AEW Rampage: Brody King is the Number One contender

On AEW Rampage, the inaugural Royal Rampage was held. The match utilized both rings from Dynamite’s Blood and Guts match. The winner of the match will face Jon Moxley for the interim AEW World Championship.

There were 20 men and two rings. The entrants were either “red” or “blue”, which determined which ring they would be competing in. Excalibur explained, “there’s basically two battle royals happening simultaneously.” The last man standing in each ring would be the final two.

The match started off with Powerhouse Hobbs in the red ring and Tony Nese in the blue ring. Both men were in the ring when the show started. Former AEW World Champion Hangman Page was the first televised entrant and he was in the red ring. Darby Allin (with Sting) was the second entrant in the blue ring.

A new entrant came to the ring every 30 seconds. Ricky Starks, The Butcher, John Silver, Max Caster, RUSH, The Blade, Penta Oscuro, Swerve Strickland, Keith Lee, Matt Hardy, Dustin Rhodes, Frankie Kazarian, Dante Martin, Konosuke Takeshita, Brody King, and Orange Cassidy rounded out the field.

The final two came down to Allin and King. Allin entered the match early and King was the last entrant on the red side. King dominated Allin and defeated him by hanging him over the top rope in a sleeper hold to advance.

It’s refreshing to see AEW go in a different direction for the interim world championship. This isn’t a normal title run, so why not shake things up? The winner was crowned in an innovative, first-ever match. While the final included a former TNT Champion, it also included someone fresh for the title picture.

King is the current PWG Tag Team champion with Malakai Black (Kings of the Black Throne) and has held titles in Ring of Honor. While he is a massive presence in House of Black, he has not had the same spotlight as Black or Buddy Matthews. This will be a nice spotlight on King to show what he can do in a big match.

This matchup also gives Moxley someone new to face. The two have not wrestled against each other in AEW before. It’ll be interesting to see how their styles mesh. Moxley is AEW’s first two-time World Champion. His first title run came during the “no fans era”, so having the fans behind him this time around adds something a little extra to this reign.

Moxley vs. King will take place next Wednesday on AEW Dynamite.