On tonight’s episode, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks will defend the AEW World Trios Championship. The trio challenged Top Flight and AR Fox to a title match next, and they were approached by Ethan Page, Matt Hardy, and Isiah Kassidy, along with Stokely Hathaway, of The Firm. They threw down the gauntlet for a title match on AEW Rampage, and the champions accepted. The match will mark The Elite’s return to the ring; before Wednesday, Omega been absent due to a visa issue since the trio won the titles on the January 11 episode of AEW Dynamite.
Plus, Swerve Strickland will face Brian Pillman Jr., as he wants to “get rid” of Pillman due to his status as a second-generation wrestler. Elsewhere on the show, former ROH World Champion RUSH will battle Christopher Daniels Finally, Saraya and Toni Storm will be in action as a tag team, but their opponents haven’t been announced yet.
The Elite defeat The Firm via pinfall
In the opening match of the night, The Elite retained their championships thanks to some late momentum. Towards the end of the match, Isiah Kassidy was left alone in the ring after Matt Hardy accidentally knocked Ethan Page off the apron and onto the floor. With Kassidy unable to tag anyone in, The Elite ended things with a One Wing Angel and BTE Trigger for the pin and win.
Backstage segment: Ricky Starks
Ahead of his gauntlet that he must run through in order to face Chris Jericho, Starks said he’ll be ready, and always finds a way to do it, and he’ll embarrass Jericho when he gets to see him in the ring again.
Swerve Strickland defeats Brian Pillman Jr. via pinfall
In a one-on-one bout, Pillman actually looked prime to come out on top early, but due to the duo of Parker Boudreaux and Trench at ringside for Swerve, it quickly became too much for Pillman. Late in the match, Trench began distracting the referee, allowing Boudreaux tripped up Pillman on the apron. This allowed Swerve to hit the Death Valley Driver on the apron, and then take Pillman into the ring and hit a huge stomp for the win.
After the match, Boudreaux and Trench then began assaulting Pillman, eventually beating him down until Dustin Rhodes ran out with a weapon in his hand for the save.
Saray and Toni Storm defeat The Renegade Twins via pinfall
In a relatively quick match, Storm distracted the referee immediately, right after the bell, which allowed Saraya to get some big hits in on Renegade with her knee. They dominated the match from then on, and eventually Storm hit the Storm Zero to win.
RUSH defeats Christopher Daniels via pinfall
In another match that saw the referee distracted early on, RUSH’s cohorts Perro Peligroso and Jose the Assistant began attacking Daniels early on after the ref was preoccupied. Late in the match, after dropping down RUSH with his submission, Daniels tried to hit the Best Moonsault Ever, but RUSH got his knees up, and then hit the Bull’s Horn for the win.