers and Proud n Powerful will take on The Butcher, The Blade, and Private Party at AEW Rampage
Lucha Brothers and Proud n Powerful are two of the top tag teams in the division, with the former holding the AEW tag titles at the moment. However, they will look to keep their competitive rivalry aside and vanquish the common enemy: Hardy Family Office.
This match was booked after Lucha Brothers defended their titles against The Butcher and The Blade last week on AEW Rampage and the entire Hardy Family Office attacked them. Santana and Ortiz made the save and the match was made official. The babyfaces are expected to come out on top.
#4. Men of the Year (Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page) will represent Dan Lambert against the Inner Circle at AEW Rampage
Kayla Harrison, Paige VanZant and other MMA fighters joined Dan Lambert in the ring
(via @AEW)
https://t.co/A0pIQ4dwKj
Dan Lambert and the American Top Team have not held back on their criticism towards AEW in recent weeks, constantly tearing down the roster, the company, and the fans. Dan Lambert picked Men of the Year as the only worthy people to do their bidding.
Last week, Chris Jericho and Jake Hager confronted Dan and warned him to keep his mouth shut. Shortly after, the tag team match was announced for Rampage. It will be a competitive match with the result difficult to call as there is no clear favorite.
#3. Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer will team up vs. Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley in a Lights Out match at AEW Rampage
Excuse me? A Lights Out Match with Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston vs Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer?! Let’s go! 🔥
#AEWRampage https://t.co/nHh7PRNwF3
Minoru Suzuki's shortened entrance on AEW Dynamite genuinely upset fans and formed the bedrock for this match.
The Murder Grandpa and his former tag team partner and protege Lance Archer took it as a sign of disrespect and asked for a tag team match against the former Dean Ambrose and The Mad King Eddie Kingston. Expect this match to be highly physical with either team equally likely to come out victorious.
#2. Superkliq will reunite for the first time since March 2017 at AEW Rampage
It’s been 5 years since the @youngbucks teamed with @AdamColePro and TOMORROW NIGHT, the #SuperKliq reunites in a trios match against @Christian4Peeps and #JurassicExpress (@boy_myth_legend & @luchasaurus) on a special 2-hour #AEWRampage at 10/9c on @tntdrama! https://t.co/79WUe1upNR
Young Bucks and Adam Cole formed a subgroup within the Bullet Club called the Superkliq. The trio last wrestled together in 2017. This week's Rampage will see the Elite members reuniting as they take on Christian Cage and Jurassic Express.
This will also mark Cole's second match in AEW after defeating Frankie Kazarian last week. The Panama City Playboy is one of the top stars in AEW and should be the favorite to pick up the win for his team.
#1. CM Punk will fight Powerhouse Hobbs at AEW Rampage in his first TV match in seven years
CM Punk vs Powerhouse Hobbs should be fun. #AEWRampage
CM Punk and Team Taz have been at odds since Taz felt CM Punk unnecessarily mentioned his team's name. After a week of Powerhouse Hobbs chokeslamming the Second City Saint through the announcer's table, the two will face off at AEW Rampage.
CM Punk will wrestle on live TV for the first time in over seven years and though Hobbs is a future star, this match has a CM Punk win written all over it.