AEW Rampage: Dark Order will face MJF and Adam Cole

Last Sunday at AEW ALL IN, the promotion’s first match in Wembley Stadium was Aussie Open vs. MJF and Adam Cole. Aussie Open put their ROH World Tag Team Championship on the line and lost it. They didn’t hold the titles very long; they won them less than two months ago at ROH’s Death Before Dishonor.

With another pay-per-view coming a week later, the new champions need opponents. It’s the perfect excuse for a battle royale. Rampage opened with a Tag Team Battle Royale featuring 10 teams: Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher), The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd), The Butcher and The Blade, The Hardys, Dante Martin and Action Andretti, Dark Order (John Silver & Alex Reynolds), The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch),  Best Friends (Trent & Chuckie T), Gates of Agony (Toa Liona & Kaun), and The Wingmen (Ryan Nemeth & Peter Avalon).

The Outrunners and The Wingmen were out early on. The Righteous have made appearances on Rampage, but have spent most of their time in ROH, where they’ve been fighting Dark Order for custody of Stu Grayson. The battle royale was Vincent and Dutch’s in-ring debut on the show. They wasted no time eliminating The Butcher and Matt Hardy.

With the tag team battle royale, both members of a team do not have to be in the ring to win. As the minutes winded down, Aussie Open was the only tag team with both members still in the match. It came down to them, Trent, and Silver.

Reynolds had been eliminated and seemed to have a knee injury. Silver teamed up with Aussie Open to attempt to eliminate Trent. It nearly worked, but Trent held on and eliminated Fletcher. Silver was nearly eliminated, but his partner miraculously stood up and caught “The Meat Man” to prevent it. Reynolds carried Silver to the steps to allow him to get back in the ring.

Trent eliminated Davis, but before he could stand all the way up, Silver knocked him off the apron, leaving Silver as the sole person in the ring.

Silver and Reynolds (along with Evil Uno) have been going back to their darker personas over the last couple of months. They’ve lost multiple members over the last couple of years and Grayson aligning with The Righteous was the last straw. Now, they’ve gone back to their roots. This is a well-earned match for Silver and Reynolds. While MJF and Cole are the shiny new thing right now, this match will do a lot for Dark Order’s confidence and burn a fire under them even more.

Meanwhile, Aussie Open has pivoted their sights on Le Sex Gods. On Dynamite, Jericho and Guevara turned their attention to the AEW Tag Team Championships. A shirtless Jericho was on commentary when Aussie Open approached him. He said he was sorry he whipped Will Ospreay’s (expletive) which led to the former ROH champions attacking him. Guevara came in for the save with Floyd (Jericho’s bat, not The Outrunner).

ALL OUT  is this Sunday, September 3 at 8 PM ET. Zero Hour will get things started at 7 PM ET.