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Tony Khan's audience on Friday night was somewhat divided because this week's episode and the last hour of ROH Death Before Dishonour were shown simultaneously.
Although there were three matches on this night, the main event was the main draw. More than a dozen of the roster competed in the Royal Rampage match for a chance to win a shot in London for the TNT Championship.
Additionally, we saw Johnny TV team up with QT Marshall and Aaron Solo to take on The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass, and Kris Statlander defend the TBS title against Marina Shafir.
Royal Rampage
The Royal Rampage to choose a new No. 1 challenger for the TNT Championship was the first contest on this week's programme.
There were two men in each ring when the fight began. The blue ropes around the ring were used by Swerve Strickland and Nick Wayne, while the red ropes were used by Darby Allin and Jay Lethal.
At regular intervals, other celebrities including The Butcher, Brian Cage, and Minoru Suzuki entered the match. The rings kept filling up with each new contestant since no one was removed for a time.
For anyone that doesn’t know, I’m a huge Matt Sydal fan, so seeing him and Kassidy work together to hit a “Gin N’ Juice” I loved it!
Many of the participants in this event seemed to be concentrating their attention on Allin, but he ultimately managed to outlast them all and win the match by finishing Swerve off at the very end.
This wasn't exciting in the first half, but it became better as more people were eliminated.
The Acclaimed vs. QTV
A trios match involving Anthony Bowens, Max Caster, and Billy Gunn against Marshall, Johnny TV, and Solo also featured Harley Cameron at ringside.
Early in the match, QT and Daddy Ass exchanged a few rapid movements to demonstrate that despite being the senior members of their respective groups, they still had some gas in the tank.
They definitely stepped it up in the second half, however some of the multi-man situations we witnessed felt a touch too planned out rather than naturally occurring.
This was a good performance, though, and it gave The Acclaimed a victory before they took against the trios champs this weekend.
Kris Statlander vs. Marina Shafir
The TBS Championship bout between Statlander and Shafir served as the program's main event. Nyla Rose accompanied Shafir to the stage, but she left before the match to watch from outside the arena.
Shafir lost a little bit of height, but she didn't let it stop her from judo tossing and whipping Statlander around.
Shafir appears to be more perilous than ever before in an AEW ring. She seems to be finally putting everything together to integrate her wrestling and MMA skills into one set of abilities.
Shafir put up a strong fight, but Statlander raising her hand was always going to be the way this ended.
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