AEW Rampage Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from July 8

0 of 1

Welcome to Bleacher Report’s coverage and recap of AEW Rampage on July 8.

The AEW and NJPW crossover event might be in the past, but the forbidden door is still wide open as Konosuke Takeshita took on Eddie Kingston.

We also saw some ROH action as Jonathan Gresham teamed up with Lee Moriarty to take on The Gates of Glory.

Orange Cassidy battled Tony Nese, and Serena Deeb and Mercedes Martinez were in action again as a tag team.

Let’s look at what went down during Friday’s show.

1 of 1

Kingston and Takeshita were in the ring and ready to fight as soon as the show started. While Kingston is known for being a brawler, he was willing to engage the NJPW star in a grappling match at first.

Even though there was no clear heel in this bout, Kingston and Takeshita both did a few things that were less than honorable, so it provided a fun, competitive feel for the match.

There was also no clear leader when it came to who was controlling the pace. It felt like both men had control for an equal amount of time. The outcome was never in question, but they made it feel less certain.

This was a fun opener that ended up being slightly more physical than expected in the final few minutes. After trading several strikes, Kingston nailed Takeshita with a spinning backfist for the win.

Winner: Eddie Kingston

Grade: B+

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• Kingston might not focus on technical stuff too much, but he isn’t bad when he does. He knows what he is doing out there. 
• Kingston did a good job selling his taped-up ribs. 
• It might have gotten to the point that Kingston is the most over talent in AEW. The crowd absolutely loves him. 
• The exchange of strikes they had toward the end was awesome.