Tony Khan assembles ECW Originals after AEW Rampage goes off the air
After AEW Rampage tapings, Tony Khan brought out all the ECW Originals who work in the company to say 'good night' to the crowd in attendance.
Fan footage shows TK bringing out Taz, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, and Jerry Lynn, who were part of ECW under Paul Heyman at the height of its popularity. Taz took the mic and shared short anecdotes of all three men in the ring, noting AEW is ECW on steroids. He then proclaimed that AEW was the best place he ever worked at.
CM Punk then joined the men and joked he was left out even though he was the ECW Champion. Malenko and Lynn also addressed the Philly crowd briefly and thanked them for their support.
"I just want to say I feel extremely left out because I was the ECW Champion. Nobody invited me. I just wanted to make a point that's a very important distinction to make because I never would be ECW Champion if it wasn't for a guy like Taz or if it wasn't for a guy like Chris Jericho," CM Punk said.
People chanting CM Punk in his ECW DEBUT! Over since day 1! https://t.co/xtdfd391KI
Chris Jericho then took the mic and informed the Philadelphia crowd that he wrestled here for the first time in 1996, with ECW. Reiterating others, Jericho proclaimed AEW to be the greatest wrestling company in the world.
AEW Rampage will see CM Punk in action
A MASSIVE #AEWRampage this Friday at 10/9c on @tntdrama:
-@CMPunk v @GarciaWrestling
-@Jade_Cargill v @Skyebyee
-FTW Title Philadelphia Street Fight: @starkmanjones v @MrGMSI_BCage
-#AEW Tag Team Titles: #LuchaBros v #TheAcclaimed https://t.co/qGKtmsUrVV
While the ECW Originals mini-reunion took place after Rampage, several matches had been pre-planned. On AEW Dynamite, CM Punk called out Daniel Garcia for jumping on him a couple of weeks ago and issued a challenge to wrestle him on Rampage. The Acclaimed will also be getting their long-awaited title shot when they face Lucha Bros. for the AEW World Tag Team Championship.
The matches scheduled for the night are:
- CM Punk vs. Daniel Garcia
- Jade Cargill vs. Sky Blue
- Philadelphia Street Fight for the FTW Championship: Ricky Starks (c) vs. Brian Cage
- AEW World Tag Team Championship match: The Lucha Bros (c) vs. The Acclaimed
What will happen on AEW Rampage? Fans will have to tune in to find out on Friday.
Please give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use the quotes from this article.